Chapter 3

“Nianyi, I understand what you mean now. Maybe the two of us really aren’t right for each other at this point in our lives.

“I’ve moved all my things out of the apartment. I left our photos and a few keepsakes behind—think of them as memories…”

Yu Nianyi climbed the stairs one step at a time. The motion-sensing light in the hallway flicked on at her approach; one hand hung at her side, and her phone screen was still lit with the chat interface with Yang Shuyu.

Yu Nianyi rested a hand on the doorknob and pressed her thumb lightly. The door beeped open, revealing the empty, dark entryway inside. The whole place was pitch-black.

“...I’m leaving Bao Bao with you. I remember you really like it. Please take good care of it too; I’ll come back every now and then to check on you……”

Yang Shuyu’s voice on the phone was soft and gentle. Yu Nianyi reached for the light switch, then went straight to the coffee table in the living room and crouched down to look at the furry little pet darting around its cage.

Bao Bao was a little over five months old, a golden Syrian hamster with a yellowish-gray back and a snow-white belly. It was lively and adorable. Every evening, Bao Bao would run onto its wheel on its own to welcome Yu Nianyi home; it was a very good-natured hamster, though it occasionally threw a little tantrum.

Yu Nianyi smiled as she watched Bao Bao’s round, endearing little body. She watched it run several laps before climbing over to the food bowl to eat.

Before leaving, Yang Shuyu had specifically topped off Bao Bao’s food and water. Yu Nianyi didn’t need to do anything else; she watched for a while longer, then got up, took off her outer clothes, and changed into a more comfortable set of loungewear.

She replied to Yang Shuyu with a simple okay, then collapsed onto the sofa and closed her eyes to rest.

The kind of breakup where two people became strangers and never looked back had never happened to Yu Nianyi. She had always believed in peaceful breakups. The whole point of dating was happiness; everyone was just here to experience life. If two people weren’t happy together, there was naturally no need to force it.

Yu Nianyi lay sprawled on the sofa with a long sigh, staring blankly up at the chandelier overhead.

Her fingers absentmindedly rubbed over the phone screen. Then she opened the chat window with the landscape-photo avatar. She hadn’t looked closely before, but now that she did, it seemed to be a photo of some scenic mountain spot. Beneath the dark, quiet night sky, stars were scattered overhead; grass and hills intertwined, and the mountains rose among them, tranquil to the extreme.

It was a completely standard landscape photo.

It was rare to see stars that bright in Jiayang City. Yu Nianyi studied it for a long while, then idly swiped a few times before backing out and opening Xi Yao’s avatar.

She sent a message asking whether she’d gotten home safely.

Since it was their first meeting, Yu Nianyi naturally didn’t want to seem too eager. Someone as reserved as Xi Yu probably wouldn’t be fond of especially enthusiastic people; if she pushed too hard, she might only make the distance between them feel wider.

Xi Yao replied with a voice message very quickly. Yu Nianyi opened it and listened with a calm expression as Xi Yao shouted.

“Are you okay? If you have something to say, just say it. Stop beating around the bush!”

After a short pause, as if she’d vaguely grasped Yu Nianyi’s meaning, Xi Yao’s voice started up again from the phone.

“You’re not serious, are you? I know you just broke up, but you can’t just see someone and want to try dating them right away. My sister and I aren’t even the same type as you at all; she’s not going to be interested in you either.”

Yu Nianyi raised a brow slightly, the curiosity in her eyes deepening.

If she thought about it carefully, Xi Yu really hadn’t shown any unnecessary behavior or gestures. Even the somewhat ambiguous misunderstanding she’d just assumed had been handled very lightly.

The phone vibrated a few times. Yu Nianyi lowered her gaze and saw a photo pop up on the screen.

Half of the picture was taken up by a long, cold white dining table. Overhead lighting shone down on the center of the table, making the black patterns stand out even more clearly, as if it were a hazy and elegant ink wash painting.

And at the center of the table sat three people; Xi Yu immediately drew Yu Nianyi’s attention.

The black coat from earlier was gone. What Xi Yu wore now was only glimpsed in passing: a high-neck gray sweater, the slightly snug sleeves neatly rolled up, revealing the lines of Xi Yu’s wrist and the slender fingers holding a pair of chopsticks.

Xi Yu sat upright in her chair, her hair tied back without a single loose strand. Black-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose; because of the angle, Yu Nianyi couldn’t make out her expression.

The other two people in the photo were probably Xi Yu and Xi Yao’s parents. They looked quite young, and every movement they made carried an air of elegance. The dishes on the table weren’t crowded; this didn’t seem so much like a family gathering as a discussion of something.

Xi Yao sent another message: 【See? My parents are busy trying to set my sister up with people. They’re introducing her to friends, setting her up on blind dates; the moment she gets home, all their attention goes straight to her.】

Yu Nianyi clicked her tongue softly, then nodded in understanding. If she remembered correctly, Xi Yao had once said that she and her sister were nine years apart. That meant Xi Yu was twenty-nine this year and would turn thirty next year.

At that age, it was indeed easy for elders to start asking questions about this sort of thing.

Yu Nianyi stood up with her phone in hand, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Bao Bao, who was now lying asleep off to one side of the cage. She poured herself a glass of water, then sat down at the dining table.

Another message popped up. Yu Nianyi looked over just in time to read Xi Yao’s words in full.

【But I don’t think she’s interested in any of that. My mom barely got through two sentences before she made an excuse about work and left.】 After that came another line: 【You should stop thinking about it too. She’s just a work machine.】

Yu Nianyi smiled as she pressed the voice button. “Since your sister has no plans for that, isn’t that even better for me? You just need to relax and let things take their course.”

The other side didn’t answer. A long while later, an expression that looked like good luck to yourself was sent over.

Yu Nianyi smiled, then opened the landscape avatar she had repeatedly clicked into and backed out of. She sent over a short line that was almost an order.

【Sister Xi Yu, I have time tomorrow afternoon at three. Let’s meet at Jiayang Plaza. Would that be okay?】

Sent.

Yu Nianyi leaned sideways in the chair, one leg bent up, her chin resting on her raised knee as her fingers tapped the screen one after another.

There was still no reply. Xi Yu might be busy, or her phone might not be with her, or she might have seen it and simply not wanted to answer.

It wasn’t really a big deal. Even if Xi Yu transferred the money to her or asked someone else to take her there, that would be entirely expected and understandable.

But the greeting she had deliberately pursued earlier, and the ride on the way over, both made Yu Nianyi feel that Xi Yu was a responsible person, someone who saw things through from beginning to end. Not to mention that she was also close with Xi Yao; even if they weren’t in the same major, they still moved together, going in and out side by side every day.

As a friend of Xi Yao’s, she would certainly know how to save face.

Yu Nianyi took a slow sip from the cup. The moisture slid down her throat, and that faint, refreshing fragrance seemed to drift across the tip of her nose again.

The phone vibrated lightly. Yu Nianyi looked down reflexively and saw that the previously blank chat window had finally filled with a reply.

【Mm. I’ll be nearby then anyway. Three o’clock sharp; I’ll wait for you downstairs.】

Yu Nianyi sent back an “OK” emoji, then turned off the screen and opened the notebook on the table. With practiced ease, she clicked into a website called Artworks. The screen naturally displayed the username “Y.” She entered the password and logged in with one click.

Holding the mouse in one hand, she focused on opening the newly released works on the homepage. She looked them over carefully and repeatedly for a full twenty minutes before clicking into her own homepage, where she saw that the piece previously listed for sale, Snow, had already been sold.

The mouse pointer paused over the painting for a few seconds. Yu Nianyi savored the sight of her own work again and again; for some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

Nothing made her happier than having her paintings appreciated and recognized by others.

She closed the page and got up, walking into the room beside the bedroom.

When she switched on the light, the oil paintings lined up around the room were all illuminated by the overhead lamp. Yu Nianyi wandered over to the chair by the easel and sat down.

She had already completed three works in the landscape series; now she needed to find a new subject, as well as inspiration she could keep building on.

Yu Nianyi casually clipped her hair up with a hairpin and leaned back in the chair, thinking quietly.

For some reason, the scene from earlier suddenly surfaced in her mind.

The black night sky stretched endlessly overhead, as if it might collapse at any moment; the low, quiet brick houses; the old road stained gray-white with mud; under the yellow streetlights, a black silhouette stood with its back to the light amid the increasingly heavy snowfall.

A few pedestrians passed by quickly, brushing shoulders as they hurried past. She stood in a corner of the painting, simply standing there in silence.

Yu Nianyi curved her lips faintly as she recalled the scene, and felt that it was actually a pretty good subject.

The old district of Jiayang City had a certain charm to it; with its distinct sense of age, plus a lonely, cool person standing there like a pine tree, it might tell an even richer story.

A face turned away from the light left just enough room for others to wonder and imagine; it also carried a naturally melancholy atmosphere. Although she had never created a complete work featuring a person before, perhaps this could be a new attempt.

Thinking of this, Yu Nianyi immediately picked up her brush. She tilted her head and stared out the window for a long while, recalling the layout of the alley from earlier, and immediately began sketching the outline of the buildings.

-

The next day, ten o’clock in the morning.

After failing to fall asleep five times in a row, Yu Nianyi finally gave up and opened her eyes.

She let out a quiet breath; the clanging sounds from upstairs came one after another, making her ears tingle and her head buzz.

Xiangyang Community was an old residential complex on Xiangyang Road, conveniently tucked into an alley across from Jiangbei Academy. Thanks to its decent location, it had long been rented by college students.

Unfortunately, the sixth floor was currently under renovation, directly above the apartment Yu Nianyi had rented.

Yu Nianyi propped herself up with one hand as she got out of bed, yawning three times in a row without feeling the slightest bit more awake. She had stayed up until four in the morning painting last night before finally falling asleep.

On a normal weekend, Yu Nianyi would definitely sleep until noon, waking only when the smell of food drifted in from the apartment next door through the window.

Yu Nianyi walked out of the bedroom and over to the coffee table to check Bao Bao in its cage. At the moment it was lying motionless in its nest, its black-bean eyes blinking over and over as if it were about to doze off at any second.

She crouched slightly and carefully opened the cage, cleaning out the urine sand in the tray piece by piece and checking the food bowl again, only then closing the cage back up.

It wasn’t even noon yet; she could take a shower in peace, then dress up a little and go meet that serious, cold, and taciturn Xi Yu.

By the time Yu Nianyi came out of the bathroom, it was already eleven thirty. The sounds of renovation upstairs, which had been rumbling nonstop all morning, had finally stopped; the air was now filled with the smell of stir-fried dishes.

Gurgle, gurgle——

Yu Nianyi drew in a breath, lifted a hand to adjust the dry towel cap on her head, and walked into the kitchen.

There was still spinach in the fridge from before, along with some sliced beef rolls, so she might as well boil an egg and make instant noodles with them.

Pick the vegetables, wash the vegetables, fill the pot with water, turn on the heat.

Hearing the water boil in the pot, Yu Nianyi quickly put the beef rolls in, then fished them back out. She filled the pot with fresh water again and turned the heat back on.

When the water came to a boil for the second time, Yu Nianyi poured the beaten egg from the bowl into it. In an instant, the clear water began to froth into layer after layer of white bubbles.

Yu Nianyi added the noodle cake, the washed bok choy, and the sliced ham all at once. After cooking for about half a minute, she quickly put the blanched beef back in. Once she judged it ready, she turned off the heat and served the noodles.

Yu Nianyi sat beside the dining chair, carefully lifting the noodles into her mouth. She chewed slowly, then swallowed.

It wasn’t quite as delicious as what she’d seen online, but once the seasoning was added, instant noodles really couldn’t taste all that bad.

After finishing lunch, Yu Nianyi rinsed her mouth, quickly tidied up, and gave herself a fairly everyday makeup look.

She deliberately curled the straight hair at the sides of her ears all the way to the ends, creating a beautiful, large wave.

She picked up her phone from the table. It was two ten. Checking the weather for the day, she saw that it was cloudy, ten degrees below zero, and would drop to fifteen degrees at night.

Yu Nianyi dug out a thin white fleece shirt to wear underneath, then chose a pair of casual, everyday high-waisted jeans, and finally took out a coffee-colored cropped down jacket, pairing it with mid-calf khaki slouch boots.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in the living room, she turned sideways to inspect herself. Only after looking it over carefully did she feel satisfied.

It was already two forty. She picked up her bag and headed for the entryway.

Passing the scarves and hats hanging on the wall, her gaze landed on the light-yellow fuzzy scarf. After thinking for a few seconds, she picked it up and draped it over her arm.

Click——

Two forty-five.

Yu Nianyi glanced at her phone, then opened a search app and typed four words into the box: Xiaohua Group.

She skimmed the results at a glance and, unsurprisingly, backed out again.

The internet was full of introductions to the group and the fields it operated in, but there was nothing Yu Nianyi actually wanted to know.

She shoved her phone into her pocket and left the neighborhood.