1

Winter came early this year, though it hadn't snowed, a gust of wind could chill you to the bone, especially on a day like that day when Jiang Cheng was at the courthouse. He only wore a suit under his down jacket, and the car's heater was on for several minutes before he felt relieved.

There were several messages on his phone from Gu Fei, saying he would return from a business trip in the afternoon, and asking Jiang Cheng to go straight to Pan Zhi's store for dinner together.

-Wu Yi will also be there.

Seeing this message, Jiang Cheng quickly glanced at himself in the rearview mirror, and, after seeing nothing wrong with his handsome face and stylish haircut, he directed the car towards Pan Zhi's store.

Since the weather had turned cold recently, Pan Zhi and Boss Xiao had been eating hot pot at the store almost every day. For people like Gu Fei and Jiang Cheng, who were too busy and could argue over who would cook, it was a really good place to have dinner, especially when Jiang Cheng generally couldn't beat Gu Fei in a bare-handed fight.

As soon as it got cold, there weren't many customers showing off at the store. The parking spaces in front of the entrance were empty, with only Pan Zhi's car parked on the edge. Jiang Cheng drove the car and parked it next to his, and as he walked towards the store, he glanced back again. Compared to Pan Zhi's car, which seemed to have been plunged into who knows what muddy pond, his car was gleaming.

"Just by looking at you, I can tell you were at the courthouse today," Pan Zhi was sitting in a chair holding a teapot, "you look so handsome and elegant in this outfit."

"Usually, I look handsome and elegant when I go to work," Jiang Cheng said, took off his jacket and looked around, except for Pan Zhi, who dressed increasingly vintage with his lapel coat and old-fashioned cotton shoes, there was no one else, "are you the only one here?"

"Don't you have enough with just having me for yourself?" Pan Zhi said, "aren't I the person you miss the most?"

"Shut up," Jiang Cheng approached to pour himself a cup of tea and sat across from Pan Zhi.

"Your Er Miao is here, and she came with that boy Wu Yi," Pan Zhi said, then leaned in, whispering, "they're starting to look more and more like a couple."

"They are a couple," Jiang Cheng took a sip of tea.

"Ah," Pan Zhi looked at him, "you seem so calm."

"Or what? Should I go there and beat up Wu Yi?" Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue, "not that I haven't thought about it..."

"Unfortunately, you can't beat him, can you?" Pan Zhi chuckled.

Jiang Cheng looked at him and chuckled after a few seconds, "Damn."

"Now you can only beat me," Pan Zhi sighed, "poor you, grandpa."

"I can't bear to hit you," Jiang Cheng noted.

"That's right, I'm pretty sure of that, our relationship is so good that if Gu Fei hadn't interfered, we would be..." Pan Zhi paused, probably searching for words.

Jiang Cheng said nothing, smiling at him.

"Forget it," Pan Zhi waved his hand, "let's give Gu Fei a break."

"No," the store door was pushed open and Gu Fei's voice was heard, "don't give me a break."

"Ah," Pan Zhi set down the teapot, stretched, got up, and walked out, "I'll go next door, I'll leave this store to you two."

"There's no need to be so considerate," Jiang Cheng underlined.

"You haven't seen each other in a week," Pan Zhi said as he walked away, "if I didn't see Boss Xiao for a week, I might run up to her in the street, hug her legs, and cry to express my love for her."

Jiang Cheng laughed for a long time, and only after Pan Zhi left, he turned to Gu Fei, "Are you coming?"

"What?" Gu Fei was puzzled.

"Hm?" Jiang Cheng was also puzzled.

"What are you asking me to come for?" Gu Fei smiled.

"I'm asking if you want to come, hug my legs, and cry," Jiang Cheng said.

Gu Fei said nothing, he just squatted down and stretched out his arms to hug Jiang Cheng's legs, "Is this okay?... Oh, Cheng-ge, I've been having a really tough time these days..."

"Oh, shit," Jiang Cheng quickly pushed him away, this phrase wasn't a big deal, it sounded like a joke, but this posture and action would make the audience think he had a new trick up his sleeve, "you're really good at cooperating."

"Is Er Miao next door?" Gu Fei stood up with a smile, took his cup of tea, and took a sip.

"Hm," Jiang Cheng nodded, "where's your luggage?"

"I put it in the car just before coming in," Gu Fei took off his jacket, "aren't you going there?"

"I'll go after dinner is served," Jiang Cheng reclined in his chair, "what am I going to do there now? I have nothing to talk about, you can go talk to Er-Miao for a while."

"I can't talk to Er-Miao, she doesn't like talking either," Gu Fei chuckled, looking at him, "by 'I have nothing to talk about,' you specifically mean Wu Yi, right?"

"Why?" Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue, "do I have to talk to him?"

"Is it a mutual rejection between you two, the top students?" Gu Fei asked with a smile.

"He's not even a good top student, he hasn't finished his studies yet," Jiang Cheng remarked.

"That tone," Gu Fei lamented.

"I'm not rejecting him," Jiang Cheng sighed as he thought about it, "I'm just a little uncomfortable, seeing him with Er-Miao makes me feel very uncomfortable."

"Er-Miao is my sister," Gu Fei said, "not your daughter, it's been a long time, adjust your mindset, Cheng-ge."

"Alright, alright, alright, alright," Jiang Cheng waved his hand and got up, "let's go, let's go."

 

2

There were no customers in Boss Xiao's store, so they were the only ones there. A table was placed in the centre of the store, with a large copper hot pot that Boss Xiao had just bought, next to it was filled with meat and only a few vegetables.

Gu Miao and Wu Yi were sitting face to face at a neighbouring table, with a Go board on the table, both of them looking intently, as if they were national players competing against each other.

"Fei-ge, Cheng-ge," Wu Yi greeted them intending to get up, but when he was about to do so, Gu Miao reached out and pointed at him, pressing her finger down. Hesitating, he looked over there, Gu Fei waved his hand and he sat back down.

"Er-Miao," Gu Fei called Gu Miao.

Gu Miao turned around and extended her hand, Gu Fei approached and placed his hand in hers, she grasped Gu Fei's hand and rubbed it, then pointed at the Go board.

"Do you play Go?" Gu Fei said, "you're getting better and better now, you can even play... Go?"

Jiang Cheng heard Gu Fei's words with a bit of doubt, so he approached to look, and at a glance saw all the black and white pieces clustered in the centre of the chessboard.

"This is damn gomoku," he said. (NT: game played with the go stones, The winner is the first player to form an unbroken line of five stones of their colour horizontally)

"Be civilized, Lawyer Jiang," Gu Fei looked at him.

"They're playing gomoku in such a large formation..." Jiang Cheng sighed, "didn't they play luzhanqi last time?" (NT: luzhanqi is a chinese military chess, where each player has only limited knowledge concerning the disposition of the opposing pieces.)

"She wanted to play," said Wu Yi, somewhat helplessly, "she's been playing Go for a while, and lately she likes Go, so she asked me to teach her to play Go, which I don't know how to do, I only know how to play gomoku."

"It's almost the same," Gu Fei nodded, "that's what matters."

Gu Miao placed the black piece she had in her hand on the chessboard and said: "General".

"Unsuccessful," Wu Yi said and put a white piece to block Gu Miao's black piece.

Gu Miao didn't react at all and continued placing pieces on the board.

"There's one thing I find especially good about this girl," said Boss Xiao, leaning on the table to the side, "she's the same whether she wins or loses, she's not arrogant when she wins, but she's not discouraged when she loses, she's carefree, she has the demeanour of a leader."

"She has no concept of winning or losing... Has she ever won?" Jiang Cheng asked. Gu Miao's ability to read, learn to read, and play Go was basically insignificant compared to her athletic and fighting talent.

"She has won, she said 'I won, I won,' announcing it one or two times after playing ten games," Boss Xiao imitated her and slapped her hand on the table, "I won."

"I won." On the other side, Gu Miao took a black piece and pressed it against the Go board, there was a clear "tap."

"Okay," Wu Yi nodded, "I lost."

Gu Miao turned her head, rested her chin on her hand, and looked over there, after looking for a moment, her eyes landed on Jiang Cheng's face.

"I don't know how to play gomoku," Jiang Cheng said.

Gu Miao said nothing, she raised her thumb and pointed downward, with a disdainful provocation at the corner of her lips.

 

"Hey!" Jiang Cheng bumped into the table, approached, and pushed Wu Yi aside. "Little girl, today I'll show you how powerful Cheng-ge is."

 "Cheng-er, are you as powerful as Gu Miao?" Pan Zhi couldn't help but laugh.

"She despises me," Jiang Cheng put all the pieces back into the basket and looked at Gu Miao. "You start."

 Gu Miao took a black piece and placed it in the centre of the board, Jiang Cheng placed a white piece next to hers, then she placed a black piece. Jiang Cheng observed as Gu Miao placed the Go pieces and realized that she understood the rules of the game, she knew how to play to win.

Therefore, when she announced that she had won... she was probably cheating.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng felt very happy and couldn't help but smile. For him, any improvement from Gu Miao was a surprise, and now she had learned to rely on it. In these matters, Jiang Cheng was still very grateful to Wu Yi; Gu Miao's dependence on her two brothers was not as evident as before, she spent more time with her friends and more time with Wu Yi than with them. Wu Yi's extraordinary patience and professional guidance impressed Jiang Cheng greatly...

"I won," Gu Miao placed a black piece, then raised her head and stared at him.

"What...?" Jiang Cheng froze for a moment, looking at the board, which didn't have enough pieces to add up to twenty, and then looking at the black pieces, there were only a maximum of three pieces in a row. "How can you play so brazenly, even if you cheat?"

Gu Miao ignored him, picking up the pieces one by one and putting them back in the basket, she was very calm.

"That easy?" Jiang Cheng said.

Gu Miao looked up and smiled at him.

"Oh," Jiang Cheng sighed, "alright, you win."

Gu Miao took out a candy from her pocket and put it in his hand.

"You guys keep playing," Jiang Cheng stood up as he unwrapped the candy.

"It's time for lunch," Wu Yi said, "why don't we stop now?"

Gu Miao nodded.

On a day like this, in a warm place, after a busy day, facing a steaming pot with red oil, a large mountain of pork belly in front of him, and with Gu Fei sitting next to him, for Jiang Cheng, this was his greatest pleasure, even though there was also Wu Yi, who sometimes pleased him and sometimes didn't, he didn't know when he would be completely satisfied with Wu Yi.

"What do you think?" Pan Zhi happily leaned back in his chair. "This life is wonderful... Boss Xiao, please give me some pork belly." Boss Xiao looked at him, took two chopsticks, put the slices of meat in the pot, and stirred them.

Jiang Cheng felt a little excited; Boss Xiao finally managed to give some face to her grandson, which wasn't easy. When the meat was ready, Pan Zhi happily extended the bowl, but Boss Xiao put all the meat in Gu Miao's bowl without hesitation.

"Er-Miao, eat more," Boss Xiao said. "I feel like you're exercising too much, you have lost all of the weight you gained in the fall and winter, and you're still very thin."

Gu Miao smiled.

Pan Zhi clicked his tongue and withdrew the bowl without embarrassment: "It's okay, give it to Er-Miao first and I'll wait for the next round."

Pan Zhi received nothing in the next round; Boss Xiao put everything in her own bowl.

"I'll do it for you," Gu Fei sighed, "don't be so persistent."

"I'll do it, I'll do it," Pan Zhi quickly stopped him and sighed as he cooked his own meat, "that's why people are so bad, there were so many girls begging me to let them cook my meat, but I didn't want any of them..."

"Come on, let me pour you some wine," Boss Xiao smiled and poured some wine for Pan Zhi.

"I don't want anything else, this is the wisest decision I've ever made," Pan Zhi said, raising his glass and clinking it with Boss Xiao's. "Isn't it, Boss Xiao?"

 "Yes," Boss Xiao nodded and took a sip of wine. "Squat down and let me pet you, come on."

 

3

Wu Yi basically didn't talk during the meal; he and Gu Miao were a silent duo. Jiang Cheng observed them the whole time and noticed that Wu Yi's attention had been on Gu Miao for more than half of the time.

This is true love.

Jiang Cheng looked at Gu Fei, who was beside him, and met his gaze.

"Do you want me to cook you some pork belly?" Gu Fei asked.

"Hm," Jiang Cheng smiled.

This is true love.

However, compared to him and Gu Fei, regarding Wu Yi and Gu Miao's "true love," Jiang Cheng wasn't too optimistic.

Honestly, Wu Yi was a polite fighter and a handsome guy. Although Gu Miao hadn't been in contact with him for long, it wasn’t hard to say that she was different from other girls. She could earn a lot of pocket money skateboarding in the club... But Wu Yi's family probably still found it difficult to agree.

But now Gu Miao was very happy, so he and Gu Fei didn't say much.

"This kind of relationship, whether they succeed or fail, we'll always experience them," Gu Fei comforted him, "we've always tried to treat Er-Miao like a normal girl, so if she has an emotional setback, you shouldn't try to avoid it."

Yes, these kinds of things in relationships... Now that he thought about it, it still felt a bit nostalgic. Many memories could instantly make him feel like an old man even before entering middle age.

"Come on," Gu Fei put the cooked meat in his bowl, "you haven't had a good meal in a long time."

"Hm," Jiang Cheng lowered his head and took a big bite.

"Do you guys eat takeout every day?" Pan Zhi asked, "those words sounded very desolate."

"We take turns cooking; nobody wants to do it," Jiang Cheng explained, "besides, we don't eat at home every day; we're too busy to do that."

"Gu Fei, have the photography classes started at your studio?" Pan Zhi looked at Gu Fei, "are you teaching? If you're teaching, I'll sign up and learn photography. When I marry Boss Xiao, I'll take the wedding photos myself."

Gu Fei looked him up and down. "When you get married, will you only take photos of Boss Xiao?"

"Okay," Boss Xiao waved her hand, "you can get an extra to cooperate with me, a more handsome one..."

"Or you take the photos," Pan Zhi quickly pointed at Gu Fei, "you take the photos, you do it."

"I always help you take photos," Gu Fei laughed, "that hasn't changed."

"In fact, Fei-ge can take a set of photos of you two together," Wu Yi suggested, "and Pan Zhi can also take some photos of Boss Xiao, giving them a commemorative meaning."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Pan Zhi thought for a moment, then looked at Gu Fei, "are you going to teach? I'll sign up if you are."

"No," Gu Fei replied.

"Damn, why not?" Pan Zhi was a bit disappointed.

"I don't have time," Gu Fei mentioned.

Pan Zhi didn't say anything and gave him a thumbs up.

“If you want to learn, can't you just come to me directly?” Gu Fei said.

“Come to you, that's easy to say”, Pan Zhi clicked his tongue, “the old man can't see you every day...

“Not to mention the fact that you're a generation apart.” Boss Xiao said.

“I feel aggrieved, Boss Xiao.” Jiang Cheng couldn't help but laugh.

“Don't feel aggrieved”, Boss Xiao said as she ate “, last year I even received New Year's money, will I receive money this year?” (NT: New Year money, or red envelops, are usually given to children and young people)

“Yes”, Jiang Cheng nodded”, “if you are getting married, according to the rules I should give it.”

“Then don't give it to us now, better give us New Year's money for a few more years, it's not a small amount.” Boss Xiao said.

“ Boss Xiao!” Pan Zhi stared at her “, you're older than me! I'm not in a hurry, I'm in a hurry for you!”

“How considerate you are.” Boss Xiao raised her glass to him, they clinked and drank all the wine in the glass.

After eating and chatting for a while, they left Pan Zhi's shop. The street was much livelier than in the afternoon, although it was cold, entertainment activities such as eating and drinking were still ongoing, the bar across the street was crowded.

“You two...” Gu Fei looked at Gu Miao and Wu Yi.

“I'm not going back yet.” Gu Miao said.

“Where else are you going? It's midnight”, Jiang Cheng immediately asked, after asking, he looked at the clock, tsk, it was past eight... Definitely not midnight?!

“Skating.” Gu Miao lifted the skateboard from the ground with her foot.

“There's a competition next week”, Wu Yi said, “maybe she wants to go back to the club to practice a little more.”

“Then I'll take you there.” Gu Fei said.

When Jiang Cheng got into the car, he saw a small strand of dark blue dyed hair not very noticeable next to Gu Miao's ear, he reached out to grab it: “Did you take her to get it dyed?”

“No”, said Wu Yi, “a girl from the club sprayed it on her, it'll disappear after she washes it off.” “Oh.” Jiang Cheng nodded.

“It's pretty.” Gu Miao said.

“Yes, it's very pretty”, Jiang Cheng nodded and looked at her hair, Gu Miao's preference for hairstyles was still short hair in the shape of a bird's nest, her lifelong designated personal stylist, Li Yan, had always held a deep grudge against her. “Everything looks pretty on you.”

Gu Miao smiled contentedly. After dropping her off at the club, Gu Fei replaced Jiang Cheng and got into the driver's seat: “I'll drive, you rest, you've had quite a tiring day, haven't you?”

“Alright”, Jiang Cheng stretched back against his seat, “it was much easier than the last court session... You don't have to go out again this month, do you?”

“I don't have to go out”, Gu Fei didn't start the car, he leaned back against the seat using his arms as a pillow,” let's go on a trip after New Year's, are you interested in the cruise Jiuri mentioned? “

“Does he have free time?” Jiang Cheng said, “I thought Wang Xu was obsessed with developing new flavours of xian bing (NT: meat pie), last time we asked him to go out for a drink, he refused.”

“He told me, he must make time, he needs to go out and relax, I don't know where he got the energy from, he's done with his girlfriend.” Gu Fei said.

Jiang Cheng felt a bit sorry, both work and love were very important to Wang Xu, it's not that he chose work over love, but rather love couldn't bear the weight of work, so he decided to end it. When Wang Xu called him crying before, it reminded him of the scene by the river on Valentine's Day many years ago, when Captain Wang set off fireworks for him and Gu Fei while crying.

“Ah”, he sighed, “it's been a tough road for Jiuri. “

“It's been tough for me too”, Gu Fei leaned closer to him, whispering, “if it weren't for you, I'd be stuck in the Steel factory.”

“No.” Jiang Cheng said firmly, “you wouldn't be stuck in the Steel factory, you'd probably be with someone else years later.”

Gu Fei snorted and didn't speak, looking at him.

“What are you looking at me for?” Jiang Cheng tilted his head”, you were asleep, not in a coma, it was impossible for you not to wake up one day.”

“Then I don't want anyone else to wake me up,” Gu Fei said, “I need Cheng-ge to do it, if Cheng-ge doesn't, I'll sleep forever.”

“Did you eat a damn poisoned apple? “ Jiang Cheng laughed.

“Yes”, Gu Fei closed his eyes, “hurry up.”

“Don't you think you're being childish for your age, Gu Fei, the great photographer?” Jiang Cheng looked at him.

Gu Fei opened his eyes with a smile and started the car: “Don't you need to go home and rest immediately?”

“Hm, going home immediately doesn't mean we can rest immediately, we have to catch up after not seeing each other for a long time”, Jiang Cheng nodded, “where do you want to go?”

Gu Fei pointed out the window: “Let's go see the snow.”

“Damn, why don't you call me a southerner now? You're a northerner drinking from a wine bottle”, Jiang Cheng looked out the window, indeed, it was snowing and evidently, the snow was getting denser, “do you want to go see the snow?”

“Better not.” Gu Fei said.

“Let's go”, Jiang Cheng pulled the seatbelt and put it on, “the good little bunny wants to see the snow, so let's go see the snow.”

Jiang Cheng could understand the feelings of the good little bunny, they both went to work every day, did overtime, and went on business trips, leading busy and regular lives, when they got home, it was always late, they ate casually, cuddled on the couch, and took out their laptops, on weekends, they went to the gym to sweat if they had time, but most of the time, they didn't go out much.

Actually, compared to the busy work he did in the library and study hall when he was in school, the intensity wasn't as great, the main reason being he wasn't as tired as before.

Going out to eat like today and taking a stroll around, it was like a kind of potion, making him remember how he felt when he was in school, where eating barbecue could make him happy for several days.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

He turned his head to look at Gu Fei.

“You don't have anything good in mind.” Gu Fei said while looking straight ahead.

“All the content is decent.” Jiang Cheng affirmed.

“I don't think so”, said Gu Fei, “if you say all the content is about me, I can almost believe it.”

“Go to hell.” Jiang Cheng smiled and cursed.

The snow outside was getting denser, Gu Fei turned the car onto a small road, probably wanting to go to the river across and stay there for a while.

“Are you cold?“ he asked.

“No, it's not like the car we had before”, noted Jiang Cheng, “this car doesn't have leaks.”

“Let's take it to the workshop for maintenance next week”, said Gu Fei, “it's got enough mileage.”

“Hm.” Jiang Cheng nodded.

This car was new, the original plan was for it to cost less than two hundred thousand yuan, however, last year's earnings were quite good, so Gu Fei changed the plan from less than two hundred thousand yuan to over three hundred thousand yuan, then he asked Gu Miao to choose a car she liked.

But, compared to the cramped space of a car, Gu Miao preferred flying on a skateboard, after buying the car, the number of times she got in it was no more than once a week.

After a while of reminiscing by Jiang Cheng, Gu Fei turned his head to look at him.

“You drive well”, said Jiang Cheng, “don't get distracted.”

“You sighed very deeply, anyone would think I've been on a business trip for three months.” Gu Fei chuckled.

“It's just because you're driving, you don't have time to sigh deeply.” Jiang Cheng explained.

“Why don't you drive then?” Gu Fei stepped on the brake, “and I'll sit in the passenger seat and sigh deeply for a while?”

“Shut up and pay attention to the road!” Jiang Cheng ordered.

“Okay.” Gu Fei sat up straight and continued driving.

Usually, there were a lot of people by the river, after all, this was the only small river in that area, there were those who exercised in the morning and those who did in the afternoon, couples and those who just wandered around, after classes, there were those who studied and copied homework, however, on a snowy night like today, it was basically deserted.

They stopped the car and sat together in the car, looking outside.

“Should we watch like this”, Gu Fei asked, “or should we be brave and go out to see?”

“Why do you still want to go out and run with your face turned up towards the snowflakes?” Jiang Cheng looked at him.

“You can't see any effect if you look at it this way”, Gu Fei lowered the car window, “look...“

The window was just opened slightly when the old north wind, wrapped in snowflakes, sneaked in through it, heading straight for Jiang Cheng's shirt collar.

“Close it! You damn dog fucker!” Jiang Cheng shouted.

“Your sweater is in the back seat”, Gu Fei smiled, closing the window, “put it on”.

Jiang Cheng turned around and reached back to search the back seat, Gu Fei reached out and patted him on the back: “Your physical condition isn't good either.”

“Damn it.“ Jiang Cheng put on his sweater, grabbed his jacket, opened the car door, and got out, “get out!”

Gu Fei immediately grabbed his jacket and got out.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Jiang Cheng put on his jacket while hopping in place, “run, bunny, it won't take even three minutes to freeze us here.”

“Run.” Gu Fei zipped up his jacket and put his arm around Jiang Cheng's shoulders.

 

Translator : DarNan