—If we meet today and I end up feeling worse, will you take responsibility?
There wasn't a single sharp or piercing word in that sentence.
Yet the pressure was embedded between the lines, pressing down heavily, making it hard to breathe for a moment—even the incessant ringing of the phone suddenly fell silent.
All that remained were the summer insects chirping, weaving through the grass and trees, stretching the stillness of this corner into something vast and boundless.
The atmosphere took a sharp turn for the worse.
Fei Chaichai's brain crashed right along with it.
She had originally assumed Li Yuyuan was asking her for "hush money"—she never expected him to suddenly bring up the matter of "taking responsibility."
This was far harder to handle than "hush money." Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to laugh it off this morning.
So even though a whole day had passed, Fei Chaichai still couldn't answer that question.
She could only latch onto another keyword, shift her approach, and ask with eager concern: "Did you feel bad after seeing me? Why? Weren't things fine just a moment ago?"
Her face was full of tension and worry, as if she was genuinely concerned about his state.
Looking at those brown eyes filled with nothing but concern, Li Yuyuan slightly lowered his gaze, his tone carrying a faint, wistful melancholy as he let out an empty sigh: "Because someone keeps dodging my questions."
"…………"
How was he even better at this than she was?
Her attempt to change the subject had failed. Fei Chaichai was left speechless, her shoulders slumping as she felt so dejected her head nearly sank into her chest.
Just then, another bus slowly approached from behind her.
Before the vehicle even reached the stop, two beams of headlights cut through the night, casting forward from afar, piercing the stagnant air.
Li Yuyuan lifted his eyes, casually glancing at the route number on the front of the bus. He didn't press Fei Chaichai any further. His voice was low and deep as he informed her: "Looks like we won't be seeing each other tomorrow."
Fei Chaichai was still trapped in the difficult question he'd posed.
At a complete loss, she heard those words out of nowhere and almost didn't register what they meant.
So, the "see you tomorrow" they'd agreed on just now didn't count anymore?
Would he ever see her again?
Afraid that today might be their last meeting, Fei Chaichai hurriedly asked: "What about the day after tomorrow?"
The moment she said it, Li Yuyuan lowered his eyelids to look at her again. He said nothing, only curling his lips into a light scoff.
"…What I mean is," Fei Chaichai realized she'd placed the emphasis on the wrong thing and exposed her true intentions, so she quickly patched up her wording, "I was in such a hurry to leave today that I forgot to bring your hush money. Whenever you're free, I'll bring it to you."
The patched-up excuse was still riddled with holes.
Li Yuyuan was used to it. The curve of his lips didn't recede, but it carried no warmth. His words were loose and lazy, cold and indifferent: "The day you figure out how to answer me."
"…Oh."
It seemed he wasn't just saying it this time—he really intended to hold her accountable.
Fei Chaichai let out a sullen response, her head drooping heavily, revealing a slender, soft stretch of neck.
This listless appearance rarely showed on her. She looked like a little bird that had failed to learn how to fly, stirring pity in anyone who saw her.
Unfortunately, when a bird taking its first flight falls from mid-air, humans cannot pick it up and take it home, nor can they, in a moment of soft-heartedness, reach out to help it.
The night wavered faintly in Li Yuyuan's eyes.
He kept his gaze lowered, not moving an inch, glancing sidelong at Fei Chaichai's aggrieved and dejected face as he reminded her: "The bus is here."
Hearing this, Fei Chaichai turned to look.
The city center was well-connected in all directions, and getting home was convenient—there were three bus options alone.
However, when she'd come in the afternoon, she'd taken the No. 35.
And the one pulling into the stop now was the No. 86.
Fei Chaichai immediately overturned her earlier speculation.
The reason Li Yuyuan knew she took the bus here was absolutely not just because he'd seen her get off in the evening—otherwise, there was no way he'd know exactly which buses she rode.
She wanted to ask Li Yuyuan about it directly.
But by the time she turned back around, there was nothing but empty space in front of her.
Extending her gaze further ahead, she caught sight of that lazy, carefree silhouette, flickering bright and dark under the passing headlights.
The "Zhang Fei" being carried along kept turning its head to glance at her, showing its reluctance to part.
As for its owner, on the other hand—heartless and faithless, walking away without hesitation, not even bothering to say "goodbye" to her.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Was he angry?
But why, though?
Just because she hadn't answered whether she'd take responsibility for him?
Even after getting on the bus, tapping her card, and settling into an empty seat in the last row, Fei Chaichai was still dazed.
She racked her brain and couldn't figure it out.
Even if their time together tonight hadn't been particularly pleasant, it wasn't bad enough to make Li Yuyuan's mood worse.
This was even more hurtful than when he'd said he'd have nightmares just from her touching him.
Fei Chaichai's spirits sank.
Fortunately, that process only lasted a few short seconds.
Soon, she regained her fighting spirit, a thousand kinds of defiance bubbling up inside her. She pulled out her little notebook, rallied herself, and began drafting a comprehensive "revenge" plan—sparks of firewood can also blaze across the plains.
She had just written the title when her phone rang again.
It was "[Heart] Brother Jiayuan [Heart]" calling.
The moment she saw the specially set caller photo glowing on the screen, most of Fei Chaichai's troubles melted away.
As everyone knew, as the sole heir of the Qu Group, Qu Jiayuan had a face that frequently dominated every social media platform.
And Fei Chaichai, leveraging the inherent advantage of the three-generation friendship between the Fei and Qu families, had gotten first dibs on the moon by being close to the water.
Ever since she could remember, she had been coveting Qu Jiayuan's good looks, so much so that every year she would set aside one birthday wish for "when I grow up, I'm going to marry Brother Jiayuan."
Thus, Qu Jiayuan could be called the undisputed No. 1 true love of her life.
Of course, he was also the first failed experiment.
After that, Fei Chaichai straightened out her thinking and no longer set aside birthday wishes for Qu Jiayuan.
But her lecherous nature remained unchanged.
She still coveted his good looks, happily answering the phone while continuing to write her plan, greeting him warmly: "Brother Jiayuan, good evening!"
The man on the other end of the line, however, detected her divided attention and teased her with a smile: "Sneaking out late at night to treat your stomach again?"
"…I'm not that greedy!" Fei Chaichai defended herself.
"No?" Qu Jiayuan was surprised by this answer. "I thought you were too busy looking at the menu to pick up my call."
"Huh?" Fei Chaichai's pen paused on the paper, only then remembering she had missed his call earlier. "Ah…"
She shouldn't have defended herself—then she could have just gone along with the excuse of being greedy.
She racked her brain for a new explanation: "I… I was playing with Second Senior Brother just now and didn't hear the phone ring."
The announcement of the approaching stop came through the receiver at just the right moment.
Qu Jiayuan gently exposed her: "Playing on the bus?"
"…"
Her transparent life.
Qu Jiayuan was ten years older than her and had watched her grow up. Sometimes he knew her better than she knew herself.
At the same time, he also spoiled her.
So Fei Chaichai made full use of this, relying on his indulgence and feigning dissatisfaction: "Brother Jiayuan, have you been abroad so long that you've forgotten that seeing through things without calling them out is also a virtue?"
After being accused like this, Qu Jiayuan indeed changed his tune and retracted his words: "Pretend I said nothing."
Fei Chaichai was satisfied.
She wasn't deliberately deceiving Qu Jiayuan.
If it had been anyone else, she would have already vented about all of Li Yuyuan's misdeeds today, but she didn't want to bother Qu Jiayuan with such trivial matters because he was already busy enough.
Fei Chaichai seized the moment and pulled the conversation back to the main topic: "By the way, you're still in San Francisco, right? I saw the news today about you completing the overseas acquisition. You called to let me congratulate you, didn't you?"
She said it with complete certainty.
But Qu Jiayuan denied it: "No."
"Huh?" Fei Chaichai was taken aback, not expecting to have guessed wrong. "Then why?"
There was a brief silence of one or two seconds on the other end of the line, and when he spoke again, his tone had dropped a notch, speaking preemptively: "To make my presence known, otherwise in a couple of days, you'll have forgotten me completely."
Fei Chaichai knew Qu Jiayuan was just teasing her.
But his words inexplicably reminded her of Li Yuyuan, and all the grievances from being wrongly accused earlier surged up in her heart. She said softly: "In your eyes, am I really that fickle?"
"Hmm?" Qu Jiayuan heard her grievance clearly and chuckled lightly. "Did someone say you're fickle?"
"…No one, no one." Fei Chaichai immediately pulled herself out of her emotions and assured Qu Jiayuan, "Don't worry, even if you don't show up in front of me for a year, I won't forget you! So go get busy, and once you're done, you can come back home sooner."
This time, Qu Jiayuan saw through it but didn't call it out, simply responding with a "Okay": "Be careful on the road too. Send me a message when you get home."
"No problem!"
Fei Chaichai agreed readily.
In reality, the moment the call ended, she flipped her phone face-down against her chest, leaned back against the seat, and let out a long sigh of relief.
She never dreamed that one day, she would have to tread so carefully around Qu Jiayuan, afraid that any word might arouse his suspicion.
It was all Li Yuyuan's fault!
With old grudges and new grievances piling up, Fei Chaichai suddenly felt a surge of inspiration. She was about to continue writing her plan when Qu Jiayuan's reminder to "send a message when you get home" echoed in her ears.
Send a message?
Fei Chaichai paused mid-motion, and a sudden idea struck her. She abandoned the plan and took out her phone again.
Other people made millions in a minute.
She had thousands of ideas in a minute.
Fortunately, the bus wasn't as fickle as she was. It strictly followed its designated route, cruising steadily along the road.
The small park left far behind gradually faded into a blur of warm yellow, until it was completely blocked from view by the tall buildings along the street.
The large flat across from the park remained brightly lit, like an unextinguished river of light, shining in the night in mutual radiance with the Milky Way above.
The top floor, which should have adorned the crown like a pearl, was pitch black.
In the study with the lights off, only the computer screen glowed faintly.
Cold blue light flowed across the desk, silently spreading over a lighter.
A layer of silver coating still clung to the metallic edges of its body, as if the warmth of its last user had seeped into it, turning the cool metal touch into something smooth and warm, held in the grip of a large hand with well-defined knuckles.
The fingers were long, with sharp lines, interlaced tattoos coiling around them, idly toying with the lighter while the gaze remained fixed on the computer screen.
Amid the dazzling array of text filling the screen, a paragraph had been precisely selected—
"…The patient is allergic to skin contact with the opposite sex. The severity of the allergy varies from person to person. Onset typically occurs within five minutes… In severe cases, shock may occur. Current treatment involves conventional antihistamines…"
A soft "click."
The lighter was propped at an angle against the desk by a fingertip, casting a thin, sharp shadow.
The air suddenly grew heavy with silence.
In the stillness of the room, only the hum of the computer tower remained, occasionally punctuated by a faint crackling sound.
A cigarette burned quietly.
As if trying to burn a hole through the secret the young woman had hidden all evening.
When that ember of red faded, the phone on the desk lit up with a new message: [I'm home~ (￣▽￣)~* ]
A breath of fresh air seeped into the airtight space.
Li Yuyuan's brow twitched slightly, and the meaningful amusement that had been pressing at the corner of his eye was completely concealed, reverting to his usual cold indifference.
He glanced at the time.
21:38.
Thirteen minutes until she actually arrived home.
The lighter, which had stopped spinning, resumed its intermittent tapping against the desk.
Before long, a second message popped up: [Oops, sorry sorry, I meant to send that to my Yuan-gege, accidentally sent it to you instead. Consider it me reporting to Zhang Fei that I'm safe~]
The words were carefully crafted, but there wasn't a trace of genuine apology in them—more like testing the waters, probing whether there was another path forward given that "we can't meet tomorrow."
When the "stone" sank into the sea without a ripple, the impatient young woman sent a third message: [Excuse me, is this number Zhang Fei's owner's?]
Li Yuyuan no longer watched from the sidelines. He swiped the screen open and typed two words—
[No.]
On the other end of the line.
Fei Chaichai, who had finally received a reply: "…"
She must have been feverish, out of her mind.
If someone as cold-blooded as Li Yuyuan actually softened toward her, that would be a miracle!
Fei Chaichai faced reality, abandoned her fantasies, and decided to take things one step at a time, doing things properly.
Her first step was left in her WeChat chat with Qin Ling: [Ge! If Li Yuyuan goes to the company tomorrow, please let me know. [Grateful][Grateful][Grateful]]
Thanks to Li Yuyuan, her relationship with Qin Ling had grown considerably closer over the day.
Qin Ling's address for her had evolved from "classmate" to "Chaichai," and she respectfully yet warmly called him "Ge."
Just as she hit send, the bus arrived at her stop.
Fei Chaichai hastily gathered her things and leaped off the bus.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her phone buzzed again in her pocket.
She thought it was Qin Ling replying.
But when she woke the screen, it was a text message—a follow-up from Li Yuyuan: [Also, dogs can't read spam messages, so reporting your safety to him is useless.]
"…???"
Spam… spam messages?!
She'd only sent a few texts to test whether he was still angry—did he have to be so harsh?!
Fei Chaichai was so furious she lost her head, forgetting she was still in a "guilty" state. Her fingers flew across the keyboard with such force it seemed she might shatter the screen, and she replied: [You're the spam!]
The insult was sent.
Her emotions were vented. She long-pressed the message, intending to recall it.
But no "recall" option popped up on the screen.
In that instant, Fei Chaichai felt as if an invisible thunderbolt had struck her, splitting her in two, each half frozen in place, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
One half was screaming—
Oh! Heavens!
How could she forget that she'd sent a text message, not a WeChat message?!
The other half was busy brainstorming, frantically searching for a way to salvage the situation.
Just then, her phone rang again.
The moment she saw the caller ID, the pleasant ringtone transformed into the Death March.
Fei Chaichai was so startled she nearly threw the phone away. Without a second thought, she hung up on the dangerous call.
The world fell silent.
But her heartbeat hadn't calmed down yet.
Fei Chaichai thought Li Yuyuan wouldn't let her off so easily.
Unexpectedly, after that exchange, neither Li Yuyuan nor Qin Ling had contacted her again.
However, Qin Ling hadn't done it on purpose.
He had received Fei Chaichai's commission on short notice and had assumed he could deliver her good news the very next day.
Who would have thought that a week would pass, with their chat history still ending at his reply: "No problem, sis! Leave it to your big bro."
Qin Ling felt he had failed his people and his elders.
He had already decided that if he still didn't see Li Yuyuan at the company next week, he would bring Fei Chaichai to his doorstep in person.
The new week.
Monday, 2 PM.
Qin Ling returned from his lunch foraging, clutching a new milk tea flavor. He had just sucked up a boba pearl when he caught sight of a detestable figure by the elevator entrance, nearly choking to death, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.
The next second, he spotted that tattoo that was as distinctive as an anti-counterfeit mark.
He quickly pulled out his phone and sent a WeChat message, then swaggered over, speaking with exaggerated sarcasm: "Well, well, well, look who we have here—such a busy man, abandoning your superiors above and your subordinates below, vanishing for a full ten days. Ten days! If you didn't show up at the office any longer, I'd be afraid the facial recognition at the door wouldn't recognize you…"
These past days, Qin Ling had been piling up plenty of grievances, and today he finally found his chance, immediately pouring them out in a nonstop stream.
But just as he was halfway through, a silver arc suddenly cut through the air, as if annoyed by the noise, interrupting his words.
Qin Ling fumbled to catch it, and seeing it was a portable hard drive, asked in bewilderment: "What's this?"
"The complete security system that Ya'ao wanted."
Ding—
The elevator doors opened in response.
Li Yuyuan stepped inside, turned around to lean against the elevator wall, and cast his first glance at Qin Ling, asking in a leisurely manner: "Enough to shut you up?"
Qin Ling: "…?"
The elevator doors were about to close.
Qin Ling quickly snapped his nearly dislocated jaw shut and took a big stride inside.
This time, the main content of the Ya'ao project was to build a cybersecurity system covering all sports events across Asia, including defense for the headquarters building, encryption for athlete data, protection for the live broadcast private network, tracing of overseas attacks, and a series of other complex and significant tasks.
Even if assigned to a whole team, it would take one to two months to complete that workload, and he alone finished it in ten days?
What kind of madness was this again?
Qin Ling hadn't figured it out, so he pressed the floor button first, then launched into a tirade: "I'm saying, if you've got nothing to do, just sleep. Why do you have to finish a whole team's work by yourself? What are you leaving for those hungry little guys on the ninth floor to—"
His mouth still hadn't been shut up.
Li Yuyuan leaned his back against the elevator wall, staring listlessly at the changing floor numbers, interrupting Qin Ling's chatter with facts: "The stuff on that hard drive is enough to keep them busy for three months."
"…"
That statement wasn't wrong.
The foundational framework he had built in ten days would take everyone at least three months to run smoothly and implement.
The problem was—
"Is that the point!" Qin Ling suspected Li Yuyuan was playing dumb again, so he stopped beating around the bush and spoke plainly, "Come on, why didn't you come to the company last week, and why didn't you answer your phone? Didn't Chaichai go to find you? What were you doing locking yourself at home, pretending to be a recluse?"
The moment the words fell, the air around them suddenly turned icy.
The man who hadn't even bothered to spare a glance in Qin Ling's direction slowly withdrew his gaze at these words, turned his head, and looked at him.
His eyes were calm, devoid of any excess emotion.
But it was precisely this flat, unruffled glance that made one feel a pang of guilt.
Qin Ling didn't understand why, but he keenly sensed a whiff of danger.
Just then, the elevator doors went "ding" and opened.
The ninth floor had arrived.
For safety's sake, Qin Ling jumped out two meters first, putting distance between himself and the man inside before shouting: "What are you looking at me for? Did I say anything wrong, or falsely accuse you?"
"No false accusation against me." Li Yuyuan lazily withdrew his gaze, stepped out of the elevator, and walked straight past Qin Ling, tossing out a lukewarm remark: "But you falsely accused Chaichai."
When he said those last two words, his casual tone carried a hint of chill, like a cold mountain stream, impossible to tell if he was pleased or angered.
Qin Ling shuddered from the cold: "?"
So that was where the problem lay?
But how could the problem be there?
A man who didn't even care about his own life or death wouldn't have such a strong possessiveness over how others addressed someone.
Qin Ling feared death, but he wanted the answer even more, risking life and limb to chase after him and verify: "How did I falsely accuse Chaichai… ah, sorry, forgot to tell you, Chaichai thinks me calling her 'classmate' every time is too distant, and she specifically told me to just call her Chaichai from now on."
It seemed like an explanation, but it was really showing off.
After saying that, he deliberately pulled up the WeChat chat history and generously shared the whole process of getting chummy with the young lady: "Here, take a good look yourself, whether I've been talking nonsense or not."
On the screen, the latest message was still the heads-up from earlier: [Sis! Li Yuyuan is at the company. Get here fast!]
Two people who had only met three times in total were already putting on a show of sibling affection.
Li Yuyuan's expression was languid and indifferent as he glanced at the phone screen.
Qin Ling was still nagging in his ear.
Little did she know, new replies had already popped up in the chat window.
— Here I come!
— Puppy charging forward.gif
After waiting so long, Fei Chaichai had finally made it to today.
Still groggy-eyed, she sent the message, then switched out of WeChat to check the delivery progress.
Seeing that the courier was only the last two kilometers away from the destination, she immediately leaped up from the bed and charged into the bathroom with full fighting spirit to wash up.
Half an hour later.
Fei Chaichai was all set, packed her things, picked up her phone, and stepped onto the battlefield with an extremely spirited demeanor—only to discover a new WeChat message from Qin Ling, sent half an hour ago.
And it was a voice message.
It must be something important she needed to relay to her!
Fei Chaichai quickly paused her actions, turned up the volume, and listened for instructions.
But when she tapped the voice message, the voice that flowed out of the earpiece didn't belong to Qin Ling—it was another cool, indifferent tone.
Even without seeing the screen, Fei Chaichai could imagine that arrogant face, eyelids lowered, looking down at her from above.
His gaze might be cold, or perhaps indifferent.
But what he said was as unserious as ever, dragging out a lazy tone, with plenty of leisure, offering her a friendly reminder: "The trash might come back to bite you along with all your old debts. Think carefully before you come."
Fei Chaichai: "…"