“Damn it, the little thief.”
Two hours later, Zhu Yun and Tian Xiuzhu discovered their wallets were gone. They had just finished eating when a server arrived with the bill in hand.
“Sir, ma’am, will that be cash or card?”
Tian Xiuzhu was leaning back in his chair, lost in his own thoughts. Zhu Yun smiled at the server. “Bring us a dessert — we’ll stay a bit longer.”
The server left. Tian Xiuzhu said, with a touch of admiration, “Quite impressive — pick-pocketed with just a single bump. Like something out of a film.”
“Are you actually impressed by him right now?”
“There wasn’t much money in there anyway. By the way, do you have your ID in your wallet? Give him a call, have him hold on to it.”
“Tian Xiuzhu,” Zhu Yun said, deliberately biting down on the word, “he stole our wallets. Why do you sound like you left something behind at a friend’s place?”
Tian Xiuzhu tilted his head. “So — should we call the police and have them arrested?”
Zhu Yun went quiet.
Tian Xiuzhu smiled. “That’s why I said let it go.”
Her phone rang. When Zhu Yun saw the name on the screen, she sprang up from her seat and moved to a quiet corner to take the call.
“Ren Di.”
“Mm?”
“What were you thinking?” Zhu Yun pressed the phone to her ear. “Li Xun gets out and you couldn’t even mention it to me? Do you know what happened today when he and I —”
“What happened?” Ren Di asked, unhurried. “Did he get furious?”
“…”
Ren Di let out a satisfied laugh. “It was deliberate. What are you going to do about it?”
“Why?” Zhu Yun demanded.
“Because he annoyed me.”
It was the sort of reason that was so straightforward it left you with nothing to argue against.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Ren Di turned the question around. “You and him — whatever your relationship is, or was — why would news of him getting out need to come from me? Why isn’t he the one telling you?”
Zhu Yun was quiet for a moment, then asked: “When did he come see you?”
“Last night. He’d barely been out a short while. First place he went was Gao Jianhong’s — probably got rattled seeing that person with the surname Fang there — then he came straight to me asking for money. Speaking of which, did you get a good look at his face?”
“What?”
“He looked like the whole universe owed him something. Who owes him? Nobody owes him a damn thing.” Ren Di’s voice turned flat as she lit a cigarette.
“You know, back then, the band was funded by him…”
Zhu Yun swore she had only recalled it in passing and mentioned it without thinking — but Ren Di exploded in an instant.
“Are you blaming me now?”
Zhu Yun immediately backtracked. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Then what do you mean by it?”
Zhu Yun realized that when it came to these two people, she was always the one backing down — Li Xun was one, Ren Di was the other. That had never changed, not from the beginning.
“I just —” Zhu Yun couldn’t think of a good excuse, so she told the truth. “…I’m just a little happy.”
“What?”
After a day of turbulence, everything had slowly settled. Zhu Yun finally realized that beneath all the helpless twists and turns, beneath everything that had changed while some things had stayed the same, there was one simple, ordinary fact — the most ordinary of all, yet the one most deserving of attention and celebration: he was free.
Two years early. Two years might not seem like much to others, but for Li Xun, two years meant enormous uncertainty.
“You’re not angry?” Ren Di asked.
“What would I be angry about?”
“He came out and didn’t plan on looking for you. And with that attitude.”
“He’s always been like that,” Zhu Yun said. “It’s not like you just met him.”
Arrogant, hungry, and wildly disruptive — like a bandit who needed to make sure his own hands were full before anything else could interest him.
“Look at it another way,” Zhu Yun said. “The fact that he’s behaving like this shows he’s not going to fall apart.”
Ren Di burst into laughter.
“I could believe he and Fang Zhijing were getting along like family before I’d ever believe he’d fall apart.”
Some people and some words are simply incompatible.
Burning, pillaging, sweeping through like a storm — either conquer, or die trying.
Right or wrong was hard to say, but it was always how he had been.
“By the way,” Zhu Yun remembered something and warned Ren Di, “don’t give him money just yet. There’s someone with him — someone he met inside. I don’t trust that person. I’m worried he might act recklessly.”
“Your feelings don’t matter — what matters is what he wants to do,” Ren Di said coldly. “When has anyone ever been able to stop him? In that way, it seems like the beast hasn’t completely changed after all.”
“It’ll be fine,” Zhu Yun said, leaning against the spotless marble wall of the restaurant. “He only just found out about Fang Zhijing. His emotions are running high right now — once he calms down, it’ll be okay. Just give him a little time.”