“Sigh, it is really difficult to handle.”
Shi Yi and his childhood friend, Si Yanchen, were chatting casually on the sofa in the living room. The servants had discreetly withdrawn to give them the entire first floor, leaving wine and beverages prepared before stepping away. The Shi and Si families were on equal footing socially, giving them plenty of common ground, and their personal friendship ran deep. Though their personalities were polar opposites, they remained the closest companions among their peers.
Every few days, they would gather at the Si residence, but tonight’s occasion had a rather unique reason. Si Yanchen never expected that Shi Yi would one day have relationship problems to confide in someone about.
Tonight, Si Yanchen was mainly there to listen to Shi Yi vent. When he first received Shi Yi’s phone call, he thought he must have misheard. Since when did Shi Yi have any emotional troubles? After several rounds of miscommunication, Si Yanchen finally realized his friend wasn’t joking and had genuinely hit a bottleneck.
A collection of Shi Yi’s favorite drinks was laid out on the living room table. Watching Shi Yi pour drink after drink, it was clear he was genuinely in low spirits, meaning the problem he faced must be quite tricky.
“My usual foolproof routines seem to have zero effect. It makes me want to doubt my own charm.”
Shi Yi set his half-finished glass back on the table, leaned back against the sofa, and let out his frustration.
Before pursuing him, Shi Yi had been quite confident that he could easily win him over, or at least generate mutual affection over a little time. After all, when it came to winning someone’s heart, the routines were all more or less the same. He had tried them countless times before, and they rarely failed to spark interest.
Instead of that, there was no feedback whatsoever. The progress bar seemed completely frozen.
“He stays locked away in his laboratory day in and day out, leaving me with no chance to even see him.” Tossing his head back, Shi Yi half-reclined against the soft leather sofa, completely abandoning his usual poise. With just the two of them here, there was no need to maintain etiquette and formality.
“Earlier, I even planned to stake out his building at night and offer him a ride home, but the moment he turned around, he walked straight into the dorms. I completely forgot that university students usually live on campus. I ended up standing there for nothing all evening.”
After chasing someone for so long with zero results, he couldn’t help feeling deeply frustrated.
“The only thing that even counts as progress is that we manage to eat meals together.” Shi Yi rubbed his temples, his tone suggesting he couldn’t find any joy in that small victory whatsoever.
After listening to this whole rant, Si Yanchen asked in confusion, “Isn’t it a good thing that you can eat together? At least you get to sit side by side and chat about a lot of things.”
“Damn it, don’t even get me started.”
Shi Yi, who had previously slumped into the sofa, sat straight up, his expression twisting in annoyance. “I bring him food, but he gets so engrossed in his experiments that he always tells me to just leave it there and he will pick it up later.”
“I have completely turned into a takeout delivery boy. I am being used crystal clear.”
“Hahahahahahaha. Look who is getting a taste of their own medicine.” Si Yanchen burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. It was rare to see Shi Yi get thwarted like this. Who would have thought he would ever find himself in such a dismissive predicament? If Shi Yi hadn’t confessed it himself, he never would have believed it.
Frankly, hearing him complain about such matters felt surreal. In Si Yanchen’s eyes, Shi Yi’s superior personal background and family status had always allowed his romantic pursuits to sail along smoothly.
Most of the time, he didn’t have to put in much effort to win people’s favor, and the number of people who liked him was practically endless. It was just a shame that these weren’t the things Shi Yi actually wanted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting here agonizing over it.
This could probably be called Shi Yi’s very first defeat in romance. Those routines that seemed so tedious, at least to Si Yanchen, had finally failed him for once. Not long ago, Shi Yi had been completely confident that he would introduce him to everyone soon, yet after all this time, his progress was still sitting at zero.
Si Yanchen was laughing way too loudly, earning a sharp, warning glare from Shi Yi. “Achen, that is enough.”
“If you ask me, you should just give up. It sounds like there is zero hope.” Si Yanchen’s stomach was aching from laughing so hard, but amusement aside, as a friend, he hoped Shi Yi could let go of this unnecessary fixation.
“Only challenging prey makes the hunt interesting.”
Shi Yi swirled the glass in his hand, watching the ice cubes collide against the liquid with a crisp chime. A curve formed at the corner of his lips as he undoubtedly pictured a certain someone.
This minor setback clearly hadn’t dampened his enthusiasm. If anything, he was thoroughly enjoying the game. It was just that…
“How long can you sustain this? When have you ever chased something, gotten it, and not grown tired of it immediately? Is there even a single relationship of yours that lasted more than two weeks?” Si Yanchen couldn’t help but urge him to drop this endless obsession. “I seriously doubt anyone who fits your definition of interesting even exists.”
Human nature cannot withstand tests. The more you test people, the more disappointment you find.
“Why don’t you give me some constructive advice instead? How am I supposed to win him over? I feel like my current direction is all wrong.” Shi Yi furrowed his brows, running his fingers through his hair to ruffle it in exasperation. The current state of stagnation was giving him a headache, and he needed a fresh perspective.
Shi Yi had no intention of giving up. In his eyes, Qianyi was far more fascinating than anyone he had ever met before, so naturally, he wasn’t going to let go easily.
How do you know it won’t work if you don’t try? As for everything else, he would deal with it once he actually won him over.
Seeing Shi Yi’s reaction, Si Yanchen knew his words hadn’t gotten through. He could only sigh and offer advice based on his own perspective. “Stop looking at things solely from your own point of view. Try putting yourself in his shoes and think about what he actually wants.”
His needs, huh?
Qianyi’s face flashed through his mind. He really hadn’t carefully considered what the other person genuinely required.
Through the time they had spent together recently, he had picked up on some of his traits. As long as something was reasonable and met his standards, he seemed willing to accept it. Beyond that, however, he was chillingly indifferent, like someone with no vulnerabilities and no emotional needs, showing no interest in any other hobbies outside of his research.
It felt as though there wasn’t a single thing in this world that he cared about.
Come to think of it, he didn’t really understand Qianyi at all. Many of the things he had assumed were needs might just have been his own wishful thinking.
“Sigh, I still advise you to stop while you are ahead. What is the point of playing these mind games? It is completely incomprehensible.” Si Yanchen expressed his final thoughts and stopped talking, refilling their glasses.
Shi Yi understood what he meant, but he was destined to let down his friend’s good intentions. He could only respond with a smile, his eyes holding a bottomless darkness.
Because this world, after all, was simply far too boring.