From the company building all the way home, Sang Yan's mood had been particularly off. His actions after entering the house were also very purposeful, clearly having learned about this matter from someone.
Wen Yifan followed his lead, lowering her head to stare at the wound on her leg, her struggle subsiding: "I was pushed and scraped by a tree branch. It's not serious, I already applied medicine, it'll heal soon."
As these words fell, the room fell silent.
Wen Yifan licked her lips, inexplicably nervous, and raised her eyes again. Meeting Sang Yan's gaze once more, his expression was unreadable, as if waiting, waiting for her next words.
This lasted for quite a while.
Sang Yan seemed to lose patience: "Finished?"
"..."
Sang Yan: "Who pushed you."
Wen Yifan told the truth: "...The man who claims to be my uncle."
Sang Yan fired one question after another: "How long."
Wen Yifan: "Huh?"
"How long has he been bothering you."
"..." Wen Yifan reflexively denied, "He hasn't."
Sang Yan acted as if he didn't hear her denial, continuing: "Since the last time he bothered you during 'Overtime'? Or even earlier?"
"No, I haven't really run into him much. I didn't even know he was in Nanwu before." Wen Yifan explained, "And during this time, there hasn't been..."
"This time?" Sang Yan cut her off, enunciating each word, "So how long exactly."
"..."
"Wen Yifan, 'If anything happens, tell me'," Sang Yan laughed in extreme anger, "How many times have I said this to you during this time?"
After so long, hearing him call her by her full name again, Wen Yifan was momentarily stunned. She moved her lips, suddenly afraid to speak, only managing to mumble after a long pause: "I'm sorry."
Sang Yan looked at her.
"I just thought it wasn't necessary to affect both our moods because of this kind of thing." Wen Yifan said, "And I didn't think it was a big deal, something I could handle myself."
"Didn't think it was a big deal." Sang Yan repeated her words lightly, his tone devoid of any warmth, "Then what counts as a big deal to you?"
Wen Yifan couldn't answer.
"Do I have to ask every single question for you to answer, is that it?" Sang Yan stared at her, his voice cold and hard, "Even if something really happened, it wouldn't be a big deal to you, is that it?"
"..."
"Wen Yifan," Sang Yan's Adam's apple moved, "Could you consider my feelings?"
Making him feel that the distance between them seemed to stop right here.
No matter what more he did.
He simply couldn't enter her heart.
"I understand you have things you don't want to talk about, fine, that's okay. You can tell me whenever you're ready. But not even telling me about something like this," Sang Yan released his grip on her, slowly finishing his words, "Do you think I'm not trustworthy?"
"That's not what I meant." Wen Yifan had seen Sang Yan angry before, but she felt particularly uneasy now, "It's just that you're about to go to Yihe soon, and I wasn't affected by this matter, I didn't want you to worry."
Sang Yan didn't speak again, just looked at her.
After a long while.
The emotions in Sang Yan's eyes gradually faded, the fury seeming to be extinguished, returning to his usual unapproachable demeanor.He didn't continue the topic, taking the car keys from his pocket and saying calmly, "I'll leave the car keys here. You can drive yourself to work these days. Remember to lock the door before sleeping."
"..."
Sang Yan lowered his gaze, methodically pulling her pant legs back into place before lifting her off the shoe cabinet. Everything returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
Their earlier argument seemed like just an illusion.
"I'm leaving," Sang Yan said without looking at her again, opening the front door. "Go rest."
...
Staring at the closed door, Wen Yifan instinctively wanted to follow. But the tone and expression he had used when speaking earlier seemed to carry a hint of hurt. She slowly stopped, not daring to go any further.
That look felt familiar to Wen Yifan.
Like the last time she had seen him before they reunited.
Wen Yifan wondered if she had made a mistake.
If she had repeated the same error again.
She only wanted to be good to him, to keep the ugliness in her life far away from him, to make him feel that being with her was something easy and ordinary, to have him stay with her always.
But it seemed she still hadn't done it right.
It seemed she had, once again, hurt Sang Yan.
Wen Yifan stood frozen in place, then suddenly turned to look at the wall clock.
It was almost 7:30.
Afraid he wouldn't be able to hail a taxi, Wen Yifan snapped out of her thoughts, grabbed the car keys, and opened the door to leave. She took out her phone and sent Sang Yan a message: [Let me drive you. It's hard to get a taxi at this hour.]
Hesitating, she typed another line: "Can we talk when you get back?"
Before she could send it, Sang Yan replied: [No need]
Sang Yan: [Already in a car]
Her fingers froze mid-air, and her steps halted. After a long pause, Wen Yifan deleted the unsent words and typed instead: [Then be careful on your way.]
Wen Yifan lowered her eyes: [Let me know when you arrive.]
At this hour, driving from the city center to the airport, Wen Yifan wasn't sure if he'd make his flight. Unable to focus on anything else, she timed it and asked: [Have you reached the airport?]
Sang Yan answered every question she sent.
But his replies were always brief, as if he had little patience for typing. Not much different from usual. Except that before, after a few messages, he would switch to voice notes.
Text couldn't convey emotion.
It created an invisible distance between them.
His aloofness made Wen Yifan hesitant to message too often. Only after confirming he had boarded the plane did she relax. Exhausted, she returned to her room and collapsed onto the bed, not wanting to move.
But remembering the wound on her leg, Wen Yifan forced herself up to shower. Carefully avoiding the injury, she rinsed off quickly before sitting on the bed to apply medicine.
She used a cotton swab to dab away the water that had accidentally touched the wound, tending to it meticulously.
The surroundings were utterly silent.
Gradually, an overwhelming loneliness unraveled and consumed her.
Wen Yifan's grip on the cotton swab tightened as memories surfaced—of the night on their second day together.
—"Will you help me apply medicine tomorrow?"
—"Come find me yourself after your shower."
The red marks before her eyes blurred into indistinct shapes, everything becoming unclear.Wen Yifan continued applying medicine to herself, silent and still to the extreme. She blinked hard, and a large teardrop fell onto the wound, bringing a sharp, stinging pain.
Snapping back to reality, she wiped away the tears messily with the back of her hand and used a cotton swab to dry the wet traces again.
...
The next afternoon, Wen Yifan received another call from the police station, asking her to come in to supplement her statement. For a journalist, trips to the police station were routine. After finishing the draft she was working on, she packed up and left the office.
This time, the questioning mainly revolved around the persistent harassment by Che Xingde.
The police station had reviewed the surveillance footage from the station, and indeed, Che Xingde could be seen almost every day outside the Nanwu Broadcasting Station. However, he hadn’t caused any substantial harm to Wen Yifan, nor had he made any extreme moves.
Che Xingde’s attempted theft had failed, and he hadn’t fled after being discovered, so the circumstances weren’t severe. That day, Che Yanqin had approached Wen Yifan to propose a settlement, but after being refused, she had clamored about hiring a lawyer.
Wen Yifan wasn’t sure what the final outcome would be.
She was distracted all day, unable to focus on work and unwilling to deal with these matters. She only did what she had to, with no energy left to think about anything beyond that.
Noticing Wen Yifan’s state, Gan Hongyuan assumed she was affected by the incident with Che Xingde. Combined with the fact that she had come in to work overtime on several of her scheduled days off due to emergencies, he readily approved a three-day leave for her to handle these matters.
Receiving the leave didn’t bring Wen Yifan the joy she had imagined. She even considered asking Gan Hongyuan if the three days could be postponed until a week later.
After all, there wasn’t much for her to do at home alone.
Wen Yifan would rather wait until Sang Yan returned before taking these three days off. But she was worried that if she brought it up, Gan Hongyuan might think she was fine and change his mind about the leave.
After Gan Hongyuan approved the leave, Wen Yifan didn’t go home immediately but stayed at the office until six. She turned off her computer and habitually opened WeChat, sending Sang Yan a message: Have you eaten?
Her finger hovered over the send button, her palm tightening slightly before she pressed it a few seconds later.
This time, Sang Yan didn’t reply immediately as he usually did.
Wen Yifan waited for a while before silently putting her phone back in her pocket and leaving the office. When she got home, she unlocked the door with her key and stared at the shoe cabinet for a moment, recalling their argument the night before.
The next moment, her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
Wen Yifan immediately pulled her phone from her pocket and answered. Zhong Siqiao’s playful voice came through: “So, how does it feel to have your boyfriend gone? The world must feel a lot fresher, huh.”
“...” Wen Yifan averted her gaze and walked toward the couch, only smiling in response.
“Let’s grab a meal on your day off, okay? Isn’t Sang Yan gone for a week?” Zhong Siqiao said. “Ugh, ever since you started dating, all your time’s been taken by him. It’s been ages since we hung out.”
Wen Yifan replied softly, “Okay.”
“What’s with that tone?” Zhong Siqiao teased. “Missing him already after just one day? I never knew you were this clingy.”
Wen Yifan just smiled again, saying nothing.Soon, Zhong Siqiao sensed something was off and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? Normally, whenever I bring up Sang Yan, you always have a lot to say. Why are you so quiet today? Did you two have a fight?"
Wen Yifan stayed silent for a moment before replying without admitting anything, "He thinks I don’t tell him anything."
"Ah, you do have that bad habit of keeping everything bottled up inside," Zhong Siqiao said. "But couples can’t live like that, Dian Dian. It’s fine once or twice, but if it happens too often, you’ll start growing distant."
"..." Wen Yifan said blankly, "But it’s not like I don’t tell him anything."
"Huh?"
Wen Yifan explained seriously, "I just don’t tell him about the bad things."
Zhong Siqiao laughed. "That’s the same thing."
"..."
"If you don’t say anything, the other person won’t know why you’re keeping quiet. They’ll just think maybe your relationship isn’t strong enough for you to be completely open with them," Zhong Siqiao said. "And if they end up finding out from someone else, wouldn’t that be pretty disappointing?"
A brief silence followed.
Wen Yifan’s voice sounded faint. "Qiao Qiao, maybe it’s because I’ve been with Sang Yan for so long. Lately, I keep remembering something from the past."
"What is it?"
Wen Yifan spoke slowly. "I told you back then that I was going to apply to Nan University."
Unsure why she brought this up, Zhong Siqiao paused. "Yeah, I was really confused when you ended up going to Yi University instead. I thought we’d be at the same school again."
"When we were filling out our college applications, Sang Yan came and asked me. I promised him I’d apply to Nan University." Wen Yifan had never dared to mention this to anyone, not even to Sang Yan. "But I—"
"What happened?"
Wen Yifan hesitated. "I changed my application at the last minute."
"..."
Wen Yifan whispered, "I’m really worried he’ll care about this."
It was as if once you had something you truly cared about, you became vulnerable.
Every action became cautious and hesitant.
"So I never dared to bring it up with him again, and I tried my best to accommodate him, not wanting to cause him any trouble," Wen Yifan asked slowly. "Did I do something wrong?"
After a long pause, Zhong Siqiao finally asked, "...So what was the reason you changed it?"
Wen Yifan didn’t answer.
Realizing it might not be something good, Zhong Siqiao didn’t press further. "And you never told him?"
She gave a soft hum in response.
"Then I’ll say it again—no matter the reason, if you want to stay with him long-term, you have to bring it up," Zhong Siqiao said. "Otherwise, it’ll be a thorn in both your sides."
"..."
"Dian Dian, it’s not just words that can hurt," Zhong Siqiao said seriously. "Avoiding the topic can hurt just as much."
Silence fell over the call.
A few seconds later, Zhong Siqiao sighed. "Don’t make the same mistake again."
The next evening at 8 p.m., Yihe City.
After having dinner with Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu, Sang Yan originally planned to head straight back to Duan Jiaxu’s place to sleep, not wanting to stick around with the disgustingly lovey-dovey couple.
But Sang Zhi insisted on dragging him along and even seated him and Duan Jiaxu in a couple’s booth.
Annoyed and finding the whole thing ridiculous, Sang Yan told Duan Jiaxu to get lost before leaning back in his seat and pulling out his phone.Sang Yan had missed his flight the day before yesterday and could only get a ticket for the following afternoon, but he didn’t mention this to Wen Yifan. When she sent him a message last night, he was still on the plane.
After landing, he finally saw her message. He replied, only to receive a response telling him to get some rest early. For the rest of the night, his phone remained silent.
Even today, by mealtime, he still hadn’t received any messages from Wen Yifan.
He stared at their chat interface.
Remembering the outburst he had directed at her before coming to Yihe.
His fingers moved slightly as he typed: [Home yet?]
No reply.
Coincidentally, the movie started right then.
Sang Yan waited a little longer before tossing his phone aside and focusing on the screen. He had no interest in the film, unable to concentrate at all. It took him a while to realize it was a 3D movie.
But he couldn’t be bothered to put on the 3D glasses.
The theater’s sound system was deafening, the bass vibrating painfully in his ears. Yet Sang Yan remained unaffected, inexplicably feeling exhausted. His eyelids grew heavy, gradually drooping shut.
Drowsiness washed over him, accompanied by an eerie, unsettling dream.
He dreamed of Wen Yifan at seventeen.
In the dream, she was wearing the standard high school uniform of Beiyu, walking briskly alone down the alley they had passed through together countless times. As if someone was following her, her expression was filled with fear and helplessness.
The next moment, someone grabbed her from behind.
She turned to face the lecherous grin of her so-called "uncle."
Her entire demeanor was defensive, instinctively trying to break free.
But she couldn’t escape at all.
The surroundings were deathly silent—no one else existed in the world except the two of them. As if no matter how much she screamed for help, the situation would remain unchanged. No one would come to her aid.
The scene shifted.
Wen Yifan sat alone on a bed, the room dimly lit. Just like every time she sleepwalked and ended up sitting in the living room by herself. She had wrapped herself in the blanket, her head lowered as tears fell one by one.
The door was being pounded violently from the outside, the loud banging reverberating through the room.
...
The next moment, Sang Yan was abruptly awakened by someone calling his name.
He slowly opened his eyes to see Sang Zhi’s slightly awkward face. "Bro, let’s go."
Instinctively, he checked his phone again—still no reply. His expression was still dazed as he absentmindedly hummed in response and stood up.
The three of them got back into the car.
Sang Yan sat in the backseat, staring out the window, his thoughts entirely consumed by the dream. Despite piecing together clues over time and gradually arriving at an answer, he didn’t want to believe it.
In that memory, what he remembered most clearly were the harsh words Wen Yifan had said at the end.
Words that had trampled his pride completely.
He had never considered there might be another reason.
But he’d rather there wasn’t.
He’d rather it just be—
That the girl he had loved for so many years had pushed him away with everything she had simply because she couldn’t stand his persistence.
Just because she didn’t like him.
He didn’t want there to be another reason.
He didn’t want it to be that, all those years, she had been living in misery.
Before he knew it, the car had arrived at the gates of Yihe University.Sang Yan turned his head, staring at the familiar school gate, slowly losing himself in thought. He recalled what she had said not long ago when she found out he was coming to see Sang Zhi.
—"It’s really hard not to worry about a young girl being all alone over there."
Unconsciously, Sang Yan muttered, "Maybe I should just go back."
Sang Zhi, walking ahead, didn’t catch his words and turned to ask, "What?"
"You two go on your date," Sang Yan said indifferently, looking back at his phone. "I’m heading back to Nanwu."
By the time he reached the airport, it was almost ten o'clock.
Sang Yan stood in line at the ticket counter, about to ask if there were any flights back to Nanwu, when his phone suddenly rang. He paused, pulled it out of his pocket, and saw the caller ID: "Wen Shuangjiang."
His tension visibly eased as he stepped out of the line to answer the call.
"Home yet?"
"Ah," Wen Yifan replied softly. "Not yet."
"When do you get off work?"
"..."
A brief silence followed.
Then, unexpectedly, Wen Yifan asked in return, "Sang Yan, are you free right now?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I come see you? I just got off a plane," she added after a pause, "at Yihe Airport."
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