Chapter 7

Yuan Ye was sprawled out on the sofa chair, eyes closed as he sunbathed. His phone started ringing. He reached a hand out and groped around. After answering, he squeezed a hum out from his throat in greeting.

The person calling said, “Come out. Let’s go drinking.”

Without even opening his eyes, Yuan Ye answered, “No.”

The other asked again, “Not even for tea?”

Yuan Ye’s eyes were still closed. “No.”

“What’s wrong?” Old Tu, the person on the other end of the line, questioned. “It’s a nice sunny day. Why are you holed up at home?”

Yuan Ye shifted onto his back from his side. He drew out his syllables, lethargically responding, “I’m lazy. Just got back yesterday and I’m tired.”

The other chuckled and asked him, “If you hadn’t brought it up, I would’ve forgotten. You’re done filming? What’s the situation? Nothing happened?”

Yuan Ye was too lazy to bother with him. He furrowed his brows and said, “Why are you so annoying.”

Old Tu cackled a few times, then announced, “Okay, quit being wishy washy. Hurry and come out. We’ll drink alcohol and eat meat.”

“Send your location.” After saying this, Yuan Ye hung up.

He had returned by plane yesterday and had originally intended on spending all day sprawled out at home. In all honesty, Yuan Ye was simply a lazy person. Not lazy in the way that meant he didn’t like moving, though. If it was for something he liked, he wouldn’t complain no matter how troublesome or tiring it was. He had even climbed the Himalayas before. However, for things that he didn’t enjoy or places he didn’t like, his entire being was lazy to an extreme. Going to film for the first episode of that show had taken only four days in total, but he still felt impossibly tired. His body needed to relax and his brain needed to rest.

He had moved a chair onto the balcony and curled up like a cat to nap. He stayed like that for half a day. It was comfortable, but he was also starting to get hungry.

Yuan Ye got up and tugged on a random change of clothes. He grabbed his phone and walked out the door, purposefully not driving. It was impossible to eat with Old Tu and not drink; this person was basically a giant vat waiting to get filled with alcohol.

When he got to his destination, he found it was a barbecue restaurant. Meat could be grilled on mesh grills. He walked in. Old Tu was already sitting on a tiny stool and using a fire iron to prod the coal. There weren’t individual rooms in this shop. It was only a large expanse of space covered by a tarp roof. A few walls separated the space into isolated areas. Yuan Ye guessed that it probably got quite rowdy here at night.

“You’re here?” Old Tu looked up at him. The man had a fairly square face and a beard on his chin.

Yuan Ye sat down so his back was facing everyone else. But right now, it was the middle of the afternoon. There weren’t any people around anyways. This table wasn’t big, only about a meter both ways, and also low to the ground. A larger person would probably feel really uncomfortable sitting on such small chairs and at such a small table. The decor in the room was the usual brick wall with concrete flooring. Many people who wanted to get barbecue were here for this fiery, smoky environment.

Yuan Ye lit a cigarette. He casually placed the box of cigarettes and his lighter on the ground. “Another shop?”

Old Tu finished fiddling with the coal and placed the mesh over it. He asked, “What do you think of this little shop?”

Tejc Tf gfqilfv, “Vjwf biv.”

Old Tu started laughing again. After completing the preparation and lighting a cigarette, he said, “It’s for Little Mei to play around with. Let her do as she wants.”

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Yuan Ye first ate some meat to fill his stomach with food before drinking with Old Tu.

When the two of them drank, they never really drank beer. It was always straight to the baijiu. Yuan Ye had an alright alcohol tolerance, but not to the extent that he never got drunk. When he drank too much, he would get rowdy and intoxicated too. He was willing to drink with Old Tu because ultimately, Old Tu’s personality fit Yuan Ye’s. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to become friends. The other had a type of carefreeness that had previously made Yuan Ye feel like they were the same type of person.

Living boldly and freely, being unbothered by all the matters of a mundane world.

Yuan Ye had turned his head away and cussed.

Too many scenes were appearing before his eyes. A storage of ten years that allowed him to retrieve memories at any time. Pages of recollections were flipped through quickly, until ultimately, they stopped on an overcast afternoon.

Fang Shaoyi’s eyes were terrifyingly red. He asked, “Have you made up your mind?”

Yuan Ye didn’t nod. He only blinked in silent confirmation.

At the time, Fang Shaoyi squeezed his eyes shut, hard. He yanked the chain with a ring dangling from it off his neck and threw it at Yuan Ye.

Yuan Ye reflexively reached a hand out to catch it. He just barely brushed the tail end of the thin chain. The metal ring slipped through his fingertips; when it landed on the ground, only an extremely soft clink could be heard.

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