First Frost

At the same time, Su Haoan had already opened the car's rear door.

Noticing Wen Yifan and Sang Yan still standing in place, he urged, "What are you two still doing there? Whatever it is, get in the car first."

Wen Yifan averted her gaze. "Coming."

Xiang Lang's car only had five seats, leaving only two spots in the back.

Wen Yifan walked to the door on her side and reached out to open it.

Before she could get in, Sang Yan had already beaten her to it, pressing his hand against the window. He paused, glanced down at her, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Thanks."

"..."

As if she were merely a tool specifically there to open the door for him.

Wen Yifan watched as he took the middle seat in the back, with Su Haoan sitting on the other side. Zhong Siqiao was in the passenger seat, looking her way. "Hurry up and get in, Fanfan."

She responded with an "okay" and climbed in.

As soon as she closed the door, Su Haoan immediately grinned mischievously and pried, "What were you two talking about over there? Can I hear it too?"

Wen Yifan glanced at Sang Yan's face and answered honestly, "He told me not to go around bragging."

Zhong Siqiao chimed in, "Not to brag about what?"

Wen Yifan: "About living together with him."

"..."

The enclosed space of the car seemed to make the atmosphere freeze.

Several seconds later, the silence was broken by Su Haoan's curse.

"Holy shit."

"Bro, I know you've got no shame, but you can't be this shameless, right?" Su Haoan said. "Wen Yifan, don't mind him. He's just got a nasty mouth, same as in high school. Normal people mellow out as they get older, but with him, it's impossible—he just gets worse—"

Sang Yan turned his head and suddenly said, "You seem to be in a pretty good mood today."

Hearing this, Su Haoan immediately shut up.

Zhong Siqiao chuckled dryly. "Sang Yan's still as humorous as ever, huh."

Xiang Lang, turning the steering wheel, added gently, "Yifan only told the two of us, so no need to worry."

Sang Yan lifted his eyelids slightly but didn't respond.

Wen Yifan glanced in Sang Yan's direction.

Truthfully, whenever she heard him say things like this, she never felt much about it.

At most, she was left speechless.

Her first thought was always:

Wow.

So that's how my words could be twisted.

Or:

Damn.

He can say something like that without batting an eye.

So when she repeated his words earlier, she hadn't put much emotion into it or thought too deeply. She couldn't be bothered to make something up and figured that since he could say it out loud, he probably didn't mind others knowing.

Might as well just tell the truth.

But now, she inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt, as if she were tattling on him.

"By the way, Wen Yifan," Su Haoan said, "speaking of this, I still owe you an apology. I thought the rental contract was signed separately for each tenant and didn’t really understand the co-renting process. I figured as long as the original tenant agreed, you could just move in directly."

Wen Yifan turned to look at him.

Sang Yan sat between them, completely ignoring the conversation as if they were air.

Su Haoan continued, "So when Sang Yan asked me to find a place, I just gave him the keys. I heard from, uh, someone that it really scared you—sorry about that. This meal's on me today, as an apology."

Wen Yifan instinctively asked, "Who?"Su Hao'an was silent for a moment. "It's Wang Linlin."

His reaction suggested he'd had a falling out with Wang Linlin. As far as Wen Yifan was concerned, that matter was long settled. She didn't hold a grudge and had no intention of interfering in others' affairs. "It's fine, the situation was resolved well. Just be more careful about such things in the future."

Zhong Siqiao turned back. "Hey, didn't you tell me before that your roommate is your colleague named Wang Linlin?"

Wen Yifan: "Yes."

Xiang Lang: "Then Su Hao'an, how do you know Wang Linlin too?"

"..." Su Hao'an said, "She's my ex-girlfriend."

Zhong Siqiao was surprised. "What a coincidence?"

Wen Yifan was also startled, particularly by the word "ex."

Xiang Lang laughed. "When you gave the keys to Sang Yan, did you know his other roommate was Yifan?"

Su Hao'an sighed, putting on an act. "How could I possibly have known that?"

"Is that so? Though I never expected Sang Yan would be willing to share an apartment with someone." Xiang Lang glanced in the rearview mirror, his tone meaningful. "I heard you've opened a bar now and it's doing quite well."

As one of the owners, Su Hao'an was about to humbly brag with a modest "It's alright."

But before he could speak, this time Sang Yan seemed to have grown ears and a mouth, his tone still as provoking as ever.

"Nope."

"..."

The group arrived at a recently popular hotpot restaurant.

Xiang Lang had reserved a table in advance, but not knowing they'd run into Su Hao'an and Sang Yan, the restaurant had arranged a four-person table for them. Each side had a long bench—comfortable for one person, but a bit cramped for two.

With no other seats available, they had to squeeze in.

The two girls, being smaller, sat together on one side. The three men each took a side.

Wen Yifan sat next to Xiang Lang, with Sang Yan across from her.

Xiang Lang rolled up his sleeves, chatting with Su Hao'an while thoughtfully pouring tea for everyone.

Wen Yifan picked up her cup and took a small sip. Seeing this, Zhong Siqiao patted her arm, amused. "Put that down, it's not for drinking. Wait for me to rinse your utensils."

Coincidentally, Xiang Lang had already rinsed his own utensils with tea. Out of habit, he pushed them toward Wen Yifan and swapped with hers, casually remarking, "We're the same. After being abroad so long, I've lost the habit too."

A completely natural action.

Sang Yan watched for a couple of seconds before looking away.

Noticing Xiang Lang's gesture, Su Hao'an said bluntly, "You're acting like you're taking care of your girlfriend."

"Pretty much. Both of us have this habit," Zhong Siqiao said naturally. "Yifan used to burn herself all the time, so we'd panic whenever we saw her with hot water. After that, either I'd help her or Xiang Lang would."

Su Hao'an suddenly understood. "Oh, I almost forgot. The three of you grew up together, right?"

Wen Yifan: "We've been in the same class since kindergarten."

"Hey, I just remembered something," Zhong Siqiao started laughing before she even began the story. "Yifan had a nickname in elementary school—Wen Dots."

"Huh?" Su Hao'an asked. "Why?"

"Because on the first day of first grade, the teacher asked us to write our names in our notebooks," Xiang Lang also chuckled. "But Yifan learned things slowly back then. She only knew how to write her surname, so every time she tried to write her full name, she could only manage the two dots in it.""So during the first few weeks of school," Zhong Siqiao gestured, "she would write her name as 'Wen, dot dot.'"

"..." Wen Yifan felt a bit embarrassed and lowered her head to take a sip of water.

Su Haoan froze for a moment before bursting into laughter. When he laughed, he always had the habit of slapping someone, and this time the victim was once again Sang Yan sitting next to him: "Damn, that's hilarious."

Sang Yan seemed to be in a foul mood and said coldly, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Why are you so grumpy?" Su Haoan awkwardly withdrew his hand and sighed. "I actually envy you guys. The person I've known the longest is this dog Sang Yan. But with his personality, you get it. It's been pretty painful for me too."

Hearing the word "painful," Wen Yifan found it amusing and couldn't help but curve her lips slightly.

This situation inexplicably reminded her of their first meeting.

Wen Yifan raised her eyes.

Just in time to meet Sang Yan's indifferent gaze.

"..."

Wen Yifan blinked and calmly lowered her head, reining herself in a little.

...

The rest of the meal passed in surprising harmony.

With Su Haoan around, there was never a dull moment. He did most of the talking throughout, and he also took care of most of the food. Handling both tasks simultaneously didn’t slow him down in the slightest.

Wen Yifan only ate a token amount.

She rarely had dinner.

At first, it was because she had a small appetite and hardly ever felt hungry, so when she got busy, she simply forgot to eat. On rest days at home, she couldn’t be bothered to cook and eventually just skipped it altogether.

But when she was out on assignments, her bag was always stocked with energy bars to keep her going.

After the meal, the group drove to Street of Vice and headed to that bar called Overtime, which looked more like a hair salon. The familiar black sign stood out amidst the neon lights, exuding a unique vibe.

Inside the bar.

Heavy metal music blasted through the place, hitting them like a wave as soon as they stepped in.

Sang Yan headed toward the bar, seemingly planning to part ways with them there, tossing out only a single sentence.

"You take them upstairs."

But before he could get far, Su Haoan grabbed him: "Wait, where are you going? Old classmates reuniting—we should chat more. And seriously, if you stand at the bar with that sour face, who’s gonna want to come in?"

"..."

Su Haoan led them to a booth in the middle of the second floor.

The sofas were arranged in a U-shape. The seating arrangement was similar to dinner—the two girls sat in the middle, Sang Yan and Su Haoan on the left side, and Xiang Lang on the other side.

But now Sang Yan ended up sitting next to her, while Zhong Siqiao was beside Xiang Lang.

As soon as he sat down, Sang Yan leaned back against the seat. Slouching like he had no bones, his posture was far from proper. He wore a high-collared windbreaker that partially covered his jaw, looking utterly exhausted.

Wen Yifan pulled out her phone, mentally calculating how soon she could go home.

At that moment, Zhong Siqiao leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Girl, living with Sang Yan—isn’t it miserable?"

She paused. "Why do you ask?"

"Throughout this entire meal, I didn’t see him smile once. Like someone owes him eight million." As they walked into the bar, Zhong Siqiao continued, "What’s up with him? Did something bad happen?"

Wen Yifan glanced quickly at Sang Yan’s expression. "Isn’t this just normal for him?"

Zhong Siqiao: "..."Su Haoan had the waiter bring over some drinks, along with five sets of dice cups and a deck of Truth or Dare cards. He cracked open a beer and took a sip. "Let's play Liar's Dice. Whoever loses has to drink or take a Truth or Dare punishment. How about it?"

"Sounds good," Xiang Lang said, glancing at the two girls. "But do you know how to play?"

"Of course," Zhong Siqiao retorted with a laugh. "Who do you think you're looking down on?"

Wen Yifan admitted honestly, "I don't."

Su Haoan suggested, "Then let's try a few practice rounds first. Once you get the hang of it, we'll start with the punishments, okay?"

As he spoke, he noticed the seating arrangement and immediately sympathized. "Wen Yifan, you better be careful. Sang Yan here is a pro at this game. His numbers are always spot-on, and no one dares to call his bluff. So the person sitting after him usually gets called out hard."

The rules of the game were simple: after everyone shook their dice cups, they'd peek at their own dice. Taking turns clockwise, each player would call out a number, either increasing the quantity or the face value of the dice. The next player had to raise the bet.

The player after the caller could challenge the previous call, and others could also jump in if they thought the call was outrageous. But if the challenger lost, they'd face double the penalty.

With five players, Su Haoan set the starting call at seven dice.

Wen Yifan played a few practice rounds before gradually understanding the game. But she was terrible at it. When the real game started, she became extra cautious due to Su Haoan's warning, always just adding one to whatever number Sang Yan called before her.

First round.

Su Haoan called 14 sixes.

Sang Yan lifted his dice cup and raised his chin lazily. "Call."

"..."

Su Haoan drank.

Second round.

Third round.

Fourth round.

After about seven or eight rounds, Wen Yifan was surprised to find that by following Sang Yan's calls, she hadn't lost a single round. Meanwhile, Su Haoan, sitting before Sang Yan, had been called out several times and had already downed several drinks.

Ninth round. Wen Yifan was called out by Zhong Siqiao. After some hesitation, she chose Dare.

Zhong Siqiao drew a Dare card for her.

—Name one positive trait of every male present.

"..."

Wen Yifan looked up and started with Xiang Lang. "Attentive."

Then Su Haoan. "Enthusiastic."

Finally, Sang Yan.

She stared at his face, trying to think of a compliment that wouldn't inflate his ego. After a long pause, she managed, "...Rich."

"..."

Sang Yan looked at her, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly as if scoffing.

Tenth round.

Xiang Lang lost and chose Truth.

—Share something you deeply regret.

"That would probably be..." Xiang Lang mused before sighing softly. "Going abroad for college. Otherwise, I would've applied to Yihe University with Yifan like we originally planned. We'd even decided on clinical medicine there."

"..."

Wen Yifan was about to say something.

But at that moment.

Sang Yan had already shaken his dice cup and said flatly, "Let's continue."

Wen Yifan's words stuck in her throat as she glanced over.

His profile looked cold under the dim light, his head slightly bowed and his body slouched. Half his face was shadowed, with black strands of hair falling over his forehead, making his expression unreadable.

Wen Yifan lowered her eyes and took a sip of her drink.

Fifteenth round.

The numbers kept climbing. By Su Haoan's turn, it had reached 15 fives.

Sang Yan didn't call.

Wen Yifan grew nervous.

After all, once he called, it would be her turn.Sang Yan stared at the dice cup, remaining silent in his seat for a moment before lifting his gaze to Wen Yifan. His eyelids were thin, his pupils dark as ink, revealing nothing of his thoughts.

"Eighteen fives."

Su Haoan jumped up excitedly and slammed the table. "Call!"

"..."

"You're absolutely insane! Did the alcohol fry your brain? Eighteen? Even an idiot would call you on that!"

Including the wild dice, there were seventeen fives on the table—exactly one fewer than Sang Yan had called.

Double penalty.

Sang Yan chose truth, plus a drink.

Su Haoan enthusiastically drew a card for him.

—Most recent city you flew to.

"..."

Su Haoan frowned, so frustrated he wanted to tear the card. "Damn it! You finally lose for once, and this is the shitty question we get?"

Sang Yan poured himself a drink without a word, then downed it in one go. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he paused for several seconds, as if lost in thought. Then, with complete indifference, he uttered two words.

"Yihe."