Chapter 63: Long Time No See

Chapter 63 Long Time No See

With Professor Wu's strong recommendation, the music company was highly impressed with Xu Xingli and requested a meeting a few days later.

This company was a branch of a venerable European firm, renowned in the industry. It had launched the careers of numerous musicians and actors, and Northward had once been affiliated with it.

On the day of the meeting, Professor Wu brought Xu Xingli to the designated location.

It wasn't a private dining room in a hotel, nor a coffee shop, but a bustling, well-regarded cake shop.

The moment they pushed open the door, the rich, sweet aroma of freshly baked goods enveloped them, as if warming their very cheeks.

Winter was approaching, and the temperature had plummeted overnight. The street wind already carried a biting chill, reddening Xu Xingli's nose. He was not dressed warmly today and had forgotten his scarf, so his neck, shivering in the cold, welcomed the sudden warmth. His Adam's apple bobbed.

The two found their seats; the other party was already waiting opposite them.

Everyone exchanged smiles and nods. After Xu Xingli was seated, a menu was offered from across the table.

A seasoned-looking East Asian man with sharp features smiled at Xu Xingli and asked calmly, "What would you like to drink? Please order now."

This wasn't Xu Xingli's first time in such a situation. Usually, they would be the ones humbling themselves, meticulously entertaining the client, and the client would rarely be so courteous. This client, with his piercing gaze, looked particularly unapproachable.

So, when he saw the menu extended to him, Xu Xingli paused for a moment, then quickly recovered, narrowing his eyes.

"We're flexible; you can order for us," he skillfully replied before Professor Wu could interject.

The person opposite seemed to have anticipated the refusal and nodded without surprise, retrieving the menu. He then turned to call a waiter: "Three lattes, one milk tea, and two soufflés, please."

Hearing this, Xu Xingli narrowed his eyes once more.

Soon, the waiter approached with a tray, placing the milk tea in front of him as instructed, and then a soufflé beside it.

The person opposite, wearing an almost perfect smile, invited him to try it, claiming the soufflé here was the best on the entire street and usually hard to come by. Xu Xingli returned a smile, subtly picked up a fork, and politely took a bite.

The cake was incredibly soft and delicate, yet excessively sweet, intensely stimulating his taste buds. Xu Xingli's eyes widened almost instantly, sparkling with surprise. He then nodded repeatedly, a curve forming on his lips.

"It's delicious," he couldn't help but give a thumbs-up, praising it effusively.

Seeing this, the man opposite's smile suddenly brightened even more. He said, "Glad you like it." Then he straightened his collar, cleared his throat, and formally introduced himself, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Li Zhi, the music director of FIRE Entertainment's A-country branch." He then gestured to the side and added, "This is my assistant, Mark."

Upon hearing this, the tall, burly foreign assistant sitting beside him immediately became animated, raising his hand to enthusiastically greet Xu Xingli and Professor Wu.

Unlike some of the other managers Xu Xingli had encountered before, Li Zhi was affable from start to finish. The conversation flowed pleasantly for over an hour. At the end, they exchanged WeChat contacts—Li Zhi explained that company policy required contracts to be signed at their office.

Xu Xingli found this peculiar request puzzling, but still took out his phone to add him on WeChat.

Since moving abroad, Xu Xingli rarely used WeChat, except to contact Jian Ran and a few others.

His profile picture was still the same—that grumpy little cat—and his username was a star emoji.

A Che had remarked more than once that his profile picture was completely at odds with his personality, hinting at a subtle wildness, while his personality itself was quite different from his appearance—gentle on the outside, but strong within.

A Che had categorized his complexity into a unique type: a good child who had triumphed over a difficult life.

So Xu Xingli had never spoken about his past, but friends like A Che could generally understand him—after all, rumors about this young man were rife on the school forum. Some things didn't need to be explicitly stated; that was the boundary adults understood.

A message notification popped up. The profile picture showed an album with a flamboyant signature and a men's diamond ring.

[Jian Ran]: Li, are you free recently? Let's go traveling! Duan Yi is driving me crazy! I need to get away and clear my head.

Xu Xingli raised an eyebrow and typed: [I don't have time recently. What's up? Are you two fighting again?]

[Jian Ran]: It's still about that whole thing! He insists on quitting his job and coming here to be with me, and I can't make him understand!

Xu Xingli narrowed his eyes slightly and comforted him: [After all, you're still in the honeymoon phase, and now you're so far apart. He might be worried about you and wants to be with you. That's how long-distance relationships are.]

[Jian Ran]: I know! But he's putting so much pressure on me! My studies and family responsibilities are already heavy, and he wants to quit his job for me. Then he'll say he quit because of me and that I'm responsible for him! I only said I'd give it a try at first, and now he's threatening me! No, I'm breaking up with him!

Xu Xingli sighed and analyzed for him: [You just accepted his ring, and now you want to break up? What if Duan Yi comes looking for you?]

[Jian Ran]: ...Then I'll give it back! Whoever wants to marry can marry, I'm done!

That won't do.

Xu Xingli offered him advice: [How about you come here first? The maple leaves here are all red, especially beautiful. Let's have a good time first, and then when Duan Yi comes, you two can talk things out.]

[Jian Ran]: (Pouting emoji)

[Jian Ran]: Okay, I'll be there this afternoon, at the same hotel we stayed at last time.

Xu Xingli replied with an "OK" gesture.

Jian Ran and Duan Yi had only gotten together this year. In less than half a year, Duan Yi had already proposed, gotten engaged, and moved in together—at rocket speed.

It was understandable, considering Xu Xingli knew Duan Yi had been pursuing Jian Ran for two years, but at that time, Jian Ran kept trying to get close to him.

Xu Xingli only thought Jian Ran was reluctant for him to go abroad alone, and he often refused Jian Ran's suggestions to follow him to M country, frequently creating opportunities for Duan Yi.

Young Master Duan had always gotten whatever he wanted since childhood. After two years, he finally managed to win Jian Ran over, so of course, he wanted to keep him firmly by his side.

The two hadn't argued since they got together, but recently they had a disagreement: Jian Ran went abroad to study, and Duan Yi also wanted to quit his job and come with him.

Jian Ran firmly disagreed, and Duan Yi stubbornly refused to back down. Since neither would yield, it was good for them to separate and cool down. It was just unknown when Duan Yi would show up.

Xu Xingli blinked.

He was mentally planning where to go with Jian Ran when a voice interrupted him.

"Xing?"

He looked over and met Professor Wu's eyes.

"What are you thinking about? We should go."

Hearing this, Xu Xingli came back to his senses, turned to look at the people opposite, and smiled and said goodbye: "Goodbye, Director Li, Mr. Mark."

Mark waved to him, and Director Li also smiled, nodded, and asked, "I heard you came here alone before you were an adult. It's different from back home, wasn't it difficult to adapt at first? You're very impressive, resilient, and talented."

Xu Xingli was momentarily stunned. He only realized they were talking to him when all three looked at him. He offered an appropriate smile and replied, "You flatter me."

Director Li said nothing further, so Xu Xingli stood up, ready to leave.

Just as he stood up, a dark figure in a black coat flashed in his peripheral vision. It felt strangely familiar, sending a sudden jolt through him.

He almost instinctively turned his head to look, but only saw a large black ceramic vase standing in a corner not far away, with simple yet beautiful designs.

Perhaps he was seeing things from being too busy composing, and his nerves were starting to fray, making him feel anxious.

Xu Xingli curled his lips into a self-deprecating smile, rubbed his temples, and walked away.

At 2 PM, Jian Ran arrived at the airport on time and, knowing the route well, came to the hotel he always stayed at. Xu Xingli was already waiting for him in the room.

Upon seeing his friend, Jian Ran immediately dropped his suitcase and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Xu Xingli in a dramatic hug, exclaiming, "I missed you so much! You have no idea how wronged I've felt these past few days!"

Xu Xingli chuckled, pushed him away, then grabbed his hand and pointed to the sparkling ring on his ring finger, asking, "How wronged? You're still wearing the ring, aren't you?"

Jian Ran awkwardly withdrew his hand and pouted, "He didn't pick the right size; once it's on, it won't come off. You can't blame me for that!"

Xu Xingli was amused, his shoulders shaking with laughter, and he humored him, "I don't blame you, I don't blame you. Are we going out later?"

His sudden change of topic. Jian Ran paused, then nodded and said, "Yes! Of course! Who knows when Duan Yi will come after me? I want to fully enjoy my freedom as a single man! Let's go to the park we didn't go to last time!"

Xu Xingli nodded in agreement and took out his phone to book tickets. The first thing he saw was a sudden text message.

Xu Xingli was already familiar with the phone number, and he could almost recite the message verbatim.

—It's getting cold, remember to add clothes. Hats and scarves are a must.

Even with a new phone number, he was as if he were invisible. Xu Xingli knew it was Xu Zhou.

Xu Zhou didn't want to hide either; if he was blocked, he'd just get a new number until Xu Xingli was at a loss for words and stopped putting him on the blacklist. Then he used that number for a long time.

The chat box only contained messages from Xu Zhou, always holiday greetings and seasonal reminders, and Xu Xingli always read them but never replied.

After reading this text message, Xu Xingli exhaled, pursed his lips helplessly, and closed the app.

Jian Ran casually rummaged through his suitcase and found two scarves, handing one to Xu Xingli, saying, "It's freezing outside, put this on."

Xu Xingli was about to refuse, but that text message inexplicably came to mind. He looked down for a moment, and finally took it.

Country A's winter was approaching, and the temperature was dropping day by day. However, they didn't experience the attack of cold air, or more accurately, they didn't have the chance.

Duan Yi arrived exceptionally quickly.

As the two stepped out of the elevator and reached the lobby, they were spotted by Duan Yi, who was standing at the front desk inquiring at the front desk.

His expression wasn't good; his face fell when he saw Jian Ran, and he immediately walked towards them.

Jian Ran's expression wasn't much better. The moment he saw Duan Yi, he instinctively pulled Xu Xingli and pulled him back.

Everything happened too suddenly. Xu Xingli was caught off guard and pulled along, stumbling several steps and almost losing his balance. But he had no time to react; he was unable to react.

Standing at the front desk was not just Duan Yi, but another person, wearing a black coat, with the same tall and prominent figure as before, and an unsettlingly familiar aura.

Jian Ran pulled him, stumbling and running into the elevator. Although they pressed the close button very quickly, just as the two doors were about to shut, a hand shot in.

The elevator doors opened again. Duan Yi, looking displeased, stared intently at Jian Ran. Without saying a word, he took Jian Ran's hand and walked out.

Jian Ran instinctively tightened his grip on Xu Xingli's wrist, but upon seeing the person behind Duan Yi, he froze in place.

In that instant, he was abruptly pulled out of the elevator by Duan Yi.

Only Xu Xingli remained, and outside the elevator, Xu Zhou, staring intently at him.

Xu Xingli instinctively reached for the close button, but Xu Zhou held the door open with his hand, then the man stepped inside.

"Long time no see, Xing'er."