Chapter 7 – You Are the First

Initially, the lights were off, and Li Tang virtually felt his way inside. As the switch was pressed, the ceiling lamp flickered on, and he reflexively closed his eyes due to the sudden brightness.

When he opened them again, the scene before him left Li Tang slightly startled.

The room was smaller than he imagined, lacking any decent furniture. Two folding tables leaned against the wall riddled with cracks; one held kitchen utensils and dishes, while the other was piled high with books. A green-colored refrigerator from the 90s stood in the corner, topped with a tabletop electric fan encased in a stainless steel mesh.

Jiang Lou removed his hood and pulled out a plastic square stool from under the table. “Sit.”

Li Tang whispered, “I’m sorry for intruding.”

Then he slowly walked over, sitting down by the stool while peering into the inner room.

The lights were off, so there should be no one inside. Su Qinhan hadn’t found her way here.

Jiang Lou handed over a glass cup, filled with water poured from a kettle.

Li Tang accepted the cup. “You live alone?”

He had assumed that even if Jiang Lou’s parents weren’t around, perhaps there were grandparents or other elderly relatives.

Jiang Lou turned his back. “Haven’t you heard enough already?”

Li Tang felt a jolt in his heart at his matter-of-fact tone.

The clock struck six.

Even though the tea was cold, Li Tang drank it to the last drop. Meanwhile, Jiang Lou, after greeting his guest, seemed to consider his duty fulfilled. He sat down in front of the table stacked with books and opened a book to read.

Rain pattered outside the window, showing no signs of stopping soon. Li Tang placed the empty cup on the table with the kitchenware and began to scrutinize the room.

Although the room was worn down from age, it was evident that it had once been lovingly decorated.

The floor tiles were a popular off-white pattern from over a decade ago, and even though they were worn, their superior quality was apparent. The half-height kitchen cabinets featured rounded corners, and the walls, painted white, were mostly free of dirt. The more noticeable cracks were concealed by movie posters, arranged with careful consideration.

Among them was a poster of “Titanic,” released in China twenty years ago, depicting the film’s leads embracing atop the grand ship. There was also “The Legend of 1900,” featuring a man in a black coat facing the sea from a cruise ship, with brilliant stars and a moon overhead.

They were faded, yellowed, and their edges tattered, indicating that they had served their purpose on this wall for many years.

For a moment, Li Tang felt a subtle sense of familiarity, as if he had visited this place before.

But how could that be possible?

Li Tang attributed this familiarity to the fact that he had seen these movies as well, so he asked Jiang Lou, “Do you enjoy watching movies in your spare time?”

“No,” replied Jiang Lou.

“…”

His attempt to strike up a conversation failed, so Li Tang simply stood up and strolled around the room.

His gaze swept across the windowsill and the edge of the table, but he didn’t see an ashtray. Li Tang’s father, Li Yuanshan, was a heavy smoker, and even with daily cleaning, the study in their capital city home still reeked of the lingering, choking smell of smoke. In Jiang Lou’s house, however, even when he drew close, he couldn’t detect even a hint of the odor that would normally cling to furniture.

A secret joy welled up within him. Li Tang detested the smell of smoke, and this discovery made him feel special.

After all, no one else had noticed this, and they still believed that Jiang Lou enjoyed smoking.

On the open shelves of the wardrobe, there was a half-used roll of white bandage, next to the utility knife purchased from the small store last time. Glancing sideways, Li Tang spotted a large sandbag hanging in the northeast corner of the room, reaching nearly half a person’s height.

It was cylindrical and black, not particularly intimidating in appearance. Therefore, when Li Tang threw a punch with eighty percent of his strength at it, the sandbag barely moved, and the air seemed to freeze.

His gaze shifted, noticing that Jiang Lou, who had been reading, looked over at the commotion. Li Tang chuckled dryly. “It’s pretty heavy, no wonder you’re so good at fighting.”

Jiang Lou didn’t deny it.

He put down his book, walked over, and took a pair of boxing gloves hanging on the wall, handing them to Li Tang.

Li Tang had never worn such gloves before. Curiously, he played with them on his hands, feeling the plump knuckle padding.

Putting on the gloves, securing the wrist guards, and then taking a deep breath, Li Tang delivered a powerful punch, causing the sandbag to sway only slightly.

His wrists, however, hurt like hell.

Hastily, Li Tang removed the gloves, gritting his teeth as he rubbed his wrists. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jiang Lou smiling.

…He was actually smiling?

Still, it was better than his usual stern expression. Li Tang watched the upward curve of his lips and felt a strange sense of relief.

Still intent on salvaging his precarious dignity, Li Tang cleared his throat and said seriously, “I haven’t eaten dinner yet, I don’t have the strength.”

At that moment, he suddenly realized something. “Earlier, were you about to go out for dinner?”

“Yes,” Jiang Lou replied.

“I’m sorry for taking up your time, then I should…”

Before Li Tang could finish, Jiang Lou turned and headed for the door. “The rain has lessened.”

Seeing that the person behind him hadn’t followed, Jiang Lou turned his head. “Didn’t you say you’d treat me to dinner?”

The distant “next time” had arrived sooner than expected.

Five minutes later, the two were seated in a fast food restaurant next to the small store.

Li Tang was baffled by the ordering process that had taken place just two minutes prior, unable to resist confirming with Jiang Lou, “Just this?”

“Mm.”

“Just a set meal with two vegetables and one meat dish? Nothing else?”

“No need.”

“Shouldn’t we get a drink? I’ll go next door to buy one.”

“There’s free soup.”

Jiang Lou glanced at the steaming stainless steel bucket behind him, and Li Tang followed his gaze.

A man resembling a laborer held a bowl as he approached the soup pot. The ladle, the size of a water dipper, clanked loudly as it stirred the soup, spilling half of it onto the ground. Apart from two small pieces of vegetable the size of a fingernail, it was no different from plain water.

It was even more frugal than the soup served in Xucheng No. 1 High School’s cafeteria.

Li Tang couldn’t accept it. “Who invites someone to eat such… Should we change to another restaurant? Or order takeout? Although this place is a bit remote, surely we can still order takeout.”

He swallowed back part of what he wanted to say, which was essentially that it was “cheap” or “shabby.”

He knew that it was somewhat impolite, but he didn’t want to be criticized, such as—had you heard? Li Tang invited someone to eat, and they ate boxed meals from a street vendor, the kind that cost ten yuan per portion.

Moreover, this dinner was meant to express gratitude, and fast food simply wasn’t up to standard. At the very least, it should be somewhere like Haidilao or Pizza Hut.

However, the guest didn’t seem to care. The dishes were pre-prepared and quickly served, and Jiang Lou took out a pair of disposable chopsticks from the chopstick holder, breaking them apart skillfully.

“No need, this is enough.”

With that, he took a bite of white rice.

“…”

Li Tang regretted following him in earlier. With no turning back now, he reluctantly took out a pair of chopsticks, picking up a piece of braised eggplant from his plate.

To be fair, the fast food tasted pretty good.

Although the dishes were simple, the ingredients were fresh and well-seasoned, so they were naturally not terrible.

Moreover, there was the person opposite him as a “condiment”—this was the first time Li Tang had seen Jiang Lou eating. He ate neither too quickly nor too slowly, contrasting sharply with the group at other tables who gobbled their food without chewing. His manners were good—he held the bowl with one hand, took a mouthful of rice with each chopstickful of vegetables, regular and composed, giving off a mechanical sense of fatigue as if completing a task.

It was as if eating had nothing to do with savoring flavors but was merely to sustain life.

This situation changed in the latter half of the meal—

There wasn’t much food left, only rice remained, so Jiang Lou picked up the vinegar bottle from the table, pouring it in a circle around the leftover rice twice. Then, he scooped two spoonfuls of chili powder, covering the rice.

The smell, from across the table, made Li Tang’s nose sting.

Yet Jiang Lou ate it without batting an eye.

This scene reminded Li Tang of someone.

“Is it common for people from Xucheng to have such a strong taste?” Li Tang asked.

Jiang Lou seemed not to understand. “What?”

Thinking that Jiang Lou hadn’t heard clearly, Li Tang leaned forward and repeated his question. “My mom likes to do the same thing, adding lots of vinegar and chili. Oh, right, she’s also from Xucheng.”

For a moment, Li Tang sensed a fleeting coldness in Jiang Lou’s eyes.

In an instant, it vanished, so quickly that Li Tang wondered if he had imagined it.

“Is that so,” Jiang Lou said with his usual smile. “What a coincidence.”

When they left the restaurant, the rain had almost stopped.

At the foot of the mountain, in a place similar to a village, the air, infused with the fragrance of grass and earth, effortlessly evoked the image of “after the mountain rain, the evening weather in autumn.”

It also gave Li Tang a rare feeling of lightness, as if he would float up into the sky along with the water vapor.

He took a deep breath and gazed at the distant, undulating mountain silhouettes, suddenly remembering—he had forgotten to explain why he had “passed by” here.

Jiang Lou hadn’t asked.

Wasn’t he curious at all?

His gaze couldn’t help but fall back on that figure.

Jiang Lou walked ahead, his hands in his pockets. The sky was a murky gray-blue, and the moisture blurred his silhouette, blending it into the vivid hues of an oil painting.

But, Li Tang thought, but I still have so much curiosity about you.

This thought wasn’t unique to Li Tang alone.

A fluffy, round creature emerged from the roadside bushes, humming and waddling over to dive at Jiang Lou’s feet.

Upon closer inspection under the streetlight, it was a yellow and black mixed-breed puppy.

The dog rubbed against Jiang Lou with all its might, its short tail wagging happily, tongue hanging out, panting heavily.

It was as if Jiang Lou was its owner, there to take it home.

However, Jiang Lou didn’t seem to have much sympathy for stray animals.

He lowered his head to look at the excited puppy, his expression indifferent and unresponsive.

Li Tang liked small animals, so he immediately returned to the restaurant and bought a grilled sausage.

The puppy came running at the smell, devouring the sausage Li Tang tossed to it in one bite, nearly swallowing the bamboo skewer along with it.

After finishing, it trotted back to Jiang Lou’s side to “flatter,” its bright eyes staring straight at him, not begging for food but rather boasting—look, I’m full now, see how great I am?

Li Tang rolled his eyes internally at the dog’s ingratitude but couldn’t help feeling sentimental.

Jiang Lou was the type of person who would attract all attention just by standing there doing nothing. Unlike him, every bit of attention and every inch of “popularity” he gained came at a price.

Jiang Lou, however, said, “You shouldn’t have fed it.”

His train of thought interrupted, Li Tang looked up in surprise. “…What?”

“If you can’t feed it every day, don’t give it false hope.”

“I didn’t—”

“What if it waits here again tomorrow? And the day after, and the day after that… Every day from now on, it will wait here because it remembers that someone gave it a grilled sausage here, sparing it from hunger for that day.”

Li Tang hadn’t thought that far ahead and was momentarily taken aback by Jiang Lou’s question.

After a long pause, he muttered, “I didn’t know… I’m sorry.”

As if surprised by his apology, a look of astonishment flickered across Jiang Lou’s eyes.

Then he laughed. “Why are you apologizing?”

Without waiting for Li Tang to respond, Jiang Lou turned around. “Let’s go, I’ll see you out.”

It wasn’t until they were walking on the path leading to the main road that Li Tang understood why he needed to be escorted for a distance of less than two hundred meters.

The road was slippery and muddy after the rain, and with the dim light, even the puppy found it difficult to walk. After a few steps, it rubbed against Jiang Lou’s pants as if bidding farewell, then turned and disappeared down the path it had come from.

Li Tang lifted his pant legs, taking careful steps. The stone path that appeared quaint and beautiful from afar was covered with a layer of unnoticeable moss on its smooth surface, and after the rain, it was a silent killer.

Just now, Li Tang unknowingly stepped on it, and fortunately, Jiang Lou reacted quickly, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. Otherwise, Li Tang might be waiting for an ambulance right now.

Fortunately, the road wasn’t far, and once they reached the asphalt road, Li Tang stomped his feet hard, shaking off the mud stuck to the bottom of his shoes.

One minute, two minutes… Five minutes passed, and no taxis came.

Li Tang couldn’t help grumbling; this place was too remote. Wasn’t it inconvenient for commuting to school?

He pulled out his phone, intending to hail a car online, but in his haste, he accidentally strained the wrist he had injured while punching earlier, causing a sudden sharp pain that made him gasp for breath.

Jiang Lou turned his head at the sound. Li Tang rubbed his wrist, but it hardly helped, and the throbbing pain persisted.

Just as he was worried that it might be sprained, a hand with distinct knuckles reached out, gently grasping Li Tang’s wrist, while the other hand pulled out a ball of bandage gauze from his pocket. He unraveled it, skillfully using his fingers to wrap it around Li Tang’s wrist.

Jiang Lou’s skin was pale and cool, but it felt warm to the touch.

Even when he supported Li Tang earlier, through the fabric, Li Tang could feel it.

There was even a faint burning sensation.

The depression caused by being “reprimanded” for feeding the dog melted away in the warmth.

Li Tang looked at Jiang Lou’s long, thick lashes as he bowed his head, biting his lower lip uncomfortably.

As they reached the part to secure the bandage, Jiang Lou gave a low command. “Don’t move.”

Li Tang dared not move, extending and slowing his breath, so his gaze had nowhere to rest and couldn’t help but turn away, looking into the distance.

His eyes reflected the blurry boundary between mountains and sky, and Li Tang started a conversation out of the blue. “Although this place is far away, the scenery is nice, and the air is fresh… Surely many classmates have come to your house as guests, right?”

Li Tang himself hadn’t noticed the slight tinge of jealousy in his words. After all, with Jiang Lou being a campus heartthrob, there were plenty of classmates eager to get close to him. It wouldn’t be surprising if his house had become a popular tourist spot.

He certainly hadn’t expected Jiang Lou to answer.

“No,” Jiang Lou said, pulling the bandage taut after threading it through the bottom. Lifting his eyelids, he continued, “You are the first.”