Chapter 9: Friends of friends

Shadows of people hurried along the road on my way home from work.

I watched the osmanthus flowers bloom and wither; the ground was covered in flattened petals that had lost their former beauty, yet they still gave off a delicate fragrance.

It was nearly November.

I heard from a colleague that a cold snap was coming.

How cold would it get?

Entering the apartment gate, I saw a curled-up ball of fur in front of my building from a distance.

Only when I got closer did I realize it was a person.

“Li Mingshan, I’ve been waiting for you…”

A soft female voice came from that ball of fur.

“Is that you? Xu Yinyin?”

I recognized that long-lost voice.

“Yes, it’s me.”

As she looked up, her hood slipped off, revealing a face as plump and red as an apple from the cold.

A ponytail peeked out from the side, wrapping around her neck like a scarf.

She was my college senior and the object of Xiao Ji’s unrequited love.

Usually, whenever we mentioned “Senior,” we were talking about her.

She shouldn’t have known my address.

“Senior Xu, why are you here? Aren’t you sensitive to the cold?”

“I am. It’s just…”

She seemed to be organizing her thoughts.

I took the opportunity to steady my emotions, thankful she hadn’t gone directly to knock on my door.

She knew about An Zhi and me; she had even secretly tried to push our relationship forward.

If she saw Su Xixia now, it would not only be unfair to her, but it would also be a huge hassle to explain.

The most important thing was that I didn’t want to worry about An Zhi anymore.

“It’s Xiao Ji. He said if I couldn’t find him, I could come here and wait for you.”

‘Damn it, Xiao Ji, are you trying to push me into a pit of fire?’

“Where is he?”

“I thought he would be here. I’ve been messaging him lately, but it takes him forever to reply. This time, he hasn’t responded for two days. I was wondering if he’s in some kind of danger.”

“That guy won’t be in any danger. Leaving you alone like this is the real danger!”

My tone was unintentionally heated.

I couldn’t understand why Xiao Ji would neglect the girl he had a crush on, yet I also worried about his safety.

Come to think of it, Xiao Ji was a wanderer at heart.

He spent all day loitering on the streets doing nothing.

He talked about finding a job but never actually looked, and he talked about confessing to Senior but never took action.

“But… he’s been acting very strange lately, and he doesn’t reply instantly anymore. No! I don’t mean he has to reply instantly every time… just replying would be enough.”

Senior was still gentle and cautious.

Even having come all this way, she spoke calmly and softly.

She was even considerate of Xiao Ji.

Looking at that guy Xiao Ji on the other hand, he was driving me crazy…

“Senior, I’ll find a way to get a hold of him. It’s cold out here, why don’t you head back first? I’ll definitely message you once I find him.”

Xu Yinyin opened her mouth as if to say something, but only after a few seconds did she murmur, “Mhm, I’m counting on you,” before turning around.

I was thinking of walking her to the subway station when I heard her add clearly:

“An Zhi must be very busy. Please say hello to her for me, and I wish you two happiness.”

She still mentioned An Zhi.

Did she mistakenly think I could still contact her?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t either.

If even I couldn’t, which other acquaintance could?

At least she wasn’t just giving me the cold shoulder; she was the same with all her friends.

It was as if she had disappeared from our lives, existing only within that livestream room.

By the time I snapped out of my daze, Senior had already walked out of the gate and vanished from sight.

When I got home, Su Xixia came running to meet me.

The room was filled with warm steam, accompanied by the bubbling *gurgle gurgle* sound of boiling water.

It was so warm.

This was a traditional heating method we used back in our hometown.

In such a small room, it worked perfectly.

“How’s this? This method is much cheaper than turning on the air conditioner!”

She took my bag, then suddenly stopped.

Her nose twitched several times before she questioned me, “Did you meet a woman?”

My heart tightened, and I nodded.

“How did you know? It was a senior from college; she asked me to help her find someone.”

‘How did she smell that? Why can’t I smell anything? And where is this strange, murderous aura coming from?’

“She came specifically to your front door to find you?! Li Mingshan, you’d better remember that you already have me! I will be keeping a close eye on you.”

‘Can she even smell the distance? This is terrifying…’

As she spoke, the towel in her hand gradually grew cold.

She knew it, yet she still wiped the dirt off my face and neck.

The cold sensation shot straight to my brain.

“I know. You, Su Xixia, are my only woman.”

“Hmph, such a sweet talker.”

She gave my cheek a pinch as a threat before heading toward the bathroom.

I sat on the edge of the bed and took out my phone.

Just as I was about to call Xiao Ji, I noticed a private message from the Ali platform in my notification bar.

In the nickname column at the top, it said “Anonymous.”

“I have something big to tell you. Meet me at the old spot tonight.”

‘Wait, if you’re anonymous, what “old spot” am I supposed to go to? Who are you?’

After thinking it over, I decided there was only one person around me who would do something like this: Xiao Ji.

Could this “big thing” he wanted to tell me—the one for which he’d even abandon Xu Yinyin—be that he was preparing to confess and give her a surprise?

Given what had happened earlier, that was very likely the case!

So, I used the excuse that I had to work overtime at the company and successfully tricked Su Xixia into letting me leave the house.

I watched the subway ticket gate for a long time.

Only after confirming she hadn’t followed me did I feel at ease getting on the train and heading toward a certain Western restaurant in the center of the old city district.

At night, the old city district of Sucheng was very peaceful.

There had always been a rumor that “people in Sucheng have no nightlife.”

It really was quite lonely.

Entering this budget Western restaurant called Saizeriya, I found Xiao Ji at a seat in the back, his mouth covered in corn chowder.

I sat across from him and ordered a side of garlic bread while listening to him clear his throat twice with great solemnity.

“Brother Li, you should be thanking me!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Aren’t you going to confess to Senior? Why should I thank you?”

He flashed a confident smile.

The way he gulped down the rest of the chowder was inexplicably irritating.

“It’s big news! And it’s about you.”

He was avoiding any mention of Xu Yinyin and insisting it was about me, playing hard to get with the information.

It seemed like his old habit was acting up again.

“Just say it already!”

“Would you believe me if I said I saw An Zhi?”

At this most irritating moment, I heard the very thing I least wanted to hear.

Suppressing the urge to explode, I stuffed the entire piece of bread into my mouth.

“Remember the newspapers saying a big star rented a practice room? And then I heard the South Ring Road was closed, so I went there to loiter. It turns out the practice room really was around there. Fans were gathered in circle after circle, and they even knocked over the barricades! Man, it was a mess!”

He winked and gesticulated wildly with his fingers, acting like a crosstalk performer putting on a show I had no interest in watching.

‘How annoying…’

The streamers’ closed training sessions were always done in groups; there was no way that big star was An Zhi.

“Enough with the guessing! Why don’t you worry about Senior? She even came looking for you at my door!”

I interrupted him, only realizing after I spoke how loud my voice had been.

“I asked around the fans. That male star rented the practice room for a month but slipped away the very next day! Do you know who went in to practice after him?!”

I didn’t care who it was.

What about Xu Yinyin?

I had to get an explanation for her, no matter how much he tried to change the subject!

“How long has it been since you replied to her messages? What happened to always saying how much you liked her? Why do you have her worrying about you now?”

“I saw it with my own eyes—the ones who arrived were female streamers! Their company is really clever, renting the room under a big star’s name and using him as cover to keep things secret. Genius! But I hid in a small hostel across the street for several days and saw it for myself! Among those female streamers…”

This way of avoiding things was too shameless, truly beyond belief!

Why couldn’t he just face what he needed to face?

“Enough…”

I growled.

“Among those female streamers, I saw An Zhi! I’m not mistaken! I swear it!”

“I said enough — !!!”

I stood up and roared.

My fist swung out of control and slammed onto the table with a loud *bang!*, finally bringing Xiao Ji to a halt.

He looked like a child who had caught a fish in a pool only to be scolded for it.

His eyes were wide, filled with frustration and surprise.

Noticing the reactions of the staff and other customers, I bowed and apologized to them.

I pointed toward the door and walked out of the restaurant first.