Can You Hear Me?

- Complete. The remaining bonus chapters requested by Ting Gu will be posted directly on Weibo. - Next book: Ten Days. See my profile, please add it to your favorites! [Weibo: @Si Daxian] Seven years after they parted, Lin Ting runs into her ex-boyfriend again and ends up living under the same roof as him. On her first day in the new place, she works up the courage to knock on the next-door neighbor’s door. “Hello, I’m the person who’ll be sharing the apartment with you from now on...” She looks up and sees the man’s impatient expression. The rest of her words catch in her throat. “Lin Ting, I know.” Chi Gu looks at her coolly from beneath lowered brows, as if he doesn’t know her. “Don’t come bother me unless you have to.” Lin Ting hesitates, then asks quietly, “So I can come if I do have to?” Chi Gu: “...” The door shuts mercilessly. One night, Lin Ting comes home late and sees Chi Gu leaning against the door, a cigarette between his fingers. They had just had a fight the day before. The atmosphere is cold and awkward. Lin Ting stands silently at the door for a moment, then asks him, “Are you waiting for me?” The man’s eyes are half narrowed, his face partly hidden by curls of smoke. He replies coldly, “I’m smoking.” Lin Ting nods. “Oh, you’re smoking while waiting for me.” “...” A moment later, he flicks away the ash and bends down to look into her eyes. “Yes. So...” After they stare at each other for a long moment, Chi Gu straightens up, presses his lips together, takes out his phone, and taps out some cheesy line he found somewhere, showing it to her: [Don't be mad, Peppa Pig. I'm the perfect match for you.] Lin Ting reads it, presses her lips together too, and replies softly, still a little annoyed, “Right. Chi Gu is a pig.” Chi Gu: “...” - Proud, tsundere introvert x soft on the outside, strong on the inside - Reunited after years apart / mending a broken relationship / mutual salvation / hopefully a healing story - All place names, shop names, dance troupe names, and so on are fictional. Please don’t try to identify real-life inspirations. “Can you hear it?” “When I see you, I hear the sound of all things coming back to life.” [Coming next: Ten Days] Tong Deng first meets Xu Wenyan at the bar Ten Days. She falls for this man ten years her senior and pursues him so openly that she wants the whole world to know. No matter how coldly he speaks or how icy his expression, she just grins and takes no notice, boldly declaring, “Men are like flowers at thirty. This is the one I want to pick.” She says it right to Xu Wenyan’s face. At the time, he merely scoffs coldly. “Ridiculous.” But this flower is too hard to pick, and it leaves Tong Deng’s hands covered in blood. She decides to stop trying, and to let both him and herself go. The day she leaves, the weather is clear and sunny, with a gentle breeze. Xu Wenyan appears at the airport, eyes red, and asks her in a husky voice, “You’re not picking the flower anymore?” “I’m not.” Xu Wenyan lowers his eyes, the blazing fire in them almost impossible to suppress. Tong Deng pats his arm and gives him earnest advice. “I’m off to college. You can fertilize yourself for now. Water yourself and get some sunshine when you can. I’ll come pick you when you’re thirty.” Xu Wenyan chokes on the plea he was about to make: “...” - Cool and obsessive x rebellious and bold - Ten-year age gap “I walked the world for nine days. On the tenth, I met you.” Theme: