Without paying further attention to Zhao Mengyao, who stood frozen in place, Ye Shuang shook his head and said to the girl beside him, "Let's go."
Bai Yuyou stopped looking at Zhao Mengyao and simply held Ye Shuang's hand as they walked away. Their shoulders lightly brushed against each other, forming a stark contrast to Zhao Mengyao, who remained standing alone.
Zhao Mengyao felt as though her punches had landed on cotton—completely ineffective. Watching their retreating figures, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of resentment.
Why was her life getting worse while theirs only seemed to improve?
It wasn’t entirely her fault, was it?
Perhaps no longer in the mood to continue shopping, Ye Shuang led Bai Yuyou back to the parking lot.
After buckling his seatbelt, Ye Shuang found the evening sun glaringly bright and lowered the sun visor.
The fading sunlight, sliced by the glass of skyscrapers, scattered fragmented rays across the car window, illuminating only the lower half of Ye Shuang’s face. His eyes remained shadowed beneath the visor as he gripped the steering wheel, lost in thought, forgetting even to start the car.
It wasn’t until Bai Yuyou gently tugged at his sleeve that Ye Shuang snapped back to reality and turned the ignition.
"Ye Shuang..."
"Hmm?"
"What were the two of you like... before?" Bai Yuyou asked, though she had no ulterior motives—she simply wanted to understand his past.
"Just a fleeting glimpse of youth," Ye Shuang replied with a self-deprecating smile. "It’s all in the past now."
After all, persistently knocking on a door that refuses to open is simply impolite.
"She never cared about me. No matter how far I went for her, it meant nothing," Ye Shuang said, glancing at Bai Yuyou before smiling faintly. "So when she left me for her so-called 'white moonlight,' I let it go."
"Some lessons can only be learned through experience. Growth and realization always come at a price."
As he spoke, his smile grew increasingly bitter.
But that price had been far too heavy for him—so much so that even now, the mere thought of it made his stomach twist in knots.
Sensing his emotions, Bai Yuyou quickly said, "Ye Shuang... don’t be sad..."
"It’s fine." Ye Shuang reached out and pinched her soft cheek. "But things didn’t turn out entirely bad. Thanks to her... I met you."
Though Bai Yuyou didn’t fully understand, she obediently lifted her chin, letting him pinch her face.
"I... will care about Ye Shuang..."
"I’ll remember... everything Ye Shuang does for me..."
Ye Shuang’s hand paused, then gently stroked her cheek instead.
"Thank you," he said softly.
May every effort in this world be rewarded.
...
Back at the apartment, Ye Shuang first moved Yiwang’s cat bed back into place and rubbed the kitten’s head. "Stay put. We’ll move you again if something comes up."
"Meow?" Yiwang, delighted to see her overturned bed restored, happily rolled around inside.
Of course, happiness is always fleeting—even for cats.
The sky darkened gradually, as if ink had been spilled across it. If one didn’t pay attention, the change in daylight could pass in the blink of an eye.
Sipping a glass of lemon water, Ye Shuang gazed calmly at the city lights flickering to life outside the window.
Come to think of it, work resumed tomorrow. And Yinshan Academy’s 70th anniversary celebration was approaching—he wondered what theme Bai Yuyou’s class would choose.
He recalled students mentioning that during the festival, they could wear whatever they wanted—costumes, meme outfits, anything. The event was even nicknamed the "Meme Festival," where students dressed up as all sorts of pop culture references: overall-clad martial artists, two-and-a-half-striped warriors, lipstick-wearing Guinness record holders, or even talking watermelons.
The limit was only their imagination.
"Maybe I should get her something fun too—like a Bocchi the Rock outfit with a guitar. That’d suit her."
As he pondered, he realized it was almost time to cook.
"Yuyou, what do you want for dinner?" Opening the fridge, he found it nearly empty.
Luckily, the commercial plaza downstairs had an AEON supermarket in the basement level, and the apartment’s underground garage connected directly to it. Grocery shopping was just as convenient as in their old neighborhood—maybe even more so, since there were no stairs to climb.
Though the prices were another matter.
"Soup."
"Alright, let’s make soup." Just as Ye Shuang was about to head out for ingredients, his phone rang—Chen Qin was calling.
"Hey."
"Miss me?"
"It’s only been a few hours."
"So you’d miss me if it were longer?" Chen Qin giggled on the other end, her joy practically radiating through the phone.
"Guess where I’m going later?"
Ye Shuang, washing his hands on speakerphone, replied absentmindedly, "Where?"
"Straight into your heart, of course."
The sudden wave of cheesy pickup lines made Ye Shuang cringe. "Since when did you get so corny?"
"Hey, I just learned this!" Chen Qin huffed before continuing, "I’ll be there soon. What’s for dinner?"
"Huh? You’re coming over?"
"Yep, like I said—we’re living together now." The sound of car horns in the background suggested she was driving.
"I thought that was just to fool Aunt Xian?"
"Aunt Xian isn’t that dumb. She wants photo proof. Did you really think elders are easy to trick?" Chen Qin added, "But I won’t have time to drop by every day—maybe once or twice a week at most."
"Should we just move?" she suggested. "I’ve got two spare apartments."
"No need. This place is cozy, and moving to yours would make Yuyou’s commute to school a hassle."
"Fine. Tonight, let’s have crucian carp soup with goji berries."
"Crucian carp..." Ye Shuang mulled it over but agreed for now.
After hanging up, he glanced at Bai Yuyou, who was studying her guitar, and headed to the door to change shoes.
"Yuyou... stay home. I’ll grab groceries."
"Together."
"No need. The garage makes it quick." With that, Ye Shuang left.
As the door slowly closed behind him, Bai Yuyou sat on the sofa, staring at it for several seconds before finally lowering her gaze.
"Meow." Yiwang, perched on Bai Yuyou’s lap with her front paws, inspected the new, oversized curiosity in the house.
She tapped a claw against a guitar string—
Twang!
The sudden sound sent her scrambling up to the second floor in a panic.