Hua Mao had always spent the Mid-Autumn Festival with his brothers in the past, but most of these brothers were local people. They had parents at home and some also had wives. Usually, that was fine. During this festival, they all had to go back home. Even if they weren’t very serious people, they still wanted to go back and accompany their moms, wives, and children on these dates.

So this year, Hua Mao also didn’t call his brothers to get together and sent them back home, letting them go back to carry out their filial duty.

During the day, Hua Mao also went to the post office and sent some money.

He regularly sent money and had never stopped.

In the evening, he came back from outside and didn’t go to the Internet café. He returned to his own house.

He drove to his hometown and stopped far away at the entrance of the alley for a while. The alley was still the same as before, very lively. All of the neighbors were busy celebrating the festival, carrying moon cakes, lining up to buy roast duck, coming and going with cheerful chatter and laughter, and old couples happily meeting children and grandchildren at the door. The narrow alleyway was bustling in the evening smoke. Hua Mao sat in the car and watched, smelling the scent of food that drifted over from all the windows. Some neighbors who passed by the car saw his pale and comely face and sized him up, puzzled, with déjà vu. Hua Mao lowered his head, closed the car window, and drove away.

In his empty house, Hua Mao carried several bottles of beer, and got a moon cake for the sake of it. He could be considered wealthy now, and his house was very big. The bigger it was, the emptier it was. Hua Mao ate a mouthful of moon cake with beer, and the phone rang.

It was Gu Fei. There was a lot of noise on the other end of the line. There was the sound of dance music, as well as the noisiness of a crowd.

The day that Gu Fei had a fever, he slept at Hua Mao’s place. He was young and was in good shape. After taking medicine, his fever went down. When he left, he thanked Hua Mao. Hua Mao said, “You also let me stay once. We’re even.”

That night, there was a Mid-Autumn Festival dance party at the Riverside Square. The police were all sent to the site for duty, and Gu Fei was also sent. Before the party started, Gu Fei called.

“What are you doing tonight?” Gu Fei asked Hua Mao.

“Going to find someone to fuck.” Hua Mao didn’t hesitate. He hadn’t found anyone for a while. That night, he didn’t want to be alone. He would go out and hook up with someone for pleasure.

“Come out. I’ll treat you to a meal. To thank you for taking care of me last time.”

“A meal? If you really want to thank me, you don’t need to do it at the dining table. You can just do it in bed.” Hua Mao was still the same as always.

“Can you speak seriously?”

“I am speaking seriously though?” Hua Mao idly played with him.

“I’ll treat you. Do me a favor, won’t you?” Gu Fei’s tone was very sincere. “I’m alone for the holiday today. If you’re free, just treat it like spending the holiday with me.”

Hua Mao leaned against a big tree and crossed his arms. This was a crowded square. There was celebratory singing and dancing onstage before him. Hua Mao watched Gu Fei and other policemen standing around and maintaining order.

Seeing that Hua Mao had really come, Gu Fei seemed quite happy. He told Hua Mao to wait for a while. The party here would be over soon, and after he finished duty, they would go eat.

Hua Mao looked Gu Fei up and down from a distance. That night, Gu Fei was wearing a police uniform. His waist was belted, his legs straight and long, his figure upright and slender, his tight waistline full of manly beauty. Standing with other policemen, his handsomeness was so exceptional that Hua Mao had to look at him.

Like he was appreciating a painting, he watched Gu Fei’s every movement to kill time, and he didn’t feel bored as he waited.

The wind by the river was very cool. The happy crowd was very joyful. People were gathered intimately with their relatives, lovers, and friends. Hua Mao leaned against the tree, smelling the strong fragrance of osmanthus in the air.

He began to smile for no reason. He had never had anything to do with such a festive atmosphere and was an outsider. But right now, waiting for someone like this, he suddenly felt that he was also the same as these people around him. He had also become someone who celebrated the festival. It was just because he had someone he was waiting for. Hua Mao himself felt that this was very marvelous.

The party ended, and the crowd dispersed. Gu Fei said goodbye to his coworkers and ran up to Hua Mao.

“You’ve waited for a long time, haven’t you?” Gu Fei had run over, and he was still panting a little.

“Why are you running so fast? Miss me?” Hua Mao smiled sweetly. He was rarely in a good mood.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Gu Fei asked. The gaze with which Hua Mao was looking at him right now was definitely lustful, like he could take off his clothes.

“Police officer, you’re so handsome! Why don’t we go on a date, police officer?” Hua Mao didn’t care about the people coming and going around him. He grinned and nestled up to Gu Fei’s chest, going into his arms. He was a typical attention seeker. When he was in high spirits, no matter where he was and whether there were people around him watching, was he someone who was afraid of others looking?

Gu Fei was caught off guard by his sudden act. He pressed down on his shoulder and said: “Don’t mess around!” Hua Mao looked up at Gu Fei’s expression, just wanting to see his red face. This young policeman was just so innocent. Suddenly, his neck warmed up and something wrapped around his neck.

Hua Mao was taken aback. When he came out, he was wearing a V-neck shirt, and his neck was exposed. Now, there was an additional scarf.

“During party duty, the organizer gave it out. There’s nowhere to put it. You can wear it.”

Gu Fei spoke a little uneasily.

This thin scarf was suitable for this season. The men’s style and color were also fitting. Together with Hua Mao’s deep V-neck shirt, it was very suitable. Hua Mao looked down at the scarf, and when he looked up again, Gu Fei raised his eyes to look around.

“Gave it out?” Hua Mao chuckled and didn’t say anything else. He just started chuckling.

“Let’s go!” Gu Fei avoided Hua Mao’s smiling eyes and walked away.

The whole way, Hua Mao was all smiles. He was pretty and attractive to begin with. However, these years were different from the way he had insisted on pretending to be a sissy in the past, so he was also much more masculine. But now, he purposely tied the scarf in a fancy way. Hua Mao was an expert in fashion combinations. In the past, his gorgeous style that was not inferior to a woman’s, had mesmerized all of Jianghai. Gangsters may not be able to stand his appearance, but that couldn’t stop Hua Mao, who was truly walking on the forefront of fashion. Even girls couldn’t learn the essence of his dressing and accessorizing skills.

When this scarf reached his hands, after fixing it a few times and wrapping it around his neck, that was definitely many times more stunning than when Gu Fei directly put it on.

“Does it look good?” Hua Mao deliberately swayed in front of Gu Fei. That posture was like Mimi Lulu proudly showing off her new equipment to One Sword of the World.

“You’re in my way.” Gu Fei pushed him aside. Hua Mao saw him cough once under the neon lights, his face handsome. Hua Mao started laughing loudly.

“Thanks!” This was the first time that Hua Mao received a gift during the holiday. It wasn’t the cigarettes and wine that his brothers had proffered, it wasn’t the presents that were offered as tribute from the places he owned, and it wasn’t complete drunkenness or squandering. Rather, it was a decent gift.

It turned out that receiving a gift was a very beautiful feeling.

The moonlight that night was very bright, the tree shadows flickered on the riverside path, and the flowers were fragrant. It was the season when osmanthus flowers were blossoming. There was music playing, and lovers held hands as they strolled, walking in the middle of the happy crowd. Both of them were hungry. Gu Fei bought snacks on the side of the road and handed them to him. Each of them had a spicy skewer to stave off hunger. Gu Fei was wearing a police uniform and couldn’t eat too freely. After all, he still had to somewhat take into account the image of a police officer. Hua Mao purposely teased him, even snatching a skewer that Gu Fei didn’t have the chance to eat yet. He put it all in his mouth in one bite. The way that Gu Fei glared at him made Hua Mao very happy. He turned around and went to a small stall to buy two pieces of fried jerky. This was his favorite food when he was young. He purposely asked the owner to add a heap of chili sauce to the bottom of Gu Fei’s bowl. He carried it over to Gu Fei and waited to see the good show. Once he saw Gu Fei’s handsome face suddenly twist embarrassingly as he stuck out his tongue and coughed violently, Hua Mao danced with laughter. Gu Fei saw Hua Mao run and sprinted after him to deal with him. Hua Mao: “Don’t chase me? You’re chasing me in uniform, and others will think that I’m a thief!”

Gu Fei really stopped in his tracks. He probably also thought that these words were reasonable. Hua Mao wickedly watched as he suffered a loss, being forced to surrender and unable to retaliate. His stomach practically burst with laughter.

This young policeman, this young cop, was too fucking fun to bully!

Gu Fei originally wanted to take him to a restaurant, but at this snack street, Hua Mao ate a little here and a little there, and he didn’t go anywhere else. He just let Gu Fei treat him to snacks. Hua Mao was a native of Jianghai. He was most familiar with all of the snacks here. When he was young and his family was poor, he would secretly come here after saving some spare change with difficulty and secretly come here to buy a piece of fried jerky. The fragrant and crispy jerky, deliciously filled with marinade, seemed to be the most delicious food in the world.

Later, he grew older, and after that, with so many years of fighting and killing, Hua Mao already couldn’t remember how many years had passed since he’d eaten this stuff.

Now, he and Gu Fei were sitting under the eaves of an antique house on the food street, sitting on the steps, with piles of various snacks placed by their hands. Like two greedy children, they ate happily together.

The familiar taste of fried jerky overflowed in Hua Mao’s mouth. It was still so delicious. Hua Mao ate with great satisfaction.

“I don’t think you should be called Hua Mao. You should be called Greedy Mao.”

Gu Fei saw him eating without even raising his head and teased him. Hua Mao didn’t respond either. As he ate, he looked up and saw Gu Fei staring at him, with a smile that was up to no good. Hua Mao was someone who cared about his image. He wiped the corner of his lips: “What are you laughing at?”

Gu Fei laughed even harder. He turned his body around, letting him face the back. Behind him, there just happened to be a mirror on the door of a store. In the mirror, the red chili oil on Hua Mao’s mouth was smeared all over his mouth, painting his face with it.

“Now you’re Hua Mao, haha!”

Gu Fei laughed loudly. Hua Mao wasn’t angry, but laughed, laughing very lewdly: “The material of your police uniform looks pretty good. It’s just right to wipe my mouth.” He suddenly dove into Gu Fei’s arms, rubbing against Gu Fei’s police uniform. Gu Fei hurriedly jumped up and dodged. There were still steps above that step. Gu Fei dodged backwards and was originally off balance. If it were someone else, they would fall, but he was well trained. With a push from his hand and a flip of his long legs, like a gymnastic movement, he gained his balance. That movement was quite professional and cool, making two beautiful women sitting next to them stare.

Clap clap clap clap clap! Hua Mao sat there and continuously clapped for him, screaming and whistling.

Gu Fei stood on his two long legs and looked at him, unsure whether to laugh or to cry. He hooked his finger at him: “Let’s go!”

Hua Mao walked up to him. “Wait. And you were talking about me.” He took out a tissue from his pocket and wiped a bit of sauce from the corner of Gu Fei’s lips. Hua Mao was a careful person. His movements were light and fast. When Gu Fei reacted, he had already finished wiping. Hua Mao pulled back his hand and saw Gu Fei looking down at him. Hua Mao: “Let’s go? What are you standing there for?”

Gu Fei took Hua Mao into a noodle shop. Each person asked for a large bowl of noodles.

“Is this the big meal that you wanted to treat me to?” Hua Mao thought that he would go to a rich restaurant.

“These are the noodles from my hometown. Try it.” Gu Fei handed him chopsticks.

This noodle shop was newly opened, a noodle shop from Gu Fei’s hometown. The owners were from his hometown. He had eaten it and thought it tasted authentic.

“There’s nothing delicious to treat you to. So for today’s holiday, I’ll treat you to a taste of our hometown,” Gu Fei said.

This was the first time that Hua Mao learned where Gu Fei was from. Before that, apart from Gu Fei being a policeman, he didn’t know anything about him.

As they ate noodles, the two began to chat. Gu Fei spoke some things about himself, and Hua Mao learned that Gu Fei’s hometown was in the north. He was admitted to Jianghai Police Academy, and after graduating, he trained for over a year before being assigned to this local police station.

“Why did you want to be a cop?” Speaking of the police, Hua Mao had nothing good to say.

“You really hate the police?” Gu Fei glanced at him.

“None of the police are any fucking good.” Hua Mao remembered the policemen he had met in the past. The deep memories that he was left with were enough for a lifetime.

Gu Fei was silent. He ate for a while and suddenly looked up.

“What about me?” Gu Fei looked at him.

“You?” Hua Mao looked at Gu Fei’s eyes and froze, then started teasing.

“You’re already on a date with me. What else are you asking, police officer?” Hua Mao winked.

Before Gu Fei could speak, Hua Mao’s phone rang once. It was a text notification. That year, sending messages of blessings to each other during holidays had just begun to emerge. It was very popular. Hua Mao also received many messages from his brothers. Hua Mao casually picked it up and glanced at it, and his expression immediately changed. He quickly put down his chopsticks and opened the text message. He looked at it for a long time and didn’t put it down. He held the phone in his hand and earnestly replied by pushing buttons, a foolish smile on his face. That smile came from his heart, without a trace of his usual banter and teasing.

“Who is it?” Gu Fei saw him like this and asked.

“My Da Ge,” Hua Mao casually replied. He didn’t even look away from his phone, smiling widely.

“Fang Yu?” Gu Fei uttered this name.

Hua Mao didn’t respond to him anymore. He was completely focused on racking his brains to reply to Fang Yu’s text. He wrote and deleted and wrote. It was a pity that he only had a little knowledge. He wished to dig it all out and use it on Fang Yu.

Gu Fei ate silently. Hua Mao kept lowering his head and pondering how he would send this text message that he was unsatisfied with no matter how he wrote it. His phone was suddenly snatched. Gu Fei offhandedly pressed send and placed the phone on the table. “Eat!”

“What are you doing?” Hua Mao was annoyed and snatched his phone back. That text message had already been sent.

Gu Fei completely ignored Hua Mao’s annoyed gaze and ate his food.

“What do you mean, you’re jealous?” Hua Mao knew in his heart, and he put on a charming and cheeky smile, using the end of his chopsticks to poke Gu Fei, “Hey, cop. Let me ask you. Why didn’t you find a friend to accompany you on this holiday, but instead found me?”

Hua Mao was just drawing it out and teasing, to see when this young policeman couldn’t hold it.

“Do you want to hear the truth or not?” Gu Fei responded to him.

“Nonsense! Of course the truth!”

“I don’t have many friends here. I have people I know, but they can’t be considered friends.”

“Do you mean that I’m your friend?”

“Aren’t you?” Gu Fei took a bite of noodles and glanced at him.

Hua Mao was taken aback. He opened his mouth, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, or if it was a mixture of emotions.

Friend? A policeman told him that he was his friend.

This was practically even more shocking than this policeman saying, “I am your lover.”

There was actually a policeman who regarded him as a friend!

“Are you joking?” Hua Mao smiled a little crazily and a little sadly, “How can I be, police officer? You are the one who catches me, and I am the one who is caught by you. In the eyes of you cops, I’m not even fucking as good as garbage. You say friends? You may as well play me to death!”

“So what if I’m a policeman? Police are also humans. Humans can make friends. You’re human, and I’m human. Why can’t we be friends?”

Gu Fei spoke seriously and refuted him seriously. Hua Mao looked at his serious expression, and Hua Mao couldn’t speak.

Gu Fei’s phone rang. Gu Fei picked up the phone.

After listening to the phone, Gu Fei hurriedly hung up and called the owner for the bill.

“I’m sorry. I have an ad hoc assignment, and I have to go. Take your time eating. I’ll make it up to you.”

Gu Fei didn’t have time to say anything else, and put on his police cap and left.

Hua Mao finished eating the bowl of noodles alone. The noodles were very delicious, and the portion was very sufficient. When they reached his stomach, it was warm and comfortable.

Hua Mao left the noodle shop and took out a cigarette. He looked up at the sky. The moon was very bright and round.

Hua Mao squinted and smoked. The ashes fell and accidentally fell onto the scarf. Hua Mao dusted and flicked the ash off.

He smoked and walked ostentatiously like that in the night breeze. That night, he was pleased by everything that he saw. Seeing a beggar on the side of the road, he tossed some money.

He thought that the boy Ding Wen would never have the face to see him again, but if he could meet him somewhere again next time, it would be Hua Mao’s turn to show off. Hua Mao also had a date. It was his first real date in his life, and it was with a fucking policeman. Hahaha!

This policeman even said that he would be his friend. How stupid was this policeman? Hahaha! As Hua Mao thought about it, he started to laugh.

His phone suddenly rang. Hua Mao casually picked it up. It was his subordinate, Da Biao.

“Hua Ge! It’s bad. Something’s wrong!” Da Biao’s voice was anxious.