Initial

Afternoon.

Li Guanqi arrived at the entrance of Su Cheng's apartment after changing her clothes, where she coincidentally encountered two vaguely familiar figures: a lavishly dressed young girl shimmering with golden radiance and an elegant, poised mature woman with an air of meticulous perfection.

"Tomorrow, just follow behind him. You don’t need to worry about anything else."

"Why?"

"You need to play to your strengths. That’s the only way to keep other women from approaching him… Anyway, I’ll explain in detail when we get back."

"By the way, has he been close to any other women lately?"

"There’s one."

"What type is she?"

"The gloomy, plain, and quiet kind."

They were none other than Cornelia and her mother. Engrossed in their conversation, they walked toward Li Guanqi without noticing her due to her naturally low-key presence, brushing past her unintentionally.

"Seems like they just came from his place."

Feeling inexplicably slighted, Li Guanqi glanced back at the retreating figures of the mother and daughter before murmuring to herself. She then turned away and stepped toward the elevator leading to Su Cheng’s apartment.

After riding the elevator up and reaching his door, she knocked lightly.

Creak—

"Have a seat and rest for a bit. I’ll go change first."

The door opened to reveal Su Cheng standing there in his school uniform. Recognizing her, he motioned for her to come inside without further ado.

The fact that he was still in his uniform told Li Guanqi that Cornelia and her mother had likely been waiting for him to return home, leaving him no time to change.

"It’s still early, no need to rush—"

But before she could finish, Su Cheng had already retreated into his bedroom, leaving her alone at the entrance.

Shaking her head in resignation, Li Guanqi entered, closed the door, and locked it. Her eyes swept over the shoe rack, where she spotted an unfamiliar pair of shoes—undoubtedly belonging to Cornelia’s mother—but paid them no mind.

Bending down, she picked up her own slippers, placed them in front of her feet, and slipped off her shoes, revealing a pair of delicate feet sheathed in black stockings. After sliding into the slippers, she headed straight for the living room.

Having not visited in a while, she took a moment to survey the surroundings. Nothing much had changed, except for the tea set left uncleared on the coffee table—clear evidence of a recent visit from Cornelia and her mother.

Without hesitation, she picked up the tea set and began washing it. Noticing leftover tea in the pot, she even retrieved a flask from her bag, poured out the water, and transferred the remaining tea into it.

Soon, everything was tidied up.

Yet, strangely, Su Cheng still hadn’t emerged. Under normal circumstances, he never took more than five minutes unless something unusual was happening.

Could something be wrong?

Puzzled, she approached the bedroom. The door wasn’t fully closed, leaving a narrow gap through which she could vaguely make out the scene inside.

Narrowing her eyes, Li Guanqi peeked in—only for her pupils to abruptly constrict at the utterly baffling sight before her.

Su Cheng was standing in front of the mirror, applying lip balm.

Since when did he become so meticulous?

Since when did he care about lip balm?

No, maybe I’m seeing things.

Doubting her own eyes, she leaned in closer to confirm whether this was a hallucination…

But reality proved her wrong. Even more absurdly, Su Cheng was now meticulously applying hand cream. While such a product was commonplace and nothing noteworthy, the old Su Cheng had been the type to consider even facial wash an unnecessary hassle—a man who economized to the extreme.

She remembered once spotting an all-in-one hygiene product in his bathroom—a so-called "18-in-1" miracle solution that supposedly functioned as body wash, shampoo, facial cleanser, toothpaste, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner…

A revolutionary, borderline sci-fi concoction.

At first, she’d assumed it was some system-generated item.

Only later did she learn he’d bought it from a rural two-yuan store.

And now, he was voluntarily using hand cream? This was beyond bizarre! It was almost as if…

Had he been possessed?!

Today’s Su Cheng was anything but normal!

"Seeing how carefully you’ve dressed today, I thought I should put in some effort too, as a sign of respect."

Suddenly, Su Cheng—still adjusting his clothes—turned to her with a smile and added, "Besides, this shopping trip is important to me. I should take it seriously."

"I… I didn’t dress up for anyone’s sake. I just felt like it."

Li Guanqi stared at the transformed Su Cheng, utterly dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected such an unexpected response and was momentarily at a loss for words.

It was true that she’d paid extra attention to her appearance today.

"That near-invisible aura of yours is probably something only I can appreciate."

Su Cheng shook his head without pausing his primping. After a moment, he spoke again:

"Go sit down for a bit. I still need a little more time. If you’re going for perfection, you might as well go all the way."

"Oh… alright."

Though brimming with questions, Li Guanqi obediently nodded and retreated from the bedroom. But just a few steps away, she heard Su Cheng humming a cheerful tune behind her.

"Only by treating yourself well~ will women like you~"

"……"

Her expression twisting into something between bewilderment and speechlessness, Li Guanqi silently withdrew and sat stiffly on the sofa, as if frozen in place.

A few minutes later, Su Cheng emerged from the bedroom. Though dressed in his usual casual wear, he looked noticeably more polished and refined than usual—clearly having put in considerable effort.

"Did you tidy up the tea set? Thanks for that." He took a seat across from her on the sofa, his tone calm.

"Yeah." Li Guanqi snapped out of her daze and nodded before curiosity got the better of her. "Did Cornelia and her mother come by earlier?"

"So you ran into them." Su Cheng confirmed with a nod. "Cornelia’s been invited to Xuan Ying’s birthday tomorrow, so her mom asked me to look after her."

"I see." Li Guanqi’s expression cleared in understanding before she remarked flatly, "I can already picture a nervous little girl trailing behind you tomorrow, probably clutching your sleeve and staring up at you with pleading eyes."

Despite her composed delivery, her words carried a clear undertone of teasing and sarcasm.

Su Cheng couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at this and replied in an equally deadpan tone, "I think it’d be better if you took care of her tomorrow. You two get along well, after all."

"I don’t befriend people who call me ‘gloomy girl’ behind my back." Li Guanqi shot back bluntly, though her refusal wasn’t entirely serious. In her eyes, staying close to Su Cheng would be far safer for Cornelia.

"Alright, let’s get going." Su Cheng didn’t press the matter and instead changed the subject. "Time to shop. If we finish early, we can still make it back for dinner."

………………

Today’s itinerary only involved visiting a few high-end stores downtown, so there was no need to take the subway—a bus would suffice.

The two sat in the second-to-last row; Li Guanqi took the window seat while Su Cheng, wearing a face mask, sat on the aisle side.

As the bus rocked rhythmically along the road, he leaned back with his eyes closed, looking completely at ease.

Li Guanqi had hoped Su Cheng would rest her head on his shoulder—it would have better captured that sense of bliss and tranquility.

But he didn’t make the move, and she couldn’t take the initiative either. So they sat stiffly, maintaining a distance that was both close and far.

"Clatter—"

The sound of the bus stopping and its doors sliding open announced the arrival at a station. A crowd of well-dressed men and women filed in, clearly heading to the nearby shopping district.

"Excuse me, could you move to the inner seat?"

Just then, a woman suddenly appeared beside Su Cheng, bending slightly as she spoke in a gentle tone.

She hadn’t noticed Li Guanqi sitting inside, assuming the seat was empty, and politely made her request.

Hearing this, Li Guanqi opened his eyes and glanced at Su Cheng, about to speak up. But before he could, Su Cheng pulled the woman into her lap and said softly, "Sorry, this seat’s taken."

The moment she was pulled in, Li Guanqi froze completely, forgetting even how to react, his expression blank with shock.

"Oh! My apologies—I must’ve misseen."

The woman was startled by Li Guanqi’s sudden presence and quickly bowed her head in apology to Su Cheng before hurrying off to find another seat.

"That was abrupt. I might’ve been a bit rough—sorry."

Su Cheng released her and withdrew his arm.

"Uh… it’s fine." Li Guanqi’s lips parted slightly, flushed with embarrassment, but she managed to murmur, "I wasn’t asleep. I could’ve told her myself."

"Let’s go back to how we were before?"

Su Cheng didn’t respond to that. Instead, he held out a hand, palm open in the space between them.

Li Guanqi stared at that outstretched hand, emotions surging inside her—indescribable, electric, tinged with something bittersweet.

After a deep breath, she forced those feelings down and slowly placed her hand in Su Cheng’s palm.

Once, she had been the one to take the first step.

But now, because of Gu Ruoxue, she had to maintain some distance to keep things stable.

So their hands touched lightly at first, then gradually tightened, fingers interlacing until they were firmly locked together.

And just like that, after a small hiccup, they returned to their original state—in a way that was hard to pin down, whether intentional or not, but undeniably intimate.