Chi Zhiyue was wearing a sharply tailored long trench coat. Though it looked on the thin side, it highlighted his tall, straight, and neat silhouette. Inside, he wore an off-white sweater paired with brown-toned tailored trousers.

The moment Luo Ye laid eyes on Chi Zhiyue, the words burst out of his mouth: “Are you wearing long johns under that?” Isn’t he cold?

Chi Zhiyue was visibly stunned for a second, raising an eyebrow with a soft, “Hmm?”

Luo Ye: “…” Damn it, my inner thoughts came out completely backward.

His cat ears instantly shot straight up. Feeling awkward, he jerked his head away and made a stiff attempt to pivot: “I mean… long time no see.”

A low, soft chuckle reached his ears. Chi Zhiyue’s voice was very gentle: “The snow is much lighter now, let’s go.”

“Oh.”

Luo Ye was led forward by him just like that, the two walking side-by-side on the thin layer of snow.

The snowfall had diminished visibly, leaving only fine, delicate dustings floating down lazily. Passersby brushed past them either holding umbrellas or pulling their coats tightly around themselves to block the cold. The neon lights of roadside shops gradually lit up, their reflections flickering against the snowy ground.

Luo Ye stole a quiet glance to his side. Chi Zhiyue was half a head taller than him, yet he intentionally slouched his shoulders, tilting the umbrella significantly toward his side.

Not a single snowflake had landed on Luo Ye’s shoulder.

They couldn’t just remain silent forever—that would be way too rude.

Luo Ye cleared his throat and proactively raised a topic: “You took the subway too? Where’s your car?”

“Because the weather forecast said it would snow today, I didn’t want to drive.” Chi Zhiyue lowered his head, his side profile bathed in warm light, his tone relaxed and slow. “It seems not driving has its perks too.”

Luo Ye looked at him curiously: “What perks?”

Chi Zhiyue cast his eyes downward, then looked out toward the distant streetscape: “Nothing much. How was your trip? You looked very happy.”

“Yeah, I met a lot of interesting people, and the scenery was gorgeous,” Luo Ye said cheerfully as soon as the topic was raised, those travel memories floating right before his eyes. “Wow, and the food was delicious too! The intestines and blood noodles were really good…”

More importantly, Luo Ye’s route traveled from north to south, so it felt like undertaking a journey through time—traveling from a city in severe winter to a warm autumn, and finally arriving in Kunming, where spring was in full bloom.

Experiencing the cycle of four seasons in just a few short days—was there any journey more extraordinary than this? It made his bucket list item of “experiencing three meals across four seasons” completely worth it.

“And the Kunming tofu pudding rice noodles and grilled erkuai were what I found most delicious…” Luo Ye babbled on incessantly, but halfway through, he suddenly paused.

Stealing a glance at Chi Zhiyue, he saw the man pursing his lips and staring straight ahead, showing no intention of chiming in whatsoever.

Feeling a bit awkward, Luo Ye immediately shut his mouth.

Unexpectedly, the moment he stopped, Chi Zhiyue spoke up instead: “Why did you stop talking?”

“You weren’t even listening, why should I talk to myself?” Luo Ye rubbed his slightly chilled hands and mumbled softly.

Chi Zhiyue smiled faintly, shaking the umbrella down a little: “Then I feel a bit wronged. How do you know I wasn’t listening? Between the two of us, someone has to focus on watching the road, right?”

Luo Ye’s mood brightened instantly. His ears, which had originally drooped, gradually stood straight back up again.

Lifting his chin, he said, “Fine then, but I have nothing left to say anyway.”

“What souvenirs did you buy?” Chi Zhiyue asked.

“Oh, I did buy some,” Luo Ye reached into his down jacket pocket and fished out a small bag of specialty flower pastries. “I brought a few with me today.”

“Oh,” Chi Zhiyue took a look. “They look delicious.”

Luo Ye nodded: “Right? You can buy some if you go over there. Lan Ju was super happy when he heard I brought these for him.”

Chi Zhiyue’s steps paused, falling silent for a few seconds.

Just then, they reached a zebra crossing and stopped. Turning his head to look at Luo Ye, Chi Zhiyue asked softly: “Are these for someone else?”

“Yeah,” Luo Ye replied offhandedly.

“Okay,” Chi Zhiyue withdrew his gaze, a faint smile still resting on his face. “If I have time to go, I’ll go buy some.”

They were currently in the bustling south district of the city. It was the peak of dinner hour, with heavy pedestrian traffic and dazzling neon lights. Christmas was approaching, and a massive Christmas tree stood in the center of the plaza, decorated with stars and ribbons, drawing many people taking photos.

The snow fell lighter and lighter. By the time they reached the Christmas tree, it was so light that an umbrella was no longer necessary.

Chi Zhiyue gently folded up the umbrella.

Only then did Luo Ye find the umbrella familiar, pointing at it: “The one I gave you?”

“Mm.” Chi Zhiyue folded the umbrella canopy layer by layer. “I originally kept it stored away, but I only brought it out to use because you told me you gave it to me.”

Luo Ye gave him a suspicious look.

Why keep an umbrella stored away? Isn’t an umbrella meant to be used on rainy days? Is it a quirk?

Oh, maybe it really is a quirk, just like how Luo Peng likes to sunbathe fish tanks on sunny days.

Understanding it in a second, he nodded nonchalantly: “It’s fine, it’s just an umbrella anyway.”

“Sounds like you give away umbrellas quite often?” Chi Zhiyue asked again.

“No, you’re the first.”

The moment Luo Ye blurted that out, his gaze was instantly drawn by the sign of a restaurant in the distance, exclaiming in pleasant surprise: “I see the sign!”

Hearing no sound behind him for a while, he turned his head around.

Chi Zhiyue stood in a patch of warm light, looking down with a subtle smile, appearing to be in an exceptionally good mood.

Luo Ye dazed out for a moment, suddenly experiencing a sense of deja vu, as if at some point in time, he had seen a scene like this before.

“Xiao Chi.”

A man walked over right on cue, placing a hand on Chi Zhiyue’s shoulder. “You’re finally here.”

The man looked at Luo Ye and opened his mouth with a smile: “Oh, you must be Luo Ye! I’m Xiao Zhao.”

Luo Ye nodded.

Xiao Zhao spoke with a face full of smiles, his eyes squinting into two narrow slits on his chubby face.

Sure enough, everyone in the external PR team loves to smile, Luo Ye thought to himself.

Xiao Zhao looked back at Chi Zhiyue: “Didn’t you say you wanted me to rescue you? How come he ended up coming with you instead?”

“I was…”

Just as Chi Zhiyue opened his mouth, Luo Ye sensibly took a step back: “Don’t mind me, we just happened to be walking the same way. You guys chat, I’ll go find Lan Ju first.”

The moment he turned around, Luo Ye gave himself a massive compliment in his head.

This view of my back must look insanely cool, so suave and free-spirited.

With full confidence, he pushed open the restaurant door, where the waiter led him to the reserved private room.

Calling it a private room, it was actually just four large long tables without partitions, each sitting twelve people. Quite a few people had already arrived, and familiar acquaintances passionately called out greetings to him one after another.

“Oh my, you’re finally back!”

“Haven’t seen you in so long, I really missed you!”

“How did you get here? Did you take a car or the subway? Is it still snowing hard outside?”

Luo Ye nodded and replied to each of them one by one.

“Back to freeload meals, back to freeload meals!”

“I missed you guys too.”

“I took the subway here and happened to bump into Chi Zhiyue. He came over with me. The snow is a bit lighter now.”

…

He walked all the way to the corner position. Lan Ju was sitting there chatting with people, bundled up like a panda, revealing only a gray head.

Luo Ye stood behind him and cleared his throat twice.

Lan Ju turned around in confusion. The moment he saw him, he stood up excitedly: “Yo! You’re here!”

Beside him, Chen Yang from the screenwriting team covered her mouth in amazement: “Wow, shocked by how handsome you are!”

Luo Ye: “…Exaggerated.”

He knew Chen Yang too; she often came to their editing department to check on editing progress, sometimes bringing small snacks.

She was similar to Bai Nan—she entered this industry just to watch handsome men and beautiful women act out scripts she wrote. She had tried to coax Luo Ye into acting in her dramas multiple times, all rejected by him.

Chen Yang sized Luo Ye up closely, shaking her head in sighing admiration: “Really, when you were working, it was a sharp and capable kind of handsome. Now, it’s a handsome overflowing with vitality and spirit!”

Lan Ju let out a chuckle: “Of course he has spirit when he doesn’t have to work.”

Chen Yang nodded: “Indeed, not working is the best medical aesthetics.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Luo Ye agreed with a smile, taking out that bag of flower pastries from his pocket and handing it over. “Taste these first, fill your stomach a bit before eating.”

“Still filling the stomach?” Chen Yang teased cheerfully. “These few flower pastries of yours can at best count as his tiny snack.”

“Even Jingwei filling the sea counts as filling a little bit of the sea.” Luo Ye pulled out the chair beside them to sit down, casually taking off his coat and hanging it over the back of the chair.

Chen Yang covered her mouth immediately, crying out in exaggerated surprise: “Wow, your clothes are really good—your pectoral muscles are super defined!”

Lan Ju: “Do you think it’s because of the clothes?”

Chen Yang shrugged, intentionally playing dumb: “I don’t know, I don’t have pectoral muscles anyway.”

Luo Ye laughed: “Did you two both drink too much? Bringing this up right off the bat.”

The three looked at each other and smiled, raising their glasses of plain water to gently clink them together.

Before long, Bai Nan ran in hurriedly. As soon as he entered through the door, he headed straight for Luo Ye, his voice bright and loud: “Master! Long time no see!”

“Hey, do you want to eat one?” Lan Ju handed over a flower pastry. “Your master bought them.”

Bai Nan said, flattered: “Thank you, handsome guy! As expected of my master—master’s friend is also such a huge handsome guy, thank you so much, handsome guy!”

Praised so much that he couldn’t close his mouth, Lan Ju patted Luo Ye’s arm: “I told you this apprentice of yours has a sweet mouth, didn’t I?”

Out of six rose pastries in total, Bai Nan said “handsome guy” three times and got three pastries, leaving the spot fully loaded with his spoils.

Just at that moment, Chi Zhiyue and Xiao Zhao also walked in, sitting down at another table.

A wave of lively greetings instantly sounded over there.

Chen Yang held her chest: “Holy crap, another one arrived that shocked me with how handsome he is.”

Luo Ye set down his water glass and asked, “Let me ask, did you ask him to play the male lead too?”

Chen Yang: “No, I haven’t found a setting that suits him.”

Luo Ye: “Oh.”

Chen Yang: “I think he’s more suitable for playing the mastermind who controls everything from behind the scenes, and after his true identity is revealed at the end, people realize—who could’ve guessed that such a handsome man was the male lead’s long-lost brother from thousands of miles away, but actually turned out to be the illegitimate child of an enemy family!”

Luo Ye: “…” Isn’t that just having it all planned out already?

Before long, everyone had arrived one after another. The director raised a hand to signal, and everyone stood up to grab food.

Just like ordinary banquets, the leaders spoke a few words first, followed by supplementary remarks from the deputies. Finally, everyone raised their glasses together in celebration, after which each went back to eating their own food.

After finishing his first round, Luo Ye went to grab some foods he liked again after half an hour.

Before every meal, he would snap a picture and send it to Luo Peng, appending a voice message: “Look, what I took this time has both meat and veggies. Don’t worry, I’m eating well, got it?”

Doing it once was fine, but doing it twice made Chen Yang laugh: “Is this your younger brother or your dad? You even have to report when eating.”

“You got it wrong, his dad isn’t half as easy to talk to as his brother,” Lan Ju pointed his chopsticks into mid-air, with food piled like a small mountain in front of him. “If we say his brother’s character is like this steak, their old man is like this.”

Chen Yang asked in confusion: “Which one? Isn’t there nothing there?”

Lan Ju said casually: “Precisely, his dad has no character.”

Chen Yang: “Wow.”

Luo Ye immediately gave a big thumb-up: “Amazing insult, Brother Ju! So satisfying!”

The two boldly clinked their glasses of hot milk together.

Chen Yang was worthy of being a screenwriter, accepting this kind of family background instantly: “No wonder you two take care of each other so much—brothers depending on each other for survival!”

Having almost finished the contents on his plate, Luo Ye swallowed the food in his mouth and said to Lan Ju: “Brother Ju, I’ll go to your place in a couple of days. I have something to tell you.”

“Sure, I’m free anytime.”

“Wow!”

Just as Lan Ju finished speaking, a sudden burst of commotion erupted from the front two tables.

The few people at their table looked at each other, faces full of confusion.

“What are they doing?” Luo Ye asked.

Chen Yang was already used to it, chewing her pasta indifferently: “Must be that group getting drunk and starting to dig up old company gossip.”

Lan Ju was taken aback: “Starting to talk about our unofficial history again? I still remember you talking about the boss’s son getting pregnant.”

Luo Ye almost spat out his water.

“Who got pregnant? His son?” Luo Ye wiped his mouth.

“It’s hard for us to comment on genetic mutations,” Chen Yang slowly averted her gaze. “Bu Director Li is over there, and what he talks about is usually true.”

Lan Ju’s eyes lit up: “I want to listen too, let’s go over and listen.”

Chen Yang shook her head: “I don’t want to go over. Who knows if they’ll end up talking about us.”

Luo Ye didn’t have much interest in that side and continued eating his own food.

Actually, their table was very lively to chat with too. Everyone talked about their respective New Year’s plans. When asked, Luo Ye couldn’t think of any plans, so he brushed it off with a few casual words and tossed the topic to the next person.

How to put it—everyone at their table was young, simply bursting with vitality. Everyone was filled with imagination regarding the upcoming few days of New Year’s leave.

Envying Luo Ye for being able to travel, planning their next trips.

Luo Ye slowly ate his small cake, then finally stood up, saying politely: “I’m going to the restroom.”

The restroom was at the far end of the restaurant, and Luo Ye walked into the last stall.

He didn’t actually need to use the restroom; it was just that the liveliness at that table and their hopes for the future were like a fine needle, gently pricking at his heart.

The more he watched others brimming with anticipation for the future, the more suffocated he felt. That helpless annoyance spread through his blood to every limb and bone.

Sitting on the toilet lid, he buried his head deep, his shoulders slightly tense.

Feeling a bit suffocated.

“You said you ran into him when you came over?”

“Yeah.”

Two voices suddenly came from outside the door—one unfamiliar, while the other was so familiar that Luo Ye’s entire body froze instantly. It was Chi Zhiyue.

Immediately following that, the tap was turned on. Amid the sound of gushing water, the unfamiliar voice carried a bit of confusion: “You still walked all the way with him? I thought you had avoided that idiot.”

Walked all the way? Who?

Luo Ye instinctively extended a finger and pointed at himself, muttering in his heart.

Didn’t Chi Zhiyue walk all the way with me?

The next second, Chi Zhiyue’s voice came through the door panel, calm without a trace of warmth: “It was all an act. I couldn’t exactly be publicly rude to him.”

An act?

Luo Ye’s heart sank violently. His fingertips clenched tight instantly, his breath hitching for half a beat.

The person outside sighed again: “You can endure someone you hate that much?”

“What else can I do besides endure?” Chi Zhiyue’s voice remained flat. “His flaws are his business; as long as what I do is worthy of my own conscience, that’s enough.”

“I wouldn’t dare talk to a person like that for more than a few sentences,” a bit more disgust seeped into the unfamiliar voice. “If you treat him poorly, he says you’re ostracizing him; if you treat him well, he starts narcissistically thinking you’re friends, getting overly familiar and stepping all over you.”

“If he gets overly familiar, I have ways to deal with him too. It hasn’t affected me so far,” Chi Zhiyue finished speaking, and the water flow turned lighter.

A few seconds later, the sound of water from the other tap disappeared as well.

“…” Sitting in the stall, Luo Ye couldn’t see his own expression, but he could feel that his face must look utterly hideous, dark like the night outside the window.

No wonder during these past few meetings, Chi Zhiyue’s attitude had been so warm and thoughtful—turns out from start to finish, it was all just an act.

Endure someone he hates that much…

The corners of Luo Ye’s mouth twitched, unable to hold back a angry chuckle.

To think he actually wanted to send Chi Zhiyue a few local specialties earlier out of shared interests—now it seemed completely unnecessary.

Luo Ye clenched his fists tight, suppressing the surging anger deep inside his heart. Taking a deep breath, he violently yanked open the stall door.

In front of the sinks, Chi Zhiyue and Xiao Zhao were standing and chatting. Hearing the door open, they both turned to look, freezing for a moment.

Xiao Zhao reacted first, smiling in greeting: “Oh, Luo Ye! You came to use the restroom too?”

“Mm.” Luo Ye walked straight between the two of them, turning on the tap with an expressionless face.

“Did you participate in the raffle?” Chi Zhiyue asked softly.

Luo Ye raised his head.

In the mirror, Chi Zhiyue had one hand propped on the sink, his eyes slightly curved, his smile gentle and calm.

Meanwhile, in the mirror, only a slight forced curve twitched at the corner of his own mouth, devoid of any warmth at the bottom of his eyes.

In the past, Luo Ye would think why does this guy love to smile so much? Now, he only thought: What incredible acting skills.

Truly amazing—still able to act even after being caught.

Luo Ye didn’t possess such great acting skills. Sweeping a glance over, he lowered his eyes and said: “No.”

“Then later you…” Before Chi Zhiyue could finish, Luo Ye impatiently cut him off.

“They’re calling me, I’m heading back first.” Luo Ye shut off the tap, didn’t spare them another glance, and walked out of the restroom without turning back.

Carrying a pent-up rage, Luo Ye returned to the private room. Everyone was happily drawing raffle tickets, and many had left their seats in high spirits.

Lan Ju excitedly pulled Luo Ye’s arm and said: “I grabbed a tag for you! Second prize hasn’t been drawn yet, maybe you’ll win second prize!”

“Oh.” Luo Ye sat back in his seat with a blank face, picked up the water glass on the table, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

Sensing something was off, Lan Ju sat down right next to him, face full of confusion: “What’s wrong? How did going to the restroom make you unhappy?”

“Felt disgusted,” Luo Ye said.

Lan Ju nodded immediately: “I get it, I get it. I often open the door and see poop too.”

Luo Ye: “…”

It’s not that kind of physical disgust.

Luo Ye looked at the two returning in the distance, his grip on the glass tightening a bit: “Lan Ju, weren’t you writing content for prank games recently?”

Lan Ju nodded: “Yeah.”

“There’s someone who dislikes me recently, and I want to prank him,” Luo Ye paused. Fearing Lan Ju might think of something too extreme, he quickly added: “Not physical, psychological. The kind that gives someone chills every time they think about it, but not to the extent of needing a doctor. Ideally, something that can be broadcast on your variety show.”

Lan Ju: “…With all these stackings of defense, why don’t you just not prank him and just release him into the wild instead?”

“No way out?” Luo Ye looked at him.

Lan Ju frowned and pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly slammed the table hard, his eyes lighting up: “There’s a method that placed in the top five of our street interview votes, though it’s a bit of a self-inflicted blow.”

Luo Ye leaned closer and asked: “What is it?”

Lan Ju leaned into his ear, saying mysteriously: “Go confess your love to that person.”

Luo Ye looked at Lan Ju in confusion: “Isn’t that a reward?”

“Being confessed to by someone you like is a reward; being confessed to by someone you hate is super disgusting.”

Lan Ju poked his arm, pulled out a clip of the show on his phone, and explained with solid evidence.

“According to surveys, it can disgust someone for at least a week, or at most several months. A few older sisters and brothers in their thirties still remember things like this from over ten years ago. There was a college student who confessed to a roommate she hated, and that roommate didn’t dare get close to her until graduation.”

The people in the video indeed all said the same thing—just talking about these incidents made them frown and get goosebumps all over.

“It’s embarrassing, sure, a self-inflicted blow of five hundred, but against that kind of person, you just have to be shameless,” Lan Ju added.

Anyway, he was going to die soon—whether he lost face or not in the future had nothing to do with him anymore.

Once Luo Ye thought it through completely, he made a decision on the spot: “Great, this is the one.”

And so, another item was added to his bucket list:

21. Confess to Chi Zhiyue.

__

[Author’s Note]

Xiao Chi: Inexplicably got a partner.

Xiao Ye: Inexplicably succeeded in the confession… Wait, no? That’s not what it said in the textbook?!

—

Countdown to the confession now!!!!