Back in Anzhou, Chen Jia spent the first week holed up at home.
During that week, she took on all the gaming companion orders that had piled up during this period. Even with Chen Yue’s help, she was so busy that her back ached and her muscles were sore.
She went downstairs to take out the trash as usual and ran into Auntie Wang from downstairs.
Auntie Wang now had two grandsons, both in elementary school, and she loved nothing more than playing cards downstairs in the neighborhood with her neighbors.
Even though Chen Jia rarely went out, Auntie Wang remembered her face well. This family only had two sisters—no adults ever seen, probably still in the countryside. Chen Yue would always greet Auntie Wang when they ran into each other in the morning, but the older sister, Chen Jia, was much colder. On the rare occasions they met, she’d just stand there with a blank expression, tapping away at her phone.
Chen Jia didn’t care much about her neighbors, so naturally she never bothered to remember what they looked like. But when Auntie Wang struck up a conversation, she still responded.
Auntie Wang looked at her wearing pajamas in the middle of the day and asked, “Are you on the night shift? Heading out to throw out the trash?”
Chen Jia didn’t answer the first question, just said, “Yeah, throwing out the trash, heh.”
She gave an awkward polite smile, and the two fell silent for a moment. Auntie Wang asked again, “I rarely see you going out, you know. Where are you from?”
“I’m local.”
“Oh, oh.” The elevator arrived, and the two walked out, going their separate ways. Chen Jia let out a long sigh of relief.
She really didn’t enjoy interacting with people. After taking orders at home for so long, she was increasingly afraid of going out to work and having to deal with others.
But after a week of high-intensity gaming, even though the income was decent, she now felt a bit nauseous just looking at her phone. Maybe she should find a regular job? She loved playing games, but when a hobby becomes work, after two years of grinding at Honor of Kings, she was just about sick of it.
She’d take her time looking for a job.
While Chen Jia was searching for work online, Xu An’an went abroad and stayed with his sister for a while.
Because of the twelve-hour time difference, Chen Jia could never chat with him for long before saying she had to get busy.
Xu An’an stared at the pitch-black night outside the window. At this hour, it should be noon on Chen Jia’s side, and sometimes she’d take a nap in the afternoon, so video calls were out of the question again.
Seeing Xu An’an staring blankly at his phone, Xu Tingting walked over and handed him a glass of wine. “What’s up? Missing your little girlfriend?”
“Yeah, what would you know, you single dog.” Xu An’an sighed and got smacked by Xu Tingting.
“How dare you talk to your sister like that? Your sister just has to crook her finger, and the guys who want to date me would line up all the way to the bar entrance in the next city.”
Xu Tingting and Xu An’an didn’t look alike. Xu Tingting took after their mother—gentle features but a fiery temper—while Xu An’an took after their father, with an upright, honest look.
Xu Tingting propped her feet up on the coffee table. “There’s a party at midnight. You going? It’s a pure party, nothing else.”
“Nah, I need to call Jiajia later. She’s been busy with work lately, and her dark circles are really bad.”
“Ugh, I never thought you’d be such a lovesick fool. I wonder how long this infatuation will last.” Xu Tingting was blunt. “If she’s busy, then go see her. Why are you sighing and moping around here? You’re annoying to look at.”
“If Mom hadn’t told me to come check on what you’re actually up to, I wouldn’t have come here at all.”
Xu An’an explained, then asked, “So, were you in court again last week?”
“This place even takes speeding to court, so annoying. What could possibly happen? I’m not a minor anymore. Mom is really something.” Out of sight, out of mind, Xu Tingting badmouthed her mother without any restraint. “She only transferred me thirty this month. Give me a bit more.”
Xu An’an: “…”
He would have given it to her before, but now that he was in a relationship, he figured he should keep some dating funds for himself.
“I’m leaving. You have fun on your own.”
“What’s the rush, little bro? Lend me some, I’ll pay you back later.” Xu Tingting unceremoniously blocked Xu An’an from leaving, snatched his phone, and deftly transferred money to herself. Only after finishing did she comment on his chat background and wallpaper. “Your girlfriend looks like this? She’s pretty cute.”
“None of your business.” Xu An’an turned and left, heading down to the parking lot to get in his car. Still, before starting the engine, he called Chen Jia.
She picked up after a moment. Xu An’an saw that her background showed buildings and trees, surprised to find her outside. “What are you doing out there?”
Chen Jia wiped the sweat dripping from her hair, pointed the camera at her feet, then pulled out her earphones from her bag and plugged them in. “I switched jobs. I’ve been busy with the handover these past few days.”
In this scorching heat, Chen Jia silently cursed herself—why start working at a time like this? She might as well have waited until the weather cooled down to look for a job. But when it got cold, she definitely wouldn’t be able to get up in the morning.
Today was already her seventh day on the job. Chen Jia was adapting fairly well; her colleagues were polite enough. As for the higher-ups, she hadn’t learned all their names yet. The manager who brought her in was chubby with small eyes and a very distinctive look. His surname was rare too—Xing—so Chen Jia remembered him.
Chen Jia found a spot under a tree and stood still, turning the camera back on herself. “Where are you? What are you doing?”
Xu An’an: “I’m at my sister’s place. Heading back to my own place soon, then I’ll get ready to sleep.”
“Oh, okay.”
“My sister just asked me to go to a party, but I wanted to call you instead, so I didn’t go.”
Chen Jia had heard about parties abroad—they were almost all hookup scenes, a total mess.
Looking at Xu An’an on the other end of the camera, Chen Jia thought to herself, why don’t you just go? If you did, I’d have an excuse to break up. The fault would be on him, and I wouldn’t even have to return the gifts.
She couldn’t tell if Xu An’an was putting on an act in front of her or genuinely keeping himself clean. After all, she wasn’t with him twenty-four hours a day.
Yan Qinggong knew what she was scheming, but she couldn’t get any dirt on Xu An’an, which was truly infuriating.
Anxious, Chen Jia had recently been thinking about just breaking up and getting away from complicated relationships. As a result, she’d been noticeably colder toward Xu An’an lately.
With that thought, Chen Jia quickly found an excuse. “Then you should sleep early. I still need to go eat in a bit, then take a nap before work.”
“Alright, bye.”
Xu An’an hung up. The air in the car instantly went quiet with the call ending.
His eyes darkened. Lately, he’d felt like Chen Jia was especially busy—she wouldn’t even stay on a call with him through the night anymore. He’d tried calling her twice in the middle of the night; the line wasn’t busy, but he’d woken her up and gotten scolded for it. Still, he got his answer—Chen Jia really wasn’t calling anyone else.
Chen Jia had been so busy lately that she’d dumped all her in-game tasks on him. He really couldn’t figure out why her work was so demanding—every time they video-called these past two days, she was out somewhere. Chen Jia hated heat and was lazy to boot; she’d order takeout rather than eat out. Could she be on a date with someone else? And when he called, was she telling that guy to keep quiet?
At that thought, Xu An’an couldn’t sit still any longer. He booked a flight back home that very night, then a connecting flight to Anzhou, and drove home to start packing.
When Xu An’an’s call came through again, Chen Jia was still in the shower. Chen Yue hung up, but it rang again.
Chen Jia was just wondering what spam caller it was when she heard Chen Yue knock on the bathroom door. “Sis, it’s Xu An’an.”
Chen Jia opened the door, took the phone, and shut it again. She set it on the edge of the sink, answered on speaker, and said while getting dressed, “What’s up?”
“What are you so busy with? Why haven’t you been picking up? And you just hung up on me.”
Xu An’an’s voice sounded a bit anxious. Chen Jia explained, “I was in the shower, and my phone was charging. That was probably my sister messing with my phone and hanging up. What did you need me for?”
“Can’t I call you if there’s nothing wrong? You’ve been so busy lately.”
Chen Jia gave a dry laugh. “No, I just asked offhand—didn’t mean it that way. I’m still getting dressed right now, and I picked up for you.”
“I’m downstairs at your place.”
“What?!” Chen Jia froze, thinking she’d misheard.
“I said I’m downstairs at your place. Get dressed and come down to let me in.”
Only then did Chen Jia dumbly hang up, hurriedly finish dressing, and head downstairs without even drying her hair.
At the entrance to the building, Chen Jia saw tall Xu An’an holding a duffel bag, looking travel-worn.
Seeing Chen Jia with water still dripping from her hair, Xu An’an stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. “I missed you so much.”
He sniffed at her—only the scent of shampoo and body wash. He held the soft Chen Jia again, and only then did his anxious heart slowly ease.
It wasn’t late yet, and neighbors were still coming home. As they passed the couple, they kept walking but craned their necks back for a look, quite curious. By tomorrow, the retired aunties and uncles in the neighborhood with nothing to do all day would surely be gossiping about this.
Chen Jia awkwardly pushed him away. “There are a lot of people… Why did you come?”
Seeing Chen Jia force a smile, Xu An’an’s expression shifted. “What’s wrong? You’re not happy to see me?”
“No, no—I’m just asking. I’m surprised. I was video-calling you at noon, and now I get to see you in person tonight.” Chen Jia quickly started soothing him, and only then did Xu An’an smile.
“After I hung up, I missed you so much that I just came back. Anyway, there’s nothing for me to do at my sister’s place.”
“Mm, mm…” Chen Jia was a bit at a loss for words. “Did you book a hotel? Are you tired? Maybe you should go rest first, and I’ll come find you at the hotel after work tomorrow.”
Xu An’an lowered his head and looked straight into Chen Jia’s eyes. “I booked one, but I want to come up to your place for a glass of water.”
“?” Chen Jia was puzzled, but she still invited him inside.
Chen Yue was sitting on the sofa scrolling through videos. Seeing Chen Jia come back up with a man in tow, she couldn’t help but stand up from the couch.
Chen Jia introduced them. “This is my sister, Chen Yue—I’ve told you about her before. Chen Yue, call him… big brother.”
“Can’t you just call him brother-in-law?” Xu An’an only then remembered that he hadn’t brought a gift for Chen Yue, only one for Chen Jia. “Tomorrow, brother-in-law will take you to buy a gift.”
Chen Yue looked at one, then the other, and still called out, “Hello, brother.”
“Alright, alright, stop playing with your phone. Go brush your teeth and go to bed.”
While Chen Jia was shooing Chen Yue back to her room, Xu An’an was looking around the house.
It was cramped and small, with things scattered about messily, but it still looked quite clean—messy but organized. Xu An’an said, “Where’s the bathroom?”
Chen Jia led him there, then went back to the living room to pick up the toys Chen Yue had left lying around everywhere.
Xu An’an looked left and right in the bathroom, and only let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t see any men’s belongings. He washed his hands and came out, also taking the hairdryer that was hanging on the wall.
He had Chen Jia sit down, and Xu An’an dried her hair for her. The hairdryer was very loud, so neither of them spoke.
When Chen Jia’s hair was almost dry, Xu An’an finally stopped and kissed the top of her head. “How about I stay with you the whole summer break?”
“Wouldn’t you be bored then?”
Chen Jia looked a bit troubled. “I don’t get off work until 6:30 every day, and when I get home I still have to cook for Chen Yue. I’m only free on weekends.”
“That’s fine. I can find places to wander around on my own, and when you’re off, we can go out and play together.”
It was only upon seeing Chen Jia again that Xu An’an felt the empty place in his heart fill up.
He had never been so deeply in love before. Every time he saw Chen Jia, endless joy surged in his heart. Every smile and frown of hers tightly tugged at his nerves, and he began to feel anxious and insecure.