At this very moment, inside the master bedroom.
Wen Yifan stared at the numbers on her phone, falling into silence. She thought that if the order were reversed, turning it into "250" would be much better than the current situation. But she wasn't feeling guilty either, calmly typing out: 【This is the extra money you gave me. I'll transfer it back to you.】
—Failed to send.
They weren't friends on Alipay.
The interface immediately popped up with: "Become friends to chat, send a verification to add as a friend."
At the same time, Sang Yan sent her a WeChat message.
【?】
"......"
Sure enough, a question mark.
Wen Yifan could guess his reaction the moment she saw that "520."
Exactly as expected.
Before Wen Yifan could reply.
Sang Yan sent another message: 【What's up with you?】
That number was indeed too suggestive, but it wasn't something Wen Yifan made up out of thin air. She sat up, deciding to explain it properly to him: 【That's the price difference I'm refunding you.】
Wen Yifan listed out the prices one by one: 【Rent is nine thousand, deposit two thousand five hundred, utilities four hundred.】
Then, she sent over the invoice for the washing machine: 【The washing machine cost 1,190.】
Wen Yifan: 【I'm not good at keeping accounts, so you don't need to give me extra money upfront. We can discuss it later when we need to buy something.】
After a while.
Sang Yan replied with a voice message: "Do the math again yourself."
His tone was completely flat, sounding even colder through the speaker. But at the end, his voice unconsciously lifted slightly, carrying a provocative edge.
It made one want to reach through the screen and fight him.
"......"
But right now, Wen Yifan felt a bit confused.
What did he mean by that?
Was he saying she calculated wrong?
Looking at the string of numbers she had sent, Wen Yifan began to doubt herself.
Probably.
Not.
Right?
She didn't reply immediately, opening the calculator to redo the math.
The result was "505."
"......"
This was nothing short of a bolt from the blue for Wen Yifan.
Unwilling to face the truth, she felt that only the correct numbers could prove her innocence at this moment. She cleared the calculator and stubbornly recalculated.
Still no change.
Wen Yifan froze in place, her mind racing as she thought about how to explain this next.
Soon, as if it were nothing unusual, Sang Yan sent another voice message.
He gave a faint laugh, seemingly offering her a way out, yet his tone also felt like he was helping her cover up: "Alright. I get it, you miscalculated."
"......"
Wen Yifan had never met someone like Sang Yan before.
She figured it out—the only way to deal with someone like him was to pretend not to understand his implications and forcibly steer the situation back to normal.
Wen Yifan: 【Yes, thanks for the reminder.】
There was no further reply from the other end.
After about ten minutes.
Wen Yifan sent another message: 【About the extra fifteen you gave me...】
Wen Yifan: 【You can just transfer it back to me on WeChat.】
"......"
After packing up her things and seeing the dust all over the floor, Wen Yifan opened her door. She noticed the living room lights were already off, leaving only the hallway light on. She walked out, heading to the balcony to grab the cleaning supplies.
Once she finished cleaning, she rinsed the mop and put it back on the balcony.
Just as she was about to return to her room, passing by Sang Yan's door—
He suddenly opened it.
Wen Yifan's footsteps halted as her eyes met his.Sang Yan's hair was half-damp, his dark locks casually falling across his forehead. Dressed in casual loungewear, he seemed slightly more approachable than usual. He glanced at her but didn’t initiate a conversation.
Wen Yifan also stayed silent, withdrawing her gaze and retreating into her room.
She locked the door behind her.
It was just past eleven, and Wen Yifan wasn’t sleepy yet. She moved her laptop to the desk, worked on her draft for a while, and then tried to wind down. But the unfamiliar room made it hard to settle, and sleep eluded her for some time.
Next door, Sang Yan was equally quiet.
A belated sense of wonder crept over Wen Yifan.
From the moment they first met, she had assumed their paths wouldn’t cross much.
They were the type who’d lose contact after graduation, not even nodding at each other if they happened to meet.
Their personalities were worlds apart, and neither was inclined to strike up conversations. Aside from their shared tardiness on the first day of school and the brief period as desk mates, Wen Yifan and Sang Yan had never exchanged more than necessary.
Even that desk-sharing arrangement didn’t last long.
Later, it was because of rumors among their classmates.
That their paths crossed again.
The origin of the rumors was absurdly simple.
Just because they’d both been late on the first day of school—and because they were both exceptionally good-looking.
So they were forcibly paired together in others’ eyes.
The rumors came in several versions.
Some claimed they’d been middle school sweethearts, dating for years, a power couple who’d planned to attend the same high school.
Others argued they hadn’t known each other before but, bonded by their shared delinquency, had developed feelings and were now secretly dating.
There was even a version where they’d fallen in love at first sight on the way to school and, not wanting to miss this serendipitous match, had found a quiet spot to confess their feelings before holding hands to register together.
Wen Yifan had been oblivious to these stories at first.
Class assignments were based on entrance exam scores, so she wasn’t in the same class as Zhong Siqiao or Xiang Lang. The gossip circulated only within Class 17, and since Wen Yifan wasn’t particularly close to anyone there, no one bothered to share the rumors with her—the very subject of them.
It was Su Haoan who eventually clued her in.
Because Su Haoan relentlessly brought it up in Sang Yan’s ear every single day.
She remembered it was during a long break between classes, after morning exercises on the field.
Wen Yifan was lining up at the hallway water dispenser when she suddenly heard Su Haoan’s voice ahead.
Su Haoan was popular in class—chatty and outgoing. Within just days of the semester starting, he’d already befriended most of their classmates. Now he was laughing boisterously, punching the chest of the person behind him as he spoke.
“Got some fresh gossip today, superstar. Wanna hear it?”
Wen Yifan instinctively looked up.
And saw Sang Yan standing in front of her, his tall, lean figure radiating impatience.
“Cut it out already.”
“Oh, come off it,” Su Haoan said. “You’re telling me you’re not secretly thrilled? That dance student is gorgeous. When she sat behind me on the first day, I was too nervous to even talk to her.”
Sang Yan: “What’s wrong with you?”
Su Haoan: “Just admit it! Don’t tell me you haven’t been secretly—”Before he could finish speaking, Su Haoan's gaze suddenly landed on Wen Yifan standing behind Sang Yan. He immediately fell silent, only managing to raise his hand after a long pause and muttering a greeting: "Hi..."
Sang Yan followed his gaze.
As if she hadn't heard anything, Wen Yifan simply smiled and nodded before lowering her head again to look at her vocabulary book.
A few seconds passed.
Surprisingly, Sang Yan took the initiative to call out to her: "Junior."
Wen Yifan looked up again.
"So you did hear," Sang Yan's lips curled slightly, "or did you just want to pretend you didn't?"
Wen Yifan answered honestly, "I didn't know what you were talking about."
Sang Yan lowered his eyes, his tone deliberately provoking: "They were saying we're dating."
"......" Wen Yifan froze, "You and me?"
"Mhm."
"I didn't know. No one's told me about this." Wen Yifan didn't pay attention to such rumors. "You don't need to mind it too much. They probably won't keep talking about it for long."
After all, they rarely interacted.
Rumors needed some basis to persist. Without any evidence, they would naturally die out.
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow and said casually, "That would be best."
Back then, the two of them were just very ordinary classmates.
They weren't familiar with each other and barely exchanged more than a few words.
So now, Wen Yifan could be certain that Sang Yan definitely didn't like her anymore. Aside from not being so presumptuous, another reason was that the attitude he displayed now was about the same as when they first met.
But in reality, his attitude towards people he liked versus those he didn't was like heaven and earth.
Sang Yan was extremely proud, yet equally passionate at his core.
When he liked someone—
Even if it was one-sided, he wouldn't mind letting the whole world know.
The next day.
Wen Yifan slept until almost ten before getting up.
After getting ready, she grabbed her coat from the rack and left her room. As soon as she entered the living room, she saw Sang Yan lying on the sofa playing with his phone.
Hearing the noise, he lazily lifted his eyelids but didn't acknowledge her.
Wen Yifan had initially planned to greet him politely, but remembering his previous words about "not trying to get chummy," she decided against it.
She took a packet of instant coffee from the TV cabinet, boiled some water, and then sat on the sofa as well. Wen Yifan opened a small packet of biscuits, tore open the instant coffee, and poured it into a cup.
While waiting, she lowered her head to check her phone.
She noticed Zhong Siqiao had sent her several messages.
Zhong Siqiao: [Girl!!!]
Zhong Siqiao: [I found you a roommate!!!]
Wen Yifan blinked and replied: [I forgot to tell you.]
Wen Yifan: [I already found a roommate.]
Just as she was about to explain further, the water finished boiling. Wen Yifan had to put down her phone and pour the hot water into her cup. As soon as she set the kettle down, Zhong Siqiao happened to call.
Wen Yifan answered while stirring her coffee with a spoon.
Zhong Siqiao: "You already found a roommate? Who is it?"
Hearing this, Wen Yifan instinctively glanced in Sang Yan's direction and decided to skip the latter question for now, planning to explain later: "Yeah, just found one. But it's only temporary—three months at most before I move out."
Wen Yifan: "I forgot to tell you earlier. Could you apologize to your friend for me?""What friend of mine! Alright, I can't hold it in anymore." Zhong Siqiao burst into laughter, then seemed to be speaking to someone beside her, "Come on, Xiang Lang, don’t just listen without chiming in. Isn’t it uncomfortable holding it in?"
Wen Yifan was surprised, "Xiang Lang is with you?"
Hearing this, Sang Yan finally reacted slightly, turning his head a little.
The next second, a bright male voice came through the phone, thick with amusement.
"Yeah, it's me."
"When did you get back?" Wen Yifan laughed, "How come there was no warning? I didn’t hear Qiaoqiao mention it."
"I did mention it," Zhong Siqiao protested, immediately explaining, "Didn’t I tell you before that this guy was coming back next month? You just forgot."
Come to think of it, Wen Yifan hadn’t seen Xiang Lang in a long time either.
After moving to Beiyu, she never returned to Nanwu. Xiang Lang had gone abroad right after high school, and it had been years since then. They’d only kept in touch sporadically, and over time, the contact dwindled.
Most of what she knew about his recent life came from Zhong Siqiao.
"Isn’t today Monday? Qiaoqiao, don’t you have work?" Wen Yifan asked, "How come you two are together?"
"Our company already started the holiday," Zhong Siqiao explained, "We just met up, and I texted you first thing in the morning to get together. But you only just replied now."
Wen Yifan admitted frankly, "I just woke up."
Xiang Lang chuckled, "I figured as much."
"Alright then, go grab something to eat. You still have work later, right?" Zhong Siqiao said, "Since you’re busy today, let’s set another time. When’s your next day off? The three of us should hang out."
"In a couple of days," Wen Yifan thought for a moment, "I’m off on Wednesday."
Zhong Siqiao asked again, "How many days do you get for New Year’s?"
Wen Yifan, "Three."
"Damn, wow, our poor Yifan," Zhong Siqiao sighed dramatically, "Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. Let’s meet in a couple of days. Don’t forget to bring me that bracelet."
Xiang Lang added, "And don’t stand us up this time."
Wen Yifan laughed, "Of course not."
After hanging up, Wen Yifan took a sip of coffee and looked up, suddenly meeting Sang Yan’s gaze. Thinking it was just a coincidence, she averted her eyes but noticed from the corner of her vision that he was still looking at her.
Just as Wen Yifan was about to ask if he needed something, Sang Yan suddenly brought up the content of her earlier call.
"You’re off on Wednesday?"
Wen Yifan looked at him, "Yeah."
Sang Yan set his phone down, "Planning to go out?"
Wen Yifan nodded, instinctively replying, "Xiang Lang’s back, so we’re just catching up."
After answering, she glanced at Sang Yan and casually added, "You two probably know each other, right? I think he mentioned you were in the same class senior year."
Sang Yan, "Oh, don’t remember."
"......"
Wen Yifan wasn’t sure what he was getting at but didn’t press further.
A moment later.
Sang Yan asked again, "Picked a place yet?"
Wen Yifan, "No."
"Then why not my bar?" Sang Yan lazily stretched his legs on the sofa, speaking leisurely, "As roommates, help support the business, yeah?"
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