The discarded cigarette butt rolled onto the ground, scattering tiny sparks, with a few wisps of white smoke quickly extinguished.

Gu Yuan hadn’t expected that the first thing Quan Jin would say upon seeing her was that he hadn’t smoked.

Was this his way of explaining to her?

Besides explaining that he didn’t smoke, what would he say next?

Gu Yuan quietly looked at him, waiting for his next words, while her silence seemed like a huge mountain pressing down on Quan Jin, leaving him visibly at a loss. Thinking she didn’t believe him, he explained again, "I really didn’t smoke, just let it burn without taking a puff."

Gu Yuan: "..."

She thought he had something to say to her, but the two sentences were just explaining he hadn’t smoked.

Cigarettes are easy to get addicted to, but whether in the past or now, she never interfered with Chi Yu’s smoking. He didn’t smoke not because he didn’t like it, but because he was disciplined enough not to rely on nicotine to relieve anxiety.

"When did you get here?" She knew if she didn’t speak, he’d be in a total panic.

He looked so worn out. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

As if he had fallen ill and couldn’t recover.

Hearing her voice, Quan Jin let out a small sigh of relief, subconsciously raising his hand to touch behind his ear, a gesture of discomfort, nervously saying to Gu Yuan, "Just, just a few minutes ago, not too long."

"What are you here for?"

"To see you."

"Now that we’re meeting, do you have something to say?"

Quan Jin was at a loss for words.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn’t utter a single sentence.

"I miss you a lot," he said.

Gu Yuan’s pupils visibly contracted.

It was late at night, and everything was quiet. His voice was amplified several times over in her ears.

Gu Yuan’s hands hung at her sides. She had changed clothes; her loose white T-shirt and black shorts were very casual attire, with just a phone in her pocket, a hair tie on her wrist, her hair loosely draped behind her, looking both elegant and relaxed.

Seeing her lightly dressed, with her shorts being short, he asked, "Aren’t you cold?"

Gu Yuan shook her head.

He searched for a topic, "Did you come out alone?"

Gu Yuan nodded.

He continued the conversation, "It’s so late, why aren’t you asleep?"

Gu Yuan: "Can’t sleep, feeling troubled."

He ran out of topics.

Can’t sleep? Troubled? Is it because of him?

To Quan Jin, this seemed inevitable.

Does thinking about the outrageous things he did keep her awake? Quan Jin began to overthink, attributing Gu Yuan’s sleeplessness entirely to himself.

Actually, he should blame himself.

If he hadn’t come quietly every night and left again, she definitely wouldn’t have come out to see him herself.

Gu Yuan glanced around; there was no place to catch a cab here, no passersby, and it was quite peaceful. Looking at the anxious and bewildered man not far in front of her, she asked, "What are you doing outside the Gu Mansion alone?"

"Nothing."

"There must be a reason, right?"

"Really, nothing." He just wouldn’t admit it, his voice slightly hoarse.

He was wearing a light sweatshirt, black trousers, white sneakers, dressed casually like a young gentleman. Usually, he was mostly elegant and handsome, but these days, haggardness covered his face. He hadn’t taken good care of himself, with stubble about to grow.

This wasted and even decadent look he couldn’t see in the mirror himself.

"If you won’t say, then forget it." She turned around.

A clear sign she was going back.

Seeing her about to leave, Quan Jin panicked, saying quickly, "I came..."

Gu Yuan cut him off, "Don’t tell me you came here to look at the moon. Although the Gu Mansion is in a great location offering better night views, tonight there’s no moon or stars. If you wanted to see a thunderstorm, there isn’t one tonight either."

He: "..."

Gu Yuan looked at him leisurely, "Sorry for interrupting. You just said you came... for what?"

He: "..."

Being at a loss for words is really this painful.

So painful that it felt like it seeped into his lungs, almost choking him into cardiac arrest.

His lips moved for a long time, yet he didn’t know what to say, the only thought being to simply start over from scratch.

"Gu..." Finally forcing out a word, he stumbled over the first character.

Gu who?

Gu Xueli or Gu Yuan?

For a moment, he didn’t know what to call her.

"My real name is Gu Yuan." Seeing his self-imposed predicament, Gu Yuan didn’t want to see him with such a tortured expression, so she simply said it herself.