On his way to work, Ding Hanbai ran into a high school classmate. They chatted for a few moments before parting, which made him reminisce about his school life. In a flash, he was at the gate of the Cultural Relics Bureau, and he decided he much preferred his working life after all.

School, well, you were at the mercy of teachers. Skip class, and your parents would be told, followed by no small amount of scolding and nagging at home. Work was different. He could skip work without his parents ever knowing; it was both pleasant and freeing for the body and mind.

After parking his car, he walked through the side door of the office building. Gazing up at the maple vines, he noticed a small portion of the leaves had already turned yellow. The Bureau Director's Red Flag sedan was blocking the door. As he circled around the rear of the car, he saw Zhang Yin speaking with an old man at the entrance.

Ding Hanbai took a closer look. Wasn't that old man Zhang Sinian?

"What are you doing here?" Zhang Yin's voice was very low. "How did you trick the gate guard into letting you in? If you need me, just call, and I'll find time to go to your place. What does it look like, running over here with a woven bag?"

Zhang Sinian said, "Don't flatter yourself. I'm collecting scrap." He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it over. It was the application Ding Hanbai had written, along with Zhang Yin's own signature.

Thwarted, Zhang Yin cursed him indirectly, "Is this Ding Hanbai doing this on purpose? I refuse to believe this is a coincidence!"

Zhang Sinian pulled his cap down. "If you have scrap, bring it out. If not, get into the building. You think I enjoy wasting my breath on you?" He turned, sat down on the steps, and began sorting the old newspapers he'd collected from the guardhouse.

Ding Hanbai hid behind the car, only revealing himself after Zhang Yin had left. He hadn't heard what the two had said, but Zhang Yin was famously snobbish, so he probably just couldn't resist running his mouth at someone he looked down on.

"Big Brother Zhang?" he said with a playful smile. When Zhang Sinian looked up, he changed his tune. "Ah, so it's my master. I haven't seen you in a few days, you look younger."

Zhang Sinian blinked unhurriedly. His chapped lips parted and closed, but he said nothing. Ding Hanbai figured the old man was upset—and rightly so. Who would be happy after being lectured by someone decades his junior? Without another word, he left. He returned from the cafeteria with a cup of hot soy milk. No longer joking, he sat down on the steps in his clean trousers.

Zhang Sinian moistened his lips. "Shouldn't you be getting to work?"

Ding Hanbai said, "No rush. I have to keep my master company for a while."

Not many people used the side door, mainly just the cleaning ladies and kitchen helpers from the cafeteria passing by. The old man and the young man sat on the steps, ignoring the others, looking perfectly at ease.

Ding Hanbai glanced at the old newspapers. "You have a house full of cups, saucers, vases, and bowls. You couldn't just sell one of them? Especially that Hundred Longevity Vase. Are you going to use it to store pickled tofu from now on?"

Zhang Sinian chuckled and said, "The man who made the Hundred Longevity Vase is named Liang Hecheng. Have you heard the story of the spear and the shield? He and I, one is the spear, the other is the shield."

If there was ever anything on the market that Zhang Sinian misidentified, it must have been made by Liang Hecheng. And if an object made by Liang Hecheng was ever judged to be a forgery, it absolutely did not escape the keen eye of Zhang Sinian.

Ding Hanbai committed the name to memory and got up to go to work.

The moment he entered the office, he ran into Zhang Yin and was inevitably subjected to a few grumbles for being late. But those harmless words sent him into a daze for the entire morning. He shouldered the responsibility of carrying on Jade Pavilion's legacy and had taken a master to study antiques. Where was he supposed to find the energy to work?

In other words, what a waste of time work was.

There was another person also lost in thought, sitting primly in a classroom listening to a lecture. Ji Shenyu gazed at the blackboard full of key points, propping his chin on his hand. He had to squeeze in time to carve, and he also had to find Master Liang to learn his skills. Where was he supposed to find the energy to study?

As soon as the bell rang, while other students stood up, he listlessly muttered, "School is such a waste of time."

The teacher glared, his mustache bristling. If it weren't for the fact that he was the top-ranking student, he probably would have been pulled aside for a talk.

Ji Shenyu was tired of school for the entire day. On his way home, he ran into Ding Keyu on Sha'er Street. It felt like enemies crossing paths on a narrow road. He thought about how Ding Hanbai had beaten the other boy. Would Ding Keyu be more annoyed with him, or a little afraid of him?

Ding Keyu asked, "What's for dinner in the Front Courtyard tonight?"

His tone was flat, devoid of emotion. Ji Shenyu answered, "Probably congee."

Ding Keyu asked again, "Are your injuries all healed?"

Ji Shenyu nodded, and they walked the rest of the way side-by-side in silence, until a shrill bell suddenly rang out from behind them. They both turned around. It was Ding Hanbai, who had been sick of work all day.

Ding Keyu smiled obediently. "Big Brother, you're off work."

The difference in attitude was so stark that Ji Shenyu resigned himself to his fate. He and his second uncle's family were probably star-crossed. The three of them went home together. During dinner, they learned that Ding Yanshou would be away for a few days, going to Xi'an to select materials, and that Jiang Shuliu would be accompanying him.

Ji Shenyu said with a smile, "Master, Madam, you two are so loving."

Ding Hanbai suspected him of sucking up. "Aren't Master Ji and your mother loving?"

The table fell silent, a silence both sudden and inevitable. Ding Yanshou and Jiang Shuliu both shot a look at Ding Hanbai. If the round table hadn't been so large and they weren't so far apart, Jiang Caiwei would have kicked Ding Hanbai under it. Ding Hanbai himself was full of regret. He had genuinely forgotten that Ji Shenyu was Ji Fangxu's illegitimate son, a complicated matter.

A porcelain spoon tapped against the rim of a bowl with a crisp sound, and it was no longer so quiet.

Everyone began to eat faster, tacitly agreeing to end this meal as soon as possible. As a form of apology, Ding Hanbai picked up a slice of fresh mushroom and, leaning over, placed it in Ji Shenyu's bowl, his eyes meeting the boy's.

Ji Shenyu held his bowl and watched him, catching the mushroom with his spoon.

Ding Hanbai actually broke into a smile, smug and annoying like a misbehaving child who had escaped punishment. "What else do you want to eat? I'll just pull the whole plate over for you."

But Ji Shenyu replied, "They were loving. Otherwise, I wouldn't exist."

Far from home, watching other people's parents be so loving and respectful to each other every day, Ding Hanbai suddenly understood with perfect clarity. Ji Shenyu hadn't been sucking up; he had been so envious he couldn't help but say it out loud. And that reply just now was less an answer for him and more an attempt to deceive himself.

He found the meal tasteless and put down his chopsticks.

He left the table and returned to his room, where he popped six or seven Eight Treasures Candies into his mouth at once.

The sweetness made Ding Hanbai's throat ache, and within that very sweetness, he could taste the bitterness in Ji Shenyu's heart. He grabbed a large handful of candy. When one handful wasn't enough, he simply picked up the whole box. The room next door was empty, so he went to the main living room to look for him. Passing through the corridor, he saw Ji Shenyu and Jiang Caiwei sitting together, chatting.

Jiang Caiwei was giving Ji Shenyu chocolate, and Ji Shenyu looked very happy.

Ding Hanbai stood there for a moment holding the candy, then, relieved, he turned to go back. Halfway there, a light breeze blew from behind him. He spun around sharply and collided forcefully with Ji Shenyu, who had run up to him. The box of Eight Treasures Candy was completely overturned.

The two of them squatted down to pick up the candies. Ji Shenyu opened his palm. "The chocolate Auntie gave me. I brought it for you."

Ding Hanbai didn't take it. "If you like it, you can have it all."

Ji Shenyu asked, "What were you doing with a box of candy?"

Ding Hanbai didn't answer. He finished picking up the candies and started walking back. He actually wanted to ask Ji Shenyu if he was angry, but on second thought, he felt there was no point. If he wasn't angry, would that put his own mind at ease? He was afraid he would only become more thoughtless with his words in the future. If he was angry, Ding Hanbai wouldn't be able to bring himself to coax him, and asking might just add to the awkwardness.

He thought optimistically, 'It'll probably be fine after a night's sleep.'

The lightbulb in the courtyard was so bright, yet both bedrooms went dark at the same time. Ji Shenyu subconsciously fumbled for the spot next to his pillow, searching for the thin string with the bell attached. He suddenly remembered—his injury had healed, the bell had been removed.

He gently clenched his hand into a fist and fell asleep, buried under the covers.

With the head of the family away, Ding Hanbai quickly usurped the throne, openly skipping work under the fine-sounding pretext of looking after Jade Pavilion. Ji Shenyu was incredibly envious. By noon, he couldn't hold back any longer. He feigned a stomachache and asked his teacher for leave.

He slipped home, gathered his potted plants, and took them with him to find Liang Hecheng.

It was still that same small courtyard. Ji Shenyu arranged the green plants, added soil, and watered them. When he was done, he took a brush, dipped it in white paint, and repainted the rusty house number. Wisps of white smoke drifted out from inside the house. Liang Hecheng had boiled a pot of tender corn and was calling for him to eat it while it was hot.

With the door closed, master and apprentice huddled together. The corn was scalding to their hands and mouths, making for a lively meal. "Master, when can I make something?" Ji Shenyu asked. "I have to carve every day to keep from getting rusty or even losing my skill. It's the same for this."

Liang Hecheng said, "Look around this room, then think about the antiques market. What kind of objects are most common?"

The most common were ceramics. China was famous for its porcelain. Ji Shenyu understood immediately. The various forms, colors, markings, and so on—the foundation was the porcelain itself. Porcelain could not be made without firing; to have porcelain, you must first have a kiln.

Since this was Liang Hecheng's trade, he certainly knew of a porcelain kiln. After finishing a cob of corn, he started writing in a notebook. Just as he finished a line, his sixth little finger was pinched by Ji Shenyu.

Ji Shenyu said softly, "Master, can you feel that?"

Liang Hecheng replied, "Of course. It's not useless."

Ji Shenyu slowly started to smile, then laughed out loud. He looked at that little finger sticking up—it was deformed but also interesting, and he couldn't resist the urge to touch it. Rip. Liang Hecheng finished writing and tore the paper out. On it were two lines of an address.

It was very far, dozens of kilometers outside the city. It was a small porcelain kiln in a village, and the owner, Tong Peifan, was a friend of Liang Hecheng's. Ji Shenyu asked, "Master, am I going by myself?"

He wasn't from here. To this day, he only recognized a few roads. How was he supposed to find such a distant place? But Liang Hecheng used his health as an excuse, showing no intention of helping him.

Ji Shenyu saw through it but didn't say anything. Whether it was a challenge or a way to temper him, an experienced person surely had his reasons for doing things.

He whiled away the afternoon, then shouldered his schoolbag to go home. Liang Hecheng watched him go with a stooped back. As he neared the end of the alley, Liang Hecheng called out to him again.

"Don't go by yourself. Ask someone to go with you."

In the end, he was still worried. Ji Shenyu rushed back. "Then why don't you take me?"

Liang Hecheng said, "My life is like a candle flickering in the wind. How long can I guide you? This work is a lonely one. You lock the door and work in silence, wishing no one in the world knew about you."

Ji Shenyu suddenly felt a pang of sorrow in his nose, his eyes, his entire being.

He wanted to ask, then why still tell him to find someone to go with him? What if he was found out?

Liang Hecheng patted his shoulder. "I'm afraid you'll be like me, keeping things too close to your chest, and in the end, be left all alone. I was lucky enough to meet a kid like you, but you might not be so lucky as to meet another. Find someone you can trust. Even if you have to hide it from them, just treat it as a trip to the countryside."

Ji Shenyu started walking again. If he didn't leave, he was afraid the old man would see him lose his composure.

As he walked, he thought back. The other man always spoke of fate. He had thought it was just an old man's superstition. But everything had begun with fate—them becoming master and apprentice, those three or four potted plants, that pot of sweet corn, him gently pinching the old man's little finger, and now, the old man silently watching him from behind... Quietly, fate had become affection.

Perhaps Liang Hecheng saw Ji Shenyu as a source of support, and perhaps Ji Shenyu only saw Liang Hecheng as a projection of Ji Fangxu, but who could say for sure what the future held. Sincerity seeped in bit by bit, and the initial selfish motives would eventually be worn away.

Stepping out of the alley, the sky was high and the road was wide, yet it didn't seem as warm as it had inside the alley.

Ji Shenyu began to ponder a new problem. Who should he ask to go with him?

He hadn't made up his mind when he got off at Chiwangfu Station. He still hadn't decided after walking down Sha'er Street. As he stepped through the main gate and around the spirit screen, he felt increasingly lost. The area around the archway had been swept clean, except for a single Eight Treasures Candy lying on the ground, dropped in the dark last night. Ji Shenyu picked it up, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. It was sweet. As the outermost layer of sugar melted, the picture in his mind also became clear.

He thought of Ding Hanbai. He had thought of Ding Hanbai from the very beginning. But Ding Hanbai was the most difficult person to provoke. If this little secret of his were to be accidentally exposed, there was no telling what kind of storm it would stir up.

But this candy was too sweet; it could melt that layer of defense.

Ji Shenyu ran about, shouting, "Senior Brother! Where are you?!"

Ding Hanbai had brought back a piece of peach-pink Tourmaline from Jade Pavilion and was currently in the machine room, mounting a blade for relief carving. When his name was called out in that crisp, ringing voice, he nearly let the blade slip and cut himself.

Hearing that happy tone, he guessed, 'Did he get first place again?'

'That can't be right, it's not midterms yet.' Then he guessed, 'Did Jiang Caiwei finish knitting the gloves?'

Before Ding Hanbai could guess the reason, Ji Shenyu had already run in. He burst through the door, one cheek bulging like a ball, obviously from eating candy. He continued to carve, putting on a calm facade, waiting to hear the reason.

After his excitement, Ji Shenyu became timid. "Senior Brother, I want to ask you out."

Ding Hanbai swallowed a gulp of air. "Ask me out for what?"

Ji Shenyu only said he wanted to go out and have fun. He also said a classmate's family lived in Tong Village outside the city, that the scenery there was beautiful, and he wanted to see it. As he spoke, he walked to the workbench, leaned down with his forearms on the surface, and got so close to the other boy it was as if he were about to share a secret.

The peach-pink Tourmaline. He asked, "Didn't you say flowers and peonies were tacky?"

Ding Hanbai said, "The customer likes it."

Ji Shenyu was quiet for a moment, then he said softly, "So, are you going or not?" He returned to the original topic, watching Ding Hanbai cautiously, planning what to do if he was rejected, and how to thank him if he agreed.

He was really too close. Their breaths mingled, and Ding Hanbai could even smell the sweet scent of the melting candy. For the first time in his life, his grip on the carving knife was unsteady. He tightened his fingers and the web of his thumb, as if he were clenching his own heart.

Just then, the phone in the North House suddenly rang. Ding Hanbai's composure gradually returned. He put down his knife and ran to answer it. Still without an answer, Ji Shenyu ran back with him.

"Hello?" Ding Hanbai frowned as he listened. "Stomachache?"

After hanging up, Ding Hanbai's expression was like that of a stern father flexing his authority. He walked step by step to the door, scaring the little birds in the tree into silence. Ji Shenyu, with his back against the doorframe, had nowhere to run. He finally realized the call had been from Teacher Du.

As expected... the only way to keep a secret is to not have done it in the first place.

But Ding Hanbai skipped work himself, so he probably wouldn't blame him for skipping school...

Ji Shenyu thought it best to back down first. However, before the words of apology could leave his mouth, Ding Hanbai suddenly asked, "Which is tastier, Eight Treasures Candy or chocolate?"

He cleared his throat and averted his gaze. In his tone, there was even a hint of hard-to-detect embarrassment.

Ji Shenyu sized up the situation. "Your candy is tastier."

Ding Hanbai said smugly, "There's more in the box. Eating a lot of it cures stomachaches." He strode back to the South Room, speaking such absurd words and not even pursuing the matter of skipping school, yet he seemed to carry an air of awe-inspiring righteousness.

This person was so strange. Ji Shenyu shouted, "Senior Brother, so are you willing to take me to Tong Village?!"

For once, Ding Hanbai was uncharacteristically hesitant. After a long moment, he tossed out a single phrase: "I'm willing."

My goodness, the little birds in the tree, as if teasing him, suddenly burst into a world-shaking chorus of chirps.