Outside the café, Yun Li easily recognized Yin Yunyi sitting at an outdoor table. She wore a light green floral dress, with almond-shaped eyes, red lips, and waist-length hair, her head bent as she wrote in a notebook.
Standing beside her was a tall, slender man with Westernized features, his hair and eyes both light in color. Dressed in a black casual jacket, he had just pulled out a chair to sit down when he smiled and said something to Yin Yunyi. Suddenly, he looked up and noticed Yun Li’s gaze.
The man stood again and walked over to her.
Yin Yunyi, noticing his movement, also rose and followed him.
The man smiled. "Are you Yun Ye’s sister?"
Yun Li nodded.
"Hello, I’m Yun Yi’s brother. My name is Yin Yucheng." Yin Yucheng pulled out a chair for Yun Li, while Yin Yunyi stood beside him, shyly greeting, "Hello, sister."
It had been a while since Yun Li had met strangers. She offered a timid smile, gave a brief self-introduction, then placed Yun Ye’s gift on the table.
Yun Li: "Yun Ye asked me to bring this over."
Yin Yucheng: "Thank you for going out of your way."
"It’s no trouble. It’s near my workplace."
Yin Yunyi stared at the box for a long moment before smiling brightly. "Yun Ye said his classmates spent a long time making this gift. He was afraid it might get damaged, so he asked you to bring it over. Thank you."
Yun Li thought she misheard. "Oh… His classmates made it together?"
Yin Yunyi nodded without hesitation.
"Is something wrong?" Yin Yucheng asked keenly.
Yun Li concealed her awkwardness and shook her head.
She had truly overestimated Yun Ye—he didn’t even dare to admit he had prepared the gift himself.
Yin Yucheng didn’t insist on Yun Li staying for dinner but was adamant about driving her home.
It was only a short walk, but Yun Li wasn’t good at refusing, so she nodded.
"Brother will take this to the car for you." Yin Yucheng picked up the gift box and patted Yin Yunyi’s head. "Wait here with your sister for a bit."
With that, he gave Yun Li a gentle smile.
The car was parked in the mall’s lot. Yin Yucheng drove it to where they were, and within minutes, they arrived at her building.
Before she got out, Yin Yucheng asked, "I heard from Yun Yi that you attended South Science and Technology University?"
Yun Li nodded.
"I graduated from there two years ago."
Yun Ye had mentioned this before, so Yun Li wasn’t too surprised.
Yin Yucheng stepped out and opened the passenger door for her.
"Thank you for bringing the gift. Get some rest early," he said softly.
Yun Li stood in place as the passenger window rolled down slowly. Yin Yucheng nodded at her, his gaze lingering for several seconds before he drove away.
Finally, this matter was settled.
A weight lifted from her heart. Since yesterday, Yun Li had been anxious that this meeting might ruin Yun Ye’s first crush. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
The evening breeze carried a faint scent of tobacco. Yun Li turned alertly—sparse tree shadows concealed a flicker of dim light, where a tall, lean figure leaned against the trunk.
The figure shifted, and Yun Li heard the sound of shoes stepping on twigs. The streetlight illuminated his features.
Yun Li couldn’t believe her eyes. "Why are you outside my place?"
Fu Shize didn’t answer directly, speaking calmly instead. "I called you."
Yun Li checked her phone—Fu Shize had indeed called twice over half an hour ago. She hadn’t noticed.The unfamiliar number displayed on the screen was his own initiative to call, which Yun Li found quite surprising.
She curved her eyes into a smile: "I was busy earlier and didn’t pick up. Have you been waiting here the whole time?"
Fu Shize didn’t answer. Looking down, Yun Li noticed he was wearing her cashmere scarf around his neck, covering part of his chin. In his hand was a patterned tote bag with several small boxes of delicate cakes inside.
Her heart skipped a beat as she raised her gaze to meet his: "That scarf..."
"Returning it to you."
Without warning, Fu Shize pulled the scarf from his neck and tossed it at Yun Li. She barely caught it, immediately enveloped by the scent of tobacco.
She could sense his displeasure.
She had thought—perhaps he felt something too. That those little cakes were for her. But seeing his indifferent expression, her fleeting fantasy shattered.
He was eager to return it.
As if he wanted no connection.
Nervously, she offered, "You can keep wearing it..."
"No need." Fu Shize replied, "Thanks for the scarf."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Yun Li stood frozen for a moment, her heart heavy. As she pulled open the door, a loud bang echoed—something had been thrown into the metal trash bin.
Back in her apartment, it took Yun Li a while to steady herself.
A sense of unease spread through her. Trying to distract herself, she washed a sweet potato and tossed it into the oven. When the orange light flickered on, she stared blankly at the purple-red indentations on its skin.
He had sought her out—but not because he liked her.
He had returned the scarf, and whether it was her imagination or not, there had been a trace of impatience in the gesture.
Combined with his cold demeanor earlier, Yun Li’s mood plummeted to its lowest.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he had always seen her as a nuisance.
Maybe his visit today was another attempt to reject her.
The oven hadn’t been closed properly, and the shrill beeping snapped her back to reality.
Desperate to escape the negativity, Yun Li opened her laptop and resumed editing the promotional video for EAW’s social media. She hadn’t paid attention before, but the footage she’d recorded at EAW captured the entire moment Fu Shize had turned her down. She rewatched it several times.
The room was deathly silent.
She closed the video, the depression in her chest making her discard any of the clips from that segment.
By 3 a.m., she had finally finished editing the short promotional video for EAW. Over the next few days, she only needed to polish minor details before sending it to He Jiameng for final approval.
Past the point of sleep, Yun Li felt no drowsiness. Peering out the window, she saw a thin layer of frost coating the tree branches due to the cold front. Returning to her desk, she dug out some old handmade materials.
Following an online tutorial, she spent the night assembling a Cardboard Drone, giving it a simple coat of paint. The video was hastily edited, with only captions added at the beginning and end.
"...This handmade drone is for someone very important to me."
She uploaded the DIY video to E-Station.
Her last encounter with Fu Shize had been, by far, the most unpleasant one in recent memory. Over the following days, Yun Li made a conscious effort not to reach out to him again.The drone-made video had been published for a few days with lukewarm reception, yet Chen Lirong forwarded it to her. Yun Li wasn’t particularly surprised by this—she was now a somewhat well-known content creator on E-Station, and most people who knew her were aware of it.
Since they had added each other as friends, Chen Lirong had seemingly vanished into thin air, neither speaking to Yun Li nor posting anything on his social media.
Yun Li: 【?】
Chen Lirong: 【Were you planning to give this to fsz? [smirk][smirk]】
Yun Li found his tone rather sleazy and decided not to reply. An hour or two later, Chen Lirong sent another message: 【You can’t give this to him. The reason fsz took a leave of absence was because of this.】
Yun Li: 【What do you mean?】
Chen Lirong: 【Let’s talk in person [smirk][smirk]】
At the same time, Chen Lirong sent her numerous photos of Fu Shize, almost all of them sneakily taken from behind, and in every single one, there was another guy present.
Chen Lirong: 【He’s really gay, little girl. Don’t be fooled [smirk][smirk]. I can tell you in person what happened to him.】
Yun Li: 【Please don’t spread rumors.】
Yun Li: 【No need.】
Yun Li felt Chen Lirong’s words made her skin crawl. After she rebutted him, he didn’t reply further.
Several days had passed without seeing Fu Shize. After Yun Li stopped initiating contact, their interactions had indeed dwindled to zero.
Yun Li felt a bit disheartened.
In the small group chat Fu Zhengchu had created earlier, he sent another invitation to play basketball. This time, before Yun Li could respond, Fu Shize replied directly: 【Not going.】
He didn’t even give a reason.
Fu Zhengchu: 【???】
Fu Zhengchu: 【Uncle, if you’re going to be this antisocial, I’ll kick you out.】
An hour later, when Yun Li checked again, only she and Fu Zhengchu remained in the group.
Yun Li hadn’t expected Fu Zhengchu to be so decisive.
After arriving at the company, Yun Li made several trips to the break room for water but never saw the figure she had been hoping to encounter. Hesitating for a long while at her desk, she eventually went to the break room to make a cup of coffee.
Fu Shize had previously told her she didn’t need to knock.
Yun Li didn’t have the courage to take him up on that and still knocked lightly. There was no response. She pushed the door open—the room was dark, the air carrying a musty dampness, as if no one had been there for days.
Bringing the coffee back to the break room, Yun Li took a sip. It was bitter, so she added several packets of sugar.
A sudden thought struck her—was he avoiding her?
On WeChat, He Jiameng invited her to review the finished promotional short film. Yun Li copied the video to a portable hard drive in advance and played it once at He Jiameng’s workstation.
The one-minute-plus short film consisted of seven scenes, each depicting different activities using a VR Device. Yun Li had assigned meaning to each scene, weaving them together to form the film’s overarching theme.
He Jiameng praised it repeatedly as she watched, but Yun Li’s mind was elsewhere.
“This theme is amazing! I should try making a move on the boss too—nothing is impossible in this world!” He Jiameng made a victory sign. “Especially since even Fu Shize has finally bloomed like an iron tree.”
Yun Li’s finger paused on the play button. She looked up at He Jiameng: “Bloomed like an iron tree?”"Yesterday the boss showed me several shops and asked what kind of places girls usually like. I thought he had someone in mind—my heart was shattered at that moment," He Jiameng laughed. "After pestering him for a long time, he finally admitted it was Fu Shize who asked him about dating spots. Before this, I always thought Fu Shize was completely asexual. But even he's had an awakening, so why hasn't our boss..."
Yun Li didn't register the second half of He Jiameng's words. Her thumb rubbed against her index finger as she suppressed a tremble, cautiously asking, "Someone that cold... what kind of girl would he like?"
"Ah, I don't know either. The boss just said it's a girl he's known for many years."
He Jiameng continued chattering, but Yun Li suddenly felt deafened, as if even her right ear had stopped working.
She stood frozen in place.
No... it couldn't be...
"Teacher Xian Yun? Teacher Xian Yun?"
He Jiameng's features gradually came back into focus, her voice sounding like it came from another dimension: "Let's just publish this version of the video."
"Oh, okay." Yun Li returned to her seat like a walking corpse, feeling all strength drained from her body. Only He Jiameng's words echoed endlessly in her ears.
Her nose stung as her vision gradually blurred.
Reason told her she should verify this information first—she shouldn't lose heart over something unclear.
Opening their chat interface, the same few 【No thanks】 messages still dominated the screen. Scrolling all the way up revealed mostly her one-sided invitations, with his responses so cold they seemed to freeze the screen.
Clutching at her last shred of hope, she painstakingly typed out 【I heard you asked someone out?】 But her fingers froze before hitting send.
What answer did she want?
Even if confirmed, then what?
Couldn't she leave herself some dignity?
Yes, all this time pursuing him...
Had long since exhausted her courage.
Before today, she could still fantasize that someday Fu Shize might develop feelings. Even until this very moment, she'd still held onto hope, thinking she'd seen a glimmer of dawn.
But the moment the fantasy shattered, facing reality made her realize—
From beginning to end, it had all been her wishful thinking.
【You're a really good person. Thank you for always taking care of me.】
【Maybe I'm not qualified to say these things, but I hope you'll be good to yourself. You're the best person I've ever met, and you deserve the best things.】
【I heard you met someone you like.】
【Thank you for appearing in my life.】
【I won't disturb you anymore.】
With red-rimmed eyes, Yun Li typed out these sentences, then deleted them one by one.
What was the point of saying all this now?
Everything had become absurd and ridiculous.
He probably didn't want to see it at all.
He didn't want her disturbing his life.
Yun Li collapsed onto the desk, tears splashing onto her phone screen until she could no longer see his profile picture or the name she'd saved him under. Suppressing her sobs, she tapped the three dots in the upper right corner.
Then selected Delete.
This was the bravest thing she'd ever done.
She was someone who stumbled over words with strangers, who couldn't make phone calls to unfamiliar people, who avoided conversations with friends in taxis just because the driver was present. Yet for him, she'd done so many impossible things.
But no matter how much she did, she was just a passerby in his life.
She couldn't continue being his friend.She didn't want to shamelessly interfere in someone else's relationship, especially knowing his heart already belonged to another.
So goodbye then.
To the person I loved most.
After a long pause, Yun Li raised her head.
While editing the captions for the video she'd recorded with Fu Shize, Yun Li realized—
This video themed around "attempts" had carried all her struggles and unrealistic fantasies during this period. By the time it was posted, her bravest attempt would be over.
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