The bus slowly pulled up beside the stop. The two got off one after the other. With his back turned to Zhi Li, Ke Bu secretly sent a text message. To avoid being discovered, he even used code words: “The tiger has reached the cave entrance. How are the preparations going, little cockroach?” The moment he sent it, a reply came back at lightning speed: “The cage still isn’t ready, little dung beetle. Stall him for another hour.” These code words were incredibly obvious. Ke Bu gripped his phone, turned around, and acted as though nothing had happened. “What do you think about going for a thirty-kilometer walk?”
“If it’s to find a pit in some deserted place and bury you, then sure.”
“Could you handle my funeral with any less care?!” Ke Bu calculated the time in his head. Finally, he gritted his teeth and resorted to his last move. Turning his back, he slapped himself hard across the face more than ten times until his cheeks began turning faintly red. Then he rubbed his eyes until they became watery. Turning around, he bit his lower lip and spoke softly. “Zhi Li, what do you think about going for a thirty-kilometer walk?”
“Where did you get the confidence to think that changing into a mentally deficient expression would get you a different answer?”
“Don’t I look pitiful enough right now?”
“You do look pretty pitiful. I only want to ask you one thing: doesn’t it hurt?” Zhi Li looked at Ke Bu coldly and sat down on the bench at the stop, his beautiful face melting from the light into shadow. For one brief, dazed moment, Ke Bu felt as though he had returned to the very beginning. He sat down beside Zhi Li, their elbows touching.
“Want to find something to talk about?”
“Just tell me directly how much longer they need over there. And pass along a message while you’re at it: if it’s too cheesy, they die; too gaudy, they die; too cliché, they die; too boring, they die; if it takes too long, they die; if I have to walk too far, they die.”
Ke Bu froze. The Zhi Li from that spring had vanished along with spring itself. “Is there any way not to die?” Ke Bu humbly asked for guidance. Zhi Li lifted his eyelids slightly. “Anyone unwilling to die will die horribly.”
“Isn’t that a little too cruel!!”
Time passed quickly. Even though it was already seven o’clock, the sky was still bright—the brightness that belonged to summer. Ke Bu brought Zhi Li to a house. It was a very simple house belonging to Su You Yan’s aunt. Since she had moved to another city, it had remained empty.
Ke Bu pushed Zhi Li several meters away and knocked three times on the door, continuing their code. “Little cockroach, it’s me.”
“So little dung beetle has arrived.” Somehow, all these code words seemed designed to insult each other. The door opened a crack, and Ke Bu slipped inside. Very soon, his head poked back out. “I need to go in and prepare first. Wait here. Just five minutes.” Ke Bu held out his palm to indicate the number five, not daring to keep his gaze on Zhi Li’s face. Zhi Li had always been very sensitive to this kind of thing, and getting him all the way here had already been difficult enough.
Very soon, Ke Bu’s voice came from inside. “You can come in now.”
Zhi Li’s expressionless face remained cold. He lazily turned the doorknob. The inside was completely dark. Usually, at an ordinary birthday party, this would be the moment when someone pushed in a cart covered in candles and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” together. But if that scene appeared here, Zhi Li would probably smear cake over several people’s eyes and blind them. The lights came on. Soft illumination filled the room, pale and faint. Zhi Li narrowed his eyes and looked over the group. Their clothing was coordinated: the boys wore yellow plaid shirts with blue trousers, while the girls wore dresses.
“Welcome to An’an Kindergarten. This is the Guoguo Class.” Everyone spoke almost in unison, though some failed to keep pace and became background noise. Zhi Li’s expression became complicated, carrying a faint, helpless smile. He looked as if he wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent. No wonder he reacted that way. The outfits Ke Bu and the others wore were modeled after the uniform from Zhi Li’s kindergarten days, and the room had been decorated to resemble the Guoguo Class he had attended at An’an Kindergarten. The walls were covered with secretly taken photos of Zhi Li on every birthday from childhood onward. Ke Bu pushed Zhi Li from behind until they reached something covered with a white cloth. Ying Xiu Jie was already standing beside it. “We all pooled our money to buy this for you. Of course, by ‘we,’ I mean everyone except Ke Bu.” Ying Xiu Jie made that distinction very clearly. He pulled off the white cloth. Beneath it was an easel, but unlike any ordinary easel. It had exquisite dark-blue legs, a pale-blue frame, and sky-blue edging.
Everyone watched Zhi Li like first-time cooks anxiously waiting for someone to taste their food, carrying faint nervousness. Zhi Li folded his arms, one hand resting beneath his chin, his fingers sliding over his skin before his brows furrowed slightly. That tiny movement made everyone uneasy. After all, they had worked so hard to repay Zhi Li. If he did not like it, all their effort would have been wasted. One minute passed. Two minutes passed. It was not until five minutes had gone by that the room remained trapped in a strange silence, while Zhi Li continued staring at the easel. Just as Ke Bu was debating whether he should speak, Zhi Li lowered his hand and looked at Su You Yan. “Mm. All the demerit points for this month can be erased.”
Su You Yan nodded, then immediately took out her black-and-red notebook. As the saying went, when the dragon countenance rejoiced, amnesty was granted beneath heaven. The happiest of them all were Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie. Everything about the birthday celebration followed the simplest possible route. There was no birthday cake and no “Happy Birthday” song. Zhou Xin He had prepared a whole table of food. After dinner, they began watching a movie. Zhang Luo turned off the lights, and the room darkened. Zhou Xin He suddenly cried out, “Ah~~ Who touched my butt!!”
“It wasn’t me.” Chu Hao Yu cleared himself faster than anyone else.
“Other than you, I can’t think of a second person,” Ke Bu said contemptuously.
“What kind of person do you take me for? No matter how shameless I am, I wouldn’t do something like that today!” Chu Hao Yu’s voice was full of grievance and anger. At that moment, the television screen lit up, and their vision became clearer. Everyone looked toward Chu Hao Yu. His hand was stealthily creeping toward Ying Xiu Jie’s butt, and the expression on his face was unbearably obscene. Ying Xiu Jie turned around. The two of them froze at the same time, then immediately jumped apart. Ying Xiu Jie pointed at Chu Hao Yu and cursed, “You pervert! What were you trying to do to my ass? Duel me!!”
Chu Hao Yu became even angrier. “Why is it you? Wasn’t You Yan standing there just now? Why did you randomly switch places? Don’t you have any morals? It’s so dark—what if someone gets stepped on!!”
Ke Bu sprawled lazily across the sofa, drinking cola. Zhi Li sat beside him. Some of the others sat on the sofa, while others sat on the floor in front. Ke Bu turned his head and looked at the easel again. Those animals had actually given Zhi Li such a sincere gift while excluding him. When he came back to his senses, he discovered Zhi Li staring at him.
“What?”
“I’m not giving it to you.”
“Who said I wanted it!!”
“Shh!!” The others impatiently hissed at Ke Bu for speaking too loudly.
“I advise you not even to think about it. It’s mine.”
“Listen properly when people talk!! Sometimes I realize you’re especially childish.”
“Shh~~~” Another impatient hiss.
“What’s wrong with you people? You only make that sound when I’m talking.”
“Shh~~~”
Ke Bu pursed his lips and fell silent. He tore open the wrapper of a lollipop and placed the green candy in his mouth, stirring it around. Less than ten minutes into the movie, Gong Zhu began crying uncontrollably, constantly pulling tissues from beside him as broken sobs escaped him. The others grabbed popcorn and threw it at Gong Zhu’s head. “This is a comedy! What exactly are you crying about?!” Su You Yan had a book resting on her knees. Using the dim light, she alternated between reading and lifting her head to watch the movie. Ke Bu’s fingers accidentally touched Zhi Li’s, but deliberately did not move away. His little finger playfully explored through the light from the screen, moving from Zhi Li’s little finger to his ring finger, then his middle finger, and finally his index finger, until Zhi Li caught it and held it in his hand. Coldness was Zhi Li’s temperature, spoiling Ke Bu’s emotions in the scorching summer heat. Ke Bu threaded his fingers between Zhi Li’s and held tighter and tighter…
At night, after the movie ended, the two sat on the rooftop. Zhi Li leaned slightly backward with both hands braced behind him and looked at the dark sky. The sound of insects filled their ears. A gentle breeze passed by, lifting the hem of his clothes and stirring Ke Bu’s eyelashes. Ke Bu bent his legs and rested both hands on his knees. He checked the time. There were only a few minutes left until Zhi Li’s birthday ended, so he took a plain, simple envelope out of his bag. The only decoration was a little Mr. Black Bear standing in one corner. He placed the envelope inside Zhi Li’s bag.
“What is this?” Zhi Li asked lightly, as though he did not particularly expect an answer.
“Ke Bu’s instruction manual and authorization letter.”
“At this point, shouldn’t it come with a warranty card?”
“You think you’ve been using me for too long, don’t you? Support domestic products, understand?” Ke Bu furrowed his brows, lowered his head, and lightly bit Zhi Li’s arm before quickly releasing it. Then he continued, “I put all my wishes and my entire world inside this. I’m giving it all to you for safekeeping. Don’t lose it.”
Zhi Li’s fingers brushed across Ke Bu’s eyes. His expression was indistinct. Ke Bu leaned closer, trying to catch the meaning behind that fleeting expression. “Give me some inside information. What birthday present do you want next year?”
“You being here.”
Zhi Li’s lips lightly kissed Ke Bu’s forehead, and he pulled him into a comfortable embrace. Those two short words trembled fiercely in the air. Ke Bu buried himself in Zhi Li’s clothes. The clock struck midnight. Ke Bu raised his head, his brilliant gaze blooming in the darkness like moonlight. He grabbed Zhi Li’s collar and pressed his lips close to Zhi Li’s ear. “This is the first kiss for the you who just turned one year older. Don’t worry, it’s free.”
Hide my heart inside your vessel. Many years from now, even if this body gradually grows old, even if time secretly plays tricks, even if life changes again and again, it will still beat vividly in your direction. Through the transparent glass, I can see it clearly. I hope you can too.
Futile Devices Scans 
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