Chapter 1

"It's finally over!"

Pushing aside the table and chairs, Li Ye stood up, stretched, and reached for the thermos on the trolley, only to find that not a drop of water could be poured out of either of the two thermoses. He glanced at the darkening sky outside the window and then looked down at the time on the computer screen.

"It's already five o'clock, let's rest first and continue tomorrow."

Randomly grabbing a thermos cup and following Li Ye to the living room, they were caught red-handed by sharp-eyed Ms. Li halfway there.

"Why haven't you changed your clothes yet? When Yuan Yuan gets home, our two families are going out to eat together to welcome him home."

Feeling a lot of questions, Li Ye realized that after so many years of being neighbors across the hall, the two families didn't seem to have such a close relationship. Last week, when Aunt Zhou from next door came over for a visit, the neighbors were as harmonious as ever.

The two families were closest in private to their two children, Li Ye and Zhou Yuan.

The Zhou family had their baby on December 31st, while the Li family had their baby in the hospital on the day of the Spring Festival, more than a month later. One was the end of the Gregorian calendar, and the other was the beginning of the lunar calendar. The two children, following the adults' social interactions, played together, albeit with some stumbles, until they were fourteen years old.

"It's just winter break and I'm going home, and it's not like it's my first time. Does it really need to be this big?"

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Li Ye asked a question while filling his thermos with water, preparing to ask something else.

What wonderful event has happened to their family?

Ms. Li had only been glancing at Li Ye out of the corner of her eye while watching TV, but after hearing these words, she immediately took a good look at her child's appearance.

Ignoring her loungewear, her casually tousled low ponytail, her lack of makeup, and her dry, lifeless eyes that looked like she'd been staring at a computer screen for ages, she looked completely out of place.

"Of course it's great news! Yuan Yuan has made a lot of money, and your Aunt Zhou said she's going to buy an apartment in Shanghai."

Then Ms. Li changed the subject, and Li Ye, seeing that the situation was not good, could not dodge.

“Look at him, he hasn’t even graduated from university yet, but he’s already found a company and a house. He can wait a year or two for a car, or his family can pay for him to marry a good girl. Then the Zhou couple can finally rest easy.”

"Look at you, after graduation you stay at home all day, only going out once every few days as if you're completing a task I gave you. At your age, you don't know how to go out more, all you do is stay in your bedroom, typing away at the computer. I know you can make money this way, so I won't say anything more."

"I just want you to stop getting so caught up in the virtual world and make more friends in the real world so you won't become detached from reality."

It sent chills down one's spine. After a moment's thought, Li Ye decided to offer a rebuttal:

“I took you on a trip before, right? We visited several ancient capitals, climbed some famous mountains, saw plateaus, deserts, grasslands and snow-capped mountains, and ate seafood along the coast. We traveled for almost two months. In the end, you two used up your extra vacation days and had to come back to work.”

"Besides, I've only been working a lot these past two weeks and haven't been able to go out shopping with you much. Is it really necessary to say that about me? When we go out together, you always complain that I'm the third wheel between you and Teacher Li."

“What’s wrong with buying a house? I can buy a house in Shanghai with cash now. The person just wants to live with her mom and dad.”

The final blow hit Ms. Li squarely. She turned her head away in annoyance and continued watching TV, muttering to herself, "A little dressing up is all it takes. It's just that the two families arranged to go out for dinner and pick up the other family's child."

"Got it." Li Ye returned to the bedroom with the thermos cup that had been replenished.

Close the bedroom door, put down the water glass, and begin the transformation of the beautiful girl.

First, prepare your outdoor gear. In the single-digit temperatures of winter in central cities, it's really just a matter of changing your coat. Then, style your hair. You'll bring a scarf and hat when you go out. At this time, Li Ye prefers to put her hair up in a low bun so that it doesn't get pressed down. Finally, put on makeup. Of course, Li Ye will put on makeup when she goes out. It's just that she goes out without makeup at home. She does a simple everyday makeup look, which takes five minutes to complete.

Keys, wallet, phone, and tissues—after checking her pockets, a young woman was ready to leave. Her outfit was rated A, just the level for a casual meal. Her highest score was for her face after makeup; if she were to rate her face out of 100, it would rise from an initial 60 to 80.

This is one of Li Ye's characteristics; the extent of her beauty largely depends on the skill of the makeup artist. To put it bluntly, her face is very suitable for makeup. Fortunately, Li Ye studied painting for a few years, so she picked up makeup very quickly. In other words, she is quite good at makeup and can occasionally even dress up as her favorite game characters at comic conventions in a decent manner.

During this time, Ms. Li also waited for Mr. Li, who had just finished get off work, to come over. She asked him to help judge which scarf was more suitable for the upcoming dinner. Li Ye ignored the romantic moments between the loving couple and went to the window to look at the view of the building.

I only saw Zhou Yuan's arrival message when I went back to the bedroom to look for my phone. My aunt and uncle had already driven to the station to wait for me, but it was hard to judge when they would arrive home due to the evening rush hour traffic.

Waiting was boring, so Li Ye decided to find something to do to pass the time, such as observing the knitted bouquet on the small coffee table in the living room.

Ms. Li and Mr. Li are both people with a zest for life. This is reflected in their daily lives. Mr. Li keeps rows of potted plants on the balcony, which are displayed on flower racks. Ms. Li is passionate about knitting, and her various knitted works cover the furniture in her home, so that no one can see what the furniture originally looked like.

After staring at it for a short while, Li Ye ran back to the bedroom to get his sketchbook and pen, then ran back to the living room to start sketching the 99 knitted roses that Ms. Li had just created. At first, Li Ye was still paying attention to the sounds in the house, but once he got into the zone, his mind was only focused on the scene in front of him.

"Li?"

As soon as the background frame was set and the main bouquet of roses gradually became clear, she vaguely heard someone calling her. She turned her head slightly in the direction of the sound and a familiar, handsome face came into view, giving the unsuspecting Li Ye a close-up visual shock.

Zhou Yuan's height of 1.9 meters made him appear even more enormous when he squatted down next to Li Ye. Li Ye, who was completely unaware of this, was naturally startled for a moment. However, Zhou Yuan himself was oblivious to the fact that he was frightening and continued to say what he hadn't finished.

"Li, let's go. Mom, Dad, Uncle, and Aunt have already arrived."

The combined efforts of both families quickly brought Li Ye back to the present moment. Li Ye closed his sketchbook and placed the pen on the small coffee table. As he stood up, he grabbed Zhou Yuan's arm and pulled the boy up as well.

"Let's go. The hotel we booked is quite far away. I'll drive."

While waiting at a red light, after being in close proximity to someone for the first time in almost half a year, Li Ye started making conversation: "You've been working hard all day, why don't you rest and relax first?"

"We're going out to eat together, then we'll go home to sleep."

Zhou Yuan was a man of few words, and Li Ye was not one to talk much either. They were all acquaintances, and the silence that followed didn't seem too awkward. However, Li Ye felt that Zhou Yuan's gaze was constantly on her.

"You've been staring at me, is there something you want to say?"

The person being asked looked completely at ease. Zhou Yuan looked at her face and said seriously, "Li, you're wearing makeup, you look good, and it matches your clothes perfectly."

"That's it? You've been watching me the whole way."

"arrive."

Before Li Ye could say anything, Zhou Yuan reminded him that they had arrived at the hotel. After parking Ms. Li's car, the two successfully found the parents' private room and sat down next to each other.

Once everyone was present, Mr. Zhou called the waiter to start serving the dishes. Mrs. Zhou glanced at the two children huddled together whispering to each other, especially her own son, who had only called out to everyone after coming in, and then focused all his attention on the little girl across from him.

Zhou's mother sighed inwardly. Her interest in showing off to Ms. Li across the street had waned considerably. She only planned to chat about trivial work matters, as she disliked the music store the most.

On the other side, Li Ye and Zhou Yuan, who were huddled together with their heads down, were only discussing who ordered the dishes today and how to pick up the dishes they wanted most safely after all the dishes were served. The grown-up kids at the table were only thinking about rice.

And so, a banquet that deviated from its intended purpose ended in such an unremarkable way, didn't it?

Neither father was a heavy drinker, so they both took charge of driving the way back. They went to the parking lot to find the car first, while the ladies went to pay the bill together. The two children stood in the hotel lobby on either side of the waiting area.

"So, what exactly is the situation with what your aunt said about you buying a house in Shanghai?"

Li Ye chose to ask directly, since Zhou Yuan wasn't good at beating around the bush.

"I want to own my own house; I'll buy it if I have enough money."

In response, Zhou Yuan gave her a more direct answer. Ignoring the somewhat intense gaze that followed, Li Ye frowned slightly and looked up at the clear eyes opposite her.

"You haven't even graduated yet, where did you get so much money? I've been saving up for years by writing and painting, and it's barely enough."

"It took me four years to save up enough money. I wasn't scammed, and I didn't break the law." Having probably already been questioned by his family once, Zhou Yuan calmly took out his phone to show Li Ye the income sources he had compiled.

"Before going to university, I was thinking about saving money to buy a house as soon as possible. Without affecting my health and grades, I could still participate in competitions, performances, and music production. The biggest expense was a game company that recently bought a set of background music, which allowed me to achieve my goal ahead of schedule."

"It's the same company that invited me to join. You can check it directly. I wasn't scammed, and I didn't scam you either."

"You barely passed the test. This sudden turn of events has kept our whole family busy. We thought you had some big announcement to make."

The 20-centimeter height difference meant that Li Ye could only pat Zhou Yuan on the shoulder to reassure him.

"A space that is completely my own, that makes me want one too."

Zhou Yuan's eyes seemed to light up, and he suddenly reached out and pressed down on Li Ye's shoulders. "Li, you can come with me."

"You mean we should buy a house together and continue living across the hall from each other?" Li Ye rarely started to consider buying a house and moving out. "After all, we've known each other for over ten years and have hardly ever had any conflicts. It seems like a good idea!"

Zhou Yuan, who looked a bit listless from traveling all day, suddenly became even more tired, and even the hand on his shoulder seemed to have lost a lot of strength.

"Is it because you don't want to be my neighbor?" Li Ye asked directly, a little puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan quickly moved his hands back and forth in front of his chest to indicate that he did not mean it that way, saying, "I didn't mean it that way."

He then recalled the previous conversation and reorganized his speech.

"I mean, I want to be with you, I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

"I like you."