Chapter 3

As March approached April, the spring rain inevitably followed, with several consecutive days of persistent drizzle. Although Fang Yingchun had no particular fondness for rainy days, he preferred a torrential downpour to this listless drizzle.

Heavy rain held power, each droplet a potent drumbeat, unlike the current whispering threads that left everything untouched. After a few days, the clothes hanging on the balcony took on a damp, musty odor. Fang Yingchun was left with no other choice but to bring them inside and hang them in the bathroom to dry.

He no longer needed to water the plants — the rain was enough.

During the wet, rainy days, Fang Liuxia would feel aching all over her body. Painkillers offered minimal relief, so Fang Yingchun would massage her limbs, often for half the night.

Ever since that day when Yin Yuli was picked up by his brother, there had been no news from him. The last message in his phone dated back to the previous week.

Fang Yingchun stared at his phone for a while, then put it down again. After all, someone as protective of his own life as Yin Yuli wouldn't go to extremes over family conflicts.

However, it was impossible not to be a little concerned.

Just as he had this thought, he got a call from Yin Yuyi.

"Little Ying?" Yin Yuyi was breathing heavily as if he were anxious.

"Ah, Brother Yuyi? What's wrong?" Fang Yingchun asked in a low voice. His mother was resting on the other side of the house.

"Is Little Li with you?"

"... He hasn't been here recently," Fang Yingchun answered truthfully. "Isn't he at school?"

Over the phone, the sounds of rustling movements mixed in with the patter of rain created a cacophony of sound.

"No, he's not there. We also checked the Internet cafe he usually goes to." Yin Yuyi said, "He's not there either."

Fang Yingchun glanced at the time on his watch, it was 2:10 in the afternoon. Still three hours and twenty minutes before work.

"I'll go look for him. He can't have gone far. Brother Yuyi, don't worry too much."

"It's not that..." Yin Yuyi let out a long sigh. "You know... why does it have to be so hard? I just want him to behave, to stop making Mom and Dad angry. He won't listen to kind words, and when I speak harshly, he disappears."

Fang Yingchun's thoughts were a little hazy. Years ago, the relationship between the brothers wasn't so bad. He didn't know what had happened that turned them into enemies overnight. Fang Yingchun had asked before, but Yin Yuli just kept his mouth shut, his sullen expression as gloomy as the current rainy season.

"You talk to him, okay?"

"Will he even listen to me?"

"Little Ying, I'm counting on you."

There was no way to refuse such a request. Fang Yingchun didn't tell Yin Yuyi that he had already talked to Little Li quite a lot.

"Sigh, it's okay. Everything will be fine."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yingchun left a note on Fang Liuxia's bedside table, and after grabbing a long, black umbrella, he stepped out into the rain.

The roads were slippery in the rain, so he had to walk slowly. His right leg was soaked up to the knee by the rain outside.

None of the calls to Yin Yuli were answered. By the fifth attempt, the phone was switched off.

Well, well, Fang Yingchun thought, ‘He must be furious, not even picking up my call.’

Chaozhou was such a small place, where could Yin Yuli hide?

The rain was getting heavier, casting a thin mist that blurred the outlines of distant people and buildings.

Standing in the rain, lost in thought, Fang Yingchun looked just like a weather-beaten statue.

As a rumble of thunder sounded, a flash of inspiration struck him.

There was indeed such a place in the old city area of Chaozhou, a deserted cinema. There had been a death there years ago, after which it was closed and sealed off. Due to unresolved disputes over land and property, it had been left abandoned.

However, there seemed to be rumors recently.

——The Chaozhou government was preparing to start demolition.

Fang Yingchun remembered that it was their secret base, where they would sneak in through the back door after school in the evenings, sit inside listening to ghost stories, listening to Yin Yuli sing, or look up at the night sky—the roof had collapsed and a hole was leaking as a result, and none of them knew which wild cat had gotten on the roof to create such a mess.

As he mulled it over in his head, he stepped forward, reaching out to stop the taxi coming toward him.

"Hey, hey, hey, make way ——"

Make way.

The sharp braking sound and the splash of water blurred Fang Yingchun's senses.

The cyclist didn't expect Fang Yingchun to suddenly step into the road. The bike skidded and it hit him straight on.

The taxi also stopped and turned off its engine.

"How the hell do you walk without looking for cars?" The guy fell hard, his hand scraping against the ground, bloodied.

It was just a bike accident, thankfully. This thought flashed through Fang Yingchun's mind.

The long, black umbrella lay alone on the side. Fang Yingchun sat in the puddle. Thankfully the bike had slowed down at the last moment so that the impact wasn't as strong.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Fang Yingchun said, with raindrops hanging on his eyelashes.

The fallen cyclist stood up, glanced over at him, checked his bike, and after confirming that the bike was fine, he asked, "Are you okay?"

Fang Yingchun shook his head, propped himself up with both hands, and prepared to stand up.

Before he could exert his strength, he felt a force on his left arm helping him up. He strained to look at the person next to him, his vision blurred by the drizzle.

Even through the blur, Fang Yingchun recognized the face in front of him.

It was the late-night drunk customer who had bought yogurt in his store in the past.

This was probably the third time they had met, which was a bit too coincidental.

Fu Peihang also felt it was too coincidental. The second time was indeed when he purposely went to the convenience store to see Fang Yingchun while picking up his car. But he didn't deliberately set up this first or the third encounter.

Fu Peihang didn't respond to Fang Yingchun's gaze. He took a business card out of his suit pocket and handed it to the man. "If you need any compensation or help in the future, you can contact me."

The man took the card and reprimanded Fang Yingchun a few more times, "You're a grown man and you still don't know how to look at both sides of the road before crossing. If you don’t already know this, bicycles are also vehicles." After saying this, he rode away into the depths of the rain.

Fang Yingchun was both embarrassed and guilty. He shook off Fu Peihang's hand, thanked him, turned around limping, and bent over to pick up the black umbrella on the ground.

"Where are you going?" Fu Peihang asked him with a frown on his face.

"Huh?"

"I said, where are you going?"

"…" Fang Yingchun was puzzled. What did his destination have to do with the man in front of him?

Seeing that he didn't answer, Fu Peihang grabbed his hand and walked in the direction of the taxi. After a few steps, he slowed down as if he had suddenly realized something.

Fang Yingchun stumbled a few steps and bumped into his shoulder.

"Do we know each other?" Fang Yingchun moved his mouth and the moist rainwater slipped into his mouth along the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry for the trouble, but I have to go now."

"Let's go to the hospital first." Fu Peihang was half a head taller than him. At this close distance, he could see Fang Yingchun's fluttering eyelashes and moving lips clearly.

Despite so many years having passed, he still looked the same as the Fang Yingchun he remembered.

He still stuttered when he spoke.

His eyes still flickered like starlight in hiding.

His demeanor was still like that of a startled hare.

‘Why hadn't Fang Yingchun made any progress?’ Fu Peihang wondered.

"I'm okay," Fang Yingchun suddenly said. "Just took a tumble. It's nothing serious. There’s no need to go to the hospital. Thank you for your concern."

In this rain that covered their fate, they were entangled with each other again. It was unexpected and these were the sort of surprises fate always seemed to have in store for people like them.

Fang Yingchun was still pushed into the taxi.

The small interior of the car was soaked by the rain. Fang Yingchun nervously clutched the corner of his clothes, taking glances at the man beside him every now and then.

He saw the man undo the rubber band that tied his hair. The soaked hair curled up and rested on his shoulder, with water droplets sliding down his suit.

The faint scent of perfume on the man fermented and lingered around Fang Yingchun's nose.

He wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. The air inside the car became frozen for a moment there.

"Does it hurt?" Fu Peihang glanced at Fang Yingchun's leg.

"No... it doesn't hurt anymore. It was just a minor collision." Fang Yingchun licked his lips, and he couldn't help but ask again, "Do we know each other?"

The man's behavior seemed so natural that it felt like they weren’t strangers who had only met three times before.

Fang Yingchun pondered for a long time, but he couldn’t remember where he had met this man other than in the convenience store.

Normally, such a person wouldn’t be forgotten after just one encounter.

But at the same time, he had no recollection at all.

"We met at the convenience store." Fu Peihang noticed Fang Yingchun's confusion. "We've met twice, so we can be considered friends, right?"

"…" What kind of calculation was this?

"Not now, but we will be in the future." Fu Peihang gathered his hair together, squeezed out the water droplets, and wiped them on his suit.

"What?"

"I live nearby, so it’s probably a given that we'll run into each other often."

At the hospital, Fu Peihang took him for a check-up. Fang Yingchun followed behind, his right leg still awkward, attracting many sidelong glances. He had gotten used to it, able to ignore those examining gazes.

Fu Peihang only knitted his eyebrows, without saying another word.

After the check-up confirmed that no muscles or bones were injured, Fu Peihang felt somewhat relieved. The doctor treated the wound on Fang Yingchun's leg, applied ointment, bandaged it up, gave some anti-inflammatory drugs, and ended the treatment.

At this time, the rain outside showed signs of stopping.

They stood at the hospital entrance. Fu Peihang lit a cigarette and asked him, "Where are you headed?"

Fang Yingchun checked the time, it was 4:25 p.m. Instead of answering, he asked, "How much is the medical fee?"

"Give it to me next time." Smoke swirled in front of Fu Peihang's eyes. "The next time we see each other."

"... How do I contact you?"

"Give me your phone."

Fang Yingchun was startled, then pulled out his phone from his pocket. Fu Peihang took Fang Yingchun's phone, holding a cigarette between his fingers, and typed in his own name and number.

"Can you manage on your own?"

Fang Yingchun nodded his head.

Fu Peihang scrutinized him skeptically for a few seconds, convinced he couldn't manage on his own. "Where are you going? I'll give you a ride."

His tone was so firm that there was no room for rebuttal.

Fang Yingchun realized it was pointless to refuse any longer. "Chaozhou No.1 Primary School."

Chaozhou No.1 Primary School.

Fu Peihang's nerve twitched. It was really a coincidence, Chaozhou No.1 Primary School. "In the old town area, right?"

"Um, yes, are you a local?"

"—— Not really." As Fu Peihang was sending a text message to the driver, Mr. Xie, he answered his question, "I stayed here for a while."

Fang Yingchun didn't know what this "not really" and "stayed for a while" meant specifically, but he wasn't interested in poking around in other people’s business. He vaguely responded with a "Hmm" to end this dull conversation.

"Is your leg okay?"

"It's fine." Only after answering did Fang Yingchun realize the other person might be referring to something else, and he awkwardly added, "You mean my right leg? — No, no issue."

"Not that. I'm talking about the wound on your leg. It must have hurt a lot during disinfection."

He shook his head and responded in a soft voice that it didn't hurt.

It really didn't. There were so many things that caused him pain. This little injury really didn't count for much.

Fu Peihang didn't speak. He re-tied his hair and said, "Let's go. The car's here."

By the time Fang Yingchun got to Chaoshou Primary School, the rain had completely stopped. He got out of the car, thanked and said goodbye to Fu Peihang, and then turned to walk toward the abandoned cinema.

He took out his phone and saw an additional contact in his directory.

Fu Peihang.

Fu Peihang. Fang Yingchun repeated the name in his mind. It felt somewhat familiar, but he still had no memory of it. Where had he seen this name before?

However, now was not the time to wonder about such things. He had to find Yin Yuli first.

The abandoned cinema was at the end of the alleyway opposite Chaoshou Primary School. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still wet and muddy. Every step he took splashed mud onto his clothes.

At this moment, he looked like a bedraggled wet dog, completely soaked and dirty.

Fang Yingchun passed through the weeds at the back door and walked into the cinema. The light was dim, only lit by a small patch of sky above and the falling raindrops.

He walked around a puddle, turned on his phone's flashlight, and ventured deeper into the cinema.

Suddenly, he heard a clatter of sound.

Fang Yingchun tentatively asked, "Yin Yuli?"

There was a pattering sound, and from the darkness emerged a pair of panicked, glimmering eyes, shouting at him, "What are you doing? Are you trying to scare me to death? I thought I'd just seen a ghost."