Xu Er stomped his foot to turn the light back on and asked Song Ruichi again, “What’s wrong?”

Song Ruichi let go of Xu Er’s hand and shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He gently patted Xu Er’s head. “Go back inside.”

Xu Er took a step back toward the door. “Let me know when you get home.”

Song Ruichi: “Alright.”

After returning to his room, the first thing Xu Er did was revise his manuscript.

The second thing—he told Xu Chen that Song Ruichi had agreed to have a meal together.

Xu Chen: [Really? Really? Really?]

Xu Chen immediately called him. “How did that happen? What did you guys say?”

Xu Er gave a brief summary. “I asked for a signed photo. He said he didn’t have one, which was kind of awkward, and then he said we could grab a meal sometime.”

Xu Chen: “That’s great! That’s great!”

Xu Er let out an ‘ah’ and added, “He probably does have signed photos, though.”

“That’s great! That’s really great!” Xu Chen was overjoyed. “You’re my brother, my real brother!”

Xu Er: “I am your brother.”

As they spoke, a WeChat notification popped up—Song Ruichi had messaged to say he was home.

“Oh, right,” Xu Chen said from the other end. “Did you know that Song Ruichi is actually that—”

Xu Er was in the middle of replying to Song Ruichi’s message: [Got it. Good night!]

Song Ruichi: [Good night.]

“What?” Xu Er exited the chat window, only then realizing that Xu Chen had just said something. “What did you say?”

Xu Chen chuckled. “Haha, nothing, nothing.” Then, with curiosity, he asked, “So when are we having that meal?”

Xu Er: “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

Xu Chen: “He wouldn’t have just said it casually, right?”

“He probably wouldn’t,” Xu Er said, then added, “He definitely wouldn’t.”

Xu Chen: “Then when are you going to find out? I need to prepare.”

Xu Er: “What exactly are you preparing for?”

Xu Chen: “I haven’t had a haircut in ages. I need to fix my hair, get a new outfit—I haven’t bought new clothes in a while.”

Xu Er laughed. “Going all out, huh?”

Xu Chen: “Of course! It’s called respect.”

Xu Er: “Alright, alright.”

Speaking of clothes—

Xu Er asked, “Where do you buy your clothes?”

Xu Chen: “Online, obviously. Where else?”

Xu Er: “There is no ‘where else.'”

After hanging up, Xu Er went to the bathroom to take a shower.

When he came back, he noticed a new message from Song Ruichi.

It was a photo—a pair of earphones lying on the sofa at Song Ruichi’s place.

Xu Er immediately understood what Song Ruichi meant. Those were his earphones.

They must have slipped out of his pocket. No wonder he had felt like something was off when he got home.

Xu Er sent two words: [Ah, damn.]

Song Ruichi replied with the same: [Ah, damn.]

Xu Er: [I’ll see when I can come pick them up.]

Song Ruichi: [Do you use them often?]

Xu Er: [It’s fine, I just use them occasionally for music.]

Song Ruichi: [Alright.]

Then, Song Ruichi added: [So that ‘good night’ was fake?]

Xu Er let out a snort of laughter. [Didn’t you also say good night?]

Song Ruichi: [Turning the tables on me?]

Xu Er lay down on his bed. [What, am I not allowed to say good night at night?]

Song Ruichi: [And you say it so righteously?]

Xu Er: [Ah, damn.]

Xu Er: [What kind of ‘good person’ goes to bed at eleven?]

Song Ruichi: [Then what time does ‘Good Person Xu’ usually sleep?]

Xu Er: [A little after midnight, usually.]

Xu Er: [But if I have to rush a manuscript, I’ll stay up late.]

Xu Er: [Under normal circumstances, it’s just past midnight.]

Song Ruichi: [What about ‘Good Person Song’ then?]

Xu Er burst out laughing.

Song Ruichi was seriously amusing.

Xu Er copied and pasted the message back at him: [What about ‘Good Person Song’ then?]

Song Ruichi: [A bit later than you.]

Song Ruichi: [Around one o’clock.]

Then he added: [Now I’ve got Mr. Xu’s nighttime schedule.]

Xu Er: [I’ve also got Mr. Song’s nighttime schedule.]

Song Ruichi: [Alright, alright.]

See—

Xu Er was pretty amusing too.

He had originally meant to type “Now I’ve got Mr. Song’s nighttime schedule,” but instead of writing it out himself, he lazily copied the message from Song Ruichi and just changed two words. After doing so, he realized it actually sounded even more fitting.

Amusing, wasn’t it?

After all, who wasn’t an interesting person in their own right?

Xu Er: [My little brother is overjoyed knowing he’s about to get a signed photo of Song Ruichi.]

Song Ruichi: [It’s my honor.]

Song Ruichi: [I’ll have to pick a good photo.]

Xu Er: [Mr. Song, you must be joking.]

Xu Er: [Aren’t you practically a walking magazine cover?]

Song Ruichi: [Sweet talker, aren’t you?]

Xu Er: [Just stating the truth.]

Xu Er: [By the way, my little brother asked when we’re having that meal.]

It seemed like Song Ruichi thought for a moment before replying: [Are you free Saturday night?]

Xu Er glanced at the time—it was only Monday.

Xu Er: [Hold on, let me check.]

He then forwarded the conversation about Xu Chen to Xu Chen.

Xu Chen: [!!!!!!! I’m free, I’m free, I’m free!]

Xu Er returned to Song Ruichi’s chat window: [We’re free.]

Song Ruichi: [Great.]

After exiting the chat with Song Ruichi, Xu Er went to the company group chat.

Just a little gossip—two department heads had gotten into an argument that evening. Before Xu Er went to shower, they were still in the group chat, posting lengthy passive-aggressive messages.

By the time Xu Er checked the group chat, the argument had already died down. He scrolled back a bit and realized that the leader had shown up and helped mediate the fight.

Xu Er, aside from enjoying things that are fun, also liked a bit of gossip.

On the surface, he wore a “don’t bother me, I’m too busy for you” face, but secretly, he was always curious about every bit of drama and intrigue going on around him.

He was fascinated by the sheer number of different people on Earth—how human beings, so varied, could create so many different sparks when they collided.

Tonight’s argument started over something trivial. The supervisor from Department A had asked a junior from Department B to run an errand—nothing more. But because the two supervisors already had unresolved tensions, that simple incident escalated into an argument.

One supervisor said, “Why are you using people from our department? Don’t you have anyone in yours?” The other replied, “It’s not a big deal, why be so petty?” And with that as the starting point, the argument spiraled into a six-month-long history of grudges, with drama building on drama, and it lasted well into the night.

I have to admit, both supervisors were excellent with their words. The argument wasn’t too ugly, just a lot of polite sarcasm, with subtle digs and passive-aggressive jabs. It was quite a spectacle.

After going through the 99+ messages in the group, the clock had struck midnight.

Xu Er started his pre-bedtime routine.

He opened Weibo and, without really thinking, started scrolling through the feed. But suddenly, something popped into his mind.

So, Xu Er opened the search bar and typed in “Song Ruichi.”

Nothing.

Just as he was about to give up, something came to mind.

He then opened Xu Chen’s Weibo.

Sure enough, among the more than 300 people Xu Chen followed, he found Song Ruichi.

The Weibo account was named “Liao Zhi Yi Shi” (which could be interpreted as “A Room of Completion”), and the profile picture was the logo of his studio. If Xu Er hadn’t known about Song Ruichi’s studio, he would have easily overlooked it.

Xu Er clicked into the profile.

The first few posts were pretty uninteresting, so Xu Er immediately opened the photo albums.

The albums were much more engaging, filled with many behind-the-scenes photos of Song Ruichi at work.

Xu Er now understood where all those photos Xu Chen had were coming from.

For the rest of his “sleep preparation” time, Xu Er found himself completely immersed in Song Ruichi’s photo albums.

There were pictures of him doing wood carving, painting, and attending banquets.

As Xu Er scrolled, he stopped at a photo of Song Ruichi carving wood and zoomed in.

In the photo, Song Ruichi was focused on his work, his brows furrowed in concentration. Xu Er also noticed a callus on the place where he was holding the carving knife.

His nails were trimmed short, round…

As Xu Er was examining the details, suddenly, a message popped up on the screen.

Well, well. The message was from Song Ruichi.

Xu Er felt like he had been caught in the act. In that instant, a wave of heat surged from the top of his head down through his entire body.

It was so warm.

Song Ruichi’s message contained only two words:

[Good night.]

Xu Er quickly minimized the photo, but before closing Weibo, he saved the image.

Only then did he switch to WeChat.

Xu Er: [Good night.]

Haha, the one hundredth “good night” of the day.

Song Ruichi: [Real good night or fake good night?]

Xu Er: [Real good night, I’m going to sleep now.]

Xu Er: [But you’re giving a fake good night.]

Song Ruichi: [I’ll be real soon too.]

Song Ruichi: [Alright, sleep well.]

Xu Er: [Good night.]

As soon as Xu Er decided to sleep, he set his phone down and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Song Ruichi was about to put his phone away when a notification popped up on his Weibo.

At this moment, he was logged into his studio’s official Weibo account. Normally, he wouldn’t pay attention to such notifications, but his eyes caught something.

“Xu Xiao’er liked your post.“

Song Ruichi followed the notification and opened the post, seeing that it was from last year—a candid shot of him doing wood carving.

Xu Xiao’er.

Song Ruichi clicked into this Xu Xiao’er’s Weibo.

There was no doubt about it—it was Xu Er. The first post on the profile was his graduation photo from graduate school.

Song Ruichi smiled.

Xu Xiao’er hadn’t followed him, but had liked the post.

Xu Xiao’er’s second post was an email confirming his new job, with the caption, “Soon I’ll be a full-time worker.”

There were over ten comments, all saying the same thing: “Chong chong chong!”

Xu Xiao’er replied to each one with the same message: “Chong chong chong!”

Song Ruichi clicked through each commenter’s profile, and one named “Don’t Block My Path” followed the studio’s official account.

He had found Xu Er’s younger brother.

Before he could continue browsing Weibo, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed “Shi Ziyi.”

Song Ruichi exited the brother’s Weibo profile and answered the call.

“Not sleeping?” The voice on the other end was quiet.

Song Ruichi: “What’s up?”

Shi Ziyi: “One person or two?”

Song Ruichi immediately understood the intent behind the question: “One.”

Shi Ziyi paused for a moment: “Ah…”

Shi Ziyi: “I heard the little handsome guy slept at your place last night.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud voice exploded from the background on the other end: “You could just say my name, you know!”

Shi Ziyi chuckled: “I heard you two went on a date tonight?”

Song Ruichi: “What do you want to ask?”

“Oh, we’re just curious,” Shi Ziyi started teasing: “Huh? Song, Song Song, Song Song Song.”

Song Ruichi: “Don’t call me that.”

Shi Ziyi playfully gasped: “Never been in a relationship before, huh?”

Song Ruichi laughed: “Go away.”

Shi Ziyi also laughed: “It’s just, you’re different, that’s all.”

Song Ruichi: “How am I different?”

Shi Ziyi: “You just are. So, what’s going on now?”

Song Ruichi: “Nothing’s going on.”

Shi Ziyi clicked his tongue. “Don’t just stay silent like that. We’re all your strong support. If something’s bothering you, share it in the group, and we’ll help you come up with ideas.”

Song Ruichi replied, “I won’t.”

Shi Ziyi urged, “Don’t be like that.”

Song Ruichi responded, “Are you all just here to watch the show, or are you actually giving advice?”

Shi Ziyi laughed. “How can you think we’re that bad? We care about you, don’t you know how sincere we are?”

Song Ruichi replied, “Alright, alright.”

Shi Ziyi frowned. “Stop with the sarcastic attitude.”

As soon as Shi Ziyi finished speaking, he received a notification on his phone.

Song Ruichi had sent a message in the group he mentioned.

Shi Ziyi opened it and saw a photo of a bouquet of flowers.

“What’s this?” Shi Ziyi asked, then immediately understood. “He sent them?”

Song Ruichi replied, “Mm.”

Shi Ziyi quickly mimicked, “Alright, alright.”

Song Ruichi smiled. “Anything else?”

Shi Ziyi teased, “What’s the occasion, sending you flowers?”

Song Ruichi answered, “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know,” Shi Ziyi repeated in a sarcastic tone, then asked, “By the way, how far have you two gone?”

A scene suddenly flashed in Song Ruichi’s mind—one of standing in front of someone’s door.

Song Ruichi’s smile faded. “It’s over.”

Shi Ziyi was surprised. “Hey, don’t…”

Beep…