"I don't care."

After saying that, Yi Zhe turned and left the kitchen. Xu Tangcheng heard the door slamming. He never thought that this person would really just leave like that.

After being together for so long, this was the first time they were fighting.

He could sense that Yi Zhe was already suppressing his own emotions as much as he could. He also knew that he was truly angry. When he agreed to Yu An's exchange condition, he had already thought of how Yi Zhe would react. He felt that he understood more than anyone else what kind of existence Xu Tangcheng was in Yi Zhe's heart. But he didn't know how he could make Yi Zhe understand that the prerequisite for a future with the two of them was that there must be the two of them.

The kitchen was unbearably quiet. Xu Tangcheng couldn't stand being there alone. He opened the window, wanting to smoke, but failed to find a cigarette after patting down his whole body. The wind coming through the window was also warm, rustling the plastic bags on the window sill, increasing his frustration.

Xu Tangcheng stared out the window for a while. Finally, he lifted his hands and pressed on his eyes. He closed the window, thinking that he should at least cook.

He brought the tomatoes to the sink. He didn't control his strength and when the tap was just turned on, the flow of the water was heavy. The noise drowned out everything and when Xu Tangcheng adjusted the flow to make it lighter, there was already the sound of footsteps coming near.

He came back pretty quickly.

Xu Tangcheng kept his head lowered, not looking up. He kept an ear out for any sounds in the apartment and then suddenly caught a glimpse of his wrist that was red from being gripped earlier.

The kitchen door was pushed open. Xu Tangcheng came back to his senses and quickly moved that hand with the grip marks to the side of his body, switching to his other hand to hold the tomatoes.

The person who had left in a rage just now came near without a sound. He stood there for a few seconds, then suddenly reached out and took the tomatoes from his hand.

It wasn't as though what happened just now did not anger Xu Tangcheng. His hand moved, evading Yi Zhe, and he continued to ignore him. Yi Zhe also continued to maintain his silence but this time, he caught Xu Tangcheng's hand and forcibly took the brightly red tomatoes away.

Xu Tangcheng finally spared him a glance.

Yi Zhe's lips moved. He said, "It's cold."

How the hell is the water in May cold.

He grumbled this line in his heart but some of Xu Tangcheng's frustration was still skimmed off for the moment. He leaned against the side, watching the other person bend over at the waist and wash the tomatoes. With the two of them in this position, Xu Tangcheng could just nicely look directly at Yi Zhe. Just the sight of his lashes moving was enough for Xu Tangcheng to imagine the way Yi Zhe looked when those eyes were fixed on him.

Logically, the environment Yi Zhe grew up in shouldn't have forged him with such a simple personality, yet his eyes were always honest. When facing Xu Tangcheng, they were filled with liking; when facing Yu An, they were filled with dislike. As simple as a child but compared to children, it lacked that uncertainty that could be changed.

It seemed that he had been growing up on his own for so many years, growing up to become this precious thing.

Yi Zhe finished washing the tomatoes and turned off the tap. He flicked the water off, then stopped moving, his eyes on Xu Tangcheng. The kitchen suddenly turned quiet again. Xu Tangcheng lowered his eyes to look at the floor but could still hear the wind from Yi Zhe's fingers. It had been too long since there was this kind of awkwardness between the two of them. Xu Tangcheng was truly very tired. His emotions had exploded just now and now that they had calmed down, he suddenly didn't want to move at all, and also didn't want to talk.

He slowly walked to the kitchen board. Yi Zhe followed behind him and put the tomatoes down in front of him. Xu Tangcheng was just about to pick up the knife when he thought of something and stopped moving.

"Let's call for takeout," he said. "I'm tired. I don't want to cook."

Before he could turn around, someone hugged him from behind.

"I'm sorry."

The voice beside his ear regained the volume it had in the past. It wasn't soft and supple, but it sounded very honest and serious, the gentleness that belonged to a grown man.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

Hearing that, Xu Tangcheng's brows furrowed slightly. He put his hand on the arms around his waist but in the end, couldn't bear to pry them away.

"Yi Zhe." He sighed and told him, "I'm angry not because you shouted at me. I know that giving Yu An my data will make you feel bad. I didn't discuss it with you and didn't tell you beforehand, so it's okay for you to shout."

But Yi Zhe said, "I won't. I won't shout at you again in the future."

"Then do you know why I'm angry?"

After a short pause, a breath caressed the curve of his ear.

"I shouldn't have walked out."

"No," Xu Tangcheng said quickly. "Continue thinking."

He waited but did not get a response, so he fought free of Yi Zhe and turned around while holding on to that arm. Yi Zhe's eyes were full of incomprehension, making Xu Tangcheng slow down his words, saying each word clearly like he was afraid that Yi Zhe wouldn't take them to heart.

"I'm not angry because you shouted at me, or because you walked out on your own just now, or because you beat up Yu An, or because you refuse to apologise. I'm angry because you said that it 'means nothing,' that you 'don't care.'" Xu Tangcheng paused, suppressing the bitter feeling in his throat. He tried to find a way that could better express the problem so it was a while before he continued speaking. "I don't know if you can understand. If my life is good, it is not our future. You're doing simulations now, let's take the modules in a software as an analogy. Our future is not a simple module, it can't be directly produced by writing a code. It is separate modules put together, and that includes me and you. It is only by coding two simple modules—me and you—that this integrated module can exist. You said that you don't care, you're tearing off your module without permission. Tell me, when I'm left behind, what should I do?"

When Xu Tangcheng was speaking, Yi Zhe noticed that his eyes were red. He didn't know if it was from lack of sleep or due to emotions, but the amount of red lines in Xu Tangcheng's eyes was scary. He almost wanted to immediately reply to him, "I know what I did wrong," but he had something he had always been very firm on that was related to Xu Tangcheng. He held onto it like it was his religion and even Xu Tangcheng could not sway him.

"But if you do this, it will affect you."

"The impact to me is just that my expected graduation date will be delayed."

Yi Zhe didn't refute anymore but he turned his head to the side, no longer speaking. Xu Tangcheng knew that this was considered a silent protest so he remained patient and continued to guide him. "Just think about it, any kind of code will have a main structure responsible for the main function. Right now, I am only removing a portion of the part that is, to me, just to pad it out and to optimise it. This code can still run. But if you're sued, your code can't run for a period of time."

"Fine, even if you're right, you can talk to me about it. If you don't want me to fight it out with him, then tell me." Yi Zhe bit down hard on his lower lip, calming himself down with the pain. "If I had known that you would make this kind of sacrifice in the end, I could have apologised to him. Me apologising to him is better than you-"

"I don't want you to."

Xu Tangcheng suddenly cut him off.

Yi Zhe was stunned for the moment. Then, he stared dumbstruck at Xu Tangcheng for a long while, watching him close his eyes and open them again, before those eyes shifted to look at him.

In actual fact, Xu Tangcheng was still concealing some words. If he was just a little bit more used to expressing his feelings, he could say to Yi Zhe: I can't bear to let you do it.

Who could bear to see their precious person suffer unjust treatment? For what reason should Yi Zhe apologise to a person like that?

He understood Yi Zhe's dignity and pride, and he was also willing to protect him.

"You're not willing to tell me but I believe that you have your reasons," Xu Tangcheng said. "I thought about it for a couple of days. This is the best solution."

"But exchanging your future prospects for my so-called future prospects, I'm not willing to do it."

To him, these two modules and these two future prospects were not equivalent. He did not care what was the correct stance to take in a romantic relationship but in his world, Xu Tangcheng was the most important. If Xu Tangcheng missed one meal, it was as severe as if he himself had missed one month's worth of meals.

"I know," Xu Tangcheng said.

This was an impasse. Both of them were very stubborn. It was also because he knew that it would not be easy to persuade Yi Zhe and even harder for Yi Zhe to agree with him that Xu Tangcheng had made the decision on his own. What he had done was basically "act first, report later."

"But I don't have any other choice." Xu Tangcheng held his hand, his tone already completely a coaxing one. "Just take it as giving in to me once. This matter is already resolved. Let it end here, all right?"

He expected Yi Zhe to respond with a compromise but this person was so stubborn it made him want to tear his hair out. Yi Zhe remained stiff and silent, angering Xu Tangcheng into forgetting about his wrist and picking up the knife, slamming it down to chop the tomato.

Who knew how much strength Yi Zhe had used earlier; Xu Tangcheng's wrist hurt even more now. His hand trembled, his grip on the knife loosened and he even nearly cut his other hand.

"Fuck." Together with the rage that Yu An had drawn out of him these few days, the pain pushed Xu Tangcheng into letting out an immediate curse.

Yi Zhe was shocked. He thought that Xu Tangcheng had cut his hand and immediately came closer to check. After inspecting carefully, he finally noticed the wrist that Xu Tangcheng had been hiding the whole time.

"What happened to your wrist…" Yi Zhe came to an abrupt stop, recalling what had happened just now. In a rather incredulous tone, both angered and remorseful, he asked, "I did this?"

"No." Seeing that his expression was about to crack, Xu Tangcheng shook his head. "I was careless this morning and twisted it."