UI CH 36

After sending the message, Shen Ran never got a reply—not even by the time he woke up the next morning.

At the convenience store that morning, Xu Tian asked why she hadn’t seen Zhao Jiyu in the past two days. At that moment, Shen Ran was adding ingredients to the simmering oden pot, but his hand slipped, and he got scalded by the boiling broth.

Xu Tian assumed he had just been careless and quickly pulled out some burn ointment. As she was applying it to his hand, Shen Ran suddenly noticed something—these past two days, Xu Tian had been wearing her hair down and had even applied light makeup.

“You and him… are close now?” Shen Ran suddenly asked.

Xu Tian was busy mumbling about how careless he was and didn’t quite catch what he said. “Huh? What?”

“Nothing.”
Shen Ran glanced at the thick layer of ointment on his hand and sighed helplessly.
“How am I supposed to work with this much cream on?”

“Most of the morning tasks are already done. Just take a break, I’ll handle things here.”

Xu Tian nudged him toward the break room. Since there were no customers at the moment, Shen Ran closed the door and sat inside the tiny, less-than-three-square-meter space, leaning against the wall to rest.

He hadn’t slept well last night, and his eyes still ached from exhaustion. After a while, he pulled out his phone. Aside from school-related messages, there was also one from Li Ting.

Li Ting is flying out next weekend. Make sure you come by in the next few days to pick up your things.

Staring at these two lines of text, Shen Ran scrolled up through the chat history. The previous messages were from before their breakup, when Li Ting had urgently demanded an explanation from him. Going even further back, the last conversation they had while still together appeared.

The night before everything happened, he had asked Li Ting out for dinner. Back then, he had sent a message saying he had already arrived and asked how long she would take to get there, even sending a voice message saying, “I miss you.”

This kind of conversation had only happened last month, yet looking at it now gave him a sense of disorientation, as if it were from another lifetime. He wasn’t sure why he felt this way, but the more he scrolled, the more amused he became, thinking that he had been quite impulsive back then.

Pressing the back button, he opened Zheng Mingjin’s chat window.

Zheng Mingjin said he would be back the day after tomorrow. Yang Xin had given him a day off and asked Shen Ran if he wanted to go out for a meal then.

Shen Ran replied with a simple “Anything’s fine”, then returned to the WeChat interface. As he continued scrolling, he stopped when he saw Zhao Jiyu’s profile picture.

The last message between them was from last night—he had asked Zhao Jiyu whether he had come back to sleep.

Rubbing his chin with his index finger, Shen Ran had just furrowed his brows when Xu Tian came in, asking for help. He pushed open the door and saw a minibus parked outside the store. A group of middle school students was getting off and heading inside to pick out snacks.

He and Xu Tian busied themselves handling customers and making deliveries throughout the afternoon. By the time he finally got off work, it was already past seven.

After tidying up, he took the bus home. As he arrived at his building, he ran into Old Wu, who was just about to leave.

Old Wu mentioned that dinner was ready. Shen Ran, however, asked,
“Has Zhao Jiyu come back?”

“No. If you need to reach him, you can send him a WeChat message.”

“I did, but he hasn’t replied since last night.”

“He’s probably busy,”
Old Wu said with a smile.
“That happens sometimes. He’ll be back once he’s done.”

Hearing that Zhao Jiyu was fine, Shen Ran didn’t ask further. But then Old Wu added,
“Oh, right. The birthday gift he prepared for you arrived earlier. It’s on the coffee table in the living room.”

Shen Ran hesitated for a moment before remembering what it was. When he got home, he saw that Zhao Jiyu had indeed prepared an exquisitely wrapped gift box that looked just like a 390. Attached to the top was a remarkably realistic preserved flower. He had never seen this shade of blue before—it looked just like a rose.

He took a picture and sent it to Zhao Jiyu on WeChat:
“Thanks! I had completely forgotten about this.”

After sending the message, he waited for quite a while, but Zhao Jiyu’s chat window remained silent.

After giving the delicate gift box another glance, he got up and went into the bathroom.

After showering, he walked into the kitchen and saw that Old Wu had prepared four dishes and a soup—none of them repeating from previous meals. He carried the food to the dining area and ate until he was stuffed, barely managing to finish everything. Staring at the last bowl of soup he couldn’t drink, he thought to himself that he really needed to tell Zhao Jiyu to stop making so much food.

But the next morning, he still didn’t see Zhao Jiyu.

Today was Deng Feng’s younger sister, Deng Yi’s, birthday. Shen Ran had swapped shifts with his colleague Tang Wei in advance.

After waking up at noon, he opened WeChat and saw that the birthday party group chat was lively with all sorts of trivial chatter.

He didn’t join in. Instead, after washing up, he opened the fridge and saw the Chinese pastries that Zhao Jiyu had mentioned.

These pastries were sold in bulk, and at first, Shen Ran didn’t feel like touching them. However, each package had a sticker with detailed notes indicating the flavor and steaming time. The small buns were shaped like adorable animals, making him think that Zhao Jiyu must have instructed Old Wu to label them.

Shen Ran couldn’t understand how Zhao Jiyu had such patience. Smiling to himself, he picked up a bag of pig-shaped custard buns, placed them in the steamer, and heated a cup of milk.

The buns were soft, fragrant, and sweet. He finished them all in one go, then went back to his room to pick out a black athletic tank top and workout pants. After styling his hair in the bathroom, he looked at the mirror, pleased to see a version of himself that appeared more handsome than usual. He smirked with satisfaction, picked up the gift box, and headed out.

Fanta wild Amusement Park was located in the suburbs, covering a vast area. By the time Shen Ran arrived, the pool area was already set up. At the entrance stood a three-tiered arch wrapped in vines and white roses. Inside, the decorations were detailed, with white roses, tulips, and clusters of purple vervain flowers scattered throughout, creating a romantic atmosphere.

Most of the girls at the event carried lace parasols to shield themselves from the sun. Shen Ran walked through the arch and handed the gift to a girl standing by the entrance chatting with friends. With sincerity, he said,
“Deng Yi, happy birthday.”

Deng Yi was from the same university but a different department. They were just casual acquaintances. As she accepted the gift, another girl beside her laughed and teased, “Wow, a Blue Enchantress rose? Handsome guy, are you confessing?”

Shen Ran didn’t understand, but Deng Yi noticed the blue rose on the gift box and smiled, explaining on his behalf,
“He probably doesn’t know what this flower means.”
Then she turned to him and asked,
“Did you pick this gift yourself, or did someone else choose it for you?”

Shen Ran had no choice but to admit that a friend had picked it out for him. Deng Yi, knowing that he had just gone through a breakup last month, accepted the gift without pressing the topic further. After chatting for a bit, Shen Ran took out his phone to look it up and found out that the Blue Enchantress rose symbolized “secret love.”

For a brief moment, a strange thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Zhao Jiyu probably didn’t know the meaning of the flower either—after all, only girls cared about things like flower symbolism.

He stood under a tree by the pool for a while until a senior from his university’s graduate school, Ji Minglun, arrived.

Since their trip to Xi’an, Shen Ran and Ji Minglun hadn’t seen each other. As Ji Minglun approached, Shen Ran greeted him first,
“Senior, why do you look so tired? Didn’t sleep well?”

Ji Minglun held a cigarette between his fingers, its ember still faintly glowing, and responded indifferently, “Mmm.”

Looking toward the entrance, Shen Ran asked,
“Is Jiang Lin really not coming today?”

“I don’t know.”
Ji Minglun took a drag from his cigarette, his tone making it clear he didn’t want to discuss the topic.
“I haven’t contacted him these past few days.”

Among their group of friends, Shen Ran was the only one who knew that Ji Minglun and Jiang Lin had grown up together and that Ji Minglun had feelings for him. Hearing that they hadn’t spoken in days, Shen Ran was a bit surprised, but since Ji Minglun didn’t want to elaborate, he found an excuse to go change into his swimwear.

Standing under the tree was getting uncomfortably hot, and with few familiar faces around, Shen Ran left for the hotel opposite the pool. He found an empty guest room arranged by Deng Feng, lay on the bed, and pulled out his phone, scrolling to Zhao Jiyu’s WeChat.

It had been three days, and Zhao Jiyu hadn’t sent a single message. The last three messages in their chat were all from Shen Ran.

He tapped on Zhao Jiyu’s Moments. The most recent post was a photo taken under a light at the bar that night—right before Zhao Jiyu had come to pick him up after Zheng Mingjin had dragged him away.

Staring at the composition of the photo, Shen Ran clicked on Zhao Jiyu’s profile picture. He suddenly noticed that although the scenes and colors in the two images were different, they were both taken from an upward angle—one showing a moth under the dim glow of a streetlamp, the other a paper airplane against a cloudy sky.

Shen Ran’s WeChat profile picture was a blurred shot of himself mid-air while making a basketball layup. He had intentionally blurred the image slightly. Zheng Mingjin had once teased him about it, asking why he had to blur the picture. His explanation at the time was that he didn’t want to be too flashy. As a result, very few people recognized that the picture was of him. Even in the two months he had been in a relationship with Li Ting, the latter had never noticed.

Yet, Zhao Jiyu had.

On the night they watched a basketball game together, while heading to the seaside, they had talked about basketball. Zhao Jiyu had casually mentioned that his posture in the layup photo looked really good.

Shen Ran had been surprised that Zhao Jiyu recognized him. The man had simply smiled and said nothing, only commenting that the slight blur was well done—that it gave the image a hazy, dreamlike feel.

His thoughts drifted too far. Putting his phone down, Shen Ran lay on the pillow, hoping to rest for a while. About half an hour later, he received a call from Ji Minglun, asking him to come downstairs and help Jiang Lin get to a room to shower and change.

At first, Shen Ran didn’t understand why Jiang Lin needed to be pulled out of a swimming pool fully clothed. But when he got downstairs and saw Jiang Lin at the front desk, dripping wet and talking to a staff member, he quickly figured something had happened.

He hurried over, suggesting that Jiang Lin go upstairs to shower first, but Jiang Lin grabbed onto him, refusing to let go, insisting that he take him to see Ji Minglun.

Shen Ran had no choice but to tell him that Ji Minglun had already left. Jiang Lin searched around but didn’t see him anywhere. Without another word, he turned and walked away. Watching Jiang Lin leave with a downcast expression, Shen Ran felt uncomfortable. When he got back to his room, he called Ji Minglun to ask what had happened.

Unfortunately, Ji Minglun didn’t explain much before hanging up. Shen Ran wondered if Deng Yi had deliberately not invited Jiang Lin today because she had already noticed Ji Minglun’s feelings for him. But when he returned to the pool, Deng Yi was nowhere to be found. After asking around, he learned that Jiang Lin had come looking for Ji Minglun earlier, and the two had gotten into an argument. When Deng Yi tried to pull Jiang Lin away, she accidentally pushed him into the water.

After such a dramatic scene, the atmosphere at the event became awkward. It wasn’t until Deng Feng arrived that things started to feel normal again.

Shen Ran stayed until dinner began. After eating a little, he told Deng Feng that he had something to do and left early.

Many of the attendees were Deng Feng’s close friends, so Deng Feng didn’t try to stop him and only reminded him to be careful on the way home.

On his way back, Shen Ran took a bus toward home. While waiting at a transfer station, he noticed two high school boys in uniform at the bus stop. One of them had a backpack slung over each shoulder, while the other carried nothing, sitting lazily on the bench, tilting his head up as he talked to his companion.

The one carrying the backpacks had sharp, well-defined features and looked cool, but his smile was gentle. The other, who was sitting down, had delicate and youthful features.

Shen Ran only glanced at them twice before sensing the kind of relationship they had.

Sure enough, when the bus arrived, the seated boy stood up, but as he lifted his foot, he stumbled slightly—falling straight into the arms of the one carrying the backpacks.

The boy with the backpacks hooked both arms around the other’s back, and the two briefly embraced before letting go. The delicate-featured boy smiled, reached up to brush aside his companion’s bangs, and then they boarded the bus together and left.

This scene was hidden in the night, subtle enough that an ordinary passerby might not notice. But Shen Ran had more than one friend who liked the same gender, so he could see it clearly.

However, after watching those two, his thoughts drifted back to Ji Minglun and Jiang Lin. He thought about today’s unexpected incident—one that shouldn’t have happened—and his emotions grew even more complicated.

When his bus finally arrived, he found a seat by the window and closed his eyes, exhausted.

Earlier, he had told Old Wu that he wouldn’t need dinner tonight. But as he arrived near home, hunger crept up on him, so he stopped by the supermarket downstairs and bought two packs of instant noodles. The store clerk was busy promoting freshly sliced watermelon, enthusiastically advertising how juicy and sweet today’s batch was. The familiar-sounding phrase made Shen Ran hesitate for only a moment before he picked up a tray and headed to checkout.

As he took the elevator upstairs, he was still wondering whether Zhao Jiyu would come home tonight. He wasn’t expecting to open the door and hear a man and woman’s dialogue in English.

The sound was unmistakably coming from high-quality speakers.

Shen Ran tightened his grip on the doorframe and quickly walked to the entrance. Sure enough, he saw a familiar figure lounging on the large sofa in the living room, dressed in a black silk robe.

The man held a glass of red wine between his fingers, his half-dried bangs casually swept back, with a stray strand resting against the golden frame of his glasses.

Seeing Shen Ran standing still, staring at him, Zhao Jiyu lazily patted the seat beside him and said, “Come here.”