In the living room.

Yu Ci crossed his arms across his chest, staring intently at the phone on the table, almost staring at it until a flower bloomed.

Beside him, Xiao Hei, who had been strolling all night, was finally tired. He lay on the sofa with his belly turned over, licking his paws slowly.

"Xiao Hei..."

The little black furry ears moved slightly.

What happened to this strange human that lived with his master?

It stopped licking its paws and looked to the side with its yellow eyes: "Meow?"

Yu Ci poked the unresponsive phone, sighed, and rubbed Xiao Hei's open belly with his slender index finger: "Why didn't your master reply to my message?"

Xiao Hei swung his tail, not too happy: "Meow!"

Don’t touch my belly!

It licked its fur that was messed up by the human and turned over.

Yu Ci saw the disdain in Xiao Hei's eyes and raised his eyebrows slightly: "The little guy has a bad temper."

Xiao Hei turned his back and ignored him.

Well, both the big and the small ignored him.

Yu Ci stroked his chin, his eyes thoughtful.

Is he really that annoying?

That shouldn't be the case.

While I was thinking, the phone on the table made a "ding" sound.

A small red dot lit up on Shi Jin's dialog box.

Yu Ci immediately raised his eyebrows and raised the corners of his mouth.

See, he said, how could he be annoying?

Shi Jin must have not looked at his phone just now, and now that he saw it, he immediately replied to him!

Resisting the urge to pick up his phone immediately, Yu Ci stared at the wall clock, his eyes following the jumping minute hand.

Three minutes, he will reply to him after three minutes.

Xiao Hei shook his long tail, jumped off the sofa, and expressed his disgust with his actions.

Three minutes are up.

Yu Ci immediately picked up the phone.

The corners of his mouth that were raised up fell down the moment he saw the message: "It's boring."

I can’t tell whether it’s loss or some other emotion, but I’m just not very happy.

He twirled the phone around his fingertips, not interested.

"Meow--"

Xiao Hei's coquettish voice came from the entrance.

It seems that his roommate is back.

Yu Ci suppressed the urge to get up and continued to sit on the sofa with an unchanged expression, while secretly despising Xiao Hei in his heart.

I don’t know why a little male cat sticks to Shi Jin all day long, and meows like a sissy when he sees his roommate.

What a loser!

“Pah—”

The excited Xiao Hei knocked over the black umbrella placed by the door.

Shi Jin bent down to pick up the black umbrella, and then stroked the little black furry head, with a smile in his eyes: "Are you hungry?"

Xiao Hei squatted on the ground obediently, with his little chest raised high, as if he wanted to be touched: "Meow——"

Shi Jin then obediently touched its head again.

Xiao Hei was satisfied after being touched by his owner.

It wagged its tail twice and circled around Shi Jin's legs.

Shi Jin first went to the corner next to the restaurant to take a look.

Xiao Hei's automatic feeder and waterer are still there, so there's no need to add more.

He felt relieved.

"cough--"

A light cough was heard from the living room.

Shi Jin straightened up and looked towards the living room.

On the sofa in the living room, the man was holding the remote control, seemingly seriously adjusting the TV program.

As if noticing his gaze, the man leaning on the sofa tilted his head slightly and greeted him casually: "Are you back?"

Shi Jin's gaze stayed on the remote control in his hand for two seconds, then he calmly looked away: "Yeah."

Yu Ci followed his gaze and saw the remote control in his hand, which was held upside down. He paused and calmly put it down: "Why are you here so late?"

As if realizing that this was a bit inappropriate, Yu Ci added: "Xiao Hei seems to be hungry and keeps pestering people."

Xiao Hei swung his tail in dissatisfaction and jumped onto the sofa to protest: "Meow——"

Who is pestering me? It's obviously you who is pestering meow.

Shi Jin patted Xiao Hei's head soothingly: "Probably not, there is still cat food in the bowl."

"oh."

The air was silent for a few seconds.

"Did you cut your hair?"

"Yeah." Shi Jin touched the trigger and lowered his eyelids: "It's a bit long, so I trimmed the ends of my hair."

“It’s pretty nice.”

Shi Jin's eyelashes twitched slightly: "Thank you."

The living room fell silent again.

Yu Ci got up from the sofa: "You take a rest, I'll go upstairs first."

"Yeah, okay."

The footsteps gradually disappeared at the entrance.

Shi Jin pursed her lips and loosened her fingertips slightly on her legs.

He stood in the living room for a while and then walked into the room.

A dreamless night.

The early morning birdsong and the alarm clock together wake up the sleeping people.

Shi Jin turned off the alarm clock and stared at the dim ceiling for a while as usual.

Xiao Hei squatted outside the door and called.

He woke up, got up and opened the door. Xiao Hei squeezed in through the crack of the door with cat steps, and slowly inspected his territory.

Shi Jin touched Xiao Hei's head and went to the bathroom with the clothes.

He has an appointment with Shi Yi today, so he has to go out on time.

It was twenty minutes later when everything was packed up.

Shi Jin walked to the entrance, took down the black umbrella hanging on the wall, and was about to open the door when footsteps were heard on the stairs on the side.

He tilted his head slightly and met Yu Ci's eyes as he was walking down the stairs.

Shi Jin's hand paused as he opened the door. He pursed his lips and said, "Morning."

The young man at the door stood straight, his cold pale face hidden by a mask. A few flights of stairs separated him from the others, and his amber eyes were as clear and cool as jade soaked in snow water.

It also awakened Yu Ci's still somewhat confused brain.

He raised his eyebrows: "You want to go out?"

"Yeah." Shi Jin nodded, his eyes fell on Yu Ci: "You want to go out too?"

Yu Ci followed his line of sight and saw the light-colored shirt on his body, and nodded nonchalantly: "Go and have tea with the Queen Mother."

"oh."

Another two-second pause.

"Then I'll go first."

"Bang--"

The door was closed lightly, leaving only one person and a cat in the house.

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows, and the feeling that he had been feeling since last night that something was not right finally dawned on him.

He squatted down, his eyes meeting Xiao Hei's yellow eyes: "Tell me, is your master avoiding me?"

Xiao Hei licked his paws and glanced at him in a humane way with his bright yellow eyes.

The next second, the black kitten turned around and left without mercy, leaving him with only its back with its tail erect.

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Well, I'm annoying."

——

When Shi Jin arrived at the coffee shop, Shi Yi was already sitting at the table in the corner.

The lady boss who was arranging flowers at the front desk greeted her with a gentle smile: "Are you here?"

Shi Jin also curled his lips: "Good morning."

Shi Yi waved at him: "Here."

Seeing Shi Jin coming, he moved the computer beside him and pushed the closed menu: "What would you like to drink?"

Shi Jin's eyes fell on the menu on the table.

The proprietress washed her hands and placed the vase with daisies on the bar at the entrance. She smiled and said, "Today's milk has just been delivered. It's fresh and sweet. Do you want to try it?"

She fiddled with the vase a few times, changed it to a suitable position, and then turned around with satisfaction: "Drinking some milk in the morning is good for your stomach."

"Hey, hey, hey." Shi Yi pretended to be dissatisfied and yelled, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

The lady boss rolled her eyes at him delicately: "You have to listen to me. When have you ever ordered anything other than hot cocoa when you came to my place?"

Shi Yi scratched his head: "It seems so."

The proprietress smiled helplessly and turned to look at Shi Jin: "How about it, have you decided what to order?"

Shi Jin accepted her kindness and said, "Then please give me a cup of hot milk, thank you."

"No problem." The proprietress came over with a smile: "Would you like something for breakfast? We have sandwiches and toast. Oh, and we also have pumpkin soup, which is new today."

Shi Yi raised his hand first: "I want a sandwich with two eggs."

"A bowl of pumpkin soup, please."

After a pause, Shi Jin pursed her lips slightly and said, "Can you put more sugar in the pumpkin soup?"

"Of course." The lady boss agreed with a smile: "Then wait a moment, I will prepare it for you."

Shi Jin sat down at the table.

He raised his eyes and was about to speak, but found that Shi Yi's attention was not there.

Shi Jin paused for two seconds and looked in the direction he was looking.

The slender figure in a floral dress stepped into the kitchen lightly and leisurely, following the sunlight that shone into the store through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"You like her?"

Shi Yi was suddenly awakened by this sentence, and his face turned red: "No, no, don't talk nonsense."

Facing Shi Jin's slightly inquiring gaze, Shi Yi took out his computer in a panic: "Let's discuss your new book."

When talking about work, Shi Yi's attitude suddenly became serious: "The subject matter of your new book is a bit sensitive, and the character setting of the protagonist is a bit on the line, so you may need to change the setting."

"Regarding this dark line, I know you want to reflect some dark sides of society, but..." Shi Yi thought for a moment and said, "I'll bet on a meal that there's an 80% chance that this point won't pass the review."

Mainly because this point is too sensitive.

Shi Jin raised his eyelids: "This hidden line cannot be changed."

If you want to change this hidden plot, the whole book will basically have to be overturned.

"Then you..." Shi Yi also frowned: "Let's try this first. You can modify the character settings a little bit. After the modification, I will submit it for your review."

Shi Jin's eyebrows relaxed slightly: "Okay."

"Here, your hot cocoa and your sandwich."

The proprietress gently placed the meal on the table and took another portion from the tray: "This is hot milk and pumpkin soup."

"Enjoy your meal, both of you."

Shi Jin thanked him: "Thank you."

"It still tastes familiar." Shi Yi drank the hot cocoa happily and praised: "Your cooking is still the best."

The proprietress curved her eyebrows gently: "As long as you like it."

"boss."

Someone waved not far away. The proprietress glanced over there and smiled apologetically: "Sorry, I have to go greet other guests first."

Shi Yi nodded quickly: "Go ahead."

Shi Jin quietly took a sip of the hot milk. The sweet milk slid into his throat, bringing a mellow taste experience and leaving bursts of milky aroma in his mouth.

"You can try it if you like."

Shi Yi exclaimed: "Try what?"

Shi Jin raised his eyes, with a slight smile in his eyes: "Try to pursue her."

Shi Yi's face turned red again. He hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Don't blame me. You don't even have a partner yourself. Why should I be so anxious?"

"But speaking of it, you have always been so pure and indifferent." Shi Yi picked up the sandwich, took a bite, and said vaguely: "I doubt whether you like anyone."

Shi Jin's eyebrows moved slightly, and he looked back calmly: "I'm not in a hurry either."

“A-choo—”

In the cake shop not far away, Yu Ci sneezed for no reason.

"By the way," Shi Yi opened his mouth and took a bite of the sandwich: "I asked you to come out today, in addition to revising the settings of the new book, there is another thing."

"Qiaoqiao submitted a proposal to the higher-ups some time ago, hoping to organize a get-together for editors and authors." He smacked his sandwich and said, "Editor-in-Chief Wei helped us apply for it, and the notice was just issued today."

The unchewed sandwich got stuck in his throat. Shi Yi drank a mouthful of cocoa and finally recovered his breath: "Oh my god, I almost choked to death."

"Although Editor-in-Chief Wei has resigned, the funds for this social gathering have still been allocated. The weather is hot today, so we thought of going to a hot spring together to cool off."

Shi Jin paused as she stirred the pumpkin soup: "Soak in a hot spring...to cool down?"

"Yes." Shi Yi said seriously, "It's because the weather is hot that we have to take a bath. If we sweat, the heat will go away with the sweat, right? Don't you think so?"

It sounds hot.

Shi Jin pursed her lips, not very interested in this kind of activity: "I don't..."

"Hey, hey, hey." Shi Yi interrupted him quickly: "Don't rush to refuse, this is not an ordinary team building, we have..."

Shi Jin then raised his eyelids and looked at him calmly: "What's the matter?"

"Yes, yes..." Shi Yi's eyes rolled around, trying to find something that could attract him: "What is it? Don't be impatient, let me think about it first."

The author has something to say:

Shi Yi: I'm not in a hurry.

Shi Jin: I’m not in a hurry either.

Yu Ci: ...I'm in a hurry! "