Bang.

Lin Congzhi sat back down in the car. The person closing the door for him was Xiao Jingwen.

Just a minute ago, Zhang Miao had been fiddling with her phone in the driver’s seat, planning to find a repair shop to fix it tomorrow morning. The next minute, she watched with wide eyes as Xiao Jingwen walked her boss side-by-side to her car, after which Xiao Jingwen gentlemanly pulled open the car door for him.

He even bent down to politely remind her, “Drive safely,” to which she could only nod and reply, “Ah, right! Will do!”

Zhang Miao looked at Lin Congzhi, and Lin Congzhi looked back at Zhang Miao.

Seeing the resentful look in his eyes, Zhang Miao asked, “What? Did he bully you?”

In all fairness, given Zhang Miao’s stern tone and sharp glare, it really felt like she was about to jump out of the car to demand justice for him right then and there.

However, the reality was—

“Bear with it. Those destined for great things don’t fuss over minor details.” Zhang Miao restarted the car and shifted into gear. “Besides, we’ve got nothing to lose. If his auction house gets entangled with our little gallery, he’s the one taking the loss.”

“…” Lin Congzhi started to speak but stopped, licking his lips before deciding to remain silent after all.

Truthfully, there was nothing to be “entangled” about. When Xiao Jingwen handed him the gift bag, he had unfortunately felt dizzy from the strong air conditioning in the Gleam building, and as the elevator doors parted, the bright lighting inside dazzled his eyes.

Seeing double at that moment, he thought he was reaching for the paper bag, but losing his footing, he accidentally grabbed Xiao Jingwen’s wrist instead.

Xiao Jingwen immediately noticed something was off with him, supporting his arm to ask where he felt unwell. Lin Congzhi merely said he hadn’t slept well over the past couple of days, which was why Xiao Jingwen walked him all the way to the car.

On the drive back to the gallery, Lin Congzhi was so groggy with sleep that he could barely think straight. Zhang Miao mentioned to him that she wouldn’t be coming over tomorrow morning because she needed to get her phone repaired. He gave a nonsensical reply, telling her, “Okay, drink plenty of hot water.” In the end, after getting out of the car, he cradled the paper bag and drifted toward the gallery entrance like a ghost, unlocked the door, and went inside.

Ocean Gallery was situated opposite a park in the southern suburbs of Yu City. About 15 kilometers away was the sea. The coastline of Yu City wasn’t a sandy beach; rather, it consisted of a coastal highway and docks, hardly qualifying as a scenic tourist spot, so very few people frequented this park area.

However, just because there were few people didn’t mean it was deserted. A residential community on the other side of the park had been built and was about to hand over keys to buyers, so the area was slowly picking up. Business along the gallery’s street was mediocre across the board; at this hour, only the café and a private bakery still kept their lights on.

Lin Congzhi actually lived inside the gallery. The first floor housed the exhibition hall, his painting studio, and an employee breakroom. The second floor was split into two areas: a warehouse on one side and Lin Congzhi’s bedroom on the other.

After coming inside, he locked the door behind him and headed upstairs. Outside, the rain continued to fall.

Earlier, he had been so exhausted he felt like he could faint at any second, but after taking a shower, all drowsiness vanished. Slipping his feet into slippers, the young painter hovered in hesitation for a brief moment in the space between the two rooms on the second floor. Ultimately, instead of going into his bedroom, he headed into the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, temperature and humidity were strictly controlled. Every painting was meticulously packaged, labeled with its title and date.

Lin Congzhi knew every painting’s exact location by heart. Walking with precision over to one of the racks, he pulled out a painting that measured 1.2 meters wide.

It was wrapped in a wooden frame and craft paper. Because the title was far too long to fit on the sticker label, Lin Congzhi had written it directly onto the paper itself.

Lin Congzhi still remembered that when he finished painting it, the cruise ship was sailing through the waters near Yu City.

This painting was very thick. Lin Congzhi had first painted a sunrise over the sea on the canvas. Once the sunrise paint was fully dry, he painted the bright blue sea and sky of daytime over it. Next, he layered sunset, dusk, nightfall, and a starry sky over that, finally capping it off with a pitch-black night, building up layer upon layer of coverage.

For the pitch-black night, he filled the entire canvas with black paint. Once the paint was completely dry, he used a utility knife with a carving technique to carefully slice through the thick layers of paint in the shape of a waning crescent moon until the white canvas layer underneath was revealed. Thus, the crescent moon shone through the painting.

Because of this, when viewed from a subtle angle, one could see the stacked layers of paint along the exposed edges where the crescent moon had been carved out.

Now, he tore open the outermost layer of craft paper. Inside was a layer of clear waterproof film, revealing the painting underneath.

Squatting on the warehouse floor, the sides of his long, pale fingers bore calluses from holding paintbrushes. He reached his hand inside the craft paper wrapping: nestled beneath the lower left side of the waterproof film was a profile card for the painting.

This card could not be seen by Xiao Jingwen. Lin Congzhi tore it off, retrieved a fresh sheet of craft paper from the warehouse to reseal the piece, and placed the painting back onto the rack.

After all this commotion, he was no longer sleepy at all.

Holding a corner of the profile card, he stepped out of the warehouse, closing the door behind him limply. At the end of the second-floor hallway was a small open terrace. Lin Congzhi walked over, pushed open the sliding glass door to leave a crack, and dragged over a plastic stool to sit down.

The night rain was cold and dreary; wind crept through the gap in the door. After sitting down, he bit onto a cigarette and lit it.

By the faint glow of the streetlamps outside, he blew out a puff of smoke and fanned it away before he could clearly read the text written on the profile card:

Xiao Jingwen, today is June 5th, and I am still at sea. Every problem between us was always resolved through lovemaking, so the way we resolve this relationship is also through lovemaking. You said this world is never what I think it is—at the table or on the menu—you’re either sitting at the table or listed on the menu. To be frank, I still don’t agree with that statement. But regardless, I miss you a little today. Right now, the moon is 370,000 kilometers away from me, and there are still 17 days until the next full moon. Happy birthday to you in 17 days.

Once the cigarette burned down, he snuffed out the butt in the ashtray sitting on the window sill by the door.

He and Xiao Jingwen had been together for six months. A 22-year-old art academy student and the 28-year-old young master of Gleam Auction House.

Thinking back on it now, Lin Congzhi lowered his head with a self-deprecating smile. Back then, he had been the one to actively flirt with him first.

Though strictly speaking, it probably couldn’t be called “flirting.”

Five years ago, at the end of April, it had been raining as well. The art academy’s graduation exhibition was approaching. At that time, many people from all walks of life came to visit the campus. Students from the sculpture department were already hauling their works into the exhibition hall, with some needing to set up ambient lighting or backdrop walls.

Xiao Jingwen had gone there as well. Back then, Gleam wasn’t nearly as famous as it was today, and he wasn’t “President Xiao” yet either.

However, he was a businessman, and businessmen viewed art exhibitions through the lens of value. During those few days, Lin Congzhi was scrambling against the clock to put the finishing touches on his graduation piece. Leaving the studio at night right before it locked up, he would swing by a convenience store to grab a sandwich before heading back to the dorm.

On that particular day, the convenience store happened to have nothing he liked, so he walked outside to buy food elsewhere.

He held a transparent umbrella as he walked along the pitted, uneven sidewalk. A layer of water vapor covered the ice cream freezer outside a small supermarket. Inside, the shopkeeper was dozing off while the evening weather forecast played on the TV, meaning it was past eight o’clock.

“The meteorological station predicts that heavy precipitation will continue across southern China over the coming week, with torrential downpours or severe rainstorms expected. Citizens are advised to…”

Xiao Jingwen would remember that day forever.

He had been accompanying several business partners for drinks at a restaurant. His father had assigned him this auction lot project with a market-average budget, intending to let him gain experience. Xiao Jingwen was just an ordinary project manager at the time. Having drunk too much, he walked out to the roadside and threw up into a trash can, dry-heaving even after his stomach was completely empty.

Then, a pair of canvas shoes with soaked uppers appeared in his field of vision, followed by pant cuffs splashed with mud and water, and further up… the rain stopped hitting him.

Because Lin Congzhi had tilted his umbrella toward him, staring down at him with those beautiful eyes.

He probably thinks I look pathetic, Xiao Jingwen thought at the time. Wiping his mouth twice with his shirt sleeve, he stood up straight. Once he stood tall, Lin Congzhi had to raise the umbrella higher, as the man was quite tall.

Next, Lin Congzhi handed him a half-finished bottle of mineral water from the side pocket of his backpack—he really did think Xiao Jingwen looked pathetic, a miserable corporate worker who happened to be good-looking, probably forced into drinking by some disgusting middle-aged men.

Finally, Lin Congzhi stuffed the umbrella directly into his hands, telling him, “My school is really close by. You can have this umbrella.”

That umbrella was still kept in Xiao Jingwen’s wardrobe, stored with meticulous care.

Xiao Jingwen took off his tie and wristwatch, then unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it into the laundry basket. Living alone, he didn’t hire a live-in housekeeper; a part-time cleaner only came over while he was out.

Opening the wardrobe door, he pulled out a set of pajamas. Just as he had done countless times before, he stared for a moment at the transparent umbrella leaning against the inside of the wardrobe. Then, he shut the door.

Tonight, the wind and rain raged fiercely. Xiao Jingwen carried his pajamas into the bathroom. For some reason, though he had intended to take a shower, he suddenly felt no energy to move. Setting his pajamas beside the sink, he walked over to sit by the bathtub, letting out a faint, quiet sigh.

The next morning, the sky over Yu City barely managed to clear up.

The sun didn’t come out, but it was no longer raining, nor were there dark clouds churning overhead.

Ocean Gallery had hung out a “Closed” sign.

The assistant asked, “Should I call Ms. Zhang to check?”

Xiao Jingwen looked up at the storefront sign, then glanced inside through the glass door, saying, “Go ahead and ask.”

“Um…”

A weak male voice came from behind them.

Lin Congzhi, sporting a messy mop of natural curls, stood looking at the two people blocking the entrance to his gallery. In a raspy voice, he said, “Excuse me, please let me through.”

His voice was so hoarse it sounded like he had just smoked three packs of cigarettes in one go. Xiao Jingwen stared at him, forgetting to move: “What happened to your throat?”

“I caught a cold.” Lin Congzhi held a plastic bag printed with the logo of a pharmacy, his lips frighteningly pale. “Move aside.”

The air conditioning at Gleam had indeed been set far too low. He had already felt quite cold during the meeting yesterday, though it was mostly because he sat by the terrace door smoking after taking a shower last night. After smoking, he had sat there zoning out for a long while before finally going to sleep.

Lin Congzhi placed his thumb on the door lock to open it. Knowing little about how to entertain guests, he turned on the lights and said, “You guys… uh, make yourselves at home.”

He was dressed very casually, wearing a sky-blue hoodie he had grabbed at random paired with plaid pajama pants. After hunting around the water dispenser without finding any disposable cups, he scratched his head. Then, turning around, he asked, “Anyway, is there something you need coming over so early?”

“To collect the painting,” Xiao Jingwen said.

Don’t auction houses usually have the paintings sent over? Lin Congzhi’s head was pounding too violently to overthink it. Rubbing the heel of his palm against his temple, he said, “Could we do it later? I’ll have my assistant bring it over to you later.”

At this point, it was no longer appropriate for Xiao Jingwen to continue putting on airs about official business.

Stepping forward until he was right in front of Lin Congzhi, he leaned down slightly and asked in a soft, gentle voice: “Do you mind if I stay behind to take care of you?”