After putting away his luggage, Ke Bu showered and changed into clothes suited for the seaside: board shorts and flip-flops. Everyone was tired from spending so long traveling, so they decided to stay at the villa for the day. Zhou Xin He was preparing dinner in the kitchen, and the faint aroma of food drifted through the house. Ke Bu went to the terrace on the second floor, where the entire ocean spread out before him. Zhi Li was sitting on the railing drawing. Ke Bu crept closer on tiptoe, never having imagined he would ever be in the mood to play this kind of game.
Ke Bu covered Zhi Li’s eyes from behind with both hands. “My voice sounds a lot like Ke Bu’s, but I’m not Ke Bu. Guess who I am.” Even though he couldn’t see, the pencil in Zhi Li’s hand kept moving.
“Ke Bu’s doppelgänger.”
“No!”
“An alien.”
“No!”
“Whoever you are, pervert, if you keep impersonating Ke Bu’s voice, I’m going to hit you.” Reality really did develop very differently from television dramas. Ke Bu finally released him. “It’s me. The real Ke Bu.”
“What were you trying to do?”
“Nothing. Television lied to me.” Ke Bu rested both hands on the railing. The sea breeze carried the scent of the ocean, making him want to breathe deeply. “Every time I come here, I don’t want to leave. No wonder Lan Yin chose this place.” That expression that meant Zhi Li had just thought of a good idea appeared on his face again. Ke Bu really didn’t want to hear it.
“Why don’t I have Yin build you a grave here? Then you can stay forever.”
“Am I supposed to praise you or thank you?!”
“Either is fine.”
“…”
Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie carried the dining table onto the spacious terrace and clapped their hands. “Done.”
“We’re eating out here?”
“With scenery this good, where’s the romance in eating indoors?”
“Romance alone isn’t enough.” Ke Bu began listing all the disadvantages of eating outside. “Never mind how strong the sea breeze gets at night. You’ll turn the lights on while we eat, right? Then all the moths and mosquitoes will come. Will you still have an appetite? We’re on a mountain, not at some seaside hotel.” Ke Bu wasn’t deliberately trying to ruin everyone’s fun. Reality forced people to consider environmental problems. The moment he imagined moths landing in the food, he lost his appetite completely.
Chu Hao Yu thumped his chest. “I’ll solve that problem.” He raised his middle and index fingers toward the sky. “Barrier! There. Problem solved.”
“Do you believe I’ll beat you to death?”
In the end, the thoughtful Gong Zhu found a huge sheet of transparent plastic. It wasn’t strange for something like that to exist here. Maybe Lan Yin used it to wrap corpses after killing people. Ke Bu helped too, and together they built something that actually did resemble a barrier. The first thing Lan Yin did after waking from her nap was light herself a cigarette. The place had been turned into complete chaos, but she behaved as though she couldn’t see any of it. As long as nobody blocked her path or inconvenienced her, she almost completely ignored everyone other than Zhi Li.
Ke Bu first glanced at Su You Yan, who was reading as though nobody else existed, before turning to Lan Yin. “Um, Your Highness, didn’t Uncle Zhi move here to live with you? Why haven’t we seen him?”
“Him? He barely stays here for more than a few days each month. Work is the most important thing in the world to him anyway. I told him to sell his shares in the company and we could make our money by gambling instead, and he actually ignored my suggestion. Is that how you treat your wife? A man like that—I’d rather not see him. I’ve already forgotten what he looks like.”
Ke Bu abruptly turned toward Zhi Li with an extremely serious expression. “Zhi Li, in the future, let’s live with your dad instead.” No matter how he looked at it, siding with Zhi Zuo Si was clearly the smartest choice. Lan Yin, who had been supported by other people her entire life, possessed absolutely no experience with surviving in society or managing money.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Lan Yin narrowed her eyes.
“Nothing at all. Your Highness, please don’t overthink it.”
Lan Yin moved her fingers. “My wine.” Zhang Luo, famous for his talent as a bootlicker, ran the fastest. He handed her a wineglass first, then slowly poured red wine into it with the movements and posture of a waiter in a five-star restaurant. “For the honor of pouring wine for you, I practiced at home for an entire year.” Lan Yin swirled the wine in her glass. “And the food to go with it?”
“I’ll hurry them up.”
Lan Yin lifted the plastic sheet and went inside. Whether deliberately or accidentally, she sat beside Su You Yan. With one leg crossed over the other, she lazily swung one foot, her ankle elegantly extended. Ke Bu dragged Zhi Li over and sat down too.
“Disappointed you didn’t get to see Zhi Zuo Si?” Lan Yin tapped her fingers against the table without looking at Su You Yan. Su You Yan didn’t look at her either. “A little. Also, please don’t treat me like a child.”
“If I treat you like a woman, can you avoid disappointing me?” There wasn’t the slightest smell of gunpowder between them. To Ke Bu, it looked more like Lan Yin was egging Su You Yan on to do something bad. Lan Yin was far too confident—not in herself, but in Zhi Zuo Si. Su You Yan posed no threat to her. Or rather, no woman or man posed a threat to her.
“I’ll deal with my own feelings myself.” Su You Yan closed her book. Lan Yin ran a fingertip along the rim of her glass. “Sometimes you can’t solve anything by yourself.”
“Dinner’s ready.” Chu Hao Yu and the others brought the dishes to the table. Ying Xiu Jie carried a whole box of expensive foreign liquor. “Whoever gets drunk first has to clean all this up tomorrow morning.” Sometimes their bets were so trivial they had no meaning whatsoever.
“Then whoever finishes this whole plate of chilies first gets to sleep with me tonight!” Chu Hao Yu joined in. Zhang Luo added, “First one to start sweating has to lend me his underwear.”
“…”
“…”
The scenery outside was blurred through the plastic sheet. The sounds of glasses clinking rose one after another, with faint insect cries still audible outside. Ke Bu had already drunk a lot. His vision began to drift. It had been such a long, long time since he had felt drunk. Conversation. Laughter. Why, in the middle of summer, did the word warmth suddenly appear in his mind and spread through his body together with the alcohol? Ke Bu began smiling stupidly without realizing it. He looked toward Lan Yin. With her head supported in one hand, she exhaled smoke while watching Zhi Li eat. Is that what a mother’s eyes look like? Is this warmth what home feels like? Ke Bu lowered his head onto the table. Whether it was because of the place, because of the alcohol, or because of something else didn’t matter. The feeling of home had been gone for such a long time. Tears slid down Ke Bu’s face. They wouldn’t stop. They kept coming. He rarely behaved like this, yet he actually began sobbing aloud.
“This guy’s drunk.” Zhi Li easily hoisted Ke Bu over his shoulder. Still crying, Ke Bu shouted, “I’m not drunk! I’m not drunk! I don’t want to be responsible for cleaning up this mess tomorrow morning!” Zhi Li carried him back to the room anyway and threw him onto the bed. Ke Bu’s tears still wouldn’t stop. “I look pathetic, don’t I?! Really pathetic. I’m not sad, Zhi Li, I…”
“Shh.” Zhi Li pressed one knee against the bed, bent down, and kissed Ke Bu’s eyes.
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