By the time Xie Yu landed, the sky had already turned dark.

When Xie Yuanshan said he wouldn't care about him, he really meant it. He only gave him a business card for the company's branch office in City C, leaving him to handle all contacts on his own.

Xie Yu casually tossed the business card into a trash can and turned to contact Xu Qingshan. "Little Uncle, I've landed."

Xu Qingshan replied instantly, "Mhm, I've already asked a classmate to pick you up."

At the time, Xie Yuanshan threw Xie Yu into this unfamiliar place, hoping he would turn back and admit his mistakes, preferably crying bitterly and feeling overwhelmed with regret. Then, he would show immense mercy, forgive his young and ignorant son, and play out a scene of a loving father and a filial son.

However, coincidentally, City C was the place where Xu Qingshan studied abroad for his Ph.D. Many of his classmates had stayed in the local area. Xu Qingshan cared decently for this little nephew and had made contacts early on. As soon as Xie Yu walked out of the airport, he saw his uncle's classmate.

The other party guided him through the procedures and introduced a rental agency. Xie Yu picked a small apartment near the sea, a five-minute walk to the beach. He swiftly paid the money and settled down.

After everything was done, he held his phone, feeling a bit hesitant.

According to the original text, Young Master Xie was forced abroad by Xie Yuanshan. Unable to save face, he blocked Shen Ci's contact information after calling him.

This was the last minor plot point.

Xie Yu paused, pulled out a piece of scratch paper, and first carefully wrote down the number stroke by stroke.

He then clicked to block, his fingertip hovering over the screen for a long time before finally pressing down. Afterward, he saved the number into his memos.

In the remark section, he felt a bit troubled. The original owner's remark was just "Shen Ci," but according to the plot, the name Shen Ci shouldn't appear in his phone. Xie Yu raised his hand and typed: "Porcelain."

He paused and changed it to: "Mr. Porcelain."

It was a coincidence when they set the Safe Word at the time; Xie Yu had just happened to see the porcelain in the display window. But later, he found it more and more fitting.

Shen Ci looked gentle and fragile, but his bones were extremely tough. If he was really shattered, the shards would definitely cut the perpetrator deeply, leaving profound bloodstains, just like with the novel's original owner. But if he was held carefully and wiped gently, one could feel that smooth, moist touch like white glaze.

After doing all this, Xie Yu tucked his phone away, as if trying to cover up his actions, and checked his schedule for the next semester.

Xie Yuanshan had used some unknown means to stuff him into the economics department of a well-known university in City C, threatening that if he couldn't graduate, he should never come back.

The school had a high international ranking and a stellar reputation, whereas the original owner was a true good-for-nothing playboy. The school's workload was tight and the pressure was high. Despite using every trick in the book, he really ended up not graduating for five years.

The System popped up, curiously glancing at the screen. "Why are you looking at your schedule? Are you really going to study?"

Xie Yu: "Since I'm already here."

System: "...Let's get this straight in advance, I won't connect to the internet to help you cheat on exams."

Xie Yu: "I don't need your help."

Although he hadn't studied much in high school, that was due to depression. Now that he had the opportunity, there was no harm in learning a bit.

It was already the beginning of winter, and the entirety of City C was bleak and desolate. A heavy snow fell during the night, and fierce winds blew down several pine trees on the streets. Xie Yu's life consisted of a simple two-point routine: going to school for classes, and then returning home to sleep. When he had holidays, he would pack his bags and travel.

Having been a rich second-generation heir for nearly half a year, he had completely forgotten his previous cooking skills. Now, being in a foreign country, he couldn't get used to the local tastes and was forced to pick them up again. First, he tinkered around in the apartment to make braised chicken with rice, making it look quite decent. Later, he successively unlocked recipes like cola chicken wings and braised chicken breast.

As the Spring Festival approached, Xie Yu even invited a few classmates over for dinner. He used a hot pot base to boil a large pot of ingredients. Since glass noodles were hard to buy here, he threw spaghetti into the pot instead. They swallowed it all down, eating quite happily.

Because he didn't put on airs and his consumption level was average, his classmates didn't realize at all that he was a rich second-generation heir. They just thought he was a serious student here to study. The few of them laughed and joked around, finding it quite fulfilling.

After several rounds of drinks, the classmates went their separate ways. Two couples were going to the square to watch the fireworks, and a few others hurried home to call their families. Xie Yu stayed alone in the living room, cleaning up the mess of cups and plates all over the floor.

He didn't know who to call.

He stuffed the pot and bowls into the dishwasher, wiped the table clean with a rag, and then opened a can of beer. Sitting on the single sofa, he gazed into the distance through the window.

Xie Yu didn't turn on the lights. The room was pitch black. Someone was setting off fireworks in the nearby square; red-gold and silver-blue flames exploded in the sky one after another, reflecting in his pupils.

Previously in Jiang City, although the original owner's character setting was messed up, he had to follow the plot every now and then, inviting He Zhiyuan and Zhou Yang out for fun, and occasionally teasing Shen Ci, pressing him into his arms to mess with him. As irritated as Xie Yu was, he really hadn't felt bored.

But now, even that group chat of fair-weather friends hadn't chimed in a long time.

They were merely friends of wine and meat; now that they couldn't get together, naturally, no one talked.

Today, Zhou Yang unexpectedly bubbled up in the group, sending a "Happy Holidays," before falling silent again.

The System poked him. "Hey, Xie Yu, do you know that you really look like a lonely old man right now?"

"Like in those American spy TV shows, where the agent retires to the countryside, marries, and has kids, only for his wife and children to die of severe illnesses one after another, and then he returns to the organization to shine brightly."

Xie Yu was speechless. "Watch less TV."

With no plot to follow now, Xie Yu attended classes during the day, leaving the System with nothing to do, storing countless TV shows in its disk.

"Do you know what the upcoming plot should be according to the tropes? You will encounter a beautiful girl who makes your heart flutter. She'll definitely have an extraordinary identity and drag you into some trouble, but you won't have time to care. You'll hug, kiss..."

Xie Yu felt slightly amused and interrupted, "Do you know who I've hugged the most up until now?"

The System choked. "Your family?"

Xie Yu shook his head. "Actually, it's Shen Ci... You might not believe it, but aside from him, I'm not used to hugging people."

Due to his family background, he didn't get very close to people, and the number of times he had hugged someone could be counted on one hand. Later, when he went to school, he was a problem youth, and classmates usually walked around him.

Xie Yu drank his beer. "Do you remember the night I first arrived? I couldn't sleep all night."

That day, due to the plot setting, he and Shen Ci lay on the same bed, less than twenty centimeters apart, their breathing clearly audible. He wasn't used to such proximity; it felt like a solitary animal having its territory suddenly invaded, to the point that his entire body was tense.

At that time, he and Shen Ci had different thoughts, yet they tacitly pretended to be asleep, spending the night in peace.

The System muttered, "Then what about all those times later?"

For so many days and nights, were they all pretending to sleep?

Xie Yu: "No. Later, out of plot requirements, after hugging for a while, I just got used to it."

Just like how Shen Ci had gotten used to Xie Yu's scent, and would roll into his arms after falling asleep, snuggling beside him, Xie Yu had also gotten used to Shen Ci's scent. Anytime, anywhere, he could stretch out his arm and drag him over like a body pillow, locking him by his side.

The forced arrangements of the plot had facilitated one of the few instances of close physical contact in Xie Yu's life.

He lightly rubbed his fingers, feeling a bit of longing for that warmth.

System: "...This is gonna be tough. Once you return to the country, your statuses will be reversed. You can wait to hug him in the psychiatric hospital."

After it spoke, it watched the fireworks with Xie Yu. Colorful floral spheres whistled into the sky, returning to silence within a few seconds as the next one continued to rise, repeating the cycle over and over. It wasn't until the final one was set off that the sky became completely quiet.

The tolling of a bell could be heard from afar; it was already past midnight.

The beer was already empty. Xie Yu got up to wash up. The System mysteriously loaded a bunch of data and suddenly asked, "Host, do you want to see what Shen Ci is doing?"

Xie Yu spat out the toothpaste foam. "Don't invade someone's privacy."

System: "I'm not, it's all public data from places like the school forums."

Xie Yu didn't speak for a long time. He tossed the aluminum can on the table into the trash can, making a crisp thump. "Let's see."

"Mhm, their team secured a big project, his mentor was promoted to a Distinguished Young Scholar, and their office moved to the new building. If you go look for him in the future, you can't just go straight to the lab building anymore."

Xie Yu: "I wasn't going to look for him again anyway. What else?"

"His grandmother's condition fluctuated a while ago, but fortunately, the Qingshan Foundation provided timely financial assistance, and she's out of danger now."

Xie Yu paused. "What else?"

"Your guess was right. He Zhiyuan wanted to go cause him trouble, but every time he arrived in Jiang City, Zhou Yang dragged him away."

The System paused. "I can't find any more details."

"Mhm." Xie Yu commented, "That's good."

Ten thousand kilometers away, Shen Ci was not doing well at all.

He had been staying up late for several consecutive months. Aside from going to the hospital, he immersed himself in the laboratory, wishing he could fill up every spare moment.

Han Yunyun was getting ready to leave. She should have left earlier, but since they were moving offices tomorrow, she stayed behind to pack her things.

She stuffed the ornaments from her desk into her suitcase and stole a glance at her senior across from her. "Senior Brother Shen, are you still not leaving?"

Shen Ci massaged the space between his eyebrows. "Not yet, I still have things left unfinished."

"But Senior Brother, you've stayed up so late you've got dark circles under your eyes..." Han Yunyun muttered.

Shen Ci could be considered a prominent figure at A University. Setting aside his papers and GPA, just his noble, cold, and austere face alone was liked by quite a few girls. When Han Yunyun got tired from doing experiments, she also liked to space out looking at him. She didn't mean anything by it; she just thought he was pleasant to look at.

But over the past six months, Shen Ci had visibly grown haggard. His eyelids were always slightly lowered, concealing a pair of weary eyes, and his skin was much paler. Han Yunyun looked at him cautiously. "Senior Brother, you really should go back early and get some sleep."

Staying up late doing experiments with such a face was simply a reckless waste of God's given gifts!

Shen Ci responded nonchalantly, tapping his phone screen awake with a bent finger. His gaze swept over a certain name on the chat interface; the bright red exclamation mark was exceptionally glaring.

Having received the expected result, he turned off the screen.

Checking his phone during experiment breaks was a new habit Shen Ci had developed. Before meeting Xie Yu, Shen Ci often didn't bring his phone into the office, leaving it only in the storage locker by the door. He used a senior citizen phone on which all the apps on the market lagged. His usage frequency was also like that of a stodgy old man; he didn't open it more than a few times a day. To him, a phone was purely a communication tool.

But after parting ways that day, he had tried to send Xie Yu a message. Xie Yu didn't reply. Overnight, Shen Ci checked his phone hundreds of times. In a daze, he realized Xie Yu was on a plane. He timed his landing, only to receive a bright red exclamation mark.

Afterwards, this became a habit.

Every time he opened his closet and saw the folded clothes, every time he swiped his campus card and saw the balance on the screen, and even every time he walked into the lab building and passed by Ginkgo Avenue... he would open his phone. That exclamation mark on the screen was a glaring red, filling his empty chest with an uncontrollable, hidden pain.