After that day, the world seemed to suddenly quiet down. In the past, Xu Tangxi had still frequently contacted Xu Tangcheng in secret; now, it was truly a world with just the two of them.

This kind of quietness was a little terrifying. Yi Zhe felt uneasy. From the very start, he talked about it a few times with Xu Tangcheng, asking if he wanted to go home to have a look. Xu Tangcheng would fall into silence every time, then shake his head and say, "I can't go back."

The deadlock lasted all the way until one day when his uncle called him. The uncle didn't know that Xu Tangcheng was dating a man and only asked Xu Tangcheng in a slightly critical voice how busy must he be to not even go back home. Xu Tangcheng could not say anything to that. His uncle continued to say, "Tangxi was so seriously ill but I didn't even see your shadow. Your mum said that you're busy. Does a new job mean not getting even one day of leave?"

A single line and Xu Tangcheng's heart sank a few times. He came to a stop in the busy supermarket. Yi Zhe was pushing the shopping cart and also stopped, turning to look at him.

"Tangxi…" Xu Tangcheng mumbled. He didn't continue speaking.

"I didn't plan to call you initially. All of you are grown up now, you're busy, I know. But I see your parents going through so much pain so I just want to ask you." His uncle's tone grew more severe. "Tangcheng, as a man, no matter how busy you are, you can't abandon your family. Tangxi's health is weak and your parents are already so old. You should take more care of them, and think about them more."

Xu Tangcheng's mind was in a mess. He answered a few words and hung up, then wanted to call Zhou Hui at once. But he had never saved his family's numbers in his phone. In the past, he just had to open the call history and Zhou Hui's number would always be among the recent few calls. He just had to call from there.

But this time, he opened his call history out of habit and realised that the familiar number was not in the first two pages.

Despair, loss. But experiencing them in that instantaneous and most direct way didn't give Xu Tangcheng time to think about it. Biting on his lower lip, under the urging of the pain, he pressed the numbers one by one.

Yi Zhe had already walked back to him, asking him softly what was wrong. Xu Tangcheng lifted his head to look at him and said, "Tangxi's sick."

The call was put through. After ringing six times, it was declined.

Xu Tangcheng called again. This time, it was declined even faster.

The wind from the heating in the supermarket was very strong but standing in front of the chilled shelves, looking at the constantly changing screen, Yi Zhe still felt a little cold.

On the third call, when he lowered the phone from his ear, Xu Tangcheng didn't immediately disconnect the call. Instead, he held the phone up before him, quietly looking at the screen that indicated that it was dialling.

"Still can't get through?"

"Mm." The moment Yi Zhe spoke, Xu Tangcheng seemed to come back to himself. He slowly pressed the red button, then returned the phone to his pocket. "The phone's switched off."

After that, Xu Tangcheng went back home. But when he returned to Beijing, he told Yi Zhe with a pained smile that he did not manage to see Tangxi. However, he secretly asked the doctor and the doctor said that she was steadily recovering and that there shouldn't be any more major issues.

Yi Zhe saw with his eyes Xu Tangcheng's worry and helplessness but other than saying a few comforting words, he couldn't think of anything else he could do. One night, he woke up in the middle of the night, his head fuzzy, and realised that the space beside him was empty. Panic immediately shocked his head clear. He peeled off the covers and went to look for him, not even bothering to put on his slippers.

The living room of their apartment was connected to the balcony. Yi Zhe went out in search and saw Xu Tangcheng standing at the balcony and smoking, a mid-length down jacket worn over his pajamas.

The balcony's sliding door was no longer new. When Yi Zhe slid it open, the force resisting him was large and there was even a continuous ear-piercing screech. Xu Tangcheng heard the noise and very quickly turned around. He smiled when he saw Yi Zhe. "Why did you wake up?"

The lights were off in the living room. In comparison, thanks to the effects of the lights outside, the balcony was brighter. Behind Yi Zhe was pitch darkness. When Xu Tangcheng looked towards him, a pair of eyes so black that they gleamed were engraved in his vision. The emotions in them sent Xu Tangcheng into a faint stupor and he didn't hear clearly whether or not Yi Zhe answered his question.

"What are you doing?" Yi Zhe blinked and walked over.

"Can't sleep, so I'm having a smoke."

There were a few empty pots on the balcony. They might have been left behind by the previous tenant. Neither Xu Tangcheng nor Yi Zhe had any gardening plans, so these few pots had always just held a little bit of old soil and stood all on their own on the balcony.

Xu Tangcheng stubbed the cigarette out on a pot, pinching it and drawing a circle before planting it right in the middle. Then, his fingers pushed up the soil at the side, burying one end of the stub so that it stood straight up.

His hand was dirtied. Xu Tangcheng pressed two fingertips together, rubbing them a couple of times. His gaze lowered and he glimpsed the cigarette he had just planted. All of a sudden, Xu Tangcheng felt that what he did was rather pointless and he let out a light laugh.

"Looks good?" Pointing at the pot, he asked Yi Zhe.

When he didn't hear the encouragement he was expecting, Xu Tangcheng turned around curiously. What he saw was Yi Zhe standing there, staring at him in a daze.

Xu Tangcheng waved his hand in front of Yi Zhe's eyes. "What are you looking at?"

Yi Zhe reached out and pulled Xu Tangcheng's hand. Then, his thumb rubbed Xu Tangcheng's dirtied index finger. Just as Xu Tangcheng thought that Yi Zhe wasn't going to reply to him, Yi Zhe lowered his head and said while staring at his hand, "Looking at the stars."

Xu Tangcheng stared blankly. Then, his lips split open in a laugh. He pulled his fingers out, then turned them around to scratch Yi Zhe's palm. "Liar, the stars are in the sky."

As he spoke, he lifted his head, but the sky was overcast. In the large expanse of sky over the city, there was not even a single shining star. Xu Tangcheng was dissatisfied. He craned his neck and turned his head around a few times, but all he could see was the bright round moon returning his gaze.

He sighed, a little disappointed. He withdrew his gaze and realised that Yi Zhe still had his head lowered, rubbing Xu Tangcheng's hand every now and then.

It was a cold winter's night, yet Xu Tangcheng felt as though the blowing night wind was warming up the corners of his eyes.

Yi Zhe's side profile was very good-looking, especially when he was focused on something. Half of an eye could be seen, resembling a precious gem embedded in a picture. His lashes were crow-black, like sharp edges carefully brushing the precious gem. Xu Tangcheng's eyes wandered over his face before he suddenly called out to him softly, "Yi Zhe."

Yi Zhe lifted his head and looked at him.

"Are you afraid?" Xu Tangcheng asked.

When he stood at the door just now, in those gleaming black eyes, there had been a panic that could not disperse fully.

Xu Tangcheng used his other hand to pinch Yi Zhe's chin. On that spot, there was stubble that had just grown out, a feeling of immaturity yet sensual.

"What are you afraid of?"

He finished his question but did not give Yi Zhe the chance to answer.

Xu Tangcheng was someone who had always followed established customs. He had never prepared any kind of romantic surprise for Yi Zhe, and had also never said any of those sweet, honeyed words. He wouldn't make intimate gestures that were ambiguous and seductive, and even in their usual affectionate moments, it was always Yi Zhe who did as he wanted while Xu Tangcheng indulged him in every possible way.

He always felt that when in love, all he needed was to kiss his lips and let him know, and that was enough.

This kind of custom would sometimes seem boring. He was aware of that too.

But it was different today. Xu Tangcheng lifted Yi Zhe's chin a little, then drew closer to him and bit down lightly on that spot. With his teeth, he felt Yi Zhe's flesh and bones, drawing both the soft and the hard parts into the scope of his conquest. And all of a sudden, he was realising now that a kind of physical intimacy that was different from the usual could bring a new experience to love.

Yi Zhe's hand trembled, suddenly gripping him tightly.

Xu Tangcheng wanted to follow the line of his jaw and continue kissing all the way up, ending with a kiss on his closed eyes. Unfortunately… he wasn't tall enough.

Xu Tangcheng stood on tiptoes and as he continued to kiss, he laughed. The closed eyes opened and looked at him in bewilderment. Xu Tangcheng dropped another kiss on Yi Zhe's lips, then explained, "I wanted to kiss your eyes but I can't reach them."

When he heard that, Yi Zhe's lips also curved up softly. He turned the tables, kissing Xu Tangcheng's eyes.

When he was done kissing, Xu Tangcheng opened his eyes again and gave him a pointed look. He asked, "Showing off your height again?"

The dimple deepened, hoarding the moonlight in private.

For some reason, Xu Tangcheng really wanted to get handsy with Yi Zhe at this moment. He pinched Yi Zhe's chin again, shaking it gently, then said each word clearly, "Yi Zhe, I won't leave you."

Yi Zhe's body had been completely slack, letting that restless hand play with his head as it wished, but when he heard those words, he used a little bit of strength to bring his gaze to a more level position with Xu Tangcheng's face.

"I won't leave you," Xu Tangcheng said. "So you don't have to be afraid."

After the final exams, Yi Zhe stayed back in the lab due to some research tasks. Today, he tidied up his things and was just about to leave the lab when a PhD shixiong of his suddenly called out to stop him, telling him to go to their teacher's office.

Yi Zhe looked at the time and frowned slightly. Xu Tangcheng wasn't working overtime tonight and they had agreed to have dinner together.

"Shan-ge," Yi Zhe called out to his shixiong and asked, "Do you know what it's about?"

Shan-ge held up the document in his hand. "I think it's something good."

It was indeed something good.

When Yi Zhe came out of the teacher's office, he was still rather bewildered. Shan-ge happened to be back after getting some documents signed and seeing him sit there in a stupor, the other guy smacked his head lightly with the documents. "What's up? Have you gone silly?"

"Hmm?" Yi Zhe came back to his senses and lifted his head.

Shan-ge bent his body a little and asked him in a low voice, "Are you going?"

"I haven't thought it through yet." Yi Zhe lowered his head. His hands twisted together in a tight grip.

"Haven't thought it through?" Seeing that the expression on his face didn't look right, Shan-ge hesitated a short while, then patted him on the shoulder. "Let me tell you, you're considered lucky. Our teacher feels that you're very capable and this is basically the same as setting it up for you a year in advance. Before going to the South Pole, you'll need to prepare for about a year—your foundation courses will have just nicely wrapped up then. This opportunity isn't easy to come by. It's because our teacher works together with the U.S. lab, otherwise, who would let you go along with them without you going to the States for two years of PhD. Don't be afraid of hardship when you're young. In this field that we're studying, whoever has data is the winner. You can graduate whether or not you go, but whether or not you have those data, the weight your PhD carries will be different."

"Mm."

Yi Zhe naturally understood these arguments. However…

"Actually, I don't really want to go."

Unlike those specialising in geology or marine studies, their observations were not short-term and they would not return before winter. Their trip would be for at least a year. The current messy situation he and Xu Tangcheng were in left him with no strength to take on those complicated preparation work, nor could he leave Xu Tangcheng and go so far away on his own to a place so special.

Shan-ge seemed to have not expected he would think this way. For a moment, he did not say anything more. The two of them fell silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts, before Shan-ge finally said, "All right. Then, you should think about it properly."

Xu Tangcheng had to go to Xiamen for a week for a business trip. The night before he departed, Yi Zhe helped him pack his luggage, then started to amend the slides he needed to present in class the next day for his finals. Xu Tangcheng went to the kitchen and washed two apples. He peeled and cut them into small pieces, placing them on a plate and bringing them over to Yi Zhe.

"When you're home alone, remember to eat fruits."

Yi Zhe was actually very healthy all this while. But perhaps the winter was too dry or perhaps the stress from finals was too heavy, his throat had been swollen for a few days.

"Mm." Yi Zhe poked a small piece with a toothpick and put it in his mouth.

After finishing the final amendments, Yi Zhe played the slides from the very first page. When the topic was displayed, Xu Tangcheng happened to come near, a piece of apple in his mouth. Biting the toothpick between his teeth, he mumbled out the topic.

"Do you still remember?" After a pause, Yi Zhe asked.

The toothpick swung up. Xu Tangcheng turned to the next slide and also found the memory.

"Ah, I remember," he said. "I've seen this topic before. It was many years ago…"

The desk only had one chair. To see the screen, Xu Tangcheng rested one hand on the back of the chair and one on the surface of the desk. Thinking that he shouldn't disturb Yi Zhe anymore, he withdrew his hand after saying that, planning to turn away. Unexpectedly, Yi Zhe suddenly reached an arm out and wrapped it around his waist. Before Xu Tangcheng could exclaim in surprise, he was already being pulled down to sit on Yi Zhe's thighs.

Xu Tangcheng realised the position they were in and couldn’t help laughing. He turned his head and asked Yi Zhe, “What’s this?”

Yi Zhe didn’t say anything. Instead, he leaned forward, plastering himself against the person in his arms.

“At that time, when I saw you looking at this, I immediately wanted to apply to the same university as you and study the same course.”

The lamp cast a glow on them. The light that reached Yi Zhe’s eyes was the same light that had just brushed past Xu Tangcheng’s body.

After a brief silence, Yi Zhe suddenly laughed and said, “I really worked hard in Year 3 of senior high.”

He had worked hard for that one fight, and also worked hard for his studies.

Unsure why he was suddenly bringing that up, Xu Tangcheng wound his hand behind Yi Zhe’s neck and rubbed the soft flesh there. “I know.”

On the third day after Xu Tangcheng left, Yi Zhe went back to City C.

He hadn’t gone back in a long time. When he saw that the boom barrier at the neighbourhood entrance had changed, his legs paused. He stood in front of the door to Xu Tangcheng’s home, one hand raised in midair for a long while, but still could not bring himself to knock the door. He let out a long exhale, paused for a while, then lifted his hand again.

The door suddenly opened, hitting the joints of his fingers. Yi Zhe instinctively took a small step back. When he saw the person whose body was half out the door, his hand that was in midair immediately fell beside his legs, hanging slack obediently.

“Hello, Auntie.” He was near the door and didn’t have the space to bow but Yi Zhe still tried his best to bend down, lowering his head.

His appearance was obviously not expected by Zhou Hui. Her body stilled and she looked at him in a bit of a shock.

Looking at Zhou Hui from such a close distance, Yi Zhe realised that there were now a lot more signs of age on her entire body. There seemed to be more wrinkles on her face and the white in her hair was also denser. These marks even crept into her eyes, taking over the area and making her seem rather rustic.

“Ah, it’s you, Yi Zhe. You…”

After a few words, Zhou Hui seemed to not know what to say. She stopped.

“I…” Yi Zhe switched the bag he was holding to his other hand and said, “I’m sorry, Auntie. I want to visit Tangxi.”

Zhou Hui let him in. Yi Zhe sat rather stiffly on the sofa and finally, slowly realised that she was dressed up neatly when she opened the door just now. She must have been heading out. He was annoyed with himself internally. He should have asked just now, “Are you busy?”

“Tangxi is sleeping. Have a seat first.” Zhou Hui poured a glass of warm water and put it in front of Yi Zhe. Yi Zhe hastily thanked her. Perhaps she hadn’t recovered from the shock of Yi Zhe’s sudden appearance, Zhou Hui’s reply to his thanks was rather flustered and she even repeated herself twice.

“Tangcheng…” Yi Zhe thought carefully and said tentatively, “Tangcheng-ge’s on a business trip, that’s why I came back alone.”

When he brought up Xu Tangcheng, Zhou Hui’s brows twitched. Yi Zhe’s heart also tightened along with it and he didn’t dare speak anymore.

“Mm.” The living room was silent for a while before Zhou Hui finally made a very soft sound as a reply. She didn’t ask about Xu Tangcheng and instead, said to Yi Zhe, “Do you have anything on later? If you don’t, why don’t you have lunch here? Auntie has a few words to say to you.”

Yi Zhe very quickly nodded, the expression on his face unchanging. “Okay.”

The door to Xu Tangcheng’s bedroom was pushed open. Yi Zhe looked rather curiously in that direction and saw that it was Xu Tangcheng’s grandma. He quickly stood up to greet her but Zhou Hui stopped him. “She can’t hear you, her ears are very deaf now. Her hearing aid is spoiled and we haven’t bought a new one yet.”

Grandma walked a couple of steps and saw the additional person in the living room. She stared blankly, then smiled. “Oh, it’s Yi Zhe.”

Yi Zhe never expected that Grandma would still remember and recognise him. Despite knowing that she couldn’t hear him, he still smiled and said, “Hello, Grandma.”

“Can’t hear you.” Grandma pointed at her ear with a chuckle. What she said after that was different from what Zhou Hui had said. “I spoiled my hearing aid. They’re getting it fixed.”

Zhou Hui said that she didn’t know he was coming and that Xu Yueliang also happened to be out today. There weren’t many people eating so she hadn’t prepared much and had only whipped up a few simple everyday dishes. Yi Zhe repeated a few times that it was already more than enough but when he sat down and looked at the steaming food, he was rather intimidated. He didn’t understand why Zhou Hui’s attitude towards him was not at all bad. She didn’t allow Xu Tangcheng to come home, so why could she invite him to stay for a meal like she had in the past?

“Is Tangxi not eating?” Yi Zhe thought for a while, then asked.

“She wasn’t feeling well last night and didn’t sleep well. When you came, she had just fallen asleep. Let her sleep for a while, I’ll make her something to eat when she gets up.”

Yi Zhe was a little worried and quickly asked, “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine.” Zhou Hui nodded. “I asked the doctor, the doctor said that it might be because she caught a chill and to make sure she takes her medicine on time and rest well.”

“Mm, then she should rest more and make sure to keep warm.” After saying that, Yi Zhe felt that those words were of no use at all. He fell silent for a while, then cautiously opened his mouth. “Tangcheng-ge is very worried about Tangxi, Auntie-”

“Yi Zhe.”

Before he could voice his request, he was cut off by Zhou Hui’s slightly louder voice. When he stopped speaking and looked towards her, Zhou Hui lifted her head that had been looking down and forced the corners of her mouth up. “Let’s eat first. We’ll talk as we eat.”

Zhou Hui’s culinary skills were very good. However, Yi Zhe was feeling apprehensive and could not taste anything in the food he helped himself to. Sometimes, he didn’t even know what he had just put in his bowl and what he was eating in his mouth.

“You call him ‘ge’ but he led you down the wrong path. Auntie apologises to you on his behalf.”

Yi Zhe was stunned for just a split second before he immediately reacted and hastily said, “No, Auntie, I was the one who first…”

Under Zhou Hui’s calm gaze, the second half of Yi Zhe’s sentence became softer. He glanced at Grandma sitting beside them, who hadn’t noticed them at all and was taking small bites as usual, before saying, “I was the one who liked him first.”

A mild tone, making no claims and merely stating a fact.

After he spoke, Zhou Hui didn’t move at all for a long time. She maintained the same sitting position, staring at the same plate with its pattern of scattered flowers on the rim. After a long while, she said in a voice that wasn’t loud, “This matter is his fault. We will also not agree to the two of you being together.”

Regardless of whether it was the first or the second sentence, Zhou Hui said them with unusual firmness.

Yi Zhe had made ample mental preparations beforehand and when he heard those words, he was naturally not at all surprised. But in his heart, there was still a very obvious sadness.

“Yi Zhe, Tangcheng is my son. So between the two of you, I will always be more worried about him. I hope you can understand that.”

Yi Zhe nodded. This was only to be expected.

“If the two of you are together, other people will gossip and say upsetting things. This is one reason but it is not what I fear the most.” Zhou Hui picked up a piece of vegetable with her chopsticks and put it in her bowl. “I said the same thing to Tangcheng. I said, the two of you talk about liking and loving each other now because you two are still young. A lifetime isn’t so easy to go through. You cannot imagine how much you will encounter in the future and how much the relationship between the two of you will affect you.”

His thumb rubbed along the rim of his bowl. Yi Zhe swallowed the food in his mouth and said softly, “No matter what happens, I will take care of him.”

This was the faith he had since a long time ago. So even though he knew that he hadn’t managed to do it well in the past, he still said it.

Zhou Hui did not answer immediately. When Yi Zhe wanted to repeat his vow and make it clearer, she finally asked, all of a sudden, “Can you really do it?”

Yi Zhe didn’t understand. He lifted his head and looked at Zhou Hui.

“You can do it now, I believe that. But after ten years, twenty years, will you continue to like him so much?”

Yi Zhe had never thought about this question before. Ten years, twenty years, the concept of this amount of time had never appeared in his mind. To be more precise, he had never considered whether or not he would continue to like Xu Tangcheng.

Hence, at this moment, he met Zhou Hui’s eyes and nodded, telling her frankly, “I will.”

A lot of people had a conclusion that was very close to reality: most of the time, what lasted were only feelings—the feelings that came in many forms, that all belonged to one person. Some people said that love would turn into a habit, turn into love between family, or perhaps, the love for someone would shift to a different person. They were all a form of permanence that grew in different directions. Ultimately, this world was filled with so much love but when it came to eternity, everyone was selfish.

Zhou Hui shared the same view. She didn’t believe that there was any love that could bind two people together for a lifetime when they had no ties between them. This matter concerned the rest of Xu Tangcheng’s life; she didn’t dare believe that the two of them would really be the exception to the rule. But as she looked at the resolve in Yi Zhe’s eyes, all of a sudden, she didn’t want to argue with him over this. Because she knew, if she said it, Yi Zhe wouldn’t listen anyway, just like Xu Tangcheng.

“All right then, let’s say you will. After ten years, twenty years, you still like him so much and you still take care of him. But have you ever thought of after fifty years, sixty years? When he’s seventy or eighty, when he’s old, what will you do?”

“I will still take care of him,” Yi Zhe repeated stubbornly. He was saying it for Zhou Hui, and also for himself—the himself who was a disappointment. But he had barely spoken those words when he suddenly understood Zhou Hui’s meaning.

Zhou Hui’s eyes were slightly reddened. Her lips twitched. She told Yi Zhe, “When he’s old, you will be old too.”

His mind blanked out. Later on, Yi Zhe thought back on it—the fear that had engulfed his heart at that moment was no longer due to the intense opposition from Xu Tangcheng’s family but instead, it was because he was truly thinking, what would they do when they were old? Would Xu Tangcheng fall sick? Would Yi Zhe himself fall sick?

“Neither his dad nor I can live until that day. Even if the two of you are together then, we won’t be able to see how you'll live at that time.” Zhou Hui covered her face with her hand. She blinked hard, keeping her tears in. “But it’s exactly because we won’t live until that day that we are afraid. I’ve never had any grand ambitions in my life. My only hope is for him and Xu Tangxi to live safe and sound for their whole lives. Yi Zhe… what you two are doing, I’m afraid that he… I’m afraid he won’t have a good life in the future. When the time comes, I wouldn’t even be able to close my eyes in peace.”

Before coming here, Yi Zhe had actually prepared plenty of arguments to say. But nothing in his guarantees could resolve the question of growing old, falling sick and dying. He tried hard to say something but he was so foolish that he couldn’t even say a single word to adapt to the situation.

“I know you’re a good boy. You’re both good boys… Yi Zhe, can you listen to what Auntie has to say? The two of you, try separating. We happen to be getting ready to take Tangxi to the south for a period of time. I told Tangcheng, he won’t go with us.” Xu Tangcheng’s stance that day had actually been a constant thorn in Zhou Hui’s heart. She was broken-hearted because he was abandoning them, and more than that, she was actually afraid. Even though she knew that Xu Tangcheng had very deep affection for them, she was still afraid that this persistence would end in her truly losing him. No one could truly understand her thoughts and fears these few days. She harboured no grand ambitions, all she had was her family. Her son and daughter were her most precious, her most loved.

She had firmly decided that she wouldn’t cry today but Zhou Hui couldn’t stop herself and her tears still fell silently. Afraid that Grandma would notice, she hastily wiped them with her hand, then picked up some food and put it in her mouth to stifle her emotions.

Yi Zhe was still lost in those words just now. Xu Tangcheng had never told him about his family planning to go to the south.

This was the first time Yi Zhe saw Zhou Hui cry. When he caught the first glimpse just now, Yi Zhe immediately thought that if Xu Tangcheng was to see this, his heart would ache so much over his own mother.

There were too many emotions congregating in his heart, entangling together and starting a huge, earth-turning ruckus. Even Yi Zhe himself was nearly unable to sort them out. He reached out with his chopsticks, wanting to get a bit of food, but a hand suddenly appeared in his vision and picked up a plate.

“Mum.” Zhou Hui seemed to have forgotten that Grandma didn’t have her hearing aid. She asked, “What are you doing?”

Grandma naturally didn’t hear Zhou Hui’s words. She picked up another plate and switched the two plates around, then looked at Yi Zhe and smiled.

“Just switching them around. I see that you like eating eggplants. They’re closer to you, eat more.”

In the past, when he was at school, Yi Zhe didn’t know how to do reading comprehension. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t understand how a single line could contain so many meanings. Even after he saw the solution, he still wasn't convinced and had felt that those people were just purely cooking up nonsense. After so many years of studying and doing so many practice questions, he'd already forgotten a lot of the lines that he hadn’t understood but when he looked at that plate of eggplants, he suddenly recalled one of them: Kindness is the most powerful weapon.

It was the topic in one of the midterm exams. At that time, he'd looked at the line coldly for a long while, then left the answer for this unintelligible question blank.