8 Han Wen

Chen Yansi narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of mockery and playfulness mingling with his skepticism: "Want me?"

Assistant Qiu immediately caught the drift and hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, she meant for you to call her back when you're free."

He paused.

"Oh."

Chen Yansi picked up his phone with a sense of boredom. The screen lit up just then.

A WeChat message popped up: a [Cat peeking.jpg]

0.1 seconds later: [The sender recalled a message]

It was clearly a mistake on her part; even the recall had been hasty.

Unfortunately, he had already seen it.

Across the table, President Li, noticing that Chen’s expression had softened considerably, wondered if he had actually swayed this cold-faced demon.

Sensing a glimmer of an opportunity, he compromised and pleaded, "President Chen, if it were five percent... what do you think?"

A hint of relaxation and composure appeared between Chen Yansi’s brows, as if he were in an excellent mood. He tossed his phone back onto the table and answered readily, "Fine."

President Li beamed, thinking, *I’m really something. I actually managed to make Yisong compromise. I’ll have no shortage of things to brag about at dinner parties from now on.*

...

October’s autumn chill grew more pronounced, and a touch of coolness permeated the hazy twilight.

Wen Shuhan took a taxi to a small, quiet bar near Jintong Road.

As she pushed open the glass door, a lucky wind chime tinkled crisply.

"Hello, welcome to San San De Jiu," a girl with shoulder-length hair greeted her at the bar with a smile. She gasped, "Wow, you're so beautiful! Are you a celebrity? Can I get an autograph?"

"……Xu Yue, that’s enough."

Wen Shuhan felt a bit down and slumped onto the bar counter the moment she sat down.

Her slightly wavy, long black hair fell over her shoulders, gently bathed in the warm light.

Xu Yue leaned in, teasing, "So, did the one hundred capybaras really get delivered to your door?"

Wen Shuhan shifted her position, her eyelashes fluttering slowly as she said, "No... later, the staff said I could exchange them for a building-block desk lamp, so I did."

"Oh..." Xu Yue suppressed a laugh, cleared her throat, and said, "I think your ex-husband is definitely just playing with you. By the way, how ugly was the breakup between you two? You’ve been apart for so long, and he’s still secretly bullying you."

Wen Shuhan sighed listlessly, not answering directly, "He’s always loved bullying people."

Xu Yue chuckled and ruffled her hair, but suddenly, she was blinded by an abrupt flash of light.

Not far away, a camera lens was pointed directly at Wen Shuhan. The man behind it, dressed in black from head to toe, was huddled by the door, fully disguised with a hat and mask; he didn't look like a legitimate photographer.

Xu Yue shouted, "Hey! Are you taking secret photos? Delete them! Who gave you permission to stalk us?"

The man suddenly tucked the camera away like a thief caught in the act and hurried away with his head down.

Xu Yue was furious, gritting her teeth: "What was that? Like a total pervert."

Wen Shuhan was completely out of the loop and looked behind her.

She didn't see the "stalker," but her gaze met those of a few trendy-looking men in the seating area nearby.

Those people were staring with greasy, lecherous eyes. Wen Shuhan looked away coldly, ignoring them.

One of them whistled, "Yo, what a beauty. So pretty and you don't let people take pictures? What’s with the high-and-mighty act? So fake."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Yue exploded: "What, just because she's pretty she should be stalked and harassed? If you're that ugly, shouldn't you be a rat in the sewer by nature? Just because you have two legs, do you think you're human? Everyone acting like trash in my shop, get out! Have some shame."

Others in the bar looked over. The group of men had nothing to say and shut their mouths sheepishly.

Xu Yue was a hot-tempered defender of justice; ever since they were roommates in college, she had loved arguing for Wen Shuhan, refusing to let her suffer the slightest injustice.

Wen Shuhan felt a warmth in her heart and, as she had done before, advised her, "It’s okay, don’t be angry."

"Not angry." Xu Yue took a cup from the warmer nearby and handed it to her, "Here, hot milk with sugar."

"Mm, thank you, Yuezi."

"Don't be so formal with me. Anyway, be careful when you go out lately. There are too many lunatics."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

After staying at the bar for a while, Aunt Tang sent the family driver to pick her up to return to the old mansion.

After dinner, the building-block lamp sent by the zoo arrived.

It was quite large. Wen Shuhan opened the package in the second-floor lounge.

Inside was a pile of parts to be assembled, and the instructions alone consisted of four or five A4 sheets.

It was a bit like Lego; it required a lot of time and patience.

She tried to assemble a bit of the base and got absorbed in it as soon as she started.

Deep in thought, she didn't notice someone coming up the spiral staircase.

A moment later, a voice laced with a smile came from behind: "Little Han, what are you tinkering with so seriously?"

Wen Shuhan turned around.

"Brother Chenghao?" She smiled, her almond-shaped eyes curving into watery little crescents. "Nothing, just a building-block lamp. I’m putting it together."

"A building-block lamp? Let me see." Lu Chenghao wore his signature smile as he stepped forward to crouch down and examine the pile of small blocks. Looking intrigued, he glanced over her shoulder at the person walking up the stairs nearby and said, "Hey, aren't you going to help our little Han? This thing looks pretty difficult, doesn't it?"

Wen Shuhan guessed who he was talking to, so she didn't turn around, slowly continuing to assemble the piece in her hand.

It wasn't even a semi-finished product yet; she had only assembled something the size of her palm.

She hadn't finished drying her hair after her shower, and the stray locks were still damp, with a few inconspicuous water stains blooming like petals on the thin fabric of her back.

The villa’s floor heating kept a constant temperature, and she sat curled up barefoot on the carpet. Her moon-white nightgown flared in a circle of ruffles between her legs, her slender ankles slightly buried in the short pile of the carpet, dazzlingly white.

A gaze from nearby lingered on her for a moment.

On this side, Lu Chenghao picked up a block and tossed it, asking considerately, "Do you want me to help you?"

She shook her head: "No need, Brother Chenghao, I’ll do it myself."

As the words fell, Chen Yansi walked upstairs with his hands in his pockets, sauntering past her, and gave a cold, inexplicable scoff: "You sure have a lot of 'brothers'."

"……?"

It was only a two-year age gap. If she didn't call Lu Chenghao "brother," was she supposed to call him "uncle"?

She couldn't understand it.

She simply ignored him.

Lu Chenghao laughed heartily, told her to keep it up, and stood up to follow Chen Yansi. The two men walked toward another lounge area together.

They were likely there to talk about investing in a film production company; because they were close privately, they had decided to discuss it at home.

...

Wen Shuhan didn't ask questions and focused on continuing with the building blocks.

After a while, Lu Chenghao had finished his business and left the mansion, but she was still huddled in the same spot, working diligently.

Finally, the last block snapped into place. She plugged in the circuit and flipped the switch.

The light went on.

She rubbed her tired, dry eyes with a sense of accomplishment.

In her blurred vision, Chen Yansi’s figure vaguely appeared.

He had just finished showering, one hand holding a towel, casually drying his wet hair, the other holding a bottle of iced soda he’d just retrieved from downstairs.

He stepped onto the last rung of the spiral staircase. Just before turning, when she looked at him, he also lifted his eyelids to look over, his gaze very faint.

The lamp flickered.

Wen Shuhan’s hand, rubbing her eyes, paused slightly, a tremor running through her heart for a moment.

The last time he had appeared before her, the light had flickered just like that.

In high school, Chen Yansi was two years ahead of her.

Also at the Fifteenth High School, he was a senior with a resounding reputation. Every day, there were always girls using the radio station to play songs, secretly expressing their feelings to him.

So, from the day she enrolled, she had been forced to listen to "Someone Who Cares" more times than she could count. What she remembered most was the line: "Blurrily obsessed with you once, just let it be like the rising tide in the wind and rain."

The day before the National Day holiday, after school, this song had been played on loop across the campus countless times.

When the music stopped, the campus fell silent.

Everyone was rushing home to welcome the holiday, leaving only Wen Shuhan in the dance studio finishing her practice, changing out of her leotard to leave.

The Chen family driver was already waiting at the school gate. She carried her schoolbag and hurried downstairs, only to find that the metal gate at the bottom of the teaching building had already been locked.

She couldn't get out, and no one answered when she called out.

The campus outside the gate was empty, with barely any sunset left.

She clutched the hem of her school uniform, beginning to panic.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

She answered immediately, and a low, displeased voice came through the receiver: "Do you think people have infinite patience?"

Her brows knit together.

"The freshman building is locked... I can't get out."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then the line went dead.

She felt a bit dejected, turned around, and sat on the stairs, hugging her knees.

A few minutes later, the sound of footsteps drew closer.

She looked up abruptly. The boy in the black windbreaker stood before the gate, looking irritable as he used a key to unlock it and pulled the gate open with a *clatter*.

The movement was so loud that the voice-activated light overhead clicked on. The warm light shone on him, making his originally stern eyebrows and eyes look impossibly soft.

He was tall, and his shadow, elongated by the light, fell straight down, the edge touching the tips of her shoes.

Wen Shuhan stared at him blankly, her beautiful almond eyes reflecting points of light, like a thin, shattered layer of tears.

She asked softly: "Did you borrow the key from the security booth?"

Chen Yansi didn't answer her, his brows pressing down: "Wen Shuhan, are you an idiot?"

"……" Wen Shuhan lowered her lashes in shame, "I'm sorry, I didn't know they would lock the doors so early the day before the holiday..."

Chen Yansi seemed to have run over; his chest was still rising and falling, and his speech was accompanied by slight gasps for air.

"Are you coming or not?"

"……Coming."

She stood up obediently, brushing the dust off her school uniform skirt.

She had only taken one step when she stumbled. She realized she was about to fall, but Chen Yansi grabbed her with quick reflexes, almost lifting her up.

He was very impatient: "What’s going on?"

He didn't let go, his hand nearly gripping her shoulder.

It hurt a little. She swallowed nervously and explained softly: "I accidentally sprained it during practice. It's fine, I can walk."

Chen Yansi pulled at the corner of his mouth irritably.

"Troublesome."

After expressing his disdain, he turned around and crouched halfway in front of her, ordering coldly: "Get on."

Wen Shuhan hesitated for a moment. Countless thoughts overlapped in her heart, like bubbles constantly floating and colliding in soda.

She was almost lost in thought, her lips opening and closing slightly, saying: "Thank you..."

There were many sycamore trees planted on campus back then.

Leaves covered the ground, and as he carried her over them, the sound of crisp, dry leaves always echoed in her ears.

...

The plug for the building-block lamp was a bit loose. The current was unstable, and the light flickered again.

Chen Yansi stopped drying his hair in a curious way and mocked faintly: "Are you planning to sit here all night?"

"……"

Wen Shuhan tidied up the last few pieces of the building blocks, her gaze drifting as she sniffled: "No way."

As she spoke, she picked up the lamp she had assembled, hurried back to her room, and locked the door behind her.

She had been barefoot the whole time she left, leaving her plush slippers by the carpet, just like that, completely uncaring.

Looking at the two pitiful little plush cat ears on the front of the slippers, Chen Yansi instinctively twitched the corner of his mouth, though he quickly suppressed the arc.

-

The next day, rehearsals for the dance went on as usual at the art center.

Wen Shuhan was the first to arrive in the morning. After changing into her practice clothes, she opened her personal locker to look for something.

As soon as the door opened, several envelopes slid out.

She leaned down to pick them up; there was no writing on the envelopes.

Feeling suspicious, she opened one.

Her pupils dilated.

Inside was a photo of her in the backstage dressing room on the day of the rehearsal at the Grand Theater.

In the center of the image was her half-naked back, her top draped over her arm, half-removed.

Her brows tightened, and she quickly tore open the other envelopes.

Without exception, they were all similar stolen photos.

Her wrists trembled. She held her breath and scanned her surroundings; the changing room was empty.

Who on earth was spying on her in the dark?

Her skin crawled. She hurriedly changed the password on her locker, stuffed the photos back into the very bottom, and prepared to call the police.

Over the next few days, everything seemed to be normal. No special incidents occurred, and no new anonymous letters appeared.

Wen Shuhan didn't tell anyone, digesting it all silently, and often had nightmares at night.

She dreamed of a strange black shadow looming over her, countless tentacles reaching out toward her, binding her until she couldn't breathe.

She woke up with a start in the morning, her forehead covered in a layer of cold sweat.

"Hanhan?" Chen Zhitang knocked on the door outside the bedroom, "Breakfast is ready, are you up?"

Wen Shuhan steadied her breathing and responded as if nothing was wrong: "Mm, I'll be up in a moment."

Today was another sunny day.

Chen Ciyuan had already eaten breakfast and had gone to the bamboo forest behind the mountain for his morning exercises as usual. Chen Zhitang was watering flowers on the terrace. Pei Jiayan was living on campus for the semester and didn't come back often.

At the dining table, only she and Chen Yansi sat opposite each other.

Wen Shuhan kept her head down, taking small bites of a milk-flavored pastry. After a while, she had only eaten a third, and she hadn't even touched her favorite sweet milk.

She had been absent-minded for the past few days. Chen Yansi glanced at her, withdrew his gaze a moment later, and urged her nonchalantly: "Eat up, I don't wait for people."

Wen Shuhan looked up a beat late, reacted for a few seconds, and asked: "Are you driving me today?"

His expression was cold: "Mm."

...

Chen Yansi used to only drop her off across the street, but today he drove the car right up to the flower bed at the foot of the building.

Wen Shuhan unbuckled her seatbelt as if in a daze. Chen Yansi rested one hand on the steering wheel and glanced at her, asking as if casually: "When are you finished today?"

She replied slowly: "Probably around five o'clock, why?"

"The old man told me to pick you up on my way."

"Oh... then I'll send you a message when I'm finished."

"Mm."

The day passed quickly.

Zhao Yan noticed something was wrong with her and asked with concern before leaving: "What's wrong? Do you want me to stay with you a little longer?"

Wen Shuhan was leaning against the ballet barre, lost in thought. She came back to her senses, forced a smile, and said: "No need, you should go home early. I'll lock up and turn off the lights in a bit."

"Then I'll go first. Call me if you need anything."

"Mm, bye."

Wen Shuhan tidied up the dance studio, locked the doors and windows, and walked to the changing room on the other side of the corridor.

Before she could change her clothes, she received a message: [Three minutes.]

Chen Yansi was stating his waiting time limit; he only gave her three minutes.

He had arrived so fast.

She replied: [Almost there, wait for me.]

After sending the message, she opened her locker.

A pile of photos poured out, scattering across the floor.

They were all stolen photos of her.

This time, there weren't even envelopes; it was blatant and utterly disgusting.

Her whole body went cold, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. She took a helpless step back.

She didn't notice someone behind her.

"Hello..." a gruff male voice came eerily.

She turned around in a panic and fell backward, her back slamming into the lockers with a loud bang.

The man was in his early twenties, tall and thin, dressed in black. A strange, unreadable smile spread across the face under his baseball cap.

He reached out his hands and moved toward her, his voice lowered: "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to hug you, okay? Let me hug you, just for a second, just one..."

Wen Shuhan’s heart raced wildly. She grabbed whatever was nearby and threw it at him: "Don't come any closer! I'm calling the police!"

Her resistance seemed to excite him even more. His smile grew wider, filled with a near-demented obsession: "I like you, I like you so much, do you know that? You're so beautiful when you dance. I dream of you every night, I dream of us being together, holding hands by the sea. You say you love me too, that you can't live without me, that you want to grow old with me..."

Wen Shuhan’s body was frozen, her breathing trembling violently. She was backed into a corner with no escape.

The man approached slowly, the distance closing to less than a meter.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Just as she decided to push him away and escape no matter what, the man suddenly stopped advancing.

She didn't have time to look up. She only heard him let out a sharp cry; his collar seemed to have been grabbed tightly by someone. In less than a second, the man was slammed hard to the ground.

Immediately after came the sound of something shattering.

She looked up in panic.

It was a camera. It had been smashed right next to the man’s head, the body shattered to pieces, and glass fragments from the lens scattered all over the floor.

Chen Yansi was half-kneeling on the ground, one hand scooping up all the fragments, the other viciously grabbing the man’s hair to force his face up.

The next second, his eyes darkened, and he shoved all the lens fragments into the man’s mouth.

The man screamed several times, the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth staining the web of Chen Yansi’s hand.

The man coughed violently as he struggled; the fragments must have been stuck in his throat, making it impossible for him to even speak.

Chen Yansi exerted force and slammed the man face-down onto the floor.

He stood up, his blood-stained hand hanging by his side, the muscles in his arm taut and congested, veins bulging.

The stalker was covered in cold sweat, his mouth filled with blood and froth, his speech slurred, his voice laced with pain: "Who... who are you? Do you know what you're doing? Are you tired of living?!..."

Chen Yansi stared at him, his dark gaze looking down from above, his hoarse, calm voice sounding as if magma were erupting, held down by a heavy, murderous aura—

"If you want to die, bark one more time."