Chapter 11

Xu Er stomped his foot to turn on the light and then asked Song Ruichi once more, "What's wrong?"

Song Ruichi released Xu Er’s hand and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, gently patting Xu Er’s head. "Go back."

Xu Er took a step toward the door. "Let me know when you get home."

"Okay," Song Ruichi replied.

After returning to his room, Xu Er’s first task was to revise his manuscript.

Next, he told Xu Chen about Song Ruichi’s invitation to have a meal together.

"Really? Really? Really?" Xu Chen immediately called him. "What exactly did you say?"

Xu Er summarized briefly: "I asked for an autograph photo, but he said he didn’t have one, which was kind of awkward. Then he just said we could eat together sometime."

Xu Chen: "Sounds good, sounds good."

Xu Er added quickly, "He probably does have autograph photos."

"Sounds good! Sounds good!" Xu Chen was overjoyed. "You’re my brother, my real brother!"

"I’ve always been your brother," Xu Er replied.

Just then, a WeChat message popped up; Song Ruichi said he had arrived home.

"Oh, by the way," Xu Chen said on the other end, "do you know who Song Ruichi really is?"

Xu Er replied to Song Ruichi's message: "Okay, good night."

Song Ruichi: "Good night."

"What?" Xu Er closed Song Ruichi’s chat window and realized Xu Chen had spoken earlier. "What did you say?"

Xu Chen laughed. "Nothing, nothing." Then he asked curiously, "So when are we eating together?"

"I don’t know, I didn’t ask."

"It probably wasn’t just a casual remark, right?"

"I don’t think so," Xu Er said, then added, "Definitely not."

"Then when will you find out? I want to prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"My hair’s been uncut for a long time, I need a new hairstyle and new clothes. I haven’t bought anything new in ages."

Xu Er laughed. "Going all out, huh?"

"Of course, that’s called respect."

"Alright, alright."

Speaking of clothes, Xu Er asked, "Where do you buy your clothes?"

"Online, what else?"

"No other way."

After hanging up, Xu Er went to take a shower.

Then he noticed Song Ruichi had sent him a message.

It was a photo of a pair of headphones lying on Song Ruichi’s sofa.

Xu Er knew exactly what that meant—those were his headphones.

They must have slipped out of his pocket, which explained why things felt a bit strange when he came back.

Xu Er sent two characters: "Oops."

Song Ruichi replied with the same: "Oops."

Xu Er: "I’ll see when I can come get them."

Song Ruichi: "Do you need them often?"

Xu Er: "Not really, just listen to music occasionally."

Song Ruichi: "Okay."

Then Song Ruichi said, "So was that a fake good night?"

Xu Er burst out laughing. "You said good night too."

Song Ruichi: "Turning it around on me?"

Xu Er lay down on the bed. "What’s the matter? It’s night, aren’t you going to say good night?"

Song Ruichi: "And you’re so sure of yourself?"

Xu Er: "Oops."

Xu Er: "What kind of good person goes to bed at eleven?"

Song Ruichi: "What time do you usually sleep?"

Xu Er: "After twelve."

"But if I have a deadline, I stay up late."

"Normally, it’s after twelve."

Song Ruichi: "What about you, Mr. Good?"

Xu Er laughed out loud—Song Ruichi was really amusing.

He copied the sentence: "What about you, Mr. Good?"

Song Ruichi: "Later than you."

Song Ruichi: "Around one."

Song Ruichi: "Got Mr. Xu’s night schedule."

Xu Er: "I also have Mr. Xu’s night schedule."

Song Ruichi: "Good, good."

See? Xu Er was fun too.

Originally, he wanted to say he got Mr. Song’s night schedule, but he was too lazy to type, so he copied Song Ruichi’s phrase and just added a couple words. It seemed even more fitting.

Fun, right?

Who isn’t interesting in their own way?

Xu Er: "My little brother is really happy about the upcoming Song Ruichi autograph photos."

Song Ruichi: "My honor."

Song Ruichi: "I need to pick a good photo."

Xu Er: "Are you joking? You just casually have a magazine spread."

Song Ruichi: "Sweet talker?"

Xu Er: "Just being honest."

Xu Er: "By the way, my brother also asked when we’re eating."

Song Ruichi seemed to consider for a moment: "Are you free Saturday night?"

Xu Er glanced at the time—it was only Monday.

"Wait, let me ask."

So he forwarded the few lines about Xu Chen to him.

Xu Chen: "Yes, yes, yes, I’m free!"

Xu Er replied to Song Ruichi: "We’re free."

Song Ruichi: "Good."

Closing Song Ruichi’s chat, Xu Er went to the company group chat.

A little gossip: two department heads had been quarrelling that evening; Xu Er saw their lengthy messages before his shower.

By now, things had quieted down; scrolling back, the boss had intervened to mediate.

Xu Er liked amusing things, and he also liked gossip.

Though he outwardly seemed aloof and unapproachable, he secretly eavesdropped on all the drama.

He was very curious about these varied humans on Earth, how differently they clashed and sparked.

Tonight’s quarrel started over something trivial: the head of Department A asked a junior from Department B to run an errand. That was it. But those two heads already disliked each other, so the fight ignited.

One said, "Why use our people? Don’t you have your own?"

The other replied, "It’s such a small thing, why so petty?" From this focal point, they unleashed half a year’s grievances, spinning endless drama throughout the night.

Both were skilled with words. Their quarrel wasn’t ugly—polite sarcasm laced with subtle jabs; it was quite entertaining.

After scrolling through over ninety-nine messages, it was midnight.

Xu Er began his bedtime routine.

He opened Weibo and absentmindedly scrolled for a few seconds before remembering something.

He searched "Song Ruichi."

Nothing.

Just as he was about to give up, he recalled another detail.

He opened Xu Chen’s Weibo.

Sure enough, among Xu Chen’s 300-plus follows, he found Song Ruichi.

The Weibo name was "Studio One," with the studio’s logo as the avatar. Had Xu Er not known Song Ruichi’s studio, he would have overlooked it.

He clicked in.

The first few posts were dull, so he went straight to the photo album.

The album was much better—filled with many photos of Song Ruichi at work.

Xu Er finally understood where Xu Chen had gotten all those pictures.

For the rest of his pre-sleep time, Xu Er immersed himself in Song Ruichi’s photos.

There were pictures of him carving wood, painting, and attending cocktail parties.

Flipping through, Xu Er opened a close-up photo of Song Ruichi carving wood.

The man frowned in concentration, and Xu Er noticed a callus on the hand holding the knife.

His nails were neatly trimmed, round...

Xu Er was deeply engrossed when a message suddenly popped up on the screen.

Surprise—it was from Song Ruichi.

It felt like being caught red-handed; a flush of heat surged from his head down through his body.

So hot.

Song Ruichi’s message was just two characters: "Good night."

Xu Er quickly shrank the photo, but before exiting Weibo, he saved it.

Then he switched to WeChat.

Xu Er: "Good night."

Haha, the hundredth good night of the day.

Song Ruichi: "Real good night or fake good night?"

Xu Er: "Real good night, going to sleep."

"But you gave a fake good night."

Song Ruichi: "I’ll make it real soon."

Song Ruichi: "Alright, sleep now."

Xu Er: "Okay."

With that, Xu Er put down his phone and closed his eyes.

On the other side, Song Ruichi was about to do the same when a Weibo notification popped up.

He was logged in with the studio’s account, and usually ignored such messages, but this one caught his eye.

"Xu Xiaoer liked your post."

Song Ruichi followed the notification to Weibo and saw that the liked post was from last year—a candid photo of him carving wood.

Xu Xiaoer.

Song Ruichi clicked into this Xu Xiaoer’s profile.

No doubt—it was Xu Er. The first post was his graduate photo.

Song Ruichi smiled.

Xu Xiaoer hadn’t followed him but had liked his post.

The second post was an onboarding email saying, "Soon to be a working man."

Over ten comments, all saying "Go go go."

Xu Xiaoer replied to each with the same: "Go go go."

Song Ruichi clicked through the comment profiles and found one named "Don’t Block My Way," who followed the studio.

That was Xu Er’s younger brother.

Song Ruichi wanted to keep browsing when his phone rang.

The caller ID read "Shi Ziyi."

Song Ruichi exited the younger brother’s Weibo and answered.

"Still awake?" The voice was soft.

Song Ruichi: "What’s up?"

Shi Ziyi: "One person or two?"

Song Ruichi instantly knew the question’s meaning. "One."

Shi Ziyi sighed. "Ah..."

Shi Ziyi: "I heard the handsome guy stayed at your place last night."

Before he finished, a loud voice erupted in the background: "Just say my name already!"

Shi Ziyi chuckled. "I also heard you two went on a date tonight?"

Song Ruichi: "What do you want to know?"

"Ah, just curious," Shi Ziyi began, "Ah? Song, Song Song, Song Song Song."

Song Ruichi: "Stop calling."

Shi Ziyi: "Never been in love before, huh?"

Song Ruichi laughed. "Get lost."

Shi Ziyi laughed too. "You’re different, though."

Song Ruichi: "How am I different?"

Shi Ziyi: "You just are. So, what’s the situation now?"

Song Ruichi: "No situation."