The surrounding air froze.
After a long moment, the man finally forced out a sentence: “You’re not his boyfriend.”
Listening closely, there was even a trace of grievance in his tone.
Sui Ning was speechless: “Can you have some shame? Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t you have even the faintest clue yourself?”
Right, should he just spell it out—yes, you’re Mengmeng’s boyfriend now, congratulations?
“One last time, get lost.”
Sui Ning’s brows drew together, his voice filled with irritation. “Just seeing you annoys me. The sound in my ears is like the whole Sheep Village throwing a food festival on top of my head, sampling the freshest grass from the Green Pasture!”
Hoodie: “Pfft!”
The nearby onlooker who had been eating melon at close range finally couldn’t hold back his laughter, shaking all over like a sieve, strangely making the atmosphere feel a little festive.
The man, utterly speechless, shot him a glare and secretly ground his teeth. He was also a public figure; although this neighborhood was full of wealthy residential communities, making a scene here was still troublesome. What’s more, he still didn’t understand what exactly Sui Ning meant.
“What are you trying to do?” He frowned, rare doubt flickering in his eyes.
Sui Ning found it a little funny: “What’s it to you?” You old King, why are you meddling so much?
The man’s patience was about to run out. He couldn’t figure out how to interpret Sui Ning’s reaction—denying their relationship? Covering it up? …No, that wasn’t right, he and Sui Ning didn’t have any relationship to begin with.
As if he’d figured something out, he resumed his usual aloof, superior demeanor: “Don’t pretend with me. I don’t have time to waste with you. There’s some business at the old house lately. I’ll notify you on WeChat.”
Sui Ning: ? Wow, your topic shift is quick.
“Why should I?” Sui Ning sneered. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
The black-haired youth’s face was cold, utterly devoid of warmth. “WeChat, right?”
He pulled out his phone, which he hadn’t checked in days. His contacts were sparse. Xu Hexuan had been staying with him these days, and usually just called directly when outside. At the moment, aside from his security team, there was only one unread WeChat message.
[Go With the Flow and Be at Peace]: ?
[Faraway]: ?
…So this Faraway was this guy? And by “message reply” he meant sending another damn question mark, expecting a response?
Reply your ass!
Sui Ning tugged at the corner of his lips, flipped his wrist, and showed the phone screen to the man before deleting him as a friend right in front of him.
“There. Read and done.” The youth smiled politely. “Now, can you get lost?”
“...You…”
The man fell silent for a long time, his brows tightly knotted, as though carved with deep furrows of irritation and confusion.
He seemed to be thinking about something. After a while, he gave a half-smile: “Good. Very good.”
He stared into Sui Ning’s eyes. “Don’t regret this.”
Sui Ning remained unmoved, lips parting lightly: “Scram.”
His expression didn’t change, like he was shooing away a noisy fly.
The man let out a cold laugh, turned, and left.
The surroundings instantly grew much quieter.
The cashier girl was completely stunned. In her eyes, this was the perfect explosive setup for a love-rival drama, and especially that last exchange—it was nothing short of divine.
Cashier girl: He told him to reply to his WeChat.
Girlfriend: He told him to reply to his WeChat.
Cashier girl: Heh… hehehe…
Sui Ning, however, was rather exasperated. Just buying a Happy Water and he had to run into this disgusting mess. What kind of situation was this?
“You okay?”
A slightly hoarse, lazy teenage voice came from behind.
The hoodie guy who had been digging in the drinks fridge just now spoke up, arms folded across his chest, leaning against the counter, raising a brow as he looked at Sui Ning. His bright, clear eyes were sharp and luminous.
It was only now that Sui Ning noticed his outfit: another sleepless bandit, wearing a mask and sunglasses late at night. But thinking about it, he wasn’t much different himself. It was just tough luck for this poor convenience store cashier girl, running into three masked bandits in one night.
Cashier girl: That’s nonsense—how could a mere mask and sunglasses possibly hide that kind of handsomeness?
But this hoodie guy was much more striking than the trench-coat man. Seen from the front, he wasn’t very old, his brows brimming with the vigor of youth. His bangs were streaked with a bold touch of deep violet, and a choker glittering with tiny diamonds hung around his neck.
Flamboyant, unconventional, with a rebellious vitality.
When he got a good look at Sui Ning under the lights, he actually froze for a moment, then abruptly straightened, strangely self-conscious: “He—you… uh.”
Sui Ning’s long brows arched slightly. “I what?”
“You—you don’t need to feel bad because of that kind of person.” Hoodie hesitated, choosing his words cautiously. “And, uh, that A-Meng too, just… anyway, none of them are good people.”
He stood stiffly upright, but his hand kept tugging at his choker, stammering like he didn’t know how to talk anymore.
“I know.” Sui Ning’s tone was flat.
Hoddie choked a little, looking listless. Clearly, he had no idea how to comfort a man who looked heartbroken.
Sui Ning sighed, picked up his “happy water,” and walked toward the counter. “You’re really nosy, little brother.”
His voice, when he was relaxed, was naturally a bit low, with the habit of lifting slightly at the end of sentences. An ordinary form of address, when rolling off his tongue, became soft and lingering.
“L-little… brother?”
Hoddie repeated in a low voice. His ears burned, and he quickly covered them with his hand.
When he saw Sui Ning walk away, he didn’t have time to think. He grabbed his own iced Fanta, and even took an extra bottle of room-temperature drink.
The cashier girl spotted the two of them and instantly adjusted her expression, putting on a flawless welcome smile.
Sui Ning: “Hello, could you help me check out?”
“Of course.” The girl was very professional, swiftly bagging his things, trying hard not to sneak a glance.
“Uh…” The boy followed along. “Um, does your… hand hurt?”
His tongue twisted, words all jumbled, not even sure what he was saying. The only thought in his head was—if Sui Ning said it hurt, maybe he’d press the Fanta against his wrist. For no reason at all.
Sui Ning gave him a half-smile: “It doesn’t hurt.”
Great. Fantasy shattered. Hoddie took two deep breaths. A stray little braid slipped free, brushing and scratching against his neck again and again, making it impossible to think.
Usually, he could curse so fluently. Why couldn’t he say a single sentence now? He was deeply frustrated, his anxiousness written all over his face.
“What’s… what’s your name?” After struggling for a long time, he finally asked, mumbling, “Uh… are you a student?”
The second the words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself. What kind of nonsensical small talk was that? He hurried to add, “I mean… what I meant was—”
“No.” Sui Ning couldn’t help smiling.
“…Oh.” The boy answered dryly. “Me neither.”
The black-haired young man’s lips curved: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
Hoodie panicked, but didn’t dare grab his hand: “Wait.”
Sui Ning stopped, looking at ease.
The boy scratched his head and fidgeted for a long while before forcing out, “Do… do you like playing games?”
His ears were completely red, but he pushed through the shyness: “We’re about the same age, so you should… like them too, right?”
His voice grew quieter and quieter.
He didn’t even know why he was so sure—maybe it was an unconscious hope that he and Sui Ning would share some kind of common ground.
“No need to force a topic if you don’t know how to make small talk, little brother.” Sui Ning was amused by his clumsy innocence. “But you did get that part right.”
The black-haired youth smiled brilliantly. “I do like them. Very much.”
Hoodie fell quiet, his exposed ears so red they looked ready to drip blood. His mind raced, desperately searching for the next topic.
…Maybe he already knew what he should do. He should take out his phone, naturally open WeChat, and add him as a friend…
But he didn’t dare.
He followed Sui Ning to the counter to pay.
The tall, straight boy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, like a dark crow-colored shadow. All it would take was the slightest turn of his head, and the small mole at the corner of Sui Ning’s eye would appear vividly before him, etched in memory.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared fixedly at that mole. His ears thundered, heart pounding like a drum.
His throat felt dry, his breathing strangely uneven. Instinctively, he tugged at his choker—then quickly dropped his hand in guilty panic.
Sui Ning collected his bag, ready to leave.
At last, that extra bottle of drink found its purpose.
Heat clouding his head, the boy recklessly pressed the room-temperature bottle against Sui Ning’s face over the mask, then slipped it into his bag, muttering softly: “War of Glory is really fun.”
Sui Ning looked at him steadily for a moment, then suddenly smiled: “I know.”
He took that bottle back out, and in turn pressed it against the boy’s mask. His beautiful eyes curved into crescents, shining with laughter.
The boy’s heart skipped a beat.
The black-haired youth flipped his fingers, revealing his WeChat QR code. His eyes smiled as he asked: “Add me?”
——
Ji Yunyu returned home, his expression dazed. Standing in the doorway, he felt the spot on his face that had been touched tingling, his hand unconsciously gripping the iced Fanta so tightly the metal can creaked under his long fingers. His other hand clenched his phone.
Passing by with a toothbrush in her mouth, Ji Mengyao gave him a puzzled look. “What’s up with you, in a daze?”
“…”
When she didn’t hear a reply, she stared at him for a while before narrowing her eyes. “Don’t tell me… you’re lovesick?”
Something about those words jolted Ji Yunyu back to himself.
He shook his head too quickly, trying to cover it up. With one hand, he popped open the Fanta, a few drops splashing onto the back of his hand. “No, don’t talk nonsense.”
But even as he spoke, his other hand acted on its own—unlocking his phone, opening WeChat, and pulling up that newly added contact.
His private WeChat account name was a little cloud icon, matching the “Yun” in his name Yunyu, and also corresponding to his professional ID—Cloud. And the other person…
“Phone, gotcha thief!”
Ji Mengyao seized the moment while he was distracted and snatched the phone, loudly reciting, “Xiao Yunduo says, hello, I’m that person from just now. I say hello, smile—”
Ji Yunyu’s temple twitched, a murderous aura spreading to the tip of his heart. “Ji Mengyao, you f***ing… give that back to me—!”
“Ji Yunyu, you swore again! Don’t you know pro players aren’t supposed to curse?”
“Curse your grandpa—hurry up and give it back to your father!”
“Oh heavens, cousin is hitting people!! What a guilty conscience!”
“I’ll smash your conscience! Don’t run!”
“If you’re not guilty then why are you blushing? What, just got someone’s WeChat by flirting—was it a little brother or a little sister? Were they good-looking?”
“You—!”
Ji Yunyu’s face flushed as he gasped, fists itching to strike. The urge to kill couldn’t be hidden, and right now it was written all over him.
“So, answer the question.” Ji Mengyao smugly tilted her chin. “Boy or girl? Name? How old? Which school?”
“…None of your damn business.”
“Acting all cocky, then don’t blush. You can’t even say their name?”
Ji Yunyu’s ears burned red. Mortified, he snatched the phone back. “I don’t know.”
“Huh?” Her mocking words got stuck in her throat, leaving her stunned.
The teenager collapsed onto the sofa in a fit of reckless surrender. “I didn’t ask, okay?!”
At that moment, Sui Ning had smiled so beautifully—eyes curved like a crescent moon, shimmering with golden starlight—and asked if he wanted to add him as a friend. His mind had gone completely blank; how could he have remembered to ask all that?
——
Pei Siyuan’s mood, however, was far from pleasant.
The tall man walked to the street corner, his eyes cold as ice, the wind whipping his coat so it rustled sharply. Assistant Xiao Chen trailed nervously behind, shivering as he carefully opened the car door, sneaking a glance at the man’s back. “B-Boss Yuan, are we heading back now?”
Pei Siyuan shot him a chilling look.
Xiao Chen instantly shut up.
He knew his boss had gone out of his way from the filming set just to find Sui Ning. That guy should’ve been grateful. But Xiao Chen knew a little about the messy stand-in drama between Pei Siyuan, Sui Ning, and Xu Meng. Whatever conversation had happened between those people couldn’t have been pleasant.
He’d imagined several scenarios—Sui Ning crying and begging the boss not to leave, or the boss coldly shaking him off… Either way, definitely unpleasant. But he hadn’t expected this kind of unpleasantness.
Sui Ning… seemed to have actually kicked his boss out?
Xiao Chen muttered internally. Before, Sui Ning had been madly infatuated with Pei Siyuan, even confessing in public on a show, disgusting the boss to no end. But now he suddenly got bold?
Pei Siyuan stayed silent, leaning against the car window, long fingers brushing over his phone screen.
He sent another single “.”. As expected, it bounced back.
Pei Siyuan stared at the little red exclamation mark, then sneered coldly. “Pathetic.”
Xiao Chen, pretending to focus on driving, didn’t dare say a word.
Pei Siyuan closed his eyes to rest for a while, then asked, “What time tomorrow?”
The assistant quickly replied, “First two scenes at eight in the morning, then at one in the afternoon there’s an interview with Up Close, together with Film Emperor Xi.”
Pei Siyuan’s lips curved in a cold half-smile. “Film Emperor Xi?”
“Uh…” Sweat trickled down Xiao Chen’s forehead; he wished he could slap himself. “Xi… Xi Xiujin.”
Damn it. He knew these two lords didn’t get along—why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut! Xiao Chen wanted to cry but had no tears.
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