The wind stopped, and only the lights flickered occasionally. Yun Li held his breath and stared at Fu Shi Ze in disbelief.

Not because of what he said, but his tone.

There was a willingness to show weakness, but also a bit of aggrieved behavior like a spoiled child.

Yunli stared straight ahead with his body stiff, not daring to make eye contact with him, and unconsciously clenched the hand-warming ball.

“…”

Seeing that she didn't answer, Fu Shi urged her by whispering, "Hmm?"

Yunli's mind was completely blank.

The breath against my right ear was non-aggressive, as if all the warmth of the night was poured into those few breaths.

She unconsciously had an illusion. He looked like a down-and-out wolfhound, wagging his tail and begging for mercy.

All of Yunli's psychological defenses were instantly breached.

She answered uncontrollably: "No..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yunli wanted to hit himself with a hammer.

Ahhhh what did she answer!!!

Obviously I have given up!!

After hearing her answer, the person next to her said nothing and gently released Yunli's wrist.

The distance from the face suddenly widened, and the human body's heat source moved away.

Yunli had not yet recovered from the shock and regret of not being able to say what he meant. Now he was doubting whether his answer was inappropriate and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

Fu Shi looked away unnaturally, his expression gloomy and unclear: "Maybe I'm a little nervous."

“…”

Yunli lost her composure, but she also realized that she had no power to resist Fu Shize. She lowered her head resignedly and asked in a low voice: "Why are you asking me this..."

Fu Shi didn't respond, but held her wrist in his palm, rubbing her wrist with his thumb. His eyelids drooped, blocking half of his eyes: "Don't you understand?"

His touch was natural, just like their relationship was supposed to be.

The skin on her fingertips was delicate, and even though it was cold, it made her heart itch.

Fu Shi said nothing more, waiting for the person in front of him to struggle with himself.

With his heart pounding like a deer, Yunli fell into great confusion.

The possibility of a new life gave her a thousand strands of hope deep in her heart, but she could not forget the heartache of giving up and the hardship she had hidden behind the repeated rejections. On the other side of continuing to pursue her dreams, she was struggling to survive.

But this is the person she has been thinking about.

She was afraid that her retreat would extinguish the last flickering flame of the candle and bring him away forever.

Yunli spoke with difficulty: "Then they said that the person you were planning to date was..."

Without any hesitation, Fu Shi said, "It's you."

Yunli was stunned.

Fu Shize: "The person I want to date is you."

The tone was calm and firm.

It's always been you.

There has never been anyone else.

“Clang.”

The crisp sound was caused by Fu Shize hitting the glass, and the glass hitting the bottle. Yun Li was in a state of high emotional fluctuations, and the reminder of this sound was like a life-saving straw, and he hurriedly said, "You are drunk."

Fu Shi glanced at her and said, "I don't have any."

Yunli couldn't help but insist: "No, no, you are drunk."

“…”

"Okay." Fu Shize laughed and didn't continue to refute. He leaned back and looked at her, "Then wait until I sober up."

Yunli looked at the corners of his lips that turned up and felt strange; this was the first time she saw him smile.

She couldn't ignore the indescribable emotion in his eyes.

The man leaned against the hammock, with the back of his head resting directly on the rope. He was not afraid of its shaking, and he looked at her patiently and calmly.

Yun Li couldn't bear the fact that her heart was about to explode. She stuffed the hand warmer directly into Fu Shi Ze's arms and stood up hurriedly: "I want to go back. Can you go back too?"

Fu Shize: “Yeah.”

Just as he was about to get up, Yunli said again: "Can you stay a minute or two later? Because I will be alone when I come out."

“…”

Fu Shize lay back down and hummed expressionlessly.

Yunli walked a few steps and then turned back.

When she left, Fu Shize's eyes stayed on her. When their eyes met, Yun Li asked uncertainly, "When you sober up, will what you said tonight still count?"

There was a sense of unconfident caution in his words.

Fu Shi was brief and to the point: "It counts."

Yunli pursed her lips and said, "Then don't drink the remaining half bottle."

You can wake up earlier.

Fu Shi hummed softly with a nasal sound.

Yunli felt uneasy: "I'll take it away for you."

“…”

On the way back, the biting wind helped Yunli regain some sanity. The thoughts hidden deep in her mind were confirmed tonight - those details she had doubted might not be illusions.

The base sweater he wore today was pure black, which was not seen yesterday.

It's not that he didn't have a change of clothes. It's just that because she thought it looked good, he tried things he had never tried before.

He wore it for her to see.

In this relationship, Yunli was in a weaker position and was too humble to dare to guess the motives behind all his actions.

What he just said... is it an admission?

Yunli couldn't help curling her lips, her heart felt like a jar of honey had been spilled. She pulled her coat tighter, and when she got close to the house, she looked back, and Fu Shi, who was a hundred meters away from her, also stopped.

Yunli put his hands in his pockets and hesitated for a while, then couldn't help but walked over: "How about... we should just go together, and if you ask, just say we met on the road."

Fu Shi nodded and followed her.

At the door of the villa, they heard shouting from inside. Yunli opened the door and went in. Chen Renran's neck was red, probably because she had drunk a lot of wine. When the others saw the two of them, they all stopped talking at the same time.

Yunli greeted them, Fu Zhengchu stopped Fu Shize, hesitated for a while, Yunli did not follow, went upstairs and put the bottle of wine at the door of Fu Shize's room. Music was still playing in the room.

After entering the room, Yunli leaned against the door and waited for a long time, then heard the sound of the door closing next door.

He also came back.

Hiding behind the door, she seemed to see his slowly approaching figure, and the imagined scene was enough to speed up her heartbeat. In just half an hour, Yunli's depression for the past two weeks disappeared in an instant.

Yunli never thought that this competition, which even she herself was not optimistic about, might eventually bring success.

After drifting on the deep sea for a month or so, the sailboat finally saw the reefs on the shore.

She ran to the bed and fell down with her arms and legs spread out, still feeling a sense of disbelief.

…

Fu Shi stared at Yun Li's door and waited for a while before swiping the door card and returning to the room.

The room was warmly lit, and folk music from the last century was playing from the wooden speakers on the desk. Xu Qingsong leaned against the bay window, flipping through an old English book with yellowed pages.

Fu Shi casually placed the wine bottle and wine glass on the storage area at the entrance. Xu Qingsong glanced at them and saw that he had not even finished half of the wine, and was much more restrained than usual.

After reading just two lines of text, he looked up again. He hadn't seen Fu Shizhe so relaxed in more than a year.

Xu Qingsong turned his gaze back to the book and asked with a smile, "What were you doing?"

Fu Shi curled up on the sofa and scrolled through his phone: "Confession."

Xu Qingsong thought he had misheard, so he paused while turning the page, tilted his head, and asked, "Confession?"

Xu Qingsong thought for a moment: "Yunli?"

Fu Shi did not deny it.

"I just figured out why you insisted on wearing my clothes last night."

Xu Qingsong had discovered the clues earlier, but he denied the possibility with reasonable reasons. He smiled and asked, "Did I delay your business?"

Fu Shi lowered his head and thought for a while before saying calmly, "This is good."

Xu Qingsong: “?”

She didn't look for him. If he wanted to see her, he had to take the initiative.

Fu Shi has always felt that he is not a proactive person.

It turns out he can.

Fu Shize said nothing more. Xu Qingsong looked at the plush ball in his hand and asked, "Is that a token of love?"

Fu Shi hummed.

After putting the book away, Xu Qingsong stood up and asked curiously, "Take a look?"

Fu Shi glanced at him, ignored him, and hid the hand warmer towards his abdomen.

Seeing that he had no intention of sharing, Xu Qingsong did not ask any more questions and transferred two zoo tickets to him: "Tomorrow Christmas, you can take her to the zoo to have fun."

Fu Shi did not refuse.

Xu Qingsong did not forget to remind him: "Prepare a small gift."

Fu Shi hummed.

He opened the chat interface with Yunli. The last chat record was more than two weeks ago. He typed: [Let’s go to the zoo tomorrow?] and sent it directly.

"I called the Skyscraper Restaurant I told you about last time. I'll pay for it when the time comes."

Xu Qingsong was a person who tended to do things as he pleased. Last night, he heard that He Jiameng had leaked the news about Fu Shizhe's date. This free-spirited person felt guilty for the first time.

"Okay, got it." Fu Shi was absent-minded and looked down at Yun Li's reply.

There was a red exclamation mark in front of the message box that had just been sent, and Fu Shi looked down.

[Clouds has enabled friend verification, and you are not his (her) friend yet. Please send a friend verification request first. You can chat only after the other party passes the verification. ]

“…”

Fu Shize didn't react and was stunned.

Was he deleted?

It was the first time in his life that someone deleted him as a friend. He blinked twice and read the sentence again from beginning to end to make sure he had understood it correctly.

When Xu Qingsong saw cracks in Fu Shizhe's cold mask, he sat on the sofa like a puppet, stunned for a while.

After a moment, Xu Qingsong heard Fu Shizhe laugh helplessly. He clicked a few times on his phone and called Yunli.

Fu Shize: "It's me."

Yunli asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

Fu Shize did not ask any questions this time: "Let's go to the zoo tomorrow."

After a long while, Yunli stammered, "Oh...oh, do you want to go together?"

Fu Shize: “Yeah.”

Yunli: "Okay."

The two did not talk about anything else. Yun Li said softly, "Go to bed early. Good night."

Fu Shi lowered his eyes: "Go to bed early."

When Fu Shi hung up the phone, Xu Qingsong was standing not far away, holding a transparent teapot in his hand. He slowly poured himself a cup of hot tea with an inexplicable smile on his face.

Fu Shi didn't understand: "Why?"

Xu Qingsong raised his eyebrows and said in a playful tone, "I'm choking. Let's have some tea to relieve the greasy feeling."

“…”

-

After receiving Fu Shi Ze's call, Yun Li was still unsettled as someone sent her several messages on WeChat.

Fu Zhengchu: [Sister Lili, things were not very pleasant at the table just now. Sister Qiqi’s colleague was a little unhappy. They all drank too much.]

Fu Zhengchu: [They are talking about your breakfast]

Fu Zhengchu: [You said you have nothing to do with my uncle...]

Fu Zhengchu: [My sister is also speaking for sister Qiqi, I can’t get a word in qaq]

Yunli: [……]

Yunli: [It's okay.]

This was the first time Deng Chuqi tied a red string for her, and she didn't seem to take her refusal to heart, which made Yunli feel a little uncomfortable. Moreover, Chen Renran spoke strongly, and she didn't want to deal with it again.

Yunli turned around and sent a message to Deng Chuqi: [Qiqi, your colleague and I are not suitable. Can you talk to him privately? ]

Just enough.

These days they should be celebrating Deng Chuqi's freedom from her social animal status, and Yunli didn't want to spoil her fun.

After putting on the headphones, Yunli recalled Fu Shize's invitation and her face turned red again. She buried her face in the pillow and suddenly remembered something -

She deleted him.

Yunli jumped up from the bed at lightning speed, and hurriedly opened her phone to search everywhere, but couldn't find a way to add him on WeChat. In the midst of the chaos, she remembered the call from Fu Shizhe just now.

Copy this number into the WeChat friend add bar.

It’s still the familiar avatar, but the nickname is a capital F.

After adding, no verification is required and the two become friends again.

Stare at this interface.

Yunli had a sense of luck that he had escaped death.

Just in case, Yunli sent a tentative message.

【What time tomorrow^^】

Fu Shize: [You decide]

Yunli: [Shall we have breakfast together? ]

Fu Shize: [Hmm]

Seeing that the other party's reply was normal, Yunli felt relieved.

There was a knock on the door. Yun Li, who was still lying on the bed in a daze, came to her senses and unconsciously guessed that it was Fu Shi Ze. She stood up and adjusted her clothes and hairstyle in front of the dressing table.

When I opened the door, it was Chen Renran. He was holding a fruit plate and his face was red from drinking too much.

"Today is Christmas Eve, I brought you some apples. We have been playing downstairs for a long time, and now that you have finished taking pictures, do you want to come down and play too?" Chen Renran's attitude was gentle, completely different from when they parted in the morning.

"No." Yunli said slowly: "Thank you. It's late, I want to rest early."

Chen Renran seemed to have prepared for the rejection and did not have any negative emotions. He passed the fruit plate in her direction and said, "That's good. You have a healthy lifestyle. I should learn from you. Can you take some home?"

Yunli shook his head: "I've brushed my teeth, thank you. Can you take it downstairs and share it with everyone?"

Yunli wanted to draw a line between herself and him, but she was not good at explaining. After thinking for a while, she said, "I want to tell you something..."

Chen Renran interrupted her: "I just happened to want to tell you something, but for things like this, it's better for boys to take the initiative."

Yunli: “…”

He smiled sheepishly: "I want to apologize to you. I had a bad tone this morning. Maybe it's because I have a crush on you, so I'm a little sensitive. Since Sheng's uncle took a little more care of you, I thought too much about it."

Yunli: “…”

Yunli didn't want to talk about this, so he could only take over his words: "It doesn't matter, what I want to say is..."

Chen Renran said in a certain tone: "So you two are really not flirting, right?"

Yunli: “…”

Yunli was not familiar with this person, and did not want him to interfere in his life. He was also afraid that he would go downstairs and spread the news. After thinking for a while, he answered, "No."

Just as he finished speaking, the door of the next room suddenly opened.

Fu Shi was wearing the black sweater he had just seen, and Xu Qingsong was wearing a lake blue sweater, leaning against the shelf at the entrance with a smile on his face.

The timing of opening the door made Yunli feel guilty.

Fu Shize and Chen Renran nodded and looked at Yunli: "Want to watch a movie?"