Withered leaves covered the ground. Autumn was both the season of harvest and the season of decay. Holding a broom, Ke Bu mingled among his classmates and occasionally waved it carelessly across the ground, pretending to clean. Since higher authorities were coming to conduct an inspection, the chancellor had ordered the entire school to carry out a thorough cleanup. After barely sweeping a few times, Ke Bu already felt exhausted and listlessly slipped off to a corner to slack off.
Zhi Li was lying on a bench with his sketchbook covering his face. One hand was pillowed behind his head, while the other hung over the edge of the bench. Apparently, Ke Bu was not the only one slacking off. Then again, he could not imagine someone like Zhi Li holding a broom and rag to clean. Zhi Li gave people the impression that he existed above the mundane world. Ke Bu crept over quietly and dropped himself onto Zhi Li’s legs. Zhi Li pulled the sketchbook from his face and saw Ke Bu’s mischievous expression. “What? Since we’re lovers, sitting on your lap is perfectly normal. I’m sure you won’t mind.”
“I’m sure you won’t mind no longer having a butt either,” Zhi Li threatened softly. Ke Bu moved his backside away and sat a little farther forward. Zhi Li remained lying behind him. Ke Bu placed the broom between his legs and hugged it. “If you keep being this lazy, watch out for muscle atrophy. You’ll spend the rest of your life lying down.”
Zhi Li covered his face with the sketchbook again. “Then you can take care of me.”
“Wh-Who would take care of you?” It was clearly only a joke, yet Ke Bu could not control his emotional reaction. Whenever he grew embarrassed, he easily began to stammer. “Our relationship only exists in name anyway. When you fall for someone else, we’ll go our separate ways. Maybe we’ll never meet again for the rest of our lives, and then, when we attend a class reunion, we’ll joke around and tease each other about the foolish joke we made when we were young.”
“Is that so?”
Ke Bu propped his chin on the end of the broom handle. Even through their clothes, he could feel Zhi Li’s warmth against his back. “Hey, Zhi Li, what kind of person would you fall for? Do you have a type?”
“No.”
“No way. Other than drawing, can’t you like anything else? Are you even human? I have a type. The person I date in the future absolutely has to be gentle, virtuous, delicate, refined, and capable of cooking excellent food.”
“You should at least choose a partner based on your own qualifications.”
Ke Bu gritted his teeth and glared at Zhi Li. Unfortunately, Zhi Li could not see him because the sketchbook was covering his face. It was strange. The time Ke Bu spent with Zhi Li always seemed surrounded by something impossible to describe, so comfortable that it gave him the urge to stretch lazily. He continued their earlier topic. “You should at least casually choose something to like. That way, when you fill out personal information forms in the future, you won’t leave too many blank spaces.” What an unusual method of persuasion.
Zhi Li did not speak. Ke Bu looked at the blue shirt Zhi Li was wearing, then at his own clothes. Coincidentally, he was also dressed in blue today. “Why don’t you choose blue as your favorite color from now on? How about that?”
Zhi Li still did not respond. Ke Bu pursed his lips. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll decide for you. To make it fair, I’ll choose something to like too. What should I like? Help me think.” Seeing that Zhi Li still ignored him, Ke Bu mischievously decided to tease him. “Hey, Zhi Li, why don’t I choose you as the person I like?” Zhi Li did not move in the slightest. That was not enough to frighten him either?
“Hey, hey, hey. That’s a terribly rude way to hold a conversation.” Ke Bu removed the sketchbook from Zhi Li’s face and discovered that he had fallen asleep. His handsome face wore a completely unguarded expression. Ke Bu chuckled softly. “You’re really not giving me any respect. You actually fell asleep.” He carefully placed the sketchbook back over Zhi Li’s face to block the light, then lifted Zhi Li’s dangling hand and returned it to the side of the bench. Leaning back between Zhi Li’s legs, he rested his head against the bench and gazed at the clear blue sky stretching all the way to the limits of his vision. That was where angels lived. It was said that every angel possessed a perfect face. As Ke Bu continued looking, his eyes gradually narrowed. He yawned. “Zhi Li, what a pity. You missed this scenery. The blue sky is beautiful, just like you. I’m sure there must be one angel missing up there, because you’re here. You bastard, where did you hide your wings?” His voice grew weaker and weaker until Ke Bu fell asleep.
The sunlight was neither intense nor dazzling. It merely scattered its clear light gently over the two boys, making the scene appear ethereal. From time to time, the wind swept fallen leaves beneath them, brushing past Ke Bu’s canvas shoes. His grip gradually loosened, and the broom fell diagonally onto the ground.
A piercing bell jolted Ke Bu awake. He opened his drowsy eyes. His neck ached from remaining in the same position for so long. Rubbing it, he looked around blankly and could not immediately remember where he was. Only after quite a while did he recall everything. When he lowered his head, Zhi Li was already gone, and Zhi Li’s jacket had been draped over him.
“He actually left without waking me!!” Ke Bu grabbed the jacket and put it on, muttering to himself, “Just watch. I’ll wear your clothes until they’re completely ragged before returning them.”
Because of the school-wide cleanup, classes ended earlier than usual that day. Unfortunately, the weather refused to cooperate. Ten minutes before school was dismissed, a steady autumn drizzle unexpectedly began to fall. The dark sky pressed heavily downward. Ke Bu stood inside the teaching building, watching the rain with a worried expression. When would it stop? Looking at the students who had brought umbrellas, Ke Bu repeatedly cursed them in his heart.
Zhi Li walked past Ke Bu as though he had not seen him, opened an umbrella, and stood in the rain. Ke Bu hesitated over whether to ask him for help. But then he would owe Zhi Li another favor. Zhi Li was someone who showed no mercy regarding debts—anything owed had to be repaid. While Ke Bu was still struggling internally, Zhi Li turned his head and looked at him. “Are you coming or not?”
Ke Bu thought agreeing immediately would make him appear far too eager, so he decided to put on airs and folded his arms. “No. I’ll walk back in the rain later. These aren’t my clothes anyway.” Ke Bu shook the slightly overlong sleeves. He had assumed Zhi Li would invite him again, but Zhi Li merely left him with one sentence before turning away. “Then I’ll go first.” Ke Bu rushed into the rain and ran beneath the umbrella. “You were really going to leave!!”
“What exactly do you want?”
“Speaking of which, I never expected someone like you to remember to bring an umbrella.”
“Who said this umbrella was mine?”
Ke Bu suddenly had a bad feeling. “May I ask where the object above our heads came from?”
“It was hanging outside the classroom.”
“So that means…” Ke Bu abruptly shouted, “This belongs to someone else!!” Zhi Li tilted his head away from Ke Bu’s voice, his expression somewhat confused, like an ignorant child. There it was again—that expression. “What? Was I not allowed to take it?”
“Of course not!! Didn’t your mother ever tell you that this is theft?”
“No. She only said that whenever you need something, you should try to take it from someone else.”
“What kind of education is that!!! It looks like there’s only one solution. Once we get back, we’ll burn the umbrella and destroy the evidence.” Why had Ke Bu not even considered returning it to its owner? Apparently, compared to Zhi Li, he was not much better.
The two put the trivial matter aside and continued forward. The rain struck the umbrella with a soft, rhythmic patter. As Ke Bu walked, he suddenly heard quiet whispers nearby.
“Look, look. That’s Zhi Li, the one I told you about.”
“The one who attended the same elementary school as you?”
“Yeah. Lots of people at school were afraid of him. No one dared play with him. It wasn’t just him either. Even his family was terrifying whenever they came to parent-teacher meetings. I remember his mother saying during her speech to the parents, ‘If any of you have complaints about Zhi Li, feel free to report them to me. Once you’re finished, I’ll bury you in my backyard.’”
Zhi Li expressionlessly swept his gaze over the two people speaking. They immediately turned onto another path.
“Two piles of dog shit,” Ke Bu declared angrily.
Zhi Li stared at Ke Bu’s indignant face. “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Why should I be afraid of you?”
“Even if I did anything?”
“This is how I plan to live my life: if you casually take someone else’s umbrella, I’ll help you dispose of the stolen goods; if you rob a bank, I’ll keep watch outside; if you want to blow up the school, I’ll stand beside you and hold the matches; if you kill someone…” Ke Bu looked left and right as though afraid someone might overhear, then leaned closer and whispered, “I can help you dismember the body. I guarantee no one will ever find out.”
Zhi Li stopped walking, frowned slightly, and sank into thought. Ke Bu continued, “This is an artificial city. Lots of people wear hypocritical, false masks. I told you the first time we met that I like your personality. You’re genuine. In this ugly world, I like seeing ugliness clearly and living my own ugly life. So…” Ke Bu took hold of the umbrella handle and held it for Zhi Li. “I think I might, probably, perhaps like your family too.”
Zhi Li did not speak. Ke Bu nudged him with his elbow. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking that when I fill out personal information forms, I might, probably, perhaps write your name in the space for the person I like.”
Why could he say something so easily that was bound to cause a misunderstanding? Ke Bu tightened his grip on the umbrella handle. “Wh-Wh-Wh-What exactly are you saying?!”
What was he going to do? Ke Bu was stammering again.
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Futile Devices Scans 
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