Yun Li couldn’t recall where she had put the robot. From what she remembered, on the day the competition ended, the team leader had told them to take their robots home as keepsakes. Yun Ye had even held onto the controller for days, utterly enamored with it.
On a whim, Yun Li decided she wanted to tinker with that robot again. After work, she waited idly in her rented apartment until ten o’clock sharp, then immediately video-called Yun Ye.
Yun Ye: [The other party has declined your call.]
Yun Li: [Why did you hang up on me?]
Yun Li: [???]
Meanwhile, Yun Ye was rushing toward the school gate with his backpack, fully aware of the consequences of ignoring Yun Li. He managed to reply while walking: [I’m still at school.]
As he swiped his student card to exit the campus, his phone vibrated—a giant red circle appeared on WeChat: [Message sent but rejected by the recipient.]
Yun Ye: “…”
Taking a deep breath, now that he was blacklisted, Yun Ye had no choice but to call back via another messaging app. The screen was dim, and Yun Li could only see a face half-resembling hers pressed close to the camera, full of resentment: “I’m still at school.”
Yun Li grumbled, “So now you only answer my calls under certain circumstances.”
Yun Ye: “…”
Yun Ye: “There are people around.”
Yun Li shot him a glare. Yun Ye panicked: “My classmates might think you’re my girlfriend.”
Yun Li: “?”
Only after confirming no one was nearby did Yun Ye finally relax. “Fine, what do you want?”
Yun Li got straight to the point: “Remember that robot soccer competition I joined in high school? I brought the robot home afterward. Go back and help me find it, then ask Mom to mail it to me when she has time.”
Yun Ye: “Got it.”
Then he asked, “When are you coming home?”
Yun Li ignored his routine nagging about her return.
As a day student, Yun Ye lived less than ten minutes away from school. Once home, he headed straight to Yun Li’s room and flipped the camera around.
Yun Li saw her familiar room as Yun Ye rummaged through the drawers one by one. Most of the contents were old keepsakes—letters and papers yellowed with age. Finally, at the very bottom drawer, he found the robot.
After all these years, aside from looking a bit loose and worn, the robot hadn’t changed much.
“This is the one, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll pack it up.” Just as Yun Ye was about to close the drawer, Yun Li’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a gilded blue envelope inside.
“Send that blue envelope too, and the little soccer ball next to the trophy. Bye.”
“Wait!!” Clearly not expecting Yun Li to cut him off so ruthlessly after using him, Yun Ye raised his voice before quickly turning the camera back to himself.
Yun Li was wary: “I’m not talking to Dad.”
Yun Ye gave her an exasperated look, nervously scratching his forehead with his index finger. “No, I mean—unblock me on WeChat.”
He Jiameng had arranged for Yun Li to pick up lunch boxes with Fu Shize on Friday.
Early that morning at the office, He Jiameng had to deliver materials to another city. Before leaving, she pulled Yun Li aside and whispered, “That Du Gefe actually showed up at our company. Apparently, her parents are elementary school classmates of the boss’s parents. Who knew such distant connections could still matter?”
Yun Li had a bad feeling about this.This premonition quickly came true. Back at her workstation, Yun Li noticed many extra items on her desk—not only was there a women's leather jacket draped over the chair, but the desktop was cluttered with a water cup and lipstick, and a pair of slippers sat beneath the desk.
The others hadn’t arrived yet, and there were no empty desks left in the office.
As Yun Li was still pondering what to do, the door suddenly opened, and Du Gefe walked in. Seeing Yun Li, she seemed slightly surprised but still waved at her with an easy familiarity.
Last time, they had ended up on bad terms. Now that they were in the same department, Yun Li didn’t want to make things awkward, so she responded with an unnatural "Hmm."
Du Gefe went straight to Yun Li’s seat and sat down.
"This seems to be my spot," Yun Li reminded her.
The person in the chair didn’t move, instead pulling out a mirror to check her eyelashes as she said, "When I came in yesterday, they said our internship schedules don’t overlap, so whoever’s working gets the seat."
Yun Li swallowed her anger. "What if our schedules clash?"
"Qin Ge said you’re nice and wouldn’t fight me for it."
"..."
Qin Ge likely referred to Qin Haifeng, a full-time employee in their department whom Yun Li had met on her first day. Du Gefe, feeling she had already resolved the issue, added, "I didn’t touch your things, so don’t touch mine."
Yun Li realized that her hope of keeping things civil had been wishful thinking on her part alone.
Her expression turned blank. "How considerate of you."
"Right?" Du Gefe blinked at her. "Oh, by the way, I remember you interviewed for the tech department. How come you ended up in HR like me?" She feigned exaggerated confusion. "Or did you get rejected?"
Yun Li: "..."
Du Gefe continued, "Don’t take it too hard. It’s just a job. If you don’t have the skills, you don’t get the role."
"..."
Qin Haifeng arrived just then. Seeing the two of them, he smiled. "Morning! Oh, Yun Li, Feifei is also interning here. You two will only overlap on Fridays. There’s space in the break room—figure out how to split it."
"Qin Ge, Lili is really nice and said she’d give me the seat," Du Gefe said sweetly, turning to Yun Li. "Right?"
Unexpectedly, Yun Li wasn’t having it. "No, I didn’t."
Yun Li wasn’t stupid—with "Qin Ge" and "Feifei" already so chummy, there was no point wasting her breath here. She grabbed her bag and walked out.
The moment the outside air hit her face, Yun Li finally felt herself calm down.
Who would’ve thought that on just her second day of the internship, she’d run into such a ridiculous situation?
Fortunately, the break room was empty when she reached it.
Yun Li found a seat and sat down, unsure how to handle the situation for now. Maybe she’d wait until He Jiameng returned to ask for advice.
This was the first time Yun Li had encountered someone like Du Gefe.
After sitting in the break room for a while, Yun Li’s nerves remained on edge, half-expecting someone to barge in at any moment.
The first person to enter, however, was Fu Shize.
He glanced at Yun Li before walking to the counter, scooping coffee beans into the machine and pressing the button. His white dress shirt and tailored trousers accentuated his long, straight legs.
Yun Li heard the sound of beans grinding.
Once the machine started brewing, Fu Shize adjusted the cup slightly and leaned against the table, watching the water stream with his head lowered.Yun Li stared at Fu Shize's back until the sound of water stopped. As Fu Shize picked up his cup and was about to leave, she finally spoke up, "Um, the coffee smells really good."
Fu Shize paused and glanced at her, "Do you want some too?"
Yun Li was momentarily stunned.
Fu Shize placed the cup back on the counter, grabbed a disposable paper cup, and while waiting for the coffee this time, he asked, "Why are you sitting here?"
Not wanting Fu Shize to know she had lost her workstation—it would make her seem too pathetic—Yun Li vaguely replied, "I just came here to sit for a few minutes..."
He didn’t press further. Setting the coffee in front of Yun Li, he placed two packets of sugar and a single-use stir stick beside it.
At least she had managed to get through that. Yun Li sighed in relief.
A bitter feeling welled up in her chest as she took a sip of the coffee, immediately furrowing her brows the moment the liquid touched her tongue.
Does he really like drinking something this bitter?
Summoning her resolve, Yun Li dumped both sugar packets into the coffee and stirred vigorously with the stick.
Around ten o'clock, Fu Shize entered the break room again. Yun Li hadn’t expected him to come twice in one morning.
Seeing Yun Li, he didn’t seem surprised and went straight to the counter to make another cup of coffee.
Yun Li felt like she had been caught red-handed doing something wrong.
This time, Fu Shize showed no intention of leaving. He pulled out a chair for himself, leaned back, and leisurely sipped his coffee.
The two sat at opposite corners of the room, doing nothing. The atmosphere was undeniably awkward.
After a while, Yun Li couldn’t take it anymore and asked, "Don’t you have work to do?"
Fu Shize replied, "Slacking off."
Resting his chin on one hand, he gazed at the blinds, the sunlight spilling over his angular eye sockets. After a pause, he asked Yun Li, "Got any books?"
Yun Li rummaged through her bag and pulled out How Did I Land My First Job? , handing it to Fu Shize.
"..."
Though they had agreed to get lunch together, Fu Shize didn’t notify her.
Yun Li returned from the restroom to find lunch boxes already placed on the break room table, with all the seats occupied. She retreated within seconds.
Resigned, she went back to the office and found an empty chair to sit for a while.
When her colleague returned, Yun Li felt awkward again and ended up sitting on a bench in the tech plaza.
She felt like she might as well have the word "pathetic" written on her forehead.
After sitting outside for nearly forty to fifty minutes, Yun Li finally pushed open the break room door like a defeated soldier.
Only one lunch box remained in the bag, completely cold by now.
In low spirits, Yun Li sat at the table, lost in thought, until someone opened the break room door.
Both their eyes landed on the last lunch box.
Fu Shize spoke first, "Had lunch?"
Yun Li hesitated before answering, "Yeah, I did. What about you?"
Fu Shize was quiet for a moment, then said, "Me too."
"..."
Another long silence followed. Yun Li couldn’t help but ask, "Then why did you come in here?"
"...To make coffee."
True to his word, he walked to the counter, made himself a cup, and then left.
Initially, Yun Li had thought Fu Shize hadn’t eaten lunch and wanted to leave the box for him. But deep down, she had a feeling—Fu Shize would never take the last meal knowing she hadn’t eaten.
Her stomach growled loudly. She didn’t know why she was being so stubborn.Staring at the boxed meal on the table, Yun Li swallowed hard.
After glancing at the door a few times, she placed the meal into the microwave on the counter. The hum of the microwave filled the room, followed by a ding as the light turned off.
When she took the meal out, steam still rose from the surface, and it was almost too hot to hold. Opening it, she saw a simple Western-style meal—two long ribs, a fried egg, and a side of salad greens.
Like a thief, Yun Li cradled the boxed meal and peeked outside the break room to make sure no one was around before stepping out.
Afraid Fu Shize might return, she didn’t dare eat in the break room. She didn’t want him to catch her eating after she had already told him she "already ate."
Returning to the chair in the tech plaza, she muttered to herself, "We really keep running into each other today."
Sitting down, she placed the meal on her lap, opened the lid, and transferred the food to the separate rice container. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good.
Halfway through her meal, she spotted Fu Shize rounding the corner, slowly eating a bread roll from a paper bag.
Their eyes met.
"..."
"..."
Yun Li froze. Wait, hadn’t Fu Shize just said he had already eaten?
Fu Shize didn’t avoid her. Instead, he walked straight over and sat down half a meter away from her.
Both of them tacitly played along with the charade.
Fu Shize asked, "Is the boxed meal good?"
Yun Li: "...It’s fine."
Yun Li: "Is the bread good?"
Fu Shize: "..."
Fu Shize: "Not bad either."
On the way back to the office, they passed a vending machine. Fu Shize stopped, inserted a few coins, and waited. The spiral storage rack rotated outward a few centimeters before a heavy drink thudded against the machine with a clunk .
He opened the sugar-free cola with a fizz and took a sip.
Yun Li also approached the vending machine and selected a mint soda. Before she could scan her phone to pay, she heard the clink of coins.
Fu Shize had inserted more coins for her.
In silence, they both waited as the storage rack rotated outward, dropping the soda vertically. Before Yun Li could thank him, Fu Shize bent down, retrieved the mint soda from the dispenser, and handed it to her.
"Thank you," Yun Li said, taking the can. It was so cold it felt like an electric shock.
Pulling the tab, she opened the soda and took a sip. The minty bubbles were sharp at first but left a refreshing aftertaste.
As if by unspoken agreement, they drank their sodas at a leisurely, synchronized pace.
After lingering for a few minutes, Yun Li heard Fu Shize crush his empty can and toss it into the nearby trash bin. The crumpled can bounced against the plastic before settling at the bottom.
"Let’s head back."
Fu Shize turned to leave. After a brief hesitation, Yun Li discarded her soda and caught up to walk beside him.
Xu Qingsong happened to return from outside, holding two cups of coffee.
"Hey, you two are together?" Xu Qingsong greeted Yun Li casually before turning to Fu Shize. "The usual place was closed today, so this’ll have to do."
He handed the coffee to Fu Shize but paused mid-air, then offered it to Yun Li instead. "Here."
Fu Shize: "?"
"I don’t need—"After a few seconds of silence, Yun Li still accepted it under their gazes.
If they hadn't run into each other, it would've been one thing. But since they did, Xu Qingsong probably thought it wouldn't be proper to not bring coffee for his subordinate or for the lady.
"Thank you," Yun Li said.
Xu Qingsong raised an eyebrow: "No need." He took another sip of coffee and said matter-of-factly, "This cup was paid for by Ah Ze."
"..."
After spending the afternoon in the break room, Yun Li realized that Fu Shize treated coffee as his lifeline. Using tally marks to record how many cups he drank, there were already two complete sets of five marks on the paper.
It was hard to imagine how he managed to sleep at night.
When she got home that evening, Yun Li collapsed onto her bed. Before she could even complain to Deng Chuqi about the day's events, she fell into a deep sleep.
Perhaps it was due to the anger and exhaustion from Du Gefe, but when Yun Li woke up the next day, she was hit with her first severe cold since arriving in Nanwu.
For the entire weekend, Yun Li cocooned herself in blankets, sleeping in a daze.
At one point, she dreamed of Fu Shize holding a straight-handled umbrella with a cold smile.
Then she dreamed of Fu Shize lifting her off a motorcycle.
Later, she dreamed of Fu Zhengchu crying, saying he wanted his uncle to play house with him.
When Deng Chuqi called and heard the nasal tone in Yun Li's voice and her disjointed logic, she didn't even bother cleaning up the leftovers at home. Instead, she rushed to the supermarket, bought a bunch of groceries, and came to Seven Mile Fragrant Capital with bags in tow to take care of her.
Wrapped in blankets when she went to open the door, Yun Li only revealed her face with eyes closed, completely out of it.
"You look so much like Deng Chuqi."
"..."
After opening the door, she immediately curled up on the sofa like a caterpillar.
Deng Chuqi put the groceries in the fridge and tidied up the place for a while.
While cleaning up the trash on the computer desk, she found a photo sticking out from the printer. Shocked, Deng Chuqi grabbed it and rushed over to Yun Li: "Holy crap, you guys already have a photo together?"
Yun Li kept her eyes shut, took the photo, and stuffed it into the sofa crevice without even changing her breathing rhythm.
"..."
Two days passed, and Yun Li's fever had subsided a little, but she was still lethargic.
Before leaving on Sunday evening, Deng Chuqi specially made a large pot of congee and put it in the fridge, reminding her that she could heat it up in the microwave whenever she wanted to eat.
"You just can't take care of yourself." Deng Chuqi felt a pang of sadness and pressed her forehead against Yun Li's—it wasn't as burning hot as before.
Yun Li mumbled something. Deng Chuqi leaned in closer and only caught a few words.
"I want to be a mom..."
"..."
Deng Chuqi's expression turned strange: "I've created so many opportunities for you, but you never cooperated. Now that you're burning up like this, you're thinking about having Fu Shize's baby?"
After tucking Yun Li in properly, Deng Chuqi finally left.
On Monday morning, the alarm rang for over ten minutes before Yun Li groggily woke up. The room was dim, and Yun Li turned on the light despite her pounding headache.
She took her temperature—it had dropped to 37.5°C.
She hadn't eaten anything since Deng Chuqi left, and now her stomach was growling.
Scooping a bowl of plain congee and heating it up, Yun Li sat at the table. After a few sips of the warm food, she finally regained some strength in her limbs.
She still had to work today.
Yun Li had discussed with Fang Yuning that she would work two and a half days a week, half a day less than the regular interns.The graduate program only required around twenty credits. This semester, Yun Li had already completed half of them. She deliberately scheduled her classes from Tuesday to Thursday, with evening classes running until nine o'clock. As a result, for the past three months, she had been working at EAW every Monday, Wednesday morning, and Friday, while her schedule from Tuesday to Thursday was packed with classes.
"You don’t have to go to your internship today, right? Just skip your classes at school too," Deng Chuqi sent her a voice message.
Yun Li, who had only been interning at EAW for two days, wrestled with the idea internally but still didn’t want to take time off.
Her fever had already subsided, and not wanting to worry Deng Chuqi, Yun Li lied, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, boss."
She muddled through the entire day at the company. During her lunch break nap, she caught a chill, and it was clear her cold had worsened.
As the workday neared its end, Qin Haifeng handed her a few documents, asking her to process them and submit them to him that night.
He Jiameng had mentioned that the department generally didn’t require overtime. Yun Li tried to recall if she had somehow offended him last week, but nothing came to mind.
Right now, her head felt like a tangled mess.
She wanted to say something, but her throat burned with pain, so she simply nodded and sat down.
The tasks were trivial—checking whether the purchase orders and inventory receipts from the past two weeks matched. They didn’t seem urgent at all. Yun Li obediently sipped hot water while cross-checking each item, losing track of time.
She remembered doing homework with a fever as a child, which now seemed almost comical. And here she was, grown up and still working overtime while sick.
Qin Haifeng hadn’t left either, sitting at his desk, eyes glued to his screen.
Yun Li thought: At least a colleague is willing to work overtime with me...
Later, Qin Haifeng went to the restroom and didn’t return for a long time. When Yun Li went to the break room to refill her water, she saw his screen flashing with vibrant colors—an open interface for a game of Landlords.
"..."
Yun Li usually wouldn’t touch others’ belongings, but this time, she clicked on the login time in his personal profile with the mouse. It showed he had logged in at 5:30 p.m. that afternoon. It was already 8 p.m. now.
An indescribable feeling settled in her chest.
When Qin Haifeng returned, he packed up his things and said to Yun Li, "Don’t stay too late. Just leave the finished work on my desk, and you can go."
The door slammed shut.
The office was eerily silent.
Sitting at her desk, Yun Li’s nose was completely blocked, but her eyes stung with unshed tears.
OpenNovel