The next afternoon I was sitting in a cafe with Xiaodi where we were taking a short break from searching.

“Ye Lin is a rude person,” she said. “This kind of person definitely lives longer than anyone else. I guess that kid just likes this type of behavior. You are serious about love, and he is bored so he’s looking for trouble and trying to bully you.”

Suddenly Xiaodi looked behind me and asked, “Isn’t that ‘senior’?”

I looked back. It was Xi Xichen. He didn’t seem to have noticed us looking at him and was about to leave. But I knew he must have followed me here.

I thought he would ignore me completely on this matter. I had been staying with Piao Zheng for the past two days, and had only communicated with him through text messages. He had asked me if I ate or slept, and I had answered truthfully.

“Mature, poised and handsome. He was the man of my dreams before I turned twenty-five years old.”

I shook my head helplessly, thinking to myself, he is not mature and stable at all when he gets emotional.

“It’s a pity that the famous man already has someone. Why do you think that this kind of precious man has settled himself so early?” Xiaodi asked full of regret, “After you left the box that day, he sat for a bit and then left as well. I had wanted to go up and talk to the senior to get to know him a bit, but he just quickly rushed home.”

I decided to change the subject.

“How is your job? When are you going back to Taiwan?”

“Things are actually really busy now. I’m here for a few more days, waiting for the leader to give word. How about you? When will you fly back to Finland?”

“I don’t know. I want to see Ye Lin at least once more before I leave.”

“I see that you are so preoccupied with this business that you’ve developed dark circles under your eyes.” Xiaodi looked at me, “It really hurts to see you like this.”

I took a sip of coffee.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just Ye Lin’s business that made me sleep poorly.

“Will you come to Piao Zheng’s for dinner later?” I asked.

“Sure!” Xiaodi laughed, “To be honest, I really envy you for having such a good brother.”

Back at Piao Zheng’s residence, Xiaodi followed the principle of eating people’s food and helping out in the kitchen. I greeted him, then went to the guest room to rest. It was not until Xiaodi came to knock on the door to call me for dinner that I realized I had drifted off to sleep.

Piao Zheng came out of the kitchen carrying the food, “Jian Anjie, come and wash the dishes.”

“Okay, I won’t eat your food for nothing,” I laughed.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, so I turned to go see who it was.

When I opened the door, I was surprised by who was standing in front of me.

Then again, maybe not that surprised.

He looked at me, sighed, then reached out to take me into his arms.

“I’m here to surrender. I support whatever you want to do in the future. I have no problem with who you want to find or worry about.”

His embrace took all my sullen feelings away.

“You’re here to surrender? What’s my trophy?”

“Me. Is it not enough?”

“My prize is just a prisoner?” I was in the mood to joke with him.

“Don’t push it.” He pulled me out of the door, pushed me against the wall, and kissed me deeply. I had nowhere to put my hands but around his waist.

“Ah!” Xiaodi’s voice sounded behind us, forcing Xi Xichen and I to come back to our senses.

“Sorry, I’m sorry! I—” Xiaodi panicked, “I just wanted to come out and see who it was, sorry!” She ran back into the apartment.

Maybe it was because he often kissed me on the road where people came and went, so getting caught by Xiaodi didn’t make me feel that uncomfortable.

I turned back to him, “Would you like to come in? Dinner is ready.”

“If you wish,” he smiled faintly.

I walked back in and he grabbed my hand from behind as he followed me.

As the two of us went in, Xiaodi was mentally prepared so her expression was calm. Piao Zheng on the other hand looked quite shocked. I would find a chance to explain to him later.

I went into the kitchen to help with the tableware, and Xiaodi immediately followed me. Her mouth opened and closed for some time before she finally said, “It’s so exciting! This is so exciting!”

“Don’t make such a big deal.”

“He’s Xi Xichen!”

“So, what’s the matter?” I smiled and took out four sets of tableware and chopsticks from the cupboard, before turning to walk back out.

Xiaodi came up and stopped me, “Wait, let’s talk!”

I looked at her helplessly.

“Xiaodi, I’m hungry. If you want to talk, we can go out there and eat and talk.”

“How could that be possible in this situation—”

Someone knocked on the glass door of the kitchen, and then Xi Xichen walked in through the door, smiling lightly.

“Do you want any help?”

“Take these out,” I lifted the things in my hands.

He came over, took them, and headed back out.

“Oh…” Xiaodi hugged me, “Anjie, you’ve really surprised me!”

That night, I received a phone call at Xi Xichen’s residence, and the string that had been tense in my heart finally eased.

“Jian Anjie, in your heart, what kind of person is Ye Lin?”

“Ye Lin…he is proud because he has a reason to be proud, but his pride is different from arrogance. It has the rebelliousness of a young man. He can’t tolerate others being sorry for him, so he will abandon them first, to cover up his fear and panic of being abandoned himself. In this regard, he is self-respecting and vulnerable.

“He is very direct and doesn’t beat around the bush. He never hesitates to express his feelings, whether he likes someone or is angry with them. He has the courage to take what he wants, and  the slightest hope will make him hold on tight. Maybe his belief that he will always get what he wants stems from the fact he is too proud to lose face. However, when he can’t get what he wants, he will use vicious words to cover up his negative feelings of jealousy and sadness. The most he will do is use other people’s care for him to guilt them, and make small threats towards them. However, he never calculates his feelings and is always genuine.”

“Heh…Jian Anjie, you answered all wrong, so I’m not interested in you anymore. I don’t want to pursue you anymore. This time, I’m the one who doesn’t want you…don’t look for me again.”