The New Year holiday flew by. On the day before returning to work, Wen Ruqing made a special trip to Bai Xizhou’s place to personally deliver the completed book.
By then, it was already quite late. The subway had stopped running, the streets were nearly empty of cars and people, and the city was slowly falling asleep.
Bai Xizhou had just pulled himself out of a mountain of documents. Yawning non-stop, he was about to head into the kitchen to make some tea before continuing his work when the doorbell suddenly rang.
He ignored how strange it was for someone to visit this late and, pushing through his sleepiness, went to open the door.
A gust of cold wind rushed in, instantly waking him up a bit more. When he focused, he saw Wen Ruqing standing at the door in a thick cotton coat, a smile he couldn’t hold back shining in his eyes.
Half his face was buried in his scarf, and the exposed parts—his ears and hands—had turned red from the wind. But he didn’t seem to feel the cold at all. He held the book up with both hands, its cover sporting a familiar pattern that Bai Xizhou immediately recognized, and presented it like a treasure.
Whatever sleepiness remained in Bai Xizhou vanished on the spot. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say to the person standing in front of him. His face was a bit stiff, but then he raised his hand and pulled Wen Ruqing into the house.
The door closed with a loud bang, making Wen Ruqing flinch. A little confused by the emotional weight of that gesture, he turned to look at Bai Xizhou—who was now leaning against the door, head lowered, lost in thought. When he looked up again, his expression didn’t look too good.
“Did I… come at a bad time?” Wen Ruqing felt like a bucket of cold water had just been poured over his head. He slowly lowered the book, suddenly uncertain.
“It was a bad time,” Bai Xizhou said as he took the book from him and guided him into the living room, pointing to the clock on the table. “Look what time it is.”
Wen Ruqing followed his gaze—the clock read 12:06.
It was late.
He started to understand why Bai Xizhou’s mood seemed off. But his tone and expression didn’t show anger, which made Wen Ruqing second-guess himself again.
“Did I wake you? I’m sorry,” Wen Ruqing scratched his head, embarrassed. “I was just too excited and wanted you to see the book as soon as possible. I didn’t really check the time.”
Showing up unannounced in the middle of the night, interrupting someone’s rest—and on the night before the first workday after the holidays, no less—was clearly thoughtless. A bad night’s sleep before returning to work meant feeling drained the next day. He hadn’t considered that at all.
But honestly, when he left home, he wasn’t thinking about any of that. On the way over, there had been only one thought in his mind: he had to let Bai Xizhou be the first to see the restored book.
That book had traveled from Yundaun Town to the new city, taking over eight months to complete. Now it is finally finished. He felt he hadn’t let Bai Xizhou’s trust go to waste.
Bai Xizhou sighed as he placed the book on the table. He still hadn’t opened it, not even once. Wen Ruqing wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Even if he was upset—now that he’d come all this way, wouldn’t it make sense to at least look at the book?
But after a long pause, all Bai Xizhou said was:
“Are you cold?”
“Not at all,” Wen Ruqing shook his head.
He hadn’t taken a cab. He ran all the way here—because at that hour, getting a cab wasn’t easy. And he was in such a hurry. The wind on the road was strong, but he didn’t feel cold. On the contrary, he was a little overheated.
Bai Xizhou looked at him for a few seconds, then turned and went into the kitchen. When he came back, he was carrying a cup of hot water.
“It’s really late. If I’d fallen asleep and couldn’t open the door, your trip would’ve been for nothing.” He handed the cup to Wen Ruqing before finally sitting down and opening the book that had been neglected until now.
“I didn’t think that far ahead,” Wen Ruqing said, cradling the cup, smiling a little sheepishly. He didn’t drink the water, just held it in his hands until the warmth brought life back into his frozen fingers.
Bai Xizhou only flipped through a couple pages before closing the book again. He turned to Wen Ruqing.
“Stay over tonight,” he said. “It’s hard to get a cab at this hour. Plus, my place is close to your work.”
Bai Xizhou had never really planned to have guests stay over. When his apartment was renovated, he hadn’t intended to keep a guest room. It was only because Teng Yuan had insisted that he’d kept one. Over the years, it had just been used to store random things. But after New Year’s Eve, Bai Xizhou had found time to clean it out.
Something told him this wasn’t going to be a one-time thing. He couldn’t keep putting Wen Ruqing in the master bedroom every time.
Wen Ruqing thought for a moment and then nodded. He didn’t feel like running around anymore either. The excitement that had carried him here was now spent—what remained was just exhaustion.
The next day, the two of them had breakfast together. Since the research institute and the law firm were on the same route, Bai Xizhou dropped Wen Ruqing off before heading to his own office.
On the first workday after the New Year holiday, no one was particularly energetic. Combined with a messy string of morning meetings, everyone looked half-asleep.
Bai Xizhou was also distracted—his attention kept drifting. He’d glance at his phone from time to time, not see what he was hoping for, then close it in disappointment and shift his gaze back to the ambitious, energetic boss speaking at the front… only to space out again. This loop repeated itself until the meeting finally ended.
After an entire morning of meetings, even Zhu Yuyan’s flawless makeup couldn’t hide her fatigue. She yawned as she walked past Bai Xizhou and noticed him looking at his phone again.
“Lawyer Bai, how many times have you checked your phone this morning?” she leaned over, trying to sneak a peek at what he was looking at.
But all she saw was a glimpse of a chat window before the screen went dark.
“You seem free,” Bai Xizhou said, raising his eyes to look at her. “Want me to assign you something to do?”
“No thanks,” Zhu Yuyan waved her hand in refusal. “But seriously, this isn’t like you. Tell me—did you fall in love over the holidays?”
“No, just… a friend. First day back at work for him today. I’m just worried he’s having a hard time adjusting.”
“Sure, a friend,” Zhu Yuyan replied with an utterly unconvinced face, but she still nodded and walked off quickly. Once she was far enough away from his hearing range, she rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, “Keep lying to yourself, then.”
The person in question had no idea he was being gossiped about—but back in his own office, he suddenly sneezed.
Bai Xizhou opened and closed Wen Ruqing’s chat several times. He typed out a message with furrowed brows, but it didn’t feel quite right. He deleted all of it.
Was he overstepping? Wen Ruqing was an adult—capable of handling things on his own. There was no need to worry so much.
“You can’t always expect the other person to make the first move.”
Suddenly, those words drunkenly muttered by Wen Ruqing surfaced in his mind.
Bai Xizhou opened the chat window once again, typed out a line, and hit send.
He hadn’t expected himself to agonize so much over a single message. It was just a message of concern—nothing more.
Ding!
Wen Ruqing’s phone, left on the table, buzzed with a new notification.
[How was your first day at work?]
It was a message from Bai Xizhou.
Wen Ruqing set down his chopsticks and replied:
[Pretty good. My coworkers are all very friendly.]
[We’re having a dinner gathering after work too.]
[That’s good. Get along well with your colleagues.]
Wen Ruqing let out a small laugh—Bai Xizhou’s message sounded exactly like a parent seeing their child off on their first day of work.
“Who are you texting that it’s more important than eating?” the person across from him teased with a smile. “Boyfriend checking up on you?”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Wen Ruqing reined in his smile, finished typing, put his phone away, and continued eating.
He was in the employee cafeteria at the research institute, sitting across from a new colleague he had just met today—Han Mu.
The cafeteria food wasn’t bad, just a bit greasy and salty. Wen Ruqing got full quickly. He glanced up at Han Mu, already wondering if he could politely excuse himself.
They’d only met this morning.
He had arrived at his department with one of the interviewers, who introduced him to a woman in her forties—Feng Yuhua, the department director.
Feng Yuhua greeted him warmly and showed him his desk, which had some welcome gifts from his future colleagues—small things, but practical and kind.
She explained that the department hadn’t had any “new blood” in quite some time and hoped he’d get used to the work environment.
Then she brought him to the restoration workshop, pointing out the only available station.
“This will be your spot for repairing ancient books,” she said. “Those machines in the corner will be used frequently, and the storage room through there holds all types of paper—essential for the restoration process.”
“Every so often, we receive batches of books for restoration. It’s going to be quite busy after the New Year, so be mentally prepared.”
She patted his shoulder supportively.
Since it was the first day back, and no new books had arrived, the workload was light. After the quick tour, Director Feng left—and the rest of the team finally swarmed over.
They were curious about the newcomer and asked him lots of questions. Thankfully, nothing too invasive, and Wen Ruqing answered them all patiently.
“Ruqing, let’s go out for dinner after work! It’s kind of our department tradition,” said Chen Qi, the guy sitting behind him. “Don’t worry, we don’t haze the newbies.”
“What’s going on here? Sounds lively.”
A voice came from the doorway.
Wen Ruqing looked up and saw someone wearing glasses, carrying a bag.
“How come I’ve never heard about your department having a first-day-back dinner tradition?”
“Come on, Han Mu, don’t ruin the moment,” Chen Qi laughed, then turned to introduce him.
“This is Han Mu from the department next door…”
“I know him—he’s Wen Ruqing.” Han Mu interrupted before Chen Qi could finish.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Chen Qi looked surprised, then smacked his own forehead as if remembering something.
“Oh right—you guys graduated from the same university. So, technically, you’re alumni.”
Wen Ruqing blinked in confusion, looking at Han Mu. The latter nodded, and all Wen Ruqing could do was force a polite smile and play along with Han Mu’s familiarity.
The morning passed quickly. Han Mu asked to eat lunch together, and Wen Ruqing, since he was going to the cafeteria anyway, didn’t refuse.
After work, the department went out for dinner nearby—but Wen Ruqing didn’t understand why Han Mu was there too.
Still, one meal was enough to help a newcomer fit in. The vibe was friendly, and Chen Qi—slightly tipsy—kept saying things like “don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”
It left Wen Ruqing slightly dazed, like he had already been working there for years.
Once dinner ended, everyone headed home. Wen Ruqing checked the metro schedule on his phone and was just about to leave when Han Mu’s car pulled up in front of him.
“Hop in. I’ll drive you home.”
Han Mu had been overly enthusiastic all day, which made Wen Ruqing slightly uncomfortable. He took two steps back and declined with a polite smile.
“What, is my car not good enough for you, junior?” Han Mu teased, still not giving up.
Wen Ruqing was speechless. They weren’t close at all, and he didn’t want Han Mu to know his address.
“Sorry, a friend is coming to pick me up. No need to trouble you.” He lied—he just wanted Han Mu to get the hint.
Han Mu still looked like he wanted to say something, but just then, a car behind them honked twice. Wen Ruqing turned—it was a familiar car.
“ My friend’s here. I’ll head off first.” He quickly walked over, opened the passenger door, got in, and only relaxed once the car in front of them had pulled away.
“New colleague?” Bai Xizhou asked as he started the car. “It looks like you two were getting along well.”
“He went to the same university as me.” Wen Ruqing leaned against the window, gazing at the streetlights outside.
Bai Xizhou gripped the steering wheel slightly tighter.
“No wonder. Being alumni does make people feel closer.” He didn’t even notice his tone was a bit cold.
“It’s not like that.”Wen Ruqing sighed.
“He’s not even in my department. And I don’t know him at all. He’s acting like we’re best friends—I have no idea what he’s thinking.”
Back in college, Wen Ruqing had been laser-focused on his coursework. He didn’t know (or care to know) about any “upperclassmen.”
Bai Xizhou’s hand relaxed, and his expression softened too.
“Alright, let’s not talk about him. Did you drink at dinner?” He caught the faint scent of alcohol from Wen Ruqing’s side.
Wen Ruqing was slightly thrown by how quickly he changed the topic.
“Just a little. It’s hard to say no when colleagues propose a toast.”
“Hmm.” Bai Xizhou stopped at a red light. “What did you have for lunch?”
“The institute’s cafeteria.”
Thinking about it made Wen Ruqing frown.
“It wasn’t very good.”
Not as good as his own cooking—or Bai Xizhou’s.
A short drive later, they arrived at the entrance of Wen Ruqing’s apartment complex. He got out, thanked Bai Xizhou, and walked away.
Bai Xizhou sat in the car, watching his back until it disappeared from view. Then he pulled out his phone and called Qu Qingchen.
“Qingchen, it’s me. Remember that custom meal plan you made for Teng Yuan? Could you send me a copy?”
“Those two aren’t the same case. I’ll ask my nutritionist friend to adjust it before I send it.”
Qu Qingchen didn’t even need to ask why—he already understood.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“No need for that. You’re welcome.”
