Shen Mo added two eggs to the pot and said, “He has a lot of social engagements tonight.”

　　”Brother Shen has a really good temper.” Ji Anan asked curiously, “How did you and my brother meet? Did you two fall in love at first sight, or did you fall in love over time?”

　　Shen Mo didn’t expect Ji Anan to ask this. His hand was scalded by the hot water and he quickly pulled it back.

　　He was slow to answer the question.

　　It took so long that Ji Anan found it strange. He glanced at the dark night outside the window and said calmly: “Mr. Ji… saved my life.”

　　If it weren’t for Ji Mingxuan, he would either be dead or in a worse situation than death.

　　Shen Mo had no way to repay him, so he could only pledge his love to him. Unfortunately, pledging one’s love to him was a technical skill, and his professional quality was not up to standard, so he was often mocked by Ji Mingxuan for being like a dead fish in bed.

　　Mr. Ji is not coming home tonight again.

　　Shen Mo reflected seriously for a while before going to bed and felt that it was really time to hone his skills.

　　He seldom had nightmares, and when he did, it was always the same scene. He stood alone in the silent darkness, anxious to make a phone call, the phone number was engraved on the tip of his heart, so familiar that it couldn’t be more familiar.

　　But the call doesn’t work.

　　We had talked on the phone so many times when we were in love, and our ears were numb from hearing all the sweet words. But on this day, he just couldn’t get through. He called countless times, but the other party’s phone was always turned off.

　　Shen Mo was so scared that his fingers were shaking as he dialed the number. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed his ankle tightly.

　　Shen Mo was woken up by the alarm clock in the morning. He opened his eyes and looked at the time, remembering that today was Monday and he should go to work. His job was also arranged by Ji Mingxuan, in a small company under Ji’s company, responsible for data sorting. The work was very leisurely, with nothing to do every day, basically just muddling through.

　　Colleagues all said that Shen Mo had a good temper, was easygoing, and did whatever he was asked to do. Sometimes he was assigned some random chores, and he completed them one by one. During lunch break that day, the department manager came to him again and asked him to help draw a promotional picture.

　　Shen Mo shook his head and said, “I can’t draw.”

　　”Didn’t you study fine arts in college?”

　　Shen Mo just said: “I really can’t.”

　　The manager nodded and left without any hesitation.

　　In the afternoon, Shen Mo heard rumors about himself in the tea room.

　　”I didn’t realize that Shen Mo was quite arrogant.”

　　”Don’t you know? He has a backer.”

　　”Whose connection did he get in with?”

　　”That’s the one…”

　　”Mr. Ji? That’s impossible. Wasn’t he having an affair with that movie star recently?”

　　”How could a rich man have only one lover?”

　　Shen Mo ignored what he heard. After returning to his office, he took a pen and started drawing on paper, but his right hand was shaking violently, just like when he desperately dialed the phone that day. The lines he drew were crooked and completely messed up.

　　He stared at the paper for a long time, then crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can.

　　Shen Mo hasn’t painted for three years.

　　His family was poor, and he worked part-time while studying at university, painting portraits for people in the square. Sometimes he would sit there for half a day without any business, so Zhou Yang would come over to be his model. That was really the happiest time.

　　Later he went to several hospitals, and the doctors all said that the injury on his right hand had healed and had no impact on his daily life. However, he could no longer hold a paintbrush, which must be due to a psychological disorder.

　　Shen Mo did not continue the treatment. After all, after he followed Ji Mingxuan, he no longer had to rely on painting to make a living. Everything in the past became a memory, and it would be better to forget it all.

　　After getting off work, Shen Mo walked home. As soon as he walked out of the company gate, his cell phone rang. He was about to see who was calling when he suddenly heard someone calling him: “Shen Mo!”

　　Shen Mo looked back and saw a black car slowly parked on the side of the road. The window was half rolled down. Zhou Yang was sitting in the driver’s seat and said to him, “Get in.”

　　He was still the same, speaking concisely and clearly, and refusing to say any more nonsense. But Shen Mo was no longer the same Shen Mo as before, he stood there without moving.

　　Zhou Yang said: “I’m just inviting you to dinner.”

　　Shen Mo asked: “Where is Miss Ji?”

　　Zhou Yang frowned and said, “What does it have to do with her?”

　　”I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for just the two of us to eat alone.”

　　”Even if we broke up, we are still high school classmates, right? Can’t we have a meal together?” It was just as the sun was setting, and the rays of light made Zhou Yang’s profile look particularly handsome. He looked at Shen Mo and said, “Xiao Mo, get in the car.”

　　Shen Mo thought of many past nightmares when he sat in the corner of the classroom, drawing Zhou Yang’s face on paper over and over again. He closed his eyes, finally opened the car door and got in.

　　Shen Mo didn’t expect Zhou Yang to treat him to seafood. Facing the table of dishes, he really didn’t know where to start eating. Zhou Yang didn’t move his chopsticks either, and asked, “Are you really allergic to seafood?”

　　”I got a rash after eating it, but it’s not serious.”

　　”Why didn’t you tell me before?”

　　Shen Mo smiled.

　　He did it to avoid spoiling Zhou Yang’s fun. This is how people in love are, they feel sweet even when they suffer for their loved ones.

　　Zhou Yang asked for the menu and ordered again, mocking himself: “Ji Mingxuan knows more than me.”

　　Shen Mo thought this was natural. Before Mr. Ji contacted him, he had already sent someone to check his background thoroughly. He was a typical perfectionist, and even when acting, he had to be thorough.

　　The newly ordered dishes had not yet been served. Zhou Yang poured a cup of tea for Shen Mo and asked, “How have you been these past few years?”

　　For three whole years, countless days and nights, Shen Mo summed it up with just two words: “Not bad.”

　　”I thought you would do something related to painting.”

　　”It’s better now. The work is easy and the salary is high.”

　　”Where’s Ji Mingxuan? I heard he doesn’t care about gender and is often involved in scandals with those little stars.”

　　Shen Mo pulled the corner of his mouth and said, “With Mingxuan’s status, it is inevitable that he will get involved in some gossip. But rumors are just rumors. You saw with your own eyes how he treated me yesterday.”

　　When mentioning what happened yesterday, Zhou Yang’s face turned a little ugly.

　　Shen Mo pretended not to notice, took a sip of tea and said, “How about you? How come you seem to have lost weight since returning from abroad?”

　　”In a foreign country, the food alone cannot compare to here. Once I was sick and my family and friends were all thousands of miles away. I was helpless. Fortunately, An An took care of me…”

　　Shen Mo sincerely said: “You and Miss Ji are indeed a perfect match.”

　　Zhou Yang didn’t say anything. After a while, he suddenly held Shen Mo’s hand and said, “Shen Mo, do you still owe me an explanation?”

　　”What?”

　　”Why did you break up with me in the first place?”

　　”Why break-up?” Shen Mo repeated these three words, thought for a while and said, “I can’t remember clearly, maybe it’s because of personality incompatibility.”

　　”We’ve been together since high school. How could we be incompatible after so many years of affection?”

　　”Personality also includes many aspects, for example… As the only son of the Zhou family, would your parents agree that we should be together?”

　　This sentence hit Zhou Yang’s soft spot.

　　His expression froze, and he said, “My parents are old-fashioned people. They really won’t accept me dating a man, but I’ve said before that I will find a way to convince them.”

　　Shen Mo slowly pushed away Zhou Yang’s hand that was holding his. “You mean the solution is to go abroad with Miss Ji?”

　　”…Sure enough, it’s because of this.” Zhou Yang sighed and said, “Yes, in order to reassure my parents, I accepted their arrangement and went abroad. But I had nothing to do with An An at the time, and as soon as I got off the plane, I immediately bought a ticket to come back to find you. What happened? You avoided me, and it was only after more than half a month that you called me to break up.”

　　”I thought you were mad at me for going abroad. Now that I think about it…” Zhou Yang sneered and said, “You couldn’t have climbed onto Ji Mingxuan’s bed at that time, right?”

　　Shen Mo was stunned for a moment.

　　It was as if an earthquake had suddenly occurred, the ground was shaking under his feet, and there were roars in his ears. But in the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal, and he was still sitting in the restaurant, enjoying delicious food and wine, and the sound of birds and flowers.

　　But he was seriously injured.

　　All the internal organs were displaced, causing pain in the heart, liver and lungs.

　　Shen Mo opened his mouth, but he didn’t even have the strength to speak.

　　So he didn’t say that when Zhou Yang came back to find him, he was lying in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Just like he didn’t say that on that day three years ago, he had called Zhou Yang countless times in fear and despair, and at that time Zhou Yang was sitting on a plane at an altitude of 10,000 meters with Ji Anan.