After a full week of rural visits, their daily schedules were packed. By the time they returned, both were exhausted. Bai Xizhou had to write reports in his room, while Wen Ruqing still had to help him repair that book.
Fortunately, the book had content for comparison, so Wen Ruqing’s restoration work was somewhat easier. Bai Xizhou’s situation was different; he was handling two cases and, after finishing his report today, still had to attend a remote meeting.
Both were busy with their own tasks and didn’t bring up the conversation from that day.
Where to go, when to go — all seemed to be pushed to the back of their minds amid the busy work.
But Wen Ruqing hadn’t forgotten. When Bai Xizhou finished work on the last day and returned to the inn, Wen Ruqing knocked on his door.
“Lawyer Bai, want to go fishing with me tomorrow?” Wen Ruqing held two colorful fishing floats, swaying in his hand.
Right, Bai Xizhou suddenly remembered he had asked Wen Ruqing to show him around.
After thinking so long, fishing was all he could come up with.
“I’m over thirty, but I haven’t developed a fishing hobby yet.” Bai Xizhou took a bottle of milk from the room and handed it to Wen Ruqing.
After work yesterday, Liu Li had given everyone a box of milk. Bai Xizhou didn’t refuse and brought some back.
“I’ll take you to the fish pond near my aunt’s place. She wants to invite you home for a meal to thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Bai Xizhou stepped aside to let him in. “Come in and tell me.”
Wen Ruqing followed inside. He had been in this room countless times, always helping Bai Xizhou fetch things. He found a chair and sat down. Turning his head, he suddenly noticed two faces on the computer screen.
Two men, sitting close, looking more intimate than just friends. One man had his hand on the other’s shoulder, wearing a somewhat cold expression that didn’t look easy to talk to, while the other looked more approachable.
“Sorry, I forgot.” Before the people inside could say anything, Bai Xizhou quickly closed the laptop.
He just remembered that he had been on a video call with Teng Yuan and Qu Qingchen and had forgotten to close the laptop when he opened the door. Wen Ruqing had just met these two men.
“Did I interrupt your work?” Wen Ruqing didn’t know the relationship between the two, thinking they might be Bai Xizhou’s clients.
“No, they’re my friends. They were just asking when I would return.”
Their relationship wasn’t something to be hidden, but Bai Xizhou didn’t want Teng Yuan and the others to know right now because, knowing Teng Yuan’s personality, he’d definitely start asking all sorts of questions.
“Let’s not talk about that. You just said your aunt wants to thank me—why? I don’t think I did much.”
“She wants to thank you for being willing to take me out to have fun. I tried explaining it’s an event organized by the aid center, but she wouldn’t listen,” Wen Ruqing said helplessly. How could he explain it’s work, not play? “I figured since you wanted me to take you out anyway, why not come to my place? I’m more familiar with it.”
“Your aunt’s place?” Bai Xizhou blurted out.
“Yeah, my aunt’s place, my home. What’s the problem?” Wen Ruqing didn’t understand.
Bai Xizhou shook his head and said no, it was just he hadn’t heard clearly. But he did realize something.
From start to finish, Wen Ruqing’s parents had never been mentioned.
Wen Qing appeared in Wen Ruqing’s words far more often than his parents did. He always called out “Auntie, Auntie” but never “Mom” or “Dad.”
Bai Xizhou was surprised he hadn’t noticed this until now. He felt he’d become dull, but Wen Ruqing was too complicated for him to fully understand at once.
One month was definitely not enough to know everything about a person, especially someone like Wen Ruqing, who was good at creating “surprises.”
“So, are you coming or not, Lawyer Bai? Give me an answer,” Wen Ruqing leaned on the back of the chair, looking at Bai Xizhou. His hair had grown a bit long, hanging over his eyes. Wen Ruqing pushed it away, making a slightly awkward curve—but he didn’t mind.
He was waiting for Bai Xizhou’s reply, hoping he’d say yes—and he had a feeling he would.
Sure enough, after thinking for a moment, Bai Xizhou nodded.
His happiness was written all over his face, like a child, his eyes bright and shining—just like when a kid hears their best friend is willing to come to their house and gets so happy they want to jump up.
Wen Ruqing jumped up, probably much like the two rabbits at his home.
After inviting him and getting a satisfying answer, Wen Ruqing took his two fishing floats and left the room with a light step.
Early the next morning, Bai Xizhou got up, washed, and just finished changing clothes when Wen Ruqing knocked on the door.
The two of them rode Wen Ruqing’s small electric scooter to Wen Qing’s house. After having sat in the back seat several times, Bai Xizhou had now become skilled at putting on his helmet, getting on the scooter, and wrapping his arms around Wen Ruqing’s waist—a smooth, practiced routine that made Wen Ruqing feel quite pleased.
The morning village path was mottled with tree shadows, the air fresh and slightly damp. The wind was a bit cool, passing through their clothes, making the hems flutter and intertwine.
Passing through the road sheltered by trees, the path suddenly opened up to a vast field. Golden wheat seedlings swayed in the wind, creating rolling waves of grain.
The loud roar of a machine shook Bai Xizhou’s ears. He turned to see a red wheat harvester.
He had never seen anything like it before and felt fascinated. His past life had nothing to do with this scene. Bai Xizhou had never witnessed wheat harvesting or seen this huge iron machine at work. He had never truly set foot on this land.
“That’s my uncle. He drives that machine,” Wen Ruqing’s voice was barely audible over the machine’s noise. Bai Xizhou didn’t respond at first. “Lawyer Bai, did you hear me?”
“I heard.”
Wen Ruqing shouted the last sentence loudly, and Bai Xizhou answered just as loudly.
“Can I go down and take a look?” Bai Xizhou suddenly asked.
The scooter stopped by the roadside. Bai Xizhou got off, took off his helmet. The wind had been cold just moments ago, but now the sun warmed his body.
Wen Ruqing led Bai Xizhou along the field ridge to his uncle’s side, where a large group of people had gathered, probably waiting for his uncle to finish this patch and move on to the next.
Besides the machines, there were people working by hand. Not far away in a field, Bai Xizhou saw workers cutting wheat with sickles, bending over, swinging their blades, and neatly tossing sheaves onto the ground.
“Ruqing,” Bai Xizhou tugged at his sleeve, pointing at the field. “I want to try.”
At some point, he had stopped calling Wen Ruqing by his full name. Wen Ruqing didn’t immediately realize he was being addressed.
He felt Bai Xizhou was a little excited, like a city kid visiting the countryside for the first time—everything was new and interesting, and he wanted to try everything.
Bai Xizhou could be pretty childish sometimes.
Since he said it, of course he’d fulfill it.
Wen Ruqing borrowed two sickles, straw hats, and gloves from people nearby and took him to a smaller field.
“This is our family’s plot, smaller in size, so you can try here.” Wen Ruqing placed the straw hat on Bai Xizhou’s head. “First, grab a handful in your hand. Hold the sickle at the base, a little above the handle, and lift it diagonally upwards. Don’t cut yourself.”
Worried Bai Xizhou wouldn’t get it, Wen Ruqing demonstrated once more. Bai Xizhou watched, blinking in surprise, suddenly feeling a return to simplicity.
This kind of life was really too far from him.
Bai Xizhou learned quickly—whether knowledge or farm work, he grasped the knack in no time. His speed got faster and faster, almost to the point of getting carried away, luckily Wen Ruqing stopped him just in time.
“Young master, how come you’re getting addicted to this?” Wen Ruqing laughed, half exasperated.
“It’s novel, interesting—much more fun than sitting in the office,” Bai Xizhou said, straightening up and walking over to Wen Ruqing.
Looking at his current outfit, it was hard to connect the sharp-suited Lawyer Bai with the person in front of him. The rustic straw hat, oversized gloves, and the sickle in his hand—none of it suited Bai Xizhou, yet somehow it all felt surprisingly harmonious.
By noon, the weather gradually warmed up, and Bai Xizhou had just finished working. Wen Ruqing watched a drop of sweat slide down his forehead—from the brow, down the nose bridge, finally pooling at the tip of his nose.
Bai Xizhou was about to raise his hand to wipe the sweat, but Wen Ruqing was quicker, brushing the drop off his nose first. Suddenly, Bai Xizhou felt his face warm.
Wen Ruqing hadn’t even realized it before his hand reached out.
A man wiping sweat for another man felt a bit strange.
The two left the wheat field and soon arrived at Wen Qing’s home. Lunch wasn’t anything special—just something simple. Wen Ruqing took his uncle’s fishing rod and slipped away with Bai Xizhou.
There was only one fishing rod, and since Wen Ruqing didn’t plan to fish, Bai Xizhou was the only one who could.
He had originally thought there would be someone to accompany him while fishing, but unexpectedly, he was fishing alone. Wen Ruqing went down to the riverside behind to catch snails.
He smashed the snails he caught, tied them to a line, and tied the other end to a bamboo pole—a makeshift crayfish fishing rod was done.
He wasn’t fishing for fish; he wanted to catch crayfish.
Bai Xizhou was quiet on his side. He sat by the riverbank, gazing at the large pond and the fishing float standing vertically on the water’s surface not far away.
It was also his first time fishing, and whether he caught anything was no longer his main concern.
Fishing probably cultivates patience.
Time passed second by second, and Bai Xizhou was nearly falling asleep when suddenly he felt something tugging at his fishing rod. Instantly alert, Bai Xizhou stood and started reeling in.
The line got shorter and harder to pull. Bai Xizhou thought maybe it was a big fish. He pulled hard, tugging to one side, and the fish was brought up.
It was indeed a “big fish.”
Wen Ruqing had just returned and stood beside Bai Xizhou.
“Lawyer Bai, dinner bonus.” He said, showing Bai Xizhou the shrimp he had caught.
“What a coincidence, bonus too.” Bai Xizhou pointed to the nearby bucket.
The fish was less than a hand’s length, skinny, and didn’t look like it had much meat.
That was the so-called dinner bonus. At least Wen Ruqing’s crayfish was decent-sized and meaty. This fish had been caught by Bai Xizhou before it was even a month old.
“Come on, Lawyer Bai, you can catch a big fish.”
After saying this, Wen Ruqing couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.
The whole afternoon, Wen Ruqing fished for crayfish in the ditch nearby, and Bai Xizhou fished in the pond.
Bai Xizhou gradually discovered the joy of fishing—quiet, undisturbed, and without needing intense focus. He just needed to watch the fishing float on the water.
A few insects swimming on the water’s surface created ripples. The waves spread to the shore and then returned. All was quiet; even Wen Ruqing had gone silent.
Bai Xizhou caught another small fish and wondered whether to release it. He glanced over at Wen Ruqing.
He was sitting still on the ground, propping his head up with one hand, looking like he was about to fall asleep.
Asleep?
Wasn’t he supposed to fish together? Not only did he go to catch crayfish alone, but now he was asleep.
The bucket already had quite a few fish, varying in size. The smallest were thrown back into the water by Bai Xizhou. The rest were enough to cook a pot of food. Bai Xizhou packed up the fishing gear and walked over to Wen Ruqing, intending to wake him.
Wen Ruqing was sleeping soundly. As his arm moved slightly, his face swayed too. Bai Xizhou stared for a while.
There were faint dark circles under his eyes, probably from lack of sleep recently. It was tough on him, following Bai Xizhou around every day.
Bai Xizhou squatted down and poked his face with his hand.
Not much flesh—less than the meat on his two rabbits at home.
Wen Ruqing was woken up, eyes still heavy with sleep, looking at Bai Xizhou with no defenses, full of questions.
Bai Xizhou hadn’t expected him to wake up now. He only wanted to look at Wen Ruqing properly and found it interesting, so he reached out. Now feeling a bit embarrassed, he withdrew his hand, cleared his throat twice, and stood up.
“Let’s go back.”
