Jin Yiken’s words were glaringly obvious. Couldn’t be clearer.

Long Qi looked at him. The sound of wind rang in her ears, and rain. Strands of hair floated by the corners of her eyes.

The distance between them remained very close, nose tips touching, breaths interlacing, chests rising and falling slightly. She’d had physical contact with him countless times, but none had made her heart beat faster than this moment. The feeling of her waist being tightly encircled by his arm vividly existed. This person also stood genuinely before her. She stared into his eyes. At this moment, she said: “What else can we do—let’s go back to the hotel then.”

……

But Jin Yiken didn’t go back to the hotel with her.

He took her to a barbecue food stall near the film district. At this hour, only the night market food stalls still opened their fires rain or shine. He was hungry—he’d flown over without eating dinner, starving terribly. He said she currently had only sleeping on her mind, improper thoughts. Then he came here and ordered a pile of seafood barbecue steaming with heat and sprinkled with cumin.

Long Qi sat on a plastic chair.

On the table sat a coconut with a straw stuck in it. Her whole person was curled up in the hoodie. Wind blew the strands of hair outside her hood. No emotion on her face, sucking coconut juice. He was playing with her phone on the opposite side of the table, elbow propped on the chair armrest with his leg raised—handsome and bastardly. At the adjacent table sat a group of students from the nearby university town who’d “met at the internet cafe for an all-nighter,” clinking bottles and speaking youthful reckless words. Among the pile of boys were also a few girls, faces bearing heavy but slightly smudged makeup, laughing crisply.

The young guy running the food stall clacked down a plate of freshly grilled items, then turned to busy himself with other tables’ work. Jin Yiken wasn’t in a hurry to eat. He asked:

“Who helped you play to get this record?”

She looked over. He was playing that DoodleJump game.

“Myself.”

“Impossible.”

“Hey, that’s really interesting what you said. Why can’t I possibly achieve this record?”

“Your left-right balance is poor. Ten minutes staring at this is your limit. The result is either you ‘suicide’ or someone touches you and it’s game over. I can surpass your score in minutes. You surpassing me has no possibility.”

She suddenly remembered the last game record was left there by Zang Xipu. She sat back a bit, leaning against the chair back: “My mom’s two sons, elementary school students, can surpass your score in minutes.”

His own phone was placed at the table’s edge. The screen had two obvious cracks. She changed the subject and asked: “How’d it crack?”

He glanced at it.

“Had a fight with Wu Jiakui.”

“She threw it?”

“Mm.”

Answering leisurely, his tone just like reminding the boss “add cumin, no spice.” She asked again: “That morning I left?”

“When else?”

Yo.

Wu Jiakui’s infatuation for him aside, her little explosive temper was still quite fierce. Really not the Bai Aiting type who’d accept adversity meekly. She incidentally also thought of the latter, this person forgotten in a foreign country. She asked: “Did Bai Aiting come back for break this time?”

“No.”

“Does she still count as your girlfriend in England?”

He was playing quite concentratedly. The “duang” sound effects kept ringing. Without lifting his head, he replied: “If you describe her like that, then what are you?”

“I don’t know. You tell me—girlfriend in the country?”

Jin Yiken laughed.

Each time he laughed, it was fatal. Clearly lowering his head concentrating on his own business, yet seeming to leave a bit of attention on her. Just this tiny bit of attention made people especially excited. She supported her chin with her hand: “Then I’m curious—during that time Wu Jiakui was in England, what was Bai Aiting doing?”

“She and I already have no relationship. What she’s doing, I haven’t looked into.” Then he asked: “Do you know what Dong Xi has been doing lately?”

Her neck stiffened for a moment.

Her expression still sat there nonchalantly, looking at him. He glanced at her, quite briefly, but also quite meaningfully. His gaze returned to the phone screen. Long Qi then said: “I haven’t looked into it, but I want to ask you—have you gotten past this hurdle?”

“No.”

He answered without hesitation.

She sat back, leaning against the chair back. The food stall’s rain shelter roof had dense rain sounds. Wind blew through her hair.

“Then why are you willing to get back together with me?”

“I still like you. I’m reaping what I sowed.”

This sentence was also answered without hesitation. He kept playing the game. Long Qi’s index finger and thumb rubbed together lightly, looking at him.

After three seconds, she took a breath and turned to shout: “Boss, bring two cans of beer!”

The university students at the adjacent table looked over. The young guy quickly clacked the beers onto the table. She opened the can. The pull tab dinged onto the table surface. She pushed one can in front of him, placed one by her own hand, and said: “Jin Yiken, I always used to think you weren’t good, had no moral baseline. But turns out that’s not it. The one who’s not good is me. Those things I demanded from you—in the end, the one who didn’t achieve them was all me. That mistake of emotional cheating, I acknowledge it. I’m treating you to drinks. Can you feel a bit better in your heart?”

He didn’t respond, didn’t lift his head either.

She picked up the can and drank, gulping down mouthful by mouthful, without pausing. The clamor at the adjacent table was affected, going quiet as if by mutual understanding. Pairs of eyes all stared over here.

Finished.

The empty can clacked against the table. But Jin Yiken hadn’t touched his can at all. So next she took his can and continued drinking. He finally slowly looked at her. After Long Qi finished drinking, the second empty can hit the table. The last mouthful of alcohol swallowed down. She leaned back against the chair back, chest rising and falling as she looked at him.

……

“This matter’s turned over.”

He finally spoke.

After a two-second pause, she said: “Let me confess another thing to you. That record in my game was left by Zang Xipu. The day of the AMA Awards, I rode with him in the same car. Seeing I couldn’t beat it, he lent a hand.”

“Oh.”

Quiet.

“That’s it. I’m completely transparent before you now.”

……

Wind blew. Jin Yiken said: “I overwrote that record.”

……

……

She asked: “So after eating, back to the hotel?”

“No.”

She kicked him under the table. He pulled his leg back—she missed. His reply was quite blunt: “Want to sleep with me?”

“Right,” she replied. “To make you happy, I self-punished with two cans of beer. Now my mind only wants to lie back on a bed. No mood to sit here in the cold wind eating skewers. You have no thoughts about me at all?”

He finally laughed again.

“I have thoughts about you, Qi. But I prioritize quality. It’s now three forty-five in the morning. After finishing eating here, it’ll be at least four-thirty. Seven o’clock flight. Get to the airport at six. The drive from here to the airport is twenty minutes. Meaning I have to leave by five-forty. For just over an hour, I’d rather chat with you about life plans.”

Jin Yiken calculated this timeline watertight. Long Qi quickly ran through it in her head, feeling he was spending too much time eating. Was about to reply to him when she suddenly heard a phone camera shutter sound from the adjacent table.

She turned her head to look.

Jin Yiken also glanced toward the sound source during a game break. The guys at the adjacent table immediately wore expressions of “acting like nothing happened” and shifted their gazes. One of them put away his phone especially quickly. The other girls pushed him. Long Qi’s reaction was quick, pulling up her hood: “What’s the meaning?”

Jin Yiken’s attention returned to her. Two of the guys in the pile held up their hands apologetically with smiles: “Sorry, sorry. We’re also fans, just taking a photo…”

“Posting on Weibo?”

The guy was stunned. Another quickly replied: “Not posting, not posting, not posting.”

“It’s fine.” Jin Yiken smoothed things over. Long Qi looked at him. He’d already looked back at his game. She looked back at that table of people.

“How is it fine? Don’t even know if you photographed me looking good or not, whether you turned on beauty mode. Come over, I’ll take a photo with you.”

The guys were stunned. The girls let out soft exclamations. The guys looked at Jin Yiken again. Long Qi said: “Come on.”

Jin Yiken looked up, watching her index finger curling toward the guys.

As she stood up, the guys and girls from the adjacent table all came over, opening their phone cameras while walking, half-raising their arms to her side. The girls muttered “so white, so thin,” also glancing at Jin Yiken across the table. The guys, drunk and hyped, were incredibly excited. Arms touching her shoulders. She deliberately smoothed her hair. Jin Yiken watched from his seat. She didn’t look at him, smiling at the camera.

Then she heard the sound of a phone hitting the table surface.

He finally came over when she was taking the third group photo. Casually passing through the people taking photos, when he reached her side, the guys continuously captured several photos of him entering the frame. His hand under the table was grasped by him. He said to the boss: “Check, please.”

Then there was pulling force on her hand. She moved a step toward him under the force. The guys, having taken photos happily, followed her movement. The shutter kept clicking. She said: “You haven’t eaten yet.”

“Not eating anymore.”

“Can we take a photo together?” A girl seized the opportunity to ask.

“Together then.” Long Qi said.

Jin Yiken at this moment didn’t say a word. He faced the camera sideways, looking at her. After two seconds of eye contact, he raised his arm, toward the camera with palm facing inward and back of hand facing outward, making a standard “reverse V” gesture. At the same time, he looked at the guy next to her. That guy immediately understood, instantly sensible, awkwardly putting away his phone. The surrounding clamor also instantly dissipated.

Jin Yiken held her hand walking out from the crowd.

The food stall was set up on one side of a crossroads. Long Qi crossed the street with him. Behind them, the clamor and the smell of cooking smoke faded. She turned to wave at that group of students. He walked ahead, not turning back once, calling a car on his phone to return to the hotel.

After reaching the deserted bus stop diagonally across the street, the surrounding atmosphere finally became completely quiet. Dim yellow streetlights shone on both their shoulders. She asked when the car would arrive. Jin Yiken didn’t answer her. His back was especially aloof. She asked again. He finally turned around.

But what came wasn’t an answer. He walked five steps toward her, forcibly backing her against the bus stop’s advertisement board, saying “I now know how you usually provoke people.” Long Qi’s eyes brightened. Always with hands in pockets, always staring at him. But the gloating in her entire eyes hadn’t emerged yet when his head tilted down. He raised his hand to grip the back of her neck. Lips pressed tight. Not giving her a chance to talk back. The first two seconds she was stunned by the kiss. Her steps wobbled. Her back knocked against the advertisement board surface. Eyes open bearing the force. Then he grasped her elbow and pulled her into his embrace. Only then did she react. Her response was quite quick. From being unilaterally forcefully kissed, it became unaffectedly demanding a kiss. He delivered another turn and waist-gripping move—a very intense possessiveness. Her body was lifted up a bit. The long hair at the back of her head swayed slightly. Completely defenseless. Ears and palms all hot. The streets of the island city at four in the morning. Fine rain slanted under orange lights. She in a thin hooded sweatshirt was thus “settling accounts after autumn” by him at the deserted bus stop. Taking full advantage. Scratching her heart. Heart beating fast to death.

……

……

As she wished, that dawn Jin Yiken went back to the hotel with her.

But he was really abnormally persistent about quality in that area. It was agreed beforehand he only planned to accompany her to catch up on one hour of sleep. Had to call a car to the airport at five fifteen. The alarm was even set for this.

However, how could that be possible.

He changed his mind at five o’clock.

At that time, the curtains were half-drawn. This city hadn’t yet awakened. The dim room was filled with the breathing sounds of two people. When doing it with him was precisely when the alarm rang. Long Qi’s forehead rubbed past his chin. Hair tangled between fingers. Breaths interlaced with each other. She said shouldn’t you be leaving? Jin Yiken said never mind.

Then the phone by the pillow still ringing with the alarm was powered off by him. His thumb brushed past her sweat-dampened forehead, looking at her eyes, continuously looking. The more she frowned, the more forceful he became. She said don’t leave, never leave. He said okay.

……

But this liar.

At twenty-five minutes before seven, he still left. Making her both unsatisfied and unable to sleep. Her whole person felt especially empty. So early in the morning she sent Lao Ping an accountability message about yesterday’s matter. Lao Ping probably also hadn’t slept all night. He replied very quickly. Long Qi asked if he’d do this again next time. He answered he wouldn’t do this next time.

Then asked: Have you two confirmed the relationship this time?

She asked back: Today’s the last day of program recording, right? Let’s end the itinerary early and go back.

Lao Ping: Can’t. Tomorrow night we arranged dinner with Zang Xipu to discuss film cooperation matters. Can’t push it.

Her finger tapped lightly twice by the phone body. She typed: Does he know about my emotional status here?

Lao Ping replied: Whether Zang Xipu knows I’m not sure, but all of Weibo already knows.

……

She looked at this sentence, taking water from the nightstand to drink. While getting out of bed, she exited WeChat and entered Weibo. At this moment online, her and Jin Yiken’s names had already made the top five hot search. First was a wave of movie theater audiences posting status updates at three in the morning. Next was the barbecue stall students posting group photos at four in the morning. Some were profile sneak shots, some were following shots from behind. Anyway, all quite blurry. The only clear ones were those few taken cooperating with that group of guys. They even specifically selected photos with her and Jin Yiken together to upload, with the caption: Waiting for headlines.

This status was reposted by quite a few marketing big Vs.

There was also a Weibo ID that looked like it was from the girl who’d sat next to her in the movie theater. She’d posted a blurry profile photo of her and Jin Yiken sitting in the theater, captioned: Sat right next to me. Can I say Long Qi is super beautiful? I’m a woman and even I melted looking at her! Jin Yiken is also too handsome. One hundred thousand percent certain these two have gotten back together. Don’t ask me why. Never seen any ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend be ambiguous like this [hands spread].

Someone below asked: Ambiguous how?

The blogger replied: Midway seemed like Long Qi was cold or something. Jin protected her knee the whole time. You tell me if that’s ambiguous or not?

The other party replied: Looks like the poster didn’t watch this movie well~

Blogger: Squinting the whole time [hands spread].

……

She saved several of these photos that looked relatively clear into her album.

While brushing teeth and rinsing mouth, Ban Wei’s phone call came in. She answered, speakerphone. Ban Wei’s first sentence was: “Ah, you two ate your fill, drank your fill, and woke up?”

She spat out mouthwash.

“No way,” Ban Wei said. “This fast and you’re already pregnant?”

She pulled a towel to wipe her mouth, bringing the phone to her ear: “You’re making me want to throw up.”

“So you two got back together?”

“Bright and early in the morning, you just want to confirm gossip news?”

“I’ve been rehearsing all night. Saw the news at four in the morning. Holding it in until now to call you counts as humanitarian. Long Qi, if you take Ken back, I owe you a favor here.”

“You’re still thinking about Wu Jiakui.”

“Thinking about her!”

She sat on the living room sofa. Ban Wei changed topics at this moment: “Hey, be careful lately. As far as I know, there’s a studio that’s watching you and Jin Yiken quite closely right now. That’s mainly why I’m calling you. I’m really not that gossipy.”

“How closely?”

“Don’t know. Says they photographed something. Anyway, you two haven’t done anything bad recently, right? The head over there is busy establishing connections with Jin’s side. Sent an informant to tip me off here.”

“Establish what connections?” She asked. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Paparazzi studio and artist PR team matters. Lao Ping understands. Paparazzi target artists, photograph material, privately deal with artists. Artists pay money to buy their own material. Paparazzi take money and shut up. If artists don’t buy, paparazzi release the material. Remember Zhou Yicong’s matter? Originally could have been suppressed. It was caused by money not being in place beforehand. If the other party is blackhearted and wants to earn more, they’ll adopt the method of first releasing material then dealing. Right now they’re in the early stage of releasing wind. If you two don’t react, they’ll continue slowly releasing material until they force you two to their door. By then it’ll be opening their lion’s mouth wide at the cliff’s edge.”

“I see,” she replied after listening. “I’ve done quite a lot of bad things with him recently.”