Xie An’yu and Guo Tianyang didn’t chat for very long. It was getting late, and Guo Tianyang had a dormitory curfew to worry about—lingering too long might make him late getting back. Even if they’d had more time, there wasn’t much they could talk about. Though Xie An’yu and Guo Tianyang were around the same age, differences in education and life experience had formed a barrier between them, leaving them with little common ground.
Most of the time, it was Guo Tianyang doing the talking—about the past, the present, Shuangye Isle, and Beicheng. Children who grow up in sunny environments tend to be like this: confident, relaxed, viewing the world with bright eyes. Xie An’yu enjoyed being around people like this, though he himself was rather taciturn, playing the role of the listener most of the time.
Occasionally, he would feel a twinge of envy. Occasionally, he would want to be a more active participant too.
As they chatted, a clear female voice suddenly called out from behind them: “Hey!”
Guo Tianyang felt a light tap on the back of his head. He turned around to see his girlfriend standing there.
“What are you doing here?” Guo Tianyang asked, surprised.
“Had nothing to do tonight, so I just wandered over,” she said, ruffling Guo Tianyang’s hair before glancing at Xie An’yu and offering a small smile.
“Ah, let me introduce you,” Guo Tianyang said. “This is Xie An’yu, my high school classmate. And this is Ding Ying, my girlfriend.”
Ding Ying attended the same university as Guo Tianyang but was a year ahead—not just his girlfriend but also his senior. She waved at Xie An’yu. “Hi there.”
Xie An’yu smiled. “Hello.”
Ding Ying noticed the takeaway coffee on the table and asked Guo Tianyang, “Did you get this for me?”
Guo Tianyang deliberately teased her. “Nope.”
Ding Ying scoffed and picked up the coffee with a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“Haven’t paid for it yet, by the way. You’re covering it,” Guo Tianyang told her.
Ding Ying stuck a straw into the paper cup, took a sip, and nodded. “Fine, I’ll pay.” She draped an arm over Guo Tianyang’s shoulder and whispered, “Did I come too early?”
Guo Tianyang said, “You came at… just the right time. We were about to wrap up anyway.” He looked at Xie An’yu. “Is your aunt’s place far from here? Why don’t we walk back with you?”
“No need, my aunt’s house is pretty close. You two should head back early.”
Ding Ying pinched Guo Tianyang’s ear, drawing out her words, “Come shopping with me tomorrow afternoon, okay? Pop Mart’s got new releases. I wanna check them out in-store.”
“I have class tomorrow afternoon.”
“What class? Tomorrow’s Sunday. Did you pour coffee into that brain of yours or what?”
“Oh,” Guo Tianyang couldn’t help but laugh, “I forgot.”
“Then we’ll get going, An’yu.”
Xie An’yu stood up with Guo Tianyang. “Mm, be careful on your way back.”
As Guo Tianyang got up, Ding Ying tugged his arm and said, “Hold on, I haven’t paid yet. Can’t drink Boss Guo’s coffee for free. I’ll go settle the bill.”
With that, she made a show of heading toward the counter, but Guo Tianyang grabbed her and laughed. “You’re really getting into this act.”
Ding Ying took another sip of coffee and smirked. “You started it, acting with me first.”
“Just teasing you.”
“Boring.”
“Who’s more boring?”
“Obviously you.”
They chatted back and forth all the way to the entrance, where Xie An’yu bid them goodbye. The Americano he had ordered earlier remained untouched. He had asked for a hot drink, but it had cooled down by now. He took a sip through the straw and nearly spat it out from the bitterness.
Frowning, he forced himself to swallow the coffee and quietly watched Guo Tianyang and his girlfriend walk away. The night was so quiet that their conversation still reached his ears clearly—
“Tomorrow, I can sleep in again. Let’s hit the library in the morning, go shopping in the afternoon, then catch a movie at night.”
“Student Ding Ying, give your weekend some breathing room, will you?”
After watching them disappear into the distance, Xie An’yu’s phone rang. He answered and heard the restaurant boss on the other end: “Come to the shop early tomorrow. We’re going to the seafood market.”
“Got it. What time?”
“Before 7:30. The earlier the better—if we’re late, we won’t get the good stuff. The shop’s been busy lately, so no more leaving early starting tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
After hanging up, a wave of melancholy slowly washed over Xie An’yu.
Perhaps his mood had been too high earlier. That phone call felt like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head, dragging him back to reality.
He admitted it—sometimes he envied others.
And this ‘sometimes’ was right now.
***
Yu Feng glanced at his wristwatch, set down his glass, and said to Qian Wenhao, “Excuse me, I have something to attend to. I’ll take my leave first.”
Qian Wenhao was about to speak but simply smiled faintly at this. “As you wish.” He had thought Yu Feng was going to leave the party early, but as his gaze followed him, he saw Yu Feng return to the same quiet corner as before and casually pull out his phone.
Seeing that Yu Feng had finished chatting with his ‘new friend’, Zhou Yi walked over to him.
“Finished chatting so quickly?” Zhou Yi said, sitting beside Yu Feng and glancing toward Qian Wenhao’s direction. “Not bad-looking. No sparks?”
“Nope,” Yu Feng replied without looking up, still scrolling through his phone.
“I think he was pretty into you. He couldn’t take his eyes off you when you walked away,” Zhou Yi remarked.
Yu Feng hummed in acknowledgment, still absorbed in his phone.
Zhou Yi couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s wrong with you, you unlucky kid? Why are you always on your phone? At your age, you’ve evolved into an internet addict? Found yourself an online fling?”
“That’s right,” Yu Feng blurted out jokingly. “And didn’t you find this ‘online fling’ for me?”
“Huh?” Zhou Yi leaned in for a look and saw Yu Feng’s chat interface with ‘Xiao Dao’. His eyes widened slightly—he hadn’t expected Yu Feng to still be in contact with that Xiao Dao guy. He’d almost forgotten about it himself.
“Sucker Bro?” Zhou Yi stared at a certain sucker. “You spent money again?”
“I did.”
Zhou Yi took a look and found that there was a voice message on the chat interface.
“He even sent a voice message? What did he say?”
Yu Feng didn’t think much of it and simply handed his phone to Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi played the latest message, and a familiar male voice came through the phone’s speaker: “I’ll take a few more photos for you when I get the chance.”
Zhou Yi’s expression shifted abruptly. Suddenly serious, he asked Yu Feng, “Tell me the truth—have you been secretly letting this guy milk you for cash behind my back many times?”
How long has it been since then? Has their relationship to progress so rapidly? It had even reached the point of sharing photos!
Before Yu Feng could say anything, Zhou Yi asked again, “Wait, you’re not actually in an online relationship, are you?”
Yu Feng replied, “Could you scroll up and read the context before commenting?”
Zhou Yi immediately scrolled up through the chat history. “Oh, it’s a photo of a puppy… Hmm, it’s quite cute, this little white dog.”
Zhou Yi looked up and asked Yu Feng, “Has your time run out? Can you still chat?”
“I don’t know. It should be almost up.”
“When did you place the order?” Zhou Yi checked the backend of the mini-program and glanced at the order details. “You spendthrift! Why did you pick such an expensive one? How long was it for?”
“One hour.”
“That still doesn’t add up. How does one hour cost 88[mfn]T/N: Around 12 USD[/mfn]? Last time, half an hour was only 28.” Zhou Yi took a closer look and realized Yu Feng had selected ‘Voice Call’ instead of ‘Voice Chat’.
This platform was quite sneaky—not only playing word games but also listing prices from highest to lowest. When Yu Feng placed the order, his eyes immediately caught the ‘Voice Call’ option at the top, completely missing the ‘Voice Chat’ below. He thought he had selected the same service Zhou Yi had ordered for him last time.
“No wonder it’s so much more expensive. You picked ‘Voice Call’. Next time, look carefully before clicking. Don’t just randomly select—wait, let me check if the time’s up.”
Zhou Yi checked the end time displayed on the order and compared it to the current time, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, there are three minutes left.” He lowered his head and fiddled with Yu Feng’s phone. Seeing Zhou Yi’s mischievous smirk, Yu Feng frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Calling Xiao Dao.”
Yu Feng was stunned. “Are you fucking drunk?”
Zhou Yi had indeed drunk quite a bit, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “You spent 88 yuan on a voice call—88 RMB, not Indonesian rupiah. There are only three minutes left. Why not use it? You want your money to go to waste?”
Before he finished speaking, the WeChat call had already gone through, and Zhou Yi held the phone up to Yu Feng’s ear.
Yu Feng clicked his tongue lightly, and a voice came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“…Xiao Zhou?”
Real-time voice calls were different from sending voice messages back and forth. There was no delay—it felt like the speaker was right beside you, making Xiao Dao’s presence feel more tangible.
Yu Feng remained silent. He could hear a slight tremble in the other person’s voice, along with a barely noticeable nasal tone that was easy to miss.
Yu Feng snatched the phone back, hung up the call, and messaged the other person: 【I accidentally clicked the wrong option just now】
“You just wasted another 88,” Zhou Yi said.
Yu Feng ignored him and continued typing: 【What’s wrong?】
Xiao Dao: 【Mm?】
Xiao Zhou Sails Away: 【You sounded a bit nasal just now】
Xie An’yu froze, instinctively sniffing. He wasn’t crying, but his mood was indeed a little low】
Xiao Zhou Sails Away: 【What’s the matter?】
Xiao Dao: 【It’s nothing】
Xie An’yu stared at his phone blankly. After a moment, he decided to share his true feelings with Xiao Zhou.
Xiao Dao: 【I just miss my parents and grandma a little】
He wanted to try being an active participant, to share his joys and sorrows with someone else.
Xiao Dao: 【But at least they can reunite in another world】
The moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, casting a faint silvery frost over the road. Xie An’yu looked up at the moon hanging in the night sky.
Yu Feng stared at his phone screen for a long time.
Was there really a world where the dead could reunite?
His phone buzzed—
Xiao Dao: 【The moon is beautiful tonight】
Yu Feng turned to glance at the large floor-to-ceiling window. From here, he could see the moon in the sky, while a guitarist on the lawn played a lively tune under its glow. The crowd was reveling, but the moon remained cold and distant.
He lowered his head and typed a reply: 【I can’t pluck it down and give it to you】
Xie An’yu chuckled as he looked at his phone.
A moment later, a notification popped up in the background—
【System Notice: Your service time has ended. Please cease further communication with the client.】
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 09″]
絮絮叨叨 (xù xu dāo dāo): long-winded; garrulous; to talk endlessly without getting to the point; talk endlessly/incessantly; babble ceaselessly/incessantly; hum about; talk like a magpie/chatterbox; describes someone who is chatty or nagging.突飛猛進 (tū fēi měng jìn): to progress rapidly; to advance by leaps and bounds; advance with seven-league strides; make great/remarkable progress; Describe progress and development is particularly rapid.
似笑非笑 (sì xiào fēi xiào): like a smile yet not a smile (idiom); wear a faint/slight smile; smile faintly; with a wry/forced/bitter smile; to give a faint or forced smile.
喜怒哀樂 (xǐ nù āi lè): happiness, anger, sorrow and joy; the emotions of life; four types of human emotions, namely: happiness, anger, sorrow and joy; joys and sorrows; emotions; feelings; human sentiments; refers to a variety of different human emotions. From the Doctrine of the Mean (《中庸》) in the Book of Rites: 喜怒哀樂之未發，謂之中；發而皆中節，謂之和；中也者，天下之大本也；和也者，天下之達道也。, While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this Harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue.
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