Lu Hui did not come to work in the morning, and when he came to the office later, he was surprised to find that Ji Fanyang had not come in that morning, either.
Rao Feifei was leaning on the table and scrolling through Weibo and Yang Jie was engrossed in paperwork. Lu Hui sat his behind down and pulled out a tablet to watch an interesting soap opera.
The inside of the office was very quiet, with only the sounds of the soap opera and the scribbling of a pen.
It wasn’t until four in the afternoon when Ji Fanyang hurriedly rushed into the office.
Hearing the sounds of footsteps, Lu Hui raised his head, squinted, then suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Ji Fanyang happened to stumble upon a timely piece of information: “Chief Lu.” He raised his right hand to signal to Lu Hui to come out of the office.
With Lu Hui’s moral character, would he really come out obediently? Nope.
And so, Lu Hui closed the tablet and just as he was going to open his mouth, Ji Fanyang robbed him of the chance: “Chief Lu went to move this morning?”
Lu Hui answered: “Yes. The building collapsed.”
Rao Feifei dropped her phone in astonishment and looked at Lu Hui: “The building collapsed?!”
“Chief Lu’s residential area is being demolished and its residents resettled.” Ji Fanyang explained. He turned to ask Lu Hui, “Chief Lu, where are you living now?”
“I’ll just find a random hotel.” Lu Hui replied. He raised an eyebrow, “Why are you concerned about this?”
“I…” Ji Fanyang clenched his back teeth, “I’ve been short of money recently and I wanted to find someone to co-rent an apartment with.”
Lu Hui laughed at once: “Short of money? Is this why you disappeared for an entire morning?”
“Mm.” Ji Fanyang sighed, his tawny irises looking at Lu Hui, “Chief Lu, could you co-rent with me?”
“Did you find an apartment?” Lu Hui asked.
“There’s one on the edge of the Linhua District and the Liuting District, a two bedroom, one living room. Do you want to take a look?” Ji Fanyang asked.
Lu Hui stood up, and as he went to step forward, his right leg paused. He frowned slightly and he reached out his right hand to support himself on the desk. After a few seconds, he took his first step. He raised his head and kept a calm expression: “Let’s go.”
Ji Fanyang sensed that something was off, but he didn’t know what. He could only wait until Lu Hui walked over and the two left the office together.
It was raining outside, the light drizzle pitter-pattering onto their faces. Ji Fanyang had diligently brought an umbrella, so he opened it, and the two walked under it together.
“I really want to know what you spent your money on.” Lu Hui said. His hands were hidden behind his back, and with each step, they trembled a little.
Ji Fanyang hesitated for a moment. They soon arrived at the car. He opened his mouth, and like he was afraid of Lu Hui’s derision, shrank his head back: “I went to find a lawyer.”
Lu Hui understood everything in an instant and his derisive smile arrived just as anticipated: “Looks like our little angel paid a premium for an underage murderer to have a good lawyer.”
Ji Fanyang glared at Lu Hui indignantly: “Li Wenyuan did not receive any justice, so Li Yun should.”
Lu Hui shrugged and pulled open the passenger’s side door: “It’s your money, your decision.”
Ji Fanyang stood outside the car, staring at Lu Hui in astonishment: “You’re not driving today?”
“I don’t want to.” Lu Hui answered. His expression was normal, but a sliver of pain appeared indistinctly in his pitch-black eyes. He made sure to lower his lashes to conceal it, “I watched TV all day, so I’m tired.”
Ji Fanyang rolled his eyes, then walked around and pulled open the car door and got in. He put the umbrella in the backseat and buckled his seat belt, glancing at Lu Hui in passing.
Lu Hui fiddled with the already-buckled seat belt: “Buckle up, Mr. Policeman.”
Ji Fanyang inserted the key and started the car, carefully pulling out of the parking space as he asked Lu Hui: “What requirements do you have for an apartment?”
“Better than your old apartment.” Lu Hui answered.
“Then you don’t have any requirements.” Ji Fanyang said, “As long as it won’t collapse, right?”
“To be honest, I don’t mind sleeping outdoors.” Lu Hui said.
Ji Fanyang turned on some music. The glow of the sunset slanted onto Lu Hui’s thighs, and Ji Fanyang discovered that Lu Hui’s right leg was stiffly leaning against the car door. He was a little puzzled, but he did not ask about it.
They drove smoothly to the junction between Linhua District and Liuting District, to the Lanshan apartment complex.
“Which floor?” Lu Hui bent his right leg and frowned. He opened the car door and cautiously put his right leg down, his left following nimbly.
Ji Fanyang watched Lu Hui’s actions solemnly until, at last, he could not hold himself back from asking: “What’s wrong with your right leg?”
“I loved to play around as a child, and I fell out of a tree and broke my leg.” Lu Hui pulled out the excuse he used to dupe people for the past ten years, and answered without care, “It hurts on rainy days.”
Ji Fanyang half believed him and half doubted him. He disembarked, took out the umbrella, locked the door, then opened the umbrella and walked side by side with Lu Hui: “I don’t believe you.”
Lu Hui raised an eyebrow: “Why not?”
“I went to investigate you.” Ji Fanyang said, unperturbed, “It’s strange, your hospitalization records the year you were fifteen.”
“What else did you investigate?” Lu Hui teased, “What I like to eat, what colors I like, what TV shows I like, what woman I like, what brand of condom I like to use and which flavor?”
The more Lu Hui spoke, the more he went beyond what was proper. Ji Fanyang interrupted him: “You had a friend named Yu Feiyang, who died.”
Lu Hui suddenly went silent. He turned his head to stare fixedly at Ji Fanyang, like a lone wolf leaping up and baring its fangs: “What else did you investigate?”
“Just this bit.” Ji Fanyang said fearlessly. He had experienced many battles, faced many different types of personalities, and was peerlessly courageous and patient. He fed on pain, exposed it, soothed it, then sought the next wailing soul.
“We’ll look at the apartment first.” Lu Hui did not acknowledge Ji Fanyang’s surveying look. He was not willing to remember those days of foul stenches, hunger, wrath, despair, collapse, and staking it all on a single shot.
They walked into the elevator. Ji Fanyang pressed the button ‘15’, and the elevator went up.
The elevator doors opened and Ji Fanyang brought Lu Hui to the apartment labeled ‘1521’ to the right.
Ji Fanyang unlocked the door and went inside. It was a two bedroom unit, with one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, and a large, clean balcony facing the sun.
Lu Hui was like a dog patrolling its territory as he walked around everywhere. He entered the bedroom closest to the balcony, which had a fan and a door leading directly to the balcony. He said: “This is my room.”
“Okay.” Ji Fanyang nodded.
Lu Hui raised his head and peered at Ji Fanyang: “I don’t like living with people. You know that. Why did you invite me?”
“We’re friends.” Ji Fanyang said with a slight smile.
“You have many friends.” Lu Hui said.
Ji Fanyang shook his head: “If you’re referring to my ex-girlfriend, my ex-ex-girlfriend, my ex-ex-ex-girlfriend, and my ex-ex-ex-ex-girlfriend, then that’s indeed many. But in Linhua City, the only friend I have is you.”
Lu Hui’s eyes sparkled as he smiled. He liked courageous people. The way Ji Fanyang could carelessly use his wounds to make jokes made him appreciate him.
“Want to check out the balcony?” Ji Fanyang opened the door in the bedroom and stepped out onto the balcony.
Lu Hui followed him out onto the balcony. The balcony was completely enclosed and had all of the necessities, including a window, screen, and guardrail. There was a long divan with two small cabinets on either side. Ji Fanyang sat on the divan and brought up the topic that had been fermenting in his mind for a while: “Do you want to talk about your past?”
Lu Hui retreated a step, assuming a posture of certain refusal.
“You know about my past, or a portion of it.” Ji Fanyang said. He knew that Lu Hui was a logical beast and would settle his debts as a give-and-take interaction, “”I think I should know yours, too, a portion of it.”
“I have a lot in my past.” Lu Hui said. He sensed Ji Fanyang’s attempt to examine him, “And you only want to know about the most painful portion of it.”
“Of my four ex-girlfriends, the first was hurt by her parents’ divorce, the second had a severe inferiority complex, the third was weighed down by depression, and the fourth was abnormally dependent.” Ji Fanyang counted on his fingers, “I lent them my ear and guided them out of their own worlds.”
“So? You see me as your fifth girlfriend and you want to save me?” Lu Hui refuted caustically.
Ji Fanyang’s brown eyes were like a drop of sunlight on this gloomy, rainy day. He reassured Lu Hui calmly: “No, it’s because we are friends.” He explained further, “And friends help each other. Isn’t this normal?”
The light in Lu Hui’s eyes went out. He asked: “What you’re doing now isn’t helping each other. It’s spying on private matters.”
“It’s been too long since you’ve had friends.” Ji Fanyang said, “After Yu Feiyang died, you refused everyone’s help. I want to help you as a friend.”
Yu Feiyang. Lu Hui was affected by this name that seemed almost unfamiliar and distant. He sat down on the long divan. His hand rubbed his right leg, massaging to ease the pain.
Ji Fanyang shifted Lu Hui’s right leg onto his lap and started massaging it for him. His eyelashes curved downward, soft and lovely.