The first time you stagger your breath to smell each other.

Lin Jian slowly got up from the ground, and Pi Dan still persisted in pouncing on him, a heartwarming and comical scene. It was only when Shen Ke called out "Pi Dan" with a smile that the big dog with the shiny black and white fur stopped, swung his tail and sat down beside Lin Jian's leg, with his head still leaning against his knee.

Lin Jian rubbed the top of its head in his hands before asking Shen Ke, "Did you drive here by yourself again?"

"Not this time." Shen Ke said, "The assistant secretary and the driver are all with him, so he came here on his own, not to find you."

"...... Oh." Lin Jian nodded, and asked, "Is there a job here?"

Why else would there have been so much coming and going in the last two days.

Shen Ke paused for a moment before opening his mouth to answer, for he realized that although Lin Jian's face was very light when he asked this question, he still read something like happiness in those familiar bright eyes.

Shen Ke then, as he once did, didn't mind making him a little happier, "Yes, I may have to stay for a few more days, so I simply brought it here." After saying that, he gently lifted his chin at the leather egg beside Lin Jian's leg.

"Oh ......" Lin Ma pondered, after two seconds suddenly asked, "Where are you staying these days?"

Shen Ke says, "Kai Chao downtown has rooms reserved for the long term."

It's a local seven-star business hotel, and it's no surprise that Shen Ke has a long-term private room there, but what makes Lin Jian curious is, "So, Pi Dan is staying at the hotel with you too?"

Shen Ke heard his eyes drooping and smiled for a moment, then said, "Actually, it is also possible, but after all, it is a business class hotel, there are other guests staying there, and every day there will be different types of business meetings over there, so ...... it really isn't very appropriate."

"That ......"

Without waiting for Lin Jian to finish speaking, Shen Ke continued, "Then, during the time I'm here, would it be convenient for Pi Dan to stay at your place?"

Lin Jian's eyes widened a little, then he looked down at his doggy son who was about to leap for his paw on his shoulder again before saying, "Is ...... okay? But I have nothing prepared on my side."

Unexpectedly, Shen Ke, as if he had already expected and prepared for a complete response, said: "It's okay, it's very easy to raise now, it can go out two times a day in the morning and evening, and I've brought all the dog food and leash that I'm used to eating. ......" He paused for a moment and then asked Lin Jian for advice with a smile, "If it's convenient for you, let's go to the pet supermarket and pick out a sleeping mat that it likes. He paused, then smiled and asked Lin Jian for advice, "If it's convenient for you now, let's go to the pet supermarket and pick out a sleeping pad that it likes."

Lin Jian eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds, intuiting how this ...... thing felt like a long premeditated closed loop.

It's as if everything was planned ahead of time by Shen Ke, not as he claimed, and only changed his plans on the fly when he was going to take Pi to stay at a hotel and bring the dog to show him on the way.

But perhaps Shen Ke's gaze and the shallow smile at the corner of his mouth were too bright and open, Lin Jian didn't say anything in the end, just like the habit he had developed when he was a child - if he said it, he believed it.

"Not busy, convenient." Lin Jian picked up the leash that had fallen to the ground and wrapped it around the back of his hand, "Come on, let's go pick out a sleeping pad."

Lin Jian had no idea about the city, but after getting into the car, Shen Ke casually located the nearest pet supply supermarket on the navigation and drove him straight there.

Lin Jian was still sitting in the passenger seat, and PiDan occupied the back row by himself, but he put his two front paws on Lin Jian's seat back, rubbed his head against his left shoulder, and occasionally poked his head forward to look for Lin Jian's face with a pair of big, bright eyes.

"I don't think it was this clingy when it was little, was it?" Lin Jian only thought it was funny, and at the same time liked the intimacy, as he reached up and rubbed PiYan's head, his fingers sinking into the smooth, fine fur and sliding down, scratching its chin with a single stroke.

"Indeed a bit excited." Shen Ke faintly swept a glance at Pi Egg, his eyes swept past the side of Lin Jian's face, "It's probably because it's not easy to meet someone, and I'm afraid that you'll suddenly disappear again."

"......"

It's a would-be zinger.

The PetSmart is not too far from this side of the park, it's about a twenty-minute drive.

The Pet Supermarket is a large store, and you can see many cute and adorable pets decorating the shelves in several rows, with a shopping guide sign hanging at the top of each row. Lin Jian leads Pi Dan to the "Large Dog Sleeping Pad and Nest" row, with Shen Ke following behind him.

There are many types of sleeping mats in different colors. Lin Jian takes down a few samples from the shelves, arranges them on the floor, and asks PiDan beside her, "Which one do you like?"

Pee-wee looked at the new sleeping pads with a seemingly interested "ow".

Lin Jian couldn't help but float a very light layer of smiles at the bottom of his eyes, pointing to a pink floral model, asking, "This one?"

The little male dog, Pee-wee, had the good sense to turn his head to the side.

Lin Jian's eyes smiled even more, and pointed to a sky-blue egg-shaped one and asked, "What about this one?"

Pee Wee looked up at Shen Ke as if to say, "Do you care?"

Shen Ke stood right behind Lin Jian, with a shallow smile under his eyes, quietly watching his back.

The sunlight at four or five o'clock is reflected from the window, falling on Lin Jian, wearing a casual black pants and white coat of youth immersed in the warmth of the sun, the original cold and sharp eyes are gilded with a layer of soft light gold, with a gentle smile hanging on the edge of his mouth.

"Then is this one okay?" Lin Jian finally asked with rare patience, pointing to a dark brown upholstered cushion next to it.

The bold, subdued colors and style finally captured the heart of the Sacred Heart, and with a low "ow", Pippin lifted one of his front paws and rested it on the sleeping pad.

"It-" Lin Jian was amused by the dog's son and laughed out loud, subconsciously going to look for the one behind him, but abruptly stopped the moment he turned back.

Shen Ke stood two paces behind him, the smile under his eyes was vague and warm, and the look on his face was the most familiar and clear look he had remembered for many years, as if he stood calmly and steadily behind you like this, and even if it was quiet and silent, it would make people involuntarily treat him as the most solid leaning against him.

"What?" Shen Ke asked, seeing him look over but withdrawing his voice.

"Nothing." Lin Jian lowered his eyelashes, collected his heart, did not move, stood up and said, "Go see something else?"

So the two of them took PiDan by the hand and spent another half day at the PetSmart, ending up not only buying sleeping pads, but also a bunch of small toys and gadgets that most likely won't be used, right down to spoiling the fur kids.

On the way back, Shen Ke still drove the car, and the car was not going too fast or too slow in the evening sunshine, but fortunately this time, they needed to move a little more stuff upstairs, so Lin Jian did not say "park farther away" or something like that again.

When Lin Jian got out of the car, he automatically went around to the trunk, ready to take the stuff, but Shen Ke gently blocked his outstretched hand and simply said, "You just take care of it." After saying that, he bowed down and picked up the pile in the trunk, and walked straight to the door of the apartment building.

Lin Jian stared wide-eyed for a few seconds with Pi Dan, who was sticking his tongue out next to him, before finally pursing his lips and pulling up the tow rope to follow.

The elevator reached the sixteenth floor, and after leaving the elevator compartment, Lin Jian went ahead to open the door, and Shen Ke followed him into the house.

After arriving home, Lin Jian untied the leash around PiDan's neck and patted his soft belly, "Play by yourself for a while." Then he went to pick up something in Shen Ke's hand.

"Not really." Shen Ke shied away a little and asked, "Where do I put it?"

Lin Jian had no choice but to point to the wall under the window in the living room and say, "Let's put it there first, we'll clean it up later."

Shen Ke nodded, placing the pile in his hands at the foot of the wall, and finding the water feeder that Pee Wee usually used from the organizer, saying, "Get him some water, it's been half a day of madness."

Back then, when Pi Dan was first taken home by Shen Ke, feeding water and food was entirely Lin Jian's preserve, but now ...... Lin Jian watched as the already fat and strong fur child would still raise his front paws and shake them twice when he put down the water bowl, making a bow to thank him, and could not help but be slightly stunned.

It is as old as ever, as if time had never been cut off at the waist, and those things that I thought were long gone are still as clear as yesterday.

It took the two of them nearly an hour to create a "happy place" for PiYan in Lin Jian's small living room, with sleeping mats, food bowls, and toys placed around the house, just waiting for the dog's son to enjoy himself.

Finally busy, the two washed their hands and returned to the living room, Lin Jian raised his chin toward the sofa and gestured, "You sit, I go to ...... you drink tea or water?"

Shen Ke sat down on the sofa with a good grace, his gesture and smile were all characterized by a sense of idleness, and asked in a joking manner, "Only now do you want to get up to greet the guests? Water is fine."

Lin Jian stared at him, his thin lips moved, and ultimately said nothing, going to the kitchenette to repaint a cup and pour a glass of warm water over.

He didn't make a sound, but Shen Ke could see it.

What he's saying is, you're not a guest.

Lin Jian finished pouring the water and went back to the kitchen, fiddling with something. Shen Ke took a sip of water from his cup and casually surveyed the small apartment.

The house is a very simple and clean small household, because it is a park life apartment, so the room decoration is the same as the other household types, all unified modern minimalist style, but with Shen Ke eyes roughly skimmed, always feel ...... that there is something not quite right.

Lin Jian has always been a neat and tidy person since he was a child, all items must be placed back in their original position after use, and when he sees any fine dust stains in his daily life, he will definitely clean them up with his own hands. But according to reason, Lin Jian has been living here for some time, even if he is regenerative and likes to be clean, it should not be to this extent.

A glance sweeps through the room, there is almost no trace of life, as if ...... it is like an uninhabited model room.

For no reason at all, Shen Ke was struck by a strange feeling.

But there was no time to think deeply before Lin Jian came over from the kitchen with another glass of water, pausing for a few seconds as she walked over to the couch before sitting down next to him.

The small apartment was equipped with a small sofa with a single row of two seats, Lin Jian sat on the seat close to one side of the armrest, both of them were tall, but the space should have been a little crowded, but there was still a distance of about fifteen centimeters between them.

Shen Ke's light eyes swept over the lazy sofa chair diagonally in front of the coffee table, dropping his eyes to take another sip of water.

It was a little before seven o'clock, and it was already dark in the northern part of early autumn. PiYan was really excited for a while when he arrived at his new environment, lying down in his sterilized and disinfected new sleeping mat, and entertaining himself for half a day playing with his toys. But probably because the environment, though fresh, was familiar to the people around it, after a while it paced over with a rubber ball in its mouth, squeezing its soft, fleshy body raw into the triangle between the coffee table and the two men, tilting its head to look at this one and then that one, as if inquiring with its eyes, "Which one of you two is going to play with me?"

"Hungry after playing for half a day?" Lin Jian reached out and scratched its chin and said, "Feed you?"

Piebald's big eyes lit up all of a sudden.

"No need." Unexpectedly, there was a Cheng Bite in the middle of the road, Shen Ke slightly narrowed his eyes, looked at the dog son on the ground, and indifferently instructed, "Feed it only once a day, don't give it more than that."

Pi Dan looked at Lin Jian in fear, with a sad and bitter look on his face.

Lin Jian received the signal and gave a soft "hiss" and tried, "Then it ......"

"It's useless for it to pamper itself." Shen Ke kicked Pee-wee's butt gently with his toe, "Old actor, don't spoil it."

Chopped up and cold-faced.

"...... Okay."

So much for the vicissitudes of a dog's life - Pee Wee gave a low "ow", put his front paws on his head, and got down and shut himself up.

"...... And you?" Lin Jian suddenly blessed to the heart, glanced at the clock on the opposite wall, turned his head and asked Shen Ke, "This time, you dinner ......"

Lin Jian's voice has a bit of vague hesitation in it, and if an unfamiliar person hears it at first glance, they can hardly tell whether he is keeping or driving people away, but Shen Ke is never in the "unfamiliar" category.

Hearing him ask this question, Shen Ke laughed dumbly, his voice was warm and deep and nice, "Are you thinking of me after asking about the dog?"

"......" The corner of Lin Jian's eyes jumped, no longer beating around the bush, directly asked in a cold voice, "Eat or not?"

"Do you do it?" Shen Ke, still smiling, says, "If you do, you eat."

"......" Otherwise, Lin Jian said, "If I don't do it, will you do it?

After all, he was the one who was psychologically shadowed by Shen Ke's pot of "longevity noodles" back then, Lin Jian stopped talking nonsense with him and got up to go to the kitchen.

Shen Ke sat calmly on the sofa, listening to the man not far away open the refrigerator to rummage for ingredients, a moment later the kitchen faucet opened, the sound of gurgling water, and soon after, he heard Lin Jian's sharp and dry sound of chopping vegetables.

There were a few moments of déjà vu in this scene.

Many years ago, there were countless fragments of such scenes between them. Lin Jian would come home before him after school in the evening, probably brushing up on problems in the study, or practicing calligraphy or simply reading a book, and when Shen Ke came back a little later, he would always come down from the second floor, stand at the turn of the stairs, and say, "You're back, so late? "

The teenager at that time always did not look too good, as if silently disliking his late return for several years, but every time he came to him, even with a cold face, the next sentence would surely ask, "Have you eaten yet?"

If Shen Ke has already eaten, he will not say anything more, chat with Shen Ke a few words, and then go back to his own business. And if Shen Ke said he hadn't--

It would be but half an hour then, and a simple supper, prepared by the hands of a teenager, would be on the round table in the dining-room.

Sometimes it might be a cup of fresh porridge and two small dishes, sometimes a bowl of noodles in soup with an egg, and if there was time, he would see on the table little handmade wontons freshly wrapped, dripping with crispy green scallions doused with hot oil, in a delicious broth with a thin skin and a large filling.

Shen Ke never said he liked seafood, not too much shrimp, but the diced fungus must be fine and crunchy, I don't know how Lin Jian knew that.

At that time, I only thought that this child was cold-faced and warm-hearted, and although he would never say nice things, he was actually sweet and understanding, and he was a person who kept thoughts and memories in his heart.

And then, as dozens of years passed by, Shen Ke looked back alone and realized--

Lin Jian left him more than just the lamp that waited for him to come home late, or the dinner that comforted the weary at every turn.

It was about companionship, the most silent yet tangible expression.

After so many years, Lin Jian's speed and level of cooking has not deteriorated, he prepared all the dishes, took the non-stick pan out of the cupboard and lit the fire to heat up the pan when he heard footsteps approaching behind him.

Shen Ke stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looked at the long, slender back standing in front of the kitchen counter, and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No." Lin Jian reaches above the mouth of the nonstick skillet, feels the temperature of the oil, and without looking back, says, "It's time to fry, so go out and wait."

"Well, you fry yours." Shen Ke leaned against the door and watched with interest as he methodically poured the prepared vegetables into the pan, and at the sudden "zip" said, "I'll just stay here and not make a mess for you."

Lin Jian didn't like to use a spatula when cooking, he just picked up the handle of the pot, turned it upside down a few times, and waited for all the vegetables in the pot to roll over a few times to be evenly heated, before he took the time to look back at Shen Ke, and then after a pause, he said, "Whatever you want." And then turned away again, no longer caring about people.

At this time the sky outside the window has been completely dark, the northern autumn even at night is also the sky is high, the moonlight is bright and clear, from the sixteenth floor to look out, the sky is a distant and deep.

Outside the window is a quiet moonlit night like water, but inside the window is a strong human fire.

The range hood emits a tiny hum, the electric pressure cooker on the runners is already warm, and Lin Jian, carrying a frying pan and pouring the last of the dishes onto a plate, freezes as soon as she turns around, "...... You're still here, huh?"

There was no sound behind him for so long that he thought Shen Ke had returned to the living room.

"All the time." Shen Ke smiles, and at that moment lifts his foot into the kitchen, pulls out dishes from the sterilized dishwasher on the first kitchen counter, and says fervently, "Can't really do nothing but wait for the food, can we?"

The kitchen was not big in size, but with two tall men standing in it, it was even more crowded and cramped, and when Shen Ke took the dishes and turned around, they were only a stone's throw away from each other, a distance that was better than nothing.

Obviously, the moment their eyes collided face-to-face, both of them were uncharacteristically stunned for a moment.

Too close.

Lin Jian reacted the fastest after he froze, slightly misplaced his eyes, sidestepped a step to the side and turned on the faucet, "The apartment doesn't have a dishwasher, I'll brush the pots and pans and then I'll come."

He said this with a normal expression and a calm voice, but Shen Ke frowned slightly.

Still not the same as it once was.

If it were a few years ago, Lin Jian would have frowned coldly at him for getting in the way, and then muttered with slight impatience, "What a nuisance."

Instead of staggering the first breath smelling distance as they do now.

"Good." Shen Ke sighed silently mentally and walked out of the kitchen with the dishes.

With three dishes and one soup, and white rice for the main course, Lin Jian's craftsmanship has been superb for decades.

Until Shen Ke got up to serve the second bowl of soup after the meal, Lin Jian finally couldn t help but speak out, looking at him suspiciously and asking, "Do you ...... have such a good appetite now?"

Shen Ke sipped his soup from his bowl without using a spoon, and when he heard him ask that, the edge of the soup bowl blocked a bit of the corner of his eyes from curving up, and he said frankly, "It's not bad ...... It's probably because it's been too long since I've tasted your handiwork, so I didn't hold back on the gluttonous amount."

Lin Jian froze for a moment, then put down the porcelain bowl in his hand, got up and was about to take the bowl in front of Shen Ke that had been used to serve the rice, and said in a deep voice, "Do you want more, and I'll go and serve you some more?"

"...... hey." Shen Ke can't help but frame his hand that has been stretched out in front of him, lost his smile and said, "That's not so bad, can you still eat a meal that tops three days."

"...... line."

While they were eating dinner, Pi Egg circled around the table in an attempt to gain a few sympathies by being cute and playing nice and pathetic, not realizing that Lin Jian had swapped his name so completely, and just as he squatted at his feet and stared at him with a pair of innocently bright eyes, he informed the dog very dryly, "Don't wiggle around, didn't you just hear what that guy across the table said, you can't be spoiled, so pouting doesn't work ."

Pee Wee: "......"

One by two, they're all stepdads.

The man across the table gave a very soft laugh.

After dinner, Shen Ke very consciously cleared the dishes to wash them.

Lin Jian didn't stop him in time, and by the time he reacted, he was already standing in front of the sink, turning on the water to squeeze the detergent.

Shen Ke is too tall for the kitchen's small sink, so he stays in a slightly bowed position the entire time, trying to avoid splashing on the counter.

Yet even the slightly stifling gesture done by the next person seemed just as subdued and sparse when it came to him.

Lin Jian was standing not far from the kitchen doorway, and from this angle, he could just see Shen Ke's long figure and the outline of his side face.

It's amazing to think that people who could have called the phrase "all grains and no body" and who had never even used a dishwasher much are now standing in small kitchens, manually scrubbing dishes.

That's what they say, "Time changes everything".

Lin Jian stared silently for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

So be it.

That's good too.

Although the reunion was unpredictable and unplanned, ...... always let him meet the man again.

Moreover, after the painful experience of five years ago, they are still able to live under the same roof as they once did, with the same peace of mind, and in every detail, the silhouette of the warm and tacit understanding of that time can still be seen, and Shen Ke treats him as close as before, which is already an unattainable result for Lin Jian.

Even if ...... he still only thinks of him as family, there is no harm.

Then he maintains this "family" persona with aplomb.

So the extra words, the more heartfelt signs, just can't be shown anymore anyway, even just a little.

He didn't want to see the man alone and trapped and despondent as he had been five years ago.

Then, those coiled roots of his complicated and prolonged and difficult to break the emotion, it is best to properly collected, carefully hidden, not in front of him to leak the slightest.

Thinking about someone, liking someone, loving someone, it's all up to him.

None of it has anything to do with Shen Ke.