Wen Yifan immediately took a step back and put her phone back in her pocket. She didn’t answer the question, lowering her eyes to see Sang Yan’s empty hands. “Weren’t you going to buy something?”
Sang Yan stood up straight and replied nonchalantly, “Ah, let’s go.”
“…” Wen Yifan asked, “You haven’t bought anything yet?”
“Hm?” Sang Yan turned his head, his tone perfectly normal, “We’re about to go buy things, aren’t we?”
Wen Yifan reminded him, “Didn’t you say you couldn’t carry things?”
Sang Yan: “That’s right.”
“…”
Wen Yifan was left speechless by his matter-of-fact yet arrogant attitude.
Fine.
She decided to assume she had misunderstood.
He probably meant he wouldn’t be able to carry things later, not that he couldn’t carry them now.
The two entered the supermarket.
They maintained silence for a while.
At some point, Wen Yifan noticed that the atmosphere between them had become somewhat strange. It was similar to their previous mutual indifference, treating each other as strangers, but somehow different.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Wen Yifan stepped onto the escalator first. Remembering Su Tian’s words, she brought up, “How’s the renovation of your house going?”
Sang Yan stood a step below her, now only slightly taller than her. He leaned against the handrail, holding his phone in one hand, and casually replied, “Why?”
Wen Yifan: “I calculated the time today. We originally agreed on three months.”
Hearing this, Sang Yan looked up.
“You moved in on January 20th, and it’s been two months already,” Wen Yifan said. “So I wanted to discuss this with you first.”
“Discuss what?”
Wen Yifan said gently, “When do you think you’ll move out?”
Sang Yan replied as if he couldn’t be bothered, “We’ll see when the time comes.”
“I’m not trying to rush you out. It’s just that I might need to find a new roommate in advance,” Wen Yifan tried to negotiate with him. “I just wanted to confirm, that if you don’t plan to renew the lease and will move out by March 20th as we originally discussed, I can start arranging things with the next roommate.”
The escalator arrived at the second floor.
Their conversation was interrupted.
Just as Wen Yifan was about to bring it up again, Sang Yan spoke, “Alright.”
She turned back.
Sang Yan smirked and said casually, “I’ll check the situation and get back to you.”
…
This area was a small commercial zone built when Shangdu Huacheng opened.
There was a ring of shops outside the residential area, and further out, there was a large shopping mall. It had three floors in total, with various big brand stores on the first floor, and supermarkets on the upper two floors.
The second floor was the food section, and the third floor was for daily necessities.
Sang Yan pushed a shopping cart, and they went directly to the third floor.
Wen Yifan hadn’t been to the supermarket for quite a while.
While waiting to be a pack mule, she watched Sang Yan toss items into the shopping cart one by one. She realized that the household consumables at home were indeed running low.
Sang Yan shopped very casually, grabbing what he needed and moving on, tossing familiar brands into the cart. He didn’t spend any extra time comparing prices or brands.
However, Wen Yifan’s shopping style was completely different from his.
Outside of work, she did everything slowly and meticulously.
Moreover, Wen Yifan had lived frugally since her university days, and her financial situation wasn’t great. So she could spend several minutes in one spot just comparing prices.
As a result, the two gradually drifted apart.
When passing the tissue section, Sang Yan glanced over, reached out to grab a roll of toilet paper and a box of tissues, tossed them into the cart, and continued walking. After about ten steps, he suddenly felt something was off, stopped, and looked back.
He saw Wen Yifan still in the same spot. She was carefully looking at the price tags, then at the number of rolls on the packaging, seemingly comparing which one was more cost-effective.
Sang Yan walked back: “What are you doing?”
“Calculating the price,” Wen Yifan didn’t look up, absentmindedly saying, “They’re both four-ply. This one is 20 yuan for 10 rolls, 140 grams per roll. This one is 23 yuan for 12 rolls, 120 grams per roll… I’m trying to figure out which is a better deal.”
“…”
Wen Yifan got a headache looking at the numbers: “It’s a bit hard to calculate.”
Sang Yan understood, looking at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“So this one is 2 yuan per roll,” she muttered to herself, but quickly stopped, “What’s 23 divided by 12…”
Wen Yifan was about to pull out her phone calculator when Sang Yan provided the answer.
“About 1.9 yuan.”
“Oh.” Wen Yifan’s hand hovered over the 12-roll pack, hesitating, “Should we get this one then?”
Sang Yan didn’t rush her, looking down at her. Hearing her words, he seemed to find it amusing and his lips curved slightly: “Go ahead, isn’t it more cost-effective?”
Wen Yifan looked up: “But this one is only 120 grams.”
Sang Yan: “Then get the 10-roll pack.”
Wen Yifan hadn’t calculated the answer and wasn’t sure: “Let me calculate again.”
Sang Yan stared at her, suddenly chuckling: “Wen Yifan, are you here to take the college entrance exam at the supermarket?”
“…” Wen Yifan was at a loss for words.
“You could spend half a year calculating these numbers,” Sang Yan pulled out his phone to check the time, drawing, “It’s almost 9 PM, I’m afraid you’ll turn in a blank paper. How about I take the exam for you this time?”
Before Wen Yifan could speak.
Sang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, tapping his knuckles on the nearby toilet paper twice, seemingly helpfully providing the answer.
“The 10-roll pack is more cost-effective.”
“…”
–
For the rest of the time.
When Wen Yifan compared product prices again, the situation was similar to before. Eventually, she simply gave up and let Sang Yan “take the exam” for her on all decisions.
After they finished shopping, they went to the checkout counter.
The staff packed their items into bags. There weren’t too many things, just two bags, one large and one small. The remaining two items that were too big to fit in the bags were the toilet paper and tissues they had just bought.
Sang Yan picked up everything, then instructed her: “Put the cart back.”
“Okay.” Wen Yifan returned the shopping cart, took out the two umbrellas inside, and then walked back to Sang Yan. Seeing him with bags of various sizes, she offered, “I can carry these.”
“You hold the umbrella,” Sang Yan didn’t give her the items, adding slowly, “For me.”
“…”
“Don’t let me get wet.”
“…”
The two left the mall.
Outside, the rain was heavier than before, and the temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees as the night deepened. There were fewer people around, and the distant car lights tinted the raindrops, making them look like colorful rays of light.
They both had single-person umbrellas, but Sang Yan’s was slightly larger.
Wen Yifan opened her umbrella, and raised her hand high, covering most of Sang Yan. They stood close, but the umbrella space was small, and raindrops still fell along the umbrella tip, ice-cold water hitting her shoulder and seeping into her clothes.
After a while.
Sang Yan suddenly spoke: “Hey.”
Wen Yifan looked at him: “Hm?”
“Move the umbrella more to your side,” Sang Yan said arrogantly, “It’s blocking my view.”
“Oh.”
Wen Yifan didn’t move, just raised her hand higher.
Sang Yan: “Hurry up.”
“Okay.” She had no choice but to move it towards herself a bit.
“Move it more,” Sang Yan clicked his tongue, “Don’t you know how tall you are?”
“…” Wen Yifan felt that if she moved it any further, he would practically be without an umbrella. Seeing his slightly wet right shoulder, she suggested, “Why don’t you hold the umbrella then?”
Sang Yan glanced at her: “What are you thinking?”
“?”
“Thinking you can do nothing?”
“…”
Anyway, the journey home wasn’t far.
Wen Yifan didn’t dwell on this anymore.
Back home, Wen Yifan opened the umbrella and put it on the balcony to dry. When she returned to the living room, she caught a glimpse of Sang Yan’s current state. Most of his shoulder was wet, his hair ends were damp, and water droplets clung to his jacket.
Sang Yan took off his jacket and draped it over a dining chair.
Wen Yifan suggested: “Why don’t you take a shower first?”
She didn’t immediately return to her room, slowly tidying up the things they had just bought. Wen Yifan hadn’t gotten much rain on her, and seeing the stark contrast between them, she was a bit worried Sang Yan might sarcastically say—
“You can’t even hold an umbrella properly.”
But after waiting for a while, Sang Yan didn’t say anything.
He just grunted in response, took his clothes, and went to the bathroom to shower.
After putting everything away, Wen Yifan took out the receipt and her phone, preparing to calculate the expenses. As soon as she lit up the screen, she saw the webpage she hadn’t exited earlier after searching for “Mu Chengyun”.
There was a photo under the entry.
The young man was smiling with pursed lips, wearing a simple white T-shirt, looking energetic and cheerful.
There wasn’t much information in the introduction.
Mu Chengyun, male, actor.
In January 2013, he starred in the movie “Seeing Ghosts When Dreams Wake”.
“…”
Seeing this movie title, Wen Yifan was momentarily confused. She quickly remembered that she seemed to have watched this movie. But she hadn’t paid much attention, and now couldn’t recall any of the plot or characters.
She only remembered the pale ghost face that appeared a few times.
The encyclopedia didn’t specify which character Mu Chengyun played.
Wen Yifan couldn’t be bothered to look further, thinking that Zhong Siqiao might have watched this movie, so she decided to ask her later if she knew this celebrity. If she liked him, she could give her the autograph.
She returned her attention to the task at hand and opened the calculator.
Before she could start calculating, Sang Yan had already finished his shower and came out.
Sang Yan didn’t have the habit of blow-drying his hair, always just rubbing it a few times with a towel before coming out, leaving his hair fluffy and damp. Wearing dark casual clothes, he looked softer than usual.
She didn’t know what shower gel he used, but it had a very unique scent, mixed with a faint sandalwood fragrance.
Sang Yan didn’t say anything, sitting on the sofa and turning on the TV.
Wen Yifan looked at the receipt and started calculating.
After a while, Wen Yifan heard Sang Yan send a voice message to someone, his tone casual: “Recommend a ghost movie, need to fall asleep.”
“…”
Wen Yifan was very interested in these thrilling, supernatural films. She moved her lips, initially wanting to recommend a few of her favorites, but then worried he might just say: “Seen it.”
So, Wen Yifan simply remained silent, planning to watch along.
Wen Yifan calculated twice, and after confirming the numbers were correct, she transferred money to Sang Yan via Alipay. At the same time, the TV started making sounds. She immediately became interested and looked at the screen.
They had a smart TV at home, which could not only access TV channels but also play on-demand movies and shows.
Sang Yan must have selected a movie, as it started playing from the beginning.
At this moment, on the TV screen.
A woman seemed to have just woken up from a dream, her face full of terror, breathing heavily. The surrounding light was very dim, and the background music sounded eerie, with a soft, repeated thumping sound.
Like the footsteps of a ghost approaching.
Wen Yifan felt it was somewhat familiar.
Continuing to watch.
The woman seemed to be controlled, or as if she sensed something, her whole body frozen. Then, she stiffly turned her head to the left, facing a pale face with blood flowing from its seven orifices.
The music intensified at this moment, accompanied by the woman’s uncontrollable screams.
“Ahhhh——!!”
There was a sudden noise from Sang Yan’s side.
His phone had fallen to the ground.
Wen Yifan instinctively looked over, seeing Sang Yan bending down with his back to her, picking up his phone.
She couldn’t see his expression and turned her gaze back.
The next moment.
The screen showed the five characters “Seeing Ghosts When Dreams Wake”, dyed with dripping blood, winding downwards.
Oh.
Wen Yifan remembered.
Although in her memory, this ghost movie was particularly boring, Wen Yifan’s interest hadn’t diminished one bit. Since she hadn’t paid much attention last time, it didn’t affect her treating it as a completely new movie to pass the time.
The living room was quiet.
Wen Yifan didn’t talk much when watching movies, always particularly focused. But for some reason, maybe because she had a vague impression of this movie, or maybe because it was poorly made.
At a loud sound, accompanied by the appearance of a ghost face, Wen Yifan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“…”
This scene was a bit horrifying.
At night, in a closed space, two people silently watch a ghost movie. At the most intense and nerve-wracking moment, the person next to you suddenly laughs.
Sang Yan’s brow twitched: “What are you laughing at?”
Wen Yifan was watching intently, almost forgetting his existence. Hearing his voice, she was a bit dazed, and after a long while, she said, “It’s quite funny.”
“…” Sang Yan stared at her for a moment, “This is a ghost movie.”
“But that part just now was really funny,” Wen Yifan looked back at the screen, pointing out to him, “The ghost’s face should be covered in flour, and it’s applied too thickly. When it comes out, it’s even falling off—”
“…”
Moreover, in the past ten minutes or so.
Wen Yifan gradually realized that the ghost in the movie was Mu Chengyun, whom she had seen today.
No wonder she found him familiar.
In the entire movie, this was the only face she remembered.
Wen Yifan was about to continue watching, but noticing Sang Yan’s expression, she suddenly realized she might have affected his mood while watching the movie.
She reflected on herself, thinking that laughing during a serious and thrilling ghost movie might indeed be inappropriate. Worried that she might not be able to hold back her laughter again, she decided not to stay and planned to go back to her room to watch on her computer.
Wen Yifan had just stood up.
Sang Yan asked, “Where are you going?”
Wen Yifan answered honestly, “Back to my room.”
“It’s just a ghost movie,” Sang Yan paused for a few seconds, leaning back, “You’re so sca—”
Before he could finish his sentence.
Suddenly, Mu Chengyun’s face, streaming with bloody tears, appeared close-up on the screen.
Accompanied by that familiar, startling music.
Sang Yan’s expression froze, the rest of his words stuck in his throat, unfinished.
Wen Yifan followed his gaze to the screen. After staring at it for a moment, she inexplicably felt like laughing. She pressed her lips together and said, “You can keep watching. I’m going back to my room.”
She had just taken a couple of steps when Sang Yan called out again.
“Hey.”
There was something odd about him.
Wen Yifan glanced at him and recalled his earlier reaction, piecing it together. “Are you scared?”
“…”
Noticing he remained silent, Wen Yifan didn’t press further and turned to walk inside.
Sang Yan spoke up again. “Alright, Wen Yifan.”
She turned back for the third time to see him patting the spot next to him, lazily tilting his head. “Sit down.”
“?”
“I know you’re scared too.”
“…”