"Should we go again when she gets back?" Ah Yu asked.

"Okay." Zhong Hua's reply was soft but clear. He folded the rag and put it in the sink, the sound of running water standing out clearly in the quiet studio.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Ah Yu received a call from Lin Wanqing, with the sound of a train arriving at the station in the background. "I've arrived," she said, her voice brimming with excitement. "Guess what I saw at the station? There was an old man selling sugar paintings, and the dragon he painted was exactly the same as that koi fish you photographed last time!"

"Is it blurrier than my picture?" Ah Yu teased her with a smile.

"No way," Lin Wanqing snorted. "By the way, remember to rotate the pot of my pothos. And Ah Yu, stop staying up all night editing photos. Zhong Hua, keep an eye on him."

"Okay," Zhong Hua walked over at some point and took the phone from Ah Yu's hand. "Take care of yourself. Call me anytime if anything happens."

"Okay, Steward Zhong," Lin Wanqing laughed on the other end. "I'm hanging up now. I'm going to get my luggage. The wind here is so strong, it's like the Qinghai Lake."

After hanging up, Zhong Hua returned the phone to A Yu, the screen still showing the call interface. A Yu looked at the profile picture of the contact "Wan Qing"—it was a group photo of the three of them by Qinghai Lake, with Lin Wan Qing standing in the middle, one arm linked with the other's, her eyes narrowed into slits as she smiled.

"She adapted quickly." Ah Yu put her phone back in her pocket.

“She’s always like this,” Zhong Hua said. He walked to the water dispenser, filled a glass with warm water, and handed it to Ah Yu. “A client is coming to see the sample photos this afternoon. Remember to organize the set of ancient building photos we took last time.”

"Okay." Ah Yu took the water glass, her fingertips touching the warmth of the glass, and suddenly felt a warm feeling in her heart.

While organizing the sample photos, Ah Yu realized his camera battery wasn't fully charged. He frowned, remembering he'd plugged it in the charger last night. Just as he was about to get a spare battery, he saw Zhong Hua take a fully charged battery from his drawer and hand it to him.

"I noticed you hadn't charged it properly this morning, so I replaced it," Zhong Hua said.

Ah Yu took the battery, put it into the camera, and as the screen lit up when he turned it on, he suddenly remembered what Lin Wanqing had said before she left: "You two are like gears. When one turns, the other will definitely follow. You're just stubborn and won't admit it."

At the time, he retorted that it was clearly Zhong Hua who always nagged him, even about how much water he drank. Looking back now, it seems that was indeed the case. He liked to stay up late editing photos, so Zhong Hua would always put a cup of hot milk on his desk; he often forgot to bring spare batteries when taking photos, so Zhong Hua always kept two in his bag; even though he didn't like green peppers, every time he ordered tomato and egg stir-fry, Zhong Hua would quietly pick out the green peppers and pile them in his own bowl.

And what about him? He would remember that Zhong Hua's watch was five minutes slow, and he would secretly adjust it every morning while Zhong Hua was making coffee; he would remember that Zhong Hua liked to drink unsweetened black coffee when he was reading documents, and he would always pick that kind of coffee beans when buying coffee beans; he would remember that Zhong Hua was afraid that the lens would hurt his eyes, so when testing new lenses, he would always deliberately slow down the shutter speed to give him time to blink.

These small habits, like the teeth on a gear, mesh together without you even realizing it, turning naturally.

When the client arrived, Zhong Hua was discussing the details of the photos with them, while A Yu sat beside him, flipping through sample photos. Sunlight streamed through the glass window, illuminating Zhong Hua's profile. His tone was gentle, completely different from his usual serious demeanor during meetings. A Yu suddenly remembered Lin Wanqing saying that Zhong Hua only used this tone when discussing matters related to them.

After the client left, it gradually grew dark. As Ah Yu packed up her camera, she noticed Zhong Hua standing by the window, watching the sunset. The evening glow had dyed the sky orange-red, much like the sunset over Qinghai Lake.

"What are you thinking about?" Ah Yu walked over and stood beside him.

“I’m thinking,” Zhong Hua turned to look at him, “The closed loop that Wanqing mentioned is actually quite good.”

Ah Yu smiled but didn't say anything. He looked up at the window; the setting sun was slowly sinking, casting long shadows of the two of them that intertwined on the floor like two gears linked together.

Dinner was at a small restaurant near the studio. Ah Yu ordered scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and Zhong Hua ordered shredded potatoes with green peppers. When the dishes were served, Ah Yu subconsciously put the tomatoes from her bowl into Zhong Hua's bowl, and Zhong Hua naturally picked out the green peppers and put them on Ah Yu's plate.

The two paused, looked at each other, and then both laughed.

“I’m used to it,” Ah Yu said.

"Okay." Zhong Hua responded, putting the egg back into Ah Yu's bowl. "Eat more, we still need to edit photos tonight."

On the way back, the evening breeze was a bit chilly. Ah Yu wrapped his coat tighter around himself and suddenly remembered that Lin Wanqing had also wrapped her scarf tightly around herself when she left that morning, saying that the wind here was gentler than at the training ground. He turned to look at Zhong Hua beside him and saw that he was pulling his coat closer to Ah Yu, leaving one of his shoulders exposed to the wind.

“You’re doing the same thing as last time under the eaves of the bakery,” Ah Yu said.

Zhong Hua smiled but didn't say anything. He just pushed his coat further towards Ah Yu.

When Ah Yu returned to his studio, he went to the balcony to pour water and found the three flowerpots standing quietly in the moonlight, their shadows overlapping like a complete jigsaw puzzle. He suddenly remembered the three circles on Lin Wanqing's note. It turned out that whether it was a closed loop or a gear, in the end, it was all about piecing together a complete circle, a circle that could contain each other.

He turned and went back into the house, where he saw Zhong Hua changing the battery in his camera. The screen was lit up, displaying a photo of the three of them by Qinghai Lake. Ah Yu walked over and gently patted Zhong Hua on the shoulder from behind.

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