Yan Xiuzhi wanted to have a good talk with Zhou Ziyi.

But for several days, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two people living under the same roof did not have the chance to sit down face to face and have a serious talk.

Yan Xiuji has been working overtime recently, and often gets home after eleven or twelve at night, and Zhou Ziyi's guest bedroom door is already closed. Yan Xiuji stood at his door for a few minutes, silent for a long time, but he didn't raise his hand to knock on the door.

There was still a chance in the morning. Zhou Ziyi got up and made breakfast the day after the "drunken raid". However, Yan Xiuji had gone downstairs. There was no steam coming out of the breakfast on the table, and there were all kinds of noises in the kitchen... but there was no sign of Zhou Ziyi.

Yan Xiuzhi stood beside the dining table, looking at the open kitchen door for a long time, but ultimately did not walk over.

——Forget it, the morning time is too short, don’t rush it.

Although the conversation didn't have much to say, Yan Xiuji always felt that spending only two minutes on communication was too informal. If possible, Yan Xiuji even thought that they should arrange a simple and elegant dinner for two, then take a walk to see the night view, and finally talk clearly about what they were thinking during the walk.

Instead of saying a few words in the hurried ten minutes of breakfast and then rushing out.

After all, the relationship between the two was initially based on a contract. President Yan knew that if two or three sentences were not clear, misunderstandings would likely occur. Rather than speaking hastily and making mistakes, it was better to wait calmly and find the right time to talk it out thoroughly.

Moreover, Yan Xiuzhi also guessed that... Zhou Ziyi probably didn't dare to face him head-on now.

Last time Zhou Ziyi took the initiative to kiss him, and then there was no breakfast or sighting for a week, as if this person didn't exist at home. If Yan Xiuji hadn't taken the initiative to ease the situation, who knows how long Zhou Ziyi would have hidden. This time, he made some progress, hiding for a day and then came out. Although he still hasn't spoken, at least he won't lock himself in the room.

Thinking of this, Yan Xiuzhi suddenly realized something.

——Last time, Zhou Ziyi kept avoiding me after we kissed each other. Was he afraid of embarrassment, or... ?

Yan Xiuzhi thought back to a time before when Zhou Ziyi didn't seem to be afraid of embarrassment.

When the two of them were together, Zhou Ziyi was always the one who took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere, and he would often intentionally or unintentionally do something that would leave Yan Xiuji speechless. Even if he occasionally made Yan Xiuji dissatisfied or angry, Zhou Ziyi would always find a way to ease the atmosphere. He used to even openly tell Yan Xiuji that he had to pay for his sister's expenses and asked if he could withdraw his pocket money in advance.

Since when did Zhou Ziyi become unwilling to tell Yan Xiuzhi about his difficulties?

Why did Zhou Ziyi dare to apologize the next day after kissing him for the first time - even though Zhou Ziyi didn't remember the kiss, but just ran away after the second kiss?

Yan Xiuzhi pondered silently, and gradually an answer came to his mind.

An answer that made him happy.

He sat at the dining table with an egg and bacon sandwich in front of him and a cup of coffee with three sugar cubes on the side.

He looked at the three sugar cubes, suddenly thought of something, and took a sip of coffee.

……really.

This cup of coffee actually already has sugar in it. But according to Yan Xiuji's taste, he really wants to add three more sugars.

Yan Xiuji suddenly realized that Zhou Ziyi had already figured out his taste, but he would not say it in front of him or take credit for it. The young man would just hand him a cup of sweet white peach sparkling water, peel a very sweet orange for him, and put a lot of white sugar in the salad tomatoes. Ever since Yan Xiuji forgot to bring sugar with his coffee to work for the first time, Zhou Ziyi would always check if he had forgotten to bring the small paper bag for sugar.

There should be many similar things, but Yan Xiuzhi may not be able to remember them all at once.

But it was these little bits and pieces that slowly formed a big net and permeated into Yan Xiuzhi's life.

Moisturizing things silently.

Yan Xiuji used to be very serious and didn't do much entertainment after returning home. But since Zhou Ziyi moved in, this family seemed to gradually adapt to his rhythm - relaxed and comfortable.

With him, the apartment has become more popular without being too noisy. It is no longer just a place to sleep at night, but a haven where you can relax and feel comfortable.

I don’t know when it started, but when Yan Xiuji gets off work, he would have one thought: it’s time to go home.

"Home..."

Yan Xiuji started to eat breakfast. Zhou Ziyi's cooking skills were not top-notch, but the taste and level were just right for Yan Xiuji. As Yan Xiuji was eating, he suddenly remembered that he had never tasted the flavor of the "smoked seasoning" before. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he actually found it a little funny.

Maybe Zhou Ziyi put it away and thought out of sight, out of mind.

Yan Xiuzhi, who always disliked being influenced by others, decided to condone this kind of "overstepping authority" behavior that he thought was unnoticed, and even pretended not to notice it.

Yan Xiuji couldn't tell what it was about Zhou Ziyi that made him give up his restraints time and time again, and let Zhou Ziyi walk around freely in his "territory" and do whatever he wanted. Maybe it was because Zhou Ziyi was polite, maybe because he was smart, maybe because he could keep up with the topic and talk about everything... or maybe it was a little bit of everything.

Yan Xiuzhi recalled a passage he had read at some unknown time.

“For some people, you don’t think they are particularly outstanding at first. But by the time you realize it, they have completely adapted to you, just like the perfect Tetris blocks.”

When the Tetris blocks are adapted, the entire row will disappear, just like some things are more difficult to detect the more tacit they are; only when they are incompatible will the blocks become higher and higher and the contradictions become more and more obvious.

And now, Zhou Ziyi has apparently successfully adapted to all of Yan Xiuzhi's boundaries.

He was no longer an outsider in Yan Xiuji's family, but a part of it. He silently became a net that embraced Yan Xiuji, constantly trying to give him a little warmth and protection; he also became a seedling rooted in Yan Xiuji's heart, bringing joy with vigorous vitality.

This net, this seedling, can be pulled apart, but when you do it you will find that it will be painful.

They had lived together for less than a year, and Zhou Ziyi had already achieved this. Yan Xiuji could hardly imagine what it would be like in three years.

If Zhou Ziyi became a big tree with roots penetrating every corner of this home, what would this home become when he was uprooted and left?

And... Yan Xiuji slowly swallowed the last bite of his sandwich, took two sips of coffee, and was lost in thought.

There is another very important point.

——Zhou Ziyi, are you doing this completely voluntarily?

——Is he tired of doing this?

On one hand, Yan Xiuzhi felt that the tacit understanding between him and Zhou Ziyi was comforting, but on the other hand, he was a little worried because this was the result of Zhou Ziyi's one-way efforts and changes to himself.

No matter what the facts are, we have to discuss them.

Yan Xiuzhi made up his mind to find a suitable time to discuss everything.

Only when everything has an answer can we truly determine whether the two of them are really moving towards each other.

"Click."

Yan Xiuji put down his coffee cup, stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

He stopped at the door, looked at the back of the person inside who seemed to be either really busy or pretending to be busy, and spoke.

"I'm going to work."

Zhou Ziyi was startled by the voice, and his whole body shook slightly. He didn't expect Yan Xiuji to say this on purpose, and he couldn't pretend he didn't hear it, so he could only turn his head and glance at him.

They looked at each other for only a moment, then looked away as if fleeing.

"Well...bye."

Yan Xiuji opened his mouth and wanted to say "Let's talk about it when we have time." But he saw that Zhou Ziyi was like a frightened bird, and he didn't want him to have wild thoughts while waiting, so he decided to wait until he could really spare some time before bringing up the matter.

Before that, let Zhou Ziyi be a quail if he wants.

So, the words that were on the tip of my tongue turned into a plain farewell: "Goodbye."

***

Yan Xiuzhi was busy for more than a week.

On the surface, he and Zhou Ziyi seemed to be getting along normally, but everyone knew that there was a layer of fog and ice between them, which would be difficult to clean up once it was broken. Zhou Ziyi was still playing cowardly, but Yan Xiuji estimated the days and thought that he would be done with his work in two days, and then he could put his personal affairs on the agenda.

Because of his recent busy schedule, Yan Xiuji missed some messages from his friends and several invitations to parties. He was not very keen on social occasions and would only attend necessary events. When others sent him messages, he didn't care and just casually declined and forgot about it.

Until that afternoon, he received a call.

When the phone rang, he was stunned for a moment when he looked at the screen. He hadn't seen the three words on the caller ID for a long time.

Two seconds later, he came back to his senses and picked up the phone: "Hello?"

"Hello, Ash?"

A familiar, yet strange male voice came from the other end of the phone: "I'm Yu Yanxi."

Yan Xiuji leaned back in his chair and replied, "...I know. Your name is on the phone."

"Haha, yeah, I forgot about that. I wanted to give you a surprise." The other person laughed, "I'm back!"

Yan Xiuji replied: "Welcome back. When did you arrive?"

"I arrived a few days ago, adjusted to the time difference, and attended a party." Yu Yanxi smiled, speaking in a familiar tone, "They also said they wanted you to come with them, but you didn't give me face, so I waited for nothing."

"It's not a question of giving face or not." Yan Xiuji said, "I've been busy lately and can't spare the time, and I haven't heard that you're back."

Yu Yanxi said: "No wonder, I told you I was back, why didn't you even give me a like? It turns out you didn't even see it!"

Yan Xiuzhi had been busy with work or thinking about how to arrange the "conversation" recently, and he really didn't have much time to look at his phone, so he could only say "sorry".

"Forget about the apology, but why don't we get together when we are free?" Yu Yanxi said with a smile, "We have an appointment at XX bar the day after tomorrow. It's a quiet bar, not noisy. All the people there are our friends. Do you have time to come? It's okay to come later, the bar closes late anyway."

After listening to this, Yan Xiuji suddenly remembered that Zhou Ziyi seemed to be bored at home for a long time. If he took him out for some exercise, on the one hand, he could get some fresh air, and on the other hand, it should also ease the atmosphere between the two of them.

"Okay." Yan Xiuzhi agreed readily.

"But I need to bring someone with me."