The sound of voices in the distance was a lively hubbub.
The evening breeze carried this clamor over, and also delivered Fei Chaichai a wild, windswept new hairstyle.
But her happiness was completely unaffected.
After answering, she immediately opened the calculator on her phone, humming "Today Is a Good Day" cheerfully as she began tallying up the winnings from the second batch of scratch-off tickets.
Li Yuyuan seemed to be infected by such vivid emotions as well. The corner of his eye lifted slightly, a hint of a smile playing at his lips as he dragged out a soft "Ah."
Fei Chaichai caught it keenly. Her finger froze on the phone screen, and the little tune she'd been humming came to an abrupt halt.
Something felt off.
A sense of foreboding crept over her.
She looked up and met those pitch-black eyes directly. In the clamorous summer night, they shimmered with faint, fragmented light, illuminating the amusement lurking in their depths.
He just looked at her like that, then repeated her words back at her, stripped of context: "So you came to get a taste of me."
His tone carried no hidden meaning—it sounded like nothing more than the sudden realization of someone whose question had just been answered.
But Fei Chaichai's smile froze instantly.
Wait.
What had she just said?
To come and get a taste of—his—tofu?
…
…
…
She was so screwed!
Fei Chaichai, whose judgment had been clouded by money, finally snapped back to her senses. Her previously sunny expression was instantly shrouded in a cloud of regret.
She wished she could slam her head into a block of old tofu, but she couldn't afford to wallow in self-reproach. Instinctively, she slapped the table and shouted, "What I meant was—!"
She was still trying to make a desperate last stand.
Li Yuyuan didn't stop her. Instead, he lowered the right hand that had been propping up his chin, leaned back, and wore an expression of eager anticipation, showing unprecedented patience for whatever nonsense she was about to spew.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Regarding the matter of getting a taste of Li Yuyuan, she had imagined countless possibilities.
Every single one of them began with her seizing some perfectly natural opportunity, stealthily copping a feel of Li Yuyuan without anyone noticing, and ended with her brushing off her sleeves and walking away, hiding her merit and fame.
Not like this.
Not only had she accidentally let it slip herself, but she was also being forced to accept Li Yuyuan's condescending charity of turning a blind eye.
A warrior would rather die than be humiliated!
Fei Chaichai instantly lost all desire to defend herself, and at the same time remembered her life motto—rather than reflecting on herself, blame others.
This motto gave her a new way out.
After pulling her chaotic emotions back together, she lowered her voice to a normal volume and accused him with righteous indignation: "Why did you trick me into saying that!"
Li Yuyuan: "Afraid you'd get so caught up in having fun that you'd forget the real matter."
"…"
Hmph.
Smooth talker!
Fei Chaichai didn't believe a single punctuation mark of it, but she admitted her purpose bluntly: "Fine. I came here today specifically to get a taste of your old tofu. What are you going to do about it?"
With that, she flicked her bangs aside, spread both hands, and slumped bonelessly against the back of her chair, looking every bit the shameless scoundrel with a "what are you gonna do about it" attitude.
The girl was trying very hard to brazen it out, to cover up her guilt.
Li Yuyuan wasn't idle either.
He lowered his lashes slightly, suppressing the amusement that flickered across his eyes, and thought about how he should play along with her performance without giving himself away. His brows furrowed slightly as he said, "That's a question I should be asking you."
"…Asking me?"
Why was he not playing by the rules again?
Fei Chaichai had thought that with such an arrogant provocation, Li Yuyuan would at least be somewhat displeased. But he merely frowned casually, his magnanimity a world apart from his usual self.
Could this be another one of his smoke screens?
She didn't dare let her guard down—instead, she grew more vigilant. At the same time, she straightened up from her unconventional slouch against the armrest, sitting more properly as she cautiously took the bait: "Ask me what?"
Li Yuyuan: "How do you want to do it?"
—BANG!
The chair legs, which had been tilted in the air, slammed heavily onto the concrete floor.
Fei Chaichai had been leisurely rocking back on her chair, but at those words, she was so startled she forgot to keep her balance. With a lurch, she was jolted back toward the table, her heart pounding wildly.
But she had no time to worry about that. Her mind was filled with only one phrase—
How do you want to do it.
How do you want to do it.
How do you want to do it.
These five words echoed around her ears in three-sixty-degree surround sound, playing on an endless loop.
Once she snapped out of it, she immediately braced both hands on the table edge, leaned forward, and with a face full of disbelief, confirmed with Li Yuyuan: "You're willing to let me… touch?"
Her bright, glistening brown eyes were right there, inches away.
The coolness of mosquito repellent also wove into every breath.
Li Yuyuan sat still, letting the girl lean across the table, drawing closer and closer to him.
But he didn't let the anticipation in her eyes spread without end. He quickly shattered it: "No."
"…"
Fei Chaichai's face changed instantly, and she plopped back down in her seat.
This time, she wasn't going to suffer in silence. She glared fiercely at the man across from her, demanding an explanation: "Then why did you ask?!"
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she'd asked a pointless question.
After all, someone like Li Yuyuan, who did everything on a whim, wouldn't bother responding to her emotions—he'd just brush her off with some excuse.
Yet, as soon as the words left her mouth, Li Yuyuan was still staring straight at her.
He didn't avoid her gaze. Instead, he steadily caught her anger, and there wasn't a trace of dismissiveness in his expression as he answered seriously: "Curious."
Even when told there would be a price, she still charged forward without a care.
The simple phrase "a sudden whim" couldn't explain this persistence.
Mere "copping a feel" wasn't enough to justify her relentless pursuit.
What unspeakable reason could have made her let down her guard, her mind filled with nothing but the thought of meeting him? Li Yuyuan wanted to know.
And Fei Chaichai hadn't expected to get an explanation from Li Yuyuan at all.
After hearing it, her anger died down a little, but she was still furious, continuing her small outburst: "What's there to be curious about? Haven't you ever seen someone cop a feel before?"
"I have."
She grumbled, her words laced with barbs, but really she was just venting.
Yet Li Yuyuan still took it as a question.
He answered unhurriedly, pausing slightly as if in thought, then added a turn: "But I've never seen someone waste their precious life on a defective product."
"…?"
Why bring up that stale, old business out of nowhere?
Was he planning to settle scores with her after all this time?!
In the span of a single sentence, Fei Chaichai lost her absolute advantage.
Her heart tightened, and she quickly scrambled down from her high horse, about to explain—only to realize that Li Yuyuan's tone was perfectly normal, with no trace of sarcasm or mockery.
It didn't seem like he was going to hold the "defective product" grudge against her.
Maybe he really was just curious about why she kept chasing him to cop a feel?
If that was the case, then it was much easier to handle.
Fei Chaichai's back straightened slightly.
She didn't show any fear, though her confidence was a bit lacking as she shot back: "S-So what if I'm wasting my precious life? Don't try to guess a pretty girl's thoughts—you'll never figure them out no matter how hard you try."
She deflected, refusing to answer the question directly.
Li Yuyuan didn't press the matter. He gave a slight nod of his chin and cooperatively tossed out a single word: "Fine."
With that, he lazily rose to his feet, didn't spare another glance at that face putting up a brave front, neatly gathered the scratch-off tickets scattered across the table, tossed them into the bamboo basket along with the lighter, and walked off with the dog.
"…"
See. See.
There he goes again with that bad habit of leaving the moment things don't go his way.
Though Fei Chaichai was almost used to it by now, she still couldn't help cursing him inwardly—his temper really was something else.
Luckily, she had a good temper and was considerate, so she didn't dwell on being left behind. Instead, she first asked about Li Yuyuan's whereabouts, calling out to his retreating back: "Where are you going?"
If he was heading home, then she wouldn't chase after him.
Li Yuyuan didn't stop walking, nor did he turn around. Only a cool, indifferent voice drifted back: "Cashing in a pretty girl's prize."
The careless trailing note quickly scattered in the wind.
Fei Chaichai remained frozen in place.
It wasn't until the wind filled her mouth that she snapped back to reality. There wasn't a hint of gratitude on her face—only admiration for Li Yuyuan's cunning.
One second he'd just parted ways with her on bad terms, and the next he was repaying spite with kindness, playing the good guy.
Making her look like the unreasonable one.
Too sly, really.
Fei Chaichai hugged her shopping bag and jogged to catch up, refusing to buy his act: "Don't give me that. I can tell your curiosity about me is fake. I say two words to you and you can't stand to listen anymore—you don't have any persistence to get to the bottom of things. Not like me. I'm so relentless, so tenacious, so ready to face difficulties head-on."
She was unstoppable when it came to singing her own praises.
Compared to her, Li Yuyuan's flaws were as numerous as the hairs on his head.
As she talked, she offered him a sincere suggestion: "You really should learn from me in this regard."
After listening to her whole spiel, Li Yuyuan did indeed gain a lot. He hummed in agreement and said, "I really should learn from your confidence."
"…"
Was that what she meant!
Fei Chaichai assumed Li Yuyuan was just being stubborn, too embarrassed to acknowledge her as his teacher, so she took the initiative to offer him everything she knew: "It's time you saw what it means to exercise your subjective initiative and never give up in the face of failure. Come on, watch closely—I'll only teach this once."
With that, she cleared her throat, looking like she was about to put on a grand show.
Li Yuyuan said nothing, just switched the dog to his other hand.
The performance space had just been cleared.
The next second, the girl suddenly took a big step forward, blocking his path, turned around, and pleaded with a face full of reverence: "O greatest kind-hearted person in the entire universe, can you really not let me have just one touch? Just one! Not even one? Please!"
She pressed her palms together against the tip of her nose, looking up at him.
Same face as before.
But the expression was completely different.
Her lips were pressed tightly together, her brows knitted into a frown, and the confidence on her face was gone, replaced by pitiful pleading.
Yet her gaze was fervent to the point of incongruity.
When she looked at someone with those pleading eyes, she was no different from a stray dog begging for food on the roadside—or perhaps a little bird acting coy.
Either way, she could effortlessly stir a person's sympathy.
Unfortunately, when Li Yuyuan lowered his head to meet those bright, glistening eyes, he showed no particular reaction. He merely gave a perfunctory twitch of his lips.
When it came to twisting right and wrong, the young lady indeed had her own unique perspective—even "pestering relentlessly" could be spun as "exercising subjective initiative," using the guise of teaching to pursue personal gain.
Who knew how many people she had begged like this before.
Li Yuyuan's brows and eyes were cool and indifferent. He didn't dig deeper. His halted steps resumed, and he walked around Fei Chaichai, replying flatly, "You've got the wrong person."
"Huh?" Fei Chaichai looked bewildered, glancing left and right, thinking to herself, when did I ever recognize anyone? "Who did I mistake you for?"
Li Yuyuan: "The universe's invincible, number one best great benefactor."
His tone was utterly flat—he was merely repeating that tongue-twisting title word for word.
Yet to the ears of someone "with ulterior motives," this straightforward recitation was no different from an insult.
If he wanted to reject her, he could have just said no directly—but he had to deliberately repeat it!
Fei Chaichai, whose attempt to play cute had failed: "…"
She hadn't expected even her infallible trump card to lose its power.
It seemed she was still too principled, which was why she'd ended up losing the bait along with the fish.
If she'd known Li Yuyuan was this impervious to both soft and hard tactics, she definitely wouldn't have asked for his consent before touching him. Instead, she would have gone straight for the strong-arm approach, or pulled some little trick, pretending to accidentally brush against him.
Too bad there was no medicine for regret in this world.
This time, Fei Chaichai didn't display the fine qualities she'd once prided herself on. Her pitiful expression returned to normal, and as she walked away, she turned back every couple of steps to glare at Li Yuyuan.
Just before she twisted her neck, Li Yuyuan asked with concern, "Not planning to keep charging at the difficulty?"
"…"
Fine.
He was even kicking her while she was down.
Fei Chaichai let out a heavy huff, then smoothed away the displeasure on her face.
Even if she was the one who'd been rejected, she would still put on the airs of a victor, replying with a smile, "Thanks for the offer, but sorry—though I'm quite persistent, I'm not an idiot. I know the importance of cutting my losses. So, I've decided to go charge at other difficulties instead. I won't be climbing you anymore."
The implication was that she had eighty-one other trials to choose from, and he wasn't her only option. There was no need to waste too much effort on this particular one.
The young lady was so angry she was speaking nonsense without realizing it.
Li Yuyuan didn't add fuel to the fire. His voice carried a hint of summer night's coolness as he congratulated her: "Then congratulations to you."
"Congratulations on what?"
"Congratulations—after missing this village, there are still plenty of inns ahead."
"…"
He was implying she was fickle and quick to abandon people again, wasn't he.
Fortunately, after the Xia Jinsai incident, she could now accept that label with equanimity.
Fei Chaichai didn't explain herself. With her mind on more important matters, she changed the subject: "But! This matter of you rejecting me isn't over yet. You owe me a reasonable explanation."
Before, when she'd been rejected by her destined ones, it was because they thought she was a pervert.
Why was Li Yuyuan rejecting her?
For one, he'd long witnessed her "perversion" and had repeatedly nailed her to the pillar of shame for "copping a feel." He should be used to her behavior by now.
For another, last time at the swimming pool, she'd touched him, and the ring of finger marks he'd left on her wrist had taken days to fade. Why was he playing coy now?
Fei Chaichai allowed herself to fail, but she didn't allow herself to fail for nothing.
To lay the groundwork for her next success, she had to get to the bottom of it. She continued her interrogation: "I don't have thorns growing out of my hands, and you don't seem to have a cleanliness obsession either. So why won't you let me touch you?"
This question was no less unreasonable than demanding to know at a restaurant why the owner wouldn't let you eat without paying.
Fortunately, Li Yuyuan wasn't one to be bound by reason either. With a lazy, languid drawl and not a trace of seriousness, he replied, "So I can sleep well tonight."
"?"
Fei Chaichai stumbled.
Rejecting her was one thing, but did he have to resort to personal attacks?
She was only going to touch him, not bite him. Was it really so serious that he'd have nightmares about it?!
Fei Chaichai silently hugged the shopping bag to her chest, tilted her head up at a forty-five-degree angle, wiped her dry eye corners, and lamented to the heavens, "Cruel words wound the heart, cruel words wound the heart!"
If he laughed at this moment, that would truly wound her heart.
Li Yuyuan pressed down the curve of his lips.
Her head was always full of wild and fanciful ideas.
Most of the time they had no side effects, but once her thoughts ran unbounded, they easily spiraled into wild fantasies.
Just like now—she was single-handedly conjuring up an entire drama in her head.
And in that drama, he had probably already been upgraded from a scoundrel who toyed with people's hearts to a villain guilty of every conceivable evil.
However, Li Yuyuan had never minded being thought of as worse than he was, so he didn't explain a single word. He walked unhurriedly to the entrance of the lottery shop and asked her, "Cash or transfer?"
"Cash!" Fei Chaichai's mouth was faster than her brain.
It wasn't until the words slipped out that she remembered she was in the middle of complaining to the heavens above. She spat out the bait she had accidentally bitten down on, furious at her own lack of restraint, and prepared to slap herself as punishment.
But before her hand could even reach her cheek, it was forced to stop.
She opened her eyes and looked.
Li Yuyuan had intercepted her slap with a stack of scratch-off tickets, looking down at her as he advised, "No need for that."
"…"
Now he was playing the voice of reason?
Fei Chaichai curled her lips in exasperation, about to have a proper discussion with him about who exactly was responsible for this slap in the first place.
But the moment her mouth opened, Li Yuyuan had already casually looped the leash around her still-raised hand, then turned and walked into the lottery shop.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Good thing he ran fast.
She closed her mouth and let him off the hook, waiting outside with "Zhang Fei."
At this hour, it was peak time for post-dinner strolls and lottery purchases.
The not-so-spacious lottery shop was packed with people.
The moment Li Yuyuan stepped inside, the few-square-meter store felt even more cramped.
He was naturally built with a tall, broad frame, and his all-black attire only intensified that sense of intimidation. The tattoo on the side of his neck was especially eye-catching, faintly visible under the cold white lighting—nothing about him looked like an upstanding citizen.
He didn't look like he was there to cash in a winning ticket; he looked more like he was there to deal with a traitor within the gang.
The other customers' first reaction upon seeing him was to keep their distance. They instinctively scattered to the sides one by one, unconsciously clearing a path for him.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
A miscalculation.
She wanted to call Li Yuyuan out and go in herself instead.
But before she could even speak, this strange atmosphere suddenly came to an end on its own.
The reason was simple—everyone had caught sight of the stack of scratch-off tickets in Li Yuyuan's hand.
These days, no matter how bad the economy was, a gang boss shouldn't have fallen so low as to rely on scratch-off tickets to make a fortune, right?
With that thought, everyone stopped doubting his identity.
And when they learned how much he had won, a burst of exclamations erupted. They cautiously gathered around him—some hoping to soak up his luck, others seeking his advice.
Fei Chaichai assumed Li Yuyuan wouldn't bother with any of them.
But contrary to his usual behavior, he said something she couldn't hear, and then everyone turned to look at her in unison, giving her thumbs up.
Fei Chaichai was completely baffled.
It was her first time receiving praise from so many strangers, and she felt a bit embarrassed. She scratched her head and returned the gesture with cupped fists one by one.
The same thing happened again at the second shop.
By the time Li Yuyuan finished cashing in his winnings and walked out, Fei Chaichai was still busy with her long-distance socializing. Without even looking at him, she asked, "What did you talk to everyone about just now?"
"Nothing much."
The exchanged cash was placed into the shopping bag in Fei Chaichai's arms.
Li Yuyuan took the leash from her hand and casually explained what had happened: "They just asked me why my luck was so good."
"And then? And then?"
This piqued Fei Chaichai's attention.
She immediately ended her socializing, looked at him, and urged him to continue: "What did you say? Why did everyone give me a thumbs up?"
Li Yuyuan: "I said, thanks to the beautiful young lady standing at the door."
"…………"
Nothing wrong with that.
It just made her earlier shyness look completely foolish.
Fei Chaichai had been played again, and her expression fell.
But the next second, her peripheral vision caught sight of the stack of colorful banknotes in her arms.
Her mood lifted again.
Good thing prize money soothes the soul.
Fei Chaichai took out all the cash and placed it into the bamboo basket along with the snacks she had bought for "Zhang Fei," specially warning the man who had just refused his "share": "Don't you dare pocket any of this. This money isn't for you—it's compensation for Zhang Fei. He didn't get to play with anything all night; it was all wasted on me."
After saying that, she remembered something else and asked, "But seriously, are you really not going to register for a WeChat account?"
After hanging up the phone that morning, she had wanted to add Li Yuyuan on WeChat for easier contact, only to be told by Qin Ling that he didn't have one.
That was also why she had chosen cash.
Li Yuyuan kept his eyes lowered, his gaze still fixed on the pile of things that didn't belong to him. When he heard Fei Chaichai's question, he didn't even look up, simply replying, "No plans to."
"…Why?" Fei Chaichai believed that everything had a cause and effect.
But there weren't that many "whys" in Li Yuyuan's life. A single word—"lazy"—was enough to answer most of the behaviors that normal people couldn't understand about him.
For example, he was too lazy to put on a false front, too lazy to engage in insincere pleasantries, too lazy to blend into the world.
And too lazy to explain.
Unfortunately, this answer didn't pass muster with the young lady who believed in getting to the bottom of everything.
Li Yuyuan had no choice but to think it over properly, finally landing on a reasonable "cause": "I don't like people surnamed Ma."
"?"
That was such an obscure thing to take offense at?
Truly, the world was vast and full of wonders.
Fei Chaichai didn't understand, but he respected it and wouldn't interfere with Li Yuyuan's preferences. He simply demanded with complete confidence, "Then from now on, when I call you, no matter what time, what place, or what situation, you have to pick up within three rings. And you can only hang up after I say goodbye."
"Mm."
"…"
The air was silent for three seconds.
Then Fei Chaichai let out an "Mm."
The difference was that her tone rose so high it nearly flew off the scale, dripping with disbelief.
She had made that request to avoid a repeat of the near-miss disaster that morning, when she'd almost been hung up on three times.
Based on her past negotiation experience, usually at least three rounds of bargaining were needed before both parties reached an agreement, so she had deliberately set her demands stricter than necessary, leaving room to be talked down.
But Li Yuyuan had agreed without even asking a single question?
Fei Chaichai remained stunned, unable to accept such a bargain with a clear conscience. Her tone hesitant, she gently reminded him, "You… did you hear what I said clearly?"
Li Yuyuan raised an eyebrow and countered, "Need me to repeat it?"
"…"
So he had heard her perfectly clearly.
Then she couldn't be accused of deliberately misleading him.
Forget it, forget it.
After working hard all night without getting her hands on any tofu, she ought to at least get a good deal out of Li Yuyuan.
With that thought, Fei Chaichai felt much more at ease. She waved her hand and refused with righteous indignation, "No need. I trust your hearing, your judgment, and your decision-making. Let's leave it at that."
Hearing this, Li Yuyuan curled his lips into a faint smirk.
Her words not only put him on a pedestal but also cut off all avenues of retreat.
If he ever went back on his word, he'd become a deaf man with neither judgment nor decision-making ability.
The girl had rarely used her clever tricks in the right place; he just needed to play along and turn a blind eye to her little schemes.
So he nodded, agreed to her plan, and continued dragging his steps, walking with her in the breeze.
The two passed the park's main gate without stopping.
Fei Chaichai, completely unaware, was still secretly gloating over finally getting the upper hand for once. It took her a while to realize it was time to make a graceful exit.
Every previous meeting, due to various uncontrollable factors, had ended with her fleeing in panic.
Today, she would redeem herself and say a proper goodbye to Li Yuyuan.
Fei Chaichai cleared her throat.
Just as she was about to speak, a bus came driving toward them head-on.
The headlights were blinding, and the glare suddenly made her realize something. She immediately turned to observe her surroundings, only to find that Li Yuyuan had brought her directly to the bus stop.
She got carsick easily, so she usually took public transportation when going out.
That wasn't exactly a secret.
But she had never mentioned it to Li Yuyuan or anyone around him.
Fei Chaichai turned her gaze back to Li Yuyuan, puzzled. "How did you know I take the bus here?"
The suspicion in her words was sharp and unmistakable.
Yet Li Yuyuan didn't even let his breathing falter. Calmly meeting her scrutinizing gaze, he said lightly, "You chose the route."
"…"
Really?
Fei Chaichai was half-convinced.
Given Li Yuyuan's enthusiasm for watching her make a fool of herself, she couldn't help but suspect that he had known of her presence the moment she got off the bus that evening.
However, she had no evidence, and she wasn't one to dredge up old grudges. She muttered a "Fine, then" and let the matter drop, returning to what she had been about to say. "I'll get going then. You should head back early too. See you tomorrow."
The man who had remained unmoved by her suspicion finally showed a slight twitch of his brow at the words "See you tomorrow."
Fei Chaichai: "…What? I failed today, so I can't come find you tomorrow?"
In special times, any slight stir could be interpreted as a signal for war.
Her good mood vanished in an instant, and she went all out: "Come on, it's the twenty-first century now. How have you not learned to look at things with a developing perspective? Even though I failed today, that doesn't mean I'll fail tomorrow too."
When out and about, one had to earn their own face.
Besides, bragging cost nothing.
Fei Chaichai got more and more fired up as she spoke, suddenly ignited with passion, throwing punches at the empty air in front of her before finally issuing her challenge: "Just you wait. One day, I'll make you willingly let me touch… no, I'll make you beg me to touch you!"
Everything has two sides.
This speech could be her bold declaration of ambition, or it could be interpreted as wild boasting.
After listening, Li Yuyuan's lips curved into an extremely faint arc, ambiguous in meaning—like a scoffing laugh, or like indulgence.
Only after Fei Chaichai finished her entire tirade did he lazily lower his head, look at her, and reply in a cool, soft voice, "Wishing you success."
"…Hmph."
He said it nicely, but he didn't actually believe she would succeed at all.
Fei Chaichai knew that Li Yuyuan was mocking her for wishful thinking, for being unrealistic.
But when she turned her head to argue with him, she unexpectedly found herself caught in those pitch-black eyes, and for the first time, she felt like she might have misunderstood Li Yuyuan.
It was all the evening breeze's fault for being too gentle.
The usual coldness in his eyes had been blown away to almost nothing, replaced by some emotion she couldn't quite understand—not intense, but so direct it was hard to withstand.
It was as if he truly hoped she would succeed.
It was like a silent seduction, luring her into his vortex…
The moment this thought surfaced, Fei Chaichai was startled, immediately averting her gaze while giving the back of her head a resounding slap without hesitation.
As she tried to disperse those strange thoughts, she mentally pointed a finger at herself and scolded: Fei Chaichai, have you lost your mind or gone crazy? How could you have such a terrifying illusion! Are you getting too comfortable with life?
Just as she was about to snap herself out of it, a familiar voice suddenly pressed down from above her head—low and indifferent, interrupting her train of thought: "You seem to really enjoy hitting yourself."
Fei Chaichai snapped back to reality.
Her palm was still pressed against the back of her head.
Hearing that voice, she remembered that Li Yuyuan hadn't left yet. Afraid he might notice something unusual, she quickly stopped her slightly odd behavior, pretending to scratch her head while avoiding his gaze: "No, no, I wasn't. I was just joking with myself. Um, well…"
She was rambling incoherently, frantically searching her mind for another topic, trying to drown out her heartbeat with words—but forgetting that she had already said her goodbyes and could simply walk away.
Fortunately, a phone ringtone sounded just in time.
Fei Chaichai felt as if she'd been granted a pardon, relief rippling through her expression as she quickly fished out her phone: "I'll go take this call."
The guiltier one feels, the more deliberately one tries to prove their innocence.
So before answering, she deliberately held the phone up in front of Li Yuyuan, emphasizing: "It's not an alarm I set, I swear. Someone is actually calling me."
Li Yuyuan gave the screen a brief glance.
She looked delighted, clearly happy to receive this call.
As for the reason for her happiness, it was probably right there in the caller ID she had so carefully set—[Heart] Brother from Home[Heart].
Having proven her innocence, Fei Chaichai also found the perfect excuse to naturally urge Li Yuyuan to leave: "Alright, you should head back now. No need to walk me further—my bus will be here soon."
With that, she fled the scene as fast as she could.
But just as she turned around, she heard Li Yuyuan speak again.
His cold, indifferent voice mixed into the rustling sounds around them, yet carried no ripple of emotion. His tone remained calm as he brought up old matters without warning: "I believe you still owe me an answer."
Fei Chaichai's finger, about to press the answer button, froze.
She thought she must have misheard, turning back with a confused "Huh?" and a blank expression: "What answer?"
The bus stop at night was desolate.
The surrounding lights were dim and fading.
Li Yuyuan stood amidst the scattered shadows of trees, broken by the wind.
The dim yellow streetlamp cast its light back onto his face, concealing the darkness in his eyes that had briefly been illuminated by the cold glow of the phone screen. Only a faint, elusive hint of amusement remained as he looked at her without any pretense.
Fei Chaichai was momentarily lost.
In a daze, she seemed to see the Li Yuyuan from the stairwell again—the one who looked like he wanted to devour her whole.
Her heartbeat suddenly went haywire.
However, Li Yuyuan did nothing at all. He didn't even take a step closer to her. He simply asked, amidst the incessant ringing of her phone, in a slow and deliberate manner: "If meeting today leaves me in an even worse mood, will you take responsibility?"