Over these years, Lu Xixiao had never posted on Moments. He had no desire to confide or share and was too lazy to record his life. Even during those lonely years abroad, he never posted anything.
If you counted his Moments posts, there was only one from seven years ago, his first and only post.
Back then, he and Zhou Wan hadn’t known each other for very long.
Once when he caught her crying, Lu Xixiao, not quite sure what he was thinking, offered to take her out to play.
That was the first time he took Zhou Wan to Huang Ping’s place, and also the first time he’d taken any girl there.
It was very late when they returned, the streets empty. Zhou Wan thought a taxi would be too expensive and said they could ride a shared electric bike back. Lu Xixiao had never ridden one and, for some reason, didn’t want to try, so he said he’d sit behind her.
So he sat on Zhou Wan’s backseat, and at a red light, casually took a photo of her back and posted it to Moments without any text.
In the photo, Zhou Wan wore a yellow helmet with a comical antenna on top.
All around were empty, deserted streets, with the red light’s countdown flashing.
It looked like a scene from a movie.
Later when they broke up, Lu Xixiao had intended to delete that Moments post, but in the end, couldn’t bring himself to do it, so he simply set his Moments to private instead.
Until today, when he made them visible again.
There were only two posts, both about Zhou Wan.
…
Lu Xixiao was usually very busy with work, so after returning home he sat in the living room handling emails and documents. When he finished and picked up his phone, that Moments post had already received many likes and comments.
His old high school friends all liked and commented, mostly with playful teasing.
While his business partners and employees all offered their congratulations, though they were somewhat puzzled to suddenly see their boss announcing his relationship.
Lu Xixiao glanced at them briefly and refreshed.
At the very top appeared Zhou Wan’s post from three minutes ago.
The same picture and text as his.
Lu Xixiao paused, then curved his lips in a light laugh.
…
Zhou Wan was different from Lu Xixiao – while he only briefly glanced at the comments without replying, she carefully replied to each one, sincerely responding “thank you” to everyone who offered congratulations.
Her old dormitory group chat exploded.
The three of them had witnessed Zhou Wan rejecting one pursuer after another throughout their four university years, including countless rejections of the now-successful Jiang Yan.
Now she suddenly announced her relationship, with a handsome man they’d never seen before – how could they not be shocked?
Zhou Wan held her phone, unable to suppress her smile as she explained to them that he was her boyfriend from high school.
Lu Xixiao came out from his shower to find her smiling like this.
He walked to the bedside and reached out to take her phone.
Zhou Wan’s phone was just used as a communication tool, with no secrets, so she didn’t rush to take it back, just blinked mildly and asked, “What is it?”
Lu Xixiao openly scanned through her WeChat list, and just as he was about to return it to her, a message suddenly popped up.
[Hu Shuxun: Senior, do you have a boyfriend?]
A male name.
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow and typed leisurely.
[Zhou Wan: Yes.]
[Hu Shuxun: But didn’t you tell me you had no interest in dating when you rejected me? I had planned to work at your newspaper after graduation. How could this happen so suddenly? [cry][cry][cry]]
[Zhou Wan: Getting married soon.]
[Zhou Wan: Give up.]
Zhou Wan sat on the bed, tilting her head up to watch him type.
She thought he was probably using her phone to look up some information until Lu Xixiao returned the phone to her.
When she looked down, she almost blacked out.
What was all this…
Before Zhou Wan could argue with him, Lu Xixiao had already turned the tables, sneering: “Zhou Wan, you sure have a lot of boyfriends.”
“…He’s just a junior from when I was studying.”
He nodded, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “Oh, a junior.”
“…”
Zhou Wan couldn’t deal with him right now, wanting to immediately recall the messages, but “The other party is typing…” had already appeared in the chat box – they’d already been seen, too late to recall.
She quickly replied again.
[Zhou Wan: Sorry, that was my boyfriend using my phone just now.]
[Zhou Wan: Thank you for your feelings and care, but I told you from the start, don’t waste your time on me, I won’t like you. Your future career choice is also very important, I hope you’ll consider it carefully and not make casual decisions because of me.]
After replying, Zhou Wan put the phone aside and looked up at Lu Xixiao again.
“…”
His face had darkened even more.
Zhou Wan thought he hadn’t seen what she typed, so she held up the phone to show him.
Lu Xixiao only glanced at it before sneering: “You’re certainly willing to write him such a long message.”
“…”
After all these years, Lu Xixiao’s habit of randomly accusing her when jealous hadn’t changed one bit.
Zhou Wan watched him for a while, finding this side of him somewhat cute. She wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, only pressing her lips together to suppress her smile.
She thought for a moment, trying to comfort him by seeing things from his perspective.
“There’s nothing between us, he just confessed to me once before,” Zhou Wan said, not forgetting to compliment him, “You’ve encountered this too, you’re so wonderful, you have many more people who like you than I do.”
“Don’t compare me to you.” Lu Xixiao pinched her face: “I’ve never chatted with anyone for more than ten words.”
“…”
Zhou Wan let him pinch her, but couldn’t help muttering quietly: “Well, you had so many girlfriends before, while I’ve never had another boyfriend.”
She brought up old accounts, but Lu Xixiao still didn’t feel guilty, his fingers pressing harder as he threatened: “Say that again.”
Zhou Wan fell silent.
Lu Xixiao let out a light sneer and bent down to bite her lips: “Acting so innocent.”
“…”
Lu Xixiao’s fingertip touched her lips: “Have many people been pursuing you these years?”
“No, not many,” Zhou Wan said immediately.
Zhou Wan had grown more and more beautiful over the years, with a cool temperament mixed with southern gentleness, undoubtedly attractive. Lu Xixiao knew very well there must have been many men who liked her, which was normal, but he just couldn’t feel comfortable about it.
His possessiveness towards Zhou Wan was somewhat extreme – he didn’t even want others to look at her.
“I want to hide you away,” Lu Xixiao kissed the corner of her mouth and said softly, “So only I can see you.”
Zhou Wan smiled.
Lu Xixiao pinched her nose, lightly scolding: “Heartless.”
He got into bed too, pulling Zhou Wan into his arms, but didn’t do anything more, still concerned about her and afraid of making her ill.
Zhou Wan’s colleagues were all commenting too, with Ji Jie being the most dramatic, typing “Ah” that stretched for five whole lines.
Zhou Wan replied to them one by one while Lu Xixiao watched beside her.
As she was about to exit, his finger accidentally touched her profile picture, opening it.
Zhou Wan’s Moments were set to be visible for one year, and today’s post was her first this year, but now, Lu Xixiao saw the previous one.
Posted four winters ago, a snow scene.
The caption read: [Lu Xixiao, happy new year, it’s snowing again.]
Visible to self only.
Lu Xixiao paused, his gaze fixed as he frowned slightly: “What’s this?”
Zhou Wan let out a soft “ah”: “This?” She paused, then said quietly, “This was from my first winter in B City, and also the first time I’d seen such heavy snow since we last watched it together.”
The end of her first semester of freshman year.
Winter break had arrived.
Her roommates had all gone home, only Zhou Wan stayed in the dorm. She had nowhere to go, so she simply stayed at school, studying and interning.
She always kept herself very busy, spending all her time outside of internships and part-time work in the library, not letting herself get distracted, single-mindedly moving forward, which also meant thinking about Lu Xixiao less. Until New Year’s Eve.
It snowed heavily that day, the campus was very quiet, so quiet you could almost hear each snowflake falling.
Zhou Wan sat in the dorm, watching the snow outside, and suddenly missed Lu Xixiao terribly, wanting to return to that New Year’s Eve from before, when they had run wildly through the bustling train station to catch the last train to see the snow.
“That time when we took the train together to see the snow, I posted something on Moments that night, also visible to myself only, but later I lost my phone and couldn’t recover my WeChat, so it’s all gone now.”
Lu Xixiao asked: “What did you post?”
“I took a photo of the snow scene, and the caption was—”
Zhou Wan paused, no longer wanting to hide anything from him. She glanced at him and said softly, “I like you so much. Lu Xixiao, Happy New Year.”
So, in her first winter in B City, on that New Year’s Eve, Zhou Wan sat alone by the window, tears falling drop by drop, and she posted the same kind of Moments post as before, except for the “I like you so much” part.
Back then, she felt she wasn’t worthy of liking Lu Xixiao at all.
Lu Xixiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed sharply: “So, you liked me, right?”
Never expecting Lu Xixiao to react this way, Zhou Wan looked at him and blinked in surprise.
Lu Xixiao gripped her shoulders, his expression exceptionally serious as he looked into her eyes, stubbornly persisting with his question: “Wan Wan, did you like me back then?”
At this moment, he was like a stubborn youth, asking again and again, wanting to hear the answer he desperately yearned for.
Yet he was Lu Xixiao, who could always handle all emotional matters with ease.
“Mm.” Zhou Wan grabbed his hand and said earnestly, “I love you.”
Lu Xixiao was visibly stunned.
Like a puppy receiving more rewards than expected, after a moment’s shock, he pulled Zhou Wan tightly into his arms, still seeming disbelieving: “Say it again.”
Zhou Wan held his hand and patiently replied with sincerity: “I love you, Lu Xixiao.”
“You’re not allowed to deceive me.”
Zhou Wan laughed, also somewhat puzzled: “We’re already together, of course, I love you.”
Lu Xixiao buried his face in her neck, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, saying nothing.
When they first started dating, Lu Xixiao had been certain of Zhou Wan’s feelings. He’d had many girlfriends before and had seen all kinds of love, able to see through people’s hearts.
But after discovering it was all fake, he couldn’t help but doubt everything – that Zhou Wan’s kindness to him was fake, that her love for him was also fake.
He let out a light breath, holding back the roughness in his voice: “You have to love me for your whole life.”
“Mm.” Zhou Wan gently patted his back to comfort him, “In this lifetime, you’re the only one I can love.”
*
The next day.
They woke up at nine in the morning.
With an afternoon flight, Zhou Wan prepared to get up and pack her luggage, but just as she sat up, Lu Xixiao pulled her back by the waist, followed immediately by a kiss on her neck.
“Still sore?”
“What?”
Lu Xixiao slightly lifted his hips: “You know what.”
“…”
Zhou Wan’s face grew hot, “Still need to pack, we’ll miss the flight.”
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow, modestly saying: “The flight’s still hours away, I won’t take that long.”
“…”
So, after this delay and another nap afterward, when Zhou Wan woke up again it was already afternoon, and they’d completely missed the flight.
Lu Xixiao changed their booking to an evening flight, and after dinner, they leisurely took a taxi to the airport.
He was satisfied, feeling completely content.
Zhou Wan felt like her whole body had been dismantled and reassembled, exhausted, with many marks left on her body. She could only wear a jacket, pulling the collar up to her chin to cover everything, feeling dizzy the whole way.
After getting out of the taxi, Lu Xixiao held her hand as they walked toward the airport. Seeing how tired she was, he asked amusedly: “Want me to carry you?”
Zhou Wan shook her head: “Lu Xixiao.”
“Mm?”
“I don’t think we can continue like this.”
He raised an eyebrow: “Like what?”
“Just—” Zhou Wan glanced at him, her face reddening again, “like, what we did today during the day.”
“What did we do today?”
“…”
Seeing Zhou Wan about to get angry, Lu Xixiao finally backed off, “Oh, that. Why not?”
“I still have work tomorrow, if this continues I won’t have any energy, and besides, the weather’s getting warmer, you’ve left marks all over me, I can’t even go to work like this,” Zhou Wan tried to reason with him.
“Then next time I’ll leave them somewhere else, like…”
Lu Xixiao leaned down, whispering two words in Zhou Wan’s ear, then smirked, “How’s that?”
“…”
Since they’d officially gotten together, he’d become incorrigible.
Zhou Wan could never win against him in verbal sparring, and he’d made her blush again, so she simply stopped responding and walked quickly into the airport.
“Wan Wan,” he called from behind.
Zhou Wan kept walking forward without stopping.
Lu Xixiao jogged back to her side, raising his arm to pull her into his embrace: “Already angry?”
Zhou Wan puffed her cheeks slightly, replying coldly: “No.”
Lu Xixiao laughed again: “Didn’t you say you loved me?”
His voice lifted teasingly as if showing off.
Not continuing to provoke Zhou Wan’s anger, Lu Xixiao ruffled her hair and conceded: “Alright, I was wrong.”
*
The next day, Zhou Wan returned to work at the newspaper.
Her colleagues had all seen her Moments post from yesterday and teased that while everyone was working, she was the only one taking leave for romance.
Zhou Wan felt somewhat embarrassed and bought coffee for her colleagues in the afternoon as compensation.
Just after distributing the coffee, Uncle Ye walked in: “Zhou Wan, come with me.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Ji Jie has a stomach ache, she probably can’t go now, and those two interns still don’t understand things. Are you free? If so, come with me.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Wan immediately grabbed her equipment bag and notepad, heading downstairs. Only after getting in the car did she learn that today’s field assignment was to cover Jiang Yan’s patent bidding conference, which many companies were reportedly attending.
Zhou Wan paused, taking out her phone to message Lu Xixiao about this in advance.
[6: I’m going too.]
Zhou Wan was surprised: [Are you bidding too?]
[6: No, have some other business to handle, just dropping by.]
The car arrived at the exhibition center, and Zhou Wan got out with Uncle Ye.
The parking lot was already full of luxury cars, suggesting this would be quite an event.
When Zhou Wan entered the hall, Lu Xixiao hadn’t arrived yet.
Presumably, because Jiang Yan had given them special access, their interview position was excellent, in the middle of the front row. Zhou Wan set up the camera and checked everything was working properly.
With some free time, Zhou Wan sat in her chair chatting with Lu Xixiao, asking if he’d arrived.
[6: Stuck in traffic, will be a bit late.]
[Zhou Wan: Ah, is it urgent?]
[6: It’s fine, sent others ahead, they’re already there.]
As they were chatting, Jiang Yan’s voice suddenly came from beside her: “Zhou Wan.”
She turned around to see him in a formal suit and politely smiled: “Congratulations.”
Jiang Yan didn’t chat further, just gave a slight bow: “I need to go prepare. Feel free to let me know if you need an interview afterward.”
“Alright,” Zhou Wan said, “Thank you.”
Jiang Yan jogged over to the side stairs and up to the stage, where there was a huge screen behind him showing technical presentation slides.
Soon, the bidding conference began.
All the lights in the hall dimmed, and the host welcomed Jiang Yan to the stage to present.
Jiang Yan stood on stage, completely unruffled, calmly and beginning his introduction. As the slides progressed, he said, “Next, I’ll demonstrate the specific application results through video.”
He moved his mouse to the video plugin and clicked.
Suddenly, an extremely harsh sound screeched through the speakers with a sharp ripping noise.
Instead of the expected video, after flickering several times, the screen jumped to display large red characters—”Jiang Yan Plagiarized.”