Futile Devices Scans

The hotel room had only a single wall lamp turned on. Lin Yi sat at the edge of the bed, bare from the waist up.

A dark bruise stretched across his back, running from the shoulder blade to his side waist—deep purple tinged with blue, shocking to look at.

Zhou Ruo An stuffed an unopened ice pop into a woman’s long stocking, forming a narrow strip. He pressed it against the bruise, then pulled both ends tight and tied a knot across Lin Yi’s chest.

Watching Lin Yi shiver, Zhou Ruo An curled his lips into a smile. “What do you want to hear me say? Thank you?”

“A promissory note is worth more,” Lin Yi adjusted the stocking and said dully, “Blocking a disaster—one hundred thousand.”

Zhou Ruo An cursed under his breath, dragged over a chair, and sat astride it. He stretched out his hand, holding it under Lin Yi’s gaze.

His fingers were clenched, then slowly opened. Resting in his palm was a piece of candy.

“I admit it—I was wrong before. Brother Lin, you’re magnanimous, don’t hold it against me.”

It was just an ordinary fruit candy, the kind convenience stores use as change when they’re short by a few cents.

Lin Yi had once had a similar candy—also given by Zhou Ruo An, after asking him for help.

He had kept that candy for a whole year, moving it from one pocket to another, never eating it.

In the end, it was Zhou Ruo An himself who ate it—he sucked on half, then tossed the remaining half beneath the smallest terrace of the Zhou family villa.

The pink candy block was wrapped in dirty snow, devoid of any beauty.

Now, another candy was placed before Lin Yi. He stared at it for a long while before pinching it between his fingers and examining it under the light.

“Zhou Ruo An,” he said—a name he hadn’t spoken in a long time, “you’re not someone who admits fault, unless you think there’s value in doing so.”

The candy wrapper gleamed under the light, dazzling—like Zhou Ruo An’s outward appearance, strikingly attractive.

But what lay inside might not be sweet—just like the soul beneath that exterior. Whether it was human or something else was hard to tell.

Very quickly, Lin Yi dismissed the thought. This candy definitely wasn’t sweet.

“You’ve simply realized I still have some use to you—that I can help you achieve certain dirty desires. And since you don’t want to spend money negotiating business with me, you’d rather lower your head and admit fault. That way, no matter what you want me to do in the future, a single candy will be enough to settle it.”

He weighed the candy once in his palm, then tossed it high. Just like the lighter from earlier, it landed in the trash can.

“Zhou Ruo An, put away your little schemes. Between us now, if you have money, we talk business. If you don’t, get lost.”

With that, Lin Yi stood up and got dressed. A loose knit sweater was pulled directly over the stocking. He picked up his coat and walked toward the door. “I’m hungry—going to eat.”

His hand rested on the doorknob, then he turned back. “Oh right—big debts can be deferred, but interest must be paid. That’s the rule. Half a month counts as one term—I’ll come collect.”

“As for the first term, forget it,” his gaze fell on the bandage at Zhou Ruo An’s neck, “I bit hard enough—consider it settled.”

Lin Yi clearly saw the flare of anger in Zhou Ruo An’s eyes. After savoring it for a moment, he opened the door and left.

The hotel corridor was long and winding. Just as he reached the corner, a cool voice came from behind.

Zhou Ruo An leaned against the doorframe, tossing a coin up and down in his hand. “Feelings may be gone, but business remains. Let’s have dinner together tonight—I’ll treat.”

…

At a grimy roadside stall, two beer glasses clinked together.

Zhou Ruo An had been an abandoned child, born into hardship, yet he always carried himself like a young master. When eating, he barely paid attention, taking a bite here and there.

Back when Lin Yi was at the table, Zhou Ruo An only needed to move his lips or give a glance, and Lin Yi would understand immediately. He didn’t serve attentively, but everything was handled just right.

Once, when Zhou Ruo An ate alone with Bai Ban, he acted the same way. Bai Ban’s eyes widened like bells, words like “idiot” and “disabled” hanging on his lips for several minutes before he finally stopped.

Today, however, Zhou Ruo An acted completely out of character, taking full responsibility for pouring drinks and serving dishes. The moment Lin Yi took out a cigarette, Zhou Ruo An had already brought a flame to him.

Lin Yi looked at him, lowered his head to light the cigarette, and after exhaling the first puff of smoke, said, “Are you betting that I’ll go soft on you?”

Zhou Ruo An put away the lighter, placed a freshly grilled oyster onto Lin Yi’s plate, and admitted with a smile, “You’re not a heartless person.”

He suddenly grabbed Lin Yi’s sweater, rose to his feet, slipped his hand inside from the collar, tore a hole in the long stocking, and pulled out an ice pop.

“Back then, when you got injured and needed icing, it was fine in winter—you could just find ice outside. But in summer, there was no way, so I came up with this method.”

Zhou Ruo An tore open the wrapper of the ice pop in his hand and poured the milky melted liquid into an empty cup.

“We couldn’t bear to throw it away after it melted, so we’d tear open the bag and take turns drinking it—like we were sharing some kind of divine nectar.”

He lifted the cup, took a sip, then extended his arm and offered it to Lin Yi. “For the sake of everything we went through together, forgive me one more time.”

Lin Yi tapped the cigarette twice against the corner of the table before finally taking the cup. He didn’t drink, only set it down casually. “Zhou Ruo An, it’s not that I expect nothing from you. We can’t go back to how things were.”

As he spoke, the man slowly lifted his gaze. His eyes were deep and enduring, carrying something obscure that Zhou Ruo An couldn’t read.

Fireworks exploded outside, breaking apart their locked gazes. Zhou Ruo An glanced out through the narrow window and saw the central square packed with people, all looking up at the brilliant sky.

He lit up his phone screen and checked the date. “Christmas—a foreign holiday.”

Unable to coax him back, Zhou Ruo An simply abandoned the attempt. So he wants something? He scoffed lightly—wasn’t it just money?

There was a chill in his heart, the cold seeping in through the window and slipping into the cracks inside him. Zhou Ruo An found himself being sentimental. When he had decided to part ways with Lin Yi before, it had seemed like a wise move made with clear judgment. But now that he was the one being left behind, there was a sourness in his chest—damn it, it didn’t feel good at all.

The conversation had died. At their table in the corner, only the hotpot bubbled away.

People in the restaurant began heading outside one after another to watch the fireworks. Zhou Ruo An asked casually, “Want to watch? I’ll go with you one more time.”

Lin Yi was a rough man—ruthless in fights, foul-mouthed enough to curse someone’s ancestors—yet he liked watching fireworks.

In the past, Zhou Ruo An had accompanied him every year. Back when they didn’t have a car, they would ride an old bicycle up the mountain during New Year’s. When it got too cold, they could only stop halfway up. Without a viewing platform, they watched the grand fireworks over the city through layers of withered branches.

They were dazzling—truly dazzling—and beautiful, but too fleeting. Zhou Ruo An had never been interested in such unreachable splendor. Every time, he would curse while hugging himself against the cold, “Lin Yi, if I come watch this with you again next time, I’m your son.”

Lin Yi would just laugh, wrapping his scarf around Zhou Ruo An’s neck. Zhou Ruo An would keep cursing, yet the next year he would still pedal up the mountain with him, the wheels spinning fast enough to spark.

“Want to watch? I’ll go with you one more time.”

The words were like finishing a drink—signaling the end.

Lin Yi crushed out his cigarette, grabbed the coat hanging over the chair, kicked open the restaurant door with his foot, and stepped outside.

They didn’t go where the crowd was. Instead, they stood under a tree at the edge of the square. The willow branches were bare, swaying in the wind, brushing against Zhou Ruo An’s hair before teasing Lin Yi’s cheek.

Lin Yi pushed the branch aside and looked at the fireworks. “Don’t you want to know what I want from you?”

After that wave of bitterness passed, Zhou Ruo An found himself no longer caring much about the answer.

“I don’t really want to know—but if you say it, I’ll listen.”

Lin Yi lowered his gaze slightly. In the cold wind, he bent closer to Zhou Ruo An’s ear, his hoarse voice sinking straight into him. “I want something from you.”

A willow branch brushed past something soft—and then Lin Yi’s lips followed, pressing down…

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