The message sent the day before still hadn't received a reply from her colleague Zhang Yanxin.
Yun Li wanted to contact Jiang Yuan's parents through Zhou Tiao. Over all these years, they had never responded to Fu Shize. To some extent, Yun Li could understand their actions and motives.
But as someone who had also been hurt, Fu Shize shouldn't have to carry the burden of guilt forever.
Yun Li turned over in bed and decided not to wait for a reply. Instead, she did something she had never done before.
She sent friend requests to everyone in that old group chat from the gathering and introduced herself: [Hello, I'm Yun Li, a new employee joining next year.]
As she was adding them, some had already accepted her requests and replied.
Having to interact with over a dozen people at once sent Yun Li's anxiety levels skyrocketing.
After adding everyone in one go, she sat on the sofa and remembered her ever-reliable younger brother Yun Ye. She immediately called him: "Yun Ye, log into my WeChat."
Yun Ye: "What for…" Even as he asked, he still sent her the QR code for the login page.
Yun Li: "Can you see my recent messages?"
Yun Ye glanced at the profile pictures: "Did brother-in-law send you something?"
Yun Li quickly said: "Don't peek at my messages."
"…"
Asking him to look but also telling him not to—Yun Ye thought she was being ridiculous.
Yun Li: "Look, I've added over a dozen people, all colleagues. Help me reply to them. Except for the one named Zhou Tiao."
Yun Ye: "…"
This wasn't the first time Yun Ye had helped Yun Li with such tasks. She often hesitated and grew anxious when replying to strangers or answering unfamiliar calls, so she eventually delegated these tasks to him. Lowering his eyes, he effortlessly replied to each message one by one.
With so many people, he used a shortcut to pull up the latest messages and accidentally opened Fu Shize's chat window.
Aside from the profile picture, Yun Ye couldn't find any other way to confirm it was Fu Shize.
The contact name was "Wife."
Goosebumps rose all over his body as the other party sent a sticker: [Miss you.]
Yun Ye felt like his soul had taken a critical hit of 10,000 points and just wanted to shut the computer off.
Expressionless, he typed a single word: [Oh.]
The message before that was from Yun Li: [I made Hokkaido milk toast for you. It's fermenting now—I'll bring it over tomorrow. Should be enough for three breakfasts.]
Accompanied by a sticker of a bear sending hearts.
While Yun Ye was still busy replying to messages for Yun Li, he started feeling resentful and asked her over the phone: "Sis, I want toast too."
Without hesitation, Yun Li replied: "Go buy some at the supermarket. It's 5 yuan a bag. Making one takes me forever."
Yun Ye: "…"
Yun Li: "If you're broke, I can send you a red packet."
Yun Ye: "…"
Grumpily, Yun Ye spent nearly an hour chatting on her behalf. After hanging up, he saw that Yun Li had indeed sent him a red packet.
He opened it.
It was exactly 5 yuan.
……
Zhou Tiao was the last to accept her friend request.
After carefully considering her wording, Yun Li messaged him, explaining that she was Fu Shize's girlfriend and wanted to meet to discuss something. They agreed to have dinner two days later.
Early the next morning, Yun Li sliced the toast and packed it into bags.
When she parked the car at the control engineering college, she saw Fu Shize standing under a tree in front of the building. She jogged over: "Why did you come down?"Fu Shize lowered his gaze. Today, she wore a beige dress with her hair cascading down to her waist, her fair face tinged with a soft pink.
His tone was gentle: "Here to pick you up."
He directly took the items from Yun Li's hands and opened his other palm, waiting for her.
This was a gesture they had repeated many times, but each time she saw him quietly waiting for her to place her hand in his—no matter how long it took—her heart still raced uncontrollably.
Sliding her hand into his cool palm, she felt his warmth gradually rise as he enveloped her small hand completely, giving it a light squeeze.
It was 7:30 in the morning. Most others in the office wouldn’t arrive until after 10.
Fu Shize placed the toast on his desk. On the computer screen was a half-written thesis, and scattered notes covered the table, evidence that he had already been working for some time.
Yun Li caught the rich aroma of coffee in the air and asked sharply, "Where’s your breakfast?"
Fu Shize’s gaze dropped to the bag of toast she had brought. "Here."
Yun Li sniffed and frowned. "You drank coffee?"
Seeing her knitted brows, Fu Shize tilted his head, hesitating whether to tell the truth. Noticing her lips pressed tightly together, he slowly let out an "Mhm."
Yun Li’s smile faded. "On an empty stomach?"
Any sensible person knew drinking coffee on an empty stomach was terrible for digestion.
Fu Shize stayed silent.
"The surgery was a year and a half ago. I’m fine now," he said calmly, making a last-ditch effort while observing her expression. She wasn’t buying it. "Last time, you couldn’t even take a bite of the mille-feuille, and now you can drink coffee on an empty stomach?"
Fu Shize took her hand and smoothly replied, "I can’t."
"..."
His response came effortlessly, yet it felt like mere lip service.
Yun Li’s frustration only grew, as if her punch had landed on cotton. His reply was like adding fuel to the fire. Though simmering with silent anger, her face stiff, she still opened the bag and handed him two slices of toast.
Fu Shize didn’t touch the toast. Instead, he kept his eyes on Yun Li.
This seemed to be the first time Yun Li was angry with him.
At least, the first time in his memory.
They locked eyes, resembling a strict principal and a rigidly seated student.
Yun Li usually didn’t voice her unhappiness, instead letting emotions pile up inside her. The only time she had ever lost her temper with Fu Shize had been an explosive outburst after prolonged suppression—ending in a breakup.
Not wanting to harbor resentment, she asked him in a tone half-melancholy, half-negotiating, "Tell me, if I’m mad at you, how should I express it?"
Her anger sharpened the fierceness in the corners of her eyes, making her seem more aggressive. But her half-pleading tone softened the edge. Fu Shize studied her and asked, "Should I decide?"
Yun Li: "Just considering your opinion."
It was admittedly strange.
Yun Li believed she wasn’t good at handling conflicts.
So she turned to the person with the highest emotional intelligence present—who also happened to be the one who had upset her.
Fu Shize leaned in, bringing his face close to her lips. "A kiss. That’ll make it better."
"..."
Yun Li shot him a look. "You made me angry, and now I have to kiss you? Isn’t that too much?"
Fu Shize smiled. "Then I can kiss you instead."
"..."
Those two sentences had already lightened her mood considerably. She pointed to her cheek. "Kiss here."
"Okay." Fu Shize moved closer, his thin lips brushing lightly against hers instead. "Misjudged the spot."
"..."Before Yun Li could react, he gently kissed her on the cheek again: "That's better this time."
Her expression had already softened, though her chin remained slightly tense. Seeing this, Fu Shize continued, "Don't be angry anymore. I was wrong."
He sure apologized quickly.
Yun Li felt that in moments like these, Fu Shize became as pliant as if he had no bones. Her anger had completely dissipated by now, and she chided, "Your stomach isn’t good—don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach."
Fu Shize nodded.
"Don’t just nod. You have to remember it in your heart."
No matter what she said, Fu Shize kept nodding.
Seeing his cooperative attitude, Yun Li began to feel she had been too harsh earlier. After hesitating for a while, she muttered, "Actually, I shouldn’t have gotten angry either."
Thinking Fu Shize was too easygoing, she paused before lecturing, "You should have some principles. Don’t apologize so easily."
After a moment’s thought, she reconsidered, "But you really were in the wrong this time."
Fu Shize picked up a slice of toast, tore off two small pieces, and chewed them slowly. Only after Yun Li finished speaking did he respond, "I only apologize to you."
At this, Yun Li’s temper vanished entirely, and she sat beside him quietly.
Remembering something about work, she mentioned casually, "Last night, a colleague asked if I wanted to start my job early. They said they’ve recently formed a VR game project team, apparently collaborating with Director Xu’s side. Since I have relevant internship experience, they specifically reached out to me."
Fu Shize had already inquired with Xu Qingsong after learning Yun Li was joining that company, so he was aware of this news.
"Do you want to go?"
"Yeah, because we worked together at EAW before."
Yun Li had chosen this job mainly for its nine-to-five schedule and relatively interesting work content. But after hearing about the collaboration with EAW, she suddenly felt a strong desire to join this project team.
Because it was connected to them.
Yun Li continued, "But I’m a bit worried about my master’s thesis progress. I don’t feel like writing when I’m alone." She glanced at Fu Shize. "So I was thinking of studying with you."
She went on, almost talking to herself, "But then I’m afraid I won’t get any writing done when we’re together."
Fu Shize asked knowingly, "Why wouldn’t you get any writing done?"
"..."
Sometimes, his words left her utterly speechless.
Fu Shize seemed to enjoy making her openly express her feelings in front of him or watching her fluster with shyness.
As if oblivious to her silence, he lifted his gaze and asked, "Is it because of you or because of me?"
Admitting it was her fault would mean she couldn’t focus because of his distracting presence.
Yun Li muttered, "Your fault."
Fu Shize smiled. "What did I do?"
With complete calm and conviction, Yun Li declared, "You just sit there—deliberately tempting me every single moment. Because you’re there, I can’t control my eyes or my thoughts."
She added, "Maybe your very existence is the problem."
She was full of twisted logic, waiting for Fu Shize to refute her, but he showed no desire to argue. Instead, he tilted his head and asked, "How exactly can’t you control yourself?"
"..."
When she could see him, she wanted to look at him.
When she couldn’t see him, she missed him.
Every moment, she couldn’t bear to be without him.
Fu Shize pondered for a moment. "You don’t seem to have done anything about it, though."He spoke as if—she ought to do something to prove she had been lured by him, that she couldn’t control herself.
Seeing Yun Li remain silent, Fu Shize slowly leaned closer until his nose lightly brushed against hers. Her bright eyes, with distinct lashes, stared straight at him.
Fu Shize asked, "You can control everything except your eyes and your mind?"
The room was unlit, the translucent brown curtains half-drawn. Around them were desks cluttered with textbooks. In the last few months before leaving school, standing in this scene, Yun Li felt the person before her was the same boy who had once sat in the audience during high school.
Fu Shize seemed to be recalling the same thing. His fingertips brushed against her hair—she had worn it long back then too.
With no one else around, the silence between them was almost overwhelming.
The next moment, Yun Li broke her own quiet, hooking her arms around his neck.
The force of her movement pushed Fu Shize against the metal cabinet.
The door lock rattled loudly, the sound briefly distracting her.
But the eyes before her remained unwavering, still reflecting her face as clearly as ever.
Yun Li curved her lips slightly and, as she kissed him, murmured between breaths—
"Nowhere can I control."
...
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