Xie Yu remembered telling Madam Gu about him and He Chao only after the college entrance exams.

Their parent-child dynamic was different from that of other families. Throughout the entire third year of high school, it was Madam Gu who seemed more like the student "cramming for the exam," her nerves constantly on edge.

Xie Yu didn't dare to affect her before the college entrance exams were over.

"Don't study too late, relax, ah, and don't overthink things. Just treat it like any other test."

Gu Xuelan spoke as she placed food in his bowl, "...Eat more."

Meanwhile, Xie Yu, who in Madam Gu's eyes was 'studying very late', wanted to say that he basically went to bed at ten o'clock sharp every night, living a life completely free of pressure.

Xie Yu finished the food she gave him and nonchalantly changed the subject, "Someone in the class next door is dating. Their parents were called in last week."

Gu Xuelan wasn't the rigid type of parent; in fact, a part of her still held the sentiments of a young girl. She was very open-minded about "puppy love" and would even ask her son from time to time if he had someone he liked or if he was secretly in a relationship.

It wasn't that she couldn't understand. Every stage of life had its own unique and precious qualities.

Hazy, innocent, passionate, and flamboyant.

"Youth," Gu Xuelan sighed. "Ah, it's great to be young."

After the college entrance exams, the very same Gu Xuelan who had been sighing about how "great it is to be young" received the most indescribable shock she had experienced in over a decade.

Xie Yu, not even having had time to change out of his school uniform, planned to head to Blackwater Street right after his last exam and pulled Gu Xuelan along with him. "Mom, want to go together?"

Gu Xuelan didn't pay much attention to the second half of the sentence. It was rare for her to return to Blackwater Street, and she knew that Auntie Mei and the others had put in a lot of effort for him this past year. She busied herself changing into simpler clothes and grabbed a few gifts before they left.

The dinner table was exceptionally lively.

A table full of people sat in the large courtyard, enjoying the cool open air.

Even though Gu Xuelan was already dressed very casually, she still couldn't help but be taken aback by Mother Lei's trendy men's board shorts. "..."

"These beach shorts belong to Lei-zi's dad," Mother Lei said with a laugh as she lifted her leg slightly. "They're quite cool."

Xu Yanmei grabbed a beer bottle and opened it with her bare hands, the cap rolling onto the concrete floor. She habitually offered the beer forward, only remembering halfway that Gu Xuelan didn't drink beer. "Look at you—it's enough that you came, why did you have to bring so many things."

Gu Xuelan didn't usually drink much, but she still took the bottle and poured a little into her water glass.

"How are you doing?" Xie Yu raised his hand to clink glasses with Zhou Dalei.

"VP Club, substitute," Zhou Dalei said. "In less than half a year, I'll show you a starter."

"Awesome."

"Of course. Your brother here is super awesome."

After a few rounds of drinks.

The topic of conversation strayed from the college entrance exams all the way to mahjong. But before they could even arrange partners for a game, Xie Yu, who had been sitting there eating quietly the whole time, suddenly said, "Mom, Auntie Mei, I have something to say."

Xie Yu had drunk half a bottle of beer, and the tips of his ears were a little red. He then stood up, facing the crowd from Blackwater Street before him—people who, aside from Gu Xuelan, were like family to him despite sharing no blood relation.

He appeared calm, but the fingers of the hand he had placed on the edge of the table unconsciously tightened. "I'm in a relationship. We got together in our second year of high school. I'm not just playing around, I'm very serious. So serious that... it'll be him for the rest of my life."

"His name is He Chao."

Xie Yu didn't have any particular agenda. He could have chosen not to tell anyone, to ignore the opinions of the entire world, but these people were different.

The expressions on the faces at the table varied, though most were of surprise.

Xu Yanmei: "That He Chao who came here last time?"

Zhou Dalei: "Fuck, that He Chao?"

Gu Xuelan's mouth opened, and she could barely find her own voice. "...He Chao?"

On the way back, Gu Xuelan was silent for a long time. When the car pulled into the garage, she didn't even realize they had arrived.

To be fair, she was quite fond of the boy, He Chao.

But she had never once thought about it in that way.

Even though she had noticed that whenever she called, if that boy was there, Xie Yu would become a little different from his usual self.

An indescribable change. Thinking about it carefully... the signs had actually been there all along.

Gu Xuelan's first reaction was that she couldn't accept it.

However, all the words she wanted to say came to a grinding halt the moment she met Xie Yu's eyes.

In those eyes, there was trust, and also expectation.

She then remembered the line she had written in her letter to him: No matter what choice you make.

—I only hope that you are safe and happy.

"Have you thought it through?"

Xie Yu said, "I have."

Gu Xuelan slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again. Finally, she said softly, "I'm very happy that you were willing to tell me. Ask him out for a meal someday, so we can meet."

Xie Yu lay in bed after his shower. He had initially thought he would be calm—it was just a confession, after all. But as he saw the text messages come in, one after another, from Auntie Mei, from Dalei...

He read them, and then suddenly buried his face in his pillow.

When He Chao received the call, he had no idea he had already "indirectly" met his little friend's parent. He only sensed that his little friend's voice sounded muffled. "What's wrong?"

"Next time you call, don't call her Auntie Gu."

He Chao didn't understand. "Does calling her 'Auntie' make her sound too old? Was your mom not happy to hear it? Then what should I call her? How about 'sister' next time?"

Xie Yu said, "Idiot. Call her Mom."

He Chao's end of the line went silent as if the connection had dropped. Xie Yu was about to hang up, and was just about to press the 'end call' button, when he heard him ask, "Is it what I think it is?"

"Could it possibly be what you think it is? Calling her 'sister'? You're really great at figuring out seniority."

"You..."

He Chao stammered on 'you' for a while, then finally laughed. "Then you should add Old He on WeChat. He's been begging me for almost two years. I was afraid of scaring you, so I never gave you his contact."

Xie Yu: "..."

Two years?

"I told him on the very first day we started dating. I told him I found someone I really, really like, and that this boy is especially cute."

He Chao's dad was a character.

Ever since He Chao had expressed how moved he was by the creative short video, Old He felt that his gift had been chosen with excellent taste. After successfully adding Xie Yu as a friend, he immediately went to an online shopping platform to customize another one.

Xie Yu had just woken up in the morning. He opened his phone to check the time, only to be greeted by a group of African children holding up blackboards and dancing wildly.

"He Chao, He Chao!"

"Xie Yu, Xie Yu!"

"A hundred years of happy union!"

...

So for Xie Yu, the worst news of the year was probably: his birthday was coming up.

But there was really no escaping his birthday.

He tried very hard, but he still couldn't convince himself: don't get worked up over the He Family.

His coursework was heavy during his sophomore year. After taking a day off to accompany He Chao to class, he became busy again. He had almost forgotten about his birthday, but was inadvertently reminded by Old Professor Yang, "You don't need to come in next week. Give the data to your Senior Brother Wang and let him follow up."

"What?"

Old Professor Yang smiled. "You forgot your own birthday? I don't want people saying I'm exploiting you all to the point where you can't even celebrate a birthday."

Xie Yu thought to himself, 'It would be better to be exploited.'

His workload was light that day. Xie Yu came out of the lab with half an hour to go before class ended.

He thought for a moment and decided to wait for his boyfriend to finish class.

The classroom was quiet, with only the voice of the financial economics teacher speaking, "Let f be a preference relation defined on the consumption set X. If for any x, y in X, xfy if and only if u(x) ≥ u(y)..."

Xie Yu didn't go in, nor did he show his face through the window. He leaned against the wall and waited for a while.

He Chao only saw him when he came out after class. "Why'd you come over here?"

"To wait for you," Xie Yu said, his head lowered as he replied to a WeChat message. Only then did he look up at him. "Your dad said he's going to send me a big gift. Try to talk him out of it. Tell him not to send it; I appreciate the thought."

"I think so too. It's enough if I give you one... why is he trying to join in on the fun."

He Chao took the opportunity to mock Old He, only to hear Xie Yu say, "You don't fucking send anything either. The best blessing for me would be if neither of you sent anything at all."

"..."

In the end, He Chao was actually well-behaved for a few days, only sending him two messages on his birthday.

-[Location]

-Come over.

The location was a restaurant.

A certain rich young master with the surname He had even booked the entire place.

The establishment wasn't large, but the decor was elegant, with a small stage at the very front.

Xie Yu sat and waited for a long time, but no one appeared. All sorts of bizarre gift ideas ran through his mind, making him antsy.

Just as he was about to send a text to ask what was going on, the lights in the entire restaurant dimmed without warning for a few seconds.

Then Xie Yu heard a line sung a cappella, and with that voice, the lights above the bar began to brighten bit by bit.

"What are you doing?"

He Chao missed a note right at the beginning. He paused, coughed, then raised his index finger to his lips in a "shush" gesture.

Without any musical accompaniment, He Chao sang for a full four minutes in the most direct way possible.

It was the song he had sung on the bus during their second-year autumn field trip.

After singing the final line, He Chao didn't say "happy birthday." He held onto the microphone and asked, "I plan on giving you a ring this year. The kind you wear on your ring finger and never take off for a lifetime. I wonder if my little friend will accept it?"