Chapter 57 I’ll Always Be Watching You

Chapter 57: I Will Always Watch You

Li Wangyue stood at the intersection, the light had turned green, and people surged across the street around him, but he stood there frozen.

The person on the other end of the phone called him again, and only then did he belatedly say, "Alright, I know. I'll go ask about it."

The other person didn't think twice, just assuming he'd bought so many houses that he forgot about this one, and after explaining some procedural matters, they hung up on him.

Li Wangyue waited through another green light before heading to the Real Estate Registration Center.

There was indeed a property under his name, and it had been transacted on the first day of the Lunar New Year, though it was only registered after the holiday—paid in full.

He had absolutely no memory of this transaction, and his account balance hadn't decreased by a single cent.

It could only be one person.

Li Wangyue sat on a bench by the river, his stomach growling. He grabbed a beef pancake from a street cart and some millet porridge.

Li Ping called to ask if he'd found a place. She wasn't working that night and suggested they have dinner together.

Li Wangyue initially wanted to agree, but his head was too messy, so he said he had to work late.

After hanging up, he stared at the call screen for a long time.

He swiped up slowly, scrolling for a while until he almost reached the bottom, finding that buried blank number.

He hesitated, then tapped it.

The last message was from ages ago.

From before that night when it all came out and all the dirty secrets spilled.

He sat there for a long time.

His fingers were shaking a little.

Suddenly, he heard kids laughing nearby, getting closer, then fading out.

Li Wangyue pocketed his phone and left the park.

He didn't want the house. He asked a friend if he could cancel the deal, with the money sent back the way it came, to whatever account it came from.

His friend said that'd be tough. Buying a house is already a pain, and canceling it this soon would drag out the paperwork and might even flag it as money laundering, getting unwanted attention.

Li Wangyue let out a sigh.

His company picked up a new project—designing a restaurant. The architect's sketches came in, and he had to set up the landscaping around the main structure.

The restaurant was built into a mountainside, with an odd shape, and it was a real pain to work with. Rumor had it the architect's drawings were revised a dozen times, barely got approved in the end.

Luckily, the client was willing to pay up, so being picky wasn't a big deal.

Li Wangyue fiddled with the plans absentmindedly, moving the landscape elements around, but nothing clicked.

During a meeting, the client insisted on adding a natural water channel on the left side, winding down the slope. Supposedly, a feng shui master calculated it to trap wind and energy, with running water bringing in wealth.

Requests like that weren't unusual, but the restaurant's location was a real headache—there was no natural groundwater, and they couldn't hook into the city water. So where was the water supposed to come from?

Li Wangyue ripped off a sheet of drafting paper, crumpled it up, and tossed it away.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Li Wangyue snapped awake from his exhausted, headache-ridden daze.

"Xiao Li."

It was the landlord's voice.

He caught his breath, got up, and went to open the door.

"Is something wrong?"

The landlord smiled awkwardly and asked, "You said a few days ago you were looking for a place. Found one yet?"

Li Wangyue didn't understand why she was asking. "Still looking. Why?"

He had originally planned to buy a second-hand house, move in with just a suitcase, and skip the wait for renovations. But then this unexpected situation came up.

The landlord rubbed her hands together. "I've sold this house early. Originally, we agreed you'd move out by the end of the month, but the buyer needs it urgently. So, you see..."

Li Wangyue understood and nodded. "Got it. I'll move out as soon as possible."

The landlord added, "Make it quick. I won't charge you rent for this week, since it's short notice."

Li Wangyue nodded again.

That meant he had to leave by next week.

He wasn't completely homeless—he could stay with Li Ping for a while to transition.

But then he'd have to explain everything to her, causing unnecessary trouble and worry.

He didn't have much stuff. After half an hour of packing, everything fit into two suitcases.

He sat by the boxes, scrolling through short-term rental apps for a long time, scheduling a few viewings. It was late by the time he lay down in bed, forcing himself to sleep.

The next day, there was work and a meeting. He couldn't afford to mess up.

As he closed his eyes, the image of the ceiling in the Ting family villa surfaced in his mind.

He thought he heard the door open again.

He opened his eyes, turned on the light. The room was empty, and the door lock hadn't moved.

He stared blankly for a long time, then couldn't help mocking himself for being a nervous wreck.

He pulled up that account again and deleted it, along with all the numbers Ting Zhenxi had used to contact him.

·

The presentation dragged on for over three hours, and the client still wasn't satisfied.

Li Wangyue took a break during the meeting to step out for some tea and fresh air.

Someone came in behind him, opened a cabinet, and grabbed coffee beans to brew a cup.

"Teacher Li, do you know where the cream is?"

Li Wangyue turned around. "I think we're out. Xiao Xiao said the restock would arrive this afternoon."

"Alright then..."

His frustration was written all over his face, so obvious that Li Wangyue couldn't help but smile.

He's still young, after all.

He was an outside independent architect, young yet already winning many awards, from a well-known family. This project was also assigned to him by the investors.

"What a pain. I told them no, but they do whatever they want. People like that are impossible to work with." Zhang Qiaoyuan stirred his coffee, not hiding his complaints.

Li Wangyue didn't like to talk behind people's backs, so he just smiled faintly, sipping his tea and didn't say anything.

Zhang Qiaoyuan frowned, drinking his black coffee, looking very dissatisfied. "We've got another whole afternoon ahead. I have an interview tonight, and I really don't want to waste my time on them."

Li Wangyue found some milk cubes for him. "It shouldn't be too bad. Once they give a few more notes, we can wrap it up. Just means we'll have to pull some late nights to fix the drawings."

Zhang Qiaoyuan extended his cup. "Thanks. Want me to make you one?"

Li Wangyue was about to decline, but Zhang Qiaoyuan had already started fiddling with the machine.

"I make amazing coffee—you can't get this anywhere else." Zhang Qiaoyuan asked while working, "By the way, are you an SDA designer?"

SDA designers are certified by the Southern Designers Association, but Li Wangyue wasn't one.

He shook his head.

Zhang Qiaoyuan wiped his hands. "Oh, no big deal. Doesn't matter."

Li Wangyue didn't understand what "doesn't matter" meant until after the meeting, when Zhang Qiaoyuan sent him a bunch of messages, essentially offering him work.

"I think working with you is really smooth. If you're interested, give it some thought."

Zhang Qiaoyuan thought Li Wangyue was wasted here. He knew Li Wangyue used to work at a university and was Professor Liu's student, so he reached out.

Li Wangyue figured it couldn't hurt to have more connections, so he agreed.

Right as he was about to reply, Zhang Qiaoyuan called directly, his voice urgent.

"Li Wangyue, I left my interview notes in the meeting room. Can you bring them over?"

Li Wangyue was in the meeting room picking up some papers, so he looked around and spotted a bag under a chair.

Zhang Qiaoyuan's interview was about to start, so Li Wangyue grabbed a cab to bring it to him.

Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Qiaoyuan called him back.

"Wangyue, stick around for a bit, okay? I'll be done in half an hour. Let me take you to dinner as a thank you."

Li Wangyue checked the time.

Zhang Qiaoyuan noticed immediately. "Do you have plans later?"

"No," Li Wangyue said. "Alright, I'll wait for you."

Zhang Qiaoyuan led him to his lounge. "Make yourself comfortable. If you need anything, just ask Xiao Fang."

Xiao Fang was his assistant.

Li Wangyue hung out in the lounge for a bit, doing some work, then got up to look around.

Zhang Qiaoyuan's blog interview was fairly relaxed. Since it was a radio interview with no cameras, he was more relaxed. Li Wangyue accidentally ended up in the recording studio, and the staff knew he was with Zhang Qiaoyuan, so they didn't stop him.

Through the glass, he watched Zhang Qiaoyuan chatting happily with the host, as if all the day's stress was gone.

Zhang Qiaoyuan glanced over, saw him, and sat up straighter. He realized he still had his headphones on, so he muted the mic and came right over.

Li Wangyue was a bit surprised.

Zhang Qiaoyuan peeked out from behind the door and whispered, "Almost done, about five minutes. You can start thinking about where to eat. Somewhere nearby, or we can drive."

Li Wangyue said, "Okay, go back in."

Zhang Qiaoyuan grinned, then slipped back in, tiptoeing as he put his headphones back on.

Seeing that, Li Wangyue felt a little better.

Zhang Qiaoyuan finished the interview, put on his coat as he walked out, and jogged a few steps. "Did you pick somewhere?"

Li Wangyue had picked a simple restaurant nearby, within walking distance of the broadcast building.

The evening wind picked up, and it got cold. Li Wangyue instinctively pulled his coat closed.

"You cold?" Zhang Qiaoyuan noticed his movement. "You want my scarf?" He started rummaging through his bag.

Li Wangyue stopped him. "No, I'm good. We're almost there."

They entered the restaurant, a small place, but warm and smelled great as soon as they walked in.

They found a seat by the window and ordered.

Li Wangyue brought up the work thing and gave him his answer, which made Zhang Qiaoyuan very happy.

Seeing his smile, Li Wangyue felt a bit lighter too. Outside, it started to snow—snow in late winter. This year was really cold.

The restaurant had an anniversary special: every customer got a pair of stuffed animals.

Zhang Qiaoyuan really liked rabbits—he was born in the Year of the Rabbit—so he wanted a pair. As he stood up, he accidentally knocked over a drink, spilling some on his pants.

"I'll grab them," Li Wangyue said. "Clean up first. No rush."

There was a long line at the front counter. Li Wangyue walked a few steps forward, then looked back.

Zhang Qiaoyuan was grimacing as he wiped his pants, but then looked up and smiled, waving for Li Wangyue to go ahead.

Behind him were two young college students, wearing warm scarves and holding milk tea, chatting about getting one rabbit each, laughing as they talked.

Li Wangyue tilted his head to see how much longer the wait was, humming along to the store's music.

After getting the two stuffed animals, Li Wangyue turned around, and Zhang Qiaoyuan was just coming out of the restroom.

He walked over with a smile, about to hand him the toy, when he suddenly saw a pair of eyes in the reflection of the window behind him, staring straight at him.

Li Wangyue froze, whipping his head around.

There was no one behind him—just a chaotic, noisy crowd, lively and cheerful.

His heart was racing, his limbs went cold, and a wave of dizziness hit him. He reached out to steady himself on the back of a chair.

Zhang Qiaoyuan walked over. "I'm all set. Let's go... What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Li Wangyue shook his head, bent down to pick up the rabbit that had fallen to the floor, dusted it off, and handed it to him.

Zhang Qiaoyuan took only one of them, saying the other was for him—this was a gift they had gotten together.

Li Wangyue put the rabbit away, eager to get back early.

That creeping chill of dread started washing over him again.

A persistent shadow, clinging to him like a ghost that just wouldn't leave.

Everyone in the crowd seemed to turn and stare at him, expressionless. As he walked through the crowd, they slowly craned their necks, their gazes following him.

But when he looked back, no one was paying him any mind. They were just passing by, each lost in their own little world.