Chapter 17

He thought that since he had agreed to be together, he should fulfill his part of the responsibility.
He should care about her feelings. He should treat her well.
Right now their relationship was only being sustained online. If they met in person one day and lived together, wouldn’t his personality make her feel even more wronged?
He thought Mianmian was probably the person Chen Huai had talked about—the one who came to teach him how to love.
Then he should learn seriously.
While she was still online, Ji Zhou pressed the voice-message button: “Good night, baby.”
_
Ye Muyang wasn’t in great shape. He had slept badly last night, and today he got up early for tooth extraction.
He spent the afternoon editing video without even time for a nap. He was a little sleepy now.
A notification popped up from Seek.
He had expected another text-only good night. Unexpectedly, what showed on screen was an unread voice message.
Ye Muyang’s drowsiness vanished instantly. He flipped upright in one motion, finger hovering over the screen, hesitating for a moment.
First he had seen Joice’s half-face photo, then his hand.
With the information he already had, Ye Muyang had long pieced together a perfect Joice in his mind. He had even imagined Joice’s voice as one of those voice-charm streamers he came across online.
He didn’t know whether the gap from imagination would be huge. He even wondered if the guy would speak accented Mandarin and have a rough, macho voice that instantly killed all attraction.
If that were the case...
If that were the case, he’d accept it anyway!
They were already dating. Could he still break up just like that?
At least the hands were genuinely good-looking. The first step in love was trying to accept everything about your partner.
Thinking this, Ye Muyang opened the voice message.
“Good night, baby.”
His worries were unnecessary.
Joice’s voice was cool and light, with a low, lazy undertone. That casual, unhurried texture sounded exactly like a “cold abstinence” type. It fit his persona perfectly.
Ye Muyang felt the ear pressed to the phone grow tinglish, like static shock. A numbing current spread from behind his ear down his neck, then shot into his quickening heart.
Mom, this is real online dating now!
Ye Muyang couldn’t resist tapping play again.
“Good night, baby.”
“Good night, baby.”
Again and again, until he was addicted.
He wanted to hear that voice panting softly, wanted to see those hands doing more incendiary things, wanted to seduce him.
It was easy to fall for someone through a screen.
For example: he truly satisfied all of Ye Muyang’s fantasies.
In an excellent mood, with even his wisdom-tooth wound no longer hurting, Ye Muyang curled his lips and typed:
[Husband, mwah.]
-
Ji Zhou woke a little late the next day. He wasn’t on duty today, so he had an entire day to process the fact that he was no longer single.
After lying in bed a bit longer, he got up and took a quick shower.
His landlord had texted around after eight, asking how his house search was going.
Ji Zhou replied:
[Not very smooth, but I’ll definitely move out by the end of the month.]
Other than collecting rent, his landlord rarely contacted him. Sending this message today probably meant he was anxious.
Ji Zhou disliked troubling others, so he gave a firm promise to set the landlord’s mind at ease.
Right after replying, he called the agent and lowered his requirements a little more. “The Yulan Community unit you mentioned last time—is it still available?”
The agent said, “Mr. Ji, I was just about to call you. The Yulan unit has already been rented out, but there’s a master bedroom available in Shangjin Qingyuan.”
Shangjin Qingyuan was a famously upscale complex, with good layouts, nice surroundings, and solid security. Many internet influencers in Nanan rented there for convenient photoshoots and to avoid obsessive fans.
“It’s just that the rent is a bit higher...” the agent reminded him.
“When can I view it?” Ji Zhou asked.
“Are you free today?”
“Yes.”
“Then how about 2 p.m. today?”
“Okay.”
“Let’s meet at the community entrance.”
“Mm, thank you for the trouble.”
“No trouble. It’s my job.” The agent sounded cheerful.
After ending the call, Ji Zhou casually opened Seek and took the initiative to message Mianmian:
[Morning. Awake yet?]
After shaving in front of the mirror, he received her reply:
[Awake. I’m taking an older sister to the airport in a bit.]
Joice: [Does the wound still hurt today?]
Mianmian: [Hurts. Really hurts.]
Joice: [Your doctor should have prescribed anti-inflammatory painkillers. If it hurts badly, take one tablet. Keep icing. Don’t eat food that’s too hot or too hard.]
Mianmian: [Aren’t you my doctor? Doctor, I hurt. I need a kiss from you to get better.]
He seemed to be teased again.
Ji Zhou was used to it by now and replied calmly:
[Can’t kiss you.]
This time she sent a one-second voice message.
Ji Zhou tapped it. A loud “mwah” came through the earpiece.
Mianmian: [This works too.]
A moment later—
Joice: [Mwah.]
In the blazing afternoon sun, Ji Zhou followed the agent through the main gate of Shangjin Qingyuan.
The landlord had provided access and elevator cards and had also communicated with the other tenant in advance that someone would come to view the room this afternoon, so there would be no misunderstanding if they ran into each other.
The elevator went straight to the seventeenth floor. While looking at his phone, the agent entered the passcode. With a beep, the door opened.
The living room was a wide horizontal layout, decorated in the light-luxury Italian style popular with young people. The palette was deep-toned but not oppressive.
The agent used the remote to open the curtains. The oversized floor-to-ceiling windows had excellent views and good light.
The agent introduced, “From here you can see the Meizhu River. You can also take in both night views and sunsets. The sightline is very open.”
Ji Zhou nodded. “Mm.”
The agent led him further in. “Your room is the master bedroom. As you requested, it has an en-suite bathroom.”