Ever since earning his lifeguard certification the year before last, Huo You had spent whatever free time he had working a part-time job at his maternal aunt’s friend’s swimming pool.
Because of their connection, even though Huo You’s schedule was irregular, his hourly pay matched that of the full-time staff. The only difference was that his wages were settled on a quarterly basis.
Huo You went every weekend, making a quarter roughly equivalent to the monthly working hours of a regular employee, with any extra time compensated by the day.
Perhaps due to this unconventional settlement method, his aunt’s friend always paid him in cash.
Compared to cold, lifeless digital numbers, Huo You genuinely preferred cash. It had a distinct texture, a tangible warmth, and a real sense of existence.
His phone buzzed several times in succession.
oio: [What are you doing at the park?]
oio: [This park is super close to the swimming pool, even closer than your house! Wait up, I can ride my e-bike there in ten minutes!]
Huo You instinctively wanted to lock his screen, but…
After all, she was coming specifically to deliver his money.
After a moment of thought, Huo You tapped out a few characters on the keyboard.
Roam: [Hanging out at the park. Thanks.]
There was no reply from the other end. Huo You slipped his phone into his pocket, preparing to wheel himself to the park entrance to meet her halfway. It would not be right to just sit motionlessly and let someone else deliver it right to his doorstep.
The right wheel of his wheelchair made just one full rotation before coming to a sudden halt.
Huo You had gone from facing the group of elderly men to sitting sideways to them. He turned his head to glance at the crowd, feeling somewhat hesitant.
Should he let Lin Zong know he was leaving?
Would Lin Zong suddenly glance up while fighting his way to the pinnacle of the chess saint championship?
Would he get mad if he turned around and found him gone?
It took him all of half a second to arrive at a definitive answer.
He probably would not just be mad; he might even start yelling right into his ear.
Without realizing it, Huo You rubbed his ear and wheeled himself in a slow circle near the crowd of grandpas.
That was strange.
Had some rare, perilous chess position suddenly materialized? The surrounding grandpas were packed shoulder to shoulder, and for the life of him, he could not catch so much as a single strand of Lin Zong’s hair.
Huo You let out a silent sigh in his heart.
Never mind. He would bet on Lin Zong having zero attention to spare for his movements.
It took Huo You all of ten minutes of hand-cranking his wheelchair from the chess battlefield to the park entrance, where he spotted a light blue electric scooter speeding toward him from a distance.
Instinctively, Huo You backed up, rolling his wheelchair behind a thick stone pillar.
“Hey!” Zhou Yangyang parked her e-bike by the roadside in the shade, hurried over, and caught sight of his leg. The smile on her face instantly faltered. “Your leg…”
Huo You did not feel like getting into a long explanation.
He figured that repeating the details of his injury over and over sounded too much like fishing for sympathy, so he simply said, “Minor injury.”
Zhou Yangyang paused for a moment before color rushed back into her eyes. “That is good, that is good. Will you still come back to work at the swimming pool once you have recovered?”
Once he recovered…
That would not be for another three months at least, right?
Huo You did not answer; he was not sure himself.
Accustomed to his man-of-few-words routine, Zhou Yangyang smoothly pivoted to a different question. “Are you here to clear your head? Do you need me to push you around for a bit?”
Huo You parted his lips.
Maybe it was because of the oppressive heat, but a wave of discomfort hit him out of nowhere.
He wanted to go back and find Lin Zong, to catch a whiff of that familiar scent on him.
Looking around, Zhou Yangyang pressed on, “Are you here by yourself?”
Having skipped answering several questions in a row, Huo You was forced to speak up. “Not by myself.”
Zhou Yangyang bit her lower lip. “Oh.”
“You…” A persistent itch bloomed beneath his skin, leaving Huo You with no choice but to hold out a hand and prompt her. “Give it here.”
Zhou Yangyang tilted her head in confusion, but a moment later, she straightened right back up, rattling off a string of words, “Oh, oh, oh, oh! Sorry, almost forgot.”
With that, she unslung her backpack, fished out a blue envelope, and handed it over.
Huo You’s reaching motion stalled for a split second.
It was not that he assumed every envelope of this kind had to be a love letter; it was mostly because Zhou Yangyang had a prior track record.
“It is not a love letter this time,” Zhou Yangyang said, her face flushing slightly as she caught up to his train of thought. “I bought the envelopes online in a pack of five. Since you turned me down, keeping them is useless, so I just happened to put them to use.”
“My apologies.” Huo You took the envelope and opened it right then and there.
Watching him count the bills, Zhou Yangyang felt a slight twinge of discomfort; Huo You really did not trust her at all.
That unpleasant feeling did not last long, though, as Huo You finished counting and pulled out two bills to hand back to her.
“Thanks. For the delivery run.”
Even though Zhou Yangyang had not liked Huo You for very long, she could still tell that nobody seemed to pay much attention to him at home; otherwise, he would not be juggling school and odd jobs on the side.
There was no way she could accept this money.
Then again, Huo You was the person she liked. When you like someone, even a bottle of air from them feels like a heartfelt gesture, let alone two hundred bucks.
It was so hard to say no…
“Huo You!”
Suddenly, an unidentified shout cut right through Zhou Yangyang’s internal struggle, working a medical miracle on the wheelchair-bound Huo You.
Zhou Yangyang could swear on her life that she saw Huo You stand up for half a second, otherwise how else could she explain the money currently in her hand?
It surely could not have floated over by itself!
“Huo…” Zhou Yangyang opened her mouth to return the cash, only to be completely cut off by another deafening shout of “Huo You!”
Jogging and half-running over, Lin Zong grabbed the back of Huo You’s wheelchair and shook him back and forth, looking like he wanted to throttle him. “Do you even know I won?!”
He did not know.
But…
Huo You caught the scent radiating off Lin Zong, and it felt rather comforting.
He wanted more of it.
“I was just about to share the joy of victory with you, and the second I turned around, a big guy like you had vanished into thin air!” Lin Zong gestured wildly as he yelled. “I almost thought you had fallen asleep and someone pushed you away. I searched everywhere for you, only to find you here with…”
The rush of panic fading, Lin Zong finally looked properly at the girl who had seemed somewhat familiar just a moment ago.
“Class… wait, no,” Lin Zong stared at Huo You in bewilderment. “How do you even know our class monitor?”
Huo You did not lift his head, his gaze locked firmly onto the hand Lin Zong had just rested against the edge of the wheelchair.
Uncontrollably, he reached out his own hand as well, shuffling it forward until it brushed against Lin Zong’s fingers as his voice dropped lower. “Coincidence.”
“Did not take you for a man of few words with a social circle this wide,” Lin Zong muttered, completely oblivious as he turned to offer Zhou Yangyang a casual greeting, his curiosity hitting everyone equally. “What were you guys just doing? Passing things back and forth like that?”
“Just passing the pears,” Zhou Yangyang said, her eyes drifting between Huo You and Lin Zong’s touching hands in a daze. “Did you tag along with him?”
“Yeah.” Lin Zong’s ring finger gave an itchy twitch, prompting him to pull his hand back and scratch it while leaning lazily against the side of the wheelchair.
Neither Lin Zong nor Zhou Yangyang were the type to run out of things to say, but right now, they fell silent in unison, as if determined to match Huo You’s energy.
An awkward tension slowly crept into the air.
Zhou Yangyang lowered her head to adjust her backpack. “I am heading out…”
“Bye.” Lin Zong gave a wave.
This sudden plunge into extreme conciseness jolted Huo You right back to reality.
Had his stealthy little touch just been caught?
Did he find it repulsive?
It was not until Zhou Yangyang’s e-bike zipped away that Lin Zong let out a long sigh.
The sigh prompted Huo You to part his lips. “What is it?”
Lin Zong shook his head, stayed silent, and pulled out his phone to type out a message to someone.
Huo You waited for a beat before trying again. “What on earth is wrong?”
“What is that in your hand?” Lin Zong bypassed the question entirely. “A love letter? Did Zhou Yangyang give it to you?”
Huo You let out a silent breath of relief.
Looks like he did not notice.
“Money,” he explained, worried about being misunderstood. “My pay for working as a lifeguard at her older cousin’s pool.”
“Oh,” Lin Zong eyed him suspiciously. “Really?”
Resigned, Huo You unfolded the envelope and tilted the opening toward him to show the contents.
“Well, what do you know.” Lin Zong leaned down for a quick look before straightening back up, resuming his frantic typing on his phone.
Meanwhile, Huo You’s vision was still replaying the moment Lin Zong had leaned in close just then, playing it back in slow-motion frames.
His mind was getting messy again.
If only he could touch Lin Zong every single day.
Lin Zong seemed awfully invested in Zhou Yangyang, did he not?
If only Lin Zong could give him a proper hug.
Wait, did Lin Zong actually like Zhou Yangyang?
If…
How much time passed, he could not be sure, but Lin Zong finally finished texting and strolled around to the back of the wheelchair.
The second Lin Zong’s hands hit the push handles, Huo You asked in a low murmur, “What if it were a love letter?”
“Hm?” Lin Zong pushed him forward and back a couple of times, his tone lazy and drawling. “Then all hell would break loose.”