“Lu Chengxuan, move over a bit—you’re blocking my light.”
“…”
“Don’t move. Seriously, stop moving.”
“…”
“Lu Chengxuan, stop breathing.”
“???”
The street was packed, noisy, people everywhere. In front of a balloon-shooting stall, Lin Shen was standing there like he meant business, holding a toy gun, aiming real seriously at the balloons hanging from the curtain. He kept adjusting, trying to line it up just right. But even after emptying a whole round of pellets, not a single balloon popped.
The plastic board in front of him had the balloons packed in pretty tight.
You could tell the stall owner was a straight-up honest guy.
Lu Chengxuan, who had been holding his breath the entire time just watching, waited until the last shot was done. Lin Shen finally ran out of excuses, put the gun down, and looked at the boss.
“Boss, is there something wrong with this gun? I swear I was aiming!”
“Hey, little dude, don’t throw shade like that!”
The stall owner clearly wasn’t having it. He grabbed the same gun Lin Shen had just used, turned around, and—bang bang—popped two balloons right away.
Lin Shen was left speechless. He just turned and walked off to the side.
“Forget it, I’m off today. Let’s switch to darts. Darts, give me darts.”
“You got it. But the price is different—ten darts for twenty bucks, and you can trade points for prizes.”
Lin Shen reached his hand out right away, eyes locked on the darts, already itching to start.
“Let’s go, give me a set.”
“Coming right up.”
The boss handed him ten darts. Lin Shen looked down, checked them carefully—metal tips, nice and sharp. As long as they touched the balloons, they should pop. That calmed him down a bit. He lifted his head, aimed again.
Ten darts went flying—whoosh whoosh whoosh—but only one balloon popped.
Counting what he’d already spent on shooting, Lin Shen had dropped close to two hundred bucks at this stall. Still, even with that sad outcome, the boss kept his smile, clapped hard like Lin Shen had just won a gold medal, and even pulled one of the helium balloons hanging beside the stall and handed it to him with a big grin.
“Not bad, not bad! Even if you miss, darts still get you points. Come on, here’s your prize.”
Lin Shen looked up at the pink pig balloon floating in the air. Even though he knew the boss just grabbed one at random with no bad intentions, he still felt like he was being roasted hard.
After paying, Lin Shen finally gave up on these kinds of games and walked off holding his balloon.
The market was full of stalls like this. Besides the usual toy gun and dart balloon games, there were also ring tosses, smash-the-golden-egg games, and ball throwing.
For hands-on stuff, there were plaster figurine painting and drawing booths.
Most of the people playing were either young adults or kids.
After circling around the whole place, Lin Shen’s only loot was the pink pig balloon in his hand, and the little gray rabbit that Lu Chengxuan was carrying.
Lin Shen had spent 140 yuan on ring tosses, and it took so many tries that the boss looked like he was about to just put the animal cage right at his feet in defeat.
A breeze blew through every now and then, and the balloon swayed wildly in the air.
The string tied to the balloon was super thin, and holding it gave Lin Shen zero sense of security. He kept feeling like it could fly off at any second. So he reached out and stopped Lu Chengxuan, bent down, and tied the balloon string to the rabbit cage.
The cage was about the size of a textbook, and the little rabbit inside wasn’t much bigger either. It looked like something you could easily hold in your hand.
These kinds of stalls always had hamsters and rabbits. Kids loved ’em, and they were cheap and easy to take care of.
That also meant the bosses usually had tons in stock, and definitely didn’t bother feeding them well.
The little white rabbit was sitting right in the middle of the cage. There was a half-eaten leaf of cabbage next to it. Its eyes were wide and shiny, nose twitching nonstop, and it looked completely freaked out, curled up into a tiny ball.
Lin Shen locked eyes with the rabbit, and without thinking, crouched down for a closer look. Then he reached a finger toward the cage.
In a blink, the gray rabbit snapped. It suddenly lunged and tried to bite, looking straight-up feral. Luckily, Lin Shen’s reflexes kicked in, and he yanked his hand back just in time.
“Damn, why’s it so fierce?” Lin Shen stared at the rabbit in shock, then suddenly clapped. “You’ve got attitude—I like that!”
The bite had missed, and the little gray rabbit curled right back into a ball, turned around, and pointed its butt at him. A couple seconds later, a round black pellet plopped out of the cage and hit the ground.
Lin Shen was stunned. He looked up at Lu Chengxuan.
“That thing just pooped at me! Did you see that?!”
Lu Chengxuan was standing, so from his angle he didn’t catch the poop part. But he had seen the rabbit try to bite. Seeing that Lin Shen seemed a bit offended, he lifted the cage and handed it over.
“Fatten it up, then eat it.”
Lin Shen’s eyes went wide. “Man, you’re something else—straight savage.” Then he turned back to look at the trembling little bunny in the cage. He didn’t take the cage, just reached out to poke again. “It’s so cute though. Don’t eat it. Take it home and give it to Lin Wangye—he’d love it.”
Lu Chengxuan didn’t say anything. He just quietly turned the cage away so Lin Shen couldn’t reach in again.
Lin Shen, who had a bit of a ‘can’t-help-myself’ habit, reached out and grabbed air. He immediately realized Lu Chengxuan did it on purpose. He glanced up at him, but didn’t get mad—just stood up and kept walking forward.
Once they passed through the game area, they reached the food stalls up ahead.
Lin Shen bought two starchy sausages and handed one to Lu Chengxuan. When Lu didn’t take it, he just ate both himself.
Ningchang was one of the fastest-developing big cities in the country. Every year it changed in some way. Old neighborhoods like this, with that vintage vibe, were getting rare.
So many flashy commercial streets had popped up over the years, but no matter how many Lin Shen visited, none of them felt quite as right as this one.
The old signs, the folding tables and tiny stools the restaurants would drag out at night, the beer kegs taller than a person, the smoky barbecue grills—that was the stuff that made up his childhood memories, clear as day.
As they walked down the street, Lin Shen turned to Lu Chengxuan and said, “When I was a kid, my parents used to bring me here for late-night snacks. This street used to get super lively at night, with food stalls all over the place.”
He looked down at the bricks under his feet and kept talking:
“Over the years, all the oil from the food made the ground sticky—your shoes would feel like glue stepping on it. They’ve cleaned it up now, after renovations. It’s not as dirty anymore. They don’t even let the stalls set up outside at night.”
Getting cleaner should be a good thing. But Lin Shen’s voice clearly had a hint of sadness in it.
Lu Chengxuan knew he wasn’t really talking about hygiene. He was thinking about memories—those small but good moments from the past.
And honestly, he didn’t know how to respond.
Because time like that… no matter what you do, it’s never coming back.
“When’s this area getting torn down?” Lin Shen asked suddenly.
Old districts like this didn’t make much money anymore. In a city like Ningchang, that was all about fast growth and bumping up GDP, it was only a matter of time before the whole place got leveled.
Anyone with a bit of foresight could see it coming. But no one knew exactly when—three years, five, maybe ten.
Lin Shen figured Lu Chengxuan had a different view of things, so he asked.
Big projects like this always had huge money behind them. The real power was in the hands of capital. Regular folks might get a slice of the pie, but it was never the big slice.
The Lin family couldn’t compare to the Lus, but they were still a known name in Ningchang. No matter how you looked at it, Lu Chengxuan didn’t need to say anything. He wasn’t supposed to.
But he didn’t even hesitate. He just gave a clear, straight answer.
“Year after next.”
Lin Shen was a little surprised, but didn’t show much on his face. He just slowly lowered his eyes. “That soon, huh.”
“Sooner or later,” Lu Chengxuan said.
Lin Shen didn’t reply—just kept his head down and walked on.
The two of them gradually left the market behind, heading deeper into the old part of town. The crowd thinned out, and all around them were five- or six-story apartment buildings without elevators. From time to time, the sound of kids running and playing echoed from the narrow alleys.
After walking for a bit, Lin Shen suddenly stopped.
“This is my place.”
Lu Chengxuan turned his head and looked. In front of him was a pretty ordinary-looking residential building. Above the entrance, the sign read ‘Unit 6.’ The lighting wasn’t great, and the hallway straight ahead looked kind of dark.
After a short pause, Lin Shen lifted his foot and stepped inside.
Lu Chengxuan tugged down the balloon by the string and followed him up the stairs.
There were sound-activated lights in the stairwell, but maybe because of how old the building was—or maybe because no one managed the place anymore—they didn’t turn on when the two stepped onto the first floor.
Lin Shen stomped hard on the ground, and suddenly all the lights in the building flicked on.
They climbed to the fifth floor. Lin Shen reached into the pocket of his coat, pulled out a key, and stuck it into the lock. But the moment he turned it, something felt off.
This was the place he’d lived in as a kid. After the family’s finances improved, they moved out. The apartment hadn’t been rented since, so it had sat empty for over ten years.
Only he would occasionally come back to check on it.
Whenever he left, he’d always lock the door with two full turns out of habit. But now, the key only turned once—and the door opened.
Someone had clearly been here.
Frowning slightly, Lin Shen pushed the door open and walked inside.
It was a three-bedroom apartment, though not very big. When they bought a new place back then, they also got all new furniture and appliances. So when they moved out, they basically didn’t take anything with them.
The old TV still sat in the living room. The canvas sofa was covered with a white cloth. On the blank wall, a few old certificates and big red paper flowers were still taped up.
Everything looked exactly the same as it used to.
From the master bedroom came a faint sound. Lin Shen turned his head and saw his father walk out from inside.
Lin Pengcheng didn’t look surprised at all to see Lin Shen show up.
What did catch him off guard was the person who walked in right behind his son.
They came in one after the other. The first thing Lin Pengcheng noticed was that they were wearing matching coats. His eyebrows twitched for just a second, then his expression went flat again.
The air smelled like dust and the faint mustiness of old wooden furniture.
Father and son stared at each other across the room without saying a word.
Lin Shen felt really uncomfortable seeing Lin Pengcheng here. After they’d moved into the newer, bigger place, both his parents got busier, and they barely came home anymore.
This old apartment held a lot of memories about his mom.
And no matter how tall or dependable his father had once seemed, that image completely shattered the moment Lin Shen found out he’d cheated—emotionally, if not physically.
So seeing his father here now just didn’t sit right with him.
Because ever since they moved out, the only reason anyone in the family ever came back to this place was to remember the woman who used to be its heart.
Seeing his dad’s slightly red-rimmed eyes didn’t move Lin Shen in the slightest. In fact, he found it kind of funny.
She’s gone, and now he wants to act like he still cares? Who’s he trying to fool?
Just then, as Lu Chengxuan stepped through the doorway—
‘BANG!’
The loud noise exploded right in their ears.
In the dead silence of that room, it sounded like a bomb had gone off.
Both father and son flinched. Lin Shen, who was standing closer and completely unprepared, was so startled his legs nearly gave out.
He spun around in a panic and saw Lu Chengxuan still at the door, holding a string in his hand. The end of it was tied to what was now just shredded pieces of pink plastic.
This old apartment had two doors—an inner wooden one and an outer iron security door.
The iron door had rusted over the years, and the surface had started to peel.
Lu Chengxuan must’ve brushed against it without realizing. The pig balloon popped.
Returning to this place had brought up nothing but nostalgia for Lin Shen—until the second he saw his father, when all his buried resentment, blame, and anger came crashing down like a tidal wave.
And that single burst of sound, out of nowhere, completely short-circuited his brain. All those emotions vanished instantly. He was just… blank.
Of course, Lu Chengxuan had picked up on the tension in the room.
His gaze drifted between father and son before calmly saying, “Sorry.”
“You…”
Lin Shen opened his mouth but couldn’t finish. The words just stuck in his throat. In the end, he swallowed them back down.
No matter what kind of issues existed between their families, Lu Chengxuan was still just a student. He hadn’t officially taken over the family business yet. And as the elder here, Lin Pengcheng still had enough self-control to not lose face.
Even if he knew—Lu Chengxuan was far from your average high school kid.
Even though he knew Lin Shen clearly had issues with his dad, Lu Chengxuan still greeted him out of the kind of manners that had been drilled into him since he was a kid. “Hello, Uncle Lin.”
“Mm,” Lin Pengcheng responded with a nod.
Then silence.
Nobody said anything else, and the air quickly turned awkward. That’s when a ringtone suddenly cut through the quiet—it was a call for Lu Chengxuan.
He said a quick, “Excuse me,” and stepped into the hallway to take it. A moment later, he came back.
Before he could speak, Lin Shen asked first, “Something up?”
“Yeah.” Lu Chengxuan glanced over at Lin Pengcheng, then added, “Not super urgent.”
That made it clear—he was giving Lin Shen the option. If he wanted him to stay, he would.
Lin Shen got the message, but just waved him off.
“Go on.”
“Alright.”
Lu Chengxuan looked at him one more time, saw that he seemed relatively calm, then nodded. He exchanged a small glance with Lin Pengcheng as a quick goodbye and turned to leave.
“Take my rabbit with you,” Lin Shen suddenly said. “Let Lin Wangye take good care of it.”
He paused, then added, “Don’t let it bite you. And don’t let it die.”
Lu Chengxuan gave him a quick look, then glanced down at the bunny in the cage, raised a hand in an ‘OK’ sign, and walked out without another word.
His footsteps echoed down the stairs, then faded.
And just like that, the house fell right back into that tense standoff between father and son.
Lin Shen had always been someone who never hid what he felt. You could always tell who he was cool with and who he wasn’t. In Lin Pengcheng’s mind, Lin Shen and Lu Chengxuan had stopped hanging out after middle school.
He never would’ve expected Lin Shen to show up here with him.
And considering that whole dramatic, shake-the-world moment when Lin Shen came out, Lin Pengcheng couldn’t help but be suspicious about what kind of relationship they really had.
If it had been anyone else, he probably would’ve kept quiet while the person was still in the room, but the second they left, he’d start grilling Lin Shen about what the hell was going on.
But when the person in question was Lu Chengxuan… he hesitated.
Over the years, Lin Pengcheng had become a businessman through and through. No matter what situation he faced, the first thing he thought about was gains and losses.
So after a long silence, the question he finally asked was something else entirely.
“You brought him here… did he mention anything about when this place is getting torn down?”
Lin Shen figured out what his dad was really getting at in half a second. He let out a cold little laugh, then threw out one line before heading out:
“He’s told me plenty. If I feel like saying it, I will. If I don’t, stop asking.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
