Wen Yifan was a bit dumbfounded by the situation and didn’t know how to react for a moment. She turned her head to stare at the slightly ajar door, vaguely feeling as if Sang Yan had come to deliver a package.
“No, Dad. Where do you expect me to go on New Year’s Eve?” Sang Yan then glanced at Li Ping, his tone flippant. “Didn’t Mom already say it’s fine? She’s happy to let me watch some TV. How can you chase her own son away? That’s pretty rebellious of you.”
“…”
Li Ping was so exasperated by his shameless attitude that she couldn’t help laughing. She didn’t argue further and instead grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the kitchen. “Watch what TV? Aren’t you ashamed to come home as a grown man and not lift a finger?”
Then, she turned to Wen Yifan and said, “Yifan, take a seat for now.”
Wen Yifan instinctively replied, “Okay.”
Sang Yan let himself be dragged along but glanced back at Wen Yifan. Sang Rong exchanged a few words with her before also heading into the kitchen. “Zhi Zhi, don’t just sit there. Pour Yifan a glass of water.”
“Got it.” Sang Zhi waved at her. “Yifan-jie, come sit here.”
Wen Yifan walked over and sat down, accepting the glass of water before asking quietly, “Did your brother do something to upset your parents?”
Sang Zhi grinned. “Yep. Before you arrived, I’d already listened to them complain about him for almost four hours.”
“…”
“They started scolding him the moment they began preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.” Sang Zhi counted on her fingers, listing the issues their parents had pointed out about Sang Yan. “Not coming home, not calling, not messaging, not updating them on his life, having to beg on hands and knees just to get him to agree to a meal, standing up every single girl they set him up with for blind dates—”
Realizing this might sound bad, Sang Zhi quickly added, “But Mom hasn’t arranged any blind dates for him in a long time.”
At this mention, Wen Yifan asked again, “Why does your mom always set Sang Yan up on blind dates?”
Sang Zhi didn’t need to think at all, answering matter-of-factly, “Who could tolerate my brother’s dog-like temper? Of course, they have to start looking early.”
“…”
“But my brother must really like you,” Sang Zhi said, her round eyes curving as if she found it somewhat miraculous. “I’ve never seen him in a relationship before, but this is the first time I’ve seen him act so timid.”
Wen Yifan: “Huh? What do you mean timid?”
Sang Zhi: “You know, the whole ‘cheating’ thing. He was so worried you’d misunderstand.”
The two sat in the living room, intermittently hearing noises from the kitchen.
Mostly, it was Li Ping and Sang Rong ganging up on Sang Yan.
Li Ping: “Take off your jacket. Aren’t you stuffy wearing so much indoors?”
Sang Yan: “Nah, I’m cold.”
Sang Rong: “Cold? What cold? Isn’t the heating on?”
Li Ping: “Can’t you roll up your sleeves? They’re going to get wet. And what’s with your complexion? Have you been staying up late and skipping meals again?” The more she spoke, the angrier she got. “I ask you to come home so I can make you some soup to nourish you, but you refuse like your own mother is trying to kill you.”
Sang Yan laughed. “What do I need nourishment for at my age?”
A moment later.
Li Ping suddenly said, “What’s this scar on your hand?”
Sang Rong also asked, “When did you get stitches?”
Sang Zhi, who had been chatting with Wen Yifan, abruptly stopped mid-sentence. “Yifan-jie, wait a sec,” she said before jumping up and running to the kitchen. “What stitches?”
Soon, she seemed to have seen the scar on Sang Yan’s hand, her voice exploding with anger. “Who did this to you?!”"What's it to you?" Sang Yan said lazily. "Go watch your cartoons."
"You little brat, hurry up and tell me what happened?" Li Ping was both furious and heartbroken. "Can you give me one peaceful day? Can you wish for your mother to live a long life?"
"It's not that serious. You're acting like I'm about to keel over any second." Sang Yan's tone carried his usual impatience, but he still explained properly, "I was just being a good Samaritan and got a little scratch in the process."
...
A few minutes later, Sang Zhi returned to her seat. She seemed in much lower spirits and asked Wen Yifan quietly, "Yifan-jie, do you know what happened?"
Wen Yifan gripped her cup. "You mean the injury on Sang Yan's hand?"
"Yeah, when I came back for National Day, his hand wasn't hurt." Looking at the scar, Sang Zhi guessed the wound must have been quite serious at the time. "Did someone cause trouble at his bar? With his personality, I can see him easily making enemies..."
"..."
"Could something worse happen in the future?"
"No, Sang Yan ran into a relative from my aunt's side," Wen Yifan found it hard to say but didn't hide the truth. "He happened to be a wanted criminal. Sang Yan got hurt while catching him."
Sang Zhi froze.
Wen Yifan didn't know what else to add.
After a moment, Sang Zhi sighed in relief. "So he really was being a good Samaritan? I thought my brother was just talking nonsense. That's a good deed then, as long as nothing serious happened." She then muttered, "I don't know how my brother turned out like this, but he's really good at fighting."
Wen Yifan made a small sound of surprise.
Sang Zhi tattled, "He beat up my boyfriend—his face was all bruised. There wasn't a single spot on his body left unharmed."
The topic shifted quickly. Wen Yifan paused but still responded, "Why did Sang Yan hit your boyfriend?"
"Because they were college classmates. My brother thought he was taking advantage of his age to trick me into a relationship, and then kept getting fooled by him..." Sang Zhi sighed. "Anyway, he hits really hard."
"..."
"But my brother got beaten up by my boyfriend too." Sang Zhi puffed her cheeks and complained, "After they fought, I was so mad I scolded my brother, but the two of them ended up getting along just fine, making me the bad guy. My brother even said he didn't come to Nanwu to see me—he came to see his 'bro.'"
Wen Yifan couldn't help but laugh.
Perhaps sensing her tension, Sang Zhi chattered more than usual, rambling on and on. Eventually, she circled back to the earlier topic. "Yifan-jie, besides his arm, where else was my brother hurt?"
"His waist too, but it wasn't as bad as his arm. It's all healed now, don't worry."
"That's good. Have you been taking care of him this whole time?" Sang Zhi said. "I don’t think my parents know about this."
Wen Yifan nodded gently. "But I didn’t really help much."
Sang Zhi: "His wounds healed really well though—it’s only been a few months."
Wen Yifan wanted to say that Sang Yan had gone after Che Xingde because of her—otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
But the words stuck in her throat.
"My brother did a good deed," the girl said with clear, smiling eyes, as if sensing her mood. She spoke earnestly, "His luck will definitely get better from now on."
Before long, the two were called over by Li Ping for dinner.The New Year's Eve dinner was incredibly lavish, with dishes of all flavors covering the entire table. Lost in thought over Sang Zhi's comforting words earlier, Wen Yifan seemed a bit distracted. At the same time, Sang Yan reached under the table and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
She turned to look at him.
Sang Yan met her gaze, as if asking with his eyes, "Still nervous?"
Wen Yifan curved her lips and shook her head.
After chatting at the table for a while, Li Ping gradually began to realize something. Staring at Wen Yifan's face, she found it increasingly familiar and asked, "Yifan, have we met before?"
Wen Yifan hadn’t expected her to remember and quickly replied, "Yes. I saw you at school when I was in high school."
"..."
Li Ping suddenly recalled and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, so you're the girl who was in a puppy love with A-Yan back then?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the gazes of everyone else at the table turned to Wen Yifan. She slowly swallowed the soup in her mouth and explained, "Yes, but we weren’t actually dating back then. We only got together last year."
"But this brat definitely liked you back then and didn’t hide it from us." Remembering this, Li Ping found it amusing. "After coming back from school, I talked to A-Yan several times, telling him to focus on his studies first and not think about these things yet."
Wen Yifan nodded. "Yes, we were still quite young at the time."
"He never listened to me—rebellious from childhood till now." Li Ping gave Sang Yan a light glance. "But later, for some reason, he suddenly started studying like crazy. Then, even after graduating from university, he didn’t date anyone for years."
Sang Rong also laughed. "It scared us so much we thought our words had affected him."
Sang Yan, the person in question, remained silent.
Sang Zhi, chewing her food, mumbled, "Is it possible he was secretly dating someone?"
Li Ping sighed. "I asked Hao An and Qian Fei. Neither of them knew anything, which made me worry A-Yan had some psychological issues. So I kept setting him up on blind dates."
Hearing this, Sang Yan paused his chopsticks as if recalling something. With a lazy, half-smiling expression, he said, "And then you even set me up with a guy."
"..." Li Ping choked and retorted, "Wasn’t it because you refused to meet any of the girls I introduced? What else was I supposed to think? How much do you think your mother has compromised for you?"
Sang Rong and Sang Zhi burst into laughter simultaneously.
Wen Yifan lowered her head, inexplicably laughing as well.
...
After dinner, the family gathered on the sofa to watch the Spring Festival Gala, though most of the time was spent chatting idly. They stayed up until the end of the New Year's Eve countdown, when the elders handed out red envelopes to the three of them before retiring to their rooms.
Back in Sang Zhi’s room, the two chatted for a while until Sang Zhi’s phone rang.
The caller seemed to be Duan Jiaxu.
Noticing this, Wen Yifan decided to give Sang Zhi some privacy and got up to leave the room. She walked to Sang Yan’s door and knocked lightly. His voice came from inside almost immediately: "It’s unlocked."
Wen Yifan turned the knob and entered.
Sang Yan was sitting on the sofa in his room, casually playing a game with a controller in hand. He glanced up at her. "Not sleeping yet?"
Wen Yifan closed the door behind her. "I’ll sleep in a bit."
"Coming here to sleep with me?"
"No."
Sang Yan tilted his chin up, looking cocky. "Then go back now."
"..."Pretending not to hear, Wen Yifan sat down beside him on her own. "What are you playing?"
Sang Yan handed her the controller, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her onto his lap. He seemed a bit tired too, resting his chin on her shoulder as his hand covered hers. "I'll teach you."
He guided her through the game for a while.
Though her hands were moving, Sang Yan was the one really controlling everything. Wen Yifan watched as her character's health bar remained untouched while the opponent's steadily decreased until it was completely depleted.
Under these circumstances,
Wen Yifan started to feel the illusion that she was actually amazing. Growing interested, she turned her head and said, "Let me try playing on my own."
Sang Yan obediently let go from behind and watched her play.
She thought the result would be similar to before.
But playing alone versus being guided by Sang Yan made a world of difference. In less than a minute, the character she controlled was utterly defeated without even scratching the opponent's health.
Sang Yan chuckled lowly, his chest vibrating slightly as he commented, "Trash."
Wen Yifan glanced at him. "Can we do multiplayer mode?"
"Sure," Sang Yan drawled, "but I'm way better than the computer."
"..."
At Wen Yifan's insistence, Sang Yan still switched to multiplayer mode and picked up the other controller. He showed no mercy, his movements seemingly casual but each strike chipping away at her health bar.
After being ruthlessly killed three times,
Wen Yifan set down the controller, feeling it was about time to call it a night.
"I'm going back to sleep."
"What's the rush?" Sang Yan tugged her back, suppressing a laugh. "Didn't I say I'd teach you? You think you can graduate after just that little time? I’ve got to give you a proper lesson."
Wen Yifan thought about it and decided he had a point. "Then keep teaching me."
As they played, they chatted idly.
Sang Yan asked, "Are you staying here tomorrow too?"
Wen Yifan nodded. "Yeah, I like your place."
From the moment she met Sang Yan, Wen Yifan had known he must have grown up in a happy, loving family. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for someone like him to exist—
Proud, confident, and blazing with life.
Like a beam of light.
Thinking of how his family addressed him—
Ah Yan.
Just changing the tone of the first character.
Somehow made it sound so much gentler.
Wen Yifan licked her lips and suddenly called out, "Sang Yan."
Sang Yan: "Hm?"
"Your little sister has a nickname, Zhizhi. Do you have one too?" Without waiting for his answer, she continued, "Would it be changed to the first tone? Like Yan Yan ?"
"..." Sang Yan pinched her cheek, speechless. "No."
"Then would it still be the second tone?" Wen Yifan added, " Yan Yan ?"
"Are you sleepy?" Sang Yan stared at her before suddenly laughing. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Oh, so it’s this." Wen Yifan paused for two seconds, then said, " Ah Yan ."
"..."
Noticing his slightly stunned expression, Wen Yifan leaned in to kiss his lips, then climbed off him, feigning nonchalance. "I'm going to sleep."
Sang Yan swiftly pulled her back. "What did you call me?"
Half-sprawled on him, Wen Yifan no longer felt shy, her lips curving. " Ah Yan ."
Sang Yan's Adam's apple bobbed as he lightly kissed the corner of her mouth."Alright, call me that from now on."
This meeting with Sang Yan's parents added another routine to Wen Yifan's weekly life. She loved the atmosphere at his home, so whenever she had time, she would drag Sang Yan back to his parents' place for meals.
As a result, the number of times Sang Yan went home during this period nearly matched the total from the latter half of last year.
The two had set their moving date for the 28th.
They started packing a week in advance, and on the night before the move, Wen Yifan was still tidying up the last few things. Most of her room had already been packed, leaving only some miscellaneous items to be sorted.
After working for a while, a knock came from outside her door.
She casually said, "You can just come in."
Sang Yan pushed the door open and glanced around before frowning. "Don’t sit on the floor. Aren’t you still on your period?"
Wen Yifan had no choice but to stand up.
Sang Yan asked, "Need help?"
Wen Yifan pointed toward the desk. "Then help me pack the stuff over there. I’ve already sorted them and put them on the table."
"Got it."
With that, Sang Yan began stacking the materials on the desk into the box one by one. When he reached the last pile, he seemed to notice something and paused, slowly picking it up to take a look.
It was a small notebook.
Currently placed upside down, the back of the notebook was exposed. Someone had signed it with a marker in huge, messy letters that took up the entire page, making it nearly impossible to decipher.
Meanwhile, Wen Yifan was still talking. "How’s your room coming along?"
Sang Yan didn’t respond.
Wen Yifan added, "Want me to help you later?"
Still, Sang Yan remained silent.
Puzzled, Wen Yifan glanced over.
She saw Sang Yan holding the notebook with an unreadable expression. On it was a signature Mu Chengyun had given her a long time ago.
"..."
Wen Yifan froze, her scalp tingling, but she figured he probably couldn’t make out the words. She lowered her eyes and continued packing as if nothing was wrong. "We should be done by eleven—"
"Wen Shuangjiang," Sang Yan cut her off, "You’ve got some nerve."
"..."
"Care to explain why you’re so carefully preserving the autograph of your—oh, wait," he emphasized the next word deliberately, "former colleague?"
Wen Yifan had no idea how he recognized it but answered truthfully, "I just left it there. It’s not like I was treasuring it."
"What’s so special about this guy?"
"He played the ghost in Awakening to Ghosts ," Wen Yifan said, recalling what Su Tian had mentioned before. "I think he’s in some talent show now and is pretty popular."
Sang Yan had only seen that movie. After a moment of thought, he said flatly, "I actually like him."
Wen Yifan: "?"
Sang Yan: "Alright, it’s mine now."
"..."
Wen Yifan found his behavior amusing. "If you like it, take it."
...
After finishing the last of the packing, Wen Yifan felt they were almost done. "That’s it for now. We’ll handle the rest in the morning. Let’s go sort out your room—the living room and kitchen still have some things left too."
Sang Yan gave a noncommittal hum, clutching the little notebook with Mu Chengyun’s signature as he followed her out.After entering the room, Sang Yan casually placed the notebook on the desk. His hand accidentally brushed against the mouse, causing the screen to light up. Wen Yifan instinctively glanced over and suddenly noticed a familiar online game icon on his desktop.
Wen Yifan stared at it for a few seconds before pointing. "Do you play this game too?"
Sang Yan gave a slight glance. "Yeah."
Wen Yifan shared, "I played this game in college, but it's been a long time since I last played."
Sang Yan chuckled. "Is that so."
After that, Wen Yifan didn’t pay it any more attention, instead scanning the state of the room. Compared to hers, Sang Yan’s room was neat and tidy, with various items packed into cardboard boxes and placed to one side.
There didn’t seem to be much left to organize.
"Just sit. There’s nothing to pack," Sang Yan said, remembering something as he headed back toward the door. "I just made you some brown sugar water. Let me check how it’s doing."
Wen Yifan nodded but still checked around to see if he’d missed anything. Her eyes swept over the bookshelf—it was empty. She turned and opened the wardrobe, finding only a few scattered jackets inside.
Her gaze moved downward.
Suddenly, Wen Yifan noticed a medium-sized storage box tucked in the corner at the bottom of the wardrobe. Thinking it might be something he’d forgotten, she reached down to pull it out. The box was heavy, its contents clearly not clothes—more like books.
Wen Yifan opened it casually.
The first thing that caught her eye was a yellowed newspaper.
She paused, then flipped through the rest, realizing they were all newspapers. She couldn’t fathom why Sang Yan would keep so many old newspapers here. Curious, she picked up the one on top to examine.
Her eyes locked onto the masthead.
Yihe Daily.
July 27, 2013. Saturday.
A newspaper from Yihe?
Why was it here?
Wen Yifan froze, a thought flashing through her mind. She couldn’t believe it, quickly scanning the bylines. Then she turned the page, her gaze halting.
In one of the sections, she saw her own name.
— Yihe Daily reporter Wen Yifan.
"……"
Her expression stiffened as she continued flipping.
Page after page.
December 13, 2010. Tuesday.
This date, Wen Yifan remembered quite clearly.
It was the day her first article was published after she started interning at Yihe Daily .
Beneath these were countless round-trip plane tickets between Nanwu and Yihe, various unidentifiable receipts, and a photograph.
Wen Yifan held her breath, wiping her sweaty palms on her clothes. After a long moment, she reached out and picked up the photo.
In the picture stood a large group of students, all clad in black graduation gowns. Among them, a strikingly beautiful girl stood in the center. Unlike the others, she seemed to have heard something, her gaze directed toward the camera.
Her eyes held confusion, unfocused.
As if she had no idea who was taking her picture.
It was a moment she had once believed to be just a dream.
Wen Yifan’s throat tightened.
Clenching her fist, she turned the photo over and immediately saw the bold, forceful handwriting of a man.Unlike the usual unrestrained boldness, the handwriting was neat and proper, stroke by stroke. It seemed to be done with utmost seriousness.
Just four words.
—Happy graduation.
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