Chapter 22

Ji Zhou smiled:
[You’re already a pretty little sheep now.]
Putting away his phone, he drove to the nearest mall.
He bought sleep aromatherapy, earplugs, and steam eye masks.
It was only a little past seven when he got home.
The living room was still empty. The blackout curtain wasn’t closed; a trace of light seeped in, leaving the interior dim.
Ji Zhou did not linger in the living room. Ultimately he still wanted to avoid bumping into the roommate and making awkward small talk.
He went straight back to his bedroom, only to see a plastic bag hanging from the doorknob, with another sticky note on it.
Ji Zhou entered, turned on the light, and read the note.
[Hello, because my job is livestreaming, I start every night at 8 and often sing and dance. If it bothers you, please remind me. There’s a small gift for you in the bag. I hope we can get along peacefully.]
Ji Zhou opened the bag. Inside were a box of chocolates, a box of cookies, and a jar of honey.
Ji Zhou didn’t like sweets, so he set them aside on the desk.
After showering, he sat at the desk to read, but he couldn’t focus at all.
Around six, Mianmian had sent him a dinner photo and a beautiful selfie. After that, silence.
Ji Zhou turned two more pages, but all the words in front of him went blurry and unreal. He seemed unable to read a single one. His mind was full of one sentence:
“Ge, I won another championship.”
Ji Zhou closed his eyes, pinched his brow, then snapped the book shut heavily.
As if out of control, he logged onto Weibo.
No surprise—the top three trending topics were all about Qin Yue.
#MPYWinsChampionship#
#SkyTurnsTheGameAround#
#GhostBladePentaKill#
Ji Zhou clicked the first trend.
Qin Yue looked high-spirited holding the trophy. His appearance had barely changed from before, still just as... detestable.
Exiting Weibo, Ji Zhou lit a cigarette.
He rarely smoked, only when he needed alertness or felt especially irritated.
Halfway through the cigarette, he opened Seek and sent Mianmian:
[What are you doing?]
Ten minutes passed. Message still unread.
Disappointed, Ji Zhou turned off the screen and got up to shower.
Maybe because he had moved to a new home, maybe because of emotional turbulence—Ji Zhou, as expected, had insomnia tonight.
Even the rose-scented aromatherapy made him nauseous.
He stared blankly at the pitch-black ceiling with eyes wide open.
“I don’t want gege to leave, gege don’t go, I hate games!”
“Ge, MPY emailed me. I can play esports now.”
“Ge, you deleted the account?”
“Can I use the ID ‘Sky’?”
“I’ll definitely win a championship—for both of us.”
Ji Zhou gave a cold laugh. Bullshit.
He extinguished the scented candle and threw it into the trash.
Pulling open the curtains, he saw under the night sky a city of blazing high-rises. The Meizhu River not far away glittered like stars. That endless stretch of warm orange light announced the city’s prosperity.
His phone buzzed once. Ji Zhou opened it.
Mianmian: [Husband, I was working overtime just now. Only saw your message now. You’re not angry, right?]
Joice: [No.]
Mianmian: [Hm? Something’s off. Why are you still awake this late tonight? Got another dog behind my back?]
Joice: [No dog. Only sheep.]
Mianmian: [Hate you. Why say love lines in the middle of the night.]
Mianmian: [Day off again tomorrow?]
Joice: [No.]
Mianmian: [Then what’s wrong tonight? Were you waiting for my message? I’ll feel so guilty.]
Joice: [No, just... not sleepy.]
Mianmian: [Bad mood?]
Joice: [That obvious?]
Mianmian: [Want to do a voice call with me?]
Mianmian: [I’ll sing for you.]
Ji Zhou was tempted. At this moment, he truly wanted to hear Mianmian’s voice.
But considering she had just finished overtime, he didn’t want to trouble her further.
Joice: [It’s late. Rest early.]
The message had just been sent when an incoming voice call popped up.
Ji Zhou hesitated for a few seconds, then answered anyway.
The girl’s voice was sweet:
“Husband~”
Ji Zhou: “Mm.”
“Who made you unhappy?”
“No one,” he answered in a low voice.
“Hm? Why aren’t you talking? Don’t tell me you’re crying? Okay, then you can type,” Mianmian said considerately.
Was he not speaking?
Ji Zhou glanced at the screen. Turns out he had accidentally muted microphone permissions.
He nearly laughed at his own stupidity.
“I sing best when I shower. I’m the bathroom king. Want to hear? You can request songs.”
Ji Zhou turned the mic back on:
“Anything is fine.”
Mianmian cheered in support:
“Husband, your voice is so nice. Are you really a dentist, not a voice-control streamer?”
Ji Zhou: “No.”
Mianmian laughed twice, then came the click of a door opening.
“I’m running bath water now and removing makeup,” she said. “Actually I was pretty annoyed today too—worked overtime and got scolded. My mentality was terrible. But after finishing and seeing your message, I revived at full HP. When you ask what I’m doing, that means you missed me, right? Did you miss me?”
Ji Zhou: “Mm.”
Mianmian: “You turned dumb-mouth again. Don’t tell me you’ve never dated before?”
Ji Zhou: “Mm.”
The other side suddenly fell silent. Ji Zhou thought she might be washing her face and quietly waited.
After a while, he heard Mianmian ask:
“Am I your first love?”
Ji Zhou: “Yes.”
Mianmian: “Then if one day you find out I’m not that good, maybe I even lied to you, would you hate me?”
Ji Zhou didn’t know why she asked that, and answered honestly:
“I don’t know.”
He never defined things that hadn’t happened yet. Besides, he genuinely disliked deception.