By the time Qiao Qi woke, it was already past noon. The group chat was full of memes she didn’t understand, and too lazy to scroll up, she was about to toss her phone and get out of bed when she noticed Cheng Yueming had messaged her at past eight in the morning.

Cheng Yueming: My dad told me you got hurt? Cheng Yueming: Did you put medicine on it? Cheng Yueming: Need my help?

Qiao Qi checked the time, thought it over, and still replied.

Qiao Qi: I’ve already put medicine on it. Qiao Qi: Thanks.

The other side replied quickly.

Cheng Yueming: We’re eating at the restaurant, want to come? Cheng Yueming: No shooting today. If you’re tired just keep sleeping, and I’ll bring you whatever you want to eat later.

That would be too much trouble.

Qiao Qi hurriedly said there was no need, then got herself together and went to the restaurant anyway.

It was likely past the lunch rush, so the restaurant wasn’t too crowded, but the moment she stepped in she could already hear a noisy racket.

In the corner, Wu Shuang and the others were all there — at a glance, at least a dozen or more people.

The moment Qiao Qi walked in, Wu Shuang stood up and waved her arm, “Sis! Over here!”

The rest of them turned to look her way too.

The staff member who had been about to ask whether she was alone or meeting friends quietly stepped aside, clearing the way.

Qiao Qi smiled at them and walked over.

“What do you want to eat, Sis?” Wu Shuang asked.

Everyone else chimed in too: “Don’t hold back, today our little young master is treating.”

The little young master himself sat in the corner, fiddling with something and not even bothering to look up, waving his hand lazily to indicate: Order whatever, I’m paying.

Cheng Yueming laughed, “You all can drop it now, our young master was only late once yesterday, are you really going to keep hounding him about it? Besides, there’s a fancy group dinner tonight too. After dinner we’re all going drinking and singing — you fill up now, are you planning to eat air tonight?”

Everyone at the table burst out laughing, throwing thumbs-ups at Cheng Yueming. “A screenwriter really is something else.”

Only then did Liang Yan slowly lift his head. His hair was casually pulled up into a small bun, the fringe at his forehead flying about with total indifference. As he raised his head he brushed his hair back, revealing a pair of clear, sharp eyes.

“Are you people reincarnated hungry wolves?” he asked.

The others wagged their heads and answered, “Hehehe, yes we are.”

Only Qiao Qi asked, quite calmly: “Where are we eating tonight? What time?”

Hearing this, Liang Yan propped his chin on his hand and looked over. “Why? Got something planned?”

Qiao Qi neither confirmed nor denied it, only asked further: “Where are we drinking and singing? Is it mandatory?”

Liang Yan said, deliberately, “Absolutely mandatory! Not going would be rude! Not a team player!”

Though in fact, he himself had no intention of going.

Qiao Qi gave an “oh” and asked no more, lowering her head to eat quietly. Every now and then she’d ask the person beside her to help pick up a dish she couldn’t reach.

Liang Yan watched her, faintly amused. Once he saw everyone else was more or less done eating, he simply had all the remaining dishes pushed over in front of Qiao Qi.

Qiao Qi first asked, “Are you all done eating?”

The others nodded like chickens pecking rice — some sipping their drinks out of habit to clear their palates, others holding up their phones taking selfies with their friends.

“Okay, then give it all to me.” She didn’t think of this as cleaning up leftovers at all, and ate quite seriously.

Liang Yan’s gaze circled her shoulder a few times, then studied her posture as she ate, finding nothing off about it. Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly heard Qiao Qi ask, “What are you looking at?”

Liang Yan paused, dragged his stool a little closer to Qiao Qi, and asked in a low voice, “That… injury on your shoulder, is it okay?”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Qiao Qi turned her attention back to her food, answering casually, “It wasn’t serious to begin with.”

She thought of what Liang Xumo had said before leaving the night before, paused, then turned to Liang Yan and said, “You don’t need to worry about it.”

Liang Yan gave a light “oh,” turned his head away and stopped watching Qiao Qi. He sat in his usual lazy posture, the same idle look as always.

Eyes lowered at his phone, every now and then the corner of his mouth would curl up faintly.

It was easy to forget the ruthless, utterly unsympathetic look he’d worn the day before.

But Zhou Suiyu wouldn’t forget it. She’d even had a nightmare the night before — in the dream, Liang Yan had turned into a wolf, his eyes blood-red, fangs visible at the corner of his mouth even without opening it.

She’d jolted awake several times, and finally simply gave up on sleep altogether.

Now, seeing Liang Yan looking so unbothered, she almost wondered if she’d hallucinated the whole thing yesterday.

“Liang— Mr. Liang, yesterday you…”

Before she’d even finished the sentence, the chatter and laughter around the table cut off instantly, and everyone turned in unison to look at Zhou Suiyu, making a chill of goosebumps run down her back.

The words caught in her throat; she blinked, unsure whether to keep going.

The mood instantly froze.

Qiao Qi also sensed the atmosphere had turned strange, but for a moment she couldn’t quite manage it and slurped her drink a little too loudly.

That sound drew everyone’s attention in the current moment, and all heads swiveled toward Qiao Qi.

“…”

Qiao Qi quietly pulled the straw from her mouth and blew a few bubbles into the drink for good measure.

The others: “…”

Qiao Qi: “…………”

She quietly pushed the drink away, expression perfectly serious. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Carry on.”

As if anyone could carry on after that!

The whole mood was ruined!

But everyone’s first reaction was: Damn, thank you, thank you! Teacher Qiao to the rescue!

Wu Shuang was the first to lose it, letting out a burst of laughter, and then laughter rippled around the table one after another.

The stiff atmosphere was finally broken, and Zhou Suiyu felt she could finally breathe again.

She gave Liang Yan a wry smile, not quite sure what to say.

Liang Yan, however, was generous about it. He gave a light laugh, picked up his own drink from beside him, and held it out toward Zhou Suiyu. “I was too worked up yesterday, did I scare you? Sorry about that.”

Zhou Suiyu, flattered, hurriedly held up her own drink and clinked it against his.

That matter was settled.

Eventually, in the course of chatting, someone steered the topic toward falling in love online. Cheng Yueming’s first reaction was to turn and look at Liang Yan. Liang Yan paused, then reached over and pressed his hand against her face, shoving her aside.

Cheng Yueming giggled, grabbing his wrist. “Brother! Brother, hurry up and tell everyone your story!”

The others all sat up, startled, and scrambled to look at Liang Yan, gossip dyeing their eyes bright green. “Mr. Liang has a story?”

Liang Yan glared at Cheng Yueming, who just shrugged. “You posted it yourself on Weibo, what does that have to do with me?”

But now that the topic had finally landed here, the others eagerly pressed on: “Hehe, Mr. Liang, is that Weibo post real or fake?”

“Did you really fall in love?”

“Is your girlfriend from the industry?”

“Ah, she must be really pretty, right?”

Noisy.

Liang Yan lifted an eyebrow, tapping his knuckles lightly on the table. “That curious, huh?”

The others, eyes shining, nodded more emphatically than the person before.

Liang Yan’s lips curled, but he wasn’t in a hurry to answer. Instead, he uncrossed his legs from where they’d been resting sideways, folded his arms across his chest, leaned back against his chair, tilted his chin up slightly, eyes glinting with amusement, and drawled, “Don’t you know curiosity killed the cat?”

The scene went quiet again for an instant.

Then, out of nowhere, a voice rang out from the corner: “Woof!”

Everyone froze.

Even Liang Yan was stunned.

Everyone turned in unison toward the source of the sound, and there was Qiao Qi, cupping her face with an innocent expression. “I’m curious too.”

“But I’m not a cat.”

There were only two seconds of silence before the corner of the restaurant erupted into what sounded like a few hundred dogs barking “woof woof woof,” with the occasional person even throwing back their head to howl like a wolf.

Cheng Yueming’s face was about to split from laughing. “Brother, just satisfy us already, or the restaurant manager’s going to call the police and have us all hauled off.”

“Better to be hauled off.” Liang Yan sighed, glancing sideways at Qiao Qi, who was still wearing that innocent expression beside him. “Why are you joining in on this nonsense too!”

Qiao Qi answered honestly, “I’m curious about falling in love online.”

Liang Yan blurted out, “What online romance! What era do you think this is, still falling in love online! How low-class is that!”

Qiao Qi: “…?”

“Is it really that low-class?” Qiao Qi couldn’t help but frown slightly. She turned to Cheng Yueming to confirm. “Didn’t you say he’s in an online relationship?”

“Yeah, that’s what Sister Xumo said.” Cheng Yueming turned to Liang Yan to confirm. “Isn’t that right?”

“No.” Liang Yan said, face perfectly straight and heart perfectly steady, standing his ground with full conviction. “I’ve met her in person, okay. It’s just long distance! Long distance!”

“Isn’t long distance basically dating your phone? What’s the difference from online dating?” someone chimed in.

“Tsk.” Liang Yan shot them a displeased look. “Online dating means you never meet in person! Long distance means you can meet up anytime, understand?”

“Oh, so when’s your next meetup then?” someone asked casually.

Liang Yan, worked up now too, answered crisply: “Tonight!”

“— Wow!”

“Congratulations, congratulations!”

“Go get her, Mr. Liang!”

“Wishing you a wonderful night!”

Liang Yan, unable to take any more of the group’s nonsense, got up and left.

Cheng Yueming called after him, “Where are you going, Mr. Liang?”

Liang Yan waved a hand, “Going to arrange the meeting spot!”

Cheng Yueming let out another “wow,” then grabbed her phone to report to Sister Xumo, “I need to tell Sister Xumo right away! Mr. Liang’s finally getting married off! From now on the Liang family won’t get messed with anymore!”

Once Liang Yan left, most of the others cleared out too, and within a few minutes only Qiao Qi, Cheng Yueming, Wu Shuang, and a few of the Baile girls remained in the corner of the restaurant.

Seeing no outsiders left, Wu Shuang propped her chin in her hand and leaned toward Cheng Yueming. “Sis, that… Mr. Liang’s sister…”

Hearing this, Cheng Yueming paused, then looked over at her as if nothing were wrong. “What is it?”

“Did I… do something wrong yesterday?” Wu Shuang scratched her head, full of guilt. “Should I not have taken her to set?”

“No. Don’t overthink it.” Cheng Yueming said.

“Oh.” Wu Shuang sighed. “You scared me, I thought it was because of all the nonsense I was spouting.”

“What nonsense were you spouting?” Cheng Yueming asked curiously.

“I thought she was Mr. Liang’s girlfriend, and kept calling her ‘sister-in-law’ the whole time.”

Cheng Yueming burst out laughing. “That really was nonsense.”

“Ugh, I definitely won’t talk nonsense again in the future.” Wu Shuang said. “Nearly turned a match made in heaven into siblings instead.”

“It’s not entirely impossible, either.” Cheng Yueming said offhandedly. “Though it’s probably not likely anymore now.”

“Huh?” Wu Shuang didn’t understand.

“Ah! Never mind.” Cheng Yueming said.

After Cheng Yueming left, Wu Shuang was still musing to herself. “So scary, does it really have nothing to do with me? Is Sister Yueming just trying to comfort me?”

Qiao Qi thought it over. “Probably not.”

“Hmm?” Wu Shuang asked. “How do you know?”

It was probably because of that scene she’d filmed earlier.

But this… probably wasn’t something she should bring up casually.

Qiao Qi didn’t elaborate. “Just a guess.”

“Ah.” Wu Shuang deflated, sighing wearily, and seeing that Qiao Qi was mostly done eating, stood up and said, “Should we go? Let’s head back together.”

Qiao Qi agreed.

On the way back, Wu Shuang kept up a constant stream of chatter, going from how hard filming was to how hard studying was — poor thing, she still had the college entrance exam to face next year.

Once this drama wrapped, she’d have to go home and study hard to catch up.

“Are you going back to school?” Qiao Qi asked.

“No. My parents got me a private tutor, and a strict one at that.” Wu Shuang, thinking of the hard days ahead, sighed deeply again. “I have to do a video lesson with my tutor later too — not like you, who gets to sleep in and catch up on rest.”

“I’m not going to nap.” Qiao Qi said.

“Huh?” Wu Shuang asked. “Then what are you doing?”

“Um…” Qiao Qi hesitated. “I’m going on a date, I think.”

Wu Shuang: “…”

Caught completely off guard.

She stared at Qiao Qi, expressionless. “Are you long distance with your partner too?”

Qiao Qi thought it over and said, seriously, “I think we’re actually an online relationship.”

She added afterward: “But it’s not low-class.”

Wu Shuang: “…”

“And after tonight, I guess we’ll be long distance instead.”

“Oh.” Wu Shuang, still cold, continued, “Do you need me to wish you a smooth first meetup, then?”

“Not necessary.” Qiao Qi said. “It might not go that smoothly.”

Wu Shuang: “Hmm?”

Qiao Qi said, “We never actually told each other our addresses…”

And in fact, she didn’t even know whether Li’ang was still in the country.

What if he’d already gone abroad?

…Ah.

Why hadn’t she just made things clear yesterday!

Qiao Qi deeply regretted it.

Wu Shuang couldn’t quite make sense of the whole situation either, but she deliberately put on a mature air, patting Qiao Qi’s shoulder. “Good luck!”

Then, as if remembering something before leaving, her expression turned serious. “Oh, right, be careful meeting up with a stranger, best to pick somewhere crowded, best in the daytime.”

“Definitely don’t do it at night,” Wu Shuang said. “Seriously, don’t meet at night, it’s not safe.”

“Hmm?” Qiao Qi, seeing that Wu Shuang’s expression was genuinely serious, couldn’t help but ask, “Did you… go through something bad?”

“No.” Wu Shuang said. “Not me.”

Qiao Qi: “Then…?”

Wu Shuang paused, as if thinking of something, hesitating. “Just… ugh, forget it, I’ll tell you some other time, if I get the chance.”

“Anyway, just be careful on your meetup, that’s all I’ll say, don’t want to ruin your mood.”

Qiao Qi’s expression was hard to describe. “To be honest, you already have.”

Wu Shuang: “…Sorry.”

Qiao Qi silently turned and walked toward her own room, thinking as she walked about exactly where would be a suitable place to meet Li’ang.

In front of a police station, maybe?

Safe enough, right?

Author’s Note: …See you tomorrow.