The subway reached the station. The passenger beside him stood up, pulling Yang Yi back from his memories.
In his mind, Yang Yi locked onto a noodle shop downstairs from his home. He hadn't had a proper meal all day. At the ATM, he withdrew 200 yuan, thinking he'd return the money to Xiao Hua as soon as his salary arrived.
The ramen shop downstairs was a place Yang Yi frequented. A set meal came with meat, egg, noodles, and vegetables—everything included, no complaints. He also ordered some skewers. Today his physical energy was spent, and with Xiao Hua taking care of him, this meal was peaceful and satisfying.
Yang Yi thought of Xiao Liu. Since there were no more cards at Wufang, he'd go over tonight to play some Legends of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguosha) to pass the time.
"Are you off work? Sanguosha tonight?" he sent a text.
"Just finished. You go first, I'll be there after I eat."
Yang Yi was still curious about Wufang being reported; he wondered what the scene had been like that day. But he was also glad he hadn't been caught up in that mess. Walking to the base of Wufang's building, he saw from a distance that a different girl was still sitting at the first-floor reception. Quan Quan had seemingly vanished, never to appear again.
Feeling like a lifetime had passed, Yang Yi stepped into Wufang and saw a long-awaited scene.
Xiao Jiu, Mi Li, Heshand (Monk), and Ruixuan were sitting there chatting and eating melon seeds. These local civil servants got off work early; if they made plans, they'd come to Wufang and play some board games once everyone arrived.
They hadn't played The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (Tian Hei Qing Bi Yan) in a long time, the reason being that Mazi and Xiao Lin had occupied the inner room.
When Mi Li saw Yang Yi enter, she looked like she wanted to speak but hesitated, until she was sure Yang Yi was heading for her table. Then she happily greeted him, "Yi, sit next to me." Mi Li moved over to make room.
"Ooh, finally waited for Yang Yi to show up?" Xiao Jiu was chubby and teased Mi Li for being forward.
Many girls came to play at Wufang, but when a "lone ram" like Yang Yi appeared, the guys certainly wouldn't miss a chance to get to know him. In the eyes of these guys, Mi Li was the "sheep."
She didn't really know how to dress up and rarely wore makeup. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, she looked like a science and engineering graduate. Her shoulder-length hair was tied into two small pigtails today; because they were so short, they stuck straight out toward her shoulders. She had a good figure but dressed conservatively, though in the summer, nothing could quite hide the curves of her chest.
Then there were the two long legs sticking out from her shorts. If Mi Li sat down and even slightly angled her legs, she took up two people's worth of space in the sofa area. The spot where Yang Yi sat was only made available after Mi Li pulled her legs in.
Shorts, long legs, Converse canvas shoes. Yang Yi looked at his own feet and found a commonality with Mi Li.
"Well, it's been a long time," Mi Li replied to Xiao Jiu with a hint of feigned pride.
Heshand was a size larger even than Xiao Jiu. Standing at 190cm like Maolin, he usually brought his own alcohol to Wufang, but today, for some reason, he was drinking tea like everyone else.
Ruixuan was also a high-level board game player. Aside from Mazi, Yang Yi felt Ruixuan was also a "perpetual victor." Mazi could tell if someone had a role just by looking at their face; Ruixuan found the logical loopholes in everyone's statements during each round.
At Wufang, he was known as "Xiao Minrui" or "Xiao Minmin."
It was just that Ruixuan was rather effeminate; in some eyes, he had "Little Gay" tendencies. Especially when chatting with Yang Yi, his words were laced with slightly flirtatious undertones. Yang Yi didn't shy away; if the other guy acted flamboyant, he'd follow suit. It was just for fun, to liven up the game atmosphere.
Yang Yi wasn't a stranger to "Little Gays." One time in college while playing ball, Yang Yi was resting on the sidelines when a younger student shyly walked over, put a hand on Yang Yi's leg, and asked if he wanted to go to a bar. Yang Yi didn't remember the bar's name clearly at the time, but later found out it was the most popular gay bar in Nanjin.
The second time was on the subway. Someone was standing behind Yang Yi, and he suddenly felt like the person was touching his butt. After getting off, the person even followed him into his residential complex.
At the complex gate, the man spoke up: "Hello, do you live here too?"
"Yeah, you too?" Yang Yi looked at the man's burly frame, not daring to say much.
"Which way are you heading?"
The complex had a circular road. Yang Yi only needed to walk a few steps to the right to reach his building. For safety, he asked back:
"How about you?"
"Uh... I live this way." The man pointed to the right.
"Oh, I live that way." Yang Yi pointed to the left. "Bye."
That day, Yang Yi walked a massive loop around the complex before going home. He didn't know if the man followed; maybe he didn't even live in the complex.
Versatile with both 'tops' and 'bottoms,' interesting.
Once Xiao Liu arrived, the six-person Sanguosha session began. Three against three. Each team chose a Lord (Zhu Gong), and the other two were Ministers (Zhong Chen). The victory condition was to kill the opposing Lord.
This was the format used in official Sanguosha competitions. The standard way involved one Lord, one Minister, one Spy (Nei Jian), and up to three Rebels (Fan Zei).
Yang Yi was playing with high spirits. First, it had been a long time since he'd played board games with everyone. Second, Mi Li's legs hadn't stopped moving since he sat down—brushing against him then pulling back. Several times as the Lord, Yang Yi was so distracted by the brushing that his focus wavered. It would be a miracle if his kingdom didn't fall.
When nine o'clock arrived, Heshand, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Jiu left first.
Ah Shui joined in. After the four played some 2v2 for a while, more customers arrived and Ah Shui went back to work.
That left an awkward trio: Ruixuan, Mi Li, and the "versatile" Yang Yi.
"Yi, walk me home. I'm afraid of the dark." These words actually came out of Ruixuan's mouth.
Yang Yi thought it would have been more logical if Mi Li said it first and then Ruixuan followed.
"Well, I'm afraid too." Mi Li put a hand on her pigtails and looked at Yang Yi.
"Then let's go together? Ruixuan lives close, let's drop him off first." When Yang Yi turned on his "straight man" mode, no one could bend him. But was there a better way to put it? Ask Ruixuan to help walk Mi Li? Then it would be Yang Yi's turn to be afraid.
"No need! You walk Mi Li, I'm leaving." Ruixuan looked at Mi Li, who had been staring at Yang Yi this whole time.
At ten o'clock, pedestrians on the street were thinning out. Nanjin had a rich nightlife, but around Wufang, aside from the distant Beitong, there was basically no entertainment.
The two walked toward Mi Li's home. The topic of conversation was naturally the flamboyantly flirtatious Ruixuan. Usually, when there were many people, they only talked shop; they rarely had a chance for a heart-to-heart.
"Yi, where are you from again?"
"Dongtai."
"By the sea. That's quite nice."
"And you?"
"I'm from Changfeng. Were you there yesterday at midnight when the police came to Wufang?" Mi Li asked.
"You heard about it too? I haven't gone there in days."
"Ah Shui mentioned it today. When Xiao Liu heard, he said you guys deserved it. I thought you were there too."
"Xiao Liu probably lost money. Who can he blame for that?" Yang Yi didn't expect Xiao Liu to appraise the situation that way.
"So, did you win or lose?"
"I'm winning currently. Haven't lost much."
"Then don't play anymore. Mazi doesn't look like a good person. This stuff—nine out of ten bets are losses." Mi Li looked at Yang Yi with a pained expression.
"The game is gone anyway. Even if I wanted to play, I can't." Yang Yi responded. It was the first time since graduation someone had cared for him like this; he was a bit moved.
Mi Li stopped talking. As they approached her complex gate, Yang Yi sensed she was intentionally slowing her pace.
Just as they were both thinking of a new topic—following the logic of a game, Yang Yi should have been opening a "new side-quest" about now: walking Mi Li into the complex, going upstairs, entering the house for a bit...
A Honda drove out of the complex. "Isn't that Xiao Lin?" Mi Li asked.
Yang Yi checked the plate; it was indeed Xiao Lin.
"Xiao Lin!" Yang Yi shouted. "Xiao Lin!"
Xiao Lin was driving with his right hand, his left hand out the window holding a cigarette. After a sharp brake, he poked his head out.
"Perfect timing, get in!" Xiao Lin waved to Yang Yi.
"You... go ahead. I'm here." Mi Li looked at Yang Yi.
Having not seen Xiao Lin for a few days, plus the incident yesterday, Yang Yi had a head full of questions.
"I'm going over then. You get home..." Yang Yi wanted to say "text me when you're safe," but realized they didn't even have each other's phone numbers.
"Get home safely."
Mi Li turned and entered the complex. Yang Yi, who had been suppressing a nicotine craving for a long time, immediately pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he walked toward Xiao Lin.
The passenger seat was, as expected, occupied by Zhen Zhen. That used to be Yang Yi's spot; this time, he sat in the back.
Someone was already in the back seat. Yang Yi confirmed it was Gold Tooth.
"What happened yesterday?" was Yang Yi's first question after sitting down, since Mi Li had said it happened last night.
"Yao Mei's loud mouth, plus everyone was shouting out cards later. We were having too much fun." Xiao Lin tossed his cigarette butt out the window.
"Too noisy," Gold Tooth added in a low voice.
"I was here to pick someone up and ran into you. Let's go—taking you to a new spot today." Xiao Lin sounded quite excited.
"What kind of place?"
"A new game, hehe," Zhen Zhen shouted happily.
Yang Yi understood instantly. Xiao Lin and the others had found a new hideout. It was just that Mi Li's "side-quest" had been grounded before it even began.
If there is a parallel world, sincerely wish that Yang Yi the best.