Chapter 40.1

“Nope.” There was no point in arguing with a drunk person. Yan Mu chose not to elaborate and simply stated, “You packed it yourself. Go take a shower first.”

“?” Jiang Zhihuo inquired, “Why would I be the one to pack the suitcase?”

Yan Mu didn’t give him a chance to argue and said, “You go inside first. I’ll get your clothes.”

The drunk Jiang Zhihuo stood there in a daze for quite some time, sensing that something was wrong but unable to identify what it was. His thoughts were clouded, and nothing seemed clear. Finally, he stopped trying to figure it out and walked into the bathroom without anything in his hands.

Just as he was removing his shirt, Yan Mu knocked on the door, holding a towel and some clothes. “Are you ready to wash up?”

Jiang Zhihuo tossed his shirt into the laundry basket, pulled the door open, and teased, “You think I can’t do it?”

“Not at all,” Yan Mu said. “I’m just questioning the judgment of a drunk person.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “……”

Jiang Zhihuo: “I’m, not, drunk!”

Yan Mu: “Mhm.”

“……” Jiang Zhihuo’s head was spinning uncontrollably. With no desire to continue the argument, he grabbed a change of clothes and tried to close the door.

He was so frustrated that he didn’t even want to use his hands; he felt like kicking instead. Turning sideways, he revealed a small tattoo prominently displayed on his left shoulder.

Yan Mu had known for a long time that Jiang Zhihuo had a tattoo on his shoulder, but he had never actually seen it clearly.

However, as soon as he saw the shape of that tattoo, his breath, blood, and heartbeat froze for a brief moment before rushing wildly.

The tattoo depicted half a seashell, outlined in fine black lines and filled with a pale white hue, featuring slightly darker milky white shading in the center to highlight the shell’s natural ridges and grooves.

The person inside the bathroom turned away, causing the tattoo to disappear. The door slammed shut with a ‘bang’—not deafening, but enough to sound like a hammer striking right next to his ear.

—A half seashell.

Before Jiang Zhihuo could lock the door, Yan Mu pressed down on the handle, stepped inside, and grabbed Jiang Zhihuo’s shoulder, his fingers trembling as they touched the seashell tattoo.

His grip was so firm that the skin around the shoulder turned white.

His gaze fixated on the tattoo as if it held more meaning than merely being a childish, simple design.

The drunk was slow to respond. Jiang Zhihuo remained stunned for a moment; he understood what was going on. He moved back a few steps, leaning on the sink, and shouted, “What are you doing?!”

Yan Mu froze, suddenly aware of what he had done. Glancing up at the shirtless Jiang Zhihuo, he quickly turned around, flustered, and rushed out of the bathroom.

The moment the door closed, the sound of the lock clicking from inside echoed right away.

Yan Mu’s face showed a flash of surprise. After a brief pause of shocked indecision, he hurried into the room, opened the lowest drawer on the right side of the desk, and sat on the floor.

The drawer contained only a transparent file folder and a box.

When he left home, he took nothing but these two items.

Inside the file folder were two reports regarding secondary gender testing.

Yun Zhou and Qin Mu.

Beside the name for Qin Mu, someone had scribbled four letters—Shin.

And the box…

Yan Mu carefully opened the box, revealing a half seashell that lay quietly inside.

The half seashell was white but had aged over time, its surface now slightly yellowed.

Stepping out of the shower, Jiang Zhihuo quickly realized that Yan Mu’s gaze had changed—something felt off, but he couldn’t identify exactly what it was. His mind was clouded, making it hard to think clearly.

“What are you looking at?” Jiang Zhihuo questioned, as if he had forgotten about the incident in the bathroom, wiping his hair dry while walking toward Yan Mu. Passing the desk, he caught sight of a test paper laid out before him—competition problems. The work was messy, with only two questions written down. A black pen crossed out the third question’s attempted steps, resulting in a chaotic scrawl.

Yan Mu had grabbed the competition paper earlier to help calm his nerves, but as he continued working, his mood grew increasingly chaotic. Memories came rushing back, scene after scene, leading him to give up and lay his pen down.

Jiang Zhihuo looked over and teased, “Don’t know the answers? Can’t solve such easy questions? What are you, a fake genius?”

He neatly folded his towel and placed it aside before sitting down to continue writing from where Yan Mu had stopped.

Yan Mu fixed his gaze on Jiang Zhihuo as if he wanted to etch his figure deeply into his memory. His eyes weighed heavily, their corners tinged with red.

“Jiang Zhihuo,” Yan Mu questioned, “What’s the meaning behind your tattoo?”

With his attention on the competition problems, Jiang Zhihuo casually responded, “I won’t tell you.”

Yan Mu clenched his fingers tightly, gripping the half seashell in his palm. The jagged edge remained sharp, digging into his skin with a dull, stabbing pain.

There was no reply from the person behind him.

Jiang Zhihuo, in his drunken state, was completely unaware of his actions or words. Yan Mu chose not to pursue it further. Sensing disinterest, Jiang Zhihuo went on, “It’s rather childish. Just a promise I made to someone when I was young.”

Jiang Zhihuo spoke while writing continuously, his hand moving without pause. He briefly outlined the main ideas of problems that would challenge others for hours, as if it required no effort at all.

He continued, “Later, after I escaped, I lost the item. But honestly, what’s lost is lost. There’s no going back. Saying we’d meet again is a joke. There are just too many people. Move houses, change numbers, change names; no one can find anyone.”

“The school is small, with only four classes on each floor. In fact, you might not even run into those who are on the same floor.”

Jiang Zhibu sighed, a mix of self-mockery and helplessness, saying, “But for me, I don’t really want to forget, so I got it tattooed on my body.”

“I was pretty impulsive. The tattoo artist kept asking if I was sure and warned that once it’s on, if it can’t be fully removed, it might stop me from becoming a civil servant. I could fail the physical exam due to the tattoo.

Yan Mu remained silent, his palm tightening with each moment. Realizing that talking was futile, Jiang Zhihuo quickly finished writing up the problem solutions, set down his pen, and climbed onto the bed. “I’m not particularly good at teaching, so I just wrote down the ideas. You can check them yourself tomorrow. Someone as brilliant as you shouldn’t have any trouble understanding them, right?”

Yan Mu still had that dazed expression on his face. Jiang Zhihuo didn’t have the energy to care; his head was throbbing, and all he wanted was to sleep. No more drinking for him.

As he had done before, he gave Yan Mu a quick kiss on the lips, just in case the heat appeared before settling down to sleep.

Jiang Zhihuo always stuck to his principles—perhaps his last remaining stubbornness. What happened after they fell asleep was beyond his control, but for now, they had to share the bed, separated only by a pillow.

He lay silently on his “half” of the bed, his chin tucked into the soft blanket, only the upper half of his face visible. His drooping eyelashes shielded all the warmth inside, leaving behind a sense of calm and sweetness.

“……”

“Qin-ge.”

The expansive sea unfolded before him, with the fiery sunset gradually fading away. In the dimming sky, clouds drifted like scattered cotton, exposing a handful of twinkling stars.

Yun Zhou and Qin Mu sat side by side on the beach.

Waves surged forward, frothing with white foam as they splashed their feet with a refreshing coolness before receding.

Yun Zhou was in a sour mood.

His parents had been emotionally unstable lately, often getting into arguments. Whenever his mother looked at him, her eyes filled with tears, but she never explained why.

A few days prior, a peculiar man showed up at the house. He was dressed poorly—not due to the cheapness of his clothes, but because his entire demeanor appeared like a troublemaker. He couldn’t even stand up straight, and no matter how expensive his outfit was, it still appeared to be low-quality merchandise from a street vendor.

The man was extremely thin, sporting heavy dark circles beneath his deep-set eyes and a disturbing smile that briefly crossed his face.

Yun Zhou was locked in his room by his parents.

He heard a heated argument start in the living room. His parents, both university professors with a passion for education, adorned the first floor’s living and dining rooms with exquisite decor. Growing up in that setting, Yun Zhou quietly took in the proud, intellectual ambiance of his parents.

So, Yun Zhou couldn’t understand why his usually gentle and polite parents would be shouting so loudly while arguing with that man.

However, his room was on the second floor, too far away from the living room. Even if he pressed against the door, he couldn’t make out the argument. He only heard one thing shouted by that man.

“One million, not a penny less!”

Although he was just eight years old then, he realized that something big had happened at home—something that pulled his parents apart.

His parents seemed to be acting as if nothing had happened, but since that man showed up, Yun Zhou couldn’t get rid of the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

So, he ran to Qin-ge’s house on the weekend and had the driver take them to the beach.

The beach they went to was peaceful and calm, with only a few people, so there was no worry about anyone bothering Qin-ge.

“What if, just what if, after this, we never see each other again?” Yun Zhou asked.

“Why would we not see each other? Are you planning to move away?” Qin Mu asked.

Yun Zhou shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I just suddenly thought of this.”

Qin Mu hugged his knees and rested his chin on them, staring at the horizon. “That’s not a positive thought. Forget about it.”

Yun Zhou smiled.

His smile was genuinely beautiful. His bright eyes and white teeth, with the sunset glowing above his head, made him look soft and warm. Qin Mu glanced at him, quickly looking away, a faint blush coloring his earlobes.

Yun Zhou suddenly got up and started digging in the sand, finding a seashell hidden below.

The shell was pure white, with ridges curved up and down. He held it up to his eyes, and the shell shone with the light of the sunset.

Yun Zhou had always been a romantic since he was a child. He loved reading different kinds of books, listening to all sorts of stories, remembering them, and sharing them with others.

He said, “I heard that seashells represent everlasting and unchanging love.”

Qin Mu: “Mhm.”

Yun Zhou: “Love can mean different things. Between us, it’s the bond of friends who have known each other since childhood.”

Qin Mu replied, “Mhm, childhood friends.”

Yun Zhou added, “Everlasting and unchanging means we’ll always be together. Even if we’re far away, we’ll meet again. So…”

He found a slightly sharp stone, which was common on the undeveloped beach.

Lying on the wet sand, he carefully broke the palm-sized white seashell in half, keeping one piece and slipping the other into Qin Mu’s hand while lifting his bright, sparkling eyes.

“Don’t forget me, Qin-ge.”

*