In the early days of winter, the air in Beijing was extremely dry. One morning, when washing up, Xu Tangcheng's nose even bled. It was a problem he had had for many years. During this season, his nose basically couldn't even be touched. He pulled a couple of tissues and pressed them against his nose and walked out with his head tilted up.

"What happened to you?" Cheng Xu was putting on his shoes and vaguely saw something amiss with him. Concerned, he wanted to come over to see but he accidentally tripped on the internet cable on the floor along the way and came crashing down.

"Careful, careful," Xu Tangcheng repeated.

Cheng Xu was short-sighted but refused to wear his glasses for long periods of time, saying that it would cause his eyes to change shape. Unless it was strictly necessary, he would firmly refuse to wear his glasses. Xu Tangcheng had to admire him for being able to put up with knocking into all sorts of things all day every day.

"I'm fine. The air's too dry."

Cheng Xu said that he was going to a company to do research. Early in the morning, he had already left carrying his school bag with him. Before he left, Xu Tangcheng tossed a bread over to him and told him to eat it on the way.

A school senior had asked him to help give some guidance to the undergraduate smart car team, saying that the junior had made appointments with him a few times already but he was too busy recently and really didn't have the time to so he had no choice but to ask Xu Tangcheng for help. Xu Tangcheng got changed and was just about to leave when he got a call from the junior. The junior said that they had gathered for a meal yesterday night and might have gotten stomach upset from the food. They were all currently in the hospital and receiving intravenous drips. He asked if the guidance session could be changed to another day.

Xu Tangcheng naturally agreed to it, then asked about their condition out of concern. After confirming that they were okay, he ended the call.

His plans were cancelled at the last minute. Before this, Xu Tangcheng had worked to the bone for a week to complete an article for publication and right now, he didn't want to go to the lab at all. He cleaned the dorm room while listening to music, then carefully fastened the loosened internet cable back into place. After that, he really had nothing to do anymore. He did some mental calculations and decided that he might as well buy a train ticket and go home.

Originally, he had thought that he would stay at school for these two days. Hence, on Friday, he had lent his car to someone else.

Zhou Hui was very surprised to see him home. "Didn't you say that you weren't coming back? Have you eaten?"

"I've eaten. I had something on at first but I don't now, so I came back."

Zhou Hui came forward to welcome him and took the items in his hand. "What did you buy?"

"A humidifier."

Zhou Hui frowned the moment she heard him. Xu Tangcheng hurriedly explained before she could speak. "I know there's one at home. Put one in yours and Dad's room too. It's been too dry recently."

Zhou Hui gave him a glare and rebuked him for spending money frivolously again.

Xu Tangcheng smiled and changed his shoes. He looked at the empty house and asked curiously, "Where's Dad and Tangxi?"

"I sent the two of them to your grandma's house. I just finished spring cleaning. During this season, there's too much dust in the house. Once the heating warms up the air, even I don't feel good, much less the two of them." As she spoke, Zhou Hui took the jacket that Xu Tangcheng had just removed and held up a sleeve in distaste. "Aiyo, look, the sleeve is dirty."

"How could it be?" Xu Tangcheng poured himself a glass of water. "I just washed it. I've only been wearing it for two days."

"You must have not scrubbed the sleeves when you washed it the last time. The sleeves and the collar have to be scrubbed with soap. If you just throw it directly into the washing machine, it definitely won't be washed clean. I'll wash it for you again later."

Xu Tangcheng downed the glass of water and slaked his thirst. Hearing the sound of the washing machine spinning, he put his hand on Zhou Hui's shoulder resignedly and tugged away that jacket that she was disdaining and pushed her towards the sofa. "All right, all right. I'll wash it again myself when I go back. Take a rest. I'll be leaving tomorrow. If you wash it now, it won't dry in time."

"You don't wash it clean. I'll wash it for you and put it on the radiator to dry overnight. You're so busy at school, it'll save you the trouble of washing it…"

After arguing for a long while, Xu Tangcheng failed to out-stubborn Zhou Hui. He had no choice but to watch her take his jacket, empty the pockets out onto the coffee table, and go into the bathroom.

"Oh, that's right. Your uncle previously asked you to go over when you're back. Yikan is in Year 3 already, isn't he? Apparently, he wants to go for the universities' independent admissions. I remember that you helped out at your school's independent admission program, didn't you? You can go over and talk to him." Zhou Hui came out, her hands still covered in soap bubbles. "Why don't you go over now? No. 1 happens to be on holiday today. Yikan's at home."

"Maybe later." Xu Tangcheng fixed the humidifier and yawned. "I'm going to sleep for a while. I'm sleepy."

Xu Tangcheng wasn't the type who was very energetic and had the habit of taking afternoon naps. Even if it was just a fifteen-minute nap, he needed that nap. He slept for a while, his mind fuzzy, and was woken up by the sound of a door closing. This was how it was for light sleepers; even with a door between him and the outside world, the smallest noise seemed magnified right beside his ears.

"Ge? Why are you home?" Xu Tangxi looked in surprise at the person in pyjamas walking towards her. When she got over her surprise, she quickly stuffed the bag in her hands into the shoe cabinet.

"Oh, you don't want me home?" Xu Tangcheng pretended not to see her conspicuous cover up and asked in a normal tone of voice, "Why are you back alone? Where's Dad?"

"Still at Grandma's place," Xu Tangxi said softly. She crouched down to change into slippers and her short hair fell forward, hiding half her face. By the time she stood back up, there was already a slight blush on her face.

Xu Tangcheng remained standing in front of her. He watched her face for a few seconds, then suddenly reached his hand out to open the shoe cabinet. Xu Tangxi reacted quickly and pushed on the door to keep it close and said in a rather panicked voice, "Hey, hey, hey, it's not for you to see!"

Xu Tangcheng looked at how she was guarding it fiercely and laughed. In actual fact, he just needed to note the date and count the days, and he could guess what she had bought. He was just teasing her a little. In accordance with the little lady's wishes, he preserved the sense of mystery for her and did not pay any more attention to that paper bag.

After laughing, Xu Tangcheng suddenly noticed that Xu Tangxi was wearing a down jacket that he had never seen before. It was pink in colour.

"You bought new clothes?" He tugged lightly at Xu Tangxi to make her turn around. "It looks pretty good."

The down jacket was the type that was a little longer than the short type. It was A-shaped and there was a section that was extra puffy at the bottom. There was even a pink pom pom on the hood. It was very cute.

Xu Tangxi glanced at him and mumbled a noise of agreement.

Zhou Hui came out at that moment. When she saw the garment on Xu Tangxi's body, she immediately asked, "Didn't you go to Grandma's place? You even went shopping?"

Xu Tangxi looked at Zhou Hui, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

Zhou Hui was very satisfied with this item of clothing. She had never deemed it a trouble to do laundry and she liked buying pastel clothes for Xu Tangxi, dressing her up like a little princess.

"It's just nice. It suddenly turned cold in the afternoon today and I was just thinking that you wore too little. At first, I wanted to send a jacket over to you but I thought that you wouldn't be stepping out of the house anyway and it wouldn't be cold if you come back in a cab, so I didn't go over. It was right of you to buy it when you went shopping. If you caught a cold, that would be troublesome."

Xu Tangxi made a noise of agreement. She took off the down jacket and hung it on the coat rack, then removed the white cotton quilted jacket she was wearing inside. She shot Xu Tangcheng a look. Instead of going back to her room, she slowly shuffled over to the living room and sat down there. Xu Tangcheng looked at the pink down jacket in front of him and then at the faux-nonchalant looks Xu Tangxi was sending this way every now and then. It was indeed rather strange.

Before he could mull over the matter, he suddenly felt that the coat rack was a little empty. He pushed aside Xu Tangxi's down jacket and cotton quilted jacket, and realised that his own outer garment that he had hung there had flown off somewhere. He went searching. As he suspected, not only his jacket but also the few other items of clothing he had worn home were all draped on the radiator now.

Xu Tangcheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Mum, why did you wash all of them for me? What am I going to wear out?"

"Just look for another set of clothes," Zhou Hui called out from the kitchen. "If I wash them for you, you can save the trouble when you go back."

Xu Tangcheng had no other choice. Silently, he hugged Zhou Hui who was coming out carrying a plate of fruits, picked a piece of apple and put it into his mouth, then went into his room to choose his outfit.

He didn't have many clothes and the ones he usually wore were all at school. He hadn't brought any of them home this time. He rummaged in his closet for a long while before finally throwing together an outfit he thought was still acceptable.

When he looked at his reflection in the mirror, Xu Tangcheng himself was laughing. He couldn't even remember when he bought this preppy white sweater. He hadn't worn it much anyway. Matched with a light khaki mid-length coat with cow horn hooks and a pair of light jeans, it looked rather like he was pretending to be younger than his actual age no matter how he looked at it. If he wore this back when he was in first year of university, it would have suited him more then.

After informing Zhou Hui, Xu Tangcheng took a bag of trash and went out.

He had just reached the entrance of the building when he felt a gust of cold wind. Xu Tangcheng shivered and quickly pulled the hood up over his head.

Speaking of which, it was strange. He threw the trash into the bin and the black cat that had never ever paid any attention to any humans unexpectedly padded over to his feet. Xu Tangcheng crouched down to look at it. The black cat only shrank its neck back; it didn't retreat. Initially, Xu Tangcheng thought that it must be extremely hungry and had come to ask for food but after taking a closer look, he realised that it was not at all thin and had even become a little fatter.

"You're fed well."

He had just muttered this line when he heard the sound of a bike braking. He looked up and saw Yi Zhe whom he had not seen for a long while.

Surprisingly, he was only wearing thin workout clothes.

"You're wearing so little, aren't you cold?"

Xu Tangcheng stood up and walked towards him with a smile.

The moment he saw Xu Tangcheng, Yi Zhe was already quickly pulling off the earphones stuffed in his ears.

"No."

"Even if you're young and strong, this is not the way to do it." Xu Tangcheng looked at his hands and ears that were red from the cold. "When I was young, there was once when my ears froze from the cold. It was so painful. Furthermore, after that, they freeze easily once it's winter. You should get a pair of gloves for when you're cycling and it's also best if you put something on your head."

Yi Zhe listened to him and nodded.

The two of them didn't speak anymore. The black cat let out a meow at this moment. Yi Zhe got down from his bike and put it up on the rack.

"You bought food for it?"

The plastic bag from the supermarket was opaque. Xu Tangcheng could vaguely tell that there were sausages inside.

"Yeah. It's quite picky too. In the past, I bought cat food for it but it didn't eat that. It only eats this type of sausage." As he spoke, Yi Zhe opened the bag he was carrying. But perhaps he had been too flustered and forceful when pulling out his earphones just now, at some point, the cord had tangled around the plastic bag. Yi Zhe bent his reddened fingers to unwind it but he was clumsy and seemed unable to get at the heart of the knots or grasp the logic behind its twists and turns.

"Let me."

Xu Tangcheng reached out a hand and took those two items from his hands.

He deftly picked at it and just like that, he completed the task of separating them.

Yi Zhe took the bag from his hands. Without saying a word, he crouched down to feed the cat.

"Are you going out?"

"Yeah. I'm going over to my uncle's."

The black cat was purring happily as it feasted. Yi Zhe didn't know what else he could say to Xu Tangcheng who was standing next to him. He could only pretend to be watching this little black thing eat, his thoughts wandering.

A hand stretched out in front of him, the thumb and index finger holding the white earphone cord wound in a neat circle. The other three fingers rested lightly against it.

Yi Zhe's eyes followed this hand to look at Xu Tangcheng. Xu Tangcheng still had his hood up and was crouched down beside him, and was also looking at him. Yi Zhe finally understood why he thought that Xu Tangcheng looked exceptionally good today.

His outfit today wasn't like what he usually wore. It made him look younger. On top of that, the hood on this coat was very large. When pulled over his head, it covered half his forehead, his eyebrows just barely visible beneath it. Under these circumstances, the edge of the hood seemed to draw a line that accentuated his eyes. And when Xu Tangcheng smiled, his eyes were curved.

"Do you feed it every day?"

Xu Tangcheng suddenly spoke, interrupting Yi Zhe's observation of his eyes.

"Nearly." Yi Zhe lowered his head to hide his emotions. "If I come back, I'll feed it."

Xu Tangcheng understood now. "No wonder it's growing so well."

As much as Yi Zhe hoped that the black cat would eat a while longer, it evidently could not understand his desire. As usual, it made quick work of the two sausages. Before running off, it even looked up at Yi Zhe and meow-ed like it was making reservations for tomorrow's meal.

After it was done eating, Xu Tangcheng also said that he was leaving. Yi Zhe silently crumpled the plastic bag in his hands into a ball and threw it into the nearby trash can from a distance.

Xu Tangcheng had already walked some distance away, hands in his pockets. Suddenly, he thought of the matter of the universities' independent admissions.

"Yi Zhe," he called out.

He thought Yi Zhe would turn around and it was only then that he realised that Yi Zhe hadn't moved at all. Instead, he was standing straight right there, looking at him.

He didn't know if it was the darkness of the night or the cold wind that gave him a boost but Yi Zhe's gaze would make him remember this for many years to come, so much so that every time he remembered this in the future, he would feel an urgent need to see this young man smile.

No anticipation, not even a feeling of waiting. There was only a quiet and tranquil loneliness, no fuss, no noise.

In an instant, he thought of the black cat looking at him anxiously just now.

"Have you… eaten?"

Perhaps it was true that after a long period of interaction, a human and a cat would grow to resemble each other.

The words coming out of Xu Tangcheng's mouth changed the subject from his original intention because all of a sudden, he couldn't bear to abandon Yi Zhe who was looking at him with those eyes in this gradually darkening night.

From a distance of a few steps away, Yi Zhe blinked as though he didn't think Xu Tangcheng would suddenly ask him this.

"You haven't, have you? Let's go, it's my treat."

Xu Tangcheng saw there was a bit of light in Yi Zhe's eyes now but as before, Yi Zhe was hesitant.

"Aren't you going to your uncle's place?"

"I didn't tell them I was going over anyway. It's just nice that we can get something to eat first before I go over."

At that time, smartphones were just starting to be popular. They couldn't yet use apps to get suggestions on what to eat and could only rely on digging through their memories on the spot for shops that they remembered had delicious food. Xu Tangcheng was afraid that Yi Zhe would be shy so he stated the names of a few places that he thought were decent and let Yi Zhe pick from them. He wanted to treat Yi Zhe to something good but against his expectations, Yi Zhe said, "I want noodles."

"Noodles?"

"There's a noodle shop right nearby, Wang Shifu." Yi Zhe brought his arm up and pointed in a direction. "The second intersection up ahead. Turn into the street and it's right there."

Xu Tangcheng searched his memories and remembered this noodle shop that he had frequented when he was in senior high.

"Ah, that shop. I've not been there in ages. It's still in business?"

Yi Zhe nodded and looked at him earnestly.

"Sure." Thinking that the shop wasn't considered near, Xu Tangcheng suggested, "I didn't drive home. Let's take a cab there."

But Yi Zhe had already gone to get his bike. He pushed it in front of Xu Tangcheng and hesitated a while. "It's not really far. How about I give you a ride there?"

But Xu Tangcheng's train of thought went off the rails because he noticed with surprise that Yi Zhe's lips were curling upwards. It was not obvious but it was indeed curling upwards. In that second, the first thought that appeared in Xu Tangcheng's mind was, So it turns out that it's so easy to make him happy.

"Sure." He didn't say that it was a little cold and instead, agreed indulgently. But when he looked at the bike, he shook his head with a smile. "Your bike doesn't have a backseat."

This time, Yi Zhe replied quickly, "There's a crossbar."

Xu Tangcheng's gaze shifted to the front. He was speechless. The crossbar was clearly slanted.

He looked up and wanted to explain objectively to Yi Zhe that it was not possible to get a steady seat on this type of crossbar. But when he met the teenager's hopeful gaze, for some unknown reason, he smiled and said, "Okay."