The atmosphere felt oddly eerie.
Unsure why he was looking at her while saying that, Wen Yifan averted her gaze and stepped inside, politely remarking, "Your friend must be quite charismatic then."
As she spoke, she silently mused to herself.
Truly Sang Yan's friend—even their manner of speaking was identical.
Sang Yan's gaze remained fixed on her, laden with meaning.
Then he ended the call.
As usual, Wen Yifan took her seat by the coffee table and busied herself boiling water.
While waiting for the water to heat up, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Sang Yan had also settled into his usual spot. With nothing else to do, she recalled his earlier phone call and casually asked, "By the way, did that girl confess to your friend?"
Sang Yan glanced up. "What about it?"
"It just doesn't quite add up logically," Wen Yifan pondered. "If she liked your friend that much, her reason for hugging him would be obvious. Your friend probably didn’t need to specifically discuss it with you."
"Ah, so you mean," Sang Yan drawled out a phrase, "blinded by lust."
"..."
Though the remark wasn’t directed at her, Wen Yifan felt an inexplicable discomfort. After a brief silence, she calmly continued, "But from what I heard earlier, it seemed the girl hadn’t clearly expressed her feelings."
Sang Yan leaned back in his chair, his expression lofty.
"So, is it possible that your friend," Wen Yifan paused, swallowing the sharp phrase "being delusional" and opting for a milder alternative, "misunderstood?"
"..."
Just then, the water boiled.
Sang Yan watched indifferently as Wen Yifan poured hot water into her cup, then added some cold water. She cradled the cup to warm her hands, taking a slow sip before finally noticing his gaze.
Wen Yifan hesitated. "Do you want some water?"
Sang Yan shot her a glance, his tone noticeably displeased. "Keep it to yourself."
Wen Yifan nodded, unsure where his mood had come from. After drinking half the cup, she topped it up with more hot water and stood. "I’ll head to bed then."
Sang Yan gave a noncommittal hum and picked up the remote to turn on the TV.
Wen Yifan took her cup and retreated to her room.
Hearing the door open and close, Sang Yan reclined on the sofa. His elbow rested on the armrest, his chin propped on one hand as he lazily flipped through channels.
One channel was airing a variety show.
A male celebrity onscreen said, "I have this friend—"
Another interrupted, "Stop making up friends out of thin air."
Sang Yan watched impassively and immediately changed the channel.
This time, it was a comedy film. Under the grainy filter, a middle-aged man boomed, "Quit being so full of yourself!"
Another channel change.
Now it was a popular idol drama. The actress onscreen teared up, her voice trembling. "Have you never loved me...? Were you just toying with me all along...?"
"..."
Sang Yan scoffed coldly, turning off the TV and tossing the remote aside.
He picked up his phone and saw a barrage of messages from Qian Fei, berating him for the disgusting and uncivilized act of hanging up without warning.
When Sang Yan continued ignoring him, Qian Fei shifted the battlefield to their dorm group chat.Sang Yan was about to reply when his phone screen lit up again with an incoming call.
—Duan Jiaxu.
Sang Yan answered and walked toward the kitchen.
"Speak."
A man's clear and mellow voice came through, unhurried and gentle with a hint of laughter: "Hey, bro, what are you up to?"
Taking a can of beer from the fridge, Sang Yan popped it open with one hand.
"You’ve got nothing better to do today?"
"Not really," Duan Jiaxu skipped the pleasantries and said leisurely, "You moved, right? Send me your address later. I’ll mail something over."
Hearing this, Sang Yan immediately understood: "Am I your courier now?"
Duan Jiaxu chuckled. "Isn’t this convenient?"
"What is it this time?" Sang Yan said lazily. "A belated Women’s Day gift?"
"Kids don’t celebrate Women’s Day," Duan Jiaxu replied. "Isn’t your sister turning eighteen next Saturday? The little girl’s becoming an adult. Help me pass the gift to her then."
"Fine." Sang Yan paused for two seconds, then raised an eyebrow. "Her birthday’s next Saturday?"
"..."
Leaning against the kitchen counter, Sang Yan took a sip of beer. "Why not just mail it to my place directly?"
"If she gets it early," Duan Jiaxu laughed, "the surprise is ruined."
"Surprise," Sang Yan scoffed. "You’re so outdated."
"Don’t girls like this kind of thing?" Duan Jiaxu suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, bro. Why did I hear from Su Haoan that you came to Yihe recently?"
"..."
"Because of that university rumor about us, he even called to yell at me," Duan Jiaxu paused for a moment, his tone teasing. "He also said you came to Yihe to see me?"
Sang Yan carried his beer toward the living room. "Hanging up."
—
The weather in Nanwu City was always unpredictable.
Just when Wen Yifan thought the temperature was starting to rise, she woke up one morning to several days of continuous rain. Not heavy downpours, but a fine, unending drizzle like soft fluff.
It was enough to unsettle anyone.
The temperature had dropped several degrees as a result.
Amidst this weather, Qian Weihua received a hotline tip.
The gist was that there was a mentally unstable homeless man wandering near the main campus of Nanwu University. He sometimes lashed out and hit people for no reason and had been loitering in the area for a while.
His targets were random.
But since no one had ever been seriously injured, the matter hadn’t been taken seriously.
This morning, for some unknown reason, the homeless man stripped off all his clothes and wandered the streets naked in a daze. Later, he even tried to slap a male university student.
After the student dodged, the homeless man stopped and continued walking stiffly.
Soon, the man was taken to the police station by officers.
After getting a general understanding of the situation, Wen Yifan requested a news van from the station and went to the police station with Qian Weihua.
The two first listened to the liaison officer explain the current situation.
The homeless man hadn’t caused any injuries, but he had frightened a few middle school students who happened to see him. Teachers and parents were now calming them down. The police would later send the homeless man to the Nanwu shelter and increase patrols in the area.
Qian Weihua set up the camera while Wen Yifan took notes nearby.
Aside from that, Wen Yifan noticed a young man sitting in the police station.According to the police officer, the young man was named Mu Chengyun, a senior student from the Media Department of Nanwu University.
He was the one the homeless man had tried to attack this morning.
Mu Chengyun reacted swiftly, dodging the attack and even covering the assailant with his own coat before calling the police. When the officers arrived, he cooperated fully, accompanying them to recount the incident.
Wen Yifan glanced at him.
Mu Chengyun had a clean-cut and bright appearance, now wearing only a sweater. His delicate features leaned toward softness, giving him a somewhat androgynous look like a younger brother who hadn’t fully grown into his looks. Yet he was tall and well-built.
It was as if cuteness and handsomeness had been perfectly balanced in him.
After finishing with the police, Qian Weihua approached him politely and asked, "Hello, we’re reporters from the Convey program under the Urban Channel of Nanwu TV. May we interview you?"
Wen Yifan stood behind Qian Weihua.
Mu Chengyun looked at them both, his gaze lingering on Wen Yifan a few seconds longer. His eyes were bright as he smiled, appearing particularly youthful. "Sure."
Then he pointed at his watch. "But I have something to attend to soon, so I might not have much time. What would you like to ask?"
Qian Weihua didn’t take up too much of his time, wrapping up after a few simple questions.
Afterward, Qian Weihua packed up the camera equipment while Wen Yifan waited nearby.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught another glimpse of Mu Chengyun’s face.
Now that they were closer, Wen Yifan felt like she had seen him somewhere before.
She couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Mu Chengyun suddenly turned to her. Scratching his head without any sign of displeasure, he simply asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"No," Wen Yifan replied honestly, caught off guard. "I just thought you looked familiar."
The words slipped out before she realized how much it sounded like a pickup line.
But Mu Chengyun didn’t find it odd. He nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "Do you have paper and a pen?"
Though unsure why, Wen Yifan handed him the small notebook and pen she always carried in her pocket. Mu Chengyun took them, flipped to the back cover, and began writing.
Wen Yifan was baffled. "..."
Was he about to give her his contact info?
Soon, Mu Chengyun handed the notebook back to her, looking a little shy.
"Thanks for liking me."
Wen Yifan took it and looked down.
It was an autograph.
"..."
Wait, was he some kind of celebrity?
She stared at it but couldn’t decipher the scribbled characters.
After a brief silence, Wen Yifan tucked the notebook back into her pocket and said sincerely, "Thank you for the autograph."
Mu Chengyun paused, then smiled faintly. "No need."
Qian Weihua, oblivious to their exchange, picked up the equipment. "Let’s go, Xiaofan."
She responded, "Okay."
Mu Chengyun remained standing there, showing no sign of leaving. He held his phone, his gaze still fixed on Wen Yifan, his ears slightly red.
Wen Yifan politely bid him goodbye.
Mu Chengyun seemed to want to say something but ended up just waving at her with a smile.
...
The two conducted brief interviews and filming outside Nanwu University.
Not long after, Qian Weihua dropped Wen Yifan back at the station. Since he still had a follow-up interview to attend to, the remaining tasks—writing the news report and editing—fell entirely on Wen Yifan’s shoulders.
She spent the entire afternoon in the editing room.After listening to the recorded audio and drafting the script, Wen Yifan finalized the news segment and submitted it for review before the evening broadcast. Once the segment was confirmed for airing, she decided not to work overtime and began packing up to go home.
Just as she stood up, she ran into Su Tian, who had just returned from an outdoor interview.
Su Tian greeted her, "Heading out?"
Wen Yifan nodded.
"Alright," Su Tian said, "I'm leaving too. Let's go together."
Once outside the office, the two walked toward the subway station.
Su Tian suddenly remembered something, "By the way, Yifan, are you still looking for a roommate? I remember you mentioned your current one is only renting for three months?"
Wen Yifan replied, "Yeah."
"How much longer is left?" Su Tian asked. "I have a friend who’s also looking for a roommate—a really nice girl. I think you two would get along."
Hearing this, Wen Yifan calculated the time, "One more month."
"A month should be fine," Su Tian said. "Why don’t you check with your current roommate first? If he’s definitely moving out and you still need someone, I’ll send you my friend’s WeChat?"
Wen Yifan had almost forgotten about this and quickly agreed.
Since they lived in different directions, they parted ways after passing through the subway gates.
On the train, Wen Yifan put on her headphones and scrolled through the news. Just before her stop, a message popped up on her screen from Sang Yan:
[Where are you?]
She tapped to reply:
[About to get off the subway.]
Wen Yifan: [What’s up?]
This time, Sang Yan sent a voice message:
"Alright, come straight to the supermarket outside the neighborhood later."
His tone was as infuriating as ever:
"Hurry up. I can’t carry all this."
"..."
Wen Yifan: [Okay.]
The supermarket Sang Yan mentioned was near Imperial Capital Flower City.
After getting off the subway, Wen Yifan walked for about five or six minutes before reaching the entrance. She didn’t see Sang Yan and wasn’t sure whether to go inside or wait outside, so she sent another message:
[I’m at the supermarket entrance.]
Sang Yan didn’t reply immediately.
The night was chilly, and with the rain, Wen Yifan felt the cold seep in. She tucked her hands into her pockets and accidentally brushed against a small notebook inside. She pulled it out and glanced at it, noticing the signature on the back cover, which reminded her of what had happened that afternoon.
Curious, she took out her phone again, opened a browser, and typed in "Mu Chengyun."
She wanted to look up what exactly he did, so the signature would have a proper place.
Otherwise, carrying around a notebook with someone else’s signature seemed a bit odd.
Just as she pressed the search button, the light beside her dimmed.
Before she could read the search results, she noticed Sang Yan’s figure appearing in her peripheral vision. He bent slightly, leaning in close, his presence overwhelming the space around them.
He had appeared without a sound.
The distance between them narrowed in an instant.
If she moved just a bit closer, she might have touched his face. Her gaze fixed on him as he lowered his eyes, looking at her phone screen. His sharp, defined profile was striking under the dim light.
The scene became clearer.
His lashes were dark and distinct, his eyes deep like ink. His eyelids were so thin that faint veins were visible, adorned with a faint demon mark. His lips were pale, curled in an indifferent smirk.
Wen Yifan parted her lips but didn’t get a chance to speak.The next moment, Sang Yan glanced at her and said casually, "You like this type?"
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