Seeing him trying to convince himself like this, Liu Yaozu was amused.

“I think this looks nice, what do you think?” Liu Yaozu flipped through the pages and pointed to a glittering gold crystal he had just seen. “It’s the same color as what you’re wearing. We can cut it into small pieces and string them together!”

The fox cub stomped its paws and thought that what Uncle Liu said made a lot of sense, so it pressed its paws on the ground and asked the butler to mark it.

The human and the fox worked together to select jewelry, and after several hours they finally finished looking through the entire stack of magazines.

"Finished making your selections?" Chi Yuan came out of the inner room at some point. He patted the exhausted little boy who was too excited and Liu Yaozu whose eyes were dry after watching all afternoon.

"Hmm..." Liu Yaozu nodded, yawned, and stretched.

"Do you want to have dinner before you leave?" Chi Yuan asked Liu Yaozu skillfully, taking the yawning fox cub from him.

Liu Yaozu shook his head to refuse. He had made an appointment with Zhao Desheng for morning tea tomorrow, so he needed to take care of himself tonight and go to bed early.

"Let me see you out," Chi Yuan said, picking up his coat and personally escorting Liu Yaozu to the door. The two waved goodbye.

——————————————

The widow and her only son finished their dinner in emptiness and loneliness, while the fox cub fell asleep after taking a bath. Chi Yuan lay on the bed, propped his phone against the headboard, clicked on Shen Yulou's WeChat profile picture, and skillfully started a video call, his heart filled with anticipation.

The call was answered after a while.

The screen in my hand seemed to be covered by a thick layer of fog. After my slender, fair fingers moved away, a beautiful face appeared on the screen.

The boy in front of him had wet hair hanging down, with water droplets constantly sliding down his hair and face, disappearing... leaving only streaks of water. The familiar scene left Chi Yuan with plenty of room for imagination.

The excessive steam in the bathroom seemed to have taken up the space where the oxygen was. The high temperature and lack of oxygen caused the boy's body temperature to rise, and his thin skin made his face, ears, and lips blush and shimmer with a watery hue.

Chi Yuan admired it.

"What?" The boy was getting impatient when the other person didn't speak for a long time.

"I missed you." Chi Yuan snapped out of his reverie, crossed his arms on the pillow in front of him, and rested his chin on it so that the other person could see his face.

"How much do you want to?" the young man chuckled, turning the showerhead back on, the sound of rushing water echoing in both spaces.

"Let me think..." Chi Yuan propped his head up, trying to find an adjective.

“Every time I blink, I see your face. I can faintly smell your scent when I breathe here. Even the slightest breeze makes me think it’s your voice.” Chi Yuan smiled sweetly, her eyes full of seriousness.

Chi Yuan was very loud, loud enough to cover the sound of water in two different spaces at the same time, and loud enough to be clearly heard by Shen Yulou.

He's always like this; it always makes him happy. No matter how many times he hears it, he's still just as moved as he was back then.

Standing under the showerhead, Shen Yulou closed his eyes. The scalding water rushed towards him, causing waves of heat to rise on his skin and seep into his ears, stirring every nerve in his body. He held his breath, quietly feeling the throbbing in his heart.

Neither of them spoke, both savoring the vibrant feeling in their hearts at that moment.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of flowing water abruptly stopped.

Chi Yuan watched as Shen Yulou picked up a washcloth and wiped the lens clean. The familiar face gradually became clearer with his movements until it appeared completely in front of him once again.

"Finished washing?" Chi Yuan smiled again, picked up his phone, turned over, and leaned back in a different position.

Shen Yulou nodded, wrapped himself in a towel, brushed his teeth and washed his face in the bathroom, then took his phone and went out.