104. Contrast, the Answer to the Question

Page 1 of 3: 810,000 One: Bought a Few Things on the Way Home

He then recorded a short video and sent it over—showing the food and drinks on the table and himself absorbed in canned food. After sending it, his gaze landed again on Chen Xuan’s message.

Honestly, Li An was a bit surprised.

[Why haven’t you replied for so long? Aren’t you home yet?]

The phrase “haven’t replied for so long” expressed a hint of dissatisfaction.

Why the dissatisfaction? Because I want to know what you’re up to, but you haven’t responded to me.

The underlying message carried a subtle “I need you” sentiment.

As for “aren’t you home yet,” it seemed like a way to mask that need and offer some self-comfort.

The implied meaning was, “If you’re busy with something and can’t check your phone because you haven’t gotten home yet, I can understand.”

In short, it meant: I miss you, with a hint of reproach.

Li An’s surprise was partly expected.

The unsurprising part was Chen Xuan’s assertiveness in her words.

What caught him off guard was that such words came from Chen Xuan.

They were still merely in the flirtatious phase.

Usually, exchanging morning, noon, and night greetings, asking about each other’s well-being, or teasing each other playfully were all normal at this stage.

As for whereabouts and updates, sharing them proactively was fine, but if one person asked the other in a strong tone...

It wasn’t really a big deal.

It depended on their usual interaction style and individual temperaments.

Li An always thought Chen Xuan was the kind of woman who valued emotional independence.

He admired that.

Typically, such women maintain clear boundaries through different relationship stages.

They usually wouldn’t say or do anything crossing those boundaries until they moved to the next phase.

He had to admit, Chen Xuan’s sudden question gave him a strong sense of contrast.

Moreover, he himself did not like feeling constrained in relationships, nor did he like being asked questions like “Where are you? With whom? What are you doing?”

He wished both could have their own space.

Yet strangely, when he saw Chen Xuan’s message, his first reaction wasn’t annoyance but a desire to explain why he hadn’t replied sooner.

His heart felt warm, and he wanted to find a clear reason.

A moment later.

810,000 One: Will you be home late tonight?

Yezi: Hahaha, 810,000 is eating so deliciously.

Yezi: Just about to come back, just called a Didi ride.

810,000 One: Send me the license plate number.

After sending, he put on his coat, pocketed his phone, and went downstairs.

—

Page 2 of 3

Fifteen minutes later, a black Volkswagen pulled up at the east gate of Wanhe Residence.

Chen Xuan struggled with heavy bags as she got out of the trunk, and not far away, she saw Li An standing with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone, smiling at her.

A breeze swept through, stirring Chen Xuan’s heart.

Sun Yuman hadn’t driven today and had offered to take her home first, but Chen Xuan refused.

The night was late, and given the recent negative news about ride-hailing services, she had been a little afraid to call a ride on her own.

But the moment she saw Li An’s message, her fear vanished.

Li An had stayed with her in their chat until just now, and the time in the car had flown by.

She was very happy to have such company.

But she never expected Li An to be standing right in front of her when she got out.

The feeling made her feel truly happy.

“Why did you get out?”

She took two quick steps toward him.

“It’s too late. I was worried about you.”

Li An said as he reached out to take the two large bags from Chen Xuan’s hands.

Chen Xuan felt a little dizzy, freed one hand to tuck back her hair blown by the wind, then whispered, “Thank you for your trouble.”

Li An smiled.

“Did you have fun tonight?”

On the way home, Chen Xuan told Li An that the person with her tonight was her best friend.

“She’s called Xiao Yu, a native of Rongcheng.”

Li An asked, “You didn’t come to Rongcheng just to stay with her, did you?”

Chen Xuan said yes.

This made Li An recall that she once said, “I didn’t get to go to college in the south because I had no choice,” so he wanted to continue asking, “Why did you come to Rongcheng to stay with Xiao Yu?”

But the elevator had already stopped on the 25th floor.

Li An handed the bags back to Chen Xuan.

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

After exchanging goodnights and seeing Chen Xuan unlock her door, Li An swiped his room card and opened the door.

“Li An.”

He turned around.

Their eyes met.

After a few seconds, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but smile broadly, her eyes sparkling with a silly, joyful light.

“Good night!” she repeated.

—

Although Chen Xuan had said good night twice that evening, Li An did not sleep peacefully at all that night.

Page 3 of 3

When he got home, his mind was filled only with the image of Chen Xuan’s smiling face.

He swore he had never seen a smile so captivating.

The warmth in his heart turned to heat, and he seemed to have found the answer to that question from earlier.

—

The next morning, Li An walked into the office carrying two breakfasts. Xu Hongxin was already standing by the window watering the plants.

“Up so early today?” Li An asked, surprised.

“Good morning, bro,” Xu Hongxin yawned and turned around. Seeing the breakfasts in Li An’s hands, he squinted and smiled mischievously, “Why not just finish breakfast together and then come to work? Now it’s like you bring me breakfast today, and I bring you tomorrow.”

Li An smiled but didn’t reply, changing the subject. “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Don’t mention it,” Xu Hongxin complained. “My girlfriend was craving Song family spicy soup last night. It’s like seven or eight kilometers away. I figured she wouldn’t get up, so I agreed.”

“But she woke me up before six-thirty this morning. I give up. How does a woman who always loves to sleep in suddenly get so motivated?”

“Be grateful,” Li An said.

Just then, Ma Tao entered the office holding his motorcycle helmet, grumbling, “I wish someone would wake me up every morning.”

He looked at Li An. “Good morning, bro.”

Li An quickly typed a message on his phone, sent it, then raised his hand to greet Ma Tao before leaving the office.

“That’s easy to solve,” Xu Hongxin grinned slyly. “Hire a part-time worker. If you pay well enough, maybe it’s more than just a wake-up call service.”

“Get lost. I’m a decent guy,” Ma Tao retorted.

After a few jokes, Xu Hongxin asked seriously, “So, how’s it going with your female classmate these days?”

Ma Tao replied, “Just chatting, trying to find all sorts of topics.”

“Get to the point. Any progress?”

Ma Tao sighed, “I guess there’s some. But right now, I don’t know how to ask her out tomorrow. Feels like she’s not that keen to hang out.”

“Have you asked her?”

“Not directly yet.”

At that moment, Wang Panpan swaggered into the room. The three of them—having formed a little young group through gaming—were all aware of Ma Tao’s situation.

“Panpan, give teacher Ma some advice: how to successfully hold hands on Qixi Festival.”

“That’s a question for the senior, not me,” Wang Panpan thought. “Why ask me, a newbie, when there’s a pro in the office?”

“An Ge?” Xu Hongxin shook his head, thinking of Li An’s typically old-fashioned behavior. “Forget it…”

Ma Tao also shook his head. “Never mind, I’ll figure it out myself.”

Seeing how little they thought of Li An, Wang Panpan shook her head. Those two were too young.

Looking back, in a school with fewer than 2,500 students and teachers combined, Li An had skillfully managed to juggle the attention of two girls living in the same apartment building for nearly two months, relying on time management more precise than Bach’s rhythms.

Still.

You have to give credit where it’s due.