As soon as the words left her mouth, Wen Yifan noticed Sang Yan’s displeased expression. She instantly realized that what she had said was no different from “your face is truly too awful to look at.”

Moreover, it seemed she had said similar things more than once tonight.

Like an ungrateful white-eyed wolf tearing down the bridge after crossing the river.

Wen Yifan decided to try to salvage the situation: “But even if your face is ruined—” Saying this, she felt it wasn’t quite right and forced herself to correct course: “Even if it’s temporarily marred, it doesn’t affect your handsomeness at all.”

Sang Yan looked at her expressionlessly.

At that moment, Wang Linlin happened to reply to her WeChat message.

Wen Yifan glanced down to see an “ok” emoji. Her expression relaxed, and she took the initiative to say, “My friend replied to me, so I’ll head in now.”

Sang Yan didn’t respond, only tugging slightly at the corner of his mouth.

“By the way,” remembering the events of the night, Wen Yifan said earnestly before parting, “Whatever the case, even if you think it was a small gesture, I owe you a favor. If you ever need help with anything in the future, you can ask me.”

Sang Yan carelessly grunted an acknowledgment, waving his hand dismissively as he got back into the car.

He glanced at the medicine bag on the passenger seat, then looked out the window.

He watched as Wen Yifan placed her luggage bag on top of the suitcase and slowly wheeled it towards the entrance of the residential complex. Perhaps because the luggage was heavy, she walked very slowly.

But she never looked back.

Only after her silhouette had completely disappeared from view did Sang Yan avert his gaze. He was about to start the car, but recalling her earlier predicament and her slow response in providing her friend’s address and apartment number, he paused.

Sang Yan lowered the window, resting his elbow on the frame, not immediately driving away.

He thought back to Wen Yifan in high school.

Because of her strikingly beautiful and alluring appearance, coupled with her quiet and reserved nature, others saw her as arrogant and difficult to get along with. So her relationships with classmates weren’t great.

Despite this, her temperament was so good it was as if she had no temper at all.

As time passed and everyone got to know each other better, classmates gradually understood what kind of person she was and became more uninhibited. Behind her back, they gave her the nickname “Vase” — she couldn’t do anything well, seemed to have no common sense about life, and was good for nothing except being pretty and dancing.

Sang Yan didn’t know if the Wen Yifan from that time would cry if she encountered a situation like this.

But he was certain that she would never be like she was now, able to talk to him normally as if nothing had happened. During this time, he hadn’t seen her seek comfort from anyone.

She only repeatedly expressed gratitude to those who had helped her.

As if she had lost all emotion.

Sang Yan lowered his eyes, about to light a cigarette when a phone call interrupted him.

He answered the call.

Su Hao’an’s voice came through: “Are you still coming to ‘work overtime’ tonight? If you’re coming, bring my car over. You’re driving my car, so what am I supposed to drive? How am I supposed to pick up girls without a car?”

Sang Yan: “Alright, I’ll return it to you in a bit.”

Su Hao’an: “But why did you suddenly leave?”

“You don’t know?” Sang Yan sneered, “Is it my place to tell you?”

“…” Su Hao’an was silent for three seconds, then voluntarily admitted his mistake, “Fine, fine, fine, I won’t bring them next time, okay? They’ve already taken turns making sarcastic comments at me.”

Sang Yan couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Su Hao’an began to justify himself: “Is it wrong that I like coquettish girls? That’s just the type I’m interested in!”

“Are you done?”

“Of course not,” Su Hao’an continued to complain, “Can’t you have a little patience with me? Just treat me like I’m your future girlfriend and comfort me, okay? I’m feeling very complicated right now.”

“Hanging up.”

Sang Yan ended the call and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, biting one between his lips.

Just as he was about to look for a lighter, Su Hao’an called back. He casually answered while turning on the interior light and rummaging through the front storage compartment.

“You’re so heartless. I only have time to catch my breath and talk to you now because my date went to the bathroom,” Su Hao’an reproached him. “How! Can! You! Just! Hang! Up!”

Sang Yan let out an “Oh”: “I can hang up a second time.”

“…” Su Hao’an started sighing, “Ah, coaxing women is tiring. I originally thought this Linlin was quite cute, but now that I look at her today, she’s so annoying.”

“Then don’t date her.”

“That won’t do. Dating is too enjoyable.”

“…” Sang Yan scoffed, “You’re just asking for trouble.”

As he said this, in the light, Sang Yan noticed something shiny under the passenger seat. His gaze stopped, and he squinted, leaning over to pick it up.

Sang Yan straightened up, thoughtfully looking at the object in his hand.

It was a set of keys.

–

Wen Yifan waited at Wang Linlin’s door for about two hours.

It wasn’t until midnight that Wang Linlin finally arrived. Seeing Wen Yifan’s state, she was somewhat surprised: “Xiao Fan, what happened to you? Why do you look so disheveled?”

Wen Yifan explained: “There was a bit of an issue with the place I was staying before, so I suddenly came over and interrupted your date, making you come back early. I’m sorry, Sister Lin.”

“It’s fine.” Wang Linlin opened the door and sighed, “I could have come back earlier, but my boyfriend was being so clingy, I felt bad making you wait for so long.”

They went in together.

Wang Linlin: “It’s quite late now, you should get settled in first. I’m exhausted, I’ll take a shower and go to bed. We can discuss any matters to note tomorrow.”

Wen Yifan nodded quickly.

Wang Linlin walked a couple of steps towards the master bedroom, then turned back: “By the way, how did you get back today? The place we had dinner was quite out of the way, I forgot to remind you when you left.”

Wen Yifan: “Sang Yan happened to be heading the same way, so I asked him for a ride.”

“You asked him?” As if hearing a huge joke, Wang Linlin burst out laughing, “Why didn’t he offer to drive you?”

Wen Yifan didn’t understand what was so funny about this and looked confused: “He had no obligation to drive me.”

Wang Linlin shook her head, somewhat sympathetically: “You shouldn’t do this in the future. He must be feeling quite smug now, probably laughing about you with his friends.”

Wen Yifan: “Hm?”

“After all, he couldn’t pursue you before, and now if you turn around and throw yourself at him, he’ll play along for a while, then dump you when he gets bored. You need to be careful,” Wang Linlin walked back and patted her shoulder, “Trust me, I have plenty of experience. These rich boys are all the same, all with the same rotten character.”

“…”

Wen Yifan wanted to say she had no intention of throwing herself at him, and she didn’t think Sang Yan was that kind of person.

After all, he didn’t even want to acknowledge her now.

But Wen Yifan was never one to argue with people, so she took it as well-intentioned advice.

“I understand.”

–

Living with Wang Linlin turned out to be more harmonious than Wen Yifan had imagined.

Because the two hardly ever ran into each other at home.

Wang Linlin’s schedule was very health-conscious and extremely devoted to beauty sleep. She slept a full eight hours every day, and unless necessary, she would be in bed by eleven. After waking up, she didn’t make much noise either, just put on some makeup, got ready, and left.

Wen Yifan, because she had to chase news stories, was so busy she barely had time to stay at home, her schedule all over the place. For her, the apartment was just a place to sleep.

The neighborhood was safe and close to the company, and having a roommate was not much different from not having one.

For Wen Yifan, it was already the most perfect shared living situation she could imagine.

After learning that Wen Yifan was living with Wang Linlin, Su Tian asked her about it several times. Seeing that she genuinely found it quite good, Su Tian finally felt at ease.

On Wednesday afternoon of the following week.

Wen Yifan had just finished a phone call with an expert when Su Tian happened to return from the tea room. She came over to Wen Yifan’s side and lowered her voice to share some gossip: “I just heard that Wang Linlin is going to resign.”

Wen Yifan’s attention was caught, and she asked in surprise: “Really?”

“It should be true. You’re living with her, hasn’t she mentioned it to you?” Su Tian said, “Apparently she’s already submitted her resignation. Her recent behavior clearly shows she doesn’t want to work here anymore.”

“How can you tell?”

“She’s been coming in late and leaving early every day. The director has been very dissatisfied with her lately. If she doesn’t resign herself, she’ll be fired sooner or later. Today I saw her pretending to look up some information, then she left without doing anything.”

Due to frequent unpaid overtime, the working hours in the journalism industry were relatively flexible. When busy, they could work around the clock for twenty-four hours, and when work was done, they could come in late and leave early.

There weren’t many limitations.

Although they worked in the same office, some colleagues might not see each other for a whole week.

Wen Yifan hadn’t paid much attention to these things and didn’t find it inappropriate: “Is it because she doesn’t want to chase news stories anymore, so she’s changing jobs? After all, just the base salary isn’t enough to live on.”

“Didn’t she hook up with some rich second-generation guy?” Mentioning this, Su Tian couldn’t help but add, “That rich guy seems to be wealthy. I saw Wang Linlin getting into a Ferrari the other day. Now all she does is brag to me, she can’t say anything else.”

Wen Yifan smiled: “Just listen and let it go.”

Su Tian muttered quietly: “I just can’t stand her smug attitude.”

Before Wen Yifan could respond, Fu Zhuang’s head suddenly squeezed between the two of them, smiling: “Whose smug attitude can’t you stand?”

It wasn’t clear when he had returned.

Su Tian was startled and pushed him away irritably: “Who else could it be? You!”

Fu Zhuang: “?”

Su Tian: “What are you eavesdropping for, you little brat? Get lost.”

“What little brat!” Fu Zhuang was instantly displeased, using his drink bottle as a microphone, “Aren’t we the ‘Fan Fu Su Zi’ group? You two should share any workplace gossip with me too, don’t isolate me!”

Su Tian laughed in exasperation: “What kind of lousy group name is that? Did I agree to it?”

Fu Zhuang: “Isn’t it quite catchy?”

Wen Yifan smiled slightly, not participating in the topic, and continued typing on her keyboard.

As silence fell.

Seeing that neither of them was paying attention to him, Fu Zhuang took the initiative: “My two sisters, do you have any plans tonight? Want to celebrate with Big Zhuang? To commemorate Big Zhuang’s first solo edit making it to air, let’s have a party for our group!”

Su Tian patted his head: “Go home and drink your milk, little one. Sister has plans.”

Fu Zhuang looked at Wen Yifan: “Then Sister Yifan…”

Hearing her name, Wen Yifan looked up, seeming completely oblivious to their conversation. Noticing the drink in his hand, she took a few seconds to react, then perfunctorily said, “Thanks, I don’t drink.”

“…”

After speaking, Wen Yifan continued to organize her thoughts for the news article. Once she finished the first draft, she leaned back, resting against the chair for a moment, and checked her phone.

The former landlord had sent her a WeChat message two hours ago.

Landlord: [Xiao Wen, did you forget to leave me the keys to the apartment?]

Wen Yifan was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately.

The night she moved out, she informed the landlord via WeChat. A few days later, the landlord transferred the remaining rent and deposit back to her through WeChat, and they haven’t been in contact since.

She had no use for the keys anymore and hadn’t given it any thought.

Wen Yifan replied: [Yes, I’m sorry. When would be convenient for you? I’ll bring them to you.]

Although she responded this way, Wen Yifan couldn’t remember where she had put the keys.

Could she have lost them?

For some reason, Wen Yifan suddenly thought of Zhong Siqiao leaving her bracelet at Sang Yan’s bar. Just as she was thinking she couldn’t be that unlucky, she received two more messages.

Seeing the name, Wen Yifan had a bad feeling.

She instinctively opened the messages.

The first one was a photo of the keys the landlord had just asked her about.

Followed immediately by the second message.

Sang Yan: [I suggest not using the same method twice.]