Chapter 66

It’s Time You Experienced the Bittersweet of Love

Once you get busy, time flies by like a joke. Hu Xiu, buried in a pile of files, looked up again to find her calendar already needing to be flipped to March.

She sat at her desk, pondering: shouldn’t the days without Diao Zhiyu feel endless? 

But the reality was quite the opposite. On the fourth day of the new year, she was evicted by her landlord. Within three days, she found a new place in the same neighborhood, on the top floor, with rent costing 200 yuan more per month—a hassle both physically and financially. She spent her weekends confined to the interpretation booth, slogged up and down the administrative building, and worked four weekends straight. By the end of the month, she had earned 80,000 yuan combining her salary and side gigs. She heard more income notifications than messages from Diao Zhiyu.

Who thinks about love when money is rolling in? Hu Xiu stared at her bank account balance. On weekends, she no longer wanted to date—no strolling around, eating out, watching movies, or playing escape rooms. What could be more practical than cold, hard cash?

Her sudden surge in monthly income came from an unexpected knack for persuasive speech. Once a quiet worker who followed orders from the vice dean, Hu Xiu took the opportunity to play the sympathy card at a New Year gathering. Returning from the holiday, she realized she was now a “virtual” 28 years old.

That dinner wasn’t just with the vice dean but also with leaders from the life sciences department at Danxia University. While discussing New Year academic exchange plans, Hu Xiu was abruptly pulled into the spotlight.

Faced with professional jargon, she was utterly overwhelmed, gritting her teeth as she crammed materials into her brain. Her newfound professional poise impressed even herself.

Occasionally, a senior colleague would complain about work during meetings, but it seemed the leaders didn’t hear a thing. Over time, Hu Xiu realized that in their eyes, her ability to get things done was genuinely commendable, and her miserable circumstances were genuinely pitiful. Her greatest strength, however, was her ability to refrain from expressing emotions easily.

So, when she did occasionally show a bit of vulnerability, the results were phenomenal—it was all about timing.

Despite not uploading any new videos to Bilibili for a whole month, her followers grew to 4,000.

In addition to praise for her, there were compliments for the editing work. Yet her editor had vanished into remote mountains and small towns, going days or even weeks without touching a phone, and didn’t even have a single photo to share, for the sake of information security.

Out of respect for the actor, Hu Xiu refrained from messaging him, wanting him to fully immerse himself in his role as a young lover.

In March, Shanghai was shrouded in misty rain. Hu Xiu, unsure how to spend the money she had earned, spent her lunch break seriously browsing through a fashion blogger’s weekly outfits, slowly realizing she was a fashion black hole and determined to improve her style.

She wandered around a fast fashion store, resisting the cheap fabrics and poor stitching, but after browsing a few more stores, she ended up back at the familiar Yafu Qing Shan, where she often bought sets. However, once she tried them on, she felt like a joke, resembling a home tutor, so she rushed back to the fitting room to change back into her own clothes.

Perhaps she had gone to the wrong shopping mall? After leaving the subway station without an umbrella, she headed towards REGARD. Zhao Xiaorou had been waiting there for a while, as they hadn’t seen each other since the New Year. Zhao Xiaorou sat at a table in the back, with a light set up for selfies, watching Super Junior’s variety show while idly taking photos.

At her feet was a makeup bag given to her by the product selection team, a gift from Hu Xiu after she had reviewed it.

It was almost brand new, having only been used once, but Hu Xiu didn’t really care much about makeup, and she was inevitably teased by Zhao Xiaorou.

“You’re here...” Zhao Xiaorou pointed at the iPad showing Lee Donghae: “I’m catching up on their Weekly Idol episodes. I haven’t watched it in so long. Lee Donghae hasn’t changed at all. His hairline hasn’t receded. What’s this about him being an immortal? But Choi Siwon’s face is getting longer.”

The joy of leisure seemed to still be watching Korean variety shows. Hu Xiu leaned in to take a quick look: “This guy really hasn’t aged.”

“Yeah, Taehyung has puffed up, and Jungkook’s face is fuller, but a 15-year-old idol is still living like a ginseng root.”

Lee Ai was standing at the bar: “The tone of your conversation makes it sound like you were his ex-wife.”

“What’s the difference? Back in the day, we’d buy his underwear and wait at the airport, hoping that next time he’d wear it and show a bit of it under his jeans.”

“How do you identify if it’s something you gave him, among all the items he’s been sent?”

“We’d stitch our names on it. I embroidered my name in Korean. He never wore it. I thought he’d be happy to receive it. Looking back, he probably thought I was a creep.”

Zhao Xiaorou stuffed a piece of Black Forest cake into her mouth: “When will Diao Zhiyu be back? My escape room needs people, and we need him to come back and save the day. I can’t find any good-looking guys to hire. Maybe they just don’t like playing ghosts?”

“He’ll still be away for at least two weeks. He said when he gets back, he wants to act in a play or immersive theater, not just be a pure NPC anymore.”

“Still too young. Help me manage the escape room, I’ll definitely pay him well. He’s popular, and what’s the problem with being an NPC? Acting is all the same. You can’t make money with lofty ideals.”

“Every actor has some ideals. As for money, I can earn enough to support him. No need to do things we don’t like just to make a living.”

“Oh my god, Hu Xiu, how much money have you made to dare support a man?”

“Not much, but I made 80,000 this month...”

“Did you kill someone or commit arson?”

“I’m an interpreter. One thousand per session, and I did eight sessions.”

The applause was loud. Zhao Xiaorou said, “Not bad, your wings are really growing now.”

“My senior’s fee is higher. Sometimes for a six-hour session, she can charge 30,000... I guess I’m just more cost-effective.

But after eight sessions in a row, the materials almost buried me, and I still have to work. This month has really been an extreme sport.”

“Don’t try to be cute just because you got a good deal. You should consider how many people are still struggling below the poverty line.

Ma Liang works tirelessly in my escape room, cleaning the props until they’re spotless, and he doesn’t even want a salary. He just wants to sleep on my couch at night. So many times, I’ve felt bad and wanted to take him home to sleep in the guest room.

During the day, I’d ask him to take a contract to the escape room, and at night, he’d be the first to come to my house. I’d be in my bedroom putting on makeup, and by the time I came out, every place I could see would be cleaned up, and the dishes washed. He’s so diligent, it’s a bit scary.

He may not have a great education, but he makes up for it with hard work. A vocational school diploma isn’t something to be ashamed of.”

“Vocational school?”

“Yeah, I heard he didn’t finish his college degree and started working. I don’t know if he dropped out or what.

But his effort gave me a filter. At first, I thought he was a bit greasy, but now I just think he didn’t get much education, is a bit simple, and very sincere. Diao Zhiyu didn’t think this friend was worth making?”

“Before, he only talked about sleeping on the couch and staying at various women’s homes. His love life seems pretty good, but he didn’t mention much else.”

“What is this, a Korean drama plot? Did you think he was like a little dog picked up in the rain?” Zhao Xiaorou laughed unintentionally.

Hu Xiu glanced at Li Ai: “You don’t like him, do you?”

“What are you talking about? I just feel sorry for him, and can we not measure everything through romance? I’m just a sister helping out with justice, got it?”

Zhao Xiaorou looked at her phone and frowned: “Which brand gave me 600,000? I haven’t even seen the contract, and who’s the signer?” She looked up in surprise: “Li Ai, what’s going on?”

“I settled it, the settlement fee came through, so I’m paying back the rent for the coffee shop.”

After a few seconds of shock, Zhao Xiaorou regained her composure: “Didn’t we agree that I would join the partnership?”

“Business is business. If you’re joining, it has to be clear. Sign the contract first,” Li Ai explained with a smile. “Don’t you hate when things don’t have clear responsibilities and boundaries?”

However, Zhao Xiaorou heard this differently: “You’re pushing me away, fine.”

After that, she refused to engage with Li Ai and seriously put on her headphones to watch a variety show. Li Ai went into the kitchen to cook noodles, and Hu Xiu awkwardly followed him: “As long as you set boundaries with her, she’ll get angry.”

“If it’s for a meal or a month’s rent, I can find another way to reciprocate her. But 600,000 is no small amount. We’ve been friends, it needs to be settled,” Li Ai said, the sound of the metal pot clanking on the induction cooker showing his displeasure.

After cooking the noodles, Hu Xiu brought them to the table. Li Ai grabbed a basketball and left, not even taking his crutch, and pulled down the iron gate behind him.

Zhao Xiaorou didn’t even eat, pointing angrily at the iron gate: “Now that your leg is better and you can play basketball without the crutch, it seems like paying me back is all it takes for a new life. From the beginning to the end, I’ve never been considered.”

“Why are you so angry with Li Ai? 600,000 isn’t easy for him either, he has his pride as a man.”

“I don’t care about the money. How many influencers don’t have 600,000?” The coffee shop was empty except for the two of them, and the variety show was playing loudly. “I was planning to record a show here, but since I don’t have shares in this, I’m going home.”

For a rare night off, Hu Xiu headed to the basketball court. Not only Li Ai, but also two men wearing baseball caps, probably the store owners from the neighboring clothing shop and Li Ai’s old friends—there was no one else in the store, and Li Ai occasionally invited friends.

He wore compression socks and a short-sleeve shirt, panting heavily. His forehead was sweaty, and though he hadn’t mentioned how tough his rehabilitation had been, his basketball moves were clearly affected by a lack of stamina. He seemed to be playing with emotion.

Hu Xiu sat nearby, browsing a shopping website on her phone, enjoying the rare relaxation. She noticed when Li Ai sat down and handed her water—no one could compare to Li Ai when it came to thoughtfulness.

“I thought you’d pick a good day to have a meal with Zhao Xiaorou and talk about the reconciliation. But instead, you got jealous while talking about Ma Liang, and it came out like that—it was too much of a loss—your energy should be used more wisely.”

“I transferred the money a long time ago, she just saw it now. I posted about the settlement on my social media that day, and she saw it and even liked it. It’s not that she didn’t know, she’s just pretending to be clueless,” Li Ai said.

“Breaking through this barrier between you two is really hard,” Hu Xiu remarked.

“She’s competing with me, trying to make me owe her, always keeping me under her thumb. The way she uses her superior affection for me to make me angry—she’s done well, I really am angry,” Li Ai replied.

Hu Xiu rarely saw such obvious emotional fluctuations from Li Ai. He finished his water, crumpled the bottle, and tossed it into the trash can with precision, like a dart thrower. “In her eyes, everyone else has their cute points or something special, but everything I do is wrong.”

“It’s not that bad,” Hu Xiu thought. It was just that the situation with Xu Meng was awkward, but it couldn’t be said out loud.

She took a moment and said, “Find a chance to talk things through with her. The timing has always been wrong, but that doesn’t mean there’s no feeling between you two.”

“You think in this situation, who would give in first? Even if I kneel, she’d just press me to the ground,” Li Ai said, frustration clear in his voice.

Hu Xiu shook her head inside. She had a feeling that neither side would give in, and it was time for these two to experience the hardships of love.

Later, Hu Xiu went to Zhao Xiaorou’s escape room for the last game. She sat by the door, looking for opportunities, and saw Ma Liang waiting on the couch, waiting to close the shop.

Ma Liang had a buzz cut and was wearing a grey GAP hoodie. He didn’t look like someone who graduated from a vocational school.

When a customer came in, he went over to offer water. His phone was on the couch, showing his TikTok personal page, filled with images of women with large breasts and faces from cosmetic surgery. Hu Xiu felt a bit dizzy. She wanted to turn off the screen, but, unfortunately, she accidentally tapped on one of them—a woman in black stockings dancing, smiling at the camera, with “Saying goodbye” playing as background music. It was extremely tacky.

Hu Xiu stood up and went to the door to get some fresh air. The taste of every like was astonishingly consistent. It seemed that he wasn’t following Zhao Xiaorou anymore.

This wasn’t meant to belittle Zhao Xiaorou.

During the break between scenes, some players from the previous session came out to chat with the actors and take photos.

A pure-blooded man came out, politely smiling at each player. When he saw Hu Xiu, his eyes lit up: “It’s you? Do you remember me?”

Hu Xiu thought for a while: “You’re the actor who played Qin Xiao Yi before?”

“Yes, you actually remember me!” His excitement was palpable. “I quit my job later, but I asked my colleagues about you. Wang Wei told me you often watch Snowpiercer, but I didn’t have your contact info. It’s such a coincidence to run into you here.”

“What are you doing here?”

“A former colleague introduced me. He was also an actor in Qin Xiao Yi and said a friend’s escape room needed an actor to help with the plot. So, I came over.”

“It’s definitely more relaxed here. Snowpiercer had six shows a day, playing the lead role for months, which really took a toll. That colleague of mine lasted almost a year, and then he left to film a movie.”

He was talking about Diao Zhi Yu. Hu Xiu pretended not to know: “So you’ve been moving between escape rooms and murder mystery games?”

“Yeah, 404, Kuncheyeon, Hongfu Haunting, 007... the acting demands aren’t that high, though 007 is a bit tougher.”

“But compared to the instability of acting, this full-time job is more secure, with five social insurances and a housing fund. Acting is just too unstable.”

A few words revealed the bitterness. Hu Xiu realized she didn’t have the position to judge him. His mixed-race features were very striking, with a perfect jawline, and he resembled Feng Xiaoyue. Despite this, he didn’t dream of becoming an actor.

Diao Zhi Yu had once said that every year, dozens of students in the drama department at a top school enter with dreams of stardom, but by the time they graduate, most have lost those dreams, focusing instead on more practical livelihoods.

“I really want to get to know you.” The man in front of her, resembling Feng Xiaoyue, took out his phone. “I’m Fang Qingxian.”

“Hu Xiu...”

“I know. I asked Wang Wei about your name. That’s all I know, but running into you here really feels like fate.”

Fang Qingxian held his phone, his voice trembling, completely losing the composure he had during the photo op earlier: “So, will I get to see you in the last show tonight?”

“Maybe, it depends on whether I can get a spot,” Hu Xiu glanced at her phone. “Right now, it seems difficult.”

“If you came by yourself, does that mean... you’re still single?”

His handsome face was pure, like a blank sheet of paper. Hu Xiu looked at his tentative gaze, recalling the three hours they had spent together during Snowpiercer—he was handsome, strong, caring for her, and she still couldn’t forget him.

Murder mystery games were fleeting encounters, and being banned from contact meant there might never be a chance to meet again. The relationship between players and actors was inherently fragile.

Before she could answer, Diao Zhi Yu sent a message: “Wrap-up...” The synchrony was almost like checking in.

Hu Xiu smiled and answered Fang Qingxian, “The person who introduced you here, Diao Zhi Yu, is my boyfriend.”

The disappointment in his eyes was as fleeting as fireworks disappearing in the night sky. “That’s... such a shame.”

“I watched Snowpiercer seventeen times for him,” Hu Xiu deliberately tried to ease the atmosphere but immediately felt it was a wrong move.

“So he’s a player turned regular, that damn little brat.”

She thought this evening would end with a show of affection and a perfect escape room experience, but suddenly, there was a new message in the WeChat group from Zhao Xiaorou: “Announcing my new boyfriend, Ma Liang.”

Ten bold words, complete with punctuation, followed by another message: “We’ve been chatting all through the New Year. Don’t think I have no boundaries—it’s just that I really like Ma Liang’s determination, and I want to try something with him.”

It seemed like the audience’s ticket to this rollercoaster ride had just been punched. With the group chat silent, Hu Xiu steadied her emotions, tightened her seatbelt in her mind, and prepared to watch how this drama would unfold.