The next day, Ji Xingchen prepared to send photos to the boss, only to discover that the photos he took last night weren’t good.
In the photo, although he was smiling, there was a hint of caution and solemnity in his smile. His once bright eyes also appeared weary, like dust settling on delicate porcelain, showing signs of fatigue.
Especially the white T-shirt he was wearing, hanging loosely on his body, accentuated his thinness.
With such a photo, even he felt it made him look like he was not doing well, wishing he could erase the “gray” that time had left on his face.
Sending such a look to his boss would seem somewhat pitiful.
Ji Xingchen deleted the photo, changed into a clean white shirt, and deliberately took another one when he went out for a morning run.
At noon, Ran Feng, who had just finished shooting for the magazine, received the picture Ji Xingchen sent him.
He looked at WeChat, hesitating for a moment before opening the chat interface.
It felt like unwrapping a long-awaited gift, the anticipation building up for so long, finally having the gift unexpectedly placed in front of him. But due to disbelief and excessive cherishing, he hesitated to open the gift box.
Ran Feng’s fingers gently touched the screen for a while, then he closed it.
It wasn’t until he finished work and returned home, in the quiet of the night with the moonlight as his companion, that he cautiously opened the picture.
He hadn’t misheard the voice that night; the person in the photo was indeed Ji Xingchen, who had disappeared for several years.
He enlarged the photo on his phone.
The person in the picture, with ink-black eyes and vermilion lips, had fair skin. Even the angle of the smile lifting the corners of his mouth was just as he remembered.
Behind Ji Xingchen was a rising sun. With his back to the morning light, his light-colored eyes sparkled.
Ran Feng’s gaze swept over the simple white shirt and casual pants worn by the other person. The freshness and vitality now exuded by Ji Xingchen were just like the 17-year-old he remembered.
Back then, Ji Xingchen was like a hot little sun.
Always smiling with dimples full of laughter, his eyes innocent and bright, as if there would always be a bright light in his life.
Reality and memory suddenly intersected across time and space, leaving Ran Feng somewhat distracted.
His fingers gently traced Ji Xingchen’s face in the photo.
After years of separation, the 17-year-old boy had grown up, but his cheeks unexpectedly appeared much thinner.
Leaning against the edge of the bed, Ran Feng stared at Ji Xingchen’s photo for who knows how long, until the other party sent him a new message.
Star: Brother Feng, I got recommended on the homepage these days!
Star: Thank you for helping me with so many gifts.
Star: But after being on the homepage, my popularity has increased a lot, so you don’t need to spend so much in the future.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ran Feng carefully saved the photo and then remembered that he had asked for the photo but hadn’t explained why.
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Star: ?
Star: Asking for a photo has other meanings?
Ji Xingchen was puzzled. What was Brother Feng talking about?
Although he didn’t understand the other party’s meaning, Ji Xingchen felt that sending photos was too troublesome, so he said—
Star: Brother Feng, we can actually have video calls or voice chats in the future.
Ran Feng smiled.
Wanfeng: Okay.
Seeing Ji Xingchen take the initiative to suggest a video call, Ran Feng’s thoughts suddenly stirred, and he couldn’t help but probe.
Wanfeng: Have you checked in to Ran Feng’s super topic?
Ji Xingchen, who was drinking water, almost choked on Brother Feng’s words.
He casually mentioned it that night, why did the boss suddenly care about this?
Star: Brother Feng, why are you asking about this…
Wanfeng: My sister is also his fan. I was just chatting with her, and it suddenly came to mind.
Ji Xingchen clearly didn’t catch Ran Feng’s misleading comment, feeling embarrassed when asked, but eventually told the truth.
Star: …
Star: Yes, I did.
Wanfeng: Did you see the photo?
Star: How did you know???
Wanfeng: My sister said he posted the photo.
Ran Feng lied without batting an eyelid.
On the other side, Ji Xingchen, who had been secretly monitoring Ran Feng’s activities, blinked nervously when asked about the photo.
Star: … I saw it.
Wanfeng: How did you feel after seeing it?
Ji Xingchen: ???
Could it be that Brother Feng tonight is like a gossip detective, poking at him with every sentence?
What else could he feel? Of course, it’s heartache!!!
He and Ran Feng… probably can never go back to the past.
Star: I didn’t feel anything.
Star: Celebrities always post photos, so it’s normal.
Ran Feng fell silent.
Then he began to doubt himself.
Was his hint yesterday too subtle? Or did Star forget everything about the past?
He used to promise to give him seven candies to flirt with him, but now he just wanted to avoid it?
Star: By the way, Brother Feng, do you really not want any gifts?
Not wanting to be asked about Ran Feng anymore, Ji Xingchen changed the subject.
Star: I still want to send you some gifts. After all, you spent so much money on the Magic Meteor Shower for me. I don’t feel right not giving back.
Seeing that Ji Xingchen seemed genuinely clueless, Ran Feng gave up.
Wanfeng: Then send me a box of candies.
If you don’t remember, can’t I ask for it myself?
Ji Xingchen: ????
Candies?
Why candies again?
What’s going on recently, either Ran Feng is showing off candies or the boss is asking for candies?
Why do men nowadays like candies so much…
Star: Besides candies… can I send you some other gifts?
Wanfeng: No need.
Star: Then Brother Feng, do you have any favorite brands?
Wanfeng: No.
Wanfeng: Whatever you like will do.
Star: Okay, Brother Feng, please give me your address.
Then Ran Feng sent Ji Xingchen his assistant’s address.
Ji Xingchen clearly didn’t understand what Ran Feng meant by “whatever you like will do.”
To meet the boss’s request and show his sincerity, he specially went to the provincial capital the next day to buy candies for the boss.
After carefully selecting all day, he bought several beautifully crafted boxes, categorized the candies, wrapped them up, and tied pretty bows.
A few days later, Ran Feng’s assistant handed the package sent by Ji Xingchen to him.
In front of the assistant, Ran Feng didn’t show much reaction, just pointed to the nearby table and said casually, “Just put it here.”
As if it were something unimportant.
But as soon as the assistant left, he hurried to the table and eagerly unpacked all the boxes.
However…
Soft candies, hard candies, milk candies, QQ candies, crunchy candies, lollipop candies, imported candies… the box contained all sorts of candies. Ji Xingchen even separately sent him a box of chocolates.
Ran Feng patiently examined each type of candy, but they were missing the kind Ji Xingchen had given him back in school.
He felt a bit disappointed, a sense of emptiness creeping into his heart.
These candies weren’t what he wanted.
As he scanned the candies, Ran Feng pondered for a long time. He kept saying these weren’t what he wanted, yet he couldn’t bear to throw any of them away.
Later, he took out all the glass jars in the house and carefully sorted each type of candy, packing them back up neatly.
That night, his agent Li Na came to his house.
After discussing matters, she immediately noticed the dozen or so peculiar glass jars in the living room.
“These glass jars that cost tens of thousands each, people buy them to show off, and you buy them to store candies?”
At first, Ran Feng ignored her.
After a while, he softly hummed.
“I like it.”
damn who tf buys glass jars costing thousands??!! 😭😭
some rich idol ig lol
ATM gege
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