He accepted the offer so quickly almost as if he had been waiting for Shi Zhi to say those words that Shi Zhi was momentarily stunned after Fu Yuchu finished speaking.
Seeing that Shi Zhi remained silent for a long while, Fu Yuchu assumed he was hesitating or having second thoughts. He asked hypocritically, “Is it convenient?”
Shi Zhi glanced at him, turned his head, and began walking forward. As he walked, he said, “It’s fine.” He added, “There’s nothing inconvenient about it.”
Fu Yuchu stopped asking and leisurely followed behind Shi Zhi as they went upstairs.
When this apartment was originally purchased, it was intended to be a marital home. It was a mid-to-high-end garden apartment complex; the building wasn’t tall, with only two units per floor. Their unit was Number 01 on the 11th floor. A newlywed couple lived across from them, and a red “Double Happiness” character was still pasted on their door.
Fu Yuchu’s gaze lingered on the “Double Happiness” for a split second before shifting to the person standing with his head bowed, entering the passcode. Because his head was lowered, Shi Zhi’s neck stretched into a slender, elegant curve that looked like it could be encircled by a single hand.
Fu Yuchu’s Adam’s apple moved involuntarily.
“Come in.” Shi Zhi turned on the main lights of the room and stepped aside to clear the hallway.
Standing in the foyer, Fu Yuchu asked, “Do I need to change into slippers?”
“No need.” Few people ever visited the house, so there were no extra men’s slippers prepared. Besides, Shi Zhi wouldn’t be living here much longer; he would hire a cleaning service before he left anyway, so it didn’t matter whether shoes were worn or not. “Take a seat first. I’ll go get the charger.”
Fu Yuchu gave a low “Mm.” He stared for a moment at a pair of slippers on the floor—clearly worn by someone else but of the same style as those on Shi Zhi’s feet—and accidentally kicked them under the shoe cabinet as he moved.
The charging cables were all left in the bedroom, so Shi Zhi went inside to look for them.
Fu Yuchu didn’t sit down immediately. He scanned the room: the kitchen was tidied very neatly, and it was evident that no one had cooked there for a long time. There were a few bags of unfinished biscuits on the dining table, and a takeout bag from a certain restaurant sat in the trash can. The balcony was not enclosed; next to a set-up easel, some papers had been blown down by the wind, one of which featured a half-finished painting.
Fu Yuchu paced to the balcony, bent down to pick up the drawing paper, and clipped it back onto the easel. Just as he was about to head to the sofa, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head, his gaze landing on the TV cabinet nearby.
A photo frame stood there. Shi Zhi hadn’t changed much, though his smile back then was brighter and more radiant than it was now. He was smiling at the camera, revealing two sharp canine teeth.
He was being held in another man’s arms.
Fu Yuchu pursed his lips and placed the photo frame face down on the table.
“Here, try this one. Does it work?”
“It works.” Fu Yuchu plugged the phone in and turned it on in front of Shi Zhi; sure enough, the screen displayed only 1% battery.
Looking at the man sitting on the sofa with his legs spread in a relaxed posture, Shi Zhi felt inexplicably constrained. The other man was too casual, acting as if he were the master of the house while Shi Zhi was the guest.
“Ahem” Shi Zhi stood before him like a student being punished by a teacher. Awkwardly, he said, “Um, do you want some water? I’ll go get you some…”
“Is there coffee?” Fu Yuchu asked unreservedly. “I played for too long today and I’m a bit tired. I’d like a cup of coffee to wake myself up.”
“…No.”
Fu Yuchu looked toward the coffee machine at the water bar.
Shi Zhi: “…I don’t know how to use it.”
“I do.” Fu Yuchu stood up. “Try my handiwork.”
Fu Yuchu stood by the water bar, looking down to study the machine. The sound of the coffee maker working soon pierced the silence of the room. Shi Zhi leaned against the dining table, watching Fu Yuchu fiddle with the bottles and jars. For a moment, he felt a sense of dazed displacement.
Shi Zhi liked drinking coffee; he loved the feeling of being surrounded by its aroma.
In his memories, his father would always brew coffee in the sun-drenched mornings, waking up his mother who had slept in after staying up late to meet a deadline. Then, the family of three would sit at the dining table in their small house to eat breakfast.
After Xu Yining learned that Shi Zhi liked coffee, he bought this machine. At the time, he had vowed, “In the future, whenever my baby wants to drink it, I’ll make it for you.”
However, the coffee machine had sat there for over a year, and Shi Zhi had never seen it in operation.
The aroma of coffee drifted into Shi Zhi’s nostrils. The silhouette before him gradually overlapped with his memories; despite the different outlines, Shi Zhi felt a long-lost warmth.
In those countless days of drinking instant coffee, what was it that he truly craved?
“Do you live alone?”
“Huh?” Shi Zhi looked up blankly. “What?”
Fu Yuchu turned around, looked at him, and asked, “Do you live here alone?”
“Yes.”
“What about him?”
“He’s on a business trip.”
“And when he returns?” Fu Yuchu looked around the room once more before fixing his gaze on Shi Zhi’s face. “Does he usually not live here?”
“He lived here before.”
“Haven’t you already broken up?” Fu Yuchu said casually. “Why are you still living together?”
Shi Zhi felt a strange sense of pressure. He didn’t know why he felt the need to explain himself to Fu Yuchu, but he heard himself say, “He hasn’t been back lately. We haven’t seen each other for a while.”
“A fight?”
“…Yes.” Shi Zhi instinctively looked toward the display cabinet.
Fu Yuchu followed Shi Zhi’s gaze and saw a figurine with mangled limbs and a frameless painting discarded on the foyer cabinet. Frowning, he asked, “Did things get physical? Did he hit you?”
“…No.” Shi Zhi didn’t want to continue the topic. Just then, the coffee machine stopped making noise, so he said, “The coffee is ready.”
Seeing his look of relief, Fu Yuchu gave him a deep look. “I only made one cup.”
Shi Zhi: “?”
“Drinking coffee at night makes it easy to suffer from insomnia.” Fu Yuchu picked up the coffee and took a sip with a straight face, evaluating, “The taste is not bad.”
“…” Shi Zhi was speechless. “Then why are you drinking it at night?”
“Oh, I like having insomnia.”
Shi Zhi: “…”
“Why are you like this?”
Fu Yuchu: “I’ve always been like this.”
Shi Zhi glared at him.
Life returned to Shi Zhi’s face, and Fu Yuchu said with a smile, “Don’t be angry. At worst, next time I’ll only make it for you.”
“…No need.”
Fu Yuchu ignored Shi Zhi’s refusal, took his coffee to the sofa, and sat down to savor it slowly.
Shi Zhi: “…”
Since the other man showed no intention of leaving, Shi Zhi gave a subtle reminder: “Is your phone charged enough?”
Fu Yuchu glanced at him, set down his coffee, and leisurely picked up the phone to check. He said in surprise, “Oh, it didn’t charge. I might have accidentally bumped it.” He showed the screen, which indeed only had 3% battery, then looked up at Shi Zhi. “This much power won’t last until I get to my car. If you’re afraid your fiancé will suddenly return and it’ll be hard to explain, how about I borrow the cable, charge it in the car, and return it to you later?”
Shi Zhi: “…Just charge it here.”
“Not afraid your fiancé will misunderstand?”
“He won’t come back.”
“So if he did come back, you’d still be afraid of him misunderstanding?”
“…It’s not a matter of being afraid or not,” Shi Zhi said. “We’re about to break off the engagement anyway. And…” He glanced at Fu Yuchu and added, “There’s nothing between us for anyone to misunderstand.”
“Is there really nothing?” Fu Yuchu’s gaze was burning.
Shi Zhi thought of that night almost immediately. The guilt lasted only a moment before he remembered how Fu Yuchu was always being sarcastic with him. It was clearly a matter of mutual consent between adults, yet Fu Yuchu acted as if Shi Zhi were some heartless jerk who abandoned him after the act.
Now that Fu Yuchu was teasing him by making only one cup of coffee and speaking in such a snide manner, Shi Zhi was no longer embarrassed. He said bluntly, “Does Lawyer Fu feel like there’s something? You seem to mind quite a bit—do you want me to take responsibility for you?”
Fu Yuchu stared fixedly at Shi Zhi. Just when Shi Zhi thought he was going to say something mocking again, Fu Yuchu sighed. “You should sit down first. Having you stand like that gives me pressure.”
Shi Zhi: “…”
Shi Zhi: “???”
“You’re too tall; my neck is getting sore from looking up.”
He was only 178 cm tall; what did he mean “too tall”?! If it weren’t for Fu Yuchu’s dead-serious expression, Shi Zhi would have suspected he was making a jab at his height!
The change in topic was so abrupt that Shi Zhi’s prepared retort got stuck in his throat. He could only sit down beside him gloomily—leaving the distance of two throw pillows between him and Fu Yuchu.
Fu Yuchu didn’t seem to care and brought up the previous topic again: “Why did you fight?”
“Huh?”
“With your fiancé. Why did you fight?” Fu Yuchu looked serious. “Is he unwilling… to break up?”
“Yes.”
“A breakup doesn’t require his consent.”
“I know,” Shi Zhi said. “He’s unwilling to return the small building to me.”
“What about the rest? What is his family’s attitude?”
Shi Zhi knew Fu Yuchu was referring to the ten million he had lent them. Thinking of Wang Suzhen’s words that day, he sighed. “Their company has investment problems; the cash flow is tight…”
“What does that have to do with you?”
Shi Zhi looked up at him.
Fu Yuchu took a deep breath, trying his best not to let his emotions affect him. He suggested seriously, “I heard from Senior Xiang that your intention is only to get the building back and have them repay half of the cash. If you want the building back, don’t be afraid to set your bottom line higher at the start. The tighter their cash flow, the more likely you are to recover the building. Unless… your fiancé doesn’t care about the company and doesn’t listen to his mother.” Fu Yuchu looked at Shi Zhi. “Is he that kind of person?”
Shi Zhi instantly understood Fu Yuchu’s meaning—he could pressure Xu Yining through Wang Suzhen by offering to exchange half the cash for the building. The more the company needed money, the more likely he was to get the building back. However…
“I didn’t write a promissory note. I only have the transfer records, and there were no memos attached. What if she refuses to acknowledge the loan?”
“Then make her acknowledge it,” Fu Yuchu said. “While transfer records can serve as evidence of an intent to borrow, to be safe, you need to gather other evidence—such as chat logs or recordings of you asking for repayment, or witnesses. If you didn’t have these before, start preparing them now.” He then asked Shi Zhi, “Does anyone else know you lent them this money? Would they be willing to testify for you?”
Shi Zhi immediately thought of Xu Yijing and Grandpa Xu. However, Yijing hadn’t even graduated from university and had no say in the family, while Grandpa Xu…
Recalling their meeting that day and Grandpa Xu’s words asking him to “yield” to Xu Yining, Shi Zhi remained silent for a while. “I’ll find a way to prepare chat logs or recordings.”
Fu Yuchu gave an “Mm.” Seeing Shi Zhi’s face full of worry, he comforted him, “Don’t worry. I won’t let you lose the lawsuit.”
If it wasn’t a last resort, Shi Zhi didn’t want to reach the point of going to court with Xu Yining. He curled his lips slightly and said, “I’ll talk to them again.”
Fu Yuchu didn’t push him, nor did he speak again.
Both fell silent, and the room lapsed into quietness.
When the coffee reached the bottom of the cup, Fu Yuchu stood up.
“I’m leaving.”
Shi Zhi saw him to the door.
Fu Yuchu looked down at him for a moment, then suddenly called his name: “Shi Zhi.”
Shi Zhi looked up, his mouth slightly open in confusion.
Fu Yuchu’s gaze traveled down from his eyes, landing on his soft, pink lips. “What if I said… yes?”
“What?” Shi Zhi didn’t react; his eyes, reflecting Fu Yuchu’s image, were filled with a hazy daze.
The voice-activated light in the hallway suddenly flickered out. In the darkness, Shi Zhi heard Fu Yuchu’s deep voice.
He said, “What if I want you to take responsibility for me?”