The wind had died down, leaving only the occasional flicker of the lights. Yun Li held her breath, staring at Fu Shize in disbelief.
Not because of what he said, but because of his tone.
There was a hint of willing vulnerability in it, mixed with a touch of coquettish grievance.
Yun Li stiffened, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead, not daring to meet his eyes. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on the Hand Warmer Ball.
"......"
When she didn’t respond, Fu Shize urged softly, "Hmm?"
Yun Li’s mind had gone completely blank.
The breath brushing against her right ear carried an inoffensive yet invasive warmth, as if all the heat of the night had been poured into those few exhales.
She couldn’t help but feel the illusion that he was like a seemingly dejected and lonely wolfdog, wagging its tail for affection.
All of Yun Li’s psychological defenses crumbled in an instant.
Against her will, she answered, "No..."
The moment the word left her lips, she wanted to hit herself.
Ahhhhhhhh! What had she just said?!
She had already given up!!
The person beside her heard her response but remained silent, gently releasing her wrist.
The close proximity between them suddenly widened as his warmth withdrew.
Before Yun Li could recover from the shock and regret of speaking against her own will, she began to wonder if her answer had been inappropriate. She looked up at him.
"What’s wrong?"
Fu Shize averted his gaze unnaturally, his expression inscrutable. "Maybe I’m just a little nervous."
"......"
Yun Li lost her composure but also realized that she had no resistance against Fu Shize. Resigned, she lowered her head and asked softly, "Why did you ask me that...?"
Fu Shize didn’t answer. His hand, still not withdrawn, held her wrist in his palm, his thumb gently stroking the skin there. His eyelids drooped, half-concealing the emotions in his eyes. "Still don’t understand?"
His touch felt natural, as if their relationship had always been this intimate.
The skin of his fingertips was smooth, and though cold, it sent an itch through her heart.
Fu Shize didn’t speak further, waiting for the person before him to wrestle with her inner turmoil.
After her heart raced like a startled deer, Yun Li fell into deep confusion.
The rekindled possibility brought forth countless threads of hope from the depths of her heart, but she also couldn’t forget the pain of giving up or the hidden torment behind each rejection. The flip side of chasing her dream again was her own struggle to survive.
But this was the person she had longed for.
She feared that her retreat would snuff out the last flickering flame of the candle, leading to his permanent departure.
With difficulty, Yun Li spoke, "Then, the person they said you were planning to ask out..."
Without the slightest hesitation, Fu Shize replied, "It’s you."
Yun Li froze.
Fu Shize: "The person I want to ask out is you."
His tone was calm and resolute.
It’s always been you.
There was never anyone else.
"Clink."
A crisp sound—Fu Shize had bumped into a glass, knocking it against a wine bottle. Yun Li, already in a state of heightened emotion, seized on the sound like a lifeline and hurriedly said, "You’re drunk."
Fu Shize glanced at her. "I’m not."
Yun Li couldn’t help but insist, "No, no, you’re drunk."
"......"
"Fine." Fu Shize chuckled, not pressing further. He leaned back and looked at her. "Then wait until I sober up."
Yun Li stared at the curve of his lips, finding it surreal—this was the first time she had ever seen him smile.
She couldn’t ignore the indescribable emotion in his eyes.The man leaned against the hammock, the back of his head resting directly on the ropes, unafraid of its swaying as he watched her with patience and calm.
Yun Li could hardly bear the explosive state of her heart at this moment. She shoved the Hand Warmer Ball into Fu Shize's arms and scrambled to her feet. "I should head back. Can you go back too?"
Fu Shize: "Mhm."
Just as he was about to get up, Yun Li added, "Could you wait a minute or two? Because I came out alone."
"..."
Fu Shize lay back down again, responding with an indifferent "Mhm."
Yun Li hadn't walked far before she turned and came back.
From the moment she left, Fu Shize's gaze had remained fixed on her. When their eyes met, Yun Li asked uncertainly, "When you sober up, will what you said tonight still count?"
Her tone carried a cautious lack of confidence.
Fu Shize replied succinctly, "It will."
Yun Li pressed her lips together. "Then don't drink the rest of that bottle."
So he could sober up sooner.
Fu Shize gave a soft "Mhm" in response.
Still uneasy, Yun Li said, "I'll take it with me."
"..."
On the way back, the biting wind helped Yun Li regain some rationality. The deeply buried thoughts in her mind had been confirmed tonight—those details she had doubted might not have been illusions after all.
The base-layer sweater he wore today was pure black, one she hadn't seen yesterday.
It wasn’t that he had no change of clothes. It was just because she thought it looked good that he tried something he normally wouldn’t.
He had worn it for her.
In this relationship, Yun Li was the weaker party, too timid to speculate about the motives behind his every action.
What he had just said... did it count as an admission?
Unable to suppress it, the corners of her lips curled up, her heart feeling as if a jar of honey had been overturned. She tightened her coat and glanced back as she neared the house. Fu Shize, a hundred meters behind her, had also stopped.
Yun Li lingered for a moment, hands in her pockets, before she couldn’t resist walking back. "Maybe... we should walk back together. If anyone asks, we can just say we ran into each other on the way."
Fu Shize nodded and fell into step beside her.
The sound of shouting could be heard even before they reached the villa door. When Yun Li stepped inside, she saw Chen Renran flushed red from the neck up, clearly having drunk quite a bit. The group fell silent the moment they spotted the two of them.
Yun Li greeted them, while Fu Zhengchu stopped Fu Shize. Hesitating briefly, Yun Li didn’t follow and instead went upstairs, placing the bottle by Fu Shize’s door. Music was still playing inside his room.
Once in her own room, Yun Li leaned against the door, waiting until she heard the sound of the neighboring door closing.
He was back too.
Hiding behind the door, she could almost picture him walking toward her—even the imagined scene was enough to make her heart race. Just those past thirty minutes had instantly dispelled the gloom and unease of the last two weeks.
Yun Li had never imagined that this pursuit, which even she hadn’t held much hope for, might actually come to fruition.
A sailboat adrift on the open sea for months had finally caught sight of the shore’s rocks.
She rushed to the bed and flopped onto it, limbs splayed, still unable to believe it.
...
Fu Shize stared at Yun Li’s door for a while before swiping his key card and entering his own room.
The room was bathed in warm light, with an old folk song playing from the wooden speaker on the desk. Xu Qingsong leaned against the bay window, flipping through the yellowed pages of a worn English novel.Fu Shize casually placed the wine bottle and glass on the entryway shelf. Xu Qingsong glanced at them—less than half had been drunk, far more restrained than usual.
After reading just a couple of lines, Xu Qingsong looked up again. It had been over a year since he'd last seen Fu Shize so relaxed.
Shifting his gaze back to the book, Xu Qingsong asked with a smile, "What have you been up to?"
Fu Shize slumped onto the sofa, scrolling through his phone. "Confessing."
Xu Qingsong thought he'd misheard. Pausing mid-page turn, he tilted his head. "Confessing?"
After a moment's thought, Xu Qingsong ventured, "Yun Li?"
Fu Shize didn't deny it.
"Only just figured it out myself—why he insisted on wearing my clothes last night."
Xu Qingsong had noticed signs earlier but dismissed them with logical explanations. Smiling, he asked, "Did I get in the way of you two?"
Fu Shize lowered his head in thought before replying calmly, "This is better."
Xu Qingsong: "?"
She wouldn't seek him out. If he wanted to see her, he'd have to take the initiative himself.
Fu Shize had always considered himself someone who wouldn't make the first move.
Turns out, he could.
Fu Shize said no more. Noticing the fluffy ball in his hand, Xu Qingsong asked, "Is that a token of love?"
Fu Shize gave an affirmative hum.
Closing his book, Xu Qingsong stood up curiously. "Can I see?"
Fu Shize shot him a glance, ignoring the request as he tucked the Hand Warmer Ball closer to his abdomen.
Seeing his reluctance to share, Xu Qingsong didn't press further. Instead, he transferred two zoo tickets to him. "Tomorrow's Christmas. You could take her to the zoo."
Fu Shize didn't refuse.
Xu Qingsong added, "Prepare a small gift."
Fu Shize acknowledged with another hum.
Opening his chat with Yun Li, he saw their last exchange was over two weeks ago. He typed: [Want to go to the zoo tomorrow?] and sent it directly.
"About that rooftop restaurant I mentioned—I've called ahead. I'll cover the bill."
Xu Qingsong, who usually acted on whims, had felt uncharacteristically guilty after hearing He Jiameng leaked news of Fu Shize's date last night.
"Got it," Fu Shize replied absentmindedly, checking Yun Li's response.
A red exclamation mark appeared before his sent message. Scrolling down, he read:
[Clouds has enabled friend verification. You are not yet friends. Please send a friend request first. You can chat after verification.]
"......"
Fu Shize froze in disbelief.
He'd been deleted?
For the first time in his life, someone had removed him as a friend. Blinking twice, he reread the message to ensure he hadn't misunderstood.
Xu Qingsong watched as cracks formed in Fu Shize's usual detached demeanor, leaving him momentarily dazed on the sofa like a puppet.
After a pause, Xu Qingsong heard Fu Shize chuckle wryly before tapping his phone a few times to call Yun Li.
Fu Shize: "It's me."
Yun Li answered nervously, "What's wrong?"
Without hesitation this time, Fu Shize stated, "Going to the zoo tomorrow."
After a long pause, Yun Li stammered, "Oh... oh, are we going together?"
Fu Shize: "Yes."
Yun Li: "Okay."
Neither added anything more. Softly, Yun Li said, "Rest early. Goodnight."
Fu Shize lowered his gaze. "Rest early."When Fu Shize hung up the phone, Xu Qingsong stood not far away, holding a transparent teapot as he slowly poured himself a cup of hot tea, an inexplicable smile playing on his lips.
Fu Shize didn’t understand: “What?”
Xu Qingsong raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing: “Too sweet. Need some tea to cut through the cloying.”
“...”
After finishing the call with Fu Shize, Yun Li’s mind was still unsettled when someone sent her several consecutive messages on WeChat.
Fu Zhengchu: [Lili-jie, things got a bit tense at the table earlier. Qiqi-jie’s colleague wasn’t happy—they’d all had too much to drink.]
Fu Zhengchu: [They were talking about you guys having breakfast together.]
Fu Zhengchu: [Saying you and Xiao Jiu have no connection at all...]
Fu Zhengchu: [My sister was also speaking up for Qiqi-jie, so I couldn’t get a word in qaq.]
Yun Li: [...]
Yun Li: [It’s fine.]
This was the first time Deng Chuqi had tried to set her up, and it seemed she hadn’t taken Yun Li’s rejection to heart. Yun Li felt slightly uncomfortable. Moreover, Chen Renran had been overly assertive in his speech, and she didn’t want to deal with him again.
Yun Li turned and sent Deng Chuqi a message: [Qiqi, your colleague and I aren’t a good match. Could you talk to him privately about it?]
She left it at that.
They were probably celebrating Deng Chuqi’s newfound freedom from corporate drudgery these past few days, and Yun Li didn’t want to dampen her mood.
Putting on her earphones, Yun Li recalled Fu Shize’s invitation, her face flushing involuntarily again. She buried her face in her pillow, only to suddenly remember one thing—
She. Had. Deleted. Him.
In a flash, Yun Li jumped up from the bed, frantically searching her phone for a way to add him back. In her panic, she only remembered the call Fu Shize had just made to her.
She copied the number into WeChat’s friend request field.
There it was—the same familiar profile picture, the username a single capital letter F.
After sending the request, no verification was needed. They were friends again.
Staring at the screen, Yun Li felt a wave of relief, as if she’d narrowly escaped disaster.
Just to be safe, she tentatively sent a message.
[What time tomorrow ^^]
Fu Shize: [Up to you.]
Yun Li: [Shall we have breakfast together?]
Fu Shize: [Mhm.]
Seeing his completely normal reply, Yun Li exhaled in relief.
Someone knocked on the door. Still sprawled on the bed in a daze, Yun Li snapped back to reality, unconsciously wondering if it was Fu Shize. She stood up, adjusting her clothes and hair in front of the dressing table.
When she opened the door, it was Chen Renran, holding a fruit platter, his face flushed from drinking.
“It’s Christmas Eve. I brought you some apples. We’ve been hanging out downstairs for a while—now that you’re done taking photos, do you want to join us?” Chen Renran’s tone was gentle, a stark contrast to when they’d parted in the morning.
“No, thanks.” Yun Li spoke slowly. “It’s late. I want to rest early.”
Chen Renran seemed prepared for rejection and didn’t take it badly. He extended the fruit platter slightly toward her. “That’s fine too. You have a healthy routine—I should learn from you. Why don’t you take this back and have some?”
Yun Li shook her head. “I’ve already brushed my teeth. Thanks. You can take it downstairs and share it with everyone?”
She wanted to draw a clear line with him but wasn’t good at explaining. After a pause, she said, “There’s something I want to tell you...”
Chen Renran cut her off. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you too. These things should be initiated by the guy.”
Yun Li: “...”He gave an embarrassed smile: "I wanted to apologize for my tone this morning. Maybe it's because I have feelings for you, so I'm more sensitive. When Xu Qingsong showed you a little extra attention, I overthought things."
Yun Li: "..."
That wasn't what Yun Li wanted to talk about, but she had to respond: "It's okay. What I wanted to say was..."
Chen Renran said with certainty: "So you two really aren't involved, right?"
Yun Li: "..."
Not being close to him, Yun Li didn't want him interfering in her life. Worried he might spread rumors downstairs, she hesitated before answering: "No."
Just as she finished speaking, the neighboring door suddenly opened.
Fu Shize was wearing the same black sweater from earlier, while Xu Qingsong leaned casually against the entryway shelf in a lake-blue sweater, smiling.
The timing of the door opening made Yun Li feel guilty.
Fu Shize nodded at Chen Renran, then looked at Yun Li: "Want to watch a movie?"
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