Don’t even talk about setting three rules, even if it was setting eighty rules, Xiang Xi would agree without hesitation. Anyway, making promises was his forte, whether he could follow through afterward was another matter.

However, after he nodded, Cheng Boyan didn’t immediately set the three rules. He couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, what are the three rules?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Cheng Boyan lightly tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Then where are we going now? Back to your place?" Xiang Xi suddenly felt a little excited. Aside from that failed burglary, he had never really entered someone’s proper home before.

"First, we’re going to buy some groceries," Cheng Boyan replied.

“Buy groceries?” Xiang Xi was quite surprised, “Doctors buy groceries too?”

“What’s so surprising about it? What else should a doctor eat if not groceries?” Cheng Boyan said helplessly, “You look like you’re smart, but it’s just a look, huh?”

“By the way, when I bumped into you on the street last time, that yam with the iron rod, you had just bought groceries, right?” Xiang Xi suddenly remembered the yam that broke as soon as he touched it, and he laughed for a while.

"Yeah, I’ll buy some more later," Cheng Boyan nodded.

"Don’t buy it, that stuff doesn’t taste good." Xiang Xi clicked his tongue.

Cheng Boyan didn’t reply, but gave him a look. Xiang Xi quickly slapped his leg and said, "Buy it! If you like it, just buy it! I’ll eat it even if you buy shit!"

“Stop provoking me or I’ll kick you out of the car,” Cheng Boyan said.

"...I didn’t mean it," Xiang Xi scratched his head, "I just wanted to show that I’m cooperative, I’ll eat whatever."

“Shut up.” Cheng Boyan sighed.

Xiang Xi sometimes bought groceries, back when he was much younger.

At that time, he never had money. Uncle Ping would give him some cash to buy groceries at the supermarket. He would run like mad all the way to a wholesale market far from Zhaojiayao, where things were much cheaper than at the supermarket.

On the way back, he would stop by the supermarket again and, when no one was paying attention, tear off a few of those colourful straps used to bundle vegetables and price tags, snatch a few bags, and pack the vegetables to take back to Uncle Ping. Sometimes, he could save up ten or so yuan in the difference, and he would secretly keep it.

But then Uncle Ping found out and gave him a beating, taking away the hundred or so yuan he’d saved.

After that, he started hiding his things in Tongkui Hutong...

"What kind of vegetables do you like to eat?" Cheng Boyan interrupted his thoughts.

"Lettuce, but it has to have meat with it," Xiang Xi replied without thinking, then quickly added, "But anything’s fine."

"Lettuce it is then, I like lettuce too." Cheng Boyan picked up two bundles of lettuce, walked a few steps, then thought about it and went back to grab two more bundles.

"You must be a rabbit," Xiang Xi couldn’t help but say.

"I'm a tiger," Cheng Boyan replied, then casually asked, "What about you?"

"...Definitely got it wrong, I must be closer to a cow," Xiang Xi said as he touched the bunches of lettuce in the shopping cart, "I could be any of the dog, pig, or rat."

"Let’s have lettuce wraps for lunch," Cheng Boyan didn’t continue with the zodiac topic. He suddenly remembered that Xiang Xi seemed to be unclear about his own age.

Following Cheng Boyan around the grocery aisles in the supermarket, Xiang Xi felt quite content. He couldn’t explain why, maybe because he finally felt a bit more settled.

Cheng Boyan’s grocery shopping was quite magical. He would toss something into the cart when he saw it, but after a while, he would think about it and put it back on the shelf. He went around several times, picking up and putting back items, until he finally managed to get all the groceries.

“Let’s go.” Cheng Boyan grabbed two bottles of large-pack peanut milk.

“Mm.” Xiang Xi eagerly pushed the cart toward the checkout.

When he saw the price displayed on the screen, over a hundred yuan, Xiang Xi clicked his tongue and quietly said, “Over a hundred, isn’t that a bit extravagant?”

“I didn’t tell you to finish it all in one meal. If you’re feeling guilty, I’ll buy you two bowls of instant noodles, and you can just make them yourself,” Cheng Boyan handed over his card to the cashier and thought for a moment before saying quietly, “Why didn’t you just throw my bank card in the mailbox too?”

“I’d be doing you a favour just by tossing you an ID card. What kind of service are you expecting from a thief…” Xiang Xi rubbed his nose and walked away.

Cheng Boyan had his own house, his own car. As Xiang Xi stood in the clean and tidy neighbourhood, watching Cheng Boyan park, he felt particularly moved.

People were really different. Someone like him, if he had kept hanging around Uncle Ping, by the time he was Cheng Boyan’s age, even if he hadn’t died, who knows what he could’ve amounted to. Now that he had left, he was even more uncertain about what his future would look like in ten years…

Carrying the groceries, he followed Cheng Boyan into the elevator and out again, and he kept reflecting on these thoughts in his heart.

“The first rule,” Cheng Boyan took out the key and spoke as he opened the door, “is to maintain hygiene. When you come in, take off your jacket and put it on the rack outside. Don’t spit on the floor or litter…”

“I never spit on the floor!” Xiang Xi protested.

“Put the groceries on the shoe rack first.” Cheng Boyan opened the door and pointed to the shoe rack by the entrance.

“Oh,” Xiang Xi followed Cheng Boyan into the house, placed the groceries on the shoe rack, and glanced around the house. He froze. “Brother… your house is really… clean!”

Cheng Boyan took off his jacket and hung it in the nearby wardrobe, then stretched out his hand toward Xiang Xi. “Take off your jacket.”

“Oh,” Xiang Xi quickly took off his jacket and handed it to Cheng Boyan. “And then?”

He turned his face and saw a bottle of disinfectant on the shoe rack. Without waiting for Cheng Boyan to speak, he immediately went over, squeezed some onto his hand, and rubbed it in. “Got it, rub a little to disinfect.”

“This is my habit, you don’t have to follow it. Just wash your hands when you come in,” Cheng Boyan changed his shoes, tossed a pair of slippers at Xiang Xi’s feet, squeezed more disinfectant on his hands while rubbing them, and walked into the other room. “Do you have any clothes to change into?”

“Yeah, the two sets you bought for me, I alternate between them,” Xiang Xi changed his shoes, placed them in the shoe rack, and stood still in the living room, too afraid to move.

Cheng Boyan’s place was so clean, the floor, the table, the glass, and all the surfaces were so shiny they reflected the light. Xiang Xi felt like even breathing could make it dirty.

“Did you never have any clothes before?” Cheng Boyan came out of the room, already changed into a set of homewear. “If I hadn’t bought you those two sets, would you just be walking around naked?”

“I used to have one set,” Xiang Xi laughed. He really didn’t have many clothes, just one or two sets. After being thrown out by Uncle Ping, there was no chance to go back and get more.

Cheng Boyan didn’t say anything. He walked into another room, and Xiang Xi stood there, not daring to move.

A couple of minutes later, Cheng Boyan came out with a set of sportswear and handed it to Xiang Xi. “These are clothes from when I was in high school. I was thinner back then, so this set should fit you. You can wear it at home for now.”

“Oh,” Xiang Xi took the clothes. Although they were over ten years old, they were still in great condition, better than the ones he usually wore. “These clothes are pretty good. Can I wear them outside too, or just at home? Don’t want to waste them.”

Cheng Boyan looked at Xiang Xi as he stared down at the clothes and suddenly thought back to how Xiang Xi looked when he was holding that roll of money. He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Go change,” he pointed to the room beside him. “It’s just old clothes, I want you to wear them at home.”

“Oh.” Xiang Xi took the clothes and went into the room.

Cheng Boyan’s house wasn’t very big, a two-bedroom apartment. One room was the bedroom, and the other was a multi-functional space—part study, part gym, part guest room. It was also neat and clean. There were two bookshelves, a treadmill, a sofa bed, and a lounge chair by the floor-to-ceiling window, stacked with thick cushions.

Xiang Xi changed into the sportswear, and it fit him quite well. He hung the pants he had taken off, following Cheng Boyan’s habits, on the cabinet by the living room door.

There sure were a lot of rules. This was just the first rule?

Cheng Boyan had already brought the vegetables into the kitchen, sorted and packaged them, and put them in the fridge.

Xiang Xi stood in the living room for a while, unsure of what to do, so he followed Cheng Boyan into the kitchen. "Do you need help? I can wash the vegetables and stuff."

"Not yet, I still have some preparations to do," Cheng Boyan waved his hand at him. "You go watch some TV, the remote is in the drawer under the TV."

"Oh, what kind of preparations? Disinfecting?" Xiang Xi asked.

"The second rule is to stop asking so many questions, and always ask such ridiculous ones," Cheng Boyan turned around and glanced at him.

"...Understood," Xiang Xi turned and went back to the living room.

The TV was quite good. It had been a long time since he watched TV. At Uncle Ping’s place, there was only a TV in the living room. It was never peaceful—either this person came or that person came, or Uncle Ping would sit there with a teapot. Xiang Xi didn’t really enjoy watching it.

Actually, watching TV was a really calming thing. The feeling of staying at home and watching TV was very stable.

Xiang Xi turned on the TV, sat on the sofa, and flipped through channels with the remote. Finally, he stopped on the local news broadcast.

He watched the TV for a while. Recently, nothing major had happened in the city—there were no reports about the one-legged man or a 14-year-old girl being harmed. Actually, if something truly happened, the news might not even know about it.

In Zhaojiayao, there had been fights, gang conflicts, and people going missing or suddenly dying on the streets. A lot of these incidents had never been reported, as though that place didn’t even exist.

After watching for a while, the TV program began talking about spring health tips. Xiang Xi didn’t feel like changing the channel and just leaned back on the sofa, watching seriously.

A reporter went to interview the head of the nutrition department at the city hospital. The head doctor was talking about things to pay attention to for good health. Xiang Xi found it quite interesting.

"Nothing else to watch?" Cheng Boyan came out of the kitchen and paused when he saw what was on the TV.

"This is quite interesting," Xiang Xi pointed at the screen. "Learning something new. You keep eating that yam with the iron rod, why not listen to the nutrition expert? This lady looks well-maintained; she doesn’t look young, but her skin is smooth. She knows what she’s talking about when it comes to nutrition."

"...I’ve heard too much of this already," Cheng Boyan said.

"Huh?" Xiang Xi glanced at him. "Who told you? Your mom? Your grandmother? I think we should listen to the experts. Old people might have their blind spots. I had an old blind man in Dawa who even asked me for 'child urine' to drink."

Cheng Boyan didn’t respond. Xiang Xi quickly scooted over to the other side of the sofa. "Is 'child urine' part of a rule?"

"Not part of it," Cheng Boyan sat down in front of the computer in the living room and opened it up. "Aren’t you going to change the channel?"

"I’m not changing it. Why do you keep asking me to change the channel? I’m watching about nutrition. Didn’t you say I’m too skinny? I’m learning from the experts," Xiang Xi clicked his tongue. "You might be better off listening to the experts than your mom."

"My mom is an expert," Cheng Boyan said, clicking on a webpage.

"Is this nutritionist really an expert?" Xiang Xi turned his head and saw Cheng Boyan opening the computer, freezing for a moment. "Didn't you say you were going to cook after the preparations were done? What are you doing now? Want me to cook?"

"I’m doing the preparations," Cheng Boyan smiled, "I’m checking how to make lettuce wraps. Do you know how to make them?"

"You don’t know how to make them, but you’re still saying you’ll cook?" Xiang Xi burst into laughter. "Ha, a serious doctor like you is so unreliable!"

"Well, if you know how to do it, you can cook," Cheng Boyan thought for a moment. "You’ve always been on your own, so your independent living skills must be good. Cooking should be easy for you, right?"

"Brother, you’re mistaken," Xiang Xi rubbed his nose awkwardly. "My ability to live independently is okay, I can grab food when I get it. If I don’t have food, I can tough it out for a couple of days. Cooking... only people who live a full life have the ability to cook."

Cheng Boyan opened his mouth, staring at Xiang Xi for a while before asking, "You really never went to school? You have some good ideas."

"I just think about things when I have time," Xiang Xi raised an eyebrow. "Someone has said that to me before."

"Really?" Cheng Boyan smiled.

"Really. A photographer, who got bored and came to Zhaojiayao to look for a different kind of life. In the end, he got stolen and left," Xiang Xi sighed as he spoke. "He probably remembers that life well. His camera is still in Dawa, continuing its 'life experience'."

Cheng Boyan found dozens of ways to make lettuce wraps. He picked the simplest one and quickly skimmed through it. He usually cooked like this—decide what to eat, search it up, or call his mother for a recipe.

This simple version of lettuce wraps seemed easy enough: mince the meat, chop the garlic shoots into small pieces, add some diced red chili, stir-fry them together, and then wrap them up to eat.

Without hesitation, he got started.

Cheng Boyan entered the kitchen. The minced meat was ready, the garlic shoots were washed and chopped, and there were some red chilies too, which Auntie had grown herself. They were very spicy and fragrant.

"Can you eat spicy food?" Cheng Boyan asked from the kitchen.

"I can eat anything, just cook it according to your taste. I can even eat... that stuff," Xiang Xi replied from outside.

"Shit?" Cheng Boyan asked, a bit irritated, throwing the knife onto the cutting board.

"You!" Xiang Xi shouted, "I mean I can eat even spoiled food, there's nothing I can't eat."

"...Oh." Cheng Boyan frowned and continued chopping the vegetables.

Xiang Xi paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing in the living room. After a while, he said, "You should wash your hands."

Cheng Boyan didn’t respond, his head still down as he chopped the vegetables. Chopping vegetables was such a tedious task, especially dicing them. It felt like you could never finish, and even when you cut your hand, you still couldn’t finish.

Xiang Xi didn't say anything else, but watched TV seriously.

Cheng Boyan glanced into the living room. This nutrition class on TV was quite long; it had been going on for about ten minutes. If it weren’t for Xiang Xi not recognizing all the characters, he’d really want to go into the other room and get some of his mother’s old books for him to read.

After the segment ended, Xiang Xi entered the kitchen, rubbed some disinfectant on his hands, and moved closer to Cheng Boyan to take a look. "Hey, your knife skills."

"What's wrong?" Cheng Boyan didn’t look at him, continuing to chop the vegetables.

"It’s like you're playing checkers, one moment it’s wide, the next it’s narrow," Xiang Xi turned on the faucet and washed his hands. "I thought doctors usually had good knife skills, don’t you perform surgeries?"

"Every profession has its own area of expertise. When I sawed off your leg, my technique was excellent, probably suitable for carpentry," Cheng Boyan smiled and handed him the knife. “How about you cut the rest, and I’ll mix the meat?”

“Alright, I’ll give it a shot.” Xiang Xi took the knife, aimed at the vegetables for a long while without making a move, and finally cleared his throat.

“Ready? Sing,” Cheng Boyan teased from the side.

At first, Cheng Boyan thought Xiang Xi was just being modest when he said he wasn’t great at handling daily tasks. But after watching him struggle through two cuts, he realized Xiang Xi had been completely honest—he was putting so much effort into chopping just a few stalks of garlic chives that even his shoulders were tensing up.

“Be careful not to cut yourself,” Cheng Boyan reminded him while mixing the meat.

“Relax,” Xiang Xi almost pressed himself against the cutting board. “Just don’t watch me. If you watch, I get nervous.”

“What a ridiculous problem,” Cheng Boyan muttered as he turned away to continue mixing the meat.

Dicing the vegetables was finally done, and the next step was just to stir-fry everything together. Cheng Boyan didn’t bother with any specific order—he simply poured some oil into the pan and dumped all the ingredients in at once, stirring them around with a loud sizzling sound.

"Whoa..." Xiang Xi exclaimed. "Anything else I can help with?"

"Check if the rice cooker light has turned green. If it has, unplug it," Cheng Boyan said while stirring the food.

"It’s green," Xiang Xi checked and unplugged the rice cooker. "Then what?"

"Then get out," Cheng Boyan replied.

"Alright." Xiang Xi turned around and went back to the living room.

The lettuce wraps were supposed to be a simple dish, but Cheng Boyan still took over half an hour to finish them. However, the presentation turned out quite nice, with vibrant red and green colours.

"Smells amazing!" Xiang Xi exclaimed as soon as the dish was brought out.

"Go wash your hands before eating," Cheng Boyan said, bringing out the washed lettuce leaves as well.

"I already washed them, just now. Even used disinfectant," Xiang Xi said, sitting down at the table.

"Rule number one," Cheng Boyan crossed his arms and looked at him. "This is finger food."

"Sigh," Xiang Xi got up reluctantly, muttering as he walked to the kitchen, "Beggars can’t be choosers. If you're mooching a meal, you gotta put up with some hassle."

"Exactly. And you’re doing both," Cheng Boyan nodded.

"Brother," Xiang Xi ran back after washing his hands, stood in front of Cheng Boyan, and gave a serious bow. "Thank you for helping me so much."

 

Translator : DarNan