The silence stretched on for a moment further. Xiao Yi had known the question was coming, but he didn't have an answer.
His answer should have been that he would go home as fast as he could, to take the next train out of this place and go back to where he belonged, back to his old life.
But Xiao Yi could only look off to the side and stare at the vase he'd bought at a small farmers market with a strange expression. "I'm not sure, soon."
Yang Yutao studied his face and replied. "Do you want to stay here longer?"
If he had to be honest… If it weren't for the fact that his brother and friends weren't here, he could live out the rest of his life in this town.
It was quaint, a town where many people knew each other, knew their families or at least knew someone that they knew. Especially for the younger generation, because many new parents would move closer to a large city for their family's future and their children's education.
Yet, it also had a lot of large stores and public transit, and the delivery wasn't slow either.
And who was going to look after that prickly old lady with him gone?
And the scenery…
Yang Yutao answered for him. "You do."
Xiao Yi nodded. "It grew on me." After a moment, he added. "I'll still go back."
"You don't need to."
"I do."
"Just tell them to come here. Or, you could go to visit them and come; you don't necessarily have to move back."
"…"
He had a point?
He could go back to let everyone know he was alive and where he was living. Then, he could invite them to visit… He would need to find a larger place, but it would work.
With this, he wouldn't fall into a system of codependency again.
He clicked his tongue and said. "My brother's dating Lee now."
Yang Yutao chuckled. "You checked your phone?"
A pillow that had been used as a seat was suddenly thrown toward Yang Yutao, and Xiao Yi was standing straight, pointing his finger at the man with an accusatory expression. "You knew?"
Yang Yutao caught the pillow and swiftly placed it on the couch behind him before he threw his hands up and retorted. "Lee said he was giving you updates, I assumed he'd tell you!"
"He told me to call him brother-in-law!"
"Well…" Yang Yutao chuckled. "He has a point."
"Ahhh." Xiao Yi plopped down on the ground again, steaming. "I'm going to kill him. How could he ask for my blessing in that way?"
He didn't have a problem with the two of them dating, actually. Lee wasn't a bad man, he also didn't think he'd be a bad partner to Xiao Qiu.
Yang Yutao defended Lee. "How else was he supposed to get your blessing? They've just been staying away since they knew you…"
He stopped himself from going further.
Xiao Yi still caught on. "They know where I am?"
Yang Yutao didn't dare meet his eye, he studied the table in front of him as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
After his brother lectured him, he added Yang Yutao to a group chat with the boys from Team X, Lee, and V. He thought that if Xiao Yi reached out to anyone who wasn't in their little circle, it would have been him.
However, he didn't reach out to anyone.
Finally, Yang Yutao said. "Your brother is rich, your brother-in-law is rich, your best friend is rich, and your teammates… Well, they have enough savings to survive."
"Stop calling him my brother-in-law!"
Yang Yutao glanced at him. "That's what you took from that?"