"I'm going to ask you a question that you might think sounds strange but I promise, I have my reasons. Have I been missing for you? Say, almost three months?"

He peers at him, sidelong, carefully assessing even as he pulls Zhou Zishu across the street away from a busy open tavern where cheers can be heard. Best to keep them both focused, he thinks, or at least, best to get them both away from polite civilisation. Wen Kexing knows he's a firmly wound instrument seconds away from fraying or snapping. And Zhou Zishu might be the same, though it's difficult to tell with him right now.

He offers a laugh, as if to soften some of the blow of his strange question, "Aiya, maybe if I had you'd have been relieved, mm? Some peace."