FQ chapter 3

The thought made Luan Ye chuckle to himself.

Forget it. If he really had the guts to take Bai Mingchuan out, he wouldn’t be out here cut off from the world, wandering into a remote village, catching a black cab to go to a supermarket in the dead of night…

Luan Ye glanced again at the man beside him.

The young man seemed to sense his gaze and spoke first: “Round trip?”

Luan Ye nodded.

“I’ll wait for you at the entrance, then.”

Luan Ye nodded again, sighing inwardly—if he met someone who only nodded and never spoke during a conversation, he’d probably want to mentally smack the guy too.

The young man probably felt the same. He frowned slightly but said no more.

Once they crossed the national road, the streetlights began to appear. Buildings on the roadside became denser, and the area looked much livelier.

It was a typical small rural town: repair shops, hardware stores, and eateries all crammed together. The cement roads were uneven from years of wear, but because it was a minority ethnic area, most buildings had wooden doors, and the walls were brightly painted with folk designs that looked surprisingly harmonious under the car’s headlights.

After a few turns, the car stopped in front of a supermarket. Luan Ye got out and quickly stepped inside.

Watching him enter, Fan Qing turned off the engine. Laifu, the dog, squirmed up between the seats—clearly restless.

Fan Qing patted his head. “Wait a bit.”

Laifu seemed to understand, rubbing against his hand a couple of times.

The supermarket had two floors and was decently stocked. Because of the rain, there weren’t many people inside. Luan Ye quickly scanned the first floor and then the second, tossing items into his cart based on instinct: toothbrush, toothpaste, towels, bath towel, bedsheets, quilt, underwear, socks… He didn’t bother making a shopping list. He just grabbed whatever came to mind—enough to get by for a couple of days.

He didn’t forget to pick up some clean clothes either. There was probably a clothing store in town, but since someone was waiting for him, Luan Ye couldn’t be bothered to look for one. He grabbed a few items from the supermarket’s “3 for 99 yuan” section—they felt decent enough.

When he threw the full bags into the backseat, both man and dog turned their heads to stare at him.

Fan Qing: “…”

He’d never seen a tourist who bought a whole bedding set.

His expression was so obvious that Luan Ye almost wanted to explain—but his throat didn’t allow it. So he maintained his cold and aloof demeanor, shut the door, and leaned back to nap.

The rain eased up on the way back, and the return drive was faster. Once they reached the place where he had first gotten in, Fan Qing asked, “Where do you live?”

Luan Ye opened his eyes and took out his phone, planning to open the chat with the landlord’s son to show the address.

The phone screen was black. He tapped it. Nothing.

He froze, then held the power button. The phone vibrated twice but still didn’t turn on.

Seriously?

Dead battery? Malfunction? Offed itself before I could?

How much battery did he have when he left earlier? He couldn’t remember. He’d used it as a flashlight and had seen a low battery warning pop up, but hadn’t paid it any attention.

How much was left when he paid at the supermarket? No idea. He hadn’t even checked how much he spent—he’d just grabbed what he needed.

When you’re down on your luck, you don’t even have the energy to be mad. Luan Ye stared at the dead phone and actually felt like laughing.

What a day.

Seeing that he wasn’t responding, Fan Qing turned his head, looked at Luan Ye, and then at the phone in his hand.

“Phone’s dead. The address was in it.” Two seconds later, he said.

So smart. If the vibe weren’t so off, Luan Ye would’ve applauded him.

“You remember how to get there?”

Luan Ye nodded.

“I need to keep my eyes on the road.” The village was already visible up ahead, and Fan Qing’s voice turned cold.

“Can you just say it out loud?”

I could—before today.

Luan Ye suddenly felt a little down. As Fan Qing turned to him again, now clearly irritated, Luan Ye simply pointed at his throat and shook his head in silence.

Then he saw the young man freeze—visibly startled.

A moment later, Fan Qing turned away, expression stiff, and noticeably slowed the car down.

Luan Ye thought to himself, Poor guy, I just broke your cool.

Fan Qing stared ahead, Adam’s apple bobbing. He pursed his lips and finally spoke in a much gentler voice, “So you…”

He trailed off, as if unsure what to say. After a moment, he unlocked his phone, opened the map, and handed it to Luan Ye. “Do you remember roughly where it is?”

Compared to earlier, his tone had softened noticeably—almost warm. Luan Ye smiled faintly, quickly wiped the expression off his face, and typed in the address.

He didn’t need “roughly.” He’d looked at it enough times today to remember even the house number. When the phone returned to Fan Qing, he glanced down and paused. “Granny Mu’s place.”

Luan Ye answered silently in his heart: Yep, that’s the one.

“Got it,” Fan Qing replied, as if he had heard him.

This driver was clearly more reliable than the one earlier that day. The stone-paved village road was bumpy, but Fan Qing still managed to drive all the way to the alley entrance. The last 50 or so meters were too narrow—barely enough for three people to walk side by side. No way the car would fit.

Luan Ye opened the door, but Fan Qing got out first, opening the back door.

Luan Ye was surprised. Laifu thought they’d arrived and stood up excitedly, but Fan Qing signaled for him to sit. Then he grabbed all the shopping bags himself.

The bags were actually quite heavy all together, but Fan Qing carried them effortlessly and strode ahead. Luan Ye followed with his hands in his pockets, trying not to laugh.

When they reached the door, Fan Qing turned to him: “Want me to help carry it inside?”

Luan Ye shook his head. Fan Qing didn’t insist—he set the bags down. Luan Ye pointed at his phone, then the door, then looked at Fan Qing.

And he actually understood.

“Forget it,” Fan Qing said, taking a step back and quickly turning away. “Not necessary.”

The car engine started again. Luan Ye stood at the doorway watching the little white van drive off, and gave the guy a label:

Nice guy. Easy to fool.

And his reaction to finding out I couldn’t talk… Luan Ye couldn’t help but laugh again.

Not his fault. Just bad timing. He’d happened to show up when I got sick.

Earlier he’d been in such a terrible mood, but now it had temporarily faded. Still smiling, Luan Ye thought: Hope that nice guy doesn’t have trouble sleeping tonight.

…..

Fan Qing, unaware of the label he’d been given, turned right out of the alley and drove for about ten minutes. The car stopped in front of a house. Fan Qing got out, opened the door to let Laifu out, and they both went inside.

The courtyard light was on. A man washing up turned to look at them. Fan Qing let go of the leash, and Laifu rushed over, happily wagging its tail.

The man rubbed the dog’s head and smiled, “Yo, you’re back a bit late today.”

“Got delayed by something,” Fan Qing said vaguely, then added, “Vaccines are done. Health check too. Doctor said there’s nothing wrong—he’s just too fat. Needs to lose weight.”

“Thanks.” The other man said. “The shop’s been so busy, I really haven’t had time to take him out.”

Then he paused and asked, “You free the day after tomorrow?”

Fan Qing looked at him. The man continued, “You know Old Song from the Guanshan Inn? Some guests at his place want to hire a car for two days to take them sightseeing—Best if the driver can be a guide too. He wants to know if you’re free to take them?”

Fan Qing nodded. “Seven hundred for two days.”

“Alright, if it works out, I’ll send him your WeChat so he can transfer the money directly to you.”

“Just give it to you,” Fan Qing said. “Count it toward next month’s rent.”

“I told you I’m not charging you,” the man met Fan Qing’s eyes, a bit helpless. “Aren’t you supposed to be saving money?”

“Summer break brings more people, better business.”

“Big talk.” The man laughed. “It’s only been a few days since exams ended. Have you already made enough for your living expenses?”

“Still a bit short,” Fan Qing replied as he petted the dog and headed upstairs.

His room was a small studio, a bit cramped but good enough for one person. After washing up, he lay in bed and replied to messages—someone had booked him to guide a canyon hike tomorrow.

He confirmed the departure time and sent several messages with important reminders. Only after finalizing everything did he put his phone down.

It wasn’t that early anymore, but Fan Qing couldn’t sleep. He mentally reviewed all the details for tomorrow.

And then, his thoughts drifted back to the man he’d met tonight.

At first, when he stopped the car, he thought the guy was lost—after all, it was rare to see someone still walking along the highway at night. Under the headlights, the man was tall, his hair tied into a small bun at the back of his head, and his expressionless face was quite striking. His skin was very fair—it was clear he wasn’t local.

Objectively speaking, the man was pretty good-looking, the kind of person who would easily leave a good first impression. But when he kept silent for so long, Fan Qing had gotten impatient and his attitude wasn’t very nice.

Not only was it bad, he even asked the man if he could speak.

Fan Qing sighed, feeling like he really couldn’t sleep now.

 

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Author’s note:

PS: Bai Mingchuan is not the ex-boyfriend(whoa, the mystery thickens)

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