Moonlight crawled up the brick factory’s chimney, stretching the shadows of the two men across the ground. Zhao Shuzhuo bent down and picked up a sharp-edged blue brick, rubbing his palm against the rough surface until his skin began to sting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Wang Jianguo tipping his head back to drink from a canteen, his Adam’s apple bobbing with every swallow. It struck him suddenly that the young man who used to trail behind him everywhere was now broader in the shoulders than he was.
"Jianguo," Zhao Shuzhuo said, placing the brick gently back onto the stack, his voice softening involuntarily. "I’m getting close to settling down, but what about you?" He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, deliberately avoiding the other man’s gaze. "You can’t just keep leading everyone in building houses while having no nest of your own, can you?"
Chapter 682