ITC Chapter 15

Bai Xizhou poured hot water for Wen Ruqing, helped him open the food containers, and even pulled out a chair for him—attentive and thoughtful.

“Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?” Wen Ruqing was a bit flustered by the kindness, sitting down to eat. “I’m not used to this at all.”

“It’s nothing. Just eat—I’ll watch you eat.” Bai Xizhou also pulled out a chair and sat across from him.

Wen Ruqing looked at him in confusion and slowly began eating. He didn’t quite understand why the other man wanted to watch him eat. It’s not like his eating would stimulate anyone’s appetite.

“What were you doing just now?” Bai Xizhou fixed his eyes on Wen Ruqing’s movements, but what he said was clearly asking something else.

Wen Ruqing answered truthfully.

Only part of Bai Xizhou’s book had been restored—more than half remained untouched. The extent and severity of the damage were worse than he had expected, and the tools he had here were far from complete, so his progress was much slower.

He was afraid he wouldn’t finish before Bai Xizhou had to leave. If that happened, Bai would be disappointed—and Wen Ruqing would be disappointed in himself too.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish restoring your book before you leave, but I’ll do my best.” Wen Ruqing took a few more bites, then set down his chopsticks, clearly not planning to eat more.

The food they had brought back wasn’t much—not enough for a grown man, at least. Even so, Wen Ruqing only ate about half of it.

Was it because he didn’t like the dishes, or did he just not like eating?

“You don’t have to rush.” Bai Xizhou had already decided—he wouldn’t go back until the book was fully restored, so he wasn’t worried about it not being finished. “Let me ask—you always eat this little?”

“More or less. I’ve never really had much of an appetite.” Wen Ruqing didn’t think there was a problem. “Why?”

Bai Xizhou shook his head. He couldn’t very well say it was because he thought Wen Ruqing ate too little, that he was too thin and it wasn’t good—it would sound too strange.

Seeing him shake his head, Wen Ruqing didn’t ask further. After the meal, Bai Xizhou went upstairs to rest—he had something to take care of at the aid center that afternoon. Wen Ruqing returned to his tiny space and continued working on restoring the book.

---

In the afternoon, Bai Xizhou received a call from Teng Yuan. It had been several days since Wen Ruqing last appeared on camera. During that time, although Teng Yuan had persistently asked about Wen Ruqing, Bai Xizhou had ignored him every time.

“Bai Xizhou, you’re being heartless. You won’t even introduce your new flame to me,” Teng Yuan said, feigning heartbreak. He put extra emphasis on the words “new flame.”

“Say that again in front of Qu Qingchen,” Bai Xizhou replied, pulling open the curtains to let the sunlight in. “Let’s see if he gets jealous when he hears you talk like that.”

After the Beginning of Summer, the days were growing hotter. The afternoon sun was a bit harsh, and when the window opened, a wave of heat rushed in.

“Forget it, I wouldn’t dare. Last time, he made sure I didn’t leave my house for two whole days,” Teng Yuan shivered at the memory. “But seriously, when are you coming back to Xincheng? You know… your uncle, he—”

“Enough.” Bai Xizhou cut him off. “I’ll come back after my vacation. That’s it. Hanging up.”

This wasn’t good. Every time family matters came up, he avoided them. He knew that only by facing them could he truly move on, but it wasn’t easy—especially now, not just his father, but even his mother had suddenly started reaching out to him.

She hadn’t cared before, and now they all came at once. It probably wasn’t for anything good.

Forget it.

Bai Xizhou shook his head and pushed the thoughts aside, then opened his laptop and went back to reading case materials.

---

This time, Wen Ruqing’s stomach pain came on fiercely. Even after taking medicine, there was no sign of improvement. After eating the meal Bai Xizhou made, he felt slightly better, but the pain was still intense.

Over the next few days, the pain kept recurring. It seemed like the painkillers had lost their effect—no matter what, the pain just wouldn’t go away.

He wanted to sleep, hoping that maybe things would feel better when he woke up. But the pain was so bad he couldn’t fall asleep at all. It felt like a pair of hands were wringing and kneading his stomach mercilessly, twisting it into all kinds of shapes.

Wen Ruqing rolled around on the bed in agony, his face even paler than it had been earlier outside. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and he curled up on the bed like a shrimp, his whole body trembling.

Only at times like this did he regret his past actions.

Back in university, relying on youth and resilience, he often skipped breakfast and dinner. After graduation, his meals were still irregular—sometimes just one a day. And now, this was the payback.

In the midst of the pain, Wen Ruqing eventually fell asleep, but it was a restless sleep, filled with chaotic and unsettling dreams.

He couldn’t even remember how many years ago it had been. At that time, Wen Ruqing was still rebellious. After a big fight with his parents, he stormed back to school.

If he had the chance to do it over again, he’d probably still argue with them—but he wouldn’t run off to school in a fit of anger. And then, maybe everything that followed wouldn’t have happened.

His mother’s face had never been soft or gentle. Now it was covered in blood, her hand pointing straight at Wen Ruqing. His father shielded her in his arms, his own face also bloodied. Wen Ruqing stood frozen, unable to accept what he was seeing.

Everything happened too fast. In an instant, Wen Ruqing’s life shifted from a happy family to becoming an orphan. All that remained before his eyes were the lingering wreckage of the car crash and the smell of smoke and dust.

Wen Ruqing jolted awake from his dream, his back soaked in sweat.

His stomach still hurt a little, but it was much better than before. He got up and sat at the edge of the bed for a long while, slowly pulling himself out of the nightmare.

Maybe it was better not to sleep at all—at least then he wouldn’t have to dream about those things.

He walked out and sat at the front desk. There was a piece of bread on the table. He picked it up and took a bite, but suddenly felt nauseous and couldn’t help but gag.

“You traitor blinded by beauty! I don’t care—I want to talk to Wen Ruqing!”

Hearing his name, Wen Ruqing looked up and saw Bai Xizhou coming downstairs holding his phone. Someone was speaking from the screen—it was a familiar face. He seemed to be one of the two people Wen Ruqing had seen on the computer screen that last time.

“You don’t look well. Is your stomach still hurting?”

“It’s not serious.” Wen Ruqing smiled. “Did he just mention me?”

“My childhood friend—he wants to get to know you. Just wanted to say hi.” Bai Xizhou waited for Wen Ruqing’s permission before turning the camera toward him.

“Let me see what kind of little beauty could make our cold-hearted Bai Xizhou finally bloom,” Teng Yuan shouted from the other end.

Bai Xizhou only gave Wen Ruqing a quick glance. Wen Ruqing smiled and waved at Teng Yuan. Then Bai Xizhou hung up the call.

“What does ‘finally bloom’ mean?” Wen Ruqing’s expression was so innocent that for a moment, Bai Xizhou didn’t feel like lying to him.

“It means I don’t have much romantic experience,” Bai Xizhou said truthfully.

“How many people have you dated, Lawyer Bai?”

He was trying to find something to distract himself from the pain.

“Not many. Just two I can really remember. One in college—we broke up after graduation when I moved abroad. Then I dated someone in Germany, but later found out he’d been lying to me the whole time, so we broke up too.”

He’d dated a few others after that, but none of them lasted long. Compared to the people around him, his love life really wasn’t much.

The two of them continued chatting idly about past relationships, and the day passed quickly.

*

Life in the town passed by at its usual unhurried pace. Wen Qing somehow got her hands on a bunch of green plums and said she wanted to make plum wine. She called Wen Ruqing over to help, and just as Bai Xizhou returned home and hadn’t even had a chance to rest, he was dragged into the wine-making team as well.

The round green plums were soaking in water, waiting to be cleaned. Wen Ruqing was just about to start when Wen Qing stopped him.

“Take off your watch first—careful not to get it wet.”

Wen Ruqing hesitated. His scar had nearly healed, but Wen Qing had sharp eyes, and he didn’t want to take the risk.

He looked at Bai Xizhou, silently pleading for help.

“I’ll do the washing,” Bai Xizhou offered, stepping in and taking over Wen Ruqing’s task.

The green plums rolled between Bai Xizhou’s fingers, his fingertips gently rubbing off the fine fuzz on their skin. His movements were slow and careful. The sound of water echoed in Wen Ruqing’s ears as he looked up at Bai Xizhou.

Ever since Bai Xizhou stopped going to the aid center, he hadn’t styled his hair—now it fell softly across his forehead, making him look much younger. He rarely wore suits or shirts anymore either. Since he didn’t bring many clothes, most of what he wore now belonged to Wen Ruqing.

Maybe it was because he was good-looking, but no matter what he wore, it didn’t look out of place.

As Wen Ruqing picked through the plums, he kept sneaking glances at Bai Xizhou—until suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him. Long, well-shaped fingers, still damp.

“This one’s bad,” Bai Xizhou said.

For some reason, Wen Ruqing’s ears flushed red. He quickly tossed the spoiled plum in the trash and lowered his head to keep picking, avoiding Bai Xizhou’s gaze.

He didn’t notice the small, barely-there smile that tugged at Bai Xizhou’s lips once he looked away.

After washing, they picked out the fresh, plump plums and dried each one. While they were drying, Wen Ruqing went to fetch the jars for the wine. He poured a little wine into each to moisten the insides, then fetched the yellow rock sugar.

“I’ll lay a layer of plums, and you add a layer of sugar,” Wen Ruqing instructed.

They took turns layering plums and sugar, working together seamlessly. They filled five jars this way, and Wen Qing poured wine into each and sealed them for storage. If all went well, the wine would be ready to drink in a little while.

There were still a lot of plums left over, and Wen Qing handed them over to Wen Ruqing to deal with.

“Do you want to try one?” Wen Ruqing asked, planning something.

Bai Xizhou shook his head. He could tell just by looking that they were sour enough to make your teeth hurt—no way he was trying that.

But since Wen Ruqing had already asked, he had no intention of giving Bai Xizhou a chance to say no. Catching him off guard, he quickly stuffed a green plum into Bai Xizhou’s mouth.

Bai Xizhou hadn’t processed what happened yet and instinctively bit down—instantly, a wave of sourness exploded in his mouth. His brows furrowed, and then his whole face scrunched up.

Wen Ruqing burst into laughter. After all, Bai Xizhou’s friend had just called him a “little beauty”—the friend wasn’t around to tease, but Bai Xizhou was right in front of him.

Seeing Wen Ruqing laugh so freely, Bai Xizhou suddenly felt mischievous. He grabbed a plum and, with his other hand, pinched Wen Ruqing’s cheeks and stuffed the plum into his mouth.

In a flash, Wen Ruqing’s face scrunched up just the same.

Trying to prank Bai Xizhou ended up backfiring—Wen Ruqing was a little sulky.

His plum seemed even sourer. He ran to rinse his mouth out with water, and while he was gone, Bai Xizhou used the time to do something else.

When Wen Ruqing returned, he found two drinks sitting on the table.

“Green plum lemon green tea. Try it—how is it?” Bai Xizhou asked.

Wen Ruqing was silent for a moment, then raised a thumbs-up at Bai Xizhou.

“Very good, Lawyer Bai. You might have a future in making drinks.”

“Then I’ll keep it up. Maybe when I stop being a lawyer, I’ll open a drink shop,” Bai Xizhou played along.

After the plum wine was finished, Wen Qing took charge of storing it. Bai Xizhou looked at the jars and suddenly felt a strange emotion.

This was wine they had made together—by the time it was ready to drink, maybe he and Wen Ruqing would have already gone their separate ways.

Bai Xizhou turned to look at Wen Ruqing, who was staring at the jars and smiling happily, clearly still caught up in the joy of making wine with his own hands. He didn’t notice the shift in Bai Xizhou’s emotions.

Would he be reluctant to leave? Of course.

Bai Xizhou stared at Wen Ruqing’s profile, a ripple forming quietly in his heart—an emotion too subtle to name.