CH 58

Lu Ye’s location had been stationary downstairs for twenty minutes.

Qi Yanbai sat in front of his canvas, his pencil going up and down without producing a single stroke. His gaze occasionally drifted to the coffee table beside him, and he often found himself staring at the tiny location point on his phone screen.

“What is he doing downstairs?” Qi Yanbai wondered.

There were no supermarkets or lounging areas downstairs, just two barren flower beds with nowhere to pass the time. Since Lu Ye had already returned, he should have gone upstairs to rest instead of standing downstairs idly.

Any unusual situation could trigger a subtle sense of unease in Qi Yanbai’s heart. He felt anxious, his heart pounding, as he twirled his pencil unconsciously between his fingertips. After a while, he realized he couldn’t calm down, so he decided not to torture himself any longer. He tossed the pencil into the groove below the easel, stood up from behind it, and walked to the window next to the living room.

The ninth floor wasn’t particularly high, and even in the darkness, he could vaguely see what was happening downstairs. However, Qi Yanbai’s room was oriented slightly to the side, and the small area right in front of the elevator was obstructed by the adjacent wall, making it difficult to see clearly.

Qi Yanbai knew Lu Ye should be down there, but he strained his neck and looked outside for a long time without spotting Lu Ye’s figure. In the end, he could only regretfully withdraw his gaze and walk to the side of the living room to pick up his phone.

Creating an excuse to go downstairs seemed too deliberate. Qi Yanbai contemplated sending a WeChat message to test the waters, but Lu Ye hadn’t replied to his messages since last night. He unlocked his phone but then felt a bit timid.

Lu Ye had never ignored him before. Aside from when he was too engrossed in his work, Lu Ye always found time to communicate with him during his leisure moments. Whether it was about daily life or trivial chitchat, Lu Ye would always respond sentence by sentence to avoid making Qi Yanbai feel neglected.

Qi Yanbai had grown used to Lu Ye always being the first to think about him. Now, suddenly being ignored made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

The listening device in his ear had malfunctioned since the afternoon, and the location had been stagnant for a while. WeChat messages sent out were met with silence. Within this short day, Qi Yanbai seemed to have lost all means of knowing Lu Ye’s current situation. This loss of control left him feeling anxious, as if something were slipping through his fingers, and he couldn’t grasp it.

This mixture of anxiety and restlessness tormented him endlessly, and he couldn’t ignore it or find a way to ease it. Only by seeing Lu Ye, hearing his voice, and confirming that he was still by his side could ease his anxiety.

The more Qi Yanbai thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. He furrowed his brows and bit the knuckle of his index finger, nervously pacing around the living room. Finally, he decided that if there were no signs of movement in five more minutes, he would go downstairs to check on the situation.

These five minutes were the final compromise of emotions over reason. Qi Yanbai glanced at the wall clock, his eyes fixed on the slowly moving hands, feeling as if time were passing at a slow pace.

By the flower beds downstairs, Lu Ye lowered his head, cupped his hands around the flame of a lighter, and lit his last cigarette.

A thin layer of ash had accumulated on the trash can beside him, and the cigarette butt poked haphazardly into the white sand, leaving behind a faint trace of oily residue as the pure smoke wafted into the air. Winter had yet to fully pass, and the nighttime temperature was still bone-chilling. Lu Ye had been standing outside for so long that even his bones felt like they had been chilled by the cold wind.

His back, injured by the steel frame the previous night, still throbbed with discomfort. Any movement tugged at the muscles, causing them to protests. Lu Ye tilted his head and stretched his shoulders. He felt like the heart-pounding, thrilling moment from last night had already become something from a previous lifetime.

Lu Ye was not an indecisive person. He was always decisive, with clear boundaries and quick solutions. However, this time, he didn’t know how to face Qi Yanbai.

The taste of Hongtashan cigarettes was a bit pungent, and the red smoke swirled in Lu Ye’s lungs before dissipating into the air. The misty smoke rose gently and was torn into a thin film by the cold wind, blurring Lu Ye’s eyes.

Alright, Lu Ye thought to himself, there must be an outcome.

He bit the cigarette in his mouth, his expression devoid of emotion, and contemplated for a while with his head lowered. Finally, as if he had made a decision, he crushed the remaining half of the cigarette in the trash can and turned to walk back into the building.

The elevator stopped on the ninth floor, and the smart camera at Qi Yanbai’s door shifted slightly in response to the sound, silently adjusting its angle to focus on the elevator entrance.

The live capture of the image sent a new doorbell notification to Qi Yanbai’s phone. Holding the door handle, he cautiously peered out through the peephole.

Lu Ye appeared to be no different from usual. He stepped out of the elevator, entered the apartment naturally, and threw away the renovation samples stuck to the door on his way in.

Qi Yanbai knew his habits well. After returning from work, Lu Ye would place his belongings on the bedside table, take a shower, change his clothes, and finally sit on the edge of the bed. He would then open the drawer, pull out his phone charger, and prepare for the evening. Qi Yanbai was quite sure that Lu Ye would quickly notice his small actions from when he left the pencil mark, and he anxiously took a step back, anxiously waiting for Lu Ye’s reaction.

The room password had been personally shared by Lu Ye, but rummaging through someone’s personal belongings was undoubtedly crossing a line. Qi Yanbai speculated that Lu Ye might not be angry about it, but he couldn’t help feeling nervous.

The smart surveillance camera returned to its default angle. Qi Yanbai took two steps back, sitting down at the dining table. He counted his heartbeats, anticipating Lu Ye’s usual routine and feeling rapidly rehearsed responses forming in his mind.

He had already prepared his explanations and how to respond to Lu Ye’s questions. But lying in front of Lu Ye was undoubtedly a difficult task, and Qi Yanbai’s heart rate began to accelerate. He clenched his finger joints and took a deep breath, his fingers feeling slightly clammy.

After what seemed like an eternity, As he had suspected, a dozen seconds later, footsteps stopped at his door, followed by a few brief knocks.

Lu Ye had a distinctive way of knocking—crisp and polite. He would knock a couple of times briefly before stopping. Qi Yanbai’s grip on his fingers tightened, and he took a deep breath, his legs feeling weak as he walked over to open the door.

“Lu Ye,” Qi Yanbai instinctively smiled, speaking softly, “You’re back?”

Lu Ye responded with a low “Mmm.”

He seemed somewhat subtly different, not changing into casual home clothes and appearing unusually calm. Qi Yanbai’s heart immediately went on high alert, carefully considering how he might react.

“Why haven’t you changed your clothes?” Qi Yanbai asked tentatively. “Are you going out again later?”

‘No, I’m not going out,’ Lu Ye replied simply.

He entered the room, asking, ‘Did you go into my room?’

Lu Ye was holding the card that came with the gift packaging. Qi Yanbai lowered his head to take a look, and he noticed the pencil markings he intentionally left on it.

Qi Yanbai feigned surprise and guilt, ‘I… I did.’

Knowing that Lu Ye disliked deception, he continued, ‘You hadn’t been back for a few days, and I thought about coming over to tidy up your room. But when I was wiping the table, I suddenly remembered the gift you mentioned you were going to give me. I got curious and wanted to see what it was.’

He kept his head down and couldn’t read Lu Ye’s expression. Unbeknownst to him, Lu Ye was scrutinizing him with an icy, unfamiliar gaze.

Lu Ye asked calmly, ‘Curious, and then what?’

Qi Yanbai had considered opening it at the time but changed his mind.

‘Nothing more,’ Qi Yanbai replied quickly. ‘I thought it wouldn’t be right to open it, so I didn’t.'”

Very tactful, Lu Ye thought. It seemed like crossing a line, but it wasn’t too serious. If it had been him before yesterday, he would have let it slide after asking, but now he was wary of Qi Yanbai. He realized that these were traces intentionally left by Qi Yanbai.

So, Qi Yanbai didn’t accidentally leave a loophole; he deliberately wanted him to notice it.

Lu Ye was aware that if he hadn’t discovered the eavesdropping and tracking today, he wouldn’t have cared about this minor incident. He might have even softened and given the gift to Qi Yanbai because of his curiosity.

Looking back, Lu Ye realized just how well Qi Yanbai understood him. In all the days they had spent together, how many times had Qi Yanbai achieved his goals using such a tactic?