Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Guo Dongyue couldn’t believe that Zhang Zian and the tall guy could spend so much time negotiating for 50 Yuan. They finally agreed to a lease price of 150 Yuan.

  After the payment, the tall guy introduced himself. “My name is Luo Qingyu, president of the photography group at Binhai University.”


  Zhang Zian nodded and said, “My Wechat ID is my name.”


  Luo Qingyue looked at his cellphone, “Who is ‘The Hottie’?”


  “It is me.” Zhang Zian pointed at himself. “Okay. I will see you later. Of course, if you guys leave early, I am not going to refund you.”


  “Don’t worry about it. We won’t leave until we have some good photos,” Luo Qingyu promised, “See you later!”


  He was about to cross the road and stopped after taking a few steps. He turned around to look at Zhang Zian confusedly, “Have I seen you somewhere?”


  Zhang Zian shook his head, “Nope. You must be thinking of someone else. Also, the way you broke the ice wasn’t cool.”


  “No! I am sure I have met you before!” Luo Qingyu thought hard, “Your face…”


  “What about my face? Too handsome?” Zhang Zian rubbed his chin.

  “I remember!” Luo Qingyu patted his own head and pointed at Zhang Zian, “I met you at Mt. Hidden Fog. You were at the tea house with a pretty girl!”


  The point was that Zhang Zian was with a pretty girl.

  Zhang Zian knew he was talking about Snowy. He didn’t want to explain, so he asked, “So?”


  “Are you the legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy?” Luo Qingyu thought so because that tea house was out of normal people’s reach. Zhang Zian had gone in, had tea and came out without looking broke. That was not what a normal person could do… However, this didn’t seem right because he had just spent thirty minutes arguing over 50 Yuan.

  “Do I look like the legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy?” Zhang Zian smiled and said, “I am not. But together, we three can form a legendary tall, wealthy and handsome guy group.”


  “What?” Luo Qingyu was confused.

  Zhang Zian pointed at him and gestured up and down, “You are tall.”


  Then he pointed at Guo Dongyue’s luxurious coat, “He is rich.”


  Finally, he pointed at his own face, “I am handsome.”


  Both Luo Qingyu and Guo Dongyue were speechless.

  They both thought that they had never met such a thick-skinned guy like Zhang Zian…


  “Okay, let’s go. We are in a rush.” Zhang Zian walked away with Guo Dongyue. Fina followed behind them slowly because it loved the sun. After getting onto the lane, there was barely any sun. Snowy Lionet was too interested in the cosplay girls so it kept looking back as it followed the group.

  It was too bad that Luo Qingyu couldn’t borrow the golden cat. However, he knew that the girls would be happy with the white cat. Honestly, the white cat may not look as elegant and classy as the golden cat, but it was still very pretty. The snow-white long fur and the pink ears would win over the girls’ hearts.

  Zhang Zian and Guo Dongyue proceeded onto the lane. The lane was surrounded with older buildings that were built in the 80s or 90s. Some looked even older than that. They saw a London plane tree every so often, so there were lots of leaves laying around on the ground.

  Some senior citizens brought chairs from inside their homes and were sitting on the roadside. Some were playing Chinese checkers and some were just chatting. From time to time, someone would yell from one of the buildings, “Honey! Lunch is ready! Are you coming?” An older gentleman would get up and leave the checkers game and the remaining guys would make fun of him saying things like, “You are just too scared to lose!” or “What a henpecked husband!”


  You could hear the noise of the kitchen where food was being prepared. The smell of food came out from the buildings. Zhang Zian’s belly was growling. He looked down and saw that Fina’s ear moved and it gave him a dirty look. Snowy Lionet was making faces at him.

  He rubbed his belly and thought to himself, “Am I the only one who is hungry?! Why are you guys looking at me like that?”


  Guo Dongyue noticed that Zhang Zian was glancing at the old residential building, so he explained, “My mom didn’t want to move.”


  Zhang Zian nodded.

  Old people loved old places. Some people had lived there for most of their lives and were very familiar with the neighborhood. So, they were comfortable there, although the buildings were dated and inconvenient. Most people wouldn’t agree to move to a new place at that age. Even if they agreed to move, they didn’t do it for themselves, but for the convenience of staying with their kids.

  Guo Dongyue’s mom had to be in the same boat. Although she was quiet, she had to have a few friends after living there all these years.

  “There is an elementary school ahead,” Guo Dongyue pointed in a different direction and said. “I went there when I was a little boy, but it is abandoned now.”


  A picture came to Zhang Zian’s mind: Guo Dongyue’s mom was holding his little hand. They both walked through the leaves towards the school. The little Guo Dongyue opened his eyes and looked at the magnificent buildings day after day… Zhang Zian couldn’t imagine how big of an influence these buildings had towards Guo Dongyue’s profession as well as in his personal life. Using the popular language of today, it would be that “the gear of life started from there.”


  Undoubtedly, Guo Dongyue chose to become an architect because of some reason. Zhang Zian thought that the reasons were this lane, the elegant atmosphere and the London planes.

  Zhang Zian knew that the most precious things to Guo Dongyue’s mom and the other senior residents in the neighborhood were not only the environment, but also something deeper – the memories of raising their kids, fun times with family and the romantic moments shared with their spouse.

  It was sad that such precious memories were fading from Guo Dongyue’s mom’s brain, little by little.

  Guo Dongyue was leading the way. Zhang Zian slowed down and started staring at this man with a cage in his hand. He could feel the loneliness and sadness from his shadow. He had a feeling that the birds or any other pets would bring color and happiness to his mom’s life. She needed it.