Ten years ago, on one hot summer afternoon, the sky was overcast, heavy with dark clouds.
The swimming hall was brightly lit. Yang Ke was practicing backstroke, doing laps in the standard pool, while his coach timed him.
Just as he was about to hit his personal best, the door of the swimming hall opened.
Yang Ke’s fingers touched the pool wall, and he lifted his upper body out of the water just in time to see Secretary Xu pull the glass door all the way open, allowing his grandfather to enter, accompanied by a thin, frail-looking boy.
His grandfather stopped a few meters from the pool edge and said, “Yang Ke, come meet someone. This is Yu Zhinian, one of the recipients of my special scholarship.
“Zhinian is your age. He’s here on an exchange program funded by the scholarship project. I gave a speech for the program this morning, and we got along quite well. It turns out there was a mix-up, and they accidentally left him off the list, so they didn’t book him a room. The hotel is fully booked, and I thought it wouldn’t be fair for him to sleep on an extra cot, so I brought him home with me.”
Turning his head, Grandpa looked at Yu Zhinian with a kind smile and spoke in a tone that, to Yang Ke, sounded overly affectionate. “This is my grandson, Yang Ke, the one I mentioned earlier. He’s in the same grade as you.”
With a hint of nervousness, Yu Zhinian said “hello” to Yang Ke.
That was the first time Yang Ke and Yu Zhinian met.
Yang Ke couldn’t remember what clothes Yu Zhinian was wearing that day or what his hairstyle was. He’d thought it was just another of his grandfather’s eccentric behaviors, not expecting this poor exchange student to end up staying in his home for years.
Now, ten years later, the grandfather who’d brought Yu Zhinian home had passed away.
The old house in Ning City was empty, with only a few workers left to watch over the vast property.
Yang Ke didn’t choose to directly inherit his grandfather’s business holdings but instead founded a private equity firm with friends, which was doing fairly well.
Until November of last year, he and Yu Zhinian had lived together in a house in the Rose District, leading a busy yet not dull life.
At almost 1 a.m., Lawyer Li Lu called Yang Ke.
Yang Ke was still working, taking the call on speakerphone. Li Lu’s tired voice filled the study, “I’ve booked the ticket. I’ll have my assistant pick him up when he arrives.”
“Alright.” Yang Ke responded while reviewing the financial report his secretary had sent him.
“That’s all you have to say, just an ‘alright’?” Li Lu complained, sounding a bit frustrated. “By contacting you about this, I’m technically breaching some of the trust’s terms.”
Yang Ke turned a page, shifted his gaze from the report, glanced at his phone screen, and said to Li Lu, “Thank you, Lawyer Li.”
Li Lu had been Yang Ke’s grandfather Yang Zhongyun’s most trusted advisor during his lifetime. He was also the trustee responsible for the part of the will involving Yu Zhinian, temporarily handling a third of the company shares.
“…I’m not fishing for gratitude; I don’t need your ‘thanks,’” Li Lu responded, disgruntled, emphasizing his point in a tone of complaint, “Yang Ke, if I didn’t practically watch you grow up and didn’t feel an obligation to live up to your grandfather’s expectations for you two, I wouldn’t be doing any of this, nor would I be in such frequent contact with you.”
Yang Ke resumed reading the report, realizing that the company’s financials weren’t as healthy as he’d assumed, so he made a few notes.
Meanwhile, Li Lu continued his rant: “And if I’d known you’d go and buy that property near the school, I never would have told you about Lin Kai hearing that Zhinian was looking for a place to rent. What you did was risky, Yang Ke.”
Finishing the last page of the report, Yang Ke closed the document and opened another.
“What if the other shareholders in the company find out? What then?” Li Lu pressed. “If Lin Kai told me, don’t you think he might tell others?”
“It won’t happen again,” Yang Ke apologized. “I’m sorry.”
“…I wasn’t expecting you to apologize that easily.” Li Lu paused, seemingly taken aback, before saying, “Fine, then.”
“But it seems like Zhinian still intends to give it all up,” Li Lu’s tone slowed, with a hint of curiosity. “What’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?”
“No,” Yang Ke denied, “we didn’t fight.”
Li Lu was silent for a moment, then said, “I won’t ask any more. Your grandfather wanted you two to be okay.”
After the call ended, the room was quiet.
Yang Ke focused on finishing the report, then prepared to rest. He stood up, walked to the bookshelf, intending to pick a book to read before bed.
This study had once been used by Yu Zhinian. A whole wall opposite the desk was filled with shelves. Three rows held books belonging to him, with the top two filled with books on social sciences and anthropology, and the bottom shelf with novels he’d bought impulsively.
Yang Ke spent a few minutes looking, but couldn’t find an interesting novel, so he casually picked an older academic book from the top shelf.
Yang Ke had lived in this house in the heart of Rose District for over six years.
Two years ago, Yu Zhinian moved in with him because, according to local law, same-sex couples had to cohabit for two years to register for marriage.
The day before Yu Zhinian moved in, it had just snowed heavily in He City.
Smith had contacted a moving company to pack up Yu Zhinian’s things and had them delivered to Yang Ke’s house early in the morning.
Yu Zhinian arrived with only a backpack, wearing a coat with snowflakes on his shoes and a gray scarf around his neck. He smiled at Yang Ke and said, “Good morning, Yang Ke.”
Yang Ke didn’t respond, so Yu Zhinian said, “Why aren’t you talking to me again?”
“You’re not saying a word. It almost seems like you don’t want me moving in anymore.”
Yu Zhinian smiled as he spoke, and Yang Ke replied, “No. Come on in.”
Sometimes, Yang Ke thought that Yu Zhinian was the most thick-skinned person he’d ever met. No matter how many times he gave him the cold shoulder or ignored him, it was nearly impossible to drive him away. Sometimes, he even wondered if this behavior stemmed from the hardship of his childhood, making him extremely driven by a desire for security and money.
Sometimes he felt pity for Yu Zhinian.
Other times, he found him insufferable.
Yu Zhinian left He City in late autumn.
Yang Ke was on a business trip at the time. They had originally planned to register for marriage on the afternoon of his return. Smith had already booked the marriage registry and contacted Li Lu to handle the trust and share transfers.
When Yang Ke got home, he found that Yu Zhinian was gone.
Smith called him, trying to find out where he was. Yu Zhinian didn’t pick up, so the butler called the police.
While waiting for the police, the butler went to check the security footage in the surveillance room. Just then, Yang Ke received the last message from Yu Zhinian.
“I thought about it a lot, and I think we should skip the marriage. I’m heading back with my professor to work on a project. Goodbye, and I wish you happiness.”
Yang Ke had only watched the surveillance footage once.
In the video, Yu Zhinian was wearing a gray track jacket, pants, and sneakers, pulling his 30-inch silver suitcase as he walked out of the house, all the way to the front gate in the sun.
The cab driver he’d arranged was waiting for him and helped him load his suitcase into the trunk.
Yu Zhinian got in, shut the door, and left, never to return.
Ning City is in the country, where Yang Ke and Yu Zhinian attended high school; He City is abroad, where they went to college and later settled.
