“My name is Song Yi,” the man said, shaking his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you’ll take good care of me.”

 

Every year as soon as winter arrived, Lin He would catch a cold once, as if celebrating the arrival of winter.

Today, the boss had even made them hold a meeting, but halfway through it, things got worse when he came down with a fever. Seeing him looking half-dead, the boss waved his hand and sent him home.

Lin He left the company building feeling somewhat dazed and groggy, but the moment he stepped outside the entrance, he became completely awake.

A blast of the bitter north wind hit him, and he almost wanted to rush back into the building, grab the boss by the leg, and wail, “Let me stay warm and finish the meeting!”

Parking fees around the company were frighteningly expensive, and parking spaces were in short supply. If he arrived even a little late, there would be no space for him to spend his money on even if he wanted to. So he usually parked his car in Chen Pang’s residential compound, a street away. Chen Pang would drive his car away to work in the morning, Lin He would park his own car in the space, and when he left work, he would drive his car away so Chen Pang could park there again.

If Lin He happened to work overtime, have a meeting, or leave a little late, Chen Pang would have to squeeze his car into the space between the parking spot and the tree beside it.

Like today.

Chen Pang had even stuck a Post-it note onto his windshield. It read: “Tenth time this month. Dinner’s on you at the end of the month.”

Lin He smiled, took out a pen, added two words to the note—“Okay”—and then stuck it onto Chen Pang’s car-door handle.

Driving home took more than an hour, which was the most painful part of every day, and now he was stuck in traffic too.

Lin He sat in his car, watching the long line of cars moving like a turtle ahead, and felt somewhat irritated. He was actually doing fine; once he passed the intersection ahead and made a turn, he could get onto a road with far less traffic. But this particular stretch cost him forty minutes every day.

He had been squeezed into the straight-through lane, and even when he was approaching the intersection, he still hadn't managed to merge into the right-turn lane. He slowed down, while the cars behind him kept honking incessantly.

“Stop honking! Can't you see my right-turn signal has been flashing this whole time?” he shouted inside the car. Spotting a gap, he merged into the right-turn lane.

He breathed a sigh of relief. After driving only a short distance, he reached the intersection, and in a particularly good mood, he turned the wheel and turned into the small street on the right.

He had driven less than ten meters when a motorcycle suddenly shot out from behind on his right, roaring as it charged up along his right side.

Lin He usually hated those people who rode a Harley all over the streets, acting as though they were the coolest people in the entire universe. He hated the ones who even had speakers mounted on their bikes blasting nightclub music even more.

This motorcycle didn't have a speaker mounted on it, but it was going far too fast. When Lin He saw in his rearview mirror that its left turn signal was flashing, he hit the brakes. He guessed the fucking idiot intended to overtake him from the right and cut across the front of his car to the left.

But it was already too late. His car had barely slowed down when the Harley shot past, scraping right against the front of his car.

Lin He heard a loud bang and simultaneously saw the Harley wobble twice. At least it didn't fall over, but the rider staggered several steps in a thoroughly uncool manner before managing to steady himself with his leg.

Seeing that the man wasn't injured, Lin He breathed a sigh of relief. Fucking idiot!

He opened the car door, got out, and shouted at the man, “Bro! What the hell kind of driving is that!”

The man parked his motorcycle, took off his helmet and hung it from the rearview mirror, then swung one leg over and got off the bike before walking toward him.

He had pretty long legs, but the sight of those tight leather pants made Lin He’s balls hurt.

“The way you were driving…” Lin He began, while trying to walk around to the right side to see how badly his own car had been scratched.

Before he could take two steps, the man had already reached the front of his car. He raised his leather boot and planted a kick directly into Lin He's left headlight. “How the fuck were you driving!”

Lin He was somewhat stunned. He had been driving normally; this man had tried to overtake him on the right, they had collided, and the man actually had the nerve to kick his headlight?

“Are you awake yet?” Lin He couldn't help asking. “You're asking me how I was driving?”

“If I'm not awake, are you going to tuck me in?” the man glared at him.

It was a very handsome face, but the expression that screamed “I'm not a good person” was far too obvious. Lin He's anger began shooting upward from the soles of his feet, surging higher and higher. “If you're not awake, I'll wake you the fuck up.”

“Come on.” The man pointed at himself. “Take a swing at me and see if it opens your eyes.”

Lin He ignored him and walked around to the right side to inspect the front of his car. A strip of paint had been scraped off the side, roughly the length of a palm, with several smaller scratches beside it.

The car had been bought less than a year ago, and, to be honest, he was quite heartbroken over it.

After taking several photos with his phone, he looked at the man. He was just some little thug, and Lin He really could not be bothered to argue with him any further. It was freezing cold, and after standing in the wind for several minutes while already feeling dizzy and feverish, he felt as though he was about to become seriously ill.

«Forget it,» Lin He put his phone back into his pocket, intending to get back into the car. «You don't have to compensate me. I'll go through the insurance...»

«You have to pay me.» The man lifted one leg onto the front of the car, blocking Lin He from getting back inside.

«What did you say?» Lin He was once again stunned. He carefully sized up the person in front of him. He was about the same height as Lin He, though somewhat thinner, and good-looking too. He looked to be barely over twenty, glaring at him with an attitude that practically said, «If you don't pay up, I'll fight you.»

From middle school through university, Lin He had spent at least five years as the captain of his school's basketball team. He certainly wasn't afraid of a fight, but he really couldn't understand where this guy got the confidence to think he could take him on.

«Don't play the bully. You scratched my car, I...» Lin He had not even finished speaking when his nose suddenly itched. He only had time to turn his head slightly before letting out a huge sneeze, nearly sneezing his tongue out along with it.

«Fuck you!» The man suddenly jumped back two steps and frantically patted himself all over.

«Sorry, I've got a cold.» Lin He waved a hand at him and opened the car door, preparing to get in.

What Lin He had not expected was that this kid would actually attack him.

«Don't give me that!» The man swung a fist at Lin He's shoulder from behind. «Trying to run?»

Lin He felt that fighting was something that had really become a long way away from his life. He had only gotten into a few fights back in middle school, and even then Cheng Boyan had looked down on him for an entire month afterward.

But that punch, which sent him staggering, immediately made him furious. He was already feeling terrible from his cold, had been blasted by the bitter north wind for ages, his car had been scraped and kicked, and now he had even been punched!

Even with his normally good temper, he could no longer hold it in. He turned around and swung a fist straight at the man's face.

Just as he had expected, this kid was no match for him in a fight. He did not dodge the punch at all, and it landed squarely on the corner of his eye.

But what happened next was somewhat beyond Lin He's expectations. Despite taking a heavy punch, the man did not back down. He did not even cover his face before charging at him again.

This time, his target was not Lin He, but the car door. He kicked the door, and the already-open door slammed violently into Lin He, striking him on the arm.

It hurt. Quite a lot!

Lin He no longer had the energy to think about how he had somehow ended up fighting someone in the street in the middle of winter while suffering from a cold. He swung another punch.

This punch landed on the man's shoulder.

His hand hurt, but at least the man finally grabbed his shoulder.

Next time, he should learn from Cheng Boyan how to dislocate someone's arm and just fucking dislocate the bastard's.

For some reason, the two of them were trading punches and kicks in the middle of the fast lane, yet not a single bystander called the police. No, there were hardly any people watching at all!

It really was worthy of a road that didn't even get congested during rush hour...

After they had wrestled around for about five minutes, both their jackets and pants were covered in gray marks. Lin He did not even know whether they had gotten dirty from rubbing against the car or from being stepped on by their shoes. But he felt that he had the upper hand for the moment: he had kicked the kid several times and punched him twice.

«That's enough already!» Lin He pushed him away and pointed at his face. «If you don't stop, I'll beat you into the hospital, so don't come crying afterward.»

The man wiped the corner of his mouth with one hand, then suddenly charged forward and slammed into him.

Lin He was still wondering why he had wiped the corner of his mouth when he clearly had not been hit in the face, but before he could figure it out, he was already sent stumbling backward by the heavy impact.

The man quickly pulled open the car door and got inside.

«Get out!» Lin He lunged forward, trying to pull the door open, but the kid rapidly locked it from inside.

What happened next sent a chill of fear through Lin He: the kid stomped on the accelerator, and the car lurched forward.

Was he trying to steal the car, or was he going to drive it into a tree?

«Fuck your ancestors!» Lin He slapped the car window.

The car jerked forward, then suddenly stopped. After that, the window slowly lowered halfway, and the kid looked at him from inside. «Behaving yourself now?»

«You're fucking finished today!» Lin He pointed at him, thrust his arm into the car, and grabbed him firmly by the collar.

The man did not resist. He merely fell toward the passenger side.

Lin He could not get enough leverage, so he stuck his head into the car as well, gripping the man's clothes and trying to pull him toward himself.

When the man suddenly lunged forward, reached past Lin He, and felt for the window switch, Lin He cursed viciously to himself: Fuck!

The window began rising. Lin He hurriedly backed away, trying to pull his head out through the window first.

But the window was only half open to begin with, and on top of that, the man grabbed Lin He's hair, so he could not pull himself out for the moment. Before long, the window was clamped around his neck.

All he could do was grit his teeth and wait for the window to automatically reverse when it encountered resistance. Unexpectedly, just as the window had caught him right below the neck, the man suddenly pulled out the car key.

The engine died. The power went off.

At that instant, Lin He's feelings were difficult to describe. His whole life had suddenly turned bleak.

«Come on, hit me!» the man shouted as he pushed the car door open.

Lin He did not make a sound. Once the door opened, he had to take tiny stumbling steps backward along with it while still trapped in the window, leaving him no time to say anything.

«You're fucking something else!» The man kicked him in the leg. «I haven't been beaten like this in years. You're the first, sir!»

«You’ve lived a pretty lucky life,» Lin He said with his neck stiff. «With that fucking temperament of yours, you actually managed to make it to today with all four limbs intact?»

«Cut the crap.» The man punched him in the back. «Apologize to your daddy! Pay up!»

The punch wasn't particularly hard, like someone patting your back when you're coughing, but Lin He already had a cold and had been sneezing and coughing non stop. That punch made him cough for quite a while, and he nearly coughed his snot out.

He reached into his pocket to get his phone, but immediately his wrist was grabbed and twisted behind his back.

«Calling the police? You're too innocent! » The man took his phone out of his pocket, then hopped around him, kicking and punching him repeatedly.

None of the punches or kicks were particularly hard. They were just strong enough not to injure him, while still making him hurt so badly that he would be furious. Lin He coughed as he felt that his throat was practically about to spew flames of rage.

«You really have a cold?» The man only stopped after beating him for about two minutes. He then rummaged through his pockets again and pulled out his wallet, a box of cold medicine, and two fever-reducing tablets. «I thought you were fucking pretending. You've got a fever too?»

Lin He said nothing. In his twenty-some years of life, he had never imagined that one day he would be stuck with his ass sticking out through the window of his own car, being beaten and cursed at by someone.

«Lin He.» The man pulled out his access card from his wallet and read his name. «Hello.»

Lin He sneezed.

«My name is Song Yi.» The man shook his hand. «Nice to meet you. Please take good care of me.»

Lin He shook off his hand. «Are you ever going to stop?»

«Your hand is pretty hot.» Song Yi went around to the driver's seat and sat down. He stared at Lin He face-to-face for a while, then reached out and touched his forehead. «Hey, you've got a fever!»

«Move your foot.» Lin He lowered his head and looked at the foot Song Yi still had outside the car. «My snot's about to drip out.»

«Fuck!» Song Yi hurriedly pulled his foot back inside the car.

After thinking about it, he looked around inside the car, picked up the tissue box from the back seat, pulled out two tissues, and leaned toward Lin He. «Yep, you're right. I can see it.»

«Really?» Lin He glanced at him. «Then take a good look, so you can remember it for the rest of your life.»

«You bet.» Song Yi burst out laughing. «I've been fighting for ten years. I've seen people get beaten until they bled, get their teeth knocked out, and even piss themselves from fright. But this is the first time I've ever seen someone I beat get beaten hard enough to produce snot.»

«Wipe it,» Lin He said.

He didn't know why he had said such a thing. He guessed the fever had fried his brain.

Ask this Song Yi to wipe his snot? With this guy's character, the heavens must really be smiling on him if Song Yi didn't take a photo of him with snot hanging from his nose!

Song Yi said nothing. He pulled out several more tissues, folded them together, and gently pressed them beneath Lin He's nose.

This unexpected kindness left Lin He somewhat dazed. His nose was already painfully blocked, so he instinctively blew his nose.

«Oh, fuck you!» Song Yi jerked his hand back, jumped up, and leapt out of the car. He kicked Lin He in the leg again. «I'm wiping it for you, and you blow your fucking nose all over it?!»

«Habit,» Lin He said.

«Habit my ass! If I didn't have rhinitis and know how miserable it feels, I wouldn't fucking bother!» Song Yi kicked him again. «Let it hang there and freeze, then!»

«No.» Lin He turned his head and looked at him. «Listen, bro, are you ever going to stop?»

«I haven't decided how I'm going to play with you yet,» Song Yi said.

Lin He said nothing more. As he turned his head, he saw hope.

In the distance, a vehicle with flashing blue and red lights was approaching, and he was suddenly filled with joy.

Although there weren't many bystanders, their numbers were steadily increasing. There weren't many cars on the road either, but his car was blocking the fast lane, so the other vehicles had to drive around them.

Someone had probably called the police.

«Why'd you stop talking?» Song Yi bent down and looked at him. After staring for a while, he tossed Lin He's phone and wallet onto the car seat and waved the car keys in front of his eyes. «Forget it. I'm just in a bad mood today. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken it out on you.»

«It's fine. Go ahead and take it out on me,» Lin He said.

Song Yi inserted the car key and was just about to turn it when the police car approaching them suddenly sounded its siren.

«Fuck!» He turned his head and froze for a moment. Then, at a speed Lin He could hardly imagine, he sprang out of the car, rushed toward his own motorcycle, jumped on it, roared the engine, and dashed forward.

Lin He was rescued by the traffic police. While questioning him about what had happened, the traffic officer kept trying not to laugh.

«It's fine. You can laugh as much as you want,» Lin He said while blowing his nose.

«The damage to your car isn't serious.» The traffic officer went over to inspect it and took some photos. «Do you have insurance?»

«Yes.» Lin He got into his car. Right now, all he wanted was to drive away from this wretched place, go home, take some medicine, bundle himself up to sweat out the fever, and sleep. He didn't care about anything else. «Thank you for your help.»

When he got home, he didn't even eat. He simply collapsed into bed and slept. The next day, he took the day off and slept until noon.

When he got up, the fever had gone down. His head still felt heavy, his nose was still somewhat blocked, and his throat hurt a little as well, probably because of the cold wind that had blown into him the day before.

The moment he thought about what had happened yesterday, his hand trembled as he opened the refrigerator door, and he became furious.

At first, he had thought, forget it. At least that Song Yi guy had wiped his nose for him in the end. But now, it seemed that he couldn't swallow this grudge.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't swallow it down; it felt as though something were stuck in his throat, making it ache.

He ran downstairs and brought up the dashcam. He found yesterday's recording and wrote down the motorcycle's license plate number.

Although he didn't expect much to come of it, his head was still dizzy and heavy, and he couldn't think of what to do next. So, almost absentmindedly, he copied the license plate number into the browser's search bar, slapped the Enter key, and searched.

A string of search results appeared. He froze.

When he looked more carefully, he almost wanted to laugh. There was actually someone this bizarre in the world who used his own license plate as his online ID!

It really was like finding something without lifting a finger!

»«Fate, it's fate! Lin He murmured, then clicked on several posts made by this ID and looked through them.

They were all discussions about various motorcycle modifications. There was nothing useful.

But when he got to the end, he saw a photo posted by Song Yi in one of his posts: his Harley parked in front of a repair shop.

Someone had replied underneath: «Brother Song, did you bump your bike?»

Song Yi replied that he wanted to add some lights.

Another person commented: «You opened this shop just to tinker with your own bike, didn't you?»

This was Song Yi's shop.

Lin He immediately slapped the table and memorized the name of the shop, then spent quite a while finding its phone number and address.

The shop was right next to the street where the two of them had collided yesterday.

Without a second thought, Lin He changed his clothes and went out. By the time he drove out of the residential complex, he felt as though his entire body was filled with energy; even his cold seemed to have completely disappeared.

Traffic was quite smooth during working hours. When he found Song Yi's shop, he even managed to find a parking space by the roadside.

But the shop was closed.

The whole street was lined with shops selling all kinds of parts, as well as quite a few repair shops. At this hour, many of them were still closed. Lin He had arrived too early.

He got out of the car and bought some steamed buns from a breakfast stall nearby, then returned to the car and slowly ate them while keeping his eyes on the shop door.

After finishing the buns, he waited for almost another half hour. A Harley came roaring down the sidewalk and stopped in front of the shop.

Lin He watched Song Yi get off the motorcycle, rubbing his nose as he slowly took out his keys.

When he bent down to open the door, Lin He jumped out of the car and quickly walked over.

The door slowly rose. When it was halfway open, Lin He came up behind him and grabbed him firmly by the collar.

Song Yi did not turn around. He immediately slammed an elbow backward. Lin He dodged by turning his head, then pressed his hand downward, grabbed Song Yi's wrist, and twisted it. Song Yi was forced forward into a bent-over position.

«Get inside!» Lin He shoved him.

He stumbled as Lin He pushed him into the shop and, unable to keep his balance, fell directly onto a reclining chair placed in the middle of the shop.

Lin He bent down and entered the shop as well. When Song Yi jumped up and tried to reach toward the rack beside him, Lin He took one step forward and shoved him hard in the chest. At the same time, he grabbed a wrench about a foot long from the rack.

«Stay still.» Lin He held up the wrench and pointed it at him.

He found it somewhat strange. Although Song Yi's fighting ability yesterday could hardly be called particularly strong, today he seemed far weaker than he should have been. That backward elbow strike had barely any force behind it, and Lin He had knocked him down with astonishing ease.

Had he not woken up yet?

«Lin He?» Song Yi said in surprise.

Lin He was also rather surprised. The door was only half open, the lights inside were off, and the room was very dark. Lin He was even standing with the light behind him, yet Song Yi had still recognized him and correctly called him by name.

«Wouldn't you say I'm pretty efficient?» Lin He asked in a low voice.

«Yes.» Song Yi nodded and leaned back against the chair, turning his head aside to cough several times. «Pretty efficient at passing it on too.»

«What?» Lin He froze.

Song Yi coughed for quite a while, then reached out, grabbed Lin He's hand, pulled it over, and pressed it against his own forehead. «I've got a fever, big brother. You fucking sneezed right in front of me yesterday...»

Song Yi's forehead was scorching hot, as if it were on fire. Lin He was so startled that he hurriedly pulled his hand back.

«So you...» Song Yi slowly got up from the chair, felt around on the wall beside him, and switched on the lights. He took a cup and walked over to the water dispenser in the corner to fill it with water. «You came here to get revenge?»

Watching his slow movements, Lin He suddenly had no idea how to respond. He was a proper accountant at a proper large company, yet here he was in a motorcycle-modification shop, holding a large wrench...

«How about another day?» Song Yi said. «I'm not going anywhere anyway. The shop is right here...»

Before he could finish, Lin He suddenly heard a crisp crash. The cup in Song Yi's hand had fallen to the floor. Lin He was startled and almost swung the wrench at Song Yi.

But what happened next made him throw the wrench aside and rush over.

Song Yi leaned against the water dispenser and slowly sank down onto the floor into a kneeling position.

«What's wrong with you?» Lin He dragged him over to the reclining chair.

«I guess you were so handsome you made me faint.» Song Yi closed his eyes and frowned.

«Do you need to go to the hospital?» Lin He hesitated, then pointed toward the door. «My car's parked outside.»

«No need.» Song Yi smiled. «I took fever medicine this morning. I'll be fine in a while.»

«You're practically fainting,» Lin He touched his forehead again. «I've never seen someone get so dizzy from a fever!»

«I didn't sleep last night. I played games all night.» Song Yi yawned, then frowned. «I'm just tired.»

«...Really?» Lin He was somewhat speechless.

«How about we chat for a while?» Song Yi looked at him. «You could say we know each other now.»

«What?» Lin He felt certain he must have heard wrong.

«Chatting. You don't know how?» Song Yi held out his hand. «Hello, Lin He. My name is Song Yi. That's the opening line. Ready, go.»

Lin He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. Still, he instinctively shook Song Yi's hand.

This was truly unbelievable.

 

Translator : DarNan