To the girl, Yun Li’s words seemed more like a declaration of ownership. Her tone was soft as cotton, but her eyes held an undeniable certainty.
After the girl left, Yun Li took a sip of her mocha. Suddenly, Fu Shize asked, “You still remember that?”
Yun Li turned to look at him. The man’s features were cold yet youthful, his expression as calm as ever.
An inexplicable pressure descended, and Yun Li feigned composure: “Not really. I just wanted to encourage her, since she’s my fan.”
Fu Shize put down his knife and fork: “Encourage her about what?”
“We’ve known each other for a while now, so we should be friends, right? Friends can help friends find potential partners.”
Fu Shize: “I thought you said we weren’t close.”
“…”
Fu Shize only teased her briefly before continuing the previous topic: “What kind of person are you looking for?”
His tone was as flat as usual, but to Yun Li, it carried a hint of temptation and allure.
All those thoughts she had kept buried suddenly surged to the surface.
Unable to suppress her anticipation and nervousness, she just wanted to confirm if Fu Shize might like someone like her.
Yun Li swallowed and stared at him, her tone probing: “Someone beautiful and quiet, introverted with others but extroverted with you, always revolving around you. What do you think?”
She didn’t even give him other options.
She didn’t want to know any other answer.
Fu Shize paused, leaned to his right, took a sip of water, and then flipped through her textbook.
“This is an important point for the exam.”
Not getting the answer she wanted, Yun Li’s attention returned to the incomprehensible flowcharts and formulas.
Fifteen minutes past the agreed time, Fu Zhengchu still hadn’t arrived. Yun Li checked her phone and saw a message from him from a quarter-hour ago.
Fu Zhengchu: [Sister Li Li, should I still come?]
Yun Li: [Why wouldn’t you come?]
Fu Zhengchu: [It feels awkward. Wouldn’t I be a third wheel?]
Yun Li: [You have a point.]
Fu Zhengchu: […]
Yun Li: [You should still come qaq, otherwise my intentions will be too obvious.]
Fu Zhengchu: [On my way.]
In reality, Fu Zhengchu had arrived near the café much earlier, hiding in a corner, alternating between reading and observing the two. After watching for a while and finding it too boring, he finally messaged Yun Li.
Upon entering, Fu Zhengchu sat opposite Fu Shize and opened his book to read.
He barely spoke throughout.
Fu Shize found it strange and poked Fu Zhengchu’s book with his pen.
Fu Zhengchu remained silent.
Fu Shize poked the book again and asked, “Bad mood?”
Fu Zhengchu shook his head: “Little Uncle, I’m studying. Don’t bother me.”
At that moment, he just wanted to be invisible.
Fu Shize, rarely dismissed by Fu Zhengchu, shifted his focus to Yun Li.
After explaining the core knowledge points for each type of question, two hours passed. Fu Shize looked at the past exam papers, selected one of moderate difficulty, and placed it in front of Yun Li.
His instruction was a simple word: “Solve.”
As Yun Li worked, Fu Shize rested his chin on his hand, his eyes fixed on her paper.
…
Yun Li felt like she was back in third grade, with the math teacher standing beside her, vigilantly watching, constantly tapping a ruler as a warning.
With every bit of progress, she had to gauge his reaction.
Fu Shize hardly concealed his thoughts; every time Yun Li answered multiple-choice or true-false questions or wrote an incorrect formula in her draft, his expression would subtly change, like furrowing his brow or narrowing his eyes.
Half an hour later.
Having finally completed the twenty short questions, Yun Li was drenched in cold sweat.
Fu Shize checked her answers – all correct. His brow relaxed, looking very satisfied with the result.
Yun Li didn’t understand. Was this the joy of top students?
Not only did he need to get everything right, but the person he was watching also had to.
Yun Li stared at his face and couldn’t help asking, “Did you often help others cheat in the past?”
“?”
Yun Li: “You seem very practiced at it.”
Fu Shize was speechless. Yun Li continued, “Actually, I find these questions brain-burning. If it weren’t for the exams, I probably wouldn’t touch them at all…”
Fu Shize stared at her. Seeing Yun Li’s hopeful expression seeking agreement, he forced a slight smile and perfunctorily said, “Yeah.”
“I might not be great at studying,” Yun Li began to defend her lack of academic prowess, “but being a content creator is pretty good. My last video now has 3 million views, and it’s in the DIY tech category.”
She emphasized the words “DIY tech,” implying that the video had some technical content.
“I reassembled a robot.”
Fu Shize: “Let me see.”
Yun Li opened the video and placed it on the table. Fu Shize watched the screen silently, his expression only changing when the small soccer ball appeared.
Remembering something, Yun Li asked, “I need to shoot a new promo for EAW. Could you help me operate the equipment when the time comes?”
Fu Shize absently hummed in agreement.
Before the video finished, E-station sent her dozens of notifications. Yun Li hadn’t intended to check them but accidentally tapped, revealing a post with a string of comments tagging her. The post contained nine photos from the same angle.
First photo: Fu Shize leaning on the table, turning his head to explain something to her, while she listened attentively, her gaze on his face.
Second photo: Fu Shize writing on a draft paper with a pen, while she rested her chin on her hand, her gaze on his face.
Third photo: Fu Shize bringing a piece of waffle to his lips, while she lay on the table solving problems, her gaze on his face.
Fans noticed that in all nine photos, regardless of what the two were doing, Yun Li’s gaze was always fixed on Fu Shize’s face.
[@XianYunDiDaJiang They’re so perfect together! I ship it so hard!]
[@XianYunDiDaJiang Women are all liars. Heartbroken, my wife’s been stolen, unfollowing.]
[@XianYunDiDaJiang Wuwuwu my wife is committing bigamy.]
Who the hell took these photos?
Yun Li was in a daze. Judging from the angle of the photos, they were taken from the direction of the café’s restroom, where only a few dry flower arrangements were haphazardly placed.
Fu Shize glanced at the screen, and Yun Li quickly covered her phone.
Perhaps triggered by the repeated mentions in the comments.
Yun Li blurted out: “Wifey, let’s do some problems.”
Fu Shize’s hand froze.
Fu Zhengchu, trying hard to maintain his invisible status, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Yun Li looked at the two, with only one thought in mind—
How embarrassing.
So embarrassing.
How could there be such an embarrassing situation?
Not knowing if he hadn’t heard or just couldn’t be bothered to respond, Fu Shize didn’t say a single extra word. This silence amplified the awkwardness a hundredfold, seeping into every cell of her being.
Averting her gaze, Yun Li covered her face, trying to cool down.
“I’m going to the restroom,” Yun Li fled, unable to cool down.
At the table, Fu Zhengchu was still suppressing his laughter. Fu Shize tapped his head with a pen.
Fu Zhengchu didn’t mind and clutched his stomach, laughing loudly: “Hahaha, wifey!”
Fu Shize: “…”
“I have a question,” he tapped Fu Zhengchu with the pen again.
Seeing Fu Shize’s expression, Fu Zhengchu immediately quieted down.
He opened his mouth, struggling to ask: “Do I look like a woman?”
…
When Yun Li returned, the two appeared composed. She calmly sat back down and began writing furiously, her mind wandering.
“Hey, Yun Li.”
As Yun Li was battling with past exam questions, Qu Mingxin’s voice came from above. She looked up to see Qu Mingxin wearing a white lace dress, her makeup impeccable, lightly hugging Yun Li’s neck.
“I saw you outside earlier and wondered if it was you.”
“Can I sit here? Is this the colleague from Halloween?” Qu Mingxin casually pulled out a chair and sat down, waving to someone behind her, “Li Weiran, come over here.”
Yun Li then noticed a fair-skinned girl behind them, who also pulled out a chair and sat down.
With the intrusion of strangers, Yun Li’s pores instantly tightened, and she stiffly greeted the two.
“Let’s sit at another table. My classmates are reviewing for exams.”
Just as she stood up, she realized the café was already full.
“Let’s just sit here. I’d like to meet your friends too.” Qu Mingxin took charge, naturally pulling Yun Li back to her seat.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Yun Li didn’t like Qu Mingxin, but she also knew that high school was many years ago.
As the victim, this memory remained vivid and unerasable for her.
But she also didn’t want to define someone for life based on actions they took when their personality wasn’t fully formed.
Qu Mingxin chatted with her about her work and asked about their situation. Yun Li’s phone kept vibrating. She took it out and saw it was a call from He Jiameng. She gestured with her phone: “I’m going to take this call outside.”
He Jiameng wanted to confirm the theme for the promotional content. Yun Li had already thought about it and gave a direct response.
“I want to make this EAW promo into a one-minute short video with the theme of ‘Trying.’ What do you think?”
Reflecting on her entire journey as a content creator, she had indeed tried many things. From starting in the food category, gradually moving to DIY and lifestyle, to the recent viral robot video.
For career prospects, she had chosen automation for both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and initially wanted to join the technical department during her internship at EAW.
But being assigned to the HR department broke her step-by-step plan, yet also brought new opportunities and attempts—she had longed to integrate into groups; she wanted to prove that being introverted didn’t mean she couldn’t excel at this job.
Yun Li liked this theme.
Trying always implies expectations for the future.
She also had expectations for her future with Fu Shize, stronger than all others—
“I saw Yun Li chatting with you guys from the window earlier. She seems much more outgoing now. I’m happy for her,” Qu Mingxin smiled. “I’d like to know how Yun Li’s been doing. Why don’t we add each other on WeChat?”
She proactively took out her phone. Hearing this, Fu Zhengchu unlocked his phone and was about to hand it over when a finger pressed down on his wrist.
Fu Shize: “That won’t be necessary.”
It was the first time Qu Mingxin had been refused when asking for WeChat. Moreover, the person looked completely unapproachable.
Fu Zhengchu smiled apologetically at the two women: “If you have any questions, you can ask Sister Li Li directly.” Not wanting to appear distant to Yun Li’s friends, he asked, “Are you Sister Li Li’s high school classmates?”
Qu Mingxin: “Yes, we were very close in high school. Though Yun Li generally got along better with boys. Among the girls, her close friends were just me and Deng Chuqi.”
“Let me order some drinks for you, on Sister Li Li’s behalf,” Fu Zhengchu said without thinking much, pressing the service bell.
Qu Mingxin first chatted casually with Fu Zhengchu about the South University of Science and Technology, then the topic shifted to Yun Li’s high school days: “Yun Li was quite pitiful in high school. Because she couldn’t hear with one ear, she often couldn’t hear the teachers clearly in class. When called on to answer questions, she didn’t even know what was asked. Our teachers would say she was daydreaming and not paying attention.”
Fu Shize moved slightly.
Fu Zhengchu hadn’t processed this information.
She continued regretfully: “So in high school, she was often punished by having to stand, and her grades weren’t good. I heard she didn’t get into graduate school without exams later. I guess she probably couldn’t hear the professors clearly in college either. But this wasn’t her fault at all. She seems to have been unable to hear since childhood. She faced a lot of discrimination because of this and doesn’t keep in touch with us much anymore.”
“Many people ask how she’s doing now, but she doesn’t reply. Seeing her so happy with you guys, we feel relieved.”
Fu Zhengchu was about to say something, but noticing Fu Shize’s expression from the corner of his eye, he automatically closed his mouth.
The waitress happened to bring the menu. Just as Qu Mingxin was about to take it, Fu Shize grabbed the other side of the menu and handed it back to the waitress.
Fu Shize: “You said — you graduated from university and are working now.”
Qu Mingxin nodded: “Yes, I’m currently working at…”
Fu Shize rarely interrupted people, but he made an exception this time, sneering: “Hearing you expose Yun Li’s shortcomings, I’ve been puzzled since last time,”
“You don’t sound like an educated person.”
The smile on Qu Mingxin’s face became difficult to maintain. She tried to explain: “I just hoped…”
Fu Shize: “Hoped we’d discover her flaws, is that it?”
Fu Shize: “We didn’t notice hers, but yours are quite obvious.”