FQ | Chapter 4

The rain drizzled through the night, but by the next day, the sky was clear again.

Perhaps the coolness of the night rain lingered, or maybe it was the altitude here, but the sun felt pleasantly warm rather than hot. The courtyard, paved with bluestone slabs, gleamed brightly after being washed by the rain and dried by the sun. The bougainvillea on the courtyard wall bloomed vibrantly.

A small bamboo table and chairs were set under the large green tree in the center of the courtyard, with a thick glass sheet on the table. On the wooden table in the tea room was a small health-preserving teapot. Luan Ye boiled a pot of hot water and sat in the courtyard, sipping slowly.

After a bath and some sleep, and drinking some water, Luan Ye could barely manage a few words, though his voice was so hoarse it was painful to hear.

Grandma Mu entered from outside, carrying a bamboo basket on her back. Luan Ye nodded to greet her.

"Up so early," she remarked.

It was nearly one in the afternoon, and Luan Ye couldn't tell if it was a greeting or a jab. She continued, "We're having rice noodles for lunch. You can eat rice noodles, right?"

Luan Ye nodded, took a few seconds to gather himself, and attempted to speak, "I can."

"Oh dear! You were fine yesterday!" she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. "How did you end up like this?"

Luan Ye thought to himself, you didn't see me last night when I was mistaken for a mute and given charity.

But that was too complicated to explain with his current voice, so he just smiled at her.

Grandma Mu placed the basket by the kitchen door and asked, "Do you have a fever, or a runny nose?"

Though she was a small, thin elderly woman, her voice was quite loud. Luan Ye shook his head.

She quickly touched his forehead and withdrew her hand before he could react.

"It's just your throat, easy to fix," she diagnosed swiftly. "I'll get some loquat leaves from Yuhua's house this afternoon to boil for you. Drink it. We'll steam a pear tonight."

Luan Ye was stunned for a moment, "…Oh."

"Then we can't make the sauce spicy."

Grandma Mu rolled up her sleeves and bustled into the kitchen, speaking with an air of certainty.

"We'll have it with pickled vegetables and minced meat."

The clatter of pots and pans began in the kitchen, and it took Luan Ye a while to come back to his senses.

Over the years, Luan Ye had traveled to many places for photography and met all kinds of people—guarded, friendly, kind, indifferent.

But Grandma Mu didn't fit any of those categories. She was… natural.

Like when you came home from school at noon and your grandmother had already prepared lunch, urging you to eat quickly so you wouldn't be late in the afternoon, and slipping a dollar into your backpack for an ice cream on your way out.

But because Luan Ye hadn't felt this kind of naturalness for so long, he wasn't sure how to react.

The kitchen window faced the courtyard, and the aroma of pickled vegetables and minced meat wafted out, making Luan Ye suddenly feel hungry.

He took another sip of hot water, and behind him, there was a clatter as someone opened a door.

He turned to see the door of the room below his open, and someone in slippers walked out, wearing a tank top and shorts, with hair dyed a bright gold that glinted in the sunlight.

The person seemed not fully awake, paused upon seeing Luan Ye in the courtyard, then walked over after a couple of seconds, "You…"

"He just moved in, he's upstairs!" Grandma Mu called from the window.

"Oh!" The golden-haired person brightened, responding loudly, and pulled up a chair to sit next to Luan Ye.

"Finally, someone new. Are you here to stay for a while? When did you arrive? Yesterday, the upstairs was still empty when I left."

Luan Ye took a sip of water to soothe his throat, "Yesterday."

"No wonder, I was at work yesterday, and by the time I got back, you were all asleep," the other replied immediately. "Where are you from, and how long are you planning to stay? I'm from Shandong, do you know Zibo? It's the place that became famous for barbecue recently. You should visit next time you travel."

"…" Luan Ye nodded, "Sure."

"I'm Qiao Feibai, but you can call me Xiao Qiao, everyone here does." The golden-haired Qiao Feibai smiled brightly. "Like the character Xiao Qiao from the game, I'm pretty good at it, national standard. Do you play games? If you do, I'll carry you. Hey, what's your name?"

Luan Ye: "…"

Just listening to him talk made Luan Ye's throat hurt again, so he picked out the key points to respond to from the winding conversation, "Luan Ye."

Qiao Feibai "oh"-ed, "I'm twenty-two this year, what about you? You look about the same age as me."

Luan Ye took another sip of water, "I'm twenty-eight."

Qiao Feibai nodded and naturally replied, "Brother Ye."

Luan Ye: "…"

Grandma Mu, like a savior, came out with two bowls of rice noodles and placed them in front of the two.

"Stop asking, his throat's not well."

Qiao Feibai's eyes widened like a cat's, "What's wrong with your throat? Are you sick? I have medicine, I'll give it to you after we eat. I have all kinds of throat remedies, even fat sea fruit."

Luan Ye glanced at him, and Grandma Mu chimed in, "He sings at the bar. Sometimes he performs by the stage in the village center."

"That's not called performing," Qiao Feibai corrected, wrinkling his nose, "It's street art."

"He used to lose his voice a lot when he first came," Grandma Mu ignored him, "I gave him loquat water and pears, it worked."

Qiao Feibai nodded vigorously in agreement, then turned to look at Luan Ye again.

"You haven't explored the area yet, have you? It's smaller than those ancient towns in the tourist areas, but there are a lot of interesting shops. You can spend a whole day just wandering around. The place where I sing is on the west side of the village, I work on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Come by, I'll treat you to a drink—once your throat's better."

Luan Ye smiled.

Qiao Feibai blew on his rice noodles and continued, "After you finish exploring the village, you can find a reliable guide to take you into the mountains. The scenery is amazing."

Luan Ye nodded, "Sure."

Although he said he would go out and explore, in the first few days, Luan Ye still stayed in.

He would sleep until noon, eat lunch, and then Grandma Mu would boil loquat leaves for him before heading out. Luan Ye would stay in the courtyard or the tea room, sipping tea all afternoon.

By eight or nine in the evening, he would wait for Grandma Mu to steam a pear. The local pears were quite ugly but tasted sweet when steamed with honey.

After three days of this, along with the medicine Qiao Feibai gave him, his throat finally returned to normal. After lying in his room for another two days, Luan Ye finally decided to go out and explore.

Perhaps because it was daytime and cars couldn't easily drive into the village, there were more people on the road than when he had gone out to find a supermarket that night. A stream flowed along the drainage ditch beside the road, winding through the entire village. The water was clear, and when Luan Ye touched it, it was icy cold, likely melted snow from the mountains.

As he walked along the stream, he realized that although the village wasn't large, the alleys and paths were quite intricate. While there were no large supermarkets, there were plenty of shops. Besides inns, the most common establishments were cafes. Each one had a unique decor, all facing the snow-capped mountains, with many tourists sitting by the windows taking photos.

Across the way was a place called Laifu Coffee, and Luan Ye paused, finding the name familiar but unable to recall where he'd heard it before.

He pushed the door open, and a string of brass bells jingled crisply as he entered.

The man behind the counter was a bit chubby, and he looked up with a warm smile.

"What would you like to drink?"

Luan Ye chose a latte and found a seat by the window.

The cafe had large windows, and the sunlight streaming in was very pleasant. Outside, people walked by in small groups. At the alley entrance, an elderly woman in traditional clothing was selling souvenirs.

A Labrador was lying on the street basking in the sun, and tourists passing by were feeding it sausages.

Luan Ye paused, feeling that the dog looked familiar too.

Are all dogs of this breed this size?

The owner placed the coffee on his table and shouted towards the door, "Laifu!"

The dog, still munching on the sausage, sprang up with surprising agility and dashed into the cafe.

Luan Ye: "…"

Ah, now he remembered.

The owner nudged the dog into the shop with his foot and turned to the tourists with a smile, "It's on a diet, too fat."

Laifu, tail tucked, entered the cafe, and upon seeing Luan Ye, immediately ran over and circled around him. Luan Ye petted it a couple of times and asked, "Is this your dog?"

"Yes," the owner replied, "it lies on the street every day waiting for people to feed it, it's gotten as fat as a pig."

Luan Ye chuckled, "Pretty smart."

"All its brains are used for that," the owner laughed too, "Are you here on vacation?"

"Yeah."

"That's great, Xuehu Village is a nice place," the owner said, "Come by for coffee whenever you have time."

Another customer came in, and the owner turned to greet them. Luan Ye's phone vibrated twice, and he glanced at it, seeing an email notification.

The email was still logged in automatically, and when Luan Ye opened it, it was a work email asking if he could attend a photography exhibition.

The email was from an overseas studio he had worked with before, and the tone wasn't too formal. The last line read, "Sorry to bother you, we already asked Mr. Bai, and he said to contact you directly."

Luan Ye stared at that line for a while, then expressionlessly typed, "Sorry, I'm on a break."

Two minutes later, he deleted the message and exited the conversation.

Contact directly, because Bai Mingchuan couldn't reach me.

Bai Mingchuan might think I've gone somewhere to take photos again—unlikely, even when Luan Ye was photographing, he wouldn't just disappear for so long.

Bai Mingchuan knew he was missing, but he wasn't concerned for now.

Luan Ye put down his phone and took a sip of coffee. Laifu leaned over, and Luan Ye scratched its chin, watching it close its eyes contentedly.

Laifu wasn't on a leash, nor was it kept in a cage. It still had the freedom to lie here and bask in the sun.

Besides being very friendly, it wasn't harmful, also because—

A dog that's been raised for a long time doesn't get lost.

Luan Ye withdrew his hand.

The doorbell jingled again, and the owner exclaimed, "I thought you'd come by in the evening, those coffee beans must be heavy."

Luan Ye looked up, and the person at the door was tall and had a handsome profile.

He paused, the driver of the black car.

Laifu got excited again, immediately standing up and wagging its tail, barking once at the door.

"Just happened to be on the way," Fan Qing handed the box he was carrying to the owner, glanced around the shop, and his eyes landed on Laifu, then caught sight of the person next to it.

Upon seeing the other's face clearly, Fan Qing's gaze stopped.

He had remembered the events of that night for several days, thinking this person had already left.

Meeting Luan Ye's eyes, Fan Qing knew the other remembered him too.

It would be impolite to pretend not to know each other.

Fan Qing sighed inwardly and walked over to Luan Ye.

Luan Ye watched him approach, and in the daylight, he realized the other looked very young, even younger than Qiao Feibai.

Fan Qing stopped in front of Luan Ye.

"You…" Fan Qing hesitated, "I thought you had already left."

Such a smooth talker, Luan Ye mused.

Fan Qing glanced at the empty coffee cup on the table.

"The coffee here is pretty good," Fan Qing continued, "I'll get you a discount."

His tone sounded a bit stiff, probably not used to initiating conversations. Luan Ye chuckled inwardly.

The young man was too sincere, probably feeling genuinely guilty after that night, so much so that seeing him today made him a bit uneasy, yet he still forced himself to come over and talk.

Luan Ye decided not to tease him anymore and nodded.

"It is pretty good," he said.