Chapter 5 Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?

Chapter 5: When I’m Away, Will You Miss Me?

When Li Wangyue woke up, his whole body was sore.

Especially his waist.

His bones and muscles were stiff all over, like he’d worked out and skipped stretching.

He stared at the ceiling, zoning out for a second.

He’d had a dream last night.

The dream was all tangled up and steamy, too hot to put into words, and the heat stuck with him even after waking up, leaving his throat dry and scratchy.

He downed a glass of warm water, and his throat felt a little better. His clothes were a little damp, maybe from sweating in his sleep.

What a draining night.

Li Wangyue worked his neck and shoulders while rubbing the ache in his side.

The calming tea from last night seemed to do the trick.

He wondered how Ting Zhenxi slept.

He pushed the window open, letting the morning breeze in. The stuffy feeling in the room faded, and the heaviness in his chest eased up a bit.

After washing up, he dried his face with a soft towel. The towel had a light, nice smell—maybe all the linens in the villa used the same scented detergent. He felt totally wrapped up in it.

When he looked up, he spotted a faint red mark in the mirror.

Li Wangyue had already looked away, but he quickly snapped his gaze back, tugging at his collar to see better.

There was a red mark on his left collarbone. He frowned, squinted, and rubbed it hard with his thumb. A sharp sting made him flinch.

Were there mosquitoes last night?

But then he reconsidered: this villa was pretty old, and this room wasn’t used much. It wasn’t out of the question that some bug had gotten in.

At least it was somewhere you wouldn’t notice.

Li Wangyue dug out his usual anti-itch cream from his backpack and dabbed it on.

He’d taken a little too long. When he heard a “click” from the next room, he sped up packing his stuff, rushed to the door, and yanked it open.

And once again, he stepped out at the exact same moment as Ting Zhenxi.

He really did like showering in the morning. Today, he was just as cold as always.

“Morning,” Li Wangyue greeted as usual, like they’d just happened to run into each other.

This time, Ting Zhenxi glanced at him but still didn’t say anything, shutting his door and heading downstairs.

“Did you sleep any better last night?” Li Wangyue asked, like he was making casual small talk. “Did the calming tea help?”

Ting Zhenxi, who’d gone down the stairs ahead of him, was now at the turn of the landing. He looked back at the question.

“It was a big help,” he said.

The moment their eyes met, Li Wangyue was speechless. He totally didn’t see that answer coming.

So he had no clue how to respond.

And Ting Zhenxi had already looked away and kept going down the stairs.

A second later, Li Wangyue realized what Ting Zhenxi had just said, and that he’d let this rare chance to talk slip away.

Li Ping and Ting Huayi still hadn’t shown up. The housekeeper had made breakfast.

The morning paper had already been delivered, folded and set by the table.

Li Ping worked at the hospital. When she was a resident, she’d pull all-night shifts, and she liked to keep her mind sharp by doing crosswords during her breaks.

The family had always subscribed to newspapers. Li Wangyue would cut out the architecture and landscape design sections, while the crosswords were left for Li Ping.

Li Ping had subscribed to many papers but found that she liked the crosswords in the Liming News morning edition the most. They were both fun and challenging. The puzzles she filled out most often were by someone named “Yinghuo.”

Yinghuo meant Mars, named for its erratic brightness and unpredictable movements that confused people.

Though Li Wangyue didn’t understand crosswords, he could tell that this author must be a creative and thoughtful person.

Perhaps this “Yinghuo” wasn’t a staff editor at Liming News but just a crossword enthusiast who submitted occasionally. Aside from a few sporadic publications, no other information could be found. You could only get lucky and stumble upon one.

Li Wangyue wasn’t good at crosswords. Li Ping had tried to teach him when he was young, but he could never grasp the convoluted solving methods.

Today’s paper featured a profile interview with a big name in the industry that Li Wangyue had heard of. He planned to read it slowly when he had time.

Picking up the paper, the folded side happened to be the crossword on the back page. The grid looked like a chessboard, with black and white squares alternating.

Below were clues, indicating the solving method, letter count, and placement direction.

At the very bottom, today’s crossword author was credited: Yinghuo.

What a coincidence. He’d come across it today.

Thinking of his mother’s enthusiasm, Li Wangyue felt a bit of interest. He picked up a pen, trying to fill in a few answers, but he could only manage the simplest clues. The rest he couldn’t understand, let alone solve.

The housekeeper had finished breakfast and was setting the table. Li Wangyue put down the paper and pen to help.

This morning, the housekeeper had made scallion oil noodles. They smelled wonderful, but Li Wangyue was puzzled.

Ting Zhenxi didn’t eat scallions. Why would she make this…

Before he could think further, the housekeeper looked up, spotted Ting Zhenxi coming in from the side hall, and called him to eat.

Li Wangyue turned around. Ting Zhenxi, coffee in hand, walked casually to the coffee table, stared at the morning paper for a moment, then bent down to pick it up.

The morning weather was beautiful. Sunlight streamed through the large diamond-paned windows, casting a faint golden glow on the man.

As he drank his coffee, Li Wangyue could even see his throat move as he swallowed.

The Liming News morning edition always had a politics and economics section. Maybe he’d be interested in reading it. Next time, he could subscribe to an extra copy, Li Wangyue thought.

While Li Wangyue went to the kitchen to get milk, when he came back out, Ting Zhenxi had already put the paper down and was heading to the dining room.

Li Wangyue glanced at the plate of scallion oil noodles, deeply confused, and couldn’t help but watch Ting Zhenxi’s reaction.

“It smells wonderful. Your cooking keeps getting better.”

The housekeeper smiled. “I’m glad you enjoy it. And Mr. Li? Does it suit your taste?”

Li Wangyue nodded and said politely, "It's great. Thanks for your trouble."

The two sat across from each other, just like last night, and Li Wangyue watched him eat the scallion oil noodles he'd once claimed he "doesn't eat scallions."

Ting Zhenxi was a tough person to figure out.

But now, Li Wangyue could vaguely sense that even with such a deep and inscrutable personality, his dislike for him and his family was already out in the open.

It wasn't that he hated scallions.

It was that he didn't like the scallion pancake Li Ping made, and he didn't like that it was a food Li Wangyue enjoyed.

Li Wangyue ate breakfast in silence, feeling calm, as this was something he had long anticipated.

After breakfast, Li Wangyue packed up his stuff. He still had stuff to do today and planned to put away the morning paper to clip later when he had time.

But when he picked up the paper, he froze up.

The few blank squares he'd casually filled in were now fully filled out.

The clues he hadn't gotten, the answers he hadn't solved, were written in another person's handwriting inside the white squares.

The handwriting was sharp, bold, and really familiar—he had just seen it last night.

Li Wangyue remembered the crossword puzzle collection his mother had, filled with clever and captivating puzzles. Maybe he could buy one to mess around with.

Or maybe... give it to Ting Zhenxi?

Li Wangyue only let himself fantasize for a second before pushing the thought away. No way. Even imagining it was too much.

He let himself have that small indulgence.

Li Wangyue took a detour to the used bookstore his mom always went to and bought the last copy of a crossword puzzle collection from the owner.

It was old, maybe a rare edition, showing its age.

He took it home, carefully dusted it off, and put it away.

He ran his hand over the book's cover, feeling a strong connection to Ting Zhenxi.

But in the days after, he didn't see Ting Zhenxi once.

According to the housekeeper, Mr. Ting sent him to Southern Europe to handle some hostile takeover—and word was that this was Ting Huayi's "punishment" for Ting Zhenxi.

He'd been acting up lately, so he got kicked out of his mom's old place and sent to work abroad.

What bugged Li Wangyue was that without Ting Zhenxi, his sleep had gone to hell.

He couldn't sleep, just tossing and turning.

He didn't want to take meds either.

All night, he stared at the red light on the smoke detector, half-awake, half-asleep, his head throbbing, until the sky outside got light and the birds started singing on the estate's hills. Only then did he give in and close his eyes, forcing himself to rest at least a little.

Ting Zhenxi wasn't in the room next to him.

His life had lost its spark.

At night, Qin You would send him dirty texts, probably pissed that Li Wangyue hadn't replied to him that night. Each message was worse than the last, full of sarcasm and obsession.

"Can you even sleep without me holding you?"

"If you're really that sleepless, just think of me and jerk off."

"Baby, you're so hot, I'll jerk off thinking of you too."

"When I'm gone, will you miss me? Wanna video call?"

"Seeing my face might get you in the mood."

"I want to come on your face."

...

Li Wangyue just replied with one word: "Fuck off."

Qin You tried to push it further, but Li Wangyue warned him that if he continued, he'd report this to Qin You's school. It might not fix things for good, but it'd at least make him back off. As crazy as Qin You was, he still knew if he could afford to lose his job.

Even with his crappy sleep, Li Wangyue spent the whole week running around, doing field surveys of the waterfront area and personally overseeing the simulation on site.

This project had a tight deadline and a lot of demands. Li Wangyue had heard rumors before, but he didn't expect it to hit so fast.

He'd guessed the internally picked design firm had already cut a deal with the client, and this was just a formality—perhaps not worth fighting over.

"Teacher Li, have some water."

A bottle of cold water was handed to him. Meng Chi sat down beside him, holding a promotional fan he'd picked up from some shop, fanning himself nonstop.

Li Wangyue suggested they sit in the riverside pavilion, where there would be a breeze and it would be cooler.

"Let me tell you, I lost my USB drive. I forgot to take it out after class last time, and by the time I realized and went back to look for it, it was gone," Meng Chi rambled, fanning himself and then reaching over to fan Li Wangyue.

"Was there anything important on it?" Li Wangyue asked. "You could check the surveillance footage. Maybe another teacher accidentally packed it away."

"Just some teaching materials, all backed up. But there were a few concept sketches I hadn't saved, thinking the USB wouldn't get lost. And then it did." Meng Chi was still annoyed. "Luckily, I managed to redo them, or the director would have chewed me out again."

"Are they for this project?"

"Yeah, I stayed up all night working on them." Meng Chi grumbled indignantly, muttering, "It's not like it's going to be ours anyway. Why bother putting in so much effort? It's already been given to Tuoguan..."

Li Wangyue's expression remained calm as he twisted the water bottle in his palm, making it creak.

He had suspected before that the project might be internally designated for Tuoguan Design, because he had seen their manager greasing the wheels and keeping close ties with the client's department. But it was just a guess. Now, it seemed to be true.

Even though they probably wouldn't get the project, they couldn't afford to slack off. Otherwise, it would reflect poorly on the academy's and the professor's reputations.

"Tuoguan has been making waves lately," Li Wangyue remarked.

"Yeah, I heard they've won several bids in recent years and are even negotiating for the mountain maintenance in Shangjing Bay."

"Shangjing Bay..." Li Wangyue repeated softly.

The Ting family villa was located in the Shangjing Bay area.

It wasn't so much a villa district as it was a meticulously tamed yet wild private mountain forest. The landscape was layered, like a primeval jungle, with estate buildings arranged in harmony with nature. The roads wound along the terrain, preserving the mountain's original ecology.

To secure the mountain maintenance contract for Shangjing Bay required not only exceptional professional skills but also a solid network of connections.

Moreover, a series of favorable policies were implemented before the Lunar New Year, making it hard not to make the connection—perhaps Tuoguan really intends to seize the opportunity.

Li Wangyue kept marking up the slightly crumpled blueprints in his hand. That wasn't their problem to worry about; even if they were doomed to lose the bid this time, he still had to do his job properly.

Meng Chi bitched for a bit, then fanned himself a few more times before getting up and heading out to the site.

Li Wangyue quickly gathered his paperwork and was about to follow when his phone rang—it was a call from Ji Zhijia.

"Wangyue, are you free tonight? Want to grab a meal together?" The guy's voice sounded lazy, like he'd just rolled out of bed. "I just wrapped up a case and feel like having some barbecue."

Ji Zhijia worked in the Forensic Department and had recently been dispatched to assist with a murder case. The scene was reportedly a mess—badly decomposed, with body tissues reduced to a mushy pulp, totally unrecognizable.

After finishing a case, he would have some time off, and barbecue was Ji Zhijia's go-to stress reliever.

Li Wangyue really wanted to go—he hadn't seen his friend in days, and with Ji Zhijia's heavy workload, he was really worried about him.

But.

"You're done? Finally, you can rest. Take the chance to unwind." Li Wangyue asked gently, "Where do you want to go for barbecue? Send me the tab; it's on me."

Ji Zhijia let out a long sigh on the other end. "Can't make it again? What is it this time? Students, your professor, or family stuff?"

Ji Zhijia had known him for a long time and was a deeply perceptive person. He was one of the closer friends in their group, someone Li Wangyue talked over big stuff with and asked for advice.

Li Wangyue had never mentioned his past to him, nor had he brought up his feelings for Ting Zhenxi, but he felt that Ji Zhijia had guessed.

After all, over those long days, as he secretly watched everything about Ting Zhenxi, Ji Zhijia, sharp as ever, had been right there—it was bound to come out.

Li Wangyue wasn't trying to hide it either. Ji Zhijia, true to his profession, was like a sharp scalpel—sharp at reading people, piercingly insightful. Li Wangyue was always impressed by his sharp mind.

Ji Zhijia had guessed but never called him out on it, and Li Wangyue was deeply grateful for the sense of security and acceptance he provided.

Faced with Ji Zhijia's question, Li Wangyue brushed it off with a vague "family stuff," offering only a faint smile. "A little of both."

Ji Zhijia turned over on the sofa, feeling drowsy again, and his phone slipped to the floor. "Then I'll ask someone else..."

Li Wangyue reminded him, "Cover yourself with a blanket, and don't set the air conditioner too low."

The breathing on the other end had already become steady.

Li Wangyue did have to go to the hospital after work to report to the professor, and he had plans for the evening as well.

It was at Ting Huayi's request that they go out to eat. He only sent the address and time, leaving no room for refusal.

From the snippets of conversation, he heard that Ting Zhenxi had handled things exceptionally well this time, and this was likely Ting Huayi's way of celebrating his success.

A slap and a sweetener—reward and punishment were Ting Huayi's style, and Li Wangyue broke out in a cold sweat.

This approach probably wouldn't sit well with Ting Zhenxi.

No, he definitely wouldn't buy it.

Ting Zhenxi was likely required to attend this celebration dinner, and Li Wangyue had been thinking about it all day.

But he might not come either—after all, his relationship with Ting Huayi was strained, and the chances of him refusing were high.

If only he could see him, though.

If not, he would still be glad that Ting Zhenxi could get some good rest and sleep well.