Xiao Jie had hoped to seize the opportunity to introduce Yu Ju to Gu Qianxing, but as the event drew to a close and Gu Qianxing left early, she still hadn’t found a chance.

Once they exited the venue, the fresh air made Yu Ju let out a long breath. If it weren’t for the fact that embracing nature felt too ridiculous, he might have done it right then and there.

“Was it really that suffocating?” Xiao Jie teased. “Did your smile freeze?”

Yu Ju gave Xiao Jie a dramatic performance of I can’t take it anymore, saying, “I can’t breathe.”

Xiao Jie laughed. “I saw you spend a whole day in the lab surrounded by chemicals, and I didn’t see you react like this.”

Yu Ju rambled, “Chemicals smell nice.”

Xiao Jie sighed. “I didn’t expect there to be so many people around Gu Qianxing. Before coming here, I had already drafted how I was going to chat with him, but I couldn’t even get close.”

Yu Ju asked, “Why do you have to talk to him?”

Xiao Jie raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am,” Yu Ju replied, imitating Xiao Jie’s usual way of teasing him, “Give this student who only knows how to soak in the lab a chance to broaden his horizons.”

Xiao Jie said, “It’s an opportunity, dear. If one of our company’s models could wear Gu Qianxing’s haute couture, wow,” Xiao Jie seemed to envision an infinite future, “I’d be flying high in the industry. The person next door would be so jealous.”

After saying this, Xiao Jie shivered. “Truly a pipe dream.”

The “person next door” Xiao Jie mentioned was probably the neighboring modeling agency, which had been in competition with New Power for quite some time.

The event didn’t involve the neighboring company this time. When Xiao Jie first received the invitation, her excitement was so obvious that anyone could tell, and she probably couldn’t help but brag about it somewhere.

Yu Ju didn’t really understand all of this. He didn’t even know much about New Power. He didn’t attend meetings or have business requirements. He only showed up when there was work, and then went back to school once it was over.

Everything he knew was from overhearing conversations while getting his makeup done.

His colleagues loved to gossip while getting ready, and every time it was something different. Sometimes, it felt like a serialized novel, with new developments to update Yu Ju on each time he came.

“But today wasn’t a bad haul,” Xiao Jie said, looking at Yu Ju. “You’re quite popular, so many people asking about you.”

Yu Ju responded with a modest compliment, “It’s all thanks to you, Xiao Jie.”

Xiao Jie beamed. “If you’re interested in this industry, I’d love to mentor you properly.”

Yu Ju shook his head. “I have social anxiety, I can’t handle this kind of work.”

Xiao Jie had more things to do, so when Xiao Wang arrived, she said her goodbyes to Yu Ju.

However, just before Yu Ju got into the car, Xiao Jie suddenly called out to him.

“Didn’t Gu Qianxing really smile at you just now?”

This was the third time Xiao Jie had asked.

Yu Ju replied with a question of his own, “Do you think so?”

“Fine,” Xiao Jie waved her hand. “Go back and get some rest, don’t forget about the photoshoot tomorrow afternoon.”

Yu Ju said, “I won’t forget,” and then closed the door.

Once inside the car, Yu Ju finally found some peace after meeting Gu Qianxing.

But as soon as he closed his eyes, the image of Gu Qianxing smiling popped into his mind, so Yu Ju quickly opened his eyes again.

He wasn’t entirely lying when he denied Xiao Jie’s words. He really didn’t know if that smile was directed at him, with so many people at the event.

But…

Damn, Gu Qianxing is really handsome.

The event venue was far from the school, and after Yu Ju relaxed in his seat, he quickly fell asleep.

It was fine; after meeting Gu Qianxing, he dreamed about him—an unshakable presence.

In the dream, it was many years ago, at a friend’s gaming room.

Yu Ju had been playing games with his friend, but somehow, when he turned around, his friend had disappeared.

Then, Gu Qianxing showed up.

Gu Qianxing even called him, “Little Juhao.”

Yu Ju was woken up by Xiao Wang, as the car had arrived at the student dormitory.

He groggily responded, dragging his still-drowsy body out of the car.

Much of the dream was real. The first time he met Gu Qianxing, it had indeed been at a friend’s house, playing games.

It was the summer after his senior year in high school, a time when Yu Ju had plenty of free time to waste. Around that time, a new game had been released, and he spent nearly half a month playing it with his friend.

Gu Qianxing appeared on the Saturday of the second week of August, August 10th, during the university summer break.

The relationship between them was that Gu Qianxing was his friend’s older brother’s friend.

That afternoon, his friend’s older brother also wanted to play the game, so without knocking, he barged in and started kicking everyone out in a very rude manner.

It looked like it was about to turn into a brotherly fight, but Gu Qianxing placed a hand on his friend’s brother’s shoulder and stopped it all.

He said, “It’s fine, let the kids play first.”

The door was wide open, Gu Qianxing was so tall, and his voice was particularly pleasant. Yu Ju found himself frozen, staring at the doorway, unsure of what to do.

Looking back on this moment now, Yu Ju’s memory of Gu Qianxing was almost as if he were standing in the light.

He wasn’t sure if it had been like that back then, or if his feelings for that version of Gu Qianxing had colored his memories, making them more vivid and idealized.

Later, Yu Ju visited his friend’s house more often, but it wasn’t every time that he ran into Gu Qianxing.

Yu Ju knew that his friend’s older brother saw him as a little kid, so during their first few meetings, Yu Ju tried to act all mature, staying quiet and speaking only in single words, thinking he looked incredibly cool and grown-up. In reality, he probably looked like he was trying way too hard.

Looking back now, he realized how ridiculous that was.

They didn’t meet that often, but whenever they did, his friend and his older brother would call him by his nickname, “Juhao.”

At first, Gu Qianxing called him that too, but at some point, he started adding the word “little” in front of it.

“Little Juhao, Little Juhao.”

“Don’t call me Little Juhao.”

“Why not?”

“I’m an adult now, you can’t call me Little Juhao.”

“What if I really want to call you that?”

“Then… fine.”

“Don’t tell them, or they’ll start calling me that too.”

“Then you’ll have to bribe me.”

The good times didn’t last long—really, they didn’t last long at all. For some reason, before August was even over, Yu Ju never went to his friend’s house again.

And he never saw that older brother again.

He hadn’t even bothered to ask his name.

Back at the apartment, Yu Ju picked up his phone and saw a message from Xiao Jie, asking him to post a Weibo update.

Yu Ju had already edited the post, with both text and photos ready. The content was mostly about how much fun he had at the event.

The photos had come from a media friend, and within such a short amount of time, Xiao Jie had already gotten the retouched versions.

There were a total of nine pictures: three close-ups of Yu Ju, three photos of him with various people he didn’t even know, two shots of the event, and one more…

Yu Ju zoomed in on this last photo.

Wasn’t this the picture of Gu Qianxing smiling in his direction?

The photographer had a great angle, and had even blurred the surroundings. Despite the several meters of distance and the crowd, it looked as if Gu Qianxing was really smiling directly at Yu Ju.

Yu Ju zoomed in further on Gu Qianxing’s face. The photographer had captured his profile. It might have been the lighting, but Gu Qianxing’s features seemed particularly soft, almost giving him a look of deep affection.

“Can I post the last one?”

Yu Ju shrank the image and asked Xiao Jie.

Xiao Jie replied quickly: “Why wouldn’t you?”

Yu Ju: “What if people misunderstand and think he’s smiling at me?”

Even if it’s true, wouldn’t people just think it’s some sort of staged moment?

Xiao Jie: “It’s not photoshopped, it’s a candid shot. What are you worried about?”

Xiao Jie: “Let me tell you, this photo hasn’t even been retouched yet, that’s the original.”

Xiao Jie: “Just post it as is, I’ll take the responsibility if there’s an issue.”

Yu Ju: “Alright then.”

Since Xiao Jie said it was fine, Yu Ju didn’t hesitate. He glanced over the text, saw no issues, and copied it into his Weibo.

Just as he sent it, his WeChat notification went off again.

Yu Ju thought it was Xiao Jie again, but when he opened it, he saw that the contact list had a new entry.

A new friend.

Yu Ju clicked on the profile of the person labeled “G.” When he opened the application, two words appeared:

Gu Qianxing.

Yu Ju froze for a moment—not even a full second—before quickly accepting the friend request.

The screen instantly switched to the chat page, with Gu Qianxing’s name being the first message sent.

Yu Ju’s heart started racing again, and he cursed himself for getting worked up over something so trivial.

After adding him, the first thing Yu Ju did was open Gu Qianxing’s Moments.

It was set to be visible for only three days, and there was nothing posted.

The signature was blank, but the background and profile picture immediately caught Yu Ju’s attention.

It was the same image—a cat and a hand.

Yu Ju clicked on the profile picture and zoomed in on the cat part.

It was a small kitten, white and gray, lazily tilting its head, incredibly cute.

He shifted the picture slightly and then saw the hand.

Because the kitten was so small, the hand holding its chin appeared even larger and longer.

The knuckles were distinct, and the hand was particularly slender and beautiful.

Realizing that he had spent more time looking at the hand than the kitten, Yu Ju quickly minimized the picture.

For the rest of the time, he sat idly, staring at the conversation page, seemingly waiting for the other person to send another message.

Until the screen dimmed automatically, and the world around him remained still.

Yu Ju couldn’t help but lick his lips, then tapped the screen to light it up and typed one word: “Hello.”

After thinking for a moment, he deleted it.

Soon after, he typed a question mark: “?”.

He thought for a moment, then deleted it.

Once again, he typed “Is something wrong?”

He thought again, then deleted it.

“Are you Gu Qianxing?”

Deleted.

“Yu Ju.”

Deleted.

He deleted and wrote, wrote and deleted, and after a long time, not a single word was sent.

And even though he went through all this trouble, there was still no response from the other side.

Yu Ju, frustrated and embarrassed, grew impatient.

It was strange. He hadn’t even added the person first, so why did he have to initiate the conversation?

“Why add me if there’s nothing to say?”

Yu Ju muttered to himself, pressed a button, and locked his phone.

Just as he tossed the phone onto the table, he heard the sound of a new message.

Yu Ju quickly picked it up, but when he opened it, it was a message from Sister Xiao.

Yu Ju grimaced.

Sister Xiao: [Link];

Sister Xiao: Look what I found;

She had sent a link to a Weibo post. Yu Ju paused when he saw who the blogger was, then immediately clicked it, and was quickly redirected to Weibo.

The blogger was Gu Qianxing, and he had also posted about the HIC anniversary celebration.

The caption was very simple, not a single unnecessary word.

“#HIC Anniversary#.”

There was a period at the end of the hashtag; Yu Ju wasn’t sure if it was a typo or just a habit in his writing style.

Below were two images.

The first was the HIC logo, and the other one…

When Yu Ju opened the second image, he couldn’t help but press his lips together.

On the phone was that photo of them making eye contact, even the angle was exactly the same.

At the same time, the person Yu Ju didn’t want to admit he had been waiting for sent a message.

G: [Little Juhao?]