Two transparent glass cups sat in front of the computer. Inside them, the lover's grass had churned and swirled, then gradually calmed, sinking completely to the bottom. Most of the heat had already dissipated from the tea.
Xue Cheng said, "I really didn't expect that when you said you'd treat me to a drink, you meant something this… health-conscious."
Shi Qinglin replied, "And I didn't expect you'd actually finish it."
"Hah. Yeah."
To be honest, it didn't taste bad. The leaves looked dull and ashen, unremarkable as dried weeds. But once they met the hot water that softened them, they somehow drew out a faint sweetness, thread by thread.
Xue Cheng lifted his cup and gave it a small swirl, typing with his other hand. "So… no refills?"
Shi Qinglin laughed. "Don't count on it."
Tu Nan wasn't exactly overflowing with service spirit.
When the tea was completely finished, the battle on screen had also reached its final stage.
Xue Cheng's character was a masked assassin, blades hidden in his sleeves, movements elusive and strange. Shi Qinglin played a swordsman, a three-foot azure blade in hand, strikes fast as lightning.
The two fought to the death on a map not yet open to the public, tangling back and forth for dozens of minutes. In the end, Xue Cheng still lost.
One sword sealed the assassin's throat.
"Forget it, forget it. I can't beat you." He waved, laughing.
Shi Qinglin didn't respond. His gaze stayed fixed on the screen. He stared for several minutes, then suddenly pulled out his phone and made a call.
"An Pei. I found a few critical bugs in the map scheduled for release next week. I'm sending them to you right now. Arrange for them to be fixed."
An Pei's miserable howl came through the speaker. "Do you know what time it is? Four a.m.! Four! Why are you still testing things yourself at this hour!"
Shi Qinglin glanced at his watch. It was already four-thirty. He looked out the window. A strip of pale dawn, like fish-belly white, had just begun to appear on the horizon.
"I thought you'd be used to it by now."
"Aaaaah!" An Pei wailed again.
Xue Cheng had been laughing on the side for ages, shaking his head. "I told you you're terrifying. I wasn't wrong."
Shi Qinglin hung up. "Another round?"
"No, no. I surrender. Completely."
"Then let's go."
Shi Qinglin walked first to the counter and saw Tu Nan sitting upright behind it, eyes closed. Under the lights her face had a fine porcelain whiteness, and it was hard to tell whether she was asleep or awake.
He brought his hand to his mouth and gave a quiet cough.
No reaction.
Shi Qinglin didn't believe she was truly asleep. He stepped closer and tapped the counter twice with two fingers.
Sure enough, Tu Nan opened her eyes.
"We're logging off," Shi Qinglin said.
"Okay. Then… goodbye?"
There was self-checkout on the computer. They could log off and leave directly. Tu Nan figured that if he came over specifically to say it, then either he had something to say, or they were simply expected to exchange a proper goodbye.
Shi Qinglin glanced at the announcement posted on the glass door. "This event you're running is pretty good."
"Hm?" Tu Nan realized his mind really did jump quickly sometimes.
"I'll have An Pei contact Fang Ruan," Shi Qinglin continued, already turning his thoughts elsewhere. "She can provide some support for your event."
It was just a little game promotion. Why was he so invested? Tu Nan couldn't understand it, but she answered absent-mindedly anyway.
Xue Cheng, however, understood and said from the side, "You're thoughtful."
Shi Qinglin smiled as he walked toward the door. It was just a whim. Back when the game had first launched, if more cafés like this had promoted it, perhaps the road would have been smoother.
At the entrance, he suddenly remembered something and turned back toward the counter.
"And you don't even have a send-off line?"
Tu Nan looked at him standing there, tall and long-legged, carrying the fatigue of an all-nighter. He didn't look worn out, but there was a lazy looseness in his eyes.
How could he still think of this at a time like that?
She cooperated and stood. "Then, welcome back next time."
As she spoke, she lifted the tea tin and gave it a little shake in his direction.
Everything was understood without being said.
Shi Qinglin's brow twitched slightly. He pushed the door open and left.
Outside, Xue Cheng teased him. "You're messing with her, aren't you?"
"I can't mess with her." Shi Qinglin smiled. "Don't you think she's like the Phantom class in the game?"
Phantom was a female class in Sword Soars to Heaven. She looked gentle and harmless, but she had a signature move called "Needles Hidden in Cotton," the classic soft-overcoming-hard.
Shi Qinglin felt Tu Nan was like that. He'd had that feeling since the night they first met.
Xue Cheng laughed. "No idea. I just know she's pretty cute."
Shi Qinglin bumped him with his elbow, and couldn't help laughing too.
Tu Nan suddenly sneezed. She suspected someone was talking about her behind her back. Then, unable to withstand the exhaustion of staying up all night, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes again, half-dozing.
She didn't know how long passed before the bell on the door rang. She still didn't open her eyes.
Fang Ruan came in looking miserable.
He couldn't stop thinking about the forty thousand. He'd gotten up especially early today. On his way over, he browsed the official Sword Soars to Heaven site on his phone. He discovered that in less than three days, the art contest already had thousands of submissions.
Convincing Tu Nan to enter was hopeless now. The more popular the contest got, the colder his heart felt.
He trudged to the counter in a sour mood, but the moment he got there, his drooping head snapped up.
He looked Tu Nan up and down. Seeing she still hadn't opened her eyes, he quietly snatched the phone sitting beside her, then patted her.
"Tu Nan? Tu Nan?"
Tu Nan opened her eyes. "You finally showed up."
"Yeah, yeah. Go sleep in the back," Fang Ruan said.
Tu Nan stepped out from behind the counter. Thinking back, it didn't feel like she'd done much last night, yet she was unusually exhausted.
Halfway there, she noticed Fang Ruan watching her the whole time. When she looked back, she met his clingy grin. She was too sleepy to care and went straight into the little room to catch up on sleep.
The moment the door shut, Fang Ruan dropped the smile, crouched down, and started scrolling through her phone in secret.
He couldn't get her fingerprint, but he figured someone who lived with tradition all year wouldn't come up with any clever lock screen tricks. The password was probably just her birthday.
Sure enough, one try unlocked it. He went straight for the photo album.
To his surprise, it was packed, but almost everything was reference materials and tools. This wasn't a normal album. It was a storage box for work.
Seriously. A young woman this grown, and not a single bit of narcissism. Not even one selfie. What a waste of that face.
Grumbling to himself, Fang Ruan kept scrolling. He wanted to see if she had any mural photos. Maybe she'd kept pictures of something she'd copied.
Tu Nan slept until afternoon. When she woke, she heard her phone ringing, but it wasn't by her side. Following the sound, she found it on the counter.
Fang Ruan was playing games at the computer again, acting as if the loud ringtone didn't exist. He sat upright, serious as if gaming were the most important job on earth.
Tu Nan gave him a strange look, picked up the phone, and saw the name on the screen: Tu Gengshan.
Her heart sank.
Again.
She hurried out of the café, away from the noise of the computers, and only then answered. "Dad."
"Tu Nan," her father called her by her full name. "How's the mural copying going? Almost finished, right?"
Tu Nan's mind raced. "Yeah. Almost."
"That's good. What's the weather like over there? You haven't gotten sick, have you?"
Of course she couldn't expose herself. "I'm in the caves so long every day. I don't have the mood to pay attention to the weather."
There was a pause of several seconds before her father spoke again. "That's true. Then take care of yourself. When you see Teacher Xu, send him my regards."
"Okay."
"I'm hanging up."
When there was nothing urgent to say, it was always like this. A brief, clean call, not even a full minute.
Tu Nan turned the phone in her hand and walked back into the café. She slapped it down on the counter.
Fang Ruan looked up at the sound and asked guiltily, "What are you doing?"
"Why are you acting so scared?"
"Ahem, nonsense. You startled me while I was gaming."
Tu Nan said, "Tell me. These past few days, have you noticed anything strange about my dad?"
Only then did Fang Ruan relax. He thought carefully and answered seriously, "Not really… Does it count that yesterday he switched from chicken soup to turtle soup for my mom?"
"Get lost."
"Okay, then no."
Tu Nan calmed herself and thought it through, shaking her head to herself. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
Fang Ruan knew what she meant and comforted her. "Relax. This morning I even heard my mom saying your dad's about to leave. What are you worried about?"
Then he suddenly remembered the important part and wiggled his fingers at Tu Nan.
"Oh, right. Seven days staying here. Shouldn't you give me some benefit?"
Tu Nan was blunt. "No money."
"Who wants your money? How much money do you even have?" Fang Ruan rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, dragging her outside.
Once outside, he pointed at the blank white wall by the entrance.
"I tell you to join the contest and you won't. Otherwise with that forty thousand, I could've taken a cut too. Since we're here now, at least fulfill one of my long-held wishes, okay?"
When he mentioned the contest, his eyes flicked away unnaturally.
Tu Nan snorted. "You just don't want to spend money on renovations. You want me to paint a mural for you. Your算盘(Abacus) is loud."
It really was an old wish. Years ago, when Fang Ruan first opened the café, he'd asked Tu Nan to paint something on the bare wall. He'd checked the price outside. It was expensive, and the results wouldn't even be half as good as what Tu Nan could do.
Back then, Tu Nan was busy, traveling all over the country and barely ever home. She couldn't agree. She'd thought that after a few years, he'd renovate, and the wall would be handled too. But years passed, he still couldn't bear to spend the money, and now he brought it up again.
"How about I paint Guanyin or the Buddha here," Tu Nan said wickedly, "and write: 'Enter the internet café and you'll descend into Avici Hell'?"
Fang Ruan spat, "Pah! You can paint plenty of things, you have to paint that? And if you're writing, it should be: 'If I don't go to the internet café, who will?'"
Tu Nan curled her lips into a smile, but it stayed on her face and never reached her heart.
Fang Ruan was still wondering what she was smiling about when he saw her grind a leaf under her shoe. Under the sunlight, her expression tightened again.
"Fang Ruan."
"Huh?"
Actually, sometimes I really don't want to touch murals anymore.
The sentence rolled in Tu Nan's throat, but in the end, she didn't say it.
Fang Ruan was still puzzled about what she meant, when a message popped up on his phone and he immediately lit up.
"Yo! An Pei actually contacted me first!"
Tu Nan instantly remembered what Shi Qinglin had said before leaving. She didn't expect him to move that fast.
Good.
A distraction like this meant all those tangled thoughts could be pressed down deep again.