They decided to go back. The day's excitement and relaxation had left them feeling tired, and Lü Chao yawned.

Xu Lang: "Brother Chao is dozing off. We must be too boring, making him unhappy playing with us."

Upon hearing this, Lü Chao yawned and then hooked his arm around Xu Lang's neck, saying, "You're so good at talking, come on, keep going, I'm listening."

Xu Lang continued, his head held high, "Brother, you didn't break down, did you? I, I," he said, deftly dodging Lü Chao's arm, "It wasn't intentional, you know." He hid behind Xie Tao, winking and smiling at Lü Chao.

Gu Li said, "Chao, if you're tired, just say so. We're all very understanding."

Ji Hai: "He hasn't gotten up this early in a long time, it's normal."

Lu Chao looked at Jiang Xu and said, "See? This is an undeserved disaster, a pure betrayal."

Jiang Xu nodded, "So next time you're tired and want to yawn, just cover it with your hand, at least it'll comfort you."

Lu Chao forced a smile and said, "Jiang Chen, be careful of these guys."

Jiang Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Chao, you'd better pray for yourself too."

Xu Lang: "Little brother, you used the idiom very well."

As they strolled through the night, they happened to encounter a group of people coming from the opposite direction, and the two at the head of the group happened to look quite familiar.

The two men clearly saw them too, and the two boys waved to them, "What a coincidence! And thank you for the treat, it was so good and I'm so full."

Gu Li: "Don't mention it."

Jiang Chen glanced at them, then asked the two men, "Can I ask someone? Do you know Zhao Yao?"

One of the boys nodded, while the other turned around and shouted, "Brother Yao, someone's looking for you."

A boy in the crowd turned around; he seemed to have been talking to the person next to him. "What's wrong?"

The young man's voice, no longer masked by the voice changer, rang out clearly, full of youthful clarity, and he himself was like a refreshing breeze on a summer day.

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up even more, and he raised his hand and waved, "Hello, Zhao Yao." His voice was full of joy.

Zhao Yao was taken aback. The voice and face were strangely familiar; it was the person who had walked with him through the haunted house. He said a few words to the person next to him and then walked over. "Jiang Chen?"

Jiang Chen nodded.

Zhao Yao: "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Jiang Chen said, "It's nothing, I just wanted to thank you for the flashlight." He thought about what had happened that afternoon and tried to find a suitable connection.

Zhao Yao: "It's nothing, after all, you stole it from me."

Since they weren't that familiar with each other, they exchanged brief greetings and were about to leave. Jiang Chen waved and said, "Goodbye! Let's hang out together next time I come."

Zhao Yao waved his hand and turned his head away. "Let's talk about next time next time."

As Zhao Yao watched their departing figures, his emotions still surfacing, someone patted him on the shoulder. "Hey Yao-ge, you're going easy on them, huh? I knew they wouldn't have gotten a flashlight."

"No, he really stole it himself." Zhao Yao withdrew his gaze, completely calming down.

The seven people waved goodbye at the intersection, and one by one, the number of people under the streetlights decreased until, as if they had never been there, the streetlights once again shone only on the ground.

Gu Li and Jiang Xu stood at their respective doors, each opening their own. Jiang Xu opened his door first. "Will you be going to class tomorrow?"

Gu Li said, "We'll go. We've already wasted a whole day; we can't let them back out."

Jiang Xu said, "Well then," he leaned against the wall, feeling a bit tired after being genuinely happy today, "Goodnight, Gu Li."

Gu Li opened the door. "Good night, and," he said, tossing the key aside, "see you tomorrow, Jiang Xu."

The two doors closed almost simultaneously, and in the quiet, Gu Li felt a unique sense of peace.

After he finished tidying up, he lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze. He wasn't actually thinking about anything, but he felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Then his phone rang.

Gu Li's first thought was that it was Jiang Xu calling. He sat up abruptly, then instantly became alert. The ringtone was clearly not Jiang Xu's. He didn't know what he was thinking.

He suddenly felt a bit listless, and he began to realize whose call it was.

Gu Li lazily reached out and grabbed the phone. A string of numbers appeared on the screen. Gu Li pressed the answer button and turned on the speakerphone.

He tossed his phone aside and lay back down.

"Why did it take you so long to answer the phone?" The voice on the other end was extremely serious and mature.

Gu Li continued to stare at the ceiling.

“I know you’re listening, speak, Gu Li.”

"Just say what you want to say. We're not suited for small talk." Gu Li tapped her fingertip on the blanket.

"You can play around, but remember the boundaries. Did you see the photos I sent you?"

Gu Li clicked slowly, then clicked again, "What photo?"

"WeChat."

Gu Li replied dismissively, "Um, what's wrong?"

"You didn't even read it, did you? You really can't change. First there was Shen Heng, and now there's this Jiang Xu. Sure enough, you can't be cured in a year. I don't mind if it takes a few more years."

Gu Li gripped the blanket tightly with his hand, but his voice was calm and completely unwavering. "You're getting older, aren't you? You don't let go of any baseless rumors. Is it because my other actions aren't respectable enough?"

“I don’t care what your reasons are. Your other actions haven’t harmed the Gu family’s interests, but the previous incident must not happen again.”

Gu Li smiled lightly and said nonchalantly, "Of course, the same thing won't happen again." Because this time and that time are completely different.

"Remember your words, you know the consequences."

The phone beeped twice as it ended. Gu Li released his grip, revealing obvious wrinkles on the soft blanket. "Heh," he scoffed, his smile laced with sarcasm.

He opened WeChat and scrolled through the WeChat account he had blocked long ago; the photos inside suddenly popped up.

The photos were all recent pictures of him and Jiang Xu, some of which were particularly ambiguous, even making it look like they were kissing.

Gu Li was used to this level of surveillance, but even that made her uncomfortable.

But this time he was very unhappy because it involved Jiang Xu, someone he absolutely did not want to be involved with.

He needs to handle this faster. Liu Mingtang's matter has had some impact, and that person will be even more secretive, which is exactly what Gu Li hopes for.

The remaining person, the most wicked of them all, needs to repent with even greater fear.

Gu Li was torn apart. His head began to throb, making him dizzy. He got up and walked towards the study, which was piled with documents.

He flipped through Liu Mingtang's file. Liu Mingtang's last appearance was too sudden, and there were still some things he hadn't learned.

As he looked through the book, he came across a name at the very end—the name of one of his classmates.

That's Liu Xian!