ITC Chapter 16

In the days that followed, Bai Xizhou often came over to Wen Ruqing’s house. Sometimes it was because Wen Ruqing was heading home and Bai Xizhou tagged along; other times it was Wen Qing inviting Bai Xizhou over for a meal.

Wen Qing’s cooking couldn’t really be called gourmet—just simple home-style dishes, nothing like what you’d get from a proper restaurant chef—but Bai Xizhou enjoyed eating with them.

He would help out with small chores. Wen Ruqing felt a bit guilty about it, since he’d promised to take Bai Xizhou around for fun, but ended up calling him over to do work every time.

But Bai Xizhou didn’t mind at all. These were things he never did back in the city, so it felt like a new experience to him. And honestly, after working and then going to sleep, he really slept well.

They would ask Bai Xizhou about his job and his life the way elders would ask younger family members. Sometimes they even talked about his love life. Wen Qing once asked if she should introduce him to a girl.

“Auntie, Lawyer Bai is so handsome—how could he be short of admirers? You don’t need to worry about that,” Wen Ruqing said, taking a sip of soup, trying to deflect and help him out.

He was afraid Wen Qing might be too enthusiastic and put Bai Xizhou off, but in reality, Bai Xizhou didn’t mind her questions at all. In fact, he somewhat enjoyed them.

Bai Xizhou wasn’t someone who truly liked silence. He liked the way a family chatted around the dinner table about everyday life. But before coming to Yunduan Town, he had never experienced anything like that.

He longed for that kind of atmosphere, so he was always happy to eat at Wen Ruqing’s house—it gave him a sense of belonging.

It didn’t really matter what they talked about. As long as someone was willing to talk to him, it was enough.

After dinner, Wen Ruqing helped his aunt clean up as usual. Bai Xizhou dragged a chair out to the doorway to digest a bit.

The temperature difference between day and night was big—while daytime was warm enough for short sleeves, nighttime called for a light jacket. He was currently wearing Wen Ruqing’s clothes.

Wen Ruqing’s wardrobe was very simple—just T-shirts or plain-colored shirts, and his jackets were the most basic styles. But they were comfortable to wear.

A ringtone interrupted his appreciation of the evening scenery. It was an unfamiliar number. Bai Xizhou frowned and hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

“Xizhou, you finally answered my call.” A woman’s voice came through from the other end.

That voice—Bai Xizhou knew it all too well.

“What you want?” His tone was stiff and flat, with no emotional inflection. In the stillness of the night, it even carried a trace of coldness.

Wen Ruqing, having just finished washing the dishes, stepped outside to find Bai Xizhou and call him back—only to be frozen in place by that icy voice.

It was even colder than when they’d first met. Just three words—and Wen Ruqing could actually hear hatred in them.

“I don’t think there’s anything for us to catch up on. I’m not in Xincheng right now, and even if I go back, I won’t come see you.” Bai Xizhou didn’t notice that Wen Ruqing was standing behind him. “What is it now? Getting old, and suddenly everyone wants to talk about family? Where were you all before?”

“It’s not like that, Xizhou. Mom just… misses you a little, wants to see you,” the woman explained, her tone tinged with urgency.

But the cold voice coming from the other end of the call couldn’t be ignored. Bai Xizhou let out a silent scoff.

“Ms. Yan, live your life and stop bothering me,” he sneered, then hung up and immediately blocked the number.

He sighed and turned to head back inside — only to see Wen Ruqing standing at the doorway. He had no idea how long he’d been there or how much he’d heard.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.” Before Bai Xizhou could say anything, Wen Ruqing spoke first.

There was no light at the doorway, so Bai Xizhou couldn’t clearly see his face, but he knew — Wen Ruqing was probably smiling. He always did when he was around him.

Bai Xizhou didn’t like showing this side of himself to Wen Ruqing. Anyone who overheard that call would know — his relationship with his family was a mess, tangled with the chaos of his parents’ generation.

He knew Wen Ruqing’s parents had passed away, but he still had his aunt, and she treated him well. Coming from a warm, close-knit household, Wen Ruqing probably couldn’t relate to his situation. Not asking too much — that was his way of giving him dignity.

But maybe it wasn’t such a big deal to share after all. Teng Yuan had told him before that he always bottled everything up, and that it wasn’t good for him.

“It’s nothing really. Just my mother — she’s coming back to the country and wants to see me,” Bai Xizhou said as he walked over, ruffling Wen Ruqing’s hair. It was soft, and it tickled slightly as it slipped through his fingers. “We haven’t seen each other in over twenty years.”

In those twenty-plus years, there had been no “mother” in his life — and even before that, there was barely a difference between her being there or not.

Wen Ruqing quietly listened without offering any comments.

He thought, everyone has something they don’t want to talk about — a soft spot, a wound. Even someone as capable as Bai Xizhou was no exception.

“The last person who desperately wanted to see me… was my father.” And so, Bai Xizhou had escaped to Yunduan Town.

“If Lawyer Bai doesn’t want to see them, then don’t. What you feel comes first — isn’t that what you told me?” Wen Ruqing tilted his head, leaning against the doorframe.

It was something Bai Xizhou had said before. And now this man was throwing his own words back at him to comfort him — but he didn’t mind. In fact, it worked.

“It’s late. Let’s go back.” Wen Ruqing turned around, went inside to grab the car keys, and told Bai Xizhou to wait for him at the door.

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On the way back on the bicycle, Bai Xizhou held Wen Ruqing around the waist as usual. Neither of them spoke the whole way.

Probably because they didn’t know what to say.

“Wen Ruqing, I’ve never heard you mention your parents.” As they passed under a streetlamp, Bai Xizhou suddenly opened his mouth. “Let’s keep doing the exchange—I want to know about you.”

Wen Ruqing’s fingers on the handlebars suddenly stiffened. Bai Xizhou’s arm was around his waist, steady warmth spreading from behind him, but his hand was a little cold.

“My parents have already passed away.” His voice trembled slightly.

Images flashed through his mind, making him feel unsteady. Luckily, there weren’t many people on the road at that hour.

“I know.” Bai Xizhou paused. That wasn’t what he wanted to know. “Your sister told me.”

“Then what else do you want to know?”

That Bai Xizhou knew didn’t surprise him—it was just unexpected that it was Xie Yuzhu who said it.

“I want to know why you’re here, studying ancient book restoration. There aren’t really many job opportunities here, are there?”

In contrast, New City had the top research institute in the country, and Wen Ruqing’s last social media post had been from there.

Thanks to his instincts as a lawyer, Bai Xizhou was good at pulling key details from the smallest traces.

Wen Ruqing had taken the exam for that research institute. After that, his social media went quiet. The injuries on his wrist were recent—after the exam—and he had stayed in Yunduan Town since then, with no job. Putting everything together, that exam seemed like a turning point.

Maybe these things had nothing to do with him. But he still wanted to know—he let himself indulge in this unusual curiosity about Wen Ruqing.

He wanted to know more. He didn’t want to be the only one Wen Ruqing was always accommodating.

“I failed the exam, so I came back.” The bicycle came to a stop in front of the inn.

“But from what I’ve seen, your skills are pretty good. Even if you didn’t pass, there should be other chances, right?” This kind of craft isn’t common in the country—there can’t be just one path.

“But besides this, I’ve never had any other goal.”

Bai Xizhou and Wen Ruqing got off the bike. Wen Ruqing went to open the door but stopped at the entrance and turned around. Half his face was hidden in the dark. As he raised his hand, the edge of the bandage on his wrist caught the light.

“Let’s not talk about this. I’ll show you your book.” He easily changed the subject, using just a few light words to answer Bai Xizhou’s question.

Bai Xizhou knew—this was brushing him off.

It felt like all along, he had been the one opening up, the one satisfying Wen Ruqing’s curiosity. But when he wanted to know something, the answers he got were always vague.

And the more it was like this, the more Bai Xizhou wanted to dig deeper.

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Bai Xizhou followed Wen Ruqing into his room. The condition of the space made it hard to step inside—aside from Wen Ruqing himself, there wasn’t room for even one more person.

“This is where you usually rest?” Bai Xizhou frowned. He had assumed Wen Ruqing at least had a private room to stay in, not such a cramped space.

There wasn’t even a window or a bathroom in the room.

“I’m used to staying in places like this.” Wen Ruqing walked to the worktable and picked up a few sheets of paper. “This is the part that’s already been restored. Take a look.”

What Bai Xizhou received were separated pages of the book. The previously charred edges had been removed and replaced with new paper. The difference in color between the new and original paper was minimal—only on close inspection could one spot any signs of restoration. The content had been copied in the style of the original handwriting; at a glance, it looked almost the same as when Bai Xizhou had first received the book.

Back then, when his grandfather gave him the book, he had been overjoyed. And when the book was burned, he had been equally devastated. But now, it could return to how it once was.

Looking at the half-complete pages, Bai Xizhou unexpectedly felt like crying.

He thought of his grandfather, of those rare warm moments, of the only tenderness in his childhood.

Suddenly, Wen Ruqing was pulled into a hug. The last time Bai Xizhou had hugged him was when he wasn’t fully conscious—but this time, it was a fully aware embrace.

Wen Ruqing froze slightly, momentarily forgetting to push him away. When he finally came back to his senses and raised his hand, he stopped when he heard the choked sob right next to his ear.

Was Bai Xizhou crying?

“Lawyer Bai, you… what’s wrong?”

Why are you crying?

“Thank you. Thank you.” He repeated those three words, burying his face in Wen Ruqing’s neck, dampening it with tears. “Thank you for repairing this book for me. I thought I’d never see it complete again.”

This book meant so much to Bai Xizhou. Wen Ruqing had understood that, but he hadn’t expected it to affect him this deeply.

Instinctively, he lifted his hand and patted Bai Xizhou’s back in a comforting gesture. Words of reassurance were stuck in his throat—none came out.

“I didn’t have much hope, honestly. It was too damaged. I just wanted to try my luck with you.” Bai Xizhou pulled back and looked up, his eyes slightly red. “This was a birthday gift from my grandfather. But before he could give it to me, he passed away. I never even got a chance to read it before my mother burned it.”

This book was a keepsake from his grandfather, a spiritual comfort during a certain time in his life. Thankfully, he still had the chance to see it whole again. And for that, he owed everything to Wen Ruqing.

Seeing Bai Xizhou so emotional, Wen Ruqing found himself a little at a loss. This was the first time he had directly faced a restorer’s gratitude. In the past, during his restoration work, he rarely paid attention to the emotions of the other party. He had never truly felt the joy that came after restoring something, nor had he understood the deep emotional attachment people had to the books they brought. That’s why he hadn’t felt happy doing it. That’s why he had grown weary of it.

But today, for the first time, he realized—restoring an old book could evoke such direct and powerful emotions. It was as if what he had restored wasn’t just an old book, but a broken piece of memory.

It felt like he was finally starting to understand. That knot of confusion that had been lingering in his heart—today, in Bai Xizhou’s tears—suddenly and clearly unraveled.

If he had another chance, he thought, he could finally answer the question the interviewer had asked him that day.

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Author note:

Their relationship mainly develops after they return to the new city. The chapter about Yunduan Town is about 20 chapters long. They are still in the stage of cultivating feelings, but our lawyer Bai has already shown some signs.