Watching the Setting Sun Along the Same Path - Chapter 5

Lin Yuzhu came in holding a few dirty clothes and asked if there was anything to wash. Fei Yuan handed her his school uniform, then pulled it back to fish a flower out of his pocket.

“Oh, from a little girl?”

Fei Yuan peeled off the outermost petals and said, “From a little boy.”

Lin Yuzhu seemed to have heard a joke and said disdainfully, “Even trying to fool your own mom. It’s fine, I don’t mind you dating. I’m just afraid you’ll end up single and alone.”

“Definitely my real mom.” Fei Yuan plucked the short stem under the calyx and tucked the flower into a book.

Shen Duoyi wasn’t working today and was at home doing homework. He heard Fei Yuan coming before he even entered the room, put down his pen, and waited for him to come in. Smiling, he said, “Have you eaten? I could smell the fish cooking at your place.”

“Not yet. You and Grandpa come over later to eat together.” Fei Yuan walked to the bookshelf and asked, “Do you have a dictionary? A big one.”

Shen Duoyi found one for him: “What do you need it for?”

Fei Yuan weighed it in his hand and said, “Studying.” He went back and placed the dictionary on top of the book with the flower inside, hoping to press the rose into a specimen. He remembered that pressing it like this should work.

Lu Ketong didn’t eat dinner or do his homework that night—he just went straight to bed. He woke up hungry in the middle of the night, got up to find something to eat, and noticed a light coming from the large study as he passed by.

The large study was exclusively for Lu Ruopei, and no one else went in. He stood by the door, peeking through the crack, and saw Lu Ruopei still working. He went downstairs to get a plate of pastries, then came back up and entered without knocking.

Lu Ruopei looked up and saw him standing at the door. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Lu Ketong replied, “I was asleep, but I woke up hungry.”

Lu Ruopei smiled, tidied the documents on the desk, and said, “Come here. I’m hungry too.”

The father and son ate together. Lu Ketong ate a lot, stuffing his mouth full. Lu Ruopei handed him his own cup to help wash it down. Lu Ketong took a big gulp of tea and found it bitter.

“Drinking strong tea so late—how are you supposed to sleep?”

“I’m afraid I’ll get sleepy. Finish eating and go back to sleep. You have to get up early for school tomorrow.”

Suddenly, Lu Ketong couldn’t remember the incident from that day anymore. His conflicts with Lu Ruopei were cyclical, erupting every now and then, but afterward, their father-son relationship would return to calm.

He said, “I haven’t done my homework yet.”

Lu Ruopei had no choice. “Then go get it and sit across from me to write. Let’s not disturb each other, okay?”

Lu Ketong nodded and went back to his room to get his textbooks. At the wide office desk, the two sat facing each other, working. Lu Ketong buried his head in his homework, finishing it more efficiently than usual.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Ruopei put down the documents, noticing Lu Ketong looking at him.

“There’s a problem I don’t know how to solve.”

Putting aside his own tasks, Lu Ruopei explained the problem to him, neatly filling an entire sheet of scratch paper and covering three different solving methods. Lu Ketong tucked the paper into his book, thinking Lu Ruopei explained it even more clearly than his teacher.

“It’s three o’clock. Go get some more sleep.”

“Okay, I’m going then.” Lu Ketong gathered his things and prepared to return to his room. Seeing that Lu Ruopei still showed no intention of resting, he said, “Don’t work yourself to death.”

Lu Ruopei was both amused and exasperated, but as he watched Lu Ketong’s retreating figure at the door, he couldn’t bring himself to laugh. In a low voice, he called out, “Lulu.”

Lu Ketong turned around. Lu Ruopei added, “I’m sorry.”

Lu Ketong didn’t say a word and left the room. He didn’t need apologies; Lu Ruopei had plenty of people to apologize to, but he wasn’t one of them.

In the morning, the driver asked if he needed to pick him up after school. Lu Ketong thought for a moment and said, “Better pick me up.” The memory of clutching his stomach while hailing a taxi yesterday still lingered in his mind—he was scared.

He didn’t cause any trouble all morning, paying attention in class and dutifully using the restroom during breaks, occasionally just admiring the view in the hallway. When he’d had enough, he turned and leaned against the railing, looking up to see Fei Yuan standing at the classroom door.

Smiling at him.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Didn’t you say you liked me yesterday? Just giving you a little reward.”

Lu Ketong remembered he had indeed said that. He stared at Fei Yuan and said, “If two people are at different schools, it’s like a long-distance relationship. Long-distance relationships never end well, even if they’re childhood sweethearts.”

Fei Yuan, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets like a model, pretended to ask seriously, “Then what should we do?”

“Find someone else. Besides, childhood sweethearts aren’t in style anymore.” Lu Ketong walked over to the door and leaned against the wall. “What’s in style now is ‘the classmate next to you.'”

At noon, a group of boys from the same class went to the school cafeteria for lunch. Lu Ketong was waiting in line for noodles, with Fei Yuan just one person ahead of him. He hadn’t decided what to order yet and was still hesitating when a boy cut into the line.

“Why are you cutting in line?”

The boy, standing behind Fei Yuan, turned his head and said, “We’re together.”

Lu Ketong’s temper flared when he was hungry: “Who cares if you’re together or breaking up? Cutting in line is not allowed.”

Even with headphones on, Fei Yuan could hear the commotion. He took a step forward, grabbed Lu Ketong’s arm, and pulled him ahead, placing him in front of himself. “You go first.”

Lu Ketong settled down, but his arm was still being held. He turned back obediently and said, “Thanks, boss.”

Fei Yuan let go and lightly patted the back of his head. After getting their noodles and finding seats, it was only the second time they’d eaten together. Lu Ketong watched Fei Yuan picking out the scallions and said, “Give them to me.”

Fei Yuan picked them up to toss into his bowl, but when he raised his hand, he saw Lu Ketong with his mouth open, his face clearly waiting to be fed.

After finishing the scallions, Lu Ketong kept staring at Fei Yuan’s bowl. “Are you going to eat the chicken leg? I’m ready.”

Fei Yuan quickly finished his noodles and chicken leg, wiped his mouth, and left without waiting for him. At the cafeteria entrance, he glanced back. The guy was probably trying to finish quickly to catch up, his face flushed from choking.

Lu Ketong didn’t have time to finish his soup. He put down his chopsticks and ran out, only to see Fei Yuan drinking soda under a tree. He started walking toward him, but before he could get close, Fei Yuan slipped away.

The classroom was noisy, as it always was before the lunch break bell rang. The two entered one after the other. Fei Yuan pulled out his chair and sat down, while Lu Ketong straddled his chair backward, sitting face-to-face with him.

“I kind of feel like hitting you,” Fei Yuan said, pulling out a test paper for the afternoon class without looking up.

Lu Ketong saw the blank space for a major question and quickly grabbed a pen. “I know this! Let me explain it to you!” Recalling the method and approach Lu Ruopei had taught him, he played the role of teacher.

After Fei Yuan finished writing, he reached out and patted Lu Ketong’s head as a form of praise.

In the afternoon after school, Lu Ketong called the driver ahead of time and told him not to pick him up. While sweeping the floor, he kept an eye on the students leaving. When he saw Fei Yuan come out of the teaching building, he quickly finished sweeping and prepared to leave early.

“Did you ride your motorcycle?”

Fei Yuan didn’t ride, nor did he answer. He walked straight to the bus stop. Lu Ketong had genuinely never taken a bus before, and even looking at the stop names on the sign, he couldn’t make sense of them. He pulled a few paper bills from his pocket—the smallest denomination was fifty yuan.

A bus arrived at the stop. Fei Yuan lifted his long legs and boarded. Lu Ketong hurriedly followed, folding the fifty-yuan bill and stuffing it into the fare box. Fei Yuan grabbed his wrist and dropped a few coins in with his other hand.

The time after school and work was always especially crowded. Fei Yuan pulled him toward the back, slowly squeezing through to the window. With difficulty, Lu Ketong turned around, facing Fei Yuan, pressed close together.

Fei Yuan lowered his eyes and pinched Lu Ketong’s cheek—three times. Lu Ketong felt his face sting and looked up, asking, “What are you doing? The more you pinch, the bigger my face gets.”

“This is what you owe today.”

“What did I do now?” Lu Ketong racked his brain, counting off: “Cutting in front of you, eating your scallions, spending your coins. But aren’t I your little brother? Shouldn’t you take care of me?”

As he finished speaking, he suddenly let go of the handrail to pinch Fei Yuan’s cheek, saying, “And I helped you with your homework too.” The next stop arrived, and the driver slammed on the brakes. Lu Ketong lost his balance and stumbled, but with everyone packed together, he didn’t fall.

Besides, Fei Yuan had one arm wrapped around him.

Lu Ketong’s fluffy hair crackled with static electricity, his eyes wide as he leaned against Fei Yuan. Fei Yuan thought the little sapling was like a puppy—all he needed was a wagging tail.

“Why is the driver driving so recklessly…” Lu Ketong steadied himself, avoiding Fei Yuan’s gaze and changing the subject. “Just circle the questions you don’t understand. I’ve been studying well lately—I’ll explain them to you.”

Fei Yuan chuckled and suddenly turned away. Lu Ketong was confused, but when the bus stopped, Fei Yuan swiftly got off. Lu Ketong’s face flushed, but the heat didn’t last long before panic set in. He had no idea where this bus was headed!

After getting off the bus and hailing a taxi, he finally made it home, a bit late. Wen Ning was eating alone. Lu Ketong washed his hands, sat down, picked up his bowl, and started eating.

Wen Ning watched him wolf down his food in surprise. “Lulu, I thought you didn’t eat scallions?”

He paused, only then noticing the scallions in the soup, and said foolishly, “Starting today, I do!”

After the light bulb in the yard was replaced, it was especially bright. Shen Duoyi was reading in the yard to save on electricity at home. Fei Yuan was doing his homework at the small table because Fei Dean always watched TV loudly inside.

“Did you get assigned that problem too? I have the answer key.”

Shen Duoyi went back to get the answer key. Fei Yuan glanced at it, then wrote down a formula first. But as he was about to continue, he suddenly stopped, as if remembering something, and crossed out the formula.

Then, he drew a big circle around the question number.