Being watched by such a pair of eyes would make anyone uncomfortable. Li Fengyu confirmed that he did not know the person, but he still felt uneasy, stopped what he was doing, and sat back in his seat.
“Fengyu, I want to find a scriptwriter to add a storyline to my figure characters,” Yan Xi said, failing to notice his companion’s unease as he jumped straight into business.
“That can be done,” Li Fengyu said, looking away. The car was still parked in the same spot, though the windows were now rolled up, obscuring the person inside.
“First, let us confirm the main characters and the type of story you need.” Li Fengyu’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the window again. “There are seven main protagonists, and the number of supporting characters can be adjusted as needed,” Yan Xi added, roughly calculating his current figure lineup. “There can be antagonists, but I want each of them to have their own charisma; I want them to be evenly matched.”
Li Fengyu nodded. “Understood. I will go back and check if there are any suitable scripts, and if not, we can arrange for a custom one.”
After finalizing the details, their coffee was finished. Li Fengyu set down his cup and checked his watch. “There is still time; we could visit the nearby art gallery. It might give you some inspiration for your characters.”
Yan Xi’s phone rang, cutting him off. “Excuse me.”
“It is fine. Go ahead and take it.” Li Fengyu smiled.
“Xiao Ye, what is wrong?” As Yan Xi answered the phone, his expression grew instantly tense.
From the moment the ringtone sounded, Li Fengyu had a bad feeling.
“Stay right where you are. I am coming over immediately.” Sure enough, after hanging up, Yan Xi had no mind for anything else and hurriedly opened a ride-hailing app.
“Is something wrong?” Li Fengyu asked.
Yan Xi stood up in a rush. “Apologies, the intern at the shop is in some trouble. I have to go check on him.”
“An intern?” Li Fengyu frowned. “If an intern is in trouble, they call the store manager instead of their teacher?”
Yan Xi did not seem to hear him at all. After a quick goodbye, he left the cafe without looking back. Li Fengyu leaned against the back of his chair, following Yan Xi’s retreating figure until it vanished from sight, and sighed silently. Half a minute later, a thought struck him, and he turned to look out the window. The orange Bentley had disappeared into thin air.
Twenty minutes later, the orange Bentley roared in, screeching to a halt on the side of the main street in the Sunlight Block. The sound of tires frictioning against the pavement drew the attention of passersby. The door slammed open, and a young man wearing sunglasses jumped out from the driver’s seat. He sauntered toward the car with his hands in his pockets, looking every bit the swaggering rich kid, and teased Shi Ye, who was frantically changing into sportswear from his bag: “Yo, what is with the fresh routine? Playing dress-up?”
“You do not know what you are talking about.” Shi Ye tossed his expensive suit onto the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. “Let us go, quickly.”
“Damn it.” The young man with sunglasses laughed in disbelief. “You turn on me fast, do you not?”
Shi Ye ignored him, turned, and sprinted into an alley behind the block. Duan Wenbin U-turned the Bentley and parked in a temporary spot across the street. He took off his sunglasses and leaned excitedly over the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the direction where Shi Ye had disappeared.
I have to see if the ghost story you cooked up can actually call someone back.
His good friend had been back in the country for a few months. He had finally managed to get him out for a meal, only for Shi Ye to change his mind on a whim. First, he made him wait like an idiot outside a cafe for half a day, then he rushed down to make a phone call, and now he was driving like a maniac. This guy was definitely in love and trying to chase someone. Duan Wenbin decided to stake out the place. He had to be the first to hear this gossip.
As the ride-hailing car pulled over, Yan Xi pushed the door open before it had fully come to a stop. He hurried past the soup dumpling shop, ignoring the owner’s greeting, and headed straight into the alleyway. He saw Shi Ye from a distance.
Shi Ye was crouching on a stone sculpture nearly as tall as a man, with a large, angry wolfhound barking furiously beneath him. The dog bared its sharp, white teeth, staring with hostility at Shi Ye, who was shivering atop the sculpture, letting out thundering roars.
“Brother Yan, do not come over!” Shi Ye shouted from a distance. “Go find its owner or get a stick!”
“Not necessary.” Yan Xi sighed and walked calmly behind the dog. “Dashuai!”
When the wolfhound turned to see Yan Xi, it immediately stopped howling. It wagged its tail frantically and dashed to Yan Xi’s side. Then, its paws instinctively rested on Yan Xi’s legs, its body almost standing upright as it rubbed its head against Yan Xi.
“Why did you sneak out again? Be careful not to get caught.” Yan Xi stroked the dog’s head while gesturing for Shi Ye to climb down. Shi Ye quietly tossed a wooden stick he had been hiding behind him and nimbly jumped down. However, he still dared not get close to the dog, circling around it as much as possible to stay in the grass behind him.
Yan Xi patted the dog’s head. “Dashuai, let us go. Time to go home.”
He walked in front, and the wolfhound followed, wagging its tail. After only a few steps, they reached a small courtyard with an iron fence. Standing at the gate, Yan Xi gave the dog a light kick. “Go back!”
The dog turned, licked Yan Xi’s palm, then reluctantly crouched down, baring its teeth as it squeezed through the gap under the gate.
“Do not be afraid, this is Grandma Sun’s dog.” Yan Xi turned back to Shi Ye, who was still standing in the grass, not daring to move forward. “Dashuai just looks fierce; he has never bitten anyone. Grandma Sun is getting old and hard of hearing; she sometimes does not notice when he slips out.”
Shi Ye asked curiously, “You know this family?”
“When I first came here, I went through all the shops in the area to research the market and met Grandma Sun right here.” Yan Xi spoke as he walked. “Her children work out of town, and she lives alone, so she keeps the dog for company.”
He looked at Shi Ye. “How did you end up here?”
Shi Ye patted the dust off his clothes. “I was in the shop, felt a bit hungry, and ran out to buy something to eat. I was wandering around randomly and ended up in this alley, only to run into him, and he would not stop chasing me.”
He said nothing about how he had used a stick to provoke the dog from behind the fence, goading it into squeezing out to fight him. Yan Xi lowered his head and frowned sharply. “Is your leg okay?”
Shi Ye followed his gaze downward. He had been so anxious when climbing the sculpture that he had torn his pants. Although he had provoked the dog, his fear was genuine. Shi Ye froze for two seconds, then, as if realizing it only now, let out a pained “Ouch!” He lifted his left leg and began to limp.
“Sss, I did not feel it earlier, but now it is starting to hurt.”
Having waited for ages, Duan Wenbin finally caught sight of his familiar buddy. He saw his friend—usually over six feet tall—looking pathetic, being supported by another handsome, delicate-looking man, limping out of the alleyway.
“Damn, Shi Ye, you are something else.” After the exclamation, Duan Wenbin suddenly realized, “Wait! It is a man!”
“Shi Ye! You little bastard, you, you, you…”
“Be careful, walk slowly.” Yan Xi leaned his slight shoulder against Shi Ye to support him, helping him navigate past the bollards in the middle of the street. Shi Ye subtly adjusted his posture to block Yan Xi’s line of sight toward the orange Bentley.
Just as they reached the end of the main street and were about to turn into the street where the shop was located, a long, melancholy honk echoed from the orange Bentley in the distance. Yan Xi stopped and stared back at the car, a clear look of annoyance on his face.
Shi Ye leaned on Yan Xi’s shoulder and asked, “What is wrong?”
Yan Xi turned back. “Nothing. I just hate cars of that color.”
The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting dappled light into the room. When Yan Xi woke up, he did not hear the familiar noises, and a wave of concern washed over him. Because his leg was uncomfortable last night, Shi Ye had not returned to his dorm and had stayed at the apartment instead. But the fact that it was this late and there was still no movement meant he had not gone for his run, meaning his leg injury had not healed yet.
Not even bothering to change out of his pajamas, Yan Xi went straight to Shi Ye’s room. He pushed the door open gently and saw Shi Ye lying on the bed. Because the curtains were drawn, the room was somewhat dim. Shi Ye must have just woken up; he looked a bit dazed when he saw Yan Xi enter, and he slowly sat up.
Yan Xi ignored the complexities of their situation and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching for the blanket. Shi Ye sat bolt upright, clutched the blanket, and panicked, “Brother Yan, what are you doing?”
Seeing how nervous he was, Yan Xi became even more convinced that the leg injury was more serious than he had imagined. “Let me see your leg. If it is serious, we need to see a doctor.”
Shi Ye scooted back twice, his expression strange. “No, it is already… er, it is almost healed.”
“Almost healed?” Yan Xi was unconvinced. “Let me see.”
Shi Ye stubbornly guarded his blanket, refusing to let go. “No need, Brother Yan, do not look. I know my own leg best.”
“We are both men, what is the big deal about looking?” Yan Xi used the excuse from when he had changed his clothes last time. “Hurry up and be obedient.”
Shi Ye clutched the blanket tighter. “Brother Yan, it is not that I do not want you to look, it is just that it is not convenient.”
Yan Xi glared at him. “What is not convenient?”
Shi Ye had no choice but to give up. He pointed at the bulge in the blanket. “Brother, it is early in the morning, my leg… that leg…”
It took Yan Xi three full seconds to react, and he instantly jumped off the bed. “Young people… it is normal… you rest a bit more, I will go make breakfast.” Before he finished, he had already retreated out the door.
“Mm.” Shi Ye leaned against the headboard, nodding innocently.
A few seconds later, Yan Xi rushed back in, threw a box of cold milk from the fridge at Shi Ye, and said, “Use this to ice your leg. It will help with the swelling.”
Shi Ye raised his head in shock, silently locking eyes with him.
Yan Xi’s fair neck turned red, and he squeezed a sentence through gritted teeth: “Ice that normal leg to reduce the normal swelling.”