The matter of renting a place did not proceed smoothly. There weren't many available places near campus; the ones nearby were too expensive while the ones too far away were really inconvenient. A few months passed, and they still could not find one that they liked. Compared to Xu Tangcheng, Yi Zhe had more free time, so most of the time, he was the one going out to view apartments. Zheng Yikun was also very concerned about it and came over whenever he was free.

During that time, Yi Zhe was also taking driving lessons and had to spend nearly two hours going to the northernmost point of the Haidian district every time. Xu Tangcheng saw that he basically had no time to rest every weekend and afraid that he would be exhausted, advised him not to be in a rush. If a place could be found, that would be good; if not, they could just drop the idea. But Yi Zhe shoveled two large mouthfuls of rice into his mouth and said, "I'll find a place."

This thing could not be delayed. Even if there was no progress, he still had to continue trying.

Despite that, in the end, he still failed to rent a place even after a long period of trying. There was no other reason than this: after a year of working as a home tutor, Yi Zhe resigned from this lucrative job and lost his biggest source of income just like that. The amount of rent became an even more important factor to be considered.

The last time he went to that bedroom pervaded with knowledge and schoolwork, the boy was sprawled on the desk listening to a walkman. The walkman was old, the paint chipped at the corner, and did not look at all like something that would appear in this affluent household.

Seeing him come in, the boy pressed the pause button.

A sound resembling the ringing of an ancient bell.

The boy took off his earphones and asked, "Are you leaving?"

Yi Zhe nodded. He didn't know why but he felt that this boy seemed to have grown thinner. Furthermore, after an entire summer, the boy had not turned even a little bit more tan, his skin still extremely pale and bloodless.

"Actually, my mum pays quite a lot," the boy suddenly said softly.

They had known each other for quite a long time now and would sometimes chat about their personal matters. The boy knew that he had been looking for a place to rent for the past half a year and saying those words at this moment was nothing but a reminder that working as a home tutor in this household was a very beneficial thing to his life.

Of course, Yi Zhe was well aware of this. When he decided to quit, he had informed Zheng Yikun. Zheng Yikun had now switched his focus to property flipping but even though he no longer managed the home tutoring business, he still understood the market very well. He advised Yi Zhe to think twice; if he looked for a normal part-time job, he probably wouldn't find a better one.

Yi Zhe didn't think twice. He insisted on quitting and even until the end, he did not tell Zheng Yikun why.

His resignation was definitely not on the spur of the moment. The concert ticket torn to pieces in the wastepaper basket was also merely the final straw that pushed him into making this decision.

The boy again spoke in a voice that wasn't loud. "After you leave, nothing will change. A new teacher will come, or I'll attend a new tuition class."

Yi Zhe didn't say anything but he patted the boy's shoulder a couple of times, the same thing he would do to a friend. He didn't know if it was an encouragement or a consolation.

That day was the first time the boy insisted on sending Yi Zhe off. It was a blazing hot summer's day, yet he put on a long-sleeved outer garment before going out, then slipped his walkman into the pocket. The mother was on the phone in the study. When they passed through the corridor, Yi Zhe wanted to go over to take his leave of her but the boy suddenly reached out to tug his arm, stopping him, and shook his head.

Yi Zhe took the subway back every time. It was a long way to walk from the residential area to the station so he told the boy to only walk him to the entrance. But the boy said, "I'll be scolded anyway since I've already come out without telling her. I'll walk a bit more."

The sun was hot and he was wearing many layers. They had only walked a short section of the way but now, when he spoke, the tip of his nose was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.

The boy was also someone used to being silent. The two of them walked more than halfway to the station and the only sound that struck the heated, parched air was the bottom of their shoes scraping against the ground. It was only when they passed a music records store that the boy stopped walking and stared in that direction, unmoving.

A poster was plastered over the glass window of the store. It was a poster announcing a concert.

Yi Zhe stayed with him to look quietly for a while, then asked, "Can you still go to the concert?"

Hearing those words, the boy withdrew his gaze. He shook his head and said softly, "There are no more tickets."

He spoke very calmly but even Yi Zhe felt that it was a pity and his heart ached. He still remembered, a month ago, the boy had furtively taken out that concert ticket from a maths textbook for Year 2 of senior high, three fingers pressing down on it and carefully sliding it over the desk to Yi Zhe. In Yi Zhe's recollections, the boy rarely smiled but when he lifted his head at that moment, Yi Zhe could see a faint upwards curve in the corners of the boy's mouth. The boy told him that this was his favourite singer. He helped a schoolmate increase their maths score by forty marks and that schoolmate gifted him the concert ticket.

"It's just the cheapest seat and it's even in a corner." Despite saying that, the boy still carefully wedged the ticket in a book that he didn't usually use.

When they were almost at the subway station, Yi Zhe received a call from Xu Tangcheng. Xu Tangcheng told him that he had encountered a technical difficulty that he had to solve, and that Yi Zhe didn't have to wait for him for dinner.

Yi Zhe went mmhmm a couple of times into the phone, then asked, "Do you want to eat something? I'll buy it and bring it over to you."

The person on the other end said something. Holding the phone, Yi Zhe started to laugh.

The boy watched him slip the phone back into his pocket and asked, "Your girlfriend?"

"Not really," Yi Zhe said.

The boy muttered to himself, repeating Yi Zhe's answer, then said softly, "It's the first time I've seen you laugh like that."

It was probably only when they were with the person they like that a person could not restrain their emotions. Looking at the person beside him whose head was lowered again, Yi Zhe's rough and simple way of thinking was, for once, perceptive.

The farewell between them was very unusual.

The two of them stood at the station entrance. There was a constant flow of people going down and coming up the escalators. The boy watched the backs of the people coming and going attentively, thinking of something. After a while, he said suddenly, "I've never taken the subway. My mum said that taking the subway is a waste of time. Compared to money, your own time is more valuable."

This was the period of time when Yi Zhe cared about money the most. If he was rich, he wouldn't have to give up the two apartments he had seen that were pretty decent. Hence, when he heard those words, all of a sudden, his thoughts became as jumbled as his surroundings.

With his mind full of thoughts of money and time, he got on the escalator. The boy waved at him, half a hand hidden in a large pocket.

Halfway down the escalator, Yi Zhe finally thought of giving the boy a concert ticket himself. When he reached the bottom, he quickly got on the escalator right at the side that was going upwards but by the time he rushed out, he saw the boy getting into a cab not far away.

A person's worldview was shaped by their environment and their experience, and once it took shape, it allowed each person to be the king within that space. There was no right or wrong, and it was very difficult for anyone to change, regardless of whether they had seized the throne themselves or were pushed into it.

The location of the apartment was pretty good. From campus, it took less than twenty minutes to walk there and the rent could still be considered cheap. The only disadvantage was that the building was on the older side and didn't have an elevator. Yi Zhe knew that Xu Tangcheng liked things clean so after finding the apartment, he purposely held back and didn't tell him. When he had given the place a thorough cleaning, he chose a sunny afternoon and finally brought Xu Tangcheng there.

The curtains were drawn open, the outside was filled with an abundance of sunshine.

Before their eyes were the dust motes shaken out from the curtains, illuminated clearly by the sunlight. It was the kind of atmospheric scene that Xu Tangcheng liked.

Facing the window, Xu Tangcheng looked at the view before him and fell into a curious stupor. He didn't know why but he felt that this atmospheric scene was full of significance.

How deeply touched was he?

If he had to select a few scenes to represent his life, he would select this one to represent them.

There was no Yi Zhe, and also no Xu Tangcheng, yet they were there.

The start of the first term in Year 4 of university meant the formal confirmation of the students who made the quota for automatic acceptance for postgraduate studies. With Xu Tangcheng as an example, Yi Zhe had naturally worked hard. He had a rough idea of where his academic results sat in the rankings so when he saw the name list put up on the announcement board, he didn't feel particularly surprised. On the other hand, Xu Tangcheng kept asking him which specialization he was applying to.

All this while, Yi Zhe had not given him an answer. In fact, he had not even thought carefully whether or not he wanted to continue studying.

A rug that Yi Zhe had carried back from the home furnishing depot not long ago was spread out in the living room of the rented apartment. After showering, the two of them put a laptop on the coffee table and sat together to study Yi Zhe's future choice.

"Why don't you first choose whether to continue studying or to start working? If you start working now, there are companies you can choose from but if undergrads from our course join those companies, they might be on the weaker side when it comes to work-related technical skills." Xu Tangcheng shot Yi Zhe a glance. "You'll need to interact with other people, can you do it?"

His hair had yet to be towelled dry. As he rubbed his head carelessly, Yi Zhe said, "I don't like to."

"In that case, don't start working yet. Continue studying, go into research."

The dripping wet towel was placed on the coffee table. Yi Zhe turned around, one leg blocking the way behind Xu Tangcheng's back, his other leg slipping under Xu Tangcheng's knees, and gathered the other person into his arms. He loved hugging Xu Tangcheng in this weird position and Xu Tangcheng even suspected that the reason why Yi Zhe had arranged a spot in the living room with this ambience was just so that the two of them could be in this position.

When the other person was securely in his arms, Yi Zhe continued to reject his suggestion. "I don't like doing research either."

He wasn't speaking carelessly, he truly realised that he couldn't muster up much interest in anything. There was no need to speak of interacting with other people, he basically ignored them whenever possible. As for research, he had the ability to do it but when it came to the matter of liking it, he was still miles away from that.

After hearing that, Xu Tangcheng put down the pen in his hand, crooked his finger at Yi Zhe and asked, "You don't like working, you don't like doing research, then what do you like?"

Yi Zhe rested his chin on Xu Tangcheng's shoulder and answered quickly, "I like you."

Xu Tangcheng choked on a breath.

He laughed aloud and reached out a finger to poke Yi Zhe's face. "I realised that you're a smooth talker now."

Xu Tangcheng turned his head to the side while he spoke; Yi Zhe seized the chance and—without giving him the chance to refuse—peppered him with kisses from his mouth all the way to his neck. The mood slowly turned not quite right. While things were still within control, Xu Tangcheng quickly grabbed Yi Zhe's hand that was getting up to mischief on his back and rapped on the surface of the coffee table. He warned him, "No, we're discussing serious matters."

Yi Zhe didn't listen. Using his advantage in physical strength, he continued to wrap Xu Tangcheng in his arms.

"Nope, nope." Xu Tangcheng pushed him. "Move aside. You must make a decision tonight, you can't delay it any longer. If you want to do a postgrad, you need to contact a teacher already. For this kind of automatic acceptance postgrad, a lot of teachers only have the quota for one or two students. If you keep delaying, all the good teachers will be taken by others."

How could Yi Zhe be in the mood to think about postgraduate and whatnot? Why had he huffed and puffed and carried the rug back, if not because the rug was outrageously soft and gave him errant thoughts the moment he touched it? He pretended not to have heard Xu Tangcheng but Xu Tangcheng also did not give in at all, trying to break free while telling him that they really could not do it today.

"I object!"

Xu Tangcheng was so uncooperative, Yi Zhe really had no way to continue. In the end, he used force to rein in the person in his arms, and said that line in a low, muffled voice.

Xu Tangcheng stopped moving and looked at him.

"What are you objecting to?"

"I'm objecting to the fact that you keep not letting me kiss you." Even thinking about it made Yi Zhe feel aggrieved. "Do you know what are the words you say the most to me every day now? The words you say the most to me every day now are 'no,' 'cannot,' 'not allowed,' 'Yi Zhe, move aside.'"

Xu Tangcheng was briefly stunned, Yi Zhe's perfect imitation provoking him into laughter. Since Yi Zhe was saying that, he felt that it was time to discuss this with him.

"Hey, will you be reasonable?" He turned slightly towards Yi Zhe and lifted his hand, his index finger poking the arm Yi Zhe placed beside him. "Tell me yourself, every time you do this, do you only kiss? In this room, when have you not gotten handsy?"

Every time, he would say that he just wanted to kiss a bit but when had he not kissed more and more and then started to pull up his clothes? They were both guys here, how could Xu Tangcheng not know the little schemes Yi Zhe had in mind?

Yi Zhe waned. He recalled for a while—there had indeed not been a single time recently when he had not gotten handsy.

"But this week, we haven't-"

"Haven't?" Xu Tangcheng interrupted him and asked in suspicion, "Then, was I dreaming two nights ago?"

He forgot that today was Wednesday.

Cornered by Xu Tangcheng until he could not say anything, Yi Zhe went completely silent and buried his face in Xu Tangcheng's shoulder, staying still on his own. Xu Tangcheng stifled his laughter and continued to browse the website, studying which teacher Yi Zhe should pick.

But barely a few seconds later, a very soft voice came from his shoulder.

"I want to apply to increase the frequency. Once a week is too little."

"Ow…" Upon hearing that, Xu Tangcheng immediately raised his left hand and rubbed his lower back. "My back kinda hurts."

"Your back hurts?" Yi Zhe immediately straightened up. "Why is it hurting?"

Xu Tangcheng gave him a look.

Yi Zhe pressed his lips together and recalled something, embarrassment showing on his face. He instantly slumped down again and covered Xu Tangcheng's lower back with a hand as he said, "Then I'll massage it for you."

The hot-blooded young man was finally settling down, the topic of discussion could also finally go back to the matter at hand. Yi Zhe saw that it was already eleven at night and didn't want Xu Tangcheng to sleep so late again, so he directly tugged away his pen and said, "Doing a postgrad or going straight for a PhD, either is fine. Don't need to pick a teacher either, I'll just pick the same advisor as you."

Such a simple matter.

But Xu Tangcheng hesitated a while, his brows furrowing. "You want to do satellite navigation too?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Seeing that Xu Tangcheng didn't seem happy, Yi Zhe was curious. "Can't I?"

"It's not that you can't." Xu Tangcheng thought for a while, then turned his head and said, "It's just that if two people are in the same specialisation, there won't be a feeling of admiration."

When two people knew each other's research field very well, there was a possibility that when one of them published a paper, the other person would find problems with it; or, if one of them decided on a topic that was more cutting edge, the other person would disdain it and say that it was unreliable.

"Huh? Do we need a feeling of admiration too?"

On the other hand, Yi Zhe had not considered this matter. His thoughts were simple: if he picked the same teacher, they could be in the same lab and that would be great. But, when he thought about it further, Xu Tangcheng seemed to be right. When he was in senior high, he didn't know anything and when he saw Xu Tangcheng's things that were related to his specialisation, he admired him so much.

"Then, I'll change to another one?"

Xu Tangcheng clicked into a news article on the faculty homepage and turned the laptop slightly to show Yi Zhe. "Why don't you go into something related to near space?"

"What's near space?"

"Something like the area between air travel and space travel. Even though it has been brought up for many years already, it's still a relatively new field. I think it has quite good prospects. It should become more and more popular for a long time to come."

Xu Tangcheng explained briefly and at the same time, looked up the phrase "near space" on the internet, wanting to find some information that was more professional to show Yi Zhe. But after he opened an article, Yi Zhe only read the first two rows before deciding. "This one, then."

"You didn't even spend three seconds reading." Xu Tangcheng didn't dare approve of Yi Zhe's attitude. "Aren't you being too flippant?"

"Nope." With an expression like he had already made his decision, Yi Zhe covered Xu Tangcheng's hand with his own and moved the mouse. He went back to the page on their own faculty website that introduced the teaching staff and saw that the introduction for one of the professors just happened to have a topic titled Near Space Remote Sensing.

"Professor Wei is a good choice." Xu Tangcheng followed the cursor and read. "He's a powerhouse and I heard that he treats his students pretty well."

After deciding on the path for his speciality, Yi Zhe immediately wrote an email to Professor Wei under Xu Tangcheng's guidance. The moment he pressed the send button, Yi Zhe breathed out in relief and dragged Xu Tangcheng to bed at once. Xu Tangcheng closed the webpages opened just now, asking at the same time, "Why did you decide on this so quickly?"

"Near space refers to the empty space between the highest altitude for ordinary aircrafts and the lowest orbit for satellites." Yi Zhe's memory was good. He repeated the line he had read just now and then added, "The two of us are next to each other."

This reason rendered Xu Tangcheng speechless. He laughed and shook his head, and turned off the laptop.

At that time, he had not refuted Yi Zhe but when he lay in bed, Xu Tangcheng had a thought. The U.S. Air Force defined the altitudes of near space as between twenty to one hundred kilometers and even though it was internationally agreed that altitudes above one hundred kilometers belonged to space flight, in reality, satellite orbits were designed to be above 120 kilometers. In 1959, the U.S. had launched a satellite with the lowest orbital point of 112 kilometers; one week after orbiting the earth, it fell.

On top of that, what he researched was satellite navigation. The orbit was at an altitude of 20,200 kilometers, extremely far away from near space.

As he thought further, Xu Tangcheng looked into the darkness and laughed silently. He felt that he was really a wet blanket; the other person had clearly given a rather romantic explanation but with this one correction from him bursting the bubble, it would become a tragic story where both sides could never touch each other.

These jumbled thoughts already kept Xu Tangcheng up for a long while and when he had just fallen asleep, a sudden ringing startled him awake. He was a light sleeper, the first ring had barely ended when he accepted the call.

Before the call connected, as per his usual habit, he fretted over whether something bad had happened to Xu Tangxi's health but unexpectedly, it was Cheng Xu in the call, crying.

Yi Zhe only roused groggily when he heard Xu Tangcheng speaking. Before his eyes opened completely, Xu Tangcheng sprang up and grabbed his arm.

"Quick, get up, something happened to Cheng Xu."

The bedroom light was not yet switched on. Yi Zhe heard a loud sound—it was the wooden chair being knocked to the floor.