For some reason, after she said that, F didn’t ask anything else. He even went quiet for a few seconds. Li Xia fidgeted with her fingers, feeling a touch awkward. Her gaze swept to the suitcase open in the corner behind him, and she quickly asked, “Are you going on a trip too? I see you’re… packing.”
“That?” F half-turned. “No.”
He didn’t elaborate, and Li Xia just said, “Oh.”
“How long’s your trip?” F asked.
“About a week.”
“Will you be busy? Lately.”
He seemed genuinely interested in the topic. Li Xia thought for a moment. “Not too bad. I plan to stick around and play for a couple days after work’s done.”
“Mm.”
…
To avoid the awkwardness of scraping for small talk, Li Xia forced them back on topic. “Alright, let’s listen to some music. No more chit-chat, streamer.”
F let out a short laugh. “As you command.”
–
A low slate-gray cabinet held a collection of over a dozen vinyl records. F stood in front of it now, a bit farther from the camera, facing her in profile.
That’s when Li Xia noticed he was wearing loose, casual black pants—nice and crisp. His posture was upright, and as he bent down to reach up, his form was graceful. She could even make out the contours of his back muscles shifting under the thin fabric.
As F pulled out a record and showed it to her, he casually chatted about when he’d bought it. Li Xia responded now and then, but her eyes were glued to his hands—
No one had warned her that a handsome man playing records seriously could be just as sexy as flexing!
Those clean, slender hands, with their clear knuckles. He placed the record on the turntable, lifted the arm, gently pinched the needle, and lowered it slowly before flicking the lever. In that tender moment as the needle dropped, the familiar intro began to flow.
It was her favorite: “Episode 33.”
For the first time, Li Xia felt how ambiguous the lyrics were, how the music made her heart race.
“Tonight, felt with the heart, so enchanting
No vanity, no weaknesses
Just right—someone’s addicted”
…
In the frame, F drifted in and out of view, sometimes pacing, sometimes reappearing. She stared at that incomplete silhouette, lost in the hazy, lazy electronic beats.
For a fleeting moment, Li Xia desperately wanted to see him.
–
That night, the vinyl spun tirelessly through three tracks, two of them picked by Li Xia. She didn’t pay close attention to the music, just using the gaps between songs to chat with F. Ever dutiful, F would swap the record and then vanish onto the black sofa nearby. After the third track, he asked what else she wanted to hear. Li Xia said no more records.
“What then? CDs?”
“No.”
What fun was a mechanical disc spinning in circles until she got bored? But the man in front of her was different—vibrant, fresh, endlessly captivating.
In her mind, Li Xia griped that he was such a blockhead.
“If we’re not listening to music, are we logging off?” she asked.
“Of course not.”
“So there’s other programming?”
“Naturally not.”
“Hmph.”
Li Xia ignored him and let her mouth run wild. “I’m done with those. Vinyl, CDs—none of it interests me. I want to hear the streamer sing.”
“Huh?”
That stopped the man in his tracks. F sounded half-amused, half-exasperated. “Teacher Lizi, you’re serious?”
“Why not? You gonna run away?”
She threw in a bit of playful coquettishness.
“I…”
He seemed weak against soft tactics. On screen, Li Xia covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. She watched F raise a hand and ruffle his hair, looking truly troubled.
She tapped the screen right away. “I saw that! You look so reluctant! Fine, our first video ends with Teacher Fang’s great escape—”
Her taunt worked; F threw his head back laughing. “No, no.”
“I really…”
He said he was embarrassed, then leaned forward. “See? My neck’s all red.”
Out of nowhere, from the side, Li Xia caught sight of his Adam’s apple—the sharp, hormonal curve of it, tinged with an unnatural flush of pink. It was so close, all because of her. Her eyes went wide and blank; she swallowed reflexively.
He was genuinely shy; the flush extended to the skin under his ears.
What an easy guy to tease.
Feeling triumphant, Li Xia grew excited. After five rounds of rock-paper-scissors—three wins for her—they reached an agreement. F good-naturedly gave in. “How about this: I’ll record something later and send it to you.”
Only then was Li Xia satisfied. She seized the moment to warn him, “Until I hear it, I’ll remind you every day!”
“Alright, alright. Can’t win against you.” F laughed again.
He called her bossy, saying even his friends rarely heard him sing.
Li Xia replied, “Doesn’t that mean I’m special?”
“More than special,” F said softly. “You’re the exception.”
This time, her laugh came out first.
Though she couldn’t see him, Li Xia could feel it—their laughter and joy matched perfectly. They were equally immersed, equally delighted by each other, even equally childish, forgetting the world around them as they chatted.
When you’re happy, time slips away unnoticed and speeds by. Thinking of tomorrow’s training, Li Xia said she needed to rest.
F replied, “Okay.”
Li Xia waited two seconds. “That’s it?”
“Go to sleep.”
Not getting what she wanted, she gritted her teeth. Seeing him already turning to pack up his gear, she called out, “Wait.”
F turned back. “What?”
“No—I mean, I’m going to bed.”
“I know.”
Li Xia was speechless. She tried prompting him, speaking fast and fumbling her words. “Don’t normal chats have closing lines? Don’t you have any goodnight words or something, like…”
“Goodnight.”
The receiver amplified his gentle voice, cutting her off like a warm, joyful night unfolding slowly, fulfilling her wish.
Li Xia froze for a second.
The man on screen leaned in closer, enunciating each word like a playful murmur:
“Goodnight, Teacher Lizi.”
Because of this new development with F, Li Xia spent the entire weekend training in high spirits. It really was the true Jiangnan, the true springtime. Who could’ve guessed that when she was first sent here, she’d been full of resentment, ready to pick a fight with her boss?
After hanging up that night, her heart raced too fast for sleep. She picked up and put down her phone repeatedly. Sure enough, someone else was restless too.
F must’ve had ulterior motives, messaging her to rate tonight’s stream.
Li Xia tossed and turned under the covers. Wasn’t this just fishing for her impression of him, all roundabout?
She turned into a smirking little cat: [The music was great, atmosphere too, but one thing I’m not thrilled about.]
F: ?
Biting back a laugh, cheeks burning but bold as brass: [Streamer was wearing too much.]
F: …
F: You’re really
Had he blushed again?
Good thing the room was empty; Li Xia kicked her feet wildly, giggling out loud. She held back the even bolder thoughts.
Her phone buzzed.
F, like a warning: [Teacher Lizi, you better be this bold when you see me.]
See him?
Who said anything about meeting.
Li Xia’s heart skipped, but her reply was defiant: [Why not? What’s there to be scared of?]
She hit send, then shivered all over and tossed the phone aside.
…
The weekend training was more exhausting than expected.
Li Xia had dabbled a bit in marketing, but it wasn’t her main focus. These days, physical books were tough to sell, so marketing had become the big show. Gold or sand? Marketing filtered it first. Readers and reviews took a backseat.
Letting the lecturer on stage pour out every tip on preparing materials, crafting proposals, and liaising with influencers, Li Xia and the newbie trainee beside her—on the job for just a few months—could only boil it all down to four words: cultivate web savvy.
“What even is web savvy?” the girl asked, scratching her head.
“Something we don’t have,” Li Xia replied.
The girl giggled. “Did you read that book that blew up a while back?”
“I did.”
Seeing Li Xia wasn’t volunteering more, the girl looked at her expectantly. “What did you think?”
Li Xia hesitated. “If I speak bluntly, I won’t hold back.”
The girl’s eyes lit up even brighter. She nudged her. “Come on, spill it!”
“It’s like meticulously picking through trash to find something shiny.”
“Hahaha!”
The girl suggested she could start an account roasting books—it was bound to go viral. Li Xia laughed and said, reverse psychology, that’s brilliant. She’d set one up as soon as she got back. The girl asked what books she’d worked on. Li Xia replied that saying it out loud might shock her. Puzzled, the girl asked if they were all massive bestsellers. Li Xia clarified no, they were too niche—non-bestsellers the girl probably wouldn’t know. The girl laughed again, calling her adorable.
“So, have you achieved your publishing dreams?” she asked.
Her dreams?
Li Xia paused her pen, thinking it over. “I haven’t been at this job long, but I’ve been lucky. I’d say I’ve made a good start.”
Lin Hong’s book had fulfilled Li Xia’s wish to publish a work of nonfiction literature.
Truth be told, nonfiction reportage had always been Li Xia’s secret passion. Amid the frothy bubble of urban romances, she wanted to unearth some enduring truths of life—the raw, magical cruelty of it all.
And she’d worked hard to seize the opportunity, making it happen.
Back then, Lin Hong wasn’t well-known and had no reader base. From initial planning and rushing to meet deadlines, through eight rounds of revisions, applying for the ISBN and CIP, overseeing printing, and handling online and offline marketing and distribution—day and night, Li Xia had poured in her heart and soul. Only she knew the full extent of it.
Of course, Lin Hong hadn’t let her down, nor had the book.
They had lifted each other up.
It was from that point that Li Xia truly fell in love with editing. Before, in foreign trade, she’d thrived on the endless flow of sales and profits. Now, she savored the solid weight of a book she’d made in her hands.
The training left her with that satisfying haze of confusion—like she’d absorbed a whole day’s worth of knowledge without really grasping any of it. On Saturday, she and her little trainee buddy gorged themselves silly and wandered the night market. When the weekend training wrapped up, they parted ways, leaving Li Xia alone.
It was dusk now. Maybe it was the change in water and soil, but she had no appetite. Back at the hotel, she grabbed an ice cream from the nearby convenience store and perched on a high stool by the window. Through the glass, she admired the pink-orange sunset, then zoned out, watching the city.
When F messaged asking what she’d had for dinner, Li Xia suddenly felt a twinge of hunger.
Oddly, she wasn’t the type to plot out foodie checklists for every city she visited. When truly hungry, instant noodles always hit the spot. She turned and picked out a cup nearby, snapping a photo for F: 【Standard issue】
F: 【Doesn’t the hotel have a buffet dinner?】
Li Xia: 【Craving noodles hehe】
Li Xia: 【Have you stayed here before?】
F: 【Yeah, regular】
Li Xia: 【What a coincidence】
Li Xia: 【Nanlin’s sunset is gorgeous tonight】
As she spoke, she stood and swayed left and right for a better angle, snapping a few shots and sending the prettiest one.
Lately, F had been nothing but attentive toward her. She felt the same—bursting with the urge to share.