Chapter 10

Li Sipei slightly pursed his lips, and after a while, he slowly replied, “It will take a few days.”

“Oh.”

There was no sound from the other end after that.

Silence spread between the two on the phone. Li Sipei remained steady, holding his phone in one position, his breath long and even, giving off an air of “if the enemy doesn’t move, I won’t move.”

After a long while, Mi Zhao found another topic to talk about: “Do you have WeChat?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll add you on WeChat; it’s more convenient to send messages.” Mi Zhao said, then asked, “Is your WeChat number the same as your phone number?”

Li Sipei replied with an “Mm,” then suddenly remembered and said, “You can’t find my WeChat with my phone number.”

“Huh?” Mi Zhao was a bit surprised, then quickly realized something, her tone softening as he kindly said, “Oh, I understand. I get it.”

Li Sipei: “?”

Just as he was about to ask what he understood, he suddenly changed the subject, “What about your WeChat ID?”

Li Sipei had no choice but to continue skipping over that topic: “You can’t find that either.”

“…” Mi Zhao hesitated for a moment, not giving up, and asked again, “What about your QQ(a popular instant messaging) number?”

“Not possible.”

“…So what if someone wants to add you?”

Li Sipei seriously thought about the question and concluded, “I don’t know.”

So many people want to add him on WeChat, and there are endless friend requests every day. He finds it troublesome, so he turned off all the ways to add him. If someone wants to add him, they have to either come in front of him and scan the QR code or have him add them.

Both ways are quite suffocating for people trying to add him.

Since then, Li Sipei has never been bothered by this again.

He has scanned many QR codes for others, but no one has ever asked him to take the initiative to add them.

Mi Zhao stayed silent for a long time before unknowingly becoming the first person: “My WeChat ID is my phone number. You can add me.”

“Mm.” Li Sipei responded obediently, “Okay.”

After hanging up, he copied Mi Zhao’s phone number into the WeChat search bar to add as a friend, then tapped his finger, and an account popped up.

Mi Zhao’s WeChat name was just three letters—rmz.

His profile picture looked like a self-drawn oil painting. When enlarged, the main subject was a person, clearly a male figure’s back, and obviously not Mi Zhao’s back.

Li Sipei lowered his eyes, staring at it for a few seconds, his brow slightly furrowed.

Li Yan had thought that since he had braved it out to come here, Li Sipei, as the elder, would at least meet with him, but after waiting on the first floor for a full three hours, watching the strong sunlight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows gradually soften, Li Sipei still didn’t call him up.

The anxiety churning inside him was barely kept under control, but his grim expression betrayed his feelings.

Anyone would be uncomfortable sitting in one place for three hours, and with something on his mind, he kept thinking about just standing up and leaving.

But it was only a thought.

Ruan Xin had also accompanied Li Yan downstairs for three hours, but it wasn’t as torturous for her. She could look at her phone, get up and walk around, or chat with others in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows when she got bored.

Before he knew it, it was already five in the afternoon.

Li Yan remembered that he still had a three-hour trip back to A city and had to ask Ruan Xin again with a stiff face: “Sister Ruan, I have to go. Otherwise, I’ll be late getting back. Can you go up and tell Uncle for me?”

Ruan Xin looked at the time on her phone; it was almost dinner time, and the aunties in the kitchen were busy preparing food.

She went upstairs and knocked on the door.

Li Sipei was still sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with his back to the door. Ruan Xin, who was sensitive, noticed that Li Sipei’s back seemed less melancholic than before.

“Third Master.” Ruan Xin reminded in a low voice, “Li Yan is still downstairs. He said he has to leave and will return to A City tonight.”

Li Sipei lowered his head slightly, resting his elbows on the armrests of the wheelchair, seemingly focused on doing something. After finishing whatever he was doing with his hands, he replied casually, “Let him go.”

“Okay.” Ruan Xin sympathetically glanced at Li Yan for a second and then said, “Third Master, dinner will be ready soon.”

“I know.” Li Sipei didn’t even raise his head.

Ruan Xin stood still for a while, suddenly curious about what Li Sipei was doing, but even if she had ten times more courage, she wouldn’t dare to peek. Seeing that Li Sipei didn’t have any further instructions, she quietly left the room.

As soon as she closed the door, a sudden guess flashed through her mind.

Her movements froze.

Could it be… that Third Master was…

Playing on his phone?!

Ruan Xin was startled by the guess, but the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. The posture wasn’t really of someone just staring into space; could it be he was fiddling with his phone?

Li Sipei, of all people, playing on his phone!

Indeed, no modern person can resist the temptation of the internet addiction little demon!

Ruan Xin was completely shocked, and it took a long while before she floated downstairs with light steps. Li Yan had already been waiting downstairs so long he was about to lose patience, and when he saw her coming down, he jumped up from the sofa.

“Sister Ruan, what did Uncle say?”

“Third Master doesn’t want to see anyone.”

The last shred of hope was cruelly shattered, and Li Yan couldn’t control his expression for a moment. He stared at Ruan Xin without blinking, his tone no longer as eager as before: “Is Uncle still in a bad mood?”

Ruan Xin thought for a moment but didn’t want to say that Li Sipei’s mood had improved a lot, it was just that he didn’t want to see him. Instead, she replied, “Aren’t you going home? Let’s go.”

Li Yan stood there, his hands slowly clenching into fists, his eyes reddening slightly. His jaw tightened, and the expression on his face was frightening. Ruan Xin felt a chill down her spine, but he quickly became serious again.

“Do you think I’m lying to you?”

Li Yan suddenly withdrew his gaze, his face turning pale as he shook his head, “No.”

Ruan Xin’s patience had been completely exhausted. She grabbed the bag of fruit on the coffee table and shoved it into Li Yan’s arms, her tone clearly unfriendly, “If you don’t want Third Master to lose his good mood completely, then listen to me and leave quickly.”

On the first floor, besides the two of them, there were a few other people scattered around the living room, each seemingly focused on their phones, but their peripheral vision kept flicking toward the two of them, filled with gossip and scrutiny.

Li Yan awkwardly hugged the bag, feeling as though he had been stripped of all his clothes and thrown into the street. The stares of the others felt like blades scraping across him.

His face flushed red as he met Ruan Xin’s gaze, opening his mouth to say something.

But in the end, he said nothing.

With a burst of energy, he walked out the courtyard gate, the setting sun casting its light on him, yet he felt no warmth at all.

Stopping outside, Li Yan turned his gloomy face toward the villa behind the trees. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the master bedroom on the second floor, located at the side of the villa, reflected the mottled light of the sunset when he tilted his head.

Li Sipei was inside.

Although he was so close, it felt like he was a world away.

He stared at it without blinking, until his eyes began to sting and swell.

In the minute he stood there, many memories resurfaced in his mind—

Before the accident, Li Sipei was not only a healthy person, but also a highly accomplished overseas returnee with a master’s degree. However, unlike his ambitious parents, Li Sipei was calm and lacked the ambition to expand an empire. Born in the heart of Rome, no matter how he circled, he never left the central area. Later, when the accident happened, he couldn’t even be bothered to circle around anymore.

Rehabilitation was the only thing Li Sipei could do, while the rest of his life seemed aimless.

Even so, Li Sipei remained a figure whom most people in A City’s upper circle wanted to please but had no means to do so. He still held more than half of the Li family’s assets, and even a cough from him could shake the entire Li family.

Because Li Sipei had a legendary mother, Pei Yu.

Li Sipei didn’t have to do anything; as long as he lived well, Pei Yu would lay out everything she had for him to walk on.

Without Pei Yu, Li Sipei would be nothing.

Li Yan hissed and suddenly tasted the blood in his mouth. He took a sharp breath, forcing himself to look away.

A bitter smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

There’s nothing he can do, after all, his mother’s surname is Li, not Pei.

The expensive imported fruit he had bought was too valuable to throw away, so he packed it into his suitcase and took it with him. On the way back to A City, Li Yan tried again to add Mi Zhao as a contact on Alipay.

The result directly showed “Message Sending Failed.”

Li Yan froze for a moment, then realized that his Alipay had been blacklisted by Mi Zhao.

His face, already clouded with frustration, darkened even more, and his teeth ground together, causing the driver sitting in the front seat to look at him nervously.

Li Yan, oblivious to this, stared at his phone with eyes burning with anger, as though he could burn a hole through it.

Half a minute later, he put the phone away.

Fine.

If we’re breaking up, then fine.

Mi Zhao, don’t regret it!

A City.

Mi Zhao, covered in paint, had just finished the awkward chat with Li Sipei. Lying on the floor of the guest room, which was covered with newspapers, he lazily swiped his phone screen.

Li Sipei’s WeChat name and profile picture were very simple: his name, and a street scene from abroad, though Mi Zhao wasn’t sure if Li Sipei had taken the picture himself.

As for the Moments—

Even simpler.

There were only two faint gray horizontal lines with a small dot in the middle.

Mi Zhao felt that this WeChat account didn’t seem like Li Sipei’s personal one but more like a work account for dealing with clients. He had turned off all the methods of contact, clearly not wanting others to know about this account’s existence.

Unexpectedly, the other party was quite professional.

After putting his phone down and resting his eyes for a few minutes, Mi Zhao got up to pack the last piece of summer homework, then started cleaning up the room.

He had to reorganize his luggage since he was going to school early the next morning. The things in the rental apartment also needed to be tidied up, with some items hidden away, since it would be a long time before he came back.

Exhausted after a day, Mi Zhao finished his shower before quickly falling asleep on his pillow.

He slept soundly, without dreams, and woke up feeling refreshed the next day.

Mi Zhao ordered breakfast delivery and leisurely finished it. After packing the remaining containers into a bag, Yan Qingting’s call came in exactly on time.

The two had agreed to meet at the school gate. After spending the whole summer in the countryside.

Yan Qingteng, like a happy little bird, flew over to Mi Zhao, giving him a big bear hug at the busy school gate, “My Xiao Zhao, I missed you so much! Did you just come down from Rizhao Villa?”

Mi Zhao struggled to break free from Yan Qingteng’s grasp, calmly adjusting his clothes, “I came from the rental apartment.”

“You went back to the rental apartment?” Yan Qingteng said in surprise. “Weren’t you planning to sublet the place? Why did you go back to live there?”

It was a long story, but Mi Zhao wasn’t going to hide it from Yan Qingting. He briefly explained about Li Yan bringing him to Rizhao Villa.

After hearing this, Yan Qingting’s face darkened with a mix of surprise and anger. He was about to open his mouth and curse when suddenly they heard a loud roar from behind.

Both of them turned their heads, along with the crowd at the school gate, to look at the source of the sound.

A flashy bright green sports car drove down the street, its enormous engine noise echoing down the whole block.

Under the curious gazes of countless people, the car smoothly stopped outside the dance academy. A City Dance Academy and A University were opposite each other, separated by just two three-lane streets.

Mi Zhao and Yan Qingting were standing at A University’s gate, so they could clearly see a figure getting out of the car, none other than Lin Qiuzu, who was dressed more flamboyantly than a butterfly.

After getting out, Lin Qiuzu didn’t leave immediately. He bent down, leaned on the passenger side window, and spoke to the person in the driver’s seat.

The window of the driver’s seat was rolled down, facing Mi Zhao and Yan Qingting.

Yan Qingting had sharp eyes and immediately recognized the person in the car. His face changed instantly, and he sneered, “I was wondering who would drive a car like this, turns out it’s that stinky Li Yan.”