♡ Chapter 5 ♡

Yu Xia met up with Tang Yue at the gate of the neighborhood. Tang Yue stood in front of her, looking left and right. “Didn’t you say someone else was joining us for lunch? Where are they?”

“He’s not coming,” Yu Xia imitated Lu Yanzhou’s tone, “He said… we’re not close enough for him to have lunch with my best friend.”

Tang Yue clicked her tongue. “Is he that full of himself? Who is he?”

“My new neighbor. I was complaining to you about Zhou Yu cheating, but I forgot to mention this.” Yu Xia linked arms with her and started walking toward the restaurant while recounting the mix-up that happened that night.

Tang Yue’s first reaction was, “Is he handsome?”

“Super handsome,” Yu Xia stopped for a second and said seriously, “He’s more handsome than any of my ex-boyfriends.”

“……You’ve only had two boyfriends. Don’t make it sound like you’re some kind of love expert.” Tang Yue knew all about her dating history. The first was in high school, a long-distance relationship that ended before the year was out. The second was with Zhou Yu, and they had just broken up a few days ago, after less than half a year together.

“This doesn’t matter!”

Tang Yue was like a reader who had only watched the first three episodes of a drama, while Yu Xia had already updated to the tenth episode and was eager to discuss the plot twists.

After explaining everything that had happened recently, the two of them had already sat down in the restaurant. Tang Yue stared at her intently. “Really? Is he that handsome?”

Yu Xia frowned. “You doubt my taste?”

“I believe it,” Tang Yue said, but couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said something like ‘If that were the case, I’d do it myself’ about a guy.”

“……”

Yu Xia couldn’t argue, but it didn’t make sense. Why had she said that in front of a man she barely knew?

She cupped her face with both hands, looking confused. “Why did I say that?”

Tang Yue confidently answered, “You like him. You were attracted to him.”

“……”

Although Lu Yanzhou fit her aesthetic perfectly, they’d only known each other for three days, and they weren’t exactly close. Besides, she’d just broken up with Zhou Yu! Some people might fall for someone at first sight, but would she fall for someone in just three days? Maybe some could, but she certainly wasn’t one of them. Yu Xia thought about it seriously and decided that she simply admired his looks. There was no possessive intention behind it. She slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t want to date him.”

Tang Yue stopped flipping through the menu, raised her eyes to look at her, and said something unexpected. “So, you’re just keeping him as a backup. If you feel the spark, you’ll go for it.”

“I am not!” Yu Xia vehemently denied it. “Absolutely not.”

Thinking of Lu Yanzhou as a backup was almost a crime.

Tang Yue wasn’t convinced and raised an eyebrow. “Then why don’t you find a chance to introduce him to me?”

Yu Xia knew she was teasing her. Tang Yue had secretly liked her senior for years and still hadn’t mustered the courage to confess. Yu Xia smiled. “You should confess to your senior first.”

Tang Yue: “……”

After they stopped hurting each other, they started ordering food.

Tang Yue rarely came, so after dinner, Yu Xia still dragged her slightly weak body to accompany her for a walk for the whole afternoon, and they had dinner together outside in the evening.

The consequence of indulging someone like that was that when she got home, she collapsed from exhaustion and slept until almost noon the next day.

She ordered a cup of coffee and eel rice for a combined breakfast and lunch. While eating, she couldn’t help but think of Lu Yanzhou. I wonder if he’s free tonight.

She had been caught off guard by his comment yesterday and forgotten to ask.

Yu Xia opened WeChat and found his profile.

His WeChat name was quite simple, just the first letter of his surname, “L,” with a profile picture consisting of a handwritten “L” on a blank piece of paper. This casual avatar stood out more than the colorful pictures in her contacts list.

She got straight to the point: [Are you free tonight? Neighbor.]

The reply came quicker than expected, likely due to his irritation: [Don’t I have a name?]

Yu Xia smiled and responded smoothly: [Lu Yanzhou, are you free tonight? I’ll treat you to a meal.]

L: [No.]

Living in Summer: [What about tomorrow night?]

L: [No.]

Yu Xia: “…”

Such coldness, and he’s supposed to be a romantic backup? Even if he was willing, she’d have to think twice. Yu Xia bit her spoon, expressionless, and quickly typed: When did WeChat get an auto-reply function? The robot on the other side, besides “no,” do you even know any other words…

Just before sending, a new message appeared in the chat, a 4-second voice message.

She paused, opened the voice message, and heard a deep, magnetic voice, slightly softened: “I’m going on a business trip tomorrow and will be back next week.”

Ah, so he didn’t have time to type. She misunderstood him.

Yu Xia put down the spoon, smiled, and considered deleting her previous message. But with her habit of drawing with her little finger, her finger brushed against the send button before she could reach the delete key.

“…”

She froze for a second and quickly clicked withdraw.

Lu Yanzhou and Zhuo Sheng had an appointment with a client for dinner. He was sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine started, and was about to drive when her message came.

After sending the voice message, just as he was about to put down his phone, he saw the status “The other party is typing…” and waited for a moment. The passenger, Zuo Sheng, saw his phone screen, noticing the cute avatar that definitely looked like a girl’s. He raised an eyebrow, curious: “Who are you reporting your schedule to?”

“No one.”

Was this even considered reporting a schedule?

Lu Yanzhou saw an additional message in the dialog box, which was then withdrawn by the other party three seconds later.

“…”

It was too late, he had already seen it.

L: [Slow typing speed.]

“…”

She was already fast, yet he still saw it.

Since he saw it, Yu Xia decided to be straightforward: [Next time, I’ll try harder to type one second faster.]

She wasn’t even shy about it.

Lu Yanzhou chuckled softly, put down his phone, and drove off.

He actually laugh?

Zuo Sheng instinctively felt something was going on and couldn’t help but ask, “Come on, tell me, don’t bottle it up.”

Lu Yanzhou looked ahead indifferently and smiled: “What’s going on?”

Zuo Sheng noticed his phone screen lighting up again, glanced at it, and speculated: “Is it that girl who hugged you last time? She got the wrong guy and won’t let you go?”

He was surprisingly close to the truth.

Lu Yanzhou wasn’t sure if Yu Xia could be considered to have latched onto him. While she didn’t deny her feelings the previous afternoon, he didn’t see much affection in her eyes.

“No.” He looked ahead, his tone calm. “Just a new neighbor.”

“A female neighbor?” Zuo Sheng recalled the reason for his move.

Lu Yanzhou responded with a brief “Mm.”

Zuo Sheng was incredulous: “…So you’re reporting your schedule to her?”

The previous landlord insisted on introducing his niece to Lu Yanzhou, claiming she had just returned from studying abroad, was beautiful, and they’d be a good match. Despite Lu Yanzhou’s repeated refusals, the landlord brought her downstairs to block him one day.

The landlord’s niece had fallen for Lu Yanzhou at first sight. Even after he rejected her clearly, she kept pursuing him relentlessly. Zuo Sheng, who had known Lu Yanzhou for years, had seen many girls chase after him, but this one, with her open-mindedness, was a first.

She told him that unless he slept with her once, she wouldn’t stop. Later, the landlord felt guilty and informed her parents, who came forward to resolve the issue. Lu Yanzhou moved out, and the matter was finally over.

During that period of harassment, Zuo Sheng could tell Lu Yanzhou was almost traumatized by it. He never expected that he would soon find himself tangled up with a new neighbor.

“I told you, it’s not reporting my schedule.” Lu Yanzhou could tell Zuo Sheng had misunderstood. He paused for a couple of seconds, then briefly explained the recent events.

Zuo Sheng was stunned, thought for a moment, and then said, “So, you’re the one who started this?” He quickly shook his head. “Actually, no, it’s more like your initiative and indulgence that got you into this situation.”

“…”

Lu Yanzhou fell silent, unable to refute it.

Zuo Sheng, now more curious about this female neighbor, began to plan: “When you’re back from the business trip, let’s find a time to give your new home a ‘warming’ visit.”

Lu Yanzhou coldly rejected: “No need, thanks.”

On the other side, after finishing her eel rice, Yu Xia finally received Lu Yanzhou’s reply: a simple “Mm.” She sent a sticker in return, then went to the study and picked up her iPad to continue working on her webcomic.

That evening, she updated the first chapter, and the scene of their elevator encounter was just about drawn.

The comment section was lively, with fans guessing and urging for updates—

[Did she hug the wrong boyfriend? This plot is so exciting! I love it! What happens next, what happens next? Hurry and update! Don’t make me beg you!]

[Update, wife! I need to see what happens next! Why did the male lead show up in the elevator? Let me guess, will the heroine bring him home to get back at her ex?]

[Bringing him home for some fun, huh? I love this mature storyline.]

[I have a bold idea…]

…

Bring him home for some fun… What kind of bold idea can’t be shared?

Fans of the 2D world are full of jokes, and they don’t shy away from any topic.

Yu Xia blushed as she read the comments. It wasn’t much, but the problem was that this story had a real-life counterpart. As she read the comments, her mind automatically conjured up Lu Yanzhou’s body and face, making her feel a bit embarrassed as if she were secretly fantasizing about him.

Ahhh, so embarrassing!

Yu Xia exited the comments section, deciding to ignore it.

She quickly focused on updating the next chapter, “A Misunderstanding Caused by Takeout,” hoping the dramatic plot would shift the tone in the comments.

Over the next week, while drawing her webcomic, Yu Xia casually chatted in the workgroup. The coloring artist tagged her, asking if she needed help with coloring, but she knew it was just a way to get a sneak peek at the story.

Suddenly, the editor-in-chief spoke up in the group: [Isn’t it so fun to slack off? @Living in Summer, have you stocked up on your drafts?]

Yu Xia panicked: [Don’t ask such terrifying questions right away!]

The coloring artist replied: [So scary… I’ll just go now.]

The editor-in-chief: [Smiling emoji]

Then, the editor posted a screenshot.

It was from when Yu Xia had made a vow during her break in the group: “This month, I’ll turn over a new leaf, go to bed early, wake up early, exercise three times a week, and stockpile three drafts, or else I’ll change my name to ‘Three Winters!’”

Lately, she had been sleeping early but still not waking up early, usually skipping breakfast and lunch together. She hadn’t exercised even once since recovering from a fever. As for the drafts, she hadn’t started yet…

Talk about a slap to the face…

Yu Xia blushed, weakly responding: [It’s only been a little over a week… I can still fix this…]

Slacking off was fun, but she couldn’t keep doing this or there’d be no chance of meeting her deadlines. Yu Xia finished the last panel of the second episode. When she looked up, it was already dark outside.

She put down her drawing board, stretched, and decided to go out for dinner.

She had dinner at a noodle shop near her apartment and then wandered to a nearby supermarket. As she picked up two boxes of yogurt and walked toward the cashier, she suddenly stopped when she saw a somewhat familiar figure in the seafood section.

The man was wearing a black suit, making him look even taller and more handsome. Yu Xia had never seen Lu Yanzhou in a suit before, so she wasn’t sure if it was him.

She hesitated, walking closer, planning to sneak a glance and leave if she realized she had mistaken him.

She glanced at the man processing fish, then casually looked up—only to meet his deep, dark eyes.

“…”

Maybe it was the cool, noble aura that Lu Yanzhou exuded in a suit, but when their eyes met, Yu Xia’s heart skipped a beat, and she momentarily forgot how to speak.

Lu Yanzhou didn’t say anything either. He looked at her for a few seconds before nonchalantly looking away.

As if he didn’t recognize her.

Yu Xia realized she had become somewhat desensitized to his indifference. Naturally, she walked over to him and said, “When did you get back?”

“Last night.”

“…”

Yu Xia was surprised: Then why didn’t you tell me? I promised to treat you to a meal when you come back.”

She was wearing contact lenses, and her amber-colored eyes gleamed in the light. Any emotion was clear and open in her gaze. Lu Yanzhou suddenly didn’t understand what she was trying to do. She said she would treat him, she was the one who was interested in him, but there was no follow-up action.

A whole week had passed, and she hadn’t even sent a message.

Her WeChat posts were at least once a day, and he noticed her cheerful replies in the comments. Two nights ago, he couldn’t resist and gave one of her posts a like.

He had thought that maybe she’d ask, “Are you back?” but it seemed like she didn’t see it. Or maybe she saw it and didn’t respond.

If it were any other girl, he might have thought she was playing hard to get. But now, it seemed like she just didn’t care at all.

Lu Yanzhou glanced down at her, his tone calm: “I forgot.”

“…”

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