HYSE - 4

As soon as she hit send, Shi Yin felt something was off.

Without warning, a chilling sense of unease crept up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

Shi Yin paused for a couple of seconds, then realized what was wrong.

Why didn’t her message immediately trigger the rejection notification after being sent?

Hadn’t she been blocked?

Hadn’t he already blocked her??

Using even her toes to think, Shi Yin couldn’t fathom that Gu Congli would silently, unassumingly pull her out of the blacklist on his own.

It felt great to act cool for a moment.

But now she was heading straight for disaster.

This was truly unexpected.

After all these years, this man’s level and terror had grown exponentially.

He had even learned to be sneaky!!!

Panic welled up in Shi Yin’s heart, and she hastily pressed and held to retract the message. Watching the green bubble disappear, she let out a long sigh of relief.

She relaxed for a few seconds before tensing up again.

Had he seen it?

He probably hadn’t; she retracted it quickly.

Gu Congli didn’t seem like someone who would constantly stare at his phone.

Shi Yin licked her lips, cautiously, deliberately typing another message: [Chief Editor, want to buy a bag? Original single order with buy-one-get-one-free.]

Anxiously waiting for five minutes, there was no reply.

It seemed he wasn’t checking his phone.

Finally, she put her mind at ease, sighed deeply, and turned to do other things, completely forgetting about Gu Congli.

Shi Yin indeed didn’t have much free time to waste. “Red Moon” was a monthly publication, which was relatively easier compared to weekly publications. However, the problem was that she was a terminal procrastinator with late-stage laziness.

Teacher Shi Yi’s life after submission and before the deadline could be described as two extremes.

“Red Moon” published early each month. By mid-July, Shi Yin usually spent her days eating, sleeping, binge-watching dramas, and playing games, feeling quite idle and comfortable.

But this month, she not only had to finish the ending of her ongoing serialization but also prepare the storyboard script for the new serialization. Plus, she needed to complete the original draft by August for the summer newcomer award at the beginning of August.

Despite her procrastination, once Shi Yin got into work mode, she became incredibly diligent and meticulous, leading to assistants frequently changing over the years. The longest-serving assistant was Liang Qiushi.

Liang Qiushi shared a name with a famous contemporary essayist, albeit reversed, and was a manga-loving otaku with a penchant for gadgets. It was rumored that his family was affluent, owning enough figurines to hold an exhibition.

Comrade Liang Qiushi was efficient, and Shi Yin relied solely on him as an assistant. Previously, near deadlines, Editor Zhao would also help out, barely managing.

However, this time, with both old and new serializations needing completion within half a month, one assistant was clearly insufficient. Shi Yin asked Liang Qiushi to look for acquaintances willing to temporarily assist.

In the midst of busyness, Mother Shi called again, reminding Shi Yin not to forget the dinner appointment scheduled for Saturday night.

Mother Shi called while Shi Yin was working on the storyboard—NAME. Without stopping her hands, she answered the call, propping the phone between her shoulder and ear, hearing Mother Shi’s loud voice: “Hello! Hello! Sweetie, what are you doing?”

Shi Yin’s thoughts were not on the call, and she responded vaguely, not really paying attention to what was said.

By the time the rough draft of the storyboard was finally finished, it was almost eleven at night. Shi Yin hadn’t even had a sip of water all afternoon and dragged herself out of the studio to the kitchen to find food when she noticed a call from an unknown number.

Shi Yin dug up a phone number from the depths of her memory, something like Lin Yuan.

It was too late to call back, so she just sent a text apologizing and confirming the meeting time and place for tomorrow.

She waited a while, but there was no reply.

This person must be very health-conscious, going to bed before eleven.

Shi Yin tossed her phone aside, grabbed a packet of instant noodles to cook, and worked through the night to revise the draft, showing no awareness that she needed beauty sleep for the blind date the next day.

The next day, naturally, she slept until the sun was high, woken up groggily by Mother Shi pounding on the door.

Upon opening the door, she saw Mother Shi standing proudly at the entrance, her expression and presence reminiscent of a female warrior about to storm an enemy stronghold.

Shi Yin had just crawled out of bed, disheveled, with messy hair and swollen eyelids, dazedly looking at the person at the door.

With a click, the safety pin of the grenade in Mother Shi’s hand was pulled.

The next second—

“Shi Yin!! Did you stay up late again?!!”

—Boom.

Shi Yin didn’t understand why Mother Shi was so focused on this blind date.

She thought she wasn’t particularly ugly and was only twenty-three, still having several years to enjoy life. It wasn’t the age where she needed to rush into blind dates.

Mother Shi acted as if missing this banking elite meant she would never get married.

While being forced onto the sofa with ice spoons on her eyes, Shi Yin voiced her objections.

Mother Shi rolled her eyes, pressing a spoon against her eyelids: “Do you think I want to worry about this? You sit at home all day; where are you going to meet men? If you worked in a company, I wouldn’t need to bother with these things. At this rate, even if you’re thirty-three, you won’t have a boyfriend,” Mother Shi continued passionately, disdainfully saying, “I got you a gym membership; go exercise every day, do you hear me? Eating and sleeping all day, did I give birth to a pig?”

“...”

...

Shi Yin’s love life had always been bumpy.

Her first love was in middle school when she didn’t understand what liking someone meant. She thought the charismatic school bully was handsome.

He never wore his uniform properly, always looking carefree with shiny metal hoops in his ears, permed hair, tattoos, smoking, and drinking.

Shi Yin, a model student, watched older girls with red and yellow hair flock around her crush and thought he might like that type.

One day after school, she excitedly went to a small salon next to the school and used half a month’s allowance to get a cheap alternative version of what Tony Director recommended—a hair dye job.

That evening, Shi Yin returned home, thrilled with her newly dyed purple hair, ready to confess to her dream lover the next day.

Soon she would be the boss’s woman!

Roughly speaking, isn’t she practically the boss herself?!!

Shi Yin’s heart roared with excitement.

But she couldn’t enter the house.

She nearly got beaten to death by Mother Shi at the doorstep.

The next day, she was dragged to re-dye her hair, her allowance wasted, and she got a beating, leaving her with deep resentment, thinking romance and boyfriends were sinful things.

Rubbing her still-painful bottom, Shi Yin found the school bully suddenly repulsive.

How could she ever think he was handsome?

From then on, middle-schooler Shi Yin tearfully vowed never to touch love again, believing celibacy was the righteous path.

Love is intoxicating.

Whoever drinks it gets drunk.

Shi Yin, having experienced teenage heartbreak, believed she had seen through men and understood the true essence of love.

Until she met Gu Congli in high school.

Shi Yin hadn’t rebelled much in her twenty-three years. Dyeing her hair purple for the school bully in middle school counted as one rebellion, and getting spanked twice made her compliant.

In her senior year, giving up the guaranteed admission to Peking University, ignoring all teachers, classmates, and parents’ opposition, and insisting on studying art to take the art academy exam counted as another rebellion.

Two more beatings this time didn’t break her spirit.

Though soft-looking, Shi Yin was stubborn, deciding firmly once she set her mind, unstoppable by anything.

Due to Mother Shi’s nagging, the famously tardy Shi Gugu not only arrived on time but even reached fifteen minutes early.

Reservations were needed for the restaurant at Golden Ding. After registering with Lin Yuan’s name, the waiter guided her there.

The banking elite had already arrived, sitting by the window, chin resting on his hand, gazing outside. His profile looked handsome and proper.

Shi Yin approached, and he turned his head.

The man’s facial contours were sharp and clean, with thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes, his expression somewhat impatient.

Summer days were long, and at five in the evening, the sky was still bright. The sunset’s glow filtered through the large glass windows, casting a gentle light on his black hair.

—Yeah right.

This Lin Yuan’s gaze looked impatient, as if he would throw her out the window the next second.

Shi Yin’s eyes fell on his broad shoulders, rolled-up sleeves revealing solid forearm muscles.

Was this guy really working at a bank? Wasn’t he actually a security guard?

Clearing her throat, Shi Yin walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite him.

Up close, the man’s expression appeared even more menacing.

He also looked somewhat familiar.

Shi Yin cautiously asked: “Mr. Lin?”

Lin Yuan frowned, looking ferocious, his voice hoarse: “What.”

Shi Yin: “...”

Too scary, where was the promised warm and gentle financial elite…

Shi Yin swallowed hard: “Have you been waiting long?”

Lin Yuan: “Waiting so long my flowers have wilted.”

“...”

Shi Yin was almost in tears, pitifully whispering: “Then let’s order first…”

As she spoke, she stole another glance at him.

His eyes definitely looked familiar.

Shi Yin felt she had definitely seen this person somewhere.

But she just couldn’t remember.

Shi Yin furrowed her brows, tilted her head, her expression serious, faces flashing through her mind, finally settling on one particular face.

Shi Yin exclaimed: “Ah!”

The school bully.

Handsome school bully.

Her dark moonlight, her mole of misfortune, the instigator of her painful youth, the destroyer of her beautiful first love.

Fate brought them together from afar.

Shi Yin felt a twinge of pain in her buttocks again.

But this person wasn’t named Lin Yuan.

Shi Yin looked uncertainly at him, hesitated for a while, then cautiously asked: “Um, Mr. Lin, did you attend Eleven Middle School in junior high? Lin Youhe?”

Upon hearing this, Lin squinted, seemingly trying to recall her face, his gaze wary, fierce, and suspicious: “Which side are you from?”

“...”

Shi Yin solemnly replied: “I walk the gray area between good and evil.”

Lin Youhe: “...”

Lin Youhe didn’t seem to have a good temper, his gaze clearly spelling out, “Are you fucking with me?” Fearing he might flip the table the next second, Shi Yin quickly said: “Just joking. We attended the same school before. I thought you looked familiar,” Shi Yin smiled, “Never expected it to be you.”

Lin Youhe remained silent, his expression still displeased, like an irritable lion.

Shi Yin pretended not to notice and gently asked: “So, are you Lin Yuan?”

Lin Youhe: “My cousin, he didn’t want to come.”

Shi Yin was surprised, finding it hard to believe this big shot would patiently substitute for someone else’s blind date.

Before she could say anything, Lin Youhe added: “I heard you draw manga, so I came to see.”

“...”

The cool school bully who smoked, drank, permed his hair, and tattooed suspected of being a manga fan sounded terrifying.

Her eyes widened, striving to keep her tone calm: “Mr. Lin also likes manga?”

Lin Youhe nodded: “I’m also a manga artist.”

Shi Yin was shocked.

Oh my god, the school bully didn’t end up collecting high-interest loans but instead drew manga!

Shi Yin thought this school bully was subtle yet wild, though outwardly she stayed composed, nodding calmly: “You draw shonen fighting manga, right?”

The school bully flexed his muscular wrist, comparable to a gym coach’s, and emotionlessly stated: “No, I draw shoujo manga. My pen name is Sweet Apple Candy.”

“...”

Shi Yin: ?