Li Jiajia groggily opened her eyes. He Qi also turned her head to look.
A clean-cut, handsome young boy stood two steps away from them. He wore a simple black hoodie with a trendy denim jacket layered over it.
Three seconds passed, and no one responded to his “cousin.” He Qi assumed he had mistaken someone from behind and felt a bit secondhand embarrassment for him.
Unexpectedly, the boy showed no awkwardness at all. Instead, he smiled openly at Li Jiajia. “Jiajia-jie, you probably don’t remember me. My name is Fang Yi. I’m Li Leyi’s friend—we’ve met twice before.”
Li Leyi?
Still leaning on He Qi’s shoulder, Li Jiajia tilted her chin and spoke right into her ear, explaining, “Li Leyi is my aunt’s son—my cousin.”
He Qi understood immediately, a faint look of surprise appearing on her face. What a coincidence—had they stumbled into the Li family’s nest tonight?
After explaining to He Qi, Li Jiajia struggled to lift herself off her shoulder. Unable to maintain her balance, she swayed unsteadily. She waved happily at Fang Yi.
“Since you’re Li Leyi’s friend, that makes you half my cousin—calling me cousin is totally fine!”
As soon as she finished speaking, her head spun, and she toppled forward.
In the chaos, several bottles were knocked over. He Qi and Fang Yi each grabbed her from one side to steady her.
Only after witnessing Li Jiajia’s “wild side” did the young boy finally show a hint of difficulty. He looked up at He Qi on the other side, as if asking for help.
“Are you planning to leave?”
He Qi glanced at her phone—the designated driver was almost there—so she nodded.
As she called over a waiter to pay the bill, she said to Fang Yi, “You… came with friends, right? You should head back. We’re leaving.”
“It’s fine.” Fang Yi looked at He Qi and smiled, his eyes curving warmly. “I’ll help you get Jiajia-jie outside.”
A drunk person was both troublesome and heavy. He Qi had already prepared herself to struggle, but since Fang Yi offered to help, she didn’t refuse.
The two of them supported Li Jiajia from either side, though most of the weight fell on Fang Yi. He Qi was mainly assisting.
After finally making it to the bar entrance, the designated driver was already waiting. He Qi handed over the car keys, and the driver hurried to fetch the car.
The early autumn night breeze was chilly. He Qi wrapped an arm around Li Jiajia, letting her lean against her, then turned to Fang Yi. “Thank you. It’s cold outside—head back in.”
Fang Yi looked at He Qi with his big eyes, silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Jie-jie, can I add your WeChat? You can message me when you get home safely.”
Caught off guard, He Qi instinctively wanted to refuse.
But Li Jiajia suddenly started acting up drunkenly, flailing her arms and shouting, “Add him, add him! If he’s my cousin’s friend, then he’s my cousin too!”
He Qi felt a headache coming on. Tightening her grip on Li Jiajia’s arms, she saw the car pull up and quickly dragged the drunk into the back seat.
Fang Yi hesitated but followed, helping settle Li Jiajia into the back. Before He Qi got into the passenger seat, he spoke again, “Or I can leave my phone number. You can text me when you get home.”
He Qi paused mid-motion as she opened the car door.
After all, he was her cousin’s friend—there was at least some connection through Li Jiajia. It wouldn’t be nice to be too dismissive. Besides, the boy seemed genuinely kind and helpful.
He Qi took out her phone, brought up her QR code, and smiled at Fang Yi. “Thank you for tonight.”
Fang Yi’s face lit up instantly. His eyes shone as he hurried to scan it. “No need to thank me, jie-jie. Just helping out!”
He Qi nodded, said “goodbye,” and got into the car.
In the rearview mirror, the boy’s figure lingered for a long time, standing in the night as they grew farther away. He Qi only glanced for two seconds before looking away.
The designated driver drove the car into Li Jiajia’s residential parking garage. He Qi woke the sleeping woman in the back and half-carried her into the elevator.
The moment they entered the apartment, Li Jiajia seemed to activate some internal radar. She staggered straight into the master bedroom bathroom and threw up loudly.
He Qi sighed helplessly, neatly placing her shoes by the entrance. By the time she entered the bedroom, Li Jiajia had already come out of the bathroom and was sprawled across the bed, fast asleep.
He Qi struggled to remove her makeup, wiped her face clean, then turned off the bedroom lights and, out of habit, walked into the guest room.
She didn’t plan to go home tonight.
The guest room had everything she needed. In the bathroom, there was even a bottle of perfume she had left behind last time. After washing up, He Qi lay down on the bed, feeling refreshed.
She picked up her phone, intending to tell Chen Jin that she would be staying at Li Jiajia’s place tonight. But when she checked the time, it was almost midnight. There were no messages from him—only a red notification dot in her contacts.
She opened her chat with Chen Jin. Her fingers hovered over the input box for a moment, but in the end, she typed nothing and exited.
In her contacts, a user with the nickname “F_yi” had sent a friend request—twice.
The first was the default message. The second read: “Jie-jie, did you get home safely?”
He Qi tapped accept and sent a message.
“Sorry, just saw my phone. We got home safely.”
The reply came instantly—a standing kitten making an “OK” gesture.
“As long as you got home safely! By the way, jie-jie, my name is Fang Yi. I still don’t know yours.”
“He Qi.”
“You’re probably still out with friends, right? I won’t disturb you. I’ll rest now.”
The typing indicator appeared for a while before the other side finally sent just one word: “Okay.”
He Qi exited the chat without emotion, refreshed her contacts once more to make sure she hadn’t missed any requests, then turned off the lights and went to sleep.
The next morning, just after eight, He Qi slowly woke up. She reached for her phone on the bedside table.
Squinting as she unlocked it with facial recognition, she saw that it was still on WeChat. Her gaze swept over the screen, and the new red notification dot in her contacts instantly woke her up.
She tapped into it. A new friend request had come from someone with the nickname “Empty Valley Orchid.”
Without hesitation, He Qi sprang out of bed, slipped into her slippers, and hurried clumsily to the master bedroom.
Li Jiajia was still sprawled on the bed, drooling in her sleep. He Qi climbed onto the bed and gently shook her awake. “Li Jiajia! Wake up—your aunt added me!”
Li Jiajia had plenty of bad habits, but surprisingly, she didn’t have much of a temper when waking up. Still half-asleep, she wiped the corner of her mouth. “Just accept it. I already told her. My aunt’s name is Li Xiulan—just call her Teacher Li. She loves being called that.”
He Qi nodded, quickly accepting the request and respectfully sending a message:
“Hello, Teacher Li! I’m He Qi.”
The reply came two minutes later.
“Hello. You’re Li Jiajia’s friend? She said you graduated from Jiang University and are interested in writing.”
“My name is Li Xiulan. I’m an editor at Echo Publishing House, currently the director of the Children’s Literature Editorial Department.”
Before He Qi could reply, three files were sent in quick succession.
“These are our publishing house’s recent submission requirements. If you’re not interested in these themes, you can also write other topics. We accept manuscripts of all genres long-term.”
“Send your work directly to me once finished. However, for beginners like you, I don’t expect it to be accepted immediately. If I find that you don’t even meet the basic screening standards, then there’s no need to send your work to me again in the future—it would just waste both our time. You can submit directly to the publishing house’s email instead.”
The messages came in a rapid stream, leaving He Qi no chance to interject.
Li Jiajia was now awake, leaning against He Qi’s arm. Seeing her aunt’s familiar tone, she sneered. “Hah, that’s just how she is.”
“Got it. Thank you, Teacher Li.”
After replying, He Qi immediately opened the files Li Xiulan had sent. As she read, she said to Li Jiajia, “This is actually good—clear requirements save communication time.”
Li Jiajia didn’t bother arguing over what counted as “good.” She yawned widely, then suddenly asked, “Did that guy from yesterday add you on WeChat?”
“Which guy? Fang Yi?”
“Yeah, my cousin’s friend, Fang Yi.”
“He did.”
Hearing that, Li Jiajia’s eyes shifted slightly, and a meaningful smile slowly spread across her face.
She looked up at He Qi, her pale face from the hangover now oddly bright, and said decisively:
“Fang Yi is interested in you.”
He Qi shivered under her sly expression. Flipping through a couple pages of the document, she frowned. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I’m serious.” Li Jiajia sat up a little and analyzed earnestly. “I already felt something was off last night. Let me ask you—would you go up to someone in a bar and greet your friend’s cousin, someone you’ve only met once or twice and who probably doesn’t even remember you?”
“That depends on personality.” He Qi replied. “I wouldn’t, of course. But whether you would greet a friend’s cousin you’ve only met once or twice—and who probably doesn’t remember you—that’s hard to say.”
The way they phrased it was so convoluted it nearly twisted their tongues.
He Qi added, “Besides, you’re the one who’s actually his friend’s cousin. If he came over to greet someone, shouldn’t it be because he’s interested in you?”
“Hey!” Li Jiajia raised a finger and wagged it side to side, putting on an expert’s air. “That’s exactly the key point! Clearly I’m his friend’s cousin, so why did he only add your WeChat and not mine?”
As she spoke, she waved her phone smugly in front of He Qi, as if it were something to be proud of.
“You make a good point.” He Qi nodded, scrolling through the last document. “Should I record this and let Chen Jin hear it?”
Li Jiajia immediately shut up, bumping her head against He Qi’s arm and muttering softly, “No fun.” After a while, she asked again, “Has brother-in-law been busy lately?”
He Qi responded quietly, “Their R&D department has a big project recently. They even formed a new team for it—he got promoted to team leader.”
“With brother-in-law being so driven, Fang Yi really doesn’t stand a chance,” Li Jiajia muttered.
“And you?” He Qi asked. “No classes today?”
Li Jiajia had studied abroad and recently found a job teaching at an IELTS training center. At first, He Qi had seriously worried she might take her students out drinking.
“I have class in the afternoon,” Li Jiajia replied.
In just that short time, He Qi had already finished reading all three documents Li Xiulan sent. Compared to submitting freely without limits, she preferred themed submissions like these—it gave her some direction instead of leaving her completely lost.
The first two themes were fairly broad, similar to the kind of essay prompts given during school holidays.
The third, however, was for children’s literature, with “cats” as the theme.
He Qi felt an urge to try this one. But when she carefully checked the requirements, she realized the submission deadline was… tomorrow.
She shot up from the bed.
Seeing her suddenly get up in a hurry, Li Jiajia asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Did brother-in-law come to catch us cheating?”
“No. One of your aunt’s submission calls closes tomorrow. I’m going home first.”
“Oh. Want me to drive you?”
“Just rest.” He Qi went back to the guest room to quickly wash up and change clothes. At the entryway, she didn’t forget to tease, “Don’t throw up on your students’ desks this afternoon!”
Taking a taxi back home from Li Jiajia’s neighborhood, He Qi repeatedly reviewed the submission requirements and looked up several children’s books, reading a few short stories—yet she still couldn’t quite grasp the direction.
The taxi soon stopped outside her residential complex. Holding her phone, she walked inside absentmindedly.
As soon as she entered the building and pressed the elevator button, the doors opened with a “ding.”
He Qi looked up—and saw Chen Jin leaning inside, looking utterly exhausted.