He no longer looked at Yan Chen and returned to 1201. Thunder rumbled outside the window, and he couldn’t fall asleep again.

He got up early to tidy up the apartment, intending to bring the cat over, but the next door remained silent. He waited until evening before knocking on the door.

After a long time, footsteps sounded from inside the door, and it opened. Yan Chen, dressed in casual clothes, leaned against the side cabinet near the entrance, his hair quite messy, as if he had just crawled out of bed.

“Sorry to disturb,” An Yi said, “I’m here to pick up Qiuqiu and pack its things.”

Yan Chen sounded a bit nasal, “In such a hurry to move? My place is empty, and the windows are sealed. You can come over every day to feed it.”

“Not convenient.”

An Yi entered the room, and Yan Chen helped him move the cat food, litter, and other items out of the cabinet.

The space was spacious enough, but with two adult men standing together, it felt cramped and crowded.

Yan Chen’s hot breath made An Yi’s whole body prickle with sweat, and his ears turned crimson. He dragged an unopened box of cat food out of the cabinet and said, “You should go out. I can handle this myself.”

“With so much stuff, how long will it take you to do it alone?”

Yan Chen went to take the box from his hand, and inadvertently touched An Yi’s hand at the bottom of the box.

An Yi’s chest felt like it was lightly scratched by a cat’s claw.

He frowned and suddenly raised his hand to quickly touch Yan Chen’s forehead with the back of his hand.

It was hot.

“How long have you had a fever?” he asked, “Have you taken any medicine?”

Yan Chen was still dazed by the gentle touch, and seeing the displeasure in An Yi’s eyes, he slowly shook his head, “Not yet.”

An Yi noticed that the instant noodles in the cabinet were already gone, so he asked Yan Chen again, “What about food?”

Yan Chen shook his head again.

An Yi’s worry surged up first—this was an ingrained reaction he had developed after loving Yan Chen for five years, and he still couldn’t get rid of it. But then he used sarcasm to cover up this bit of sorrow that shouldn’t exist. He scolded with a red face, “What have you been doing all day? You’re so grown-up, yet you don’t know to take medicine or eat when you’re sick. You don’t even have the most basic self-care ability. I advise you to go home and be the young master you’ve always been!”

He had always been gentle and warm. Even when reprimanding someone, his expression and tone were more helpless than angry.

Yan Chen felt a swelling ache in his heart from listening, and even wanted An Yi to scold him a little more.

But An Yi didn’t say another word. He insisted on pushing Yan Chen aside, silently packing his things, moving and listing them, and finally calculating the total according to online prices, handing it to Yan Chen.

“Check it,” An Yi said softly, “If there’s no problem, I’ll transfer it to you.”

Yan Chen took the list, and tears began to well up in his bloodshot eyes. “Do you have to calculate everything with me like this?”

“It’s better to be clear,” An Yi said softly, “Neither of us owes the other.”

Yan Chen’s temples throbbed painfully. He took a deep breath and looked at An Yi with red eyes, “Alright then, add me on WeChat, and you can transfer it to me.”

“…No need, just open your payment QR code.”

“I don’t have that thing,” Yan Chen stared at him forcefully, “Add me on WeChat.”

An Yi refused to comply no matter what. The two couldn’t reach an agreement, and in the end, An Yi picked up the cat and left without a word.

Feeling dizzy and stuffy, Yan Chen stood in the empty room, his face dark, and kicked the leg of the chair.

He returned to the bed in the bedroom, staring at the ceiling blankly. After a moment, he sat up, picked up the laptop lying on the side, and continued to write his research report with his eyes tinged with bitterness.

Later, the door was knocked, and Yan Chen swiftly closed the laptop and walked to the living room. But upon opening the door, it wasn’t An Yi standing outside but a delivery person.

Yan Chen frowned. He hadn’t ordered delivery, but the order clearly had his room number, 1202.

In the package were his favorite lotus seed porridge, two light home-cooked dishes, vegetable pancakes, and another separate item.

In the separate small plastic bag was a box of fever-reducing medicine.

Yan Chen saw a note on the order: “Allergic to mushrooms, please do not put mushrooms in the porridge.”

He lifted the bowl cover, and indeed, there wasn’t a single mushroom bit in the delicate and soft porridge.

Leaning on the table, he silently finished the whole bowl of porridge. When he set the bowl down, his eyes, filled with moisture, became even redder than before.

After the fever subsided, Yan Chen didn’t rest much. He wrote a preliminary feasibility research report in a hurry.

He raced against time, shuttling between Xichuan and Guangzhou, using his connections in the entertainment industry to meet with several cultural companies, investment firms, auction houses, and heads of art schools.

Only by quickly advancing this project could he have the confidence to stand in front of An Yi and compete with Xie Nancang. He wanted to provide An Yi with a vast platform to showcase his talents.

Yan Chen’s vigorous actions and the wide scope of his endeavors quickly spread the news to the old mansion of the Yan family.

“Nonsense,” Yan Chengwei was almost fuming with anger at his youngest son. “Call him back quickly, tell him to stop causing trouble outside for me.”

Yan Heng, holding a feasibility report on an art bank passed on by a friend, objectively commented, “Actually, the project is good. Leveraging government and cultural institutions, proper management could greatly enhance the brand image of the Yan family.”

Yan Chengwei didn’t buy it. “The head determines the brain. His lower body is hotter than his brain right now. What can he accomplish?”

“Even if it’s hot, it can’t exceed 40 degrees,” Yan Chen laughed softly, earning a disdainful eye roll from her father.

Yan Chen didn’t mind. Playing with her phone, she leisurely said, “Just a few tens of millions. Let him mess around. If he messes up, my brother can clean up after him.”

Yan Heng: “…”

After much discussion, the two younger generations almost wore out their mouths, but finally managed to temporarily dispel Yan Chengwei’s idea of bringing Yan Chen back home.

Yan Chen was completely unaware of these discussions. He juggled various meetings, negotiations, and banquets every day, fundraising, initiating projects, and forming teams.

He was like a wound-up machine, pushed forward by increasingly thick documents and tighter schedules. And whenever his nerves relaxed a bit, he would be crushed by the suffocating longing.

When he couldn’t bear it anymore, he took a break and returned to Jin Hai.

Standing in front of the door of 1201, Yan Chen’s heart pounded.

It had been over half a month since they last met. At that time, they parted ways over whether or not to exchange contact information. Yan Chen didn’t know if An Yi was still angry about it.

He knocked on the door.

After a moment, the door opened.

Standing behind the door was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses and home clothes.

“Who are you looking for?”

Yan Chen raised his eyes to confirm the door number, and his handsome brows furrowed. “Who are you? Where’s An Yi who lives here?”

“I don’t know,” the woman said, “I moved in last week.”

Yan Chen felt like he had been struck by lightning, his hands and feet freezing cold.

He stiffly returned to the next door and saw a spare key on the side cabinet. Under the key was a thick envelope.

The handwriting on the envelope was clear and forceful, saying: “Total of 4875 yuan, there’s 5000 here. Take care of yourselves, and let’s never see each other again.”

Yan Chen’s eyes were filled with disbelief. He went to pick up the envelope, but his frozen fingers trembled and couldn’t lift it.

He angrily slammed his hand against the cabinet door, then leaned weakly against it, his forehead resting on the cold surface of the cabinet, his shoulders trembling as he lowered his head.

Suddenly, he let out a hysterical low roar, followed by a sudden collapse to his knees, leaning against the shoe cabinet, emitting low, beast-like sobs.

An Yi took the cat and went directly to Ling’an with Xie Nancang.

He purchased cat food and litter filled the entire trunk, prompting Xie Nancang to joke, “Are you planning to open a cat café? You bought so much stuff.”

An Yi absentmindedly smiled, stroking the back of Qiuqiu, squinting slightly as he looked out the car window. The autumn sun hung high in the rapidly retreating forest, forming a pale white spot of light.

Upon arriving home, Xie Fei Nian was leisurely sunbathing and dozing off on a lounge chair in the yard.

“Grandpa, I passed the qualification exam.”

An Yi reported his results, but Xie Fei Nian didn’t care about the piece of paper. However, hearing that An Yi had spent a summer intensively studying sculpture and sketching in Jin Hai, Xie Fei Nian immediately asked him to use the clay at home to make a squirrel, showing both form and spirit, which indeed showed a lot of progress.

“Not bad, not bad. This training course wasn’t in vain.”

Xie Fei Nian was quite satisfied.

No one would dislike having a talented and diligent student.

“You’ve come back just in time,” Xie Fei Nian smiled as he sat back in the rocking chair, “There’s a cultural exchange exhibition in Jin Hai, and they want me to make a porcelain statue of Guanyin for the exhibition. An An, you stay behind to assist me.”

An Yi’s face immediately brightened. “Can I really?”

“Why would I lie to you,” Xie Fei Nian closed his eyes, using the fan to shield his face from the sunlight, “I’ve made hundreds of Guanyin statues in my life. It’s time to give young people like you a chance.”

Excited yet quickly becoming anxious, An Yi said, “But I’m afraid I won’t do it well.”

“Just assist, I’m not asking you to do the whole thing. The main thing is to learn,” Xie Fei Nian waved his hand, “Alright, alright, I’ll take a nap. You and Nancang prepare dinner, make the sweet and sour fish like last time.”

An Yi nodded in agreement, carrying the cat as he entered the house with Xie Nancang.

The house was filled with ceramic clay sculptures. An Yi was afraid that Qiuqiu would mischievously damage things, so he rented a house next door. The two residences were close to each other, with An Yi spending his days making pottery and eating at Xie’s house, then returning home at night to play with the cat and sleep.

The delivery deadline for the exchange exhibition was after New Year’s Day, giving him over a month to study.

From the initial completion of the clay sculpture draft to pouring the mold, mixing the clay, decorating the embryo, and finally firing it in the kiln, Xie Fei Nian taught him step by step. An Yi gained a lot, but he was never satisfied with it.

Every day when he returned to his yard, he would use clay to replicate the statue of the White Tara that Xie Fei Nian had fired before.

This daily life of fulfillment and focus gradually improved his mental state. By New Year’s Day, he had basically bid farewell to insomnia, and every night he would lie in bed hugging Qiuqiu, soon falling asleep peacefully.

Every time Xie Nancang came to see him from Jin Hai, he was amazed by his changes.

At the beginning of the new year, the long-unseen ceramic master Xie Fei Nian attended the Jin Hai International Traditional Culture Exchange Exhibition and officially introduced An Yi, his proud student, to ceramic merchants and friends in the industry.

An Yi, dressed in a white Tang suit, stood tall and handsome, exuding a noble temperament, winning the favor of the local media. They even specially released a photo of him viewing the exhibition as one of the illustrations for the press release on the website.

Subsequently, this report was captured by a member of the preliminary project team of the Art Bank and included in the PPT, presented on the screen at the stage project research and advancement meeting.

“President Yan?”

The team member nervously looked at the man behind the long table, who was staring intently at the projector, and cautiously asked, “Is there a problem?”

Yan Chen’s brow twitched slightly, retracting his gaze. “Continue.”

He remained calm on the surface, but beneath the table, one hand had already dug into his palm, causing it to bleed.