Xu Yitong stared at Yu Ge, her expression frozen on her face.

His sarcastic remark hung in the air—like a question, or perhaps a retort, though the answer seemed all too obvious.

For once, she felt uncharacteristically lost, rooted to the spot, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Yu Ge watched her silently, her clear shock and hurt unmistakable in his eyes.

Suddenly, he found it unbearable to look at.

His lips parted slightly, but in the end, he said nothing.

As he stepped past her, Xu Yitong murmured softly, “So what if we’re not close? Big deal.”

Yu Ge paused almost imperceptibly but didn’t turn back, walking away without another word.

This time, she didn’t chase after him.

Xu Yitong stood where she was, watching Yu Ge’s retreating figure.

He always seemed so aloof, walking with his spine straight and stiff—unlike her, who slumped dejectedly whenever she was upset.

But his posture was almost too rigid, as if his entire body were tensed into a taut line.

Under the streetlights, his elongated shadow looked lonely and frail.

He grew smaller and smaller, his figure gradually dissolving into a blur, shrinking to a black dot before being swallowed completely by the night.

She could no longer see him.

Xu Yitong sat alone on a flower bed for a while.

A stray cat, appearing out of nowhere, prowled nearby, meowing at her.

But the moment she turned to look, it shrank back warily.

Xu Yitong tore open a snack bag and asked the little black cat in a muffled voice, “Are you hungry? Do you want some cookies?”

She broke the cookies into pieces and tossed them onto the ground.

A few minutes later, the cat cautiously inched closer.

When she bent down to pet it, the little creature’s ears pricked up in alarm, and it immediately bolted.

It didn’t go far, though, stopping at a safe distance to glance back at her.

A thought struck her—this scene felt eerily familiar.

She tossed the cookie crumbs toward the cat and muttered, “Why are you just like him?”

The stray cat, indifferent to human words, tilted its head in confusion.

The summer night buzzed with the chirping of insects, and mosquito bites itched unbearably on her skin. A pang of bitterness finally welled up in her chest.

Xu Yitong thought resentfully, ‘Fine. I’ll just pretend everything before was all in my head.’

She had always been someone who cried easily.

This time, though, as heat pricked at her eyes, she clenched her jaw and forced the tears back.

She tried to console herself.

It’s fine.

I was the one who liked Yu Ge first.

It’s only natural that I took the initiative.

Of course he has the right to reject me.

Even if I’m hurt, it’s nothing unexpected.

I can’t blame anyone else for it.

She wasn’t sure how long she zoned out, but when she finally picked up her phone again, the screen was black—it had died.

Xu Yitong felt suffocated.

Did I forget to check my luck today?

Why is everything going wrong one after another?

Leaving the rest of the cookies for the cat, she stood up gloomily.

After lingering on the roadside for a while, she finally approached the security booth and knocked lightly on the window.

“What do you want?”

Xu Yitong held up her phone. “My phone’s dead. Could I charge it here for a few minutes?”

The security guard hesitated.

Xu Yitong bit her lip. “Is that… not okay?”

The man sighed. “Hey, don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,” she said. “I just need to call a ride home.”

After glancing around, the guard relented and opened the door. “Come in.”

---

Yu Ge pushed open the front door.

When he entered, the team was gathered in the lobby, sharing snacks.

Roy spotted him first and casually said, “Oh, you’re back. Want some—”

He cut himself off when he saw Yu Ge’s face and gasped. “What happened? You left in one piece and came back injured?”

The others turned to look.

Yu Ge averted his face, wiping the cut at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s nothing.”

Noticing the bruises on his arm, Roy immediately understood. “I can’t believe this. That old bastard hit you again?”

Ah Wen shot him a warning look. “Watch your mouth. He’s still his dad.”

“So what? That worthless drunk deserves to be called a father?” Roy spat out a few more curses.

Yu Ge stayed silent.

Ah Wen changed the subject. “What about the girl outside? Did she go home? Little C said she waited for you for ages and bought us all this stuff… You want some? Or should we ask Auntie to—”

Yu Ge cut him off, his tone eerily calm. “Not hungry.”

As he walked away without another word, Little C moved to follow.

Ah Wen held him back. “Let him be.”

They exchanged glances, none of them speaking.

This wasn’t something others could comfort him about.

Only after Yu Ge went upstairs did Will click his tongue.

“What the hell happened with his family this time?” Little C asked worriedly.

Roy said, “You can ask him later.”

Ah Wen, who had known Yu Ge since their trainee days and understood him best, shook his head.

“Don’t bother. He won’t talk about it.”

Especially when it came to his family—he never shared those things with outsiders.

Will disagreed. “But he can’t just keep bottling it up forever. He’ll snap one day!”

Little C, who had only been with OG for a year or two, knew Yu Ge had a strained relationship with his family but wasn’t privy to the details.

Remembering the chilling aura Yu Ge had just carried, Little C asked, “His dad really did this to him? How could he hit his own son so hard?”

Roy scoffed.

“This is nothing. A couple of years ago, during Spring Festival, that old drunk showed up at the base and smashed an ashtray over his head.”

Little C fell silent.

Yu Ge returned to his room without a word.

Pulling a clean set of clothes from the wardrobe, he stepped into the bathroom.

Under the sound of running water, he stared coldly at his reflection in the mirror, motionless for a long time.

Blood trickled from the wound on his arm, but he felt numb, as if he couldn’t even register the pain.

Yu Ge had thought he was accustomed to the violence and vitriol Yu Jiang had inflicted on him all these years.

Yet this vile blood tie still ensnared him like a net—inescapable, endless.

The irony was, he had always believed he was nothing like Yu Jiang, that he would never lash out at someone uninvolved.

But then Xu Yitong appeared.

Oblivious to everything, she smiled at him as if her pristine, joyful life had never been touched by darkness.

And Yu Ge couldn’t even maintain basic decency.

That was the worst, ugliest, most wretched side of him.

He knew it well.

In that moment, he must have lost control.

*

Xu Yitong went home and slept.

The next day, she woke up, pulled open the curtains, and saw the bright sunshine outside, feeling much better.

She had never been one to wallow in sadness.

So what if Yu Ge didn’t consider her a friend? It wasn’t a big deal—she had plenty of friends anyway, and one less didn’t matter.

Having been doused with a bucket of cold water, her months of enthusiasm finally cooled a bit.

Xu Yitong packed her things and went home to stay for a while.

She stopped sending messages to Yu Ge and no longer agonized over counting the seconds waiting for his replies.

Time suddenly flew by, and in what felt like a blink, nearly half a month had passed.

During a gathering with friends, Cai Cai belatedly noticed something was off: “Why haven’t you been chattering about your little fish lately?”

Jasmine, however, seemed unsurprised: “Another heartbreak, that’s why.”

“This time it lasted almost half a year. I really thought Xu Yitong had found her true love.”

As they bantered back and forth, Xu Yitong silently took a sip of her drink.

CC chimed in: “I haven’t had time lately. There’s a lot to buy for the renovation. Go check things out with the designer these next few days.”

Xu Yitong muttered, “I don’t want to go.”

CC gave a humorless smile: “Don’t make me lose my temper.”

“Didn’t I warn you before? Men are men, work is work. What, now that you’re heartbroken, you’re not going anymore? What about the shop? Not opening it? Did I spend hundreds of thousands just to play around with you?”

Her fierce tone made Xu Yitong shrink back, instantly cowed. With weak defiance, she said, “Fine, I’ll go! No need to yell! And who said I’m heartbroken? I just got my enthusiasm dampened and needed some time to recover! It’s not like I’ve given up!”

But that was the truth in her heart.

Xu Yitong didn’t want to go to the Xuhui area partly because she needed time to recover from the hurt, but also because she was afraid of running into Yu Ge—she didn’t want him to think she was clinging to him and look down on her.

Xu Yitong might like Yu Ge, but she wasn’t completely shameless.

She definitely didn’t have Chen Yuzheng’s thick skin.

…

Under CC’s stern scolding, Xu Yitong obediently went to handle the renovation matters.

But her worries turned out to be unnecessary.

For over a month, she almost never ran into Yu Ge.

Except for once.

It was evening. Xu Yitong, wearing a construction helmet and covered in dust, stood outside discussing wall demolition with the foreman.

A few members of OG came to the convenience store next door to buy some things.

Xu Yitong spotted them from afar.

Holding a bottle of water, she hid behind the construction crew, hoping they’d pass by without noticing her.

As they walked past, Awen suddenly noticed her and asked, surprised, “What are you doing here?”

There was a bit of awkwardness, but more than that, she felt flustered.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Yitong replied vaguely, “This is my friend’s shop. I’m just here to help out.”

“That’s nice.”

She hummed in agreement.

The others filed into the convenience store, but Yu Ge stopped and waited outside.

Out of the corner of her eye, Xu Yitong felt like Yu Ge was looking in her direction.

She pretended to glance elsewhere, her eyes wandering for a long time before she finally stole another look at him.

She thought he would have already averted his gaze, but he hadn’t.

He stood there, actually looking at her.

His expression was as unreadable as ever, cold and aloof.

They stared at each other for a while, neither speaking first.

Xu Yitong wrestled with herself internally.

Soon, Awen and the others came out, and Yu Ge turned away, leaving with them.

…

While crossing the street, Roy, recalling the strange atmosphere earlier, quietly asked Awen, “Did they have a fight?”

Awen shrugged. “How would I know?”

They found a wonton shop to grab a quick dinner.

Noticing Yu Ge constantly looking at his phone, Little C handed him a pair of chopsticks. “Waiting for someone’s message?”

After a long pause, Yu Ge turned his phone face down on the table. “No.”

*

During this period, I’ve been busy with renovations, so Xu Yitong often drops by the nearby convenience store to enjoy the air conditioning.

She quickly became familiar with the people working there.

This was a family-run store with a big golden retriever.

The cashier girl from last time was the owner’s daughter, named Chen Yuanyuan.

She also had a younger brother in high school, Chen Fang.

It was summer vacation, so Chen Fang occasionally helped out at the store.

Chen Fang boasted that he was a “Wild King” in Honor of Kings and even played a few rounds with Xu Yitong.

After a while, the two even added each other on WeChat, practically becoming good friends.

One afternoon, the weather was scorching, and Xu Yitong, as usual, went to the store to cool off.

Chen Fang was sprawled over the table doing homework, his phone playing a match in the background.

Xu Yitong bought an ice cream and sat down beside him.

After watching for a while, she couldn’t help but ask, “How can you focus on homework while multitasking like this?”

“It’s no big deal. It’s just summer homework—the teacher won’t even check it.”

“Oh… What match are you watching?”

“League of Legends.”

Xu Yitong’s heart skipped a beat.

She took a bite of her ice cream and didn’t press further.

Chen Fang: “Do you play League of Legends? I’m Diamond.”

He emphasized, “Diamond on Ionia. If I were on one of the less competitive servers, I could easily hit Master or Grandmaster.”

Seeing his smug expression, Xu Yitong couldn’t help but laugh. “I do play.”

Chen Fang put down his pen. “Then you know how impressive Diamond is, right? I’m the best in my class. My friends are always begging me to queue up with them.”

Xu Yitong nodded.

“Mhm, you’re really amazing.”

“I can carry you sometime.”

“What role do you play?”

“ADC.”

Xu Yitong teased him on purpose: “Then forget it. There’s a really strong ADC who can carry me—you’re definitely not as good as him.”

Chen Fang was visibly annoyed. “Who? What rank?”

Xu Yitong: “Do you know Fish from OG?”

Chen Fang: “…”

He rolled his eyes and went back to his homework.

“Stop lying. You think I’m some gullible kid?”

Xu Yitong sucked in a breath.

“What’s that reaction? I really know Fish!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

Xu Yitong’s competitive spirit flared up.

“Wanna bet? If I really know him, you buy me a milk tea. How about that?”

Chen Fang eyed her skeptically. “Seriously…?”

“You in or not?” she asked.

Chen Fang nodded, still sounding doubtful.

“Fine. But don’t just say you ‘know’ him—if you can get me his autograph, I’ll treat you to milk tea for a whole week.”

Xu Yitong pulled out her phone, opened WeChat, scrolled a bit, and tapped into Yu Ge’s chat.

She handed it over.

“This is his WeChat! If I’m lying, I’m a pig.”

Chen Fang took it hesitantly and double-tapped his profile picture.

“Let me check his Moments. Don’t rush me.”

Xu Yitong quickly tried to stop him. “Hey, be careful—”

Before she could finish, a notification popped up:
[You patted “Little Fish.”]

Xu Yitong froze for a few seconds, then suddenly stood up and snatched her phone back.

“Oh my god!”

Chen Fang was baffled.

“What’s the big deal?”

Her voice was frantic.

“Why’d you pat him?!”

“What’s wrong with patting him?”

“Whatever…”

Xu Yitong was about to recall the action when a green message bubble suddenly appeared in the chat.

Little Fish: 【?】

Xu Yitong’s hand trembled, nearly dropping her phone.

“Oh no, he messaged me!”

Their last conversation had been a month ago, when she asked him what he was doing.

He hadn’t replied.

Chen Fang: “No way… That’s really Fish?”

Xu Yitong’s heart was racing too fast to bother arguing with him.

Staring at the message, torn over whether to explain, another message came through.

Little Fish: 【What’s up?】

Xu Yitong steeled herself, stepped away, and snapped a photo of Chen Fang’s back before sending it with the truth:

【This kid’s your fan. He wanted to check your Moments but accidentally patted you.】

Chen Fang craned his neck, curious about their conversation, but Xu Yitong tucked her phone away.

Chen Fang: “Sis, why are you so flustered? Your face is all red.”

Xu Yitong: “Go buy me that milk tea—you lost!”

……

After Chen Fang left, Xu Yitong paced around for a bit before sitting back in his seat.

Once she’d calmed down a little, she reopened WeChat.

Yu Ge hadn’t replied.

Xu Yitong started fidgeting again.

She set her phone aside and picked up Chen Fang’s Chinese homework, deciding to proofread it to steady her nerves.

The first section was ancient poetry.

His handwriting was a mess, scrawling:
“The sky is long, the earth is lasting, but sometimes it ends; this love can be remembered as a keepsake.”

Xu Yitong wasn’t exactly a star student either, but the line felt off no matter how she read it. She looked it up on her phone.

Sure enough, it was wrong.

She mentally patted herself on the back, took a pencil, and marked it with an ❌.

The convenience store’s doorbell chimed as the glass door slid open—Chen Fang was back.

Xu Yitong found another mistake and, feeling accomplished, quickly scribbled the correct answer in the blank space.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone approaching.

Smugly, she said, “Did you buy your Sis that milk tea?”

“What milk tea?”

That deep voice—

Xu Yitong froze, then jerked her head up—

Her eyes met Yu Ge’s.