Qi Yu picked up the mosquito repellent, locked the doors and windows tightly to ensure no mosquitoes could fly in during the night.

She sat on the sofa and poured a generous amount of repellent into her palm. The mosquito bites on her leg were red and itchy, and she had accidentally scratched them, breaking the skin. Qi Yu closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and quickly but evenly applied the repellent to her leg. It stung, but it stopped the itching.

After washing her hands, she continued to dry her hair. Just as it was almost dry, she turned off the hairdryer, combed her hair, and climbed into bed.

She stacked two pillows and found a comfortable position to watch TV.

A variety show she liked was on, and Qi Yu laughed until tears came to her eyes. She grabbed a tissue, sat up, and took a sip of water. Suddenly, the variety show on the TV screen switched to an unnamed movie, but a few seconds later, the variety show was back.

Just as Qi Yu was about to continue watching, it switched again.

The screen flickered back and forth several times, and Qi Yu, sitting on the bed, shouted into the air, “Who is this? You’re casting your screen to my TV!”

By now, Qi Yu had lost all interest in watching TV.

After several more screen switches, Qi Yu realized it was a sci-fi horror foreign film. She watched as her TV flickered between the variety show and the movie, creating an eerie and awkward atmosphere, like a monkey show. Qi Yu was so annoyed she laughed out loud. Perhaps the person casting the screen also gave up trying to figure it out and just left the movie on.

Qi Yu found herself getting into the movie that wasn’t hers to watch. Fortunately, she had a strong heart, or she would have been scared to death by the sudden screen changes.

She hadn’t watched a horror movie alone in a long time; usually, she would drag her timid friend Yu Zhi to watch with her and scare her for fun. But now, with Yu Zhi not around, she found it boring to watch alone.

Suddenly, she thought of someone. Without any hesitation, she sent a message asking if he was asleep.

Xu Jingqian: No.

Qi Yu was about to type, “Do you want to watch a movie?” but felt it was too forward. She deleted it and typed instead: “There’s something wrong with the TV in my room. Can you come take a look?”

Xu Jingqian: Sure.

He replied so straightforwardly, like an AI robot, not willing to say an extra word. But Qi Yu remembered that he wasn’t like this when they were face to face.

As she was thinking this, Xu Jingqian arrived in less than two minutes.

He was about to knock on the door but noticed it was slightly ajar. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before deciding to knock anyway.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting bitten by mosquitoes?” he asked, closing the door properly.

Qi Yu, leaning against the pillow at the head of the bed, shook her head. “I just opened it, and you came right away.”

The TV faced the bed, and Xu Jingqian stood at the foot of the bed, his tall figure clad in a thin, black-gray silk pajama top. The buttons at the collar were undone, revealing a glimpse of his chest muscles from Qi Yu’s angle.

She thought Xu Jingqian must have a good physique and imagined it would be even better to see it in person.

Qi Yu’s mind wandered again.

She quickly shifted her gaze back to the TV, pretending nothing had happened. “I was watching a variety show, and suddenly it switched to this. I tried to exit, but it came back again.”

“It might be another guest accidentally casting their screen to yours,” Xu Jingqian explained. “Where’s the remote? I’ll try to switch it back for you.”

Just as he finished speaking, a scream echoed from the TV, hinting at something bloody. Xu Jingqian turned around, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “Why is it a horror movie? Did it scare you just now?”

His voice was magnetic and tinged with concern.

Qi Yu’s heart raced. She stared at Xu Jingqian, looking pitiful, as if truly scared. She nodded slowly, “Yeah, a little.”

The remote was on the bedside table, held by his bony fingers. As he was about to turn off the TV, his shirt was tugged from the side.

Following the direction, Xu Jingqian looked at Qi Yu, her long hair cascading down both sides. She looked up at him, her body leaning slightly forward. Her loose collar slipped to one side as she raised her arm, revealing a glimpse of her curves. Xu Jingqian couldn’t help but notice her full figure.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Qi Yu let go of him, retreating to her original position. She bit her lip, looking timid. “But I think this movie might be good. I just don’t dare to watch it alone…”

Her words trailed off, waiting for Xu Jingqian to take the initiative.

But all she got was a cold response: “And then what?”

—