Sang Yan closed his eyes and took off his shoes for the second time. He quickly walked over to Sang Zhi, snatched her phone away, and lowered his gaze expressionlessly as he tried to hang up the call.
When he lit up the screen, it wasn’t the call interface he had expected.
Instead, it was the phone’s home screen.
There was no call record at all.
He instantly realized what had happened and, feeling so angry that his stomach ached faintly, he laughed instead. "Little brat, are you messing with me?"
Sang Zhi blinked her eyes and said innocently, "I never said I made a call."
Sang Yan’s tone was icy. "Then who were you talking to just now?"
Sang Zhi shifted to the other side of the sofa. "I was just rehearsing."
"..."
"You were the one who told me to wait for death earlier. I wasn’t making things up. Now," Sang Zhi suddenly remembered that he had taken her phone and tried to snatch it back, "now that I’ve finished rehearsing, I’ll make the call."
Sang Yan stared at her for a long moment, not stopping her, and obediently handed the phone back.
"Fine, go ahead and call."
This turn of events wasn’t quite what Sang Zhi had imagined. She glanced at him suspiciously but didn’t want to lose her momentum, so she slowly opened her contacts.
Watching her actions, Sang Yan said calmly, "After you’re done, it’ll be my turn to make a call."
"I haven’t done anything wrong," Sang Zhi frowned. "What are you going to tell Mom and Dad about me?"
"I’m not talking about you," Sang Yan said with a fake smile. "I meant hitting."
"..."
"Go ahead, tattle if you want," Sang Yan stood up to close the window and drew the curtains as well. "Say whatever you want, however you want. When you’re done, it’ll be my turn."
The room instantly darkened, like the prelude to an impending storm.
Sang Zhi’s confidence dwindled by more than half, and she began to feel uneasy. "...If you hit me, Dad will beat you to death when he comes back."
"Fine by me," Sang Yan said indifferently. "I’ll wait for him to come back and beat me to death."
"..."
Sang Yan didn’t look at her. Instead, he glanced around the living room, then picked up the feather duster placed on the TV. He silently tested its weight in his hand and said slowly, "Little brat, do you want your brother to come over, or will you come here yourself?"
Sang Zhi stared at the object in his hand and didn’t answer.
Sang Yan didn’t seem to expect a response. "Then your brother will come over?"
Realizing that the situation had reversed, Sang Zhi suddenly called out to him, "Brother."
Sang Yan responded casually, "Alright, your brother will come over personally."
Watching him take one step, then another, Sang Zhi fell silent for two seconds. Her eyes fixed on him, she wisely said, "I was wrong."
"..."
"Sorry, brother. I won’t do this again."
"..."
She really knew how to adapt to the situation.
"If you’d been like this earlier, it would’ve been fine," Sang Yan, who was always softened by such gestures, tossed the feather duster aside. "Be obedient every day, don’t always oppose me, and your brother will bring you delicious food every day, understand?"
Sang Zhi let out a somewhat reluctant "Mm."
Sang Yan asked, "Then I’m heading out?"
Sang Zhi turned her head to look at him and suddenly asked, "Brother, who are you going out to play with?"
Sang Yan, putting on his shoes for the third time, replied casually, "My roommate."
Sang Zhi said, "Oh."
"Nothing else, right? Stay home and do your homework properly," Sang Yan said. "Don’t go into the kitchen, and don’t try to cook by yourself. There’s plenty of food at home. If you’re hungry, figure it out yourself. If you want to buy food outside, that’s fine too. If anything happens, call me."
"..."
"One more thing," Sang Yan scratched his cheek and added, "Don’t open the door for just anyone."
Sang Zhi nodded.
A moment later, Sang Yan left the house.A crisp sound of the door closing echoed from the entrance, followed by a return to silence.
The cartoon on the TV had ended, and the closing music began to play. Sang Zhi felt a bit bored, tossed the potato chips onto the coffee table, turned off the TV, and went to the bathroom to wash her hands.
She recalled the word "roommate" that Sang Yan had mentioned.
Her heart felt as if it had been lightly scratched, bringing a faint itch. The opportunity seemed so close, within reach if she just grasped it. An impulse surged instantly, only to be suppressed a moment later.
She took a bottle of cold water from the fridge and drank it in small sips.
Sang Zhi returned to her room.
Yin Zhenru happened to call her: "Sang Zhi!"
Sang Zhi: "What?"
"Fu Zhengchu’s birthday is next week," Yin Zhenru said. "They said they’re going to karaoke together. Do you want to go?"
"What day next week?"
"Tuesday."
"Oh," Sang Zhi said. "I’ll see when the time comes."
"Are you planning to get a gift for Fu Zhengchu?"
"Do we have to prepare gifts?" Sang Zhi thought for a moment. "Then I’m too busy."
"..." Yin Zhenru sighed helplessly. "It’s not mandatory. But it’s his birthday, right? Just prepare something. Otherwise, showing up empty-handed would be so awkward."
"I think so too," Sang Zhi said seriously. "So I won’t go."
"But probably no one else will prepare anything either!" Yin Zhenru, not wanting to go alone, quickly added, "Don’t worry too much about it. At most, I’ll say the gift I brought is from both of us."
Sang Zhi pulled a comic book from the bookshelf. "Let’s talk about it later. Aren’t you supposed to go to tutoring class?"
"Ah!" Yin Zhenru’s tone suddenly turned urgent. "I forgot! I can’t talk anymore—I have to head out!"
With that, she hung up.
Sang Zhi lay down on the bed and scrolled through her contacts again. She hesitated when she saw the number she had saved as "Duan xx," then tapped to open the message screen. Her fingers twitched but then stilled.
If she were to send a message, what would she say?
Wish him a happy holiday?
But the only recent holiday was Army Day, which had just passed.
So—a belated wish: Happy Army Day!
"..."
That seemed a bit strange.
Or pretend she sent the message to the wrong person.
That felt too deliberate.
Maybe she should just call Sang Yan and say she wanted to visit him? There might be a chance to run into him.
Sang Zhi tossed her phone aside and began to daydream while flipping through the comic book. After a long while, she threw the comic book away, buried herself under the covers, and started trying to fall asleep for an afternoon nap.
But why bother meeting him?
Seeing him wasn’t all that great anyway—he always teased her, and with such an age gap, talking to him felt like there was a generation gap, with no common interests at all.
Might as well just sleep at home.
Right.
Who does he think he is?
Compared to sleep—who! does! he! think! he! is!
Sang Zhi sat up again, drank a few more sips of water, and extinguished all her impulses along the way. Satisfied, she lay back down, stared at the ceiling, and suddenly began to hypnotize herself: "This probably doesn’t count as that sort of thing."
"He’s just good-looking. Anyone would take a second look at a good-looking person on the street. Even a cute dog would make you want to pet it."
The air froze for a moment.Sang Zhi let out a sigh and continued her self-persuasion: "Maybe I really have that certain feeling, but if I meet someone even better-looking, I might just switch to having that feeling for someone else."
"For example, right now, since we can't meet, I don't particularly want to see him either." Sang Zhi nodded, brainwashing herself. "This proves that such feelings are very shallow."
After saying this, her mood relaxed a bit. She lay back down and continued reading her comic.
Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep with her head on the book.
After some time, her phone on the bedside table started ringing.
It rang for dozens of seconds before Sang Zhi was finally awakened by the noise. She opened her bleary eyes, stared blankly for a few seconds, then reached for her phone and directly hung up the call.
Then came another round of incessant calls.
Sang Zhi spaced out on her bed for quite a while. Only when the ringing started for the third time did she slowly answer the phone: "Hello?"
Sang Yan's slightly impatient voice came from the other end: "What are you doing? How many times have you hung up now?"
"I was sleeping," Sang Zhi said unhappily. "After I hung up once, you shouldn't have called again."
Sang Yan scoffed: "If I didn't call, you'd probably complain to Mom and Dad again, right? Hurry up and get out of bed. I'm having dinner with friends outside. Do you want to join us, or should I pack something back for you?"
Before Sang Zhi could answer,
another voice suddenly came from the other end: "Hey, Duan Jiaxu seems to be tutoring nearby. Should we invite him to join?"
Sang Yan: "Whatever."
"Then I'll call him."
Sang Zhi pressed her lips together, swallowing the words she was about to say, and whispered: "I'll eat with you."
Sang Yan: "Sure?"
"Yeah." Sang Zhi got up and found the most reasonable excuse: "I'm hungry. If you pack food back, it'll be too late."
"Alright, change your clothes," Sang Yan said. "I'll call you when you should come down."
After hanging up, Sang Zhi walked to her wardrobe, looked at the clothes inside, and took out a dress to change into. She went to the bathroom to wash her face, and just as Sang Yan called, she quickly put on her shoes and went out.
Sang Zhi entered the elevator.
Perhaps because she had slept too much, she felt uncomfortable all over after waking up.
Especially her abdomen.
Sang Zhi thought it might be diarrhea and regretted not having gone to the bathroom earlier.
As she walked out of the building's main door, she immediately spotted Sang Rong's car. Sang Yan was in the driver's seat, and next to him sat a rather overweight man.
Sang Zhi walked over and got into the back seat.
The man in the passenger seat turned around and greeted her: "Little sister, do you remember me?"
It was Sang Yan's roommate, Qian Fei.
Sang Zhi nodded.
Sang Yan glanced back at Sang Zhi: "Fasten your seatbelt."
Only after watching Sang Zhi buckle up did Sang Yan start the car.
Since she was going out with Sang Yan, Sang Zhi hadn't brought anything except her phone. She glanced at her phone, then looked out the window and asked: "Where are we going now?"
Qian Fei: "We're going to pick up another brother."
Sang Zhi nodded without saying anything.
Sang Yan glanced at Qian Fei: "Call him and ask where he is."
"He said he's at the bus stop in East Square—" At this point, Qian Fei pointed into the distance, "Hey, is that him over there?"
Hearing this, Sang Yan looked in the direction Qian Fei was pointing and drove the car over.The car came to a halt. Through the window, Sang Zhi saw Duan Jiaxu walking over, then opening the rear door and settling into the seat beside her. She instinctively lowered her gaze and averted her eyes.
Qian Fei called out from the front, "Are you tutoring a high school student?"
Duan Jiaxu responded lazily with a hum before falling silent again.
Sang Zhi stole glances at him from the corner of her eye.
He seemed somewhat weary, leaning back in his seat as soon as he got in the car, his eyes half-closed, with stray strands of hair falling across his forehead, giving off an inexplicably disheveled vibe. The warm yellow glow of the streetlights spilled over him, casting shifting shadows that blurred the lines between light and dark.
After a moment.
Duan Jiaxu suddenly lifted his eyelids and looked over.
As if catching her gaze.
It was somewhat unexpected.
Sang Zhi instinctively gripped the hem of her skirt. Afraid that looking away would make her seem guilty, she didn't flinch. After holding his gaze for a few seconds, she lowered her head, feigning composure as she checked her phone, pretending nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow playfully. Unsure what had upset the kid this time, he straightened up slightly, resting his elbow on the car window, and asked with a light chuckle, "Kid, why aren't you greeting me?"
Sang Zhi glanced at him and obediently said, "Brother."
Qian Fei turned around again, unwilling to be left out, and said, "Hey, why aren't you greeting me?"
Sang Zhi paused for a moment before adding, "Hello, brother."
As if he hadn't heard Qian Fei, Duan Jiaxu stared at Sang Zhi, his eyes bright and clear, naturally carrying a bold allure, though it didn't seem intentional.
He tilted his head as if he hadn't heard clearly and suddenly asked, "Brother is good at what?"
Sang Zhi was baffled. "Just... hello, brother."
Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu let out a drawn-out chuckle. This time, he seemed to have heard clearly, tilting his head as he leisurely repeated, "Brother is so handsome?"
"..."
"No wonder—" Duan Jiaxu suddenly leaned closer to Sang Zhi, raising an eyebrow with a teasing smile, "you blush as soon as you see me."
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