An eerie silence hung in the air.
Wen Yifan couldn't understand why he was staring at her while saying this. She averted her gaze and stepped inside. "Your friend must be quite charismatic then," she said politely.
As expected of Sang Yan's friend, she thought with an inward sigh. Even their way of speaking is identical.
Sang Yan's gaze lingered on her, loaded with meaning.
Then he ended the call.
Wen Yifan settled into her usual spot by the tea table and began boiling water. While waiting, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Sang Yan had also taken his customary seat. With nothing else to occupy her mind, she recalled his recent phone conversation.
"By the way, did that girl confess to your friend?" she asked casually.
Sang Yan looked up. "Why do you ask?"
"It just doesn't make sense logically." Wen Yifan thought it over. "If this girl likes your friend so much, then the reason for her hugging him is quite clear. Your friend shouldn't need to specially discuss this with you."
"Oh, so it's—" Sang Yan drawled out the phrase, "love is blind."
"…"
Though she wasn't the one being evaluated, Wen Yifan felt an odd sensation wash over her. After a moment of silence, she continued calmly. "But from what I just heard you say to your friend, it seems this girl hasn't clearly expressed her feelings."
Sang Yan leaned back in his chair, his expression condescending.
"So, is it possible that your friend—" Wen Yifan paused, swallowing back the sharp phrase is being presumptuous, and chose gentler words instead. "Misunderstood?"
"…"
Just then, the water boiled.
Sang Yan watched coldly as Wen Yifan poured hot water into her cup and added some cold water to cool it. She held the cup between her hands to warm them, taking a slow sip before noticing his gaze.
Wen Yifan paused. "Do you want some water?"
Sang Yan glanced at her, his tone distinctly displeased. "Drink it yourself."
Wen Yifan nodded, uncertain where this mood of his had come from. She finished half the cup, added more hot water, then stood. "I'll go rest now."
Sang Yan gave a perfunctory "mm," picking up the remote to turn on the TV.
Wen Yifan took her cup and returned to her room.
Hearing the sound of the door opening and closing, Sang Yan half-reclined on the sofa. His elbow rested on the armrest, one hand supporting his face, eyelids drooping as he lazily flipped through channels.
He switched to a variety show.
A male celebrity on screen said, "I have a friend—"
Another person interrupted him. "How come you're making up friends out of nowhere?"
Sang Yan watched emotionlessly and immediately pressed the channel button.
This time it was a movie, seemingly a comedy. Through an old-fashioned filter, a middle-aged man said carelessly, "Stop being so full of yourself!"
He changed the channel again.
He landed on a recently popular idol drama. The actress on screen, eyes red-rimmed, was crying pitifully. "Did you never love me... Were you just playing with me all along..."
"…"
Sang Yan let out a cold laugh and directly turned off the TV, tossing the remote aside.
He picked up his phone and saw that Qian Fei had sent him a barrage of messages, all condemning his disgusting and uncultured behavior of hanging up abruptly.
Seeing that Sang Yan was consistently ignoring him, Qian Fei had even moved his complaints to their dormitory group chat.
Sang Yan was about to reply when his phone displayed an incoming call.
Duan Jiaxu.
He pressed answer and walked toward the kitchen.
"Speak."
A clear, gentle male voice came from the other end, the calm tone sounding warm and smiling. "Brother, what are you up to?"
Sang Yan took a can of beer from the refrigerator and opened it with one hand.
"You're so free today?"
"It's alright." Duan Jiaxu didn't waste time on pleasantries. "You've moved, right? Send me your address later. I'll mail something over tonight."
Hearing this, Sang Yan immediately understood. "Am I a courier?"
Duan Jiaxu chuckled. "It's just on the way, isn't it?"
"What is it this time?" Sang Yan said lazily. "Making up for Women's Day?"
"Kids don't celebrate Women's Day," Duan Jiaxu said. "Isn't your sister turning eighteen next Saturday? The little girl is becoming an adult. Help me give her the gift then."
"Fine." Sang Yan paused for two seconds, raising an eyebrow. "Her birthday is next Saturday?"
"…"
Sang Yan half-leaned against the counter, taking a sip of beer. "You could just mail it directly to my place."
"If she receives it early," Duan Jiaxu laughed, "wouldn't the surprise be gone?"
"Surprise, huh." Sang Yan snorted lightly. "You're quite old-fashioned."
"Don't all young girls like this kind of thing?" As he said this, Duan Jiaxu suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, brother. I heard from Su Hao'an that you came to Yihe recently?"
"…"
"Because of that college rumor about us, he even called to scold me." At this point, Duan Jiaxu paused for a few seconds, his words tinged with playfulness. "He also said that you came to Yihe to see me?"
Sang Yan, holding the beer, walked toward the living room. "Hanging up," he said casually.
The weather in Nanwu City was always fluctuating.
Just when Wen Yifan thought the temperature was about to rise, she woke one morning to find it had been raining for several days straight. It wasn't a downpour of heavy raindrops, but a continuous, fine drizzle—like soft wool, persisting endlessly.
It made people feel irritable.
The temperature had also dropped several degrees.
In this weather, Qian Weihua received a tip on the hotline.
The situation described was that near the main campus of Nanwu University, there was a mentally ill homeless person who would sometimes inexplicably hit people. He'd been wandering in this area for some time.
The targets of his attacks were indiscriminate.
However, no one had ever been seriously injured, so no one had dealt with the matter.
This morning, for unknown reasons, this homeless person had stripped off all his clothes and was walking around naked on the street. Later, he'd even gone up to slap a male college student.
After the student dodged, the homeless person withdrew his hand and continued walking around with a stiff expression.
Soon after, officers took the homeless person to the police station.
After getting a general understanding of the situation, Wen Yifan applied for an interview car from the station and went to the police station with Qian Weihua.
They first listened to the liaison officer explain the current situation.
The homeless person hadn't caused any injuries, but the incident had frightened a few middle school students who'd happened to see him. The teachers and parents were working on calming them down. Later, the police would send the homeless person to the Nanwu Aid Station and strengthen patrols in the area.
Qian Weihua set up the camera while Wen Yifan took notes beside him.
Besides this, Wen Yifan noticed there was also a young man sitting in the police station.
She heard from the police that this young man was called Mu Chengyun, a senior in the Media Studies department at Nanwu University.
He was the one the homeless person had tried to attack this morning.
Mu Chengyun had reacted quickly, dodging the attack and even putting his coat over the homeless man before calling the police. After the officers arrived at the scene, he'd cooperatively come along to describe the situation.
Wen Yifan glanced at him.
Mu Chengyun had delicate and bright features, currently wearing only a sweater. His features were somewhat soft, with a feminine quality to his masculinity—like a not-yet-mature younger brother. But he was quite tall, with a rather sturdy build.
It was as if cuteness and handsomeness had been perfectly balanced in him.
After finishing with the police liaison, Qian Weihua walked up to him and asked politely, "Hello, we are reporters from the 'Convey' program of Nanwu TV's Urban Channel. May we interview you?"
Wen Yifan followed behind Qian Weihua.
Mu Chengyun looked at the two of them, his gaze lingering on Wen Yifan for a few extra seconds. His eyes were bright as he smiled, looking particularly youthful. "Sure."
After saying this, he pointed at his watch. "But I have something to do in a bit, so I might not have much time. What would you like to ask?"
Qian Weihua didn't take up too much of his time, just asking a few simple questions before finishing.
Afterward, Qian Weihua packed up the filming equipment while Wen Yifan stood to the side waiting.
From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Mu Chengyun's face.
As the distance shortened, Wen Yifan felt she'd seen this person somewhere before.
Because of this, she couldn't help but look a few more times.
Perhaps noticing Wen Yifan's gaze, Mu Chengyun suddenly looked at her. He scratched his head, his expression showing no displeasure. "Is there something on my face?"
"No." Wen Yifan's expression froze, and she answered honestly. "I just feel like you look familiar."
After the words left her mouth, she realized it sounded like she was trying to flirt.
However, Mu Chengyun didn't find her words strange. He nodded lightly and suddenly asked, "Do you have paper and a pen?"
Although she didn't know what he wanted to do, Wen Yifan still gave him the small notebook and pen she always carried in her pocket. Mu Chengyun took them, flipped directly to a blank page, and started writing on the back cover.
Wen Yifan was confused. "…"
He's not going to give me his contact information, is he?
Soon, Mu Chengyun handed the notebook back to her, his expression somewhat shy.
"Thanks for being a fan."
Wen Yifan took it and looked at the notebook.
It was an autograph.
"…"
So he's some kind of celebrity?
Wen Yifan stared at it, unable to make out what the scribbled characters were.
After a pause of two seconds, Wen Yifan put the notebook back in her pocket and said sincerely, "Thank you for your autograph."
Mu Chengyun paused, then smiled with pursed lips. "You're welcome."
Qian Weihua hadn't paid much attention to their interaction and picked up the equipment. "Xiao Fan, let's go."
She responded, "Okay."
Mu Chengyun was still standing there, showing no signs of leaving. He was holding a phone in his hand, his gaze still on Wen Yifan, the tips of his ears slightly red.
Wen Yifan politely said goodbye to him.
Mu Chengyun looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just smiled and waved at her.
The two of them did some brief interviews and filming outside Nanwu University.
Before long, Qian Weihua dropped Wen Yifan back at the station. He still had a follow-up interview to do, so the rest of the news writing and post-production editing was left to Wen Yifan to handle alone.
Wen Yifan stayed in the machine room for the entire afternoon.
She listened to the synchronized sound to write the script, then completed the news piece, rushing to submit it for review before the evening program's broadcast. After confirming the piece was submitted, Wen Yifan didn't plan to work overtime and prepared to pack up and go home.
Just as she stood up, Wen Yifan ran into Su Tian, who'd just returned from an external interview.
Su Tian greeted her. "Heading out?"
Wen Yifan nodded.
"Alright," Su Tian said. "I'm leaving too. Let's go together."
After leaving the office, the two walked toward the subway station.
Su Tian suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, Yifan, are you still looking for a roommate? I remember you mentioning before that your current roommate is only renting for three months?"
"That's right," Wen Yifan said.
"How long until the lease is up?" Su Tian said. "I have a friend who's also looking to share rent. She's a pretty nice girl. I think you two might be a good match."
Hearing this, Wen Yifan calculated the time. "There's still a month left."
"A month should be fine." Su Tian said. "Why don't you discuss it with your current roommate first? If he's definitely moving out and you still need a roommate, I can give you my friend's WeChat?"
Wen Yifan had forgotten about this and immediately agreed.
The two lived in different directions, so they separated after entering the station gates.
Wen Yifan got on the subway and scrolled through the news wearing headphones. As she was about to reach her stop, a message popped up on her screen from Sang Yan: [Where are you.]
She opened it and replied: [About to get off the subway.]
[What's up?]
This time Sang Yan sent a voice message: "Alright, come directly to the supermarket outside the community when you get here."
"Buying some things."
His tone was still annoying: "Hurry up, I can't carry it all."
"…"
[Okay.] Wen Yifan replied.
The supermarket Sang Yan mentioned was near Shangdu Huacheng.
After getting off the subway, Wen Yifan walked for five or six minutes and reached the supermarket entrance. She didn't see Sang Yan and wasn't sure whether to go in directly or wait outside, so she simply sent a WeChat message: [I'm at the supermarket entrance.]
Sang Yan didn't reply immediately.
The night temperature was low, and with the rain still falling, Wen Yifan felt cold. She put her hands back in her pockets and suddenly touched the small notebook inside. She took it out and glanced at it, noticing the signature on the back cover, and remembered what had happened that afternoon.
Seeing this, Wen Yifan took out her phone again and opened the web browser, typing in the three characters "Mu Chengyun."
She wanted to check what exactly he did, to give some context to the autograph.
Otherwise, it felt strange to just keep a notebook with someone else's signature.
Just as Wen Yifan pressed the search button, the light beside her suddenly dimmed.
Before she could see the search results, Wen Yifan noticed Sang Yan's figure appear in her field of vision. He was slightly bent over, leaning close to her, his presence enveloping the surroundings.
He'd appeared silently.
The distance between them suddenly narrowed.
It felt like if she moved a bit closer, Wen Yifan could touch his face. Her gaze fixed on him as he looked down, his eyes on her phone screen, the side of his face showing sharp, smooth lines.
The scene became clearer.
The man's eyelashes were like raven feathers, each distinct. His eyes were dark as ink, his eyelids so thin she could see the blood vessels beneath, adorned with a faint beauty mark. His lips were pale in color, pulled into a neutral curve.
Wen Yifan moved her lips, but before she could speak—
The next moment, Sang Yan looked at her and said nonchalantly, "You like this type?"
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