On the last day of April, Yang Ke attended the grand opening of a nightclub owned by a new investor.
He had originally planned to stay at the office, but his business partner, Zhai Di, knocked on his office door and half-dragged, half-coaxed him out of the company.
The club’s atmosphere wasn’t to Yang Ke’s taste—the music was overpowering, and the crowd was too dense.
After a brief chat with the investor, he went upstairs to a quieter booth on the second floor. He sipped half a glass of wine, checked his watch several times, and was just about to find an excuse to leave early when a beautiful woman sat beside him, asking if he was there alone.
He politely exchanged a few words, bought her a drink, but declined her invitation to dance.
After the woman left, Zhai Di walked over with his girlfriend, teasing him, “Someone finally dared to hit on you, and you didn’t even seize the chance.”
Yang Ke took a sip of his drink, not responding to the joke.
“What’s Yang Ke’s type?” Zhai Di’s girlfriend asked playfully. “Maybe I know someone suitable.”
Zhai Di sighed, “Forget it, he’s just—” He paused and decided not to finish his sentence.
His girlfriend had brought a few of her friends, and they all went down to the dance floor. Zhai Di stayed behind, sitting with Yang Ke for a while.
Zhai Di was a college friend of Yang Ke’s, a fellow fraternity member. After graduation, they co-founded a company together, making him perhaps the person who understood Yang Ke’s private life best.
After a few more drinks, Zhai Di suddenly spoke, “Lawyer Li asked to meet with me the other day.”
Yang Ke didn’t react, so Zhai Di continued, “He wanted me to advise you not to push the boundaries of trust law. But I told him you hadn’t mentioned anything to me, so I had no idea what to advise.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Yang Ke replied firmly.
“Whatever,” Zhai Di shrugged, “just don’t end up with a lawsuit on your hands.”
“I won’t,” Yang Ke replied.
With a nod, Zhai Di clinked his glass with Yang Ke’s. After a brief silence, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity, asking, “How long has it been since Yu Zhinian returned to the country? Has it been half a year?”
“Forgot,” Yang Ke replied shortly.
“He really hasn’t tried to see you?” Zhai Di pressed.
Yang Ke gave him a blank look, replying, “No.”
Downstairs, the DJ had switched to a slower song, and the noise subsided slightly.
“Actually,” Zhai Di hesitated before continuing, “when Yu Zhinian first left, I thought he was just playing hard to get. He chased after you so persistently in college, finally got to live with you, and then suddenly gave up—that didn’t make sense.”
“But it’s good he left on his own,” Zhai Di said, suddenly advising Yang Ke. “Never underestimate the importance of marriage. Being with someone you don’t love is torture.”
Yang Ke didn’t respond to his sentiment, continuing to drink.
Zhai Di had likely had quite a bit to drink downstairs; his words became more plentiful as his buzz grew.
He reminisced with Yang Ke about their college days, recounting things Yu Zhinian had done that he’d found unsettling, thinking Yang Ke should be grateful he hadn’t pressed charges or filed a restraining order. Yang Ke remained silent.
After another drink, Zhai Di shifted topics to Yang Ke’s inheritance from Yang Zhongyun.
He mentioned that Lawyer Li hadn’t shared details openly, but had dropped a few hints: “From what I gathered, is it true that the only way for Yu Zhinian to claim the inheritance is by marrying you?”
Yang Ke replied with a simple “Yes.” Thinking it over, Zhai Di added, “There’s a rule about time periods for cohabitation. If there’s a continuous separation of over six months before marriage, registration isn’t allowed.”
“I have a feeling he’ll come back looking for you soon. If he drags it out, it’ll be troublesome.” Zhai Di thought for a moment, even suggesting that Yang Ke should consider moving to a different place temporarily.
For some reason, Yang Ke grew irritable. He changed the subject, finished his drink, then called his driver to pick him up from the club.
On the way home, he casually scrolled through his chat history with Lawyer Li, noticing a message with Yu Zhinian’s flight information.
Yang Ke stared at his phone screen, zoning out in the car, thinking about nothing in particular.
Shortly after, his secretary sent over the itinerary for the following week.
After reviewing it, he glanced through his text messages, scrolling back several pages to find the last message he’d received from Yu Zhinian.
In the past, he had deleted all of Zhinian’s messages after reading them, so the last message Zhinian sent before leaving was the only one saved from that number.
Yang Ke only glanced at it briefly before closing the message screen.
Many times, he’d thought he should treat that message the same as the others and delete it, refusing to give it any special significance.
But because it was the last one, he never did.
When he arrived home, the house was quiet; the staff had already gone to bed, leaving only a small light on in the entryway.
In the past, when Zhinian had just moved in, he would sometimes wait for Yang Ke at the door.
Of course, Zhinian didn’t really know how to wait. He would always fall asleep on the sofa, and, with his restless sleeping habits, he would kick off the blanket.
Yang Ke never bothered to cover him again, heading upstairs on his own, and sometimes, Zhinian would catch a cold.
At some point, Zhinian stopped waiting for him.
Yang Ke walked over to the kitchen counter, poured himself a glass of ice water, then went upstairs to work until around 1:30 AM. When sleep finally crept in, he grabbed a book and returned to his bedroom.
It was a sociology text filled with technical terms, a perfect sleep aid for Yang Ke, who’d studied finance. He only managed a few pages before drifting off.
In his dream, his phone broke, and it took about forty-eight hours to get it repaired.
When he turned it back on, the screen flooded with missed calls and message notifications. Slowly, he read through them.
There were calls from his late grandfather, texts from his father, from Zhai Di, from clients, from his university professor—and from Yu Zhinian.
From the content of Zhinian’s message, Yang Ke guessed it was from their high school days.
Back then, they’d been on decent terms. Zhinian was likely keeping his grandfather company in the study, messaging Yang Ke to say he was bored.
In high school, Yang Ke would have replied, so in the dream, he did too, saying, “There’s no free lunch in the world. Just deal with it.”
Zhinian responded with an unhappy emoji.
As the dream continued, Yang Ke didn’t delete their messages; instead, he went through his missed calls one by one, having empty conversations with people he wasn’t interested in.
Until the dream ended, there was no scene involving Yu Zhinian again.
