Have you ever regretted it?

"According to the rules, disturbing the peace with pheromones will result in arrest."

"I can't stand you guys anymore!"

Chu Yiqi looked at Xi Yuan with an exaggerated expression of surprise and astonishment, and said in Suzhou dialect, "Why are you like this? Tomorrow's news will be about you, that rich girl from Haicheng, throwing her weight around, getting angry at the drop of a hat."

"You speak terribly too. Xi Yuan copied you, switching to dialect mode, but it sounded much more awkward. 'It's obvious you're going to pick a fight with that Xi Yuan, arguing with her all the time...'"

"What are you two up to? Can't you speak properly?" Yu Nianxi laughed so hard she clutched her stomach while pretending to maintain the status quo—because Meng Yike had choked on his water as soon as Chu Yiqi started speaking and couldn't recover for a long time.

Perhaps the string of dialects was too suggestive, so Yu Nianxi started speaking in Sichuan dialect as well: "I told you guys are sometimes a bit annoying, you never stop talking."

"Alright, alright, stop talking." Shi Yunshan switched to dialect, whether on purpose or not, and Nie Chuiying couldn't stop her.

Nie Chuiying finally calmed down: "Alright, alright, you're all in complete chaos. It's tiring to keep switching between Mandarin and other languages ​​in the comments."

"Come on, let's just drink it." Meng Yike finally came to her senses, feeling utterly exhausted.

The comments section was finally quiet for a brief moment.

The expected live stream time was wasted by the group's casual conversation and game interactions. So Meng Yike went to find some pretty boxes, and the group stuffed gifts into the boxes while talking.

The noise and commotion made it feel like Chinese New Year.

Goodnight everyone.

Goodbye, Teacher Chu. Xi Yuan held her laptop, but this time she couldn't bring herself to go to the balcony.

Chu Yiqi called out to Xi Yuan. She felt that Xi Yuan was deliberately avoiding something, but she couldn't be sure.

"Xi Yuan," Chu Yiqi began, but couldn't bring herself to ask, so she changed the subject, "Can I ask you about your honest opinion from last time now?"

Xi Yuan blinked, then said, "Chu Yiqi, have you ever regretted it even for a moment?"

Xi Yuan felt that it wasn't the right time for her to ask directly about reconciliation, so she had to ask indirectly, asking questions that seemed insignificant but had a chance of getting a positive answer.

A silence fell, and after a long while, Chu Yiqi suddenly said, "I think so."

Who knows? Maybe it's when I open my eyes and see the light in the hospital room that I always want to see Xi Yuan; maybe it's just that while attending Anella's class, I suddenly feel that if they had met earlier, things might have been different...

But strangely enough, when she almost thought she wouldn't be able to get back from that rainy track, she was relieved.

At least they have separated.

Strangely enough, Chu Yiqi never raced again after that.

Xi Yuan didn't ask any more questions, but simply nodded and said, "Good night."

Is today's event important?

"Not really." Xi Yuan shook her head.

Chu Yiqi said, "Let's sleep tonight, we won't look good on camera tomorrow."

Xi Yuan understood what Chu Yiqi meant—a little concern hidden behind the roundabout questions and reasons.

A smile appeared in Xi Yuan's eyes, and Chu Yiqi was momentarily lost in thought. Looking into those eyes, he felt a sudden sadness.

Xi Yuan suddenly felt the same way, so she took out a candy and a liqueur-filled chocolate from her bag and said, "I snatched these from Nian Zhaoyi today."

Chu Yiqi took it and watched Xi Ai's back until Xi Yuan went upstairs before finally returning to his bedroom.

At this moment, in the small group of four, the four people were sneaking around like thieves, and even their emojis seemed to reflect their guilty conscience.

[West Coast: Do they trade like this every day?]

[Sobbing: I don't know, but I've encountered it a few times already.]

[Coniferous Forest: Can we really gossip behind people's backs openly and honestly?]

[Sleepyhead: Is that a matter?]

[Sobbing: Could someone just randomly go out and take a look around?]

[Zeiyelin: You can come downstairs quietly, but Xi Yuan has already left.]

[West Coast: Wait? Who? Why is Xi Yuan asleep?]

[Sobbing: Okay, okay, my CP, if they chat alone, who knows if they're secretly kissing.]

[Sleepyhead: Who knows if it's a bad ending or a new kind of ambiguous relationship?]

The following week of filming went exceptionally smoothly, and on the last day, Su Luojian led them on a whirlwind flight to Sichuan. Before they even got off the plane, the group was already whispering and discussing where to go for fun.

"Sister Luo, Sister Luo, where are we going later?" Yu Nianxi asked, her voice muffled by a mask.

Su Luojian didn't even look up and said, "You can rest for now. It's up to you. Alright, kids, we should be there soon."

"Okay." Chu Yiqi put on her mask, her captivating peach blossom eyes curving slightly. Su Luo suddenly regretted not having them create a persona before, to give those beautiful eyes a more alluring one...

It's a completely different kind of charm from Xi Yuan's.

It's estimated that it's prone to collapse.

Su Luojian suppressed her thoughts and said, "We can go check out Haihe Tianjie. Fang'er said the night view there is nice, and it would be nice to sit there and have a drink."

"Okay, boss, let's go this afternoon."

"Everyone be careful," Chu Yiqi reminded gently, putting away a letter and then pulling a handful of snacks from her crossbody bag. Xi Yuan glanced at her, but before she could look away, someone asked, "Xi Yuan, what perfume are you wearing today?"

Xi Yuan paused for a moment, then suddenly raised her lips. Chu Yiqi knew without even needing to confirm that Xi Yuan wouldn't say anything nice, so he also stopped and waited calmly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it was just the aromatherapy I mixed myself that got on my clothes."

As for the perfume, I'll apply it tomorrow, which is also the day the endorsement announcement is made.

Chu Yiqi chuckled. Xi Ai, that picky girl, always had a strange schedule. She could forget to eat when she was busy, but she always remembered to put the scented oil and clothes together to scent them.

Unfortunately, this time the aromatherapy diffuser was homemade.

Chu Yiqi looked up and met Xi Yuan's unconcealed smile.

A brief observation of his expression made it seem as if he had been transported to another world.

They were separated by mountains and seas for more than two years. So much so that some details are not very clear in her memory.

At that time, it must have been shortly after public opinion began to circulate about Chu Yiqi, when the two of them flew south together.

One was to relax and avoid the situation, while the other was to accompany the person and take care of work on the side—that little bit of work felt like settling a personal score.

"Excuse me, could you move aside?" Xi Yuan turned to look at Chu Yiqi. Her condition had been very unstable lately, so Xi Yuan quickly grabbed Chu Yiqi's wrist and rubbed her thumb against the bracelet on Chu Yiqi's wrist.

Chu Yiqi suddenly pulled Xi Yuan closer, narrowly avoiding a falling camera.

The bodyguard next to him reacted quickly and retrieved it, returning it to the man.

But it was too noisy, and Chu Yiqi couldn't distinguish where each sound was coming from, so he couldn't hear what Xi Yuan was saying.

After trying to figure it out for a long time, she heard her own voice: "Let her go, don't hold her back."

But another part of me is shouting: "Then let's all destroy each other, for a long, long time."

Chu Yiqi opened her eyes and for a moment felt like she couldn't breathe, but then she suddenly heard that Xi Yuan must be angry. Her voice sounded like Xi Yuan's unyielding voice at the negotiating table. That was probably the real Xi Yuan.

"I already told her not to push, can't you tell she doesn't want to answer? Is what she's saying what you want to write?"

Chu Yiqi was somewhat stunned. She seemed to have rarely seen Xi Yuan shed that gentle, polite, and poised demeanor. The only two times she had seen her do so were the third.

Why me?

Xi Yuan pulled her along, weaving through the crowd, leaving the crowd behind them.

It must have snowed that day; the air was chilly, and even a slight breeze made people uncomfortable.

My eyes felt sore but were only red, nothing more.

"Xi Yuan, what are you looking at?"

As if by some strange twist of fate, Chu Yiqi suddenly smiled and asked the same question as before.

"I'm looking... your hair is a bit messy."

A conversation that almost perfectly overlapped with my memory, both familiar and absurd.

Chu Yiqi looked at Xi Ai and finally had to admit that the more familiar people are with each other, the more they can understand those unspoken expectations—just like how Xi Ai knew the source of Chu Yiqi's inexplicable question and gave that answer—and how she could stir up a vortex of emotions with just a sentence.

Chu Yiqi suddenly remembered that more than one person had asked her if there was ever a time when such a cautious person did something simply because she wanted it, without weighing the pros and cons or agonizing over it, and then never regretting it.

In her hazy memory after getting drunk, Chu Yiqi had heard Nadia ask her, with a hint of disappointment, "I'm so sorry for you." Chu Yiqi clutched the ring, her eyes lowered as she stared at a jasmine flower sinking into the glass.

She couldn't bring herself to say it, so Nadia sighed and asked, "Yiqi, surely you don't regret being with Xi Yuan in the first place, do you?"

Chu Yiqi finally looked up and said, "No."

Aside from that airport incident and the subsequent breakup, nothing she ever regretted about being associated with Xi Yuan was ever that happened—one was because Xi Yuan was affected, and the other was because of the injury on Xi Yuan's hand, and the other was because she realized that neither of them seemed to be doing very well.

Nadia heard her answer and didn't ask any more questions.

If there are things you have no regrets about, then there is an inevitability in going back.

In the silence between them, Chu Yiqi overheard another conversation. It was by the window in the water town. Chu Yiqi frowned and swiped the screen, but Xi Yuan snatched his phone away and replaced it with a mango soufflé.

Xi Yuan glanced at the screen; it was airport video footage, which also showed Xi Yuan later finding Chu Yiqi's hair behind her.

She showed no expression, but Chu Yiqi asked her, "Do you regret it?"

Does Ms. Xi, who always plans every step meticulously and never makes a mistake, ever struggle for a moment because of her failure to control her emotions?

Xi Yuan sat down opposite Chu Yiqi and looked at him. The butterfly on her bracelet jingled. Chu Yiqi heard Xi Yuan say that there was nothing at all.

Chu Yiqi blinked, trying to maintain his composure: "Shh—pretend this is a hairstyle."

Aunt Xi chuckled and said, "Okay."

Riverside.

"Chu Yiqi, you've connected to my headphones."

Chu Yiqi was still holding the earphones in her hand and hadn't noticed. When she heard Xi Yuan's voice, she trembled and turned the volume up a notch. Chu Yiqi was flustered and confused, and almost threw the phone away.

Xi Jia quietly watched Chu Yiqi's movements, bit her lower lip, and still let out a very soft laugh. Chu Yiqi finally exited the video call, briefly defusing the crisis.

Chu Yiqi checked the Bluetooth name again: a string of numbers, followed by another identical one.

"..."

Before they broke up, they never separated their earphones, always sharing half, and even named them the same. They hadn't changed their devices in the past two years, and for some reason, neither of them wanted to change the Bluetooth name, so they used numbers formed from their birthdays.

Despite being physically in Cao Cao's camp but mentally in Han's, the phone, after so many attempts, still resolutely connected to Xi Yuan.

It's tantamount to betraying allies: some people are still holding onto the past. They survived over eight hundred days and nights on a sham.

Chu Yiqi could only blame Xi Yuan: "Why didn't you hurry up and connect your own?"

Xi Yuan was considerate and didn't mention the video Chu Yiqi had posted. Instead, she answered the question politely: "Mine was also connected incorrectly, but the sound hasn't been turned on yet."

Chu Yiqi lowered his head again, looking at the earphone in his palm, speechless.

Chu Yiqi paused for a moment, then said, "How about we just change the headphones first?"

Xi Yuan was slightly surprised, but she still smiled and handed the earphones to Chu Yiqi.

An unspoken, intimate, and ambiguous encounter, a brief interlude, and unspoken love that vanished in a flash.

The warmth conveyed was interpreted as hypocrisy.