"Any wine preferences?" Xiao Zhan asks as he picks up the menu. Yibo shakes his head. "No." After scanning the options, Xiao Zhan looks up at the waiter. "What pairs best with your Yunnan mushroom and Sichuan broth?" The waiter responds, " Skyline of Gobi'  from Tiansai Vineyards in Xinjiang is quite popular sir." "Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Marselan?" "It’s Marselan, sir." "And what of Au Bon Climat?" Yibo watches, captivated by Xiao Zhan’s calm command over the moment. The low

The sudden knock on the door breaks the silence of the moonlit apartment, the gentle sound echoing through the empty space. For a moment, Daiyu ignores it, but as she glances at the separation agreement across the bed, she gets up and hurries to the door. Her expression is tinged with hope as she pulls it open, but as the retreating figure comes into view, she stares in confusion. "Hello?" she calls, but the man doesn't turn around, so she yells a bit louder, shrinking at the

Yibo is grateful for a lot of things, but at the current top of his list is how Xiao Zhan is eating his ass. Braced against the tiled...

"I asked you a simple enough question. So why are you not able to respond?" Yibo lifted his gaze and met the detective's piercing stare. "It should be a simple yes or no, shouldn't it? Did you confess to Xiao Zhan's father that you were the one who ran him down?" Yibo remained silent, his expression unreadable. "You do know that your silence is a very serious admission of guilt, don't you?" the detective asked. "Because if it wasn’t, if you were innocent, you’d be alarmed and

At the sharp click of the lock, Yibo raised his head. The detective walked in, his gaze fixed on Yibo as though he had a million questions he wanted answers for. Yibo, on the other hand, had only one. "Has Xiao Zhan left?" His voice cut through the silence. The detective didn’t answer. Never breaking eye contact, he dragged a chair over,  and sat down across from Yibo. "You know what you remind me of?" The detective’s voice was low, almost too calm. "The eye of a storm. You k

"You're joking, right?" Wei You said. Xiao Zhan apologized. "I'm really sorry. I was already at the airport, but something came up. I had to go back. Can we reschedule?" Glancing nervously around the room, Wei You stood up and walked out. "The chairman's here," he said through gritted teeth. "BTV's producer's here as well. Legal too. It's Sunday. Do you - I'm  sure,  you know just how difficult it was to pull this meeting together. All to accommodate you because you said you

“Next time?” “Yeah,” Daiyu replied. “What do you mean by ‘next time’?” Daiyu paused, her knife hovering over the peppers. Then she glanced at her mother standing by the stove. “What exactly do you want to hear?” “I want to hear that you two are dating. Or at least getting closer.” With a frown, Daiyu returned to her task.

Attention all passengers, this is the boarding announcement for China Eastern Airlines flight MU 5111 to PEK. Please proceed to Gate 17 with your boarding pass and identification ready... The voice over the intercom faded as Xiao Zhan glanced at Yibo, and found him sleeping on his shoulder. The boarding line grew quickly, but Xiao Zhan remained still, unwilling to move. The gentle rise and fall of Yibo's breath matched the soft rhythm of the moment, each exhale a quiet sigh o

"What do you want to eat?" Xiao Zhan asked. His father ignored him, but Xiao Zhan continued undeterred, cracking eggs into a bowl and beating them. His father moved quietly, pouring hot water into a mug and retrieving tea from a drawer. Eventually though, his father asked, "What are you going to do in Beijing?" "Work." "What work?" "For my studio," Xiao Zhan replied. "Your studio? Haven't you quit there already?" It took a moment before Xiao Zhan responded. "I have, but they