FQ chapter 13

“Hm?”

Li Ge had been rummaging through the cupboard for cups, but turned around when he heard that. “Sure.”

He put the cup down and went to the doorway to give directions. “Go straight down this road, past the old opera stage, then turn right at the end of the alley on the left, then go into the second alley and—”

Halfway through, he probably realized it was too complicated and hesitated. “Why don’t I let Laifu take you there instead?”

Luan Ye was caught off guard. “Who?”

Who else would it be?

“Laifu! Don’t worry, it knows the way!”

Laifu started panting excitedly upon hearing its name, spinning in circles around them. Li Ge grabbed the leash hanging on the umbrella rack at the entrance and clipped it onto Laifu.

“Just follow it,” Li Ge handed the leash to Luan Ye and patted Laifu’s head.

“Laifu, go home, okay? Home!”

He repeated “home” twice, and Laifu seemed to understand. It shook itself and proudly marched outside.

Luan Ye was pulled out the door, but couldn’t help turning back to confirm, “You sure this’ll work?”

“It’ll work!” Li Ge laughed from the door. “Laifu! Lead the way properly!”

“…Okay.”

Luan Ye had no choice but to follow along with the leash in hand while Laifu proudly led the way. It looked like he was walking the dog, but actually the dog was walking him.

After a few minutes, Luan Ye gradually relaxed. At least the first few turns matched Li Ge’s directions. Along the way, they passed the little supermarket he had visited the first time he came.

Since he was visiting a sick person, he went in and looked around, and with limited options, picked up a case of plain milk.

Laifu obediently waited at the door. When Luan Ye came out, it continued leading him forward.

Man and dog walked through winding streets and alleys until they arrived at a small courtyard gate. Luan Ye glanced around — it seemed right. Fan Qing’s car was parked nearby.

Laifu was already scratching at the door. Luan Ye noticed the gate wasn’t locked. People around here didn’t seem to like locking their gates.

He pushed it open and entered with Laifu. The yard was small, lined with potted plants on both sides, leaving a narrow path down the middle leading to a two-story wooden house.

Having completed its task, Laifu barked twice in excitement.

Luan Ye bent down and patted its back in praise. A window on the second floor opened, and Fan Qing poked his head out.

“Laifu?”

He glanced down into the courtyard, catching sight of the person looking up, and paused.

“You saw the dog first before seeing me, huh?” Luan Ye said.

“…No, you didn’t look up, I thought it was Li Ge.” Fan Qing straightened. “Wait a second.”

He probably meant to come down, but Luan Ye quickly said, “No need, I’ll come up.”

“…Oh.” Fan Qing seemed a little dazed and instinctively agreed.

Luan Ye unhooked the leash from Laifu and let it sunbathe in the yard. He climbed the side stairs up to the second floor. It wasn’t as big as the Granny Mu family’s house — just a flat area for storage and two side rooms. Fan Qing stood at the door to the room on the left.

Seeing Luan Ye come up, he asked, “Why’d you come over?”

His voice was a bit hoarse.

“To return your jacket.”

“You already went to the café, right?” Fan Qing glanced down toward Laifu. He seemed to figure it out. “You could’ve just left it there.”

“Thought I’d check in on you too,” Luan Ye said. “Aren’t you sick?”

His tone was casual. As he walked up, he met Fan Qing’s gaze and lightly knocked twice on the already half-open door.

“Can I come in?”

“…Sure.” Fan Qing stepped aside and let him in. “Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

“Afraid I came too suddenly and you weren’t ready.”

Luan Ye smiled as he entered. “Maybe there are worn socks lying around, or love letters and photos from your school days.”

“…”

Fan Qing followed him in and closed the door behind them, looking a bit helpless.

“I don’t have any of that.”

In fact, there was hardly anything at all in the room — just a bed, a wardrobe opposite it, and a small wooden table and chair by the window, with two opened medicine boxes, half a cup of water, and a thick green book spread open.

It was clearly a resting space, nothing more.

The room was tidy and clean, the only slightly messy part being the bed, with the blanket half tossed aside.

Luan Ye put the jacket and milk on the table. “Did I wake you?”

“I wasn’t asleep, just lying down.”

Fan Qing walked over, pulled out the chair, and spun it around. “Sit.”

His eyes landed on the milk and he chuckled.

“Why’d you bring a whole case of this?”

Luan Ye sat down. “You’re sick. You should nourish yourself.”

“Milk cures colds?”

“It doesn’t. You can just drink it slowly.” Luan Ye said. “Helps you grow.”

“…Thanks.” Fan Qing nodded.

He sat on the edge of the bed, looked at Luan Ye, and after a moment said, “It wasn’t the rain that made me sick.”

Just in those few sentences, he had already guessed why Luan Ye came.

“I didn’t get sick after getting rained on. I took guests up the snowy mountain the next day. Stayed up there too long, and got sick afterward.”

Fan Qing’s voice grew hoarser again after explaining and he had to cough before continuing.

“It’s nothing serious.”

The window was still open, and sunlight streamed in, filling the small room. Luan Ye sat in the light, listened to him finish, and finally said:

“Doesn’t matter.”

Fan Qing didn’t quite get what he meant.

“Whether it was the rain or not, you still got sick,” Luan Ye continued. “So it’s only right for me to come see you.”

Fan Qing met his gaze for a few seconds before looking away first.

“You—” He paused for a few seconds and finally continued, “I’ll go downstairs and get you a glass of water.”

“Sit down, I’m not thirsty.” Luan Ye sighed. “If I get thirsty, I’ll drink the milk.”

Fan Qing looked at him. “Wasn’t that for me?”

“I bought it.” Luan Ye said.

“Alright.” Fan Qing smiled and sat back down.

The room fell into a brief silence. Luan Ye reached out to pick up the book Fan Qing had left on the table.

The book looked quite basic, almost like one of those printed booklets from a roadside copy shop. Luan Ye thought it was some kind of study material, but when he opened it, it was filled with a list of universities and majors in China, along with the admission scores from the past five years.

Luan Ye was stunned. “What is this?”

“Something from school—a reference book for filling out college applications,” Fan Qing said, sounding a little embarrassed. “They told us to start looking ahead of time.”

“There’s stuff like this?” Luan Ye didn’t laugh. He flipped through a few pages, looking genuinely intrigued.

“Your school’s quite considerate.”

“They hand it out every year. I thought it was the same across the country,” Fan Qing said helplessly. “You didn’t get one?”

Luan Ye was reading attentively and answered nonchalantly, “No idea. I left for the U.S. after middle school. What’s the point of checking college preferences?”

“…I thought you went abroad for college.”

Luan Ye smiled, “Nope, left at fifteen.”

“My parents had just divorced. My mom started running a factory by herself and was constantly traveling, didn’t have time to take care of me, so she just sent me abroad to be independent.”

Fan Qing glanced at Luan Ye’s expression. He was looking down at the book, so it was hard to tell what he was feeling. Fan Qing was silent for a few seconds, then sincerely said, “That’s pretty impressive.”

“Not as impressive as earning your own tuition as a guide.”

“…It’s alright,” Fan Qing smiled a bit. “Being a guide is nice. Sometimes, there are clients who don’t like going out but still book by the month.”

“Sounds like someone rich and clueless,” Luan Ye said seriously. “Then you better make the most of it and charge them extra.”

They both laughed for a while before Luan Ye spoke again.

“Have you decided where to go yet?”

“Scores aren’t out yet. Just looking around casually.” Fan Qing took a sip of water. “As long as it’s not too far from home.”

The atmosphere was so relaxed that Luan Ye didn’t think much before asking, “Can’t bear to leave?”

“My grandma’s home alone. I worry about her.”

That reminded Luan Ye—Fan Qing had mentioned that his aunt’s family worked in Kunming.

He turned his head to look at him. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Fan Qing continued explaining.

“My parents are gone.”

Luan Ye was silent for a moment. He closed the book and put it back before asking, “Am I asking too much?”

“A lot of people ask the first or second time they meet me,” Fan Qing said. “Except you.”

A teenager earning their own tuition always sounded like a hardship story. From school to work, many people who knew Fan Qing’s age couldn’t help asking about his family, especially his parents.

Fan Qing understood that kind of curious sympathy, but sometimes it annoyed him.

Only Luan Ye, even knowing he was working to pay tuition and living expenses, never asked about his family. He even offered to send him money every month—but never pried.

“I’m not that tactless,” Luan Ye said.

Fan Qing smiled faintly. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago—thirteen or fourteen years. I barely remember.”

Thirteen or fourteen years ago…

How old was Fan Qing then?

The room sank into silence. Sunlight drifted quietly. Downstairs, Laifu whimpered softly—playing with something, perhaps.

It was Luan Ye who finally broke the silence.

“How did they die?”

“Gold panning,” Fan Qing replied.

Luan Ye was stunned, not quite understanding.

Fan Qing could tell he didn’t get it. He gave a slight smile, then let it fade.

“From here to Ruili, and from Ruili across the border to a village in Myanmar. There’s a river there—probably part of the Mekong. I haven’t been.”

Fan Qing raised a hand, tracing an invisible map in the air to indicate direction.

“There’s gold sand in the riverbed. Back then, lots of businessmen would rent dredging boats and hire people to go gold panning—digging up sand from the river, using machines or just hand tools to sift the sand and extract gold flakes to melt into bars.”

“They called it gold panning.”

Luan Ye’s expression slowly turned to shock, while Fan Qing remained calm.

“My parents went before I was born. They came back for two years after I was born, then left again when I was three.”

“The details came from the boss telling my aunt, who later told me. I was too young—basically have no memory of it.”

Fan Qing paused and leaned back slightly. From Luan Ye’s angle, his expression looked indistinct in the light.

“They said my dad was checking the water near the boat and lost his footing. Fell in.”

“There were boats digging everywhere, leaving deep pits in the riverbed. The current was strong—once you went under, you were gone. They searched the river for two days. Boats nearby helped too, but they never found him.”

Luan Ye stared at him, speechless. Strangely, Fan Qing looked calmer than he did.

“My mom was in the cabin at the time. When she heard the news, she fainted. After waking up, she stayed by the water, searching with everyone—didn’t sleep for days, wouldn’t let anyone pull her away.”

At this point, Fan Qing paused briefly, then continued.

“Someone was supposed to keep an eye on her. That day, they went to get her something to eat from the cabin. When they came back, she was gone.”