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The timer on the mini-boiler slowly rotated back to its starting point, and a thin layer of steam began to form on the glass cover inside the pot as the needle turned.
Xu Wu had joined the psychology association during her university days and had consulted professional psychological counselors about Zhou Jinye’s nyctophobia—a trauma-induced stress response closely tied to his past experiences or lifestyle.
Back when they were together, he had told her about his severe fear of the dark. Normally, he would sleep with the lights on, which was why she had developed the habit of always carrying a flashlight in her bag.
She had asked him when it started—he had been afraid of the dark since fourth grade.
It was specifically related to his experiences and life at that time...
Suddenly, her mind flashed to that sharp, intimidating face. Her hand trembled, and the porcelain bowl slipped from her grasp, shattering on the floor with a sound that jolted her awake.
The man’s threatening voice rolled over her like an unexpected tide, crushing her under its weight. She quickly filtered out those painful memories she didn’t want to recall and crouched down to carefully clean up the shards.
People with nyctophobia appeared normal during the day, but once night fell, they couldn’t live without light. Without a lamp, they would spend the entire night in anxiety and unease.
After meticulously collecting the shards, Xu Wu placed them in a garbage bag and went out to leave the trash by the door to be disposed of later.
As she was about to close the door, she heard the sound of someone unlocking the door across from hers.
Xu Wu had stayed with Zhou Jinye last night until he regained his composure and fell into a deep sleep. It wasn’t until after 2 a.m. that she quietly left.
“Woof!”
Pudding came trotting over with a dish in its mouth, wagging its tail.
“Pudding,” Xu Wu watched as Pudding squeezed through the gap in the door and headed straight for the kitchen.
Following behind it, she saw it stop and sit in front of the mini-boiler, placing the dish by its feet and looking up at her with its tongue hanging out.
Clearly, it was hungry.
She took the dog food she had bought for Pudding from the shelf and poured some into the dish by its feet.
Petting Pudding’s fur, she murmured, “When you were abroad, did you always stay by Zhou Jinye’s side like this?”
Pudding, focused solely on the food in its bowl, didn’t respond. Xu Wu added a bit more food.
Thinking that Pudding hadn’t eaten breakfast, it was likely that Zhou Jinye hadn’t either.
The money from yesterday had already been refunded after exceeding the 24-hour mark early this morning. Xu Wu thought about what she could do to reciprocate and settle the debt.
After ordering something on her phone, she called the property management office of her residential complex.
The prompt chime of the mini-boiler sounded right on time. She quickly grabbed three steamed buns shaped like dogs while they were still warm.
After Pudding finished eating, Xu Wu picked up the leftover dog food and a bowl of buns from the other day and headed toward the door.
Just as she reached the door, the person across from her happened to step out.
The man’s slightly messy hair was half-dry, and he wore loose-fitting dark pajamas. The top button was undone, and droplets of water from his hair slid down his neck and into his collarbone.
Even in his usual lazy state, there was an undeniable aura of masculine charm.
It seemed he had just finished showering.
Xu Wu averted her gaze awkwardly and asked with concern, “Good morning—are you feeling better now?”
“Mm.”
He leaned lazily against the doorframe, his voice slightly hoarse, tinged with a faint trace of exhaustion in his nasal tone.
“Well then... I made a bit extra this morning,” Xu Wu handed him the breakfast without blinking, “You probably haven’t eaten yet, right? These are freshly steamed—red bean paste flavor. Here, take them.”
Zhou Jinye’s gaze lingered on the dog-shaped buns for a few seconds. Just as Xu Wu thought he was going to refuse and prepared to withdraw her hand, he reached out and grasped her wrist. The scent of woody bath gel wafted over. “Didn’t you say you were giving these to me? Why are you suddenly pulling back?”
Recalling how she looked in her riding gear at the equestrian center, he asked, “Do you usually eat so plainly?”
Though confused, Xu Wu nodded.
This was their first unintentional intimate gesture since their unexpected reunion following their breakup.
“I already fed Pudding earlier,” Xu Wu pursed her lips slightly and handed the dog food to Zhou Jinye. “Here, take this dog food. I noticed Pudding really likes it. You can give it to him if you’d like.”
“Mm, go ahead and give it to me. I’ll bring it in later.”
She handed it to him.
After closing the door, Zhou Jinye finally led his dog inside.
He took a bite of the bun, and the sweetness of the red bean spread across his tongue. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow—it tasted better than what he usually got outside.
Zhou Jinye ate all three buns without leaving a single crumb, planning to wash the dishes later and return them to her.
But there were more pressing matters at hand. Incidents like yesterday’s rarely occurred. This time, the power outage had been an accident. He walked into his bedroom and dialed a number.
The property management quickly answered, “Hello, how may we assist you?”
He spoke succinctly, “The corridor light on the sixteenth floor is broken. Please fix it today, and make sure it’s done before tonight.”
There was a brief pause on the other end as they confirmed, “Are you also a resident of the sixteenth floor?”
“What do you mean ‘also’?” Zhou Jinye tucked his hands into his pockets, his brows slightly furrowed as he glanced at the unmade bed. “Can you fix it today?”
“Yes, yes, we can. Earlier, another resident from your floor—a woman—called with a similar request, asking us to fix the corridor light before tonight. I’ve already contacted the repairman, and they’re on their way.”
Upon hearing this, his eyes flickered. He noticed the flashlight wedged between the mattress and headboard, every groove familiar in his mind. In his pocket was an identical bracelet, now burning hot in his palm.
“Alright, I’ll transfer the payment to you later.”
The other party chuckled politely, “No need—another woman already paid.”
After hanging up, he bent down to smooth out the unmade edge of the bed.
In the air, traces of a faint white tea fragrance still lingered.
________________________________________
Li Qingyang carried breakfast into the office and immediately saw someone staring blankly at something in his hands, grinning foolishly.
At first, he thought his vision was blurry from staying up late handling Shu Ke’s affairs the previous night. Rubbing his eyes to see clearly, the scene remained unchanged.
How strange.
He placed one portion of breakfast on Zhou Jinye’s desk. “What’s got you so happy this early in the morning?”
Seeing him enter, Zhou Jinye reined in his smile and had already returned the bracelet to his pocket. He countered, “What makes you think I’m happy?”
“And what about it?” Li Qingyang sat down across from him. “Your grin is practically reaching your ears.”
“Oh.”
It was rare to see Zhou Jinye like this.
Li Qingyang opened the breakfast packaging while probing casually, “I forgot to ask after our meal last time—did you add Xu Wu on WeChat? Are you this happy because she repaid you?”
Zhou Jinye exchanged the breakfast for something else, inadvertently tugging at the corners of his lips. “I already ate this morning. Are you such a gossip?”
Being closer to the breakfast shop, Li Qingyang often bought himself a portion and would conveniently pick one up for Zhou Jinye as well.
He found it peculiar. “You already ate? Since when do you have the habit of making breakfast?”
The sweetness of the red bean paste still lingered in his mouth, causing his lips to curl upward uncontrollably. “A new neighbor brought it over this morning.”
Looking rather pleased with himself, he said, “Don’t change the subject. You haven’t told me about adding Xu Wu yet.”
He didn’t know that Xu Wu lived directly across from him in the apartment previously occupied by his aunt.
“Mm, I added her.”
“No wonder,” Li Qingyang assumed this was the reason and shoved a bite of food into his mouth. “So you intentionally paid the bill just to get her WeChat?”
Zhou Jinye unfolded the documents on his desk. At the time, he was simply in a good mood and too lazy to explain.
Unlike Li Qingyang, who had been sent abroad for study after his first year of university, Zhou Jinye had gone abroad after high school. Li Qingyang didn’t know the reason for their breakup. When Zhou Jinye returned from abroad, he was terse and straightforward—she had dumped him—but didn’t elaborate further.
However, judging from his expression at the time, it was clear things hadn’t ended well.
They had been close friends since school, and Li Qingyang had seen countless admirers around Zhou Jinye, none of whom he held hands with, let alone felt genuine affection for. To him, dating was just a game.
That was until he saw how Zhou Jinye treated Xu Wu. Li Qingyang could tell that Zhou Jinye’s attitude and gaze toward her were different from his past girlfriends. Their relationship truly resembled a normal couple.
To an observant eye, the small details revealed that they both cared deeply for each other. Back then, they were the pair everyone shipped.
Li Qingyang had been abroad during their breakup and wasn’t privy to what happened between them. From Zhou Jinye’s demeanor, he couldn’t comment on their emotional matters.
But how could two people who clearly loved each other end up parting ways unless compelled by unavoidable circumstances?
Seeing Zhou Jinye lower his gaze, twirling a pen in his hand without speaking, Li Qingyang decided not to press further.
Now, reunited by fate, and given Zhou Jinye’s lingering feelings during their meal the other day, perhaps he could lend a helping hand.
Even without knowing the full story, his speculations continued.
He pressed on, “You two obviously cared for each other back then. Maybe there was a misunderstanding when you broke up. Now that you’re in contact again, why not take it slow, work things out, and clarify what happened in the past?”
Zhou Jinye kept his gaze lowered.
Li Qingyang knew he was listening; otherwise, he would have dismissed him to focus on work.
It seemed his guess was correct—there might indeed have been a misunderstanding between them.
Once he finished eating, Li Qingyang tidied up the trash. “That’s it—I’m off to work. I need to leave early. I have a meeting.”
Only then did Zhou Jinye raise his eyes to look at him. “Is it the matchmaking session arranged by your mother?”
“No,” Li Qingyang shrugged. “It’s about my sister’s car accident yesterday. I contacted the female driver and am meeting her tonight to discuss compensation.”
“Compensation?” Zhou Jinye frowned. “I thought you weren’t short on money.”
“I’m not, but that car was bought with my first paycheck from work. I planned to use it for my wedding one day. This loss needs to be compensated.”
“Wedding? You don’t even have a girlfriend yet, and you’re already thinking so far ahead,” he teased, lips curling into a smirk.
“Go to hell,” Li Qingyang angrily threw the documents from Zhou Jinye’s desk back at him. “You’re not exactly ahead of the game either.”
After the playful banter, once Li Qingyang left, Zhou Jinye pondered his words.
Why had he only realized now that, back when they were together, how could she have possibly fallen for someone else? Perhaps the person she mentioned never existed. As Li Qingyang suggested, maybe it was all a misunderstanding.
Subsequently, he pulled out his phone.
Flipping through her WeChat messages, he felt a lingering sense of不甘 about what she had said the day before. That was why he hadn’t accepted the refunded money yesterday.
Thinking about the morning call and the breakfast, he could roughly understand her intentions—an exchange of equal value.
As Li Qingyang had said, his own dissatisfaction stemmed from wanting to know why she had abandoned him back then.
Wild.: [When do you get off work?]
________________________________________
At noon, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the venetian blinds, scattering patches of light across the floor.
Feeling a dull ache in her neck, Xu Wu woke up in pain.
She had gone to bed very late last night and managed to catch a nap during her lunch break at work. Her cervical issues were a chronic problem from years of overwork.
Massaging her neck, she thought about buying a massager at the supermarket later. Her neck couldn’t handle much more strain, and her empty stomach reminded her of her hunger. Amidst a pile of documents, she fished out her phone.
On the screen, aside from the notification that her food delivery had arrived, there was also a message from Wild. in her WeChat list.
She hadn’t set a nickname for him.
Opening the chat, she was puzzled by his message.
Her first thought was, What does this message mean?
Xu Wu sent a question mark.
Zhou Jinye replied quickly: [To return the bowl you brought over this morning.]
That’s it?
She typed directly: [Oh, you can just leave it at my door.]
Picking up her takeout, he sent another message: [That porcelain bowl is fragile. I’ll hand it to you in person.]
Logically speaking, that made sense. She replied: [Alright, I’ll be off work at six sharp.]
He didn’t reply further.
“Sister Xu,” Shu Ke ran up from behind, holding her bag.
“Are you done with your checkup?” She had taken half a day off to visit the hospital.
“Yeah, I told you there was nothing wrong, but my brother insisted I take a leave to get checked.” She approached Xu Wu and asked, “Did Director Chen assign me any tasks while I was gone?”
Since being caught playing games at work by Director Chen Hai Li last time, he frequently assigned her miscellaneous tasks. Who knew how many papers he had piled on her desk in her absence?
“No,” Xu Wu reassured her gently. “I’ve mostly intercepted them for you.”
“You’re the best.” Shu Ke hugged her lightly, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, by the way, I saw Xu Tianya while I was eating earlier.”
“What?”
“After my checkup, I went to eat and saw her with someone else. They were sitting with their backs to me, discussing what seemed to be a big client.”
Xu Wu didn’t comment. Lately, she rarely saw Xu Tianya at the company.
________________________________________
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, streaks of evening clouds stretched across the sky, and a faint crescent moon hung dimly in the clouds.
The elevator’s arrival chime echoed in the corridor. By the doorway, someone had already been lurking by the entrance.
One hand holding a bowl, the man pressed the handle to open the door.
A figure stepped into view.
Xu Wu surveyed the suit he hadn’t yet changed out of and greeted him politely. “You just got back?”
“Mm,” Zhou Jinye, who had been waiting by the door for thirty minutes, responded indifferently. “Here, I’ve already washed this bowl.”
The corridor light had been repaired, and the translucent porcelain bowl gleamed under the bright ceiling light.
She glanced at him and took the bowl. “Mm.”
Zhou Jinye inadvertently noticed the massage device box peeking out of her bag. “Are you going to walk the dog later?”
She was momentarily surprised, then nodded. “Let’s come back before it gets dark.”
Pudding, tethered by her, happily trotted ahead of Xu Wu, while Zhou Jinye stood to the side answering a phone call.
“Big Sister, can I pet your little doggy?”
Before long, a little girl from the park darted up to Xu Wu.
Xu Wu hesitated. Right now, Pudding was technically under Zhou Jinye’s care.
“It’s fine,” Zhou Jinye, having finished his call, overheard the girl’s question. “You can pet it—it won’t bite.”
Xu Wu lost the chance to explain further.
“Bye, Big Brother and Big Sister~”
Watching as the girl’s mother came to retrieve her, Xu Wu turned to him, puzzled. “Why didn’t you clarify? People living in this neighborhood talk. Won’t they misunderstand when they see us coming and going together?”
The glow of the evening clouds dimmed, mirroring the shadow in the man’s eyes.
After a long silence, his gaze rose from beneath the brim of his cap, squinting as though scrutinizing her expression. “Misunderstand? Are you worried that someone you like will misunderstand? I thought you didn’t care about others’ opinions.”
Until the sun nearly disappeared below the horizon, Xu Wu’s expression betrayed only a fleeting moment of confusion and bewilderment.
Their dog-walking outing lasted less than half an hour before they silently returned home.
In the dim room, Xu Wu sat by the floor-to-ceiling window.
Her vacant gaze wandered over the neon-lit cityscape outside. Initially clear shapes gradually blurred into distinct blocks.
Her phone lit up beside her leg, displaying a message at the top—
[Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.]
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