The next day, Qin Lie did something unprecedented—he slept in.

Usually, when work got busy, his biological clock was very punctual.

No matter how late he stayed up, he would always wake up at six o’clock the next day.

With Chen Xi’s arrival, that tightly wound nerve inside him inexplicably relaxed. Holding Chen Xi, he slept until after nine o’clock.

When Chen Xi woke up, she saw a new WeChat group that Qin Zhan had created.

Qin Lie kept his eyes closed. After hearing some rustling sounds, he felt the person in his arms laughing softly.

He nuzzled Chen Xi’s soft, long hair with his chin and asked in a somewhat hoarse voice, “What are you looking at?”

Chen Xi smiled and held her phone up in front of Qin Lie. Qin Lie took the phone and saw it was a WeChat group chat.

The group name was “Sister Xi, March Forward Boldly.”

Qin Lie couldn’t help but chuckle. Without thinking, he knew who had come up with this ridiculous group name.

In Dunhuang, at nine o’clock, the repair shop opened for business.

Qin Zhan stood in the morning sunlight and took a photo of the parking lot in front of the shop, posting it to the group.

“Sister Xi, the shop is doing fine. Stay in Beijing with peace of mind.”

Chen Xi took the phone back from Qin Lie and replied to Qin Zhan with a bright smiling face emoji.

Liu Boyang immediately followed with a message.

“Sis, work hard and create an animated film as classic as Nine-Colored Deer to bring more honor to us, Dunhuang people.”

Chen Xi smiled and replied with a simple “mm.”

Bright sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains into the bedroom. Chen Xi suddenly had a feeling of time flowing backward.

It was as if she had returned to ten years ago when she was a freshman registering for university—a life full of hope and unknowns that made her heart inexplicably excited.

She wrapped her arms around Qin Lie’s neck and asked with a smile, “Can I meet the people from the animation studio today?”

Qin Lie rolled over to pin her down. “That depends on your performance.”

The two didn’t get up until almost noon, taking a taxi to Lazhu Hutong for grilled meat.

When they arrived, there was exactly one last empty table available.

Chen Xi pulled Qin Lie up the steps at the shop entrance. Qin Lie asked with amusement, “How do you know about this grilled meat place?”

Chen Xi turned back to smile at him. After ordering, Chen Xi opened the WeChat group she had with Han Susu and Yang Shan to show Qin Lie.

Qin Lie glanced at the group name and couldn’t help but smile again.

This group was created by Yang Shan and was called “Beijing Proxy Eating and Touring.”

Chen Xi opened a pinned food guide in the group.

She said with a smile, “Yang Shan and Han Susu spent several days researching this guide. I’m responsible for trying everything for them one by one.”

After all the dishes were served, Chen Xi, contrary to her usual dislike of trouble, held up her phone to take pictures from every angle, not letting Qin Lie touch his chopsticks until she was done photographing.

Qin Lie watched her bustling around, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.

He spread stinky tofu on a golden-fried piece of steamed bread and handed it to Chen Xi, saying quietly, “Try this.”

Chen Xi took a bite, and her expression immediately became indescribable.

Qin Lie’s smile was somewhat infuriating.

“Next time we’ll go to Niu Street so you can try fermented mung bean juice for them.”

After finishing the grilled meat, they grabbed two shared bikes from the street and rode leisurely through the crisp autumn afternoon to Tiananmen Square.

The ten-lane Chang’an Avenue was awe-inspiring at first sight. Chen Xi rode her bike past Tiananmen Square.

Tourists crowded the roadside as she rode with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding her phone, filming while riding.

She called out excitedly, “You two, look quickly—Tiananmen Square! I’m riding past Tiananmen Square!”

She passed by Chairman Mao’s portrait, past the Tiananmen gate tower she had seen countless times on the news, waving her hand and calling out in excitement.

Qin Lie watched Chen Xi’s carefree appearance, his heart rippling with indescribable joy.

Suddenly, he wanted to go to many more places with her, to show her all the beauty in the world.

After riding past Tiananmen Square, they cycled along the red walls of the Forbidden City, through quiet streets, and unconsciously arrived at the bustling Nanluoguxiang.

Chen Xi was like an enthusiastic tour guide all along the way, photographing wherever she went, having a wonderful time exploring.

As the sun began to set, Qin Lie saw it was about time and took a taxi with Chen Xi straight to a popular KTV in Xidan.

The Tunnel project team had booked a large private room that could accommodate about a hundred people. Without waiting for the two bosses to show up, they had already started celebrating.

Wang Danyang and Zhou Ning arrived a few minutes before Qin Lie and the others. As soon as they entered the private room, they were dragged on stage for a duet.

Zhou Ning was singing when she saw Qin Lie and Chen Xi enter through the door. Her eyes lit up as she waved at them.

After finishing the song, Zhou Ning came down to greet Chen Xi.

Wang Danyang stayed on stage and cleared his throat.

“Keeping a low profile isn’t part of Dawn’s corporate culture, so I have to say—Tunnel 3.0 is fucking awesome, and we’re fucking awesome.”

Thunderous laughter erupted from below the stage.

Wang Danyang suddenly pointed at Chen Xi and said with a smile, “Let me give everyone a grand introduction. The beautiful lady standing next to General Manager Qin is named Chen Xi. She’s the designer of all ten characters in our 3.0 version. I ask you—are you surprised?”

Before Wang Danyang finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned to look at Chen Xi in unison, filled with surprise and amazement.

A moment later, thunderous applause erupted.

Not far away, a young man wearing black-framed glasses and a checkered shirt excitedly shouted to those around him, “She’s my type! None of you better compete with me.”

Qin Lie glanced at him coolly, his expression somewhere between smiling and not smiling.

Chen Xi was suddenly called out and, after being stunned for a moment, gracefully waved at everyone.

Wang Danyang stood on stage and waved the microphone at Qin Lie.

“Old Qin, come up and say a few words.”

Qin Lie lightly touched the back of Chen Xi’s hand and strode onto the stage.

He took the microphone and looked at the young man in the checkered shirt below, really saying just two sentences.

“Deng Ming, she has a boyfriend. Don’t even think about it.”

After saying this, he jumped down from the stage with a smile, walked up to Chen Xi, and put his arm around her shoulders.

The room instantly exploded.

Throughout the evening, Chen Xi didn’t know how many times people came to clink glasses with her.

Even though it was just beer, by the end, she was feeling a bit dizzy.

In the dim private room, neon lights flashed, and the singing was deafeningly loud.

Qin Lie was cornered by Wang Danyang. Chen Xi pushed open the back door of the private room and walked onto the balcony for some fresh air.

She leaned against the railing, looking at the brilliantly lit city, her eyes filled with overwhelming prosperity.

Behind her in the private room was earth-shaking liveliness.

She was caught in the middle, every pore in her body seemingly filled to the brim.

Loneliness couldn’t find a place to settle.

This feeling was quite exhilarating.

Two days later, Chen Xi sat in a small conference room at Sugar Bean Entertainment, undergoing an interview.

She handed the interviewer a manuscript she had brought from Dunhuang.

“This is my work from the past three years. There are no copied works inside—everything is original.”

Chen Xi’s calm voice betrayed a slight nervousness.

During this time, she had been almost daily tempted and tormented by this opportunity.

When she finally faced her inner desires honestly, she suddenly became somewhat anxious about gaining or losing this chance.

The interviewer opened Chen Xi’s manuscript and looked through it page by page from beginning to end.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Chen Xi could almost hear her heartbeat.

The interviewer finally reached the last page. She closed the portfolio and looked up at Chen Xi.

“Miss Chen, could you tell me about your inspiration for designing that blind character in Tunnel 3.0?”

Chen Xi nodded. She organized her thoughts and spoke slowly, “This was the only male character among the ten characters in version 3.0, and also the biggest bottleneck I encountered.”

“I hadn’t initially thought of the blind character setting. I just had an idea in my mind—to carve the roughness and tenacity that wind and sand had ground into Northwest men, to engrave unmatched strength into his soul.”

The interviewer’s gaze was calm as she asked quietly, “So where did this inspiration come from?”

Chen Xi thought for a moment and blurted out, “Life.”

Yang Guan is sitting on the steps reading Braille.

Teacher Wang, who had walked a hundred thousand miles and was still talking about ideals to his students on his deathbed.

Grandpa Guan, who had spent his lifetime planting trees in the desert’s wild sand.

Her father, who had wandered half his life, lonely as a monk with his lamp and Buddha.

Bit by bit, each person was an unyielding world.

“Life.”

Chen Xi smiled at the interviewer.

“Life in that desert, full of flying dust.”

The interviewer looked at Chen Xi quietly. After a long while, she suddenly smiled warmly at her.

“To be honest, you’re late. Our story has already taken shape, and the art design has reached the final draft stage.”

Chen Xi’s heart suddenly went cold. Before she could say anything, the other person continued, “But Ms. Leng saw the blind character at the Xi’an Gaming Expo. She likes your art style and creativity, so—”

She looked at Chen Xi and said quietly, “Ms. Leng said if you can come up with designs compelling enough to overturn everything within three days, then you’re welcome to join our team.”

Chen Xi’s blood suddenly surged. Without thinking, she agreed.

“I’ll try.”

The interviewer smiled and nodded, writing down a phone number and handing it to Chen Xi.

“Add me on WeChat. I’ll send you the story outline.”

When Chen Xi came out of the office building, she looked up at the azure sky and suddenly experienced Beijing’s crisp autumn weather.

Qin Lie’s car was parked by the roadside. Chen Xi walked toward him with light steps.

This city might be as Grandma had said—she might like it here.

Moreover, this prosperous city had Qin Lie in it.