“Mom, let me take some time to see what Steven Lee is like first. Anyway, I live close to home now. Even if I don’t come back every day, I can still come home every few days—there’ll be plenty of chances.” David Carter stood up as he spoke and walked out.

Charles Wilson and two other young men were already outside by the laundry area, chatting with Daniel Carter. Charles Wilson tossed Daniel Carter a cigarette. Just as Daniel Carter was about to light it, he suddenly saw his older brother come out with a dark face, and quickly took the cigarette from his mouth and held it in his hand.

Seeing Daniel Carter’s reaction, Charles Wilson couldn’t help but complain, “David, it’s your business if you don’t smoke, but Daniel isn’t a kid anymore. Does he need your permission just to have a cigarette?”

David Carter ignored Charles Wilson, but warmly patted the shoulder of one of the tall, thin young men and put his arm around him. “John, long time no see! Why haven’t you come to visit me? And Philip Warren, you still haven’t gotten rid of those glasses?”

John Foster and Philip Warren were both close friends of David Carter from junior high. Charles Wilson wasn’t as close, though they were all classmates. Now that they were adults, their meetings felt much more affectionate.

“Come on, David, we thought you’d gotten all high and mighty after joining the police. We only found out you were transferred back to Jiangmiao when Charles told us. This is great—now us old classmates can get together more often.” The tall, thin young man’s face was a bit flushed, clearly excited. The short one with glasses was so excited he kept rubbing his hands. “David, it’s great you’re back. We haven’t hung out in ages—our brotherhood was starting to rust.”

“Heh, have you eaten yet? If not, just make do at my place.” Running into old friends put David Carter in a much better mood.

“We all ate at home. It’s the weekend—should we go skating or dancing?” Charles Wilson chimed in. “You haven’t been back in a while. You must be out of touch with the factory. Want to go take a look?”

“What’s there to see? Isn’t it all the same? I don’t think the factory’s changed much these past few years.” David Carter loosened his belt. The food at home was just so good—he’d eaten his fill.

“Bro, when are you going to get me a pair of police pants?” Seeing his brother in a good mood, Daniel Carter got bolder. He held the cigarette in his hand, wanting to put it in his mouth but still a bit hesitant.

Seeing his younger brother’s awkwardness, David Carter felt a bit moved. Charles Wilson had a point—Daniel was almost twenty now. He’d known for a long time that Daniel smoked, but always pretended not to notice. Daniel Carter never dared smoke in front of him, and maybe he’d been too strict.

“If you want to smoke, just smoke. Don’t act so wimpy.” He shot his brother a look and snorted, “As for police pants, I only got a couple pairs when I started working. The ones from school don’t fit anymore. Wait until they issue new uniforms next year.”

Hearing his brother’s permission, Daniel Carter nodded happily. Now he could smoke openly. Just as he was about to light up, Charles Wilson called out, “David, take out your Ashima and share it around. Are you not embarrassed making us smoke my Jiaxiu?”

David Carter shook his head helplessly, took out his half-full pack of Ashima, and tossed one to each of them—including Daniel Carter. He just handed the rest of the half pack to Daniel Carter as well. With only a few yuan of pocket money a month, it really wasn’t easy for a young guy like Daniel.

Cradling the half pack of Ashima his brother had tossed him, Daniel Carter felt weak with happiness. This was the first time his brother had given him cigarettes, and a whole half pack of Ashima at that. For someone like Daniel Carter who only got ten yuan a month, this was a real temptation.

“So, should we go hang out at the roller rink first?” Charles Wilson exhaled a smoke ring, enjoying himself.

“That’s for a bunch of kids. Wouldn’t we look silly going there?” John Foster shook his head.

“Don’t say that—there are plenty of eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds there, just two years younger than us.” Philip Warren adjusted his glasses, looking mysterious. “But David definitely won’t run into Grace Collins there. Why don’t we go to the club dance hall instead?”

Hearing Philip Warren bring up Grace Collins again, David Carter could only shake his head helplessly. After all these years, these guys still thought he was hung up on Grace Collins? Ridiculous. He hadn’t seen Grace Collins in two or three years. Ever since he got close with Evelyn Turner, he’d lost his old urge to chase girls and had become much more proper. With Evelyn Turner around all the time, he didn’t even dare have wandering thoughts.

“Don’t go pairing me up with Grace Collins. There’s nothing between us.”

“Yeah, my brother already has a girlfriend at the police academy,” Daniel Carter seized the chance to brag for his brother. “And she’s from the city, too.”

“Oh? David has a girlfriend?” All the classmates turned to look at him.

David Carter felt a bit bitter. He still hadn’t dared tell Evelyn Turner about being assigned to the Jiangmiao station. But he couldn’t hide it for long. Their relationship already felt a bit distant, and now that he was sent to Jiangmiao, who knew what kind of waves it would cause.