050 | (Forty-nine) Ghostly Shadow

Xie Qingyan felt a sudden shock, and his expression became extremely unnatural.

His lips twitched a few times, unsure whether to close them or not: "Ah, well, I just feel..."

"He has too many annoying things about him." Xie Qingyan rarely felt so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.

She tried to make amends for herself.

Zhou Jianyang's attitude was ambiguous. He raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue lightly.

He hummed in agreement, echoing her words, "If that's the case, he's quite annoying."

There was a moment of silence. Just then, the waiter brought over some sparkling water. She reached out and gripped the glass tightly with both hands, quickly taking a sip as if to cover it up. But in her heart, she thought, "This is nothing! She's only just started telling me about the annoying things that Su Xingmao did, which accounted for less than 5%."

But this was clearly not a wise topic. Xie Qingyan quickly thought it over and changed his absent-minded attitude, bringing the conversation back on track: "Do you want to play games later? We couldn't go last time."

She was referring to the time she skipped class, and Zhou Jianyang readily agreed.

After finishing their drinks, the two didn't go to the internet cafe. Instead, they went to a PS5 store upstairs. Xie Qingyan took two game discs from the shelf: "Resident Evil 6 or Devil May Cry 5."

Zhou Jianyang casually took the two plates: "Let's play them both, we have time anyway."

While the game was loading, he tossed a controller to Xie Qingyan and asked, "You like playing horror games?"

"Yes, I play more single-player games. When I was in the first year of junior high school, I played Outlast for the first time and it scared me to death. I covered half of the computer with my hand, took off my headphones, turned the volume down to the lowest setting, and played it on and off for about a month."

Xie Qingyan took the handle with a smug look on his face, his fingers brushing over each button.

Her family's game room also has a PS5 device. She had asked Su Xingmao to play with her before, but Su Xingmao was not good at games. His hands were quick to jump on the piano keys, but his reaction to the mouse and keyboard was a beat slower.

Even if her skills were slightly inferior, she still managed to execute beautiful maneuvers, delivering swift and skillful combos and counterattacks.

The star of the constellation Mao reacted rather indifferently, not even offering a word of praise.

A rigid, dullard is good for nothing except being smart, getting good grades, and being good at studying.

Over time, Xie Qingyan lost interest in inviting him to play games together.

It would be better if she found a random team online; at least they'd compliment her voice.

"After I got the hang of it, I wasn't afraid anymore, and I became more and more addicted to it. Eighty percent of the games on my Steam are horror games, and I can even run away from the monsters without taking any damage."

The screen then showed a cutscene of a helicopter rescuing people, with Leon, the protagonist of Resident Evil, appearing amidst orange-yellow flames.

Xie Qingyan said enthusiastically, "Recently I've been really into the 'backroom' series. Let's play together sometime."

“Okay, I bought Phasmophobia a while ago and it’s been gathering dust.” Zhou Jianyang shrugged. “My friends are a bunch of cowards. They heard it’s a ghost-catching game, and nobody wants to play it.”

He scoffed, "Everyone's happy to take care of their little sister."

After choosing their characters, the two found it easy to pick up the Resident Evil series, as it wasn't their first time playing the series. They also found it easy to use the controllers.

Before this, Xie Qingyan had already completed Resident Evil 7 on his own, so playing 6 was a piece of cake for him. The two experienced players played the game together, and after a brief trial of the prologue, they had no trouble with the rest. Their teamwork was also smooth and natural when facing the boss battles of the large BOW.

After putting down the controller, Xie Qingyan stretched and said, "Slaying zombies is really stress-relieving. Just grab a gun and start shooting."

It was already late outside the window. As Xie Qingyan finished the last CG sequence, she finally remembered the important matter of the day and asked, "Do you... have a girl you like?"

The moment she blurted it out, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She hoped he would answer no, so she could then naturally and confidently continue the conversation—"What do you think of me?"

The relaxed atmosphere today clearly shows that Zhou Jianyang definitely doesn't dislike her.

Xie Qingyan's plan was very clever, and everything went according to her expectations.

Zhou Jianyang's reaction was beyond her expectations.

"Oh, you mean this?"

The boy's hand remained firmly gripping the controller, his fingers taut. He continued to stare at the screen and said calmly, "I hadn't thought about it before, but maybe I have."

The screen cast an orange-yellow light, which flickered on and off.

Zhou Jianyang's eyebrows and eyes were sharply defined by the light and shadow, making his lines even more angular and highlighting his unruly spirit.

Yes? Who is it?

Xie Qingyan was stunned and was about to ask a question.

Suddenly, a weight appeared on her head. Zhou Jianyang reached out and ruffled her hair. His voice was soft as he turned to her and smiled, "You called me out today just to say this?"

He slowly and deliberately twirled her black hair, the smooth, silky strands flowing through his fingers like water.

It slipped through my fingers in an instant, and when I reached out to grab it, there was nothing there; my five fingers were gripping the air.

Zhou Jianyang suddenly thought, "Su Xingmao must have touched her head."

Can he hold Xie Qingyan's hair?

Will it slip through your fingers?

The CG firelight was reflected on the boy's face, his arrogant eyes burning like flames. When his eyelashes lowered, the firelight dimmed a bit.

"Hmm." Xie Qingyan nodded, answering as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Zhou Jianyang put away his playful expression and looked at her seriously: "Xie Qingyan."

The boy's tone was low and serious, and Xie Qingyan tensed up immediately, straightening her posture and swirling her tongue in her mouth: "What, what's wrong?"

Zhou Jianyang raised his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming, and smiled, "It's very enjoyable to play games with you."

"To be honest, I haven't been this happy in a long time."

He lowered his head as the CG came to an end, the last glimmer of light fading from his eyes. His long fingers dangled over the controller, fiddling with it and shaking it casually.

The surroundings fell silent, suddenly becoming quiet.

The two remained silent.

She held her breath.

There were many moments when Zhou Jianyang felt a flutter in his heart. The flutter of the heart couldn't be visualized, but the speed of his blood flow, the beating of his heart, the reddening of his ears hidden in his black hair, his burning cheeks… all these inexplicable changes probably couldn't deceive him.

"Playing games is fine, but dating is out of the question."

Zhou Jianyang turned his face away and put his baseball cap back on. He chose to cover his reddened ears and hid in the shadows again, reverting to his ambiguous, nonchalant expression.

The boy's smile was brief. He then ruffled her hair, and two dimples appeared on his cheeks. "Xie Qingyan, your attention isn't on me."

—The person you care about is not me.

The classmates were right. Zhou Jianyang's father was a department-level cadre. His father often told him that when doing something, you should look for something that has a beginning and an end. If you can't see the end, then there's no point in doing it.

Xie Qingyan. What a pity, I quite liked her.

Why do you keep mentioning other people when you're with him? It's like someone else is living in your heart.

Unfortunately, she herself was completely unaware. He wickedly wondered if he should just take advantage of her vulnerability before she realized it.

People who wear their emotions on their sleeves are the easiest to fool.

Zhou Jianyang stared at her drooping eyelashes, each one a tiny strand, curled upwards at the edges, looking rather listless.

She gave a muffled "oh," and her tense body relaxed.

On the way back, Xie Qingyan was in a state of utter confusion.

But she couldn't tell if she was confused by Zhou Jianyang's last sentence or if she was already in a whirlpool of chaos. She couldn't understand why Zhou Jianyang rejected her—was it because he liked someone else? But she had never heard of him liking anyone.

I returned home under the stars and moon, and by the time I arrived home, my shadow was already behind me, and it was past dinnertime.

She was a little uneasy. The last two times she had come into contact with others, she had been blocked by Su Xingmao. Would she be so unlucky this time?

She prayed silently, and perhaps God heard her and showed her favor this time.

Xie Qingyan returned home safely, without encountering any obstacles. He pushed open the door and found the house empty.

With the National Day holiday just around the corner, Ms. Xie Jinyu decided to set aside two days to spend with her daughter before heading to Beijing to finish up the final stages of the project.

Xie Qingyan, now free from supervision, felt completely at ease, as if he had sprouted little wings on his back and longed to fly around everywhere.

Less than an hour after feeling dejected from Zhou Jianyang's words, she was back to her usual energetic self. She returned to her room, logged into Steam, and sure enough, Zhou Jianyang had sent her a game invitation.

Xie Qingyan's emotions came and went like a surging tide. She put the unpleasantness of the afternoon behind her and played happily with him until late at night.

By the time she finished washing up and lay down in bed, it was already one in the morning.

Xie Qingyan rubbed her sleepy eyes, then glanced out the window as if remembering something. The villa across the street was pitch black. Was Su Xingmao asleep? This thought only flashed through her mind for a moment before she dismissed it—whether he was asleep or not was none of her business.

Xie Qingyan lay back on the bed, wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, and drifted off to sleep.

She had a nightmare in which she accidentally fell into the water, getting completely soaked, and was tossed about by the waves, sometimes heavily and sometimes lightly.

Strangely, the seawater wasn't cold; instead, it was scalding hot. It felt like she was on fire, and the night breeze made her feel both cool and hot, until a wave poured down on her head.

Xie Qingyan woke up with a start, only to meet a pair of dark, cold eyes staring at her without blinking.

This is when the real storm begins.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the moonlight is as white as frost, and the white gauze curtains rustle incessantly. The wind comes from the west, its rustling sound echoing in the valley, rustling through the trees and leaves, making a whooshing sound.

His pale shadow, whether human or ghost, was more terrifying than any horror game.

He stood there gloomily, like a shadow that was about to be blown away by the wind and drift away. He was thin and tall, and the wind blew into his white shirt, making him look dazed and unsteady. He stood quietly at the head of her bed.

Silently.

I don't know how long I stared at her.

Xie Qingyan felt a chill run down his spine, goosebumps rose all over his body, his hands and feet stiffened, and he stood frozen in place, terrified.

I vaguely thought I had stumbled upon a demon on a nighttime rampage, about to devour me.