According to He Chu San’s original plan, after the wedding he was supposed to spend three days and three nights holed up at home with Xia Liu Yi, clinging to each other and never leaving the bed except to eat. Snacks, fruits, and meals he had prepared in advance filled an entire refrigerator. Even the bed sheets and duvet covers had been stocked—twenty full sets, neatly folded in the cabinet. As for condoms of various styles and flavors, he had bought four whole boxes, though not a single one had been used yet.
Who could have imagined that the bed would collapse on the very first all-nighter?
He even had to call Kevin to order a new bed, but Xia Liu Yi snatched the phone away with a dark expression. “Don’t tell him about this kind of thing!”
“It’s fine, K-Boy knows everything. He even helped me draw my bullet muscles.”
Xia Liu Yi glared. “Mention those bullet muscles again and I’ll—” He had meant to say I’ll beat you up, but remembering Mr. He, he changed his words—“…I’ll kiss you.”
He Chu San beamed. “Bullet muscles, bullet muscles, bullet muscles.”
Xia Liu Yi pulled him over with a fierce face and kissed him three times.
He Chu San pushed his luck. “Bullet—ah—!” He got bitten hard right on the “bullet muscles.”
In the end, they had to call cleaners to tidy up the room and dismantle the broken bed frame. He Chu San stood downstairs directing them while holding his aching waist, while Xia Liu Yi wrapped himself in a clean bedsheet and hid up on the rooftop terrace, basking in the sun and eating mangoes to fill his stomach.
But his stomach was already full of the warmth He Chu San had left inside him; above, he peeled a dripping mango, and below, he still felt the lingering dampness. After just a few bites, he couldn’t eat anymore. Wrapping the thin sheet tighter around himself, he lay down on the sofa. The morning sunlight was gentle, the sea breeze soft. The rooftop had been renovated in recent years, covered with wooden flooring and filled with greenery—flowers and plants everywhere. Half-closing his eyes, he took it all in, faintly hearing He Chu San speaking with the workers downstairs, his voice calm and refined.
He could hardly believe this day was real.
After finally seeing the workers off and filling the bathtub next door with hot water—the old apartment was too small, so He Chu San had long ago purchased the adjacent unit and remodeled the entire floor, adding his study and other living spaces—he slowly made his way upstairs, holding his waist, to fetch his Brother Liu Yi.
When he went up, he found Xia Liu Yi wrapped tightly in a bedsheet like a cocoon, his head resting on a stack of books, fast asleep. The corners of his lips curved slightly, his expression peaceful and content.
He Chu San sat beside him, gazing at him for a long time. As he looked, he unconsciously pinched his own thigh. He truly couldn’t believe this was real—he had dreamed of this countless times before, only to wake and glance at the calendar by his bed, feeling a hollow emptiness in his chest.
Reluctantly, after a long while, he leaned down and kissed Xia Liu Yi’s forehead. “Brother Liu Yi, let’s go take a bath.”
……
After resting at home for most of the day, eating and drinking their fill, they went out in the evening hand in hand to buy a new bed. Walking through the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, most of the landmark buildings remained as they had been years ago, but the storefronts and the brightly dressed pedestrians were clearly different now. Kowloon Park, which had opened the year they first met, was still there—now an old park, with scattered elderly people sitting and resting inside. Beyond it, a new building was under construction, fenced off, with a sign reading “iSquare.” Xia Liu Yi looked around curiously the whole way.
“Why are there so many mainlanders?”
“They like coming here for tourism now.”
“Why is everyone carrying milk powder? Did mainlanders have lots of babies?”
“The milk powder here is better quality.”
“What’s that person holding?”
“A mobile phone.”
“Why doesn’t it look like yours?”
“That’s a flip phone, mine’s a slide phone.”
“Why are they all staring at their phones? Does a phonebook take that long to read?”
“Phones can access the internet now—2G.”
“What’s that handsome guy holding?”
“Uh… not sure.”
“I’m going to take a look… is it a game console? There are little animals jumping inside.”
“Oh, that should be a handheld console, I’ve heard of it.”
“There are things you don’t know?”
“I don’t play those.”
“Let’s buy one, let’s buy one—I want to play.”
Holding He Chu San’s hand, Xia Liu Yi squeezed into the crowd, greeting bumped tourists in clumsy Mandarin, “Ni hao! Ni hao! Sorry!” Looking around happily like a child.
He Chu San smiled as he watched his back—as if looking at a fourteen-year-old boy. There was no trace of a man in his forties.
Very quickly, Xia Liu Yi got his hands on the latest PSP handheld console. Standing at the counter, he held it eagerly, pressing buttons here and there, tilting it left and right in curiosity.
“You turn it on like this,” the young salesgirl said, placing her hand over his to press the power button. By accident, she brushed against his warm fingers and glanced up at him—Xia Liu Yi was completely focused on the screen, delighted like a child.
“Miss, teach me how to open a new game—anything is fine, I just want to try.”
“You have to buy games separately—press this, then this.” The pretty salesgirl stood very close to him, nearly pressed against his broad chest and handsome face, her heart fluttering as her cheeks flushed red.
He Chu San, who had just finished paying at the cashier and returned with the receipt, happened to see this scene. He never expected that even now, with Brother Liu Yi already a middle-aged man, he could still radiate such charm everywhere. Feeling a twinge of jealousy, he squeezed in and separated them. “You can play at home slowly. K-Boy knows how to use this—he can teach you later.”
Without even lifting his head, Xia Liu Yi clumsily pressed the buttons with one hand, while with the other he swung out and precisely pinched He Chu San’s lips. “You’re only allowed to mention K-Boy three times a day. Any more and I’ll beat—bite you.”
The two of them left the salesgirl surrounded by the overwhelming “sweet smell of romance,” then went next door to buy a phone. Xia Liu Yi quickly got himself the same model Nokia slide phone as He Chu San. As they walked, he impatiently asked He Chu San to teach him how to use it. Relying on memory, he manually entered and saved the numbers of He Chu San, Cui Dong Dong, and Xiao Ma, then very carefully asked for Mr. He’s number and saved that too.
As he saved the contacts, he said, “Let’s buy some gifts later. Tomorrow we’ll go visit Dad and Mom.”
He Chu San laughed. “So considerate now?”
Xia Liu Yi shot him a glare. “You’re not the one being threatened with getting your head smashed.”
“And Xin Xin’s number? I want K-Boy’s too.” Then Xia Liu Yi suddenly realized something. “Why hasn’t your phone rung all day? No one calling President He?”
He Chu San took out his phone and waved it—switched off. “I told everyone I’d be out of contact for three days. No one’s allowed to look for me. If it weren’t for your parole preventing you from leaving Hong Kong, I would’ve taken three months off and traveled everywhere with you.”
As he spoke, heedless of the people around them, he pulled Xia Liu Yi into a tight embrace. “When your parole ends, I’ll sell the company, and we’ll go buy an island in the Bahamas.”
“Hahahaha!” Xia Liu Yi burst out laughing. “Surrounded by the sea on all sides, just the two of us from morning till night?”
“Exactly.”
“So cheesy! Hahaha!”
“I’m serious—what’s cheesy about it…” He Chu San tried to cling to him again, but Xia Liu Yi suddenly spotted something. “Beef offal! They’re selling beef offal over there!” Grabbing his hand, he ran toward it.
Holding a steaming bowl of curry radish beef offal, Xia Liu Yi picked up a piece of tender, broth-soaked radish and put it into his mouth. He closed his eyes in bliss, savoring it for a long moment before swallowing. Only then did he exclaim, “Damn! That’s amazing! I’ve missed this so much.”
Turning back, he saw He Chu San still pretending to sulk in an overly dramatic, “too-gay” way. Laughing, he picked up a piece of beef tripe and fed it into his mouth. “Eat up, Actor He! Want to live on an island? That’s easy. I used to have a house on Lamma Island. Dong Dong probably bought it later. We can go stay there on weekends—halfway up the mountain, totally secluded. You’ll only see me all day long—won’t take three days before you’re sick of me.”
He Chu San had never known about that house. Back when Xia Liu Yi was sentenced, he had to pay massive fines, and all his personal assets—except the main company of Xiao Qi Hall—were auctioned off. At the time, He Chu San had spent heavily dealing with Master Qiao and the Old Shopkeeper, leaving him unable to participate in the auctions. Only years later did he gradually regain enough wealth to buy back their old apartment, Xia Liu Yi’s village house, and Azure Dragon’s villa one by one. If he had known about that property, he would have bought it long ago.
“When did you have a place there? You had a house and didn’t tell me? Sister Dong Dong didn’t tell me either? It’s been over ten years and you never mentioned it?”
“Ah, I forgot, I forgot—who remembers that stuff…” Carrying bags of purchases, the two of them bickered all the way, gradually disappearing into the neon-lit crowd.
……
Xia Liu Yi said he would sell durians—and he really did. Before long, he rented two adjacent stalls at the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market and started openly selling fruit. He gave one stall to Limping Sha as support for his retirement, and together they took in several elderly ex-convicts who had difficulty finding work, letting them help run the stalls and transport goods. After setting off strings of firecrackers and placing large flower stands, the business opened in full festive style.
Next door was a Broadway Cinema and an old Cantonese opera theatre. When they had free time, a few old friends would watch movies or operas, or sit at the stall playing bridge bare-chested while shouting and joking. Retirement life was as comfortable as it could be.
“Twin-Blade Xia, have you no shame?” Limping Sha cursed while playing cards. “You’re still so young, and you’re already retiring with us?”
“How am I retired?” Xia Liu Yi replied righteously. “I’m a house husband now—buying groceries and cooking every day, contributing labor to the family, creating GDP, understand?”
“GDP? What nonsense?”
“G—D—P! That’s what happens when you don’t study English.”
“Hah! House husband! Tell everyone why you just moved recently!”
“…” Xia Liu Yi’s face darkened. “Shut up. Say one more word and I’ll cripple your other leg too.”
Laughing wildly, Limping Sha jumped up and ran, shouting at the top of his lungs, “House Husband Xia made turtle soup for his wife, then went downstairs to buy salt, got addicted to playing games by the roadside and forgot to go home—burned down the whole floor of his building! Hahaha!”
“You old bastard! Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!” Xia Liu Yi chased after him.
They ran out into the street, nearly crashing into a parked Ferrari. Xia Liu Yi quickly pulled him back. “Careful! You alright?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Good. Don’t let that broken crutch scratch the paint—I can’t afford it!”
“If you can’t afford it, let your wife pay.”
“Get lost!”
As they joked, the rear window of the Ferrari slid open slightly, and someone inside glanced at them with disdain, letting out a cold scoff.
Xia Liu Yi heard it but didn’t care. Supporting Limping Sha, he walked back, casting only a brief sideways glance at the car—just enough to see a head of bright red hair.
……
The Ferrari soon drove off. Xia Liu Yi and Limping Sha returned to the fruit stall to continue playing cards. Limping Sha chatted as he played, “Public security really is better now. We’ve been open for over two months, and no one’s come to collect protection fees.”
Another old friend sighed. “You got out too late to know. The police are everywhere now—patrols, surveillance cameras. Those old ‘one-unit-one-girl’ setups are gone. Smuggling white powder isn’t as profitable as smuggling milk powder anymore. Even porn DVDs don’t sell—young people just watch online for cheap. Not only have triad thugs changed professions—even film directors don’t make triad movies anymore. They’ve gone to the mainland to make patriotic films.”
“So you’ve ended up in the best times,” Limping Sha laughed. “Back then you collected protection fees—now you pay money, but don’t have to pay protection fees!”
“Bah!” the man sighed. “What good times? I spent twenty years in prison—came out in my fifties or sixties. My best years are gone. My whole life—it’s just miserable.”
Xia Liu Yi handed him a cigarette, fumbling under the table before finding a lighter to light it for him. Only after the man took a drag did he say, “Come on, Uncle Jiao, take it easy. Who among us didn’t have our glory days? Who didn’t step on others to get ahead? We brought it upon ourselves—it’s what we deserved. Now that we’ve paid our dues, let’s live the rest of our days well. What ‘best years’ are there in life? Whenever you’re happy—that’s your best time. Didn’t you see the news? An eighty-year-old woman won a ballet prize—that’s her best time. Look at you now—sunshine, cigarettes, cards, soda, mangoes—what’s not good?”
“Xiao Liu’s right! Right, right!” The old friend sighed, clinking soda bottles with him.
At that moment, two young female customers peeked at the fruit stall. Xia Liu Yi immediately noticed and stood up. “Hello! What would you like to buy?”
Futile Devices Scans 
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