It's just that they have money.

A neat A4 sheet of paper with black lettering on a white background is posted on the door of Zhuoyue Fitness: "Due to poor management, this store will be temporarily closed from today. Members can apply for a transfer or a refund."

Fang Chen stood at the door, looking at the paper, feeling nothing in his heart.

The hundreds of thousands of yuan spent on private coaching were a painful loss, but more than anything, there was a sense of relief, a feeling of "I knew it." He had been mentally prepared ever since Xu Wen first warned him that there were problems with the shop.

He later figured out the business model of the gym industry.

Pre-sale of annual cards, rapid expansion, broken capital chain, closing down and running away – the whole process was seamless.

From the moment Xu Wen first warned him that there was something wrong with the store, he was mentally prepared.

What brought him here wasn't the tens of thousands of yuan, but Luo Shanshan.

Fang Chen dialed her number, and she answered after three rings. "Where are you?" he asked.

There was a two-second silence on the other end, followed by a slightly hoarse voice: "At home."

Fang Chen didn't ask any more questions, hung up the phone, and drove straight to the neighborhood where Luo Shanshan rented an apartment.

The door was ajar. He knocked twice and then pushed it open to go inside.

The lights were off inside, and the curtains were drawn tightly; if it weren't daytime, you couldn't see anything at all.

Luo Shanshan sat on the sofa, hugging a cushion, wearing a loose T-shirt that reached her thighs, her hair was down, and she was not wearing makeup.

There were several empty beer cans and an unopened takeout bag on the coffee table.

Fang Chen walked over and sat down next to her, without rushing to speak.

After a moment of silence, Luo Shanshan spoke first: "Two months' salary, plus my commission from private lessons, they owe me more than 40,000 yuan in total."

"The number of instructors in the shop was reduced from ten to three, and then to just me, but I managed to keep it going. I thought that as long as I was there, the shop would still have a breath of fresh air. But what happened? Yesterday afternoon, classes were still going on as usual, and this morning the group chat was disbanded."

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously picking at the corner of the cushion.

At times like these, saying things like "it'll be alright" is the most useless thing.

Fang Chen didn't say anything, but picked up the beer cans one by one from the coffee table and threw them into the trash can. He then opened the takeout bag, and the food inside was already cold.

He glanced at it; it was two simple home-style dishes, and the rice hadn't been touched much.

"I'll heat it up." He carried the dishes into the kitchen.

Luo Shanshan neither refused nor said thank you.

She leaned back on the sofa, listening to the humming of the microwave in the kitchen.

The sound was monotonous, but inexplicably reassuring.

She closed her eyes, her mind a jumble of thoughts. One moment it was the cold, impersonal system notification when the group disbanded, the next it was her mother's question on the phone: "Are you doing alright over there?", and then it was that summer when she first came to Jiangcheng and lived in a partitioned room, without air conditioning, waking up in the middle of the night sweaty, staring at the ceiling light that she could never fix.

"bite--"

Fang Chen brought out the heated food and handed her the chopsticks.

Luo Shanshan took the chopsticks, picked up a bite of food, chewed it twice, and then suddenly stopped.

Am I a failure?

"No, you taught very well."

That's the truth.

During this period, under Luo Shanshan's careful guidance, Fang Chen has transformed from a slightly overweight man into a fit and muscular man.

"As I told you before, my family wanted me to take the civil service exam, but I didn't. Later, they arranged a job for me, but I didn't take that either. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I don't need to rely on my family, and that I, this little bean, can sprout and grow into a big tree. But, but..."

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly. She didn't cry out, but Fang Chen could see her fingers, gripping the chopsticks, turning white at the knuckles.

Both of them knew in their hearts that this was not a major setback.

More than 40,000 yuan is neither a lot nor a little, and it's not like I owe anyone money, so I've gotten over it over time.

What truly upset her wasn't the money, but the self-doubt that came with choosing the wrong path.

Despite having other options and having a backup plan provided by her family, she insisted on taking a different path, only to end up failing miserably.

This sense of frustration is very upsetting.

"I know," Fang Chen said. "It's like everyone else in the village has gone to the city to be euthanized, and you're the only one left in the village looking for leftover pesticides, only to find out after drinking them that they're actually dog ​​pee—that kind of powerless feeling."

Luo Shanshan stared at him incredulously for a long while, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just lowered her head and whispered, "You, the way you talk, really..."

"Really what?"

"It's really annoying."

Fang Chen smiled but didn't reply.

Luo Shanshan stood up and took the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen.

The tap ran for a while, she stood in the kitchen for a few seconds, and came back with two cans of beer in her hand.

She handed one can to Fang Chen, opened another can for herself, and took a sip.

I have a question for you.

"ask."

"Are you trying to pursue me?"

Fang Chen didn't answer. Instead, he put down the beer can in his hand and stared straight into her eyes.

one second.

two seconds.

……

Not knowing how long it would pass, Luo Shanshan's gaze didn't waver, but her ears were already bright red.

She's had her share of suitors, but no one has ever responded to her questions in this way or under these circumstances. They just stare at you without saying a word, making you uneasy and forcing you to look away.

Luo Shanshan glared at him, but there was no anger in her glare.

She put down the wine jug, hugged the cushion, and buried half her face in it, leaving only her eyes showing.

The two of them sat there, neither of them saying a word.

The beer can slowly warmed in his hand, the light outside the window dimmed inch by inch, and the room grew darker and darker, but no one got up to turn on the light.

Fang Chen sensed Luo Shanshan leaning closer.

First the shoulders, then the arms, and finally the weight of the whole person.

Her hair brushed against the side of his neck, tickling him and smelling of shampoo.

"Don't move."

Luo Shanshan leaned on his shoulder, her breathing gradually becoming even, no longer the suppressed, trembling breaths of before, but very light and slow, like a cat that had finally found a safe corner.

Fang Chen looked down and examined her face closely for the first time.

Her eyelashes were very long, casting a small fan-shaped shadow under her eyes when she closed them.

"Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for not saying things like 'everything will be alright.' If you had said that, I would have kicked you out."

"You were the one who invited me here."

"You're annoying."

"Then I'll go."

"Don't go."

"OK."

"Don't talk, I'll lean on you for a while longer."

Luo Shanshan leaned on his shoulder, and slowly, her breathing became heavier and heavier.

She fell asleep.