“Do you like Jiang Chizhou?”
After Xiao Ran asked this question, Yan Xi’s expression went through several changes.

At some point, Bian Bian, the dog, swaggered in wagging its tail, catching Yan Xi’s attention. She stared at the dog and, as if constipated, squeezed out four words: “Man and dog, different paths.”

Her cryptic response left Xiao Ran dumbfounded. Her teeth trembled slightly, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

In the few seconds she spaced out, Yan Xi had already left with her things. Soon after, loud banging sounds could be heard outside, accompanied by the familiar sounds of arguing and Bian Bian’s excited barking.

“You called me fat!”
“You’re comparing me to Bian Bian?”

“You insulted me for being fat!”
“Can I be compared to Bian Bian? Hmph! Can Bian Bian compare to me? Hmph! I have nothing to do with Bian Bian!”

As usual, arguing didn’t solve anything, and after exhausting themselves, they sat slumped on the floor without any grace, backs against the sofa. Yan Xi, not caring about appearances, fell asleep sprawled out.

Her hair stuck to her cheek, and Jiang Chizhou carefully reached out to brush it aside. Feeling the movement, Yan Xi instinctively grabbed his finger without opening her eyes.

“Stop messing with me!” she mumbled in her sleep, her lips smacking unconsciously as she continued to sleep.

Her well-moisturized lips appeared delicate, shimmering like they were coated in dewy pearls. The sight made Jiang Chizhou’s heart race uncontrollably, and he couldn’t resist wanting to get closer… and closer…

Xiao Ran, having noticed the quiet, gently opened her door to check on them. She saw Yan Xi sprawled beside the sofa and Jiang Chizhou almost leaning into her face.

Shocked, Xiao Ran covered her mouth, and Jiang Chizhou quickly turned his head, meeting her gaze with a sharp look.

That afternoon nap ended up being restless for everyone.

When the alarm rang to wake them, Yan Xi found herself lying on the sofa. Aside from feeling groggy, there was an itch at the corner of her mouth.

She scratched it absentmindedly, noticing a slight redness.

—

More than half a month had passed since the start of the school term, and Yan Xi had gotten comfortable with her classmates. After school one afternoon, someone invited her, “Yan Xi, want to hang out with us later?”

“Sure!” Yan Xi agreed eagerly and asked Xiao Ran if she wanted to join.

Xiao Ran shook her head, declining softly. “No, thanks. I want to read.”

“Alright then.” Yan Xi didn’t think much of it and happily continued chatting with her friends about where to eat and hang out.

No one noticed how tightly Xiao Ran’s fingers clenched, turning white as she lowered her head, burying her face almost entirely in her book.
Going out always meant spending money, and even though she called Yan Xi her sister, their lives were worlds apart.

Their personalities were polar opposites, and even though they lived under the same roof, the gap between them seemed to be growing wider. Gradually, they even stopped walking home together after school.

Time flew by, and soon it was National Day.
Apart from summer and winter vacations, it was the students’ favorite holiday because it meant seven consecutive days off!

This year, National Day coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which made the holiday twice as enjoyable!

Yan Xi’s father’s hospital and her mother’s company both gave employees mooncakes as holiday gifts. Yan Xi grabbed a few mooncakes and headed to her room, sitting down at her computer to play games.

Her class group chat was flashing with activity in the bottom right corner of her screen. Several friends sent festive greetings via private messages.

Among the colorful avatars, Shu Yu’s pure white profile picture stood out—it hadn’t changed since middle school.

Shu Yu sent a holiday greeting: “Xiao Xi, happy Mid-Autumn Festival.”
He had added her name, so it wasn’t just a mass message.

Ever since they became friends, Shu Yu had sent her well-timed holiday greetings for every occasion. Always beginning with “Xiao Xi” and ending with “happy,” it was like clockwork.

Yan Xi quickly typed a response in the chatbox and sent it. Before she could close the chat window, she noticed that Shu Yu’s status showed he was “typing…”

She waited, curious to see what Shu Yu would reply with, but after a long pause, no new message appeared.
She figured it was probably just a glitch.

Not paying it much mind, she switched back to her game. An invite to join a team flashed from a friend called “Lonely Boat.”

“Lonely Boat” was Jiang Chizhou’s in-game ID. Back when they were both in their cringey middle school years, they started playing this game together. Jiang Chizhou had carelessly typed the name during registration, and only later found out that changing names cost money.

For Jiang Chizhou, the cost of a name change was trivial, but he refused to do it. Yan Xi still remembered his disdainful expression when he said, “This lousy game isn’t worth my money for a name change.”

The game wasn’t well-developed at the time, and for someone like Jiang Chizhou, a gaming expert, the experience was terrible.
But Yan Xi loved this simple, low-skill game and had been playing it for years.

As the game updated over time, Jiang Chizhou begrudgingly continued to play.

Yan Xi accepted the team invite and activated the voice chat feature. Before she could speak, they had already entered the match.

“Nice, we got teamed up with three high-level players!” Yan Xi said excitedly.
“That’s because I’m carrying the team,” Jiang Chizhou bragged.
“Shameless!”

The game’s matchmaking system had grouped them with skilled players, and since both Yan Xi and Jiang Chizhou were veteran players, it greatly improved the experience.

They fought through the game’s battles, and soon the match tilted heavily in their favor.

“We’re definitely going to win this one!” Yan Xi cheered, her gameplay becoming even more enthusiastic.

However, just before they were about to secure the win, one of their teammates…
Went AFK!

At first, she thought it was just a lag spike, but the player with the “Thirteen” ID had been standing still for a while. Yan Xi spammed a few question marks in the chat: 【Lagging??? AFK???】

Five players could dominate the game, but being one player down left them vulnerable, especially since the AFK player was just as skilled as Jiang Chizhou.

One of their teammates, with the ID “Dawn,” opened the mic and apologized, “Sorry everyone, my friend has an emergency. He’ll be back in a bit.”

Alright then. It was clear the person had left in a hurry without even saying goodbye.

Having played games together for years, Yan Xi and Jiang Chizhou had encountered all kinds of teammates, so a quick explanation was better than nothing.

One of the random teammates in their group, an impatient guy, bombarded the chat with complaints.

After “Thirteen” returned, the game resumed, and they quickly overwhelmed the opposing team, securing victory.

Yan Xi leaned back in her chair, stretching with a satisfied smile. In her headset, a familiar voice commented, “Stretching out in your chair like that is hardly graceful.”

“…” Was he spying on her room or something?
Irritated by his remark, Yan Xi pulled off her headset. “As if I care what you think.”

She minimized the game and noticed Shu Yu’s message alert still blinking. When she clicked it, she saw another message from him: 【Do you have time right now? Can you come downstairs?】

The message had been sent over thirty minutes ago.
Yan Xi’s heart sank as she realized it must have been sent while she was gaming with Jiang Chizhou.

Without thinking much about it, she quickly typed a reply: 【Sorry, I was busy and didn’t see your message earlier. What’s up?】

Her message was sent, and Shu Yu immediately started typing again. This time, Yan Xi patiently waited for about half a minute.

Sure enough, Shu Yu slowly sent: 【I wanted to wish you a happy holiday. I’m waiting for you downstairs.】

That didn’t quite make sense. He had already said “happy holiday,” so why was he waiting downstairs?

Connecting the dots, Yan Xi suddenly realized that if Shu Yu had been waiting downstairs this whole time, he must have been waiting for over half an hour.

“Oh no…”
There was no way around it—she had to go down. So, she told Jiang Chizhou she was logging off.

Jiang Chizhou watched her avatar turn from bright to gray. Taking off his headset, he opened the door and stepped out just in time to see Yan Xi leaving her house in a hurry.

Yan Xi rushed downstairs, clearly in a hurry.

As her figure disappeared from view, Jiang Chizhou fully opened his door. He glanced at the darkening sky outside, clouds looming overhead.

When Yan Xi exited the elevator, she started jogging and found Shu Yu waiting outside the building.
“How long have you been here?”
“Not long.”
“…Alright.” He probably said that to save face, so she didn’t call him out.

Normally, Yan Xi was chatty, but in serious situations like this, she suddenly became awkward and unsure of what to say.
She waited for Shu Yu to explain himself.

Shu Yu handed her a gift

bag. “Here, happy holiday.”

“What’s this? Mooncakes?” Since everyone gave mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yan Xi naturally assumed it was the same.

But when she peeked inside the bag, she saw not just one big box but also a smaller one.
The big box being mooncakes made sense, but the smaller box was different.

“This… you can open it and see.” Shu Yu wasn’t sure if Yan Xi would like the small gift.

Curious, Yan Xi opened the smaller box. Inside was a string of wine-red beads. The beads were bright and translucent, with a small diameter, and long enough to be worn as a layered bracelet.

“Did you get the wrong thing?” Yan Xi asked, her tone filled with suspicion.

“No…” Shu Yu hesitated, his ears turning slightly red. He remembered how she had once said she didn’t like overly sentimental people, so he explained as straightforwardly as possible. “I saw this abroad and thought it suited you, so I bought it.”

He had wanted to give it to her after returning to China, but couldn’t find the right occasion. Mid-Autumn Festival seemed like a good excuse to give it to her, but now he wasn’t sure if she would accept it.

Hearing this, Yan Xi immediately stuffed the gift back into the bag and pushed it toward him. “I get your sentiment, but I really can’t accept this. Thanks though.”

Mooncakes were one thing, but she couldn’t just accept such an expensive gift.

Shu Yu pursed his lips. “Xiao Xi, just take it. I can’t use it.”

Yan Xi waved her hands. “No, no, no! I’m not being polite, I really can’t take this.”

As they pushed the gift back and forth, Yan Xi felt a few raindrops on her arm. Raindrops began to fall.
“What’s with this weather!” she exclaimed. It had changed so suddenly!

They quickly sought shelter under the building as the rain intensified, falling in torrents and battering the outdoor plants and trees.

The wind howled, blowing rain inside, making Yan Xi shiver and rub her arms. She turned to Shu Yu, “How about you come inside for a bit to wait out the rain?”

With no other choice, Shu Yu followed her upstairs.

As Yan Xi fumbled for her keys, Shu Yu sneezed.

“Are you seriously catching a cold this quickly?”
“I’m fine.”
Shu Yu rubbed his nose, feeling a bit paranoid. For some reason, he felt like… someone was watching him.

The door opened, and Bian Bian trotted over wagging its tail, ready to greet its owner. But its sharp sense of smell detected a stranger’s presence.

Yan Xi greeted her dog first, “Sorry, Bian Bian doesn’t like strangers much, but don’t worry, he won’t bite.”

“I know.” Shu Yu had seen Bian Bian before, but only outside—being inside was different.

Bian Bian had a strong sense of territory. When Xiao Ran first moved in, Bian Bian had caused her trouble for days. Even now, the dog wasn’t particularly close to her. Now, with Shu Yu here, Bian Bian immediately bristled, ready to be hostile.

Shu Yu sat stiffly on the sofa, hands gripping his knees, body tense, not daring to move.
He was afraid Bian Bian might charge at him…

Seeing how nervous he was, Yan Xi distracted Bian Bian with some dog food to keep it occupied.

While she was distracted, Shu Yu quietly took the small gift out again, placing it on the table, hiding it under a fruit basket.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.