It seemed that all the previous words were in preparation for this question. Shen Duoyi finally realized that he had been led by the other party all along. He felt a bit frustrated, having enthusiastically analyzed and recommended with great passion, feeling that he had wasted his words. He also felt a bit helpless, as if Qi Shi'an would block the door and not let him out if he didn't agree.

Qi Shi'an discerned what Shen Duoyi was thinking and explained, "I'm really planning to buy, I won't let you waste your words for nothing."

"That's more like it." Since that was the case, Shen Duoyi was no longer frustrated or stifled. He resignedly asked, "So where are we going for dinner?"

Qi Shi'an immediately moved away from the doorway. "How about the Summer Restaurant we went to last time, shall we go there again?" Shen Duoyi came out and walked with him to the parking lot, replying, "Anything is fine, I'm not picky."

The car had been sent by the driver to the car shop for maintenance, and Qi Shi'an had been working almost non-stop for two days and a night. According to regulations, he could not drive while fatigued, so he once again sat in the passenger seat of the black Volkswagen. Shen Duoyi started the car and drove away from the end of Central Street. He hardly made a sound on the way, occasionally glancing at Qi Shi'an yawning in his seat when turning right.

"Very sleepy?"

"It's alright, just that you're not talking to me."

"I rarely have passengers. Occasionally I drive my grandfather out, and I listen to him ramble on."

"I often hear you mention your grandfather. Is the old man in good health?" Qi Shi'an felt that Shen Duoyi must be a very filial person, and also felt that he must be especially gentle when facing the elderly.

Shen Duoyi replied, "He's doing alright. People in their seventies will have some ailments. He's been taking blood pressure medication for more than ten years, and his legs and feet are not very nimble, but other aspects are still okay."

As he spoke, he turned on the stereo and poked at it a few times. "Want to listen to music? My grandfather likes to listen to opera, so I downloaded a few segments for him, at least to have some sound."

A piece of opera flowed out. Just the prelude was very long. When the female voice sounded, Qi Shi'an felt even sleepier. He made small talk, "Teacher Zhang Jiqing's 'The Peony Pavilion', the part about the wandering soul, right?"

Shen Duoyi was surprised, "You understand opera too?"

"I only know the famous ones." Qi Shi'an had already seen the sign for the Summer Restaurant. "I'll tell you more while we eat."

Last time the welcome party was held on the third and fourth floors. This time the two of them went to the fifth floor, which was a European-style buffet. There weren't many people in the evening, and it was very quiet all around. They sat by the window. Between the double-paned glass windows was a circulating water curtain. Through the water curtain, they could vaguely see the street scene across the way.

"Sir, do you need help getting your food?"

Shen Duoyi washed his hands and went to get it himself. Qi Shi'an was lazy and sat in his seat checking the foreign exchange index chart, waiting for the waiter to help him. It wasn't until the food filled the table that he silently put away his phone.

Shen Duoyi had already witnessed the other party's appetite. As he ate a few grilled asparagus, he inconspicuously pushed a plate of lamb chops to Qi Shi'an, meaning "eat more".

Qi Shi'an treated this meal as a date, and the issue of satisfying hunger was not even a consideration. He asked with concern, "Is it good?"

"Mm, it's good." Shen Duoyi organized his words, also struggling with whether to be more frank or reserve a bit. "Actually, I don't socialize much. Apart from company gatherings and meeting friends, I rarely go out to eat."

Although his current salary could afford it, it seemed that his living habits had already been set and he didn't really know how to enjoy it. Shen Duoyi felt a bit embarrassed to say this. Qi Shi'an read the myriad of emotions in his downcast eyes. He remembered that Shen Duoyi liked to add a lot of milk to his coffee, so he passed a small plate in front of him, "Try this."

Shen Duoyi took a bite, "It's so sweet."

"This is Irish egg custard crisp roll, a signature dessert." Qi Shi'an watched Shen Duoyi scoop the cake bite by bite. "Foreign dish names are long, but they're essentially all similar. I live alone and don't eat at home. What I actually like best is home-cooked food."

Shen Duoyi joked, "I thought you liked drinking the most?"

Qi Shi'an laughed, "Who did you hear spreading rumors from?"

"All the colleagues say so." Shen Duoyi also laughed along. "They say that of the company's two senior partners, Mr. Zhang is always falling in and out of love, while Mr. Qi is always watching the market and drinking, spring, summer, fall and winter."

Qi Shi'an blamed it on the location of the Tokyo bar. If it weren't so close to the company, how could he have been seen by people and then gossiped about. Hearing Shen Duoyi's teasing, he cooperatively took a sip of the wine in his glass.

After drinking, he said, "When will you treat me to buttered beer again?"

Shen Duoyi was stunned for a moment, fearing that Qi Shi'an would steer the topic into ambiguous territory. He finished the last bite of cake and suddenly brought the conversation back to the topic in the car, "You haven't said, which operas do you know about?"

Qi Shi'an had studied martial arts, fired guns, and excelled in many sports. He had also been addicted to online games. When tired, he liked to collapse on the bed and sleep for a long time. When bored, he liked to hang out at the bar and chat with the bartender. Except for accompanying his maternal grandfather to watch the Spring Festival Gala every Chinese New Year, he had almost no contact with opera.

"When I was studying abroad for a few years, the school held a cultural exchange event, and the Chinese students chose opera." He saw that Shen Duoyi had put down his knife and fork, so he also finished his meal. "At that time, a lot of information was collected. By listening and watching, I remembered some, but I only know famous excerpts."

Chatting, they left the restaurant. When they got into the car, the topic had just ended. The weather was quite good today, and a few sparse stars could be discerned. Late at night with few cars, Qi Shi'an input his address into the navigation, estimating they would arrive soon.

Shen Duoyi turned on the stereo again, and the unfinished "The Peony Pavilion" flowed out once more. He gripped the steering wheel, speeding along the road, his fingers lightly tapping, unconsciously keeping the beat.

Each word was sung for a long time, taking a long while to finish a sentence. Due to the accent, some words were even unclear. He remembered Grandpa Shen humming along and laughed, "My grandfather said that listening to opera can grind down your temperament. It takes forever to spit out a word, which increases patience."

The person beside him made no movement at all. Shen Duoyi turned his face to look and found that Qi Shi'an had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep. He had stayed up all night watching the market and then spent most of the day in meetings. After work, instead of going home, he had to drag him out to eat. He must have been exhausted.

According to the navigation, Shen Duoyi arrived at the apartment and stopped by the roadside, wanting to wait for Qi Shi'an to wake up. After waiting for ten minutes, the person seemed to be sleeping more and more soundly. He had no choice but to gently pat the other's shoulder, "Mr. Qi, we're home."

Indeed, Qi Shi'an was extremely tired, so much so that when he opened his eyes, he forgot what day it was. He only wanted to turn his gaze into a dense net and then firmly bind Shen Duoyi within it.

The Peony Pavilion finally sang its last word, and the mournful female voice finally stopped.

Qi Shi'an's voice was hoarse, "Which line do you like the most?"

There were countless famous lines in The Peony Pavilion. Just the few lines of "Love comes from nowhere" could be recited into an article. However, Shen Duoyi was not moved by these. His favorite was the line - But I hope that when the moon sets, the light will be red again.

Because he knew from a young age that people must always have hope.

Dinner was very filling, and the conversation was also very pleasant. Shen Duoyi didn't want to mention the sentence that was half despair and half hope at this final moment. He didn't answer for a long time, only pretending not to understand Qi Shi'an's question, not knowing that his expression and eyes had long betrayed him.

Qi Shi'an did not want to force the question. After unbuckling his seat belt, he took out his phone and dialed a number. When Shen Duoyi's phone on the dashboard started vibrating, he said, "I never told you my number. Save it."

After saying that, Qi Shi'an opened the door, got out of the car, and walked straight towards the apartment entrance. The trees on the roadside blocked the street lights, and the figure disappeared after a few steps. Shen Duoyi saved the number, started the car, and turned around to go home.

It is said that the economic development of a city can be judged by looking at the night scene. At this time, the streets were bright, and every tall building was shining with light. The neon lights seemed a bit superfluous. The inconspicuous black Volkswagen drove on the road, and the not-so-spacious car compartment was illuminated.

Shen Duoyi drove into Wenhu Apartment amidst the prosperous night scene. When entering the parking lot, he had to bear a huge drop. The sound-controlled lights in the parking lot were a bit dim, and there were cars all around, with no aesthetic at all.

Slowly driving into the empty parking space, Shen Duoyi turned off the engine and pulled out the key. He remembered the time he argued with Qi Shi'an at Summer Restaurant and sat in the car to emotionally regulate himself when he came back. Today, he also went to Summer Restaurant, but his mood was vastly different. He even remembered the sweet aroma of the crème brûlée rolls.

With a click, the seat belt was unbuckled and pulled out, and the lights in the parking lot went out at the same time.

The surroundings fell into darkness and silence, with only the sound of his own breathing. Shen Duoyi reached out to the dashboard, fumbling for the phone thrown on it. He was not afraid of the dark or the silence, but he was afraid that this atmosphere would destroy his good mood tonight.

Finally, he found his phone and immediately pressed the screen to light it up, only to find that there was a message that had arrived on the way.

The darkness had not yet receded, and the silence had not been broken by any sound. That day, Shen Duoyi lay on the steering wheel and poured out his heart to the phone. At this moment, he held the phone and stared at the screen in a daze.

Qi Shi'an was too tired. He went straight to the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth without even turning on the lights when he entered. After a quick battle, he fell into bed. He had several incomplete dreams in a row, as if he had drunk himself into a stupor.

In the dream, there was a meeting. The ashtray on the conference table was full of cigarette butts. Hadn't he already quit? The computer and projector made annoying noises together, and the traders on both sides all had solemn expressions. He turned his head and glanced at the latest market.

Damn it, the foreign exchange market had crashed across the board.

He was about to get angry when the scene changed. He went to the car dealership to pick up that McLaren and found that Shen Duoyi had sent the car for maintenance. So, while driving away the McLaren, he also took Shen Duoyi with him.

They drove around Central Street for a while, and Shen Duoyi said he wanted to eat the cake at Summer Restaurant again.

There were only the two of them on the entire fifth floor. Shen Duoyi was focused on nibbling the crème brûlée rolls on the plate. He sat opposite, drinking a glass of butterbeer. When he finished the glass, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Won't you let me have a bite?"

Shen Duoyi felt sorry and leaned over to feed the last piece into his mouth.

The thick curtains were not drawn, and the moonlight spilled all over the room. Qi Shi'an was sleeping soundly in the bed, his brows gradually relaxing from a tight frown, occasionally blurting out a word or two of sleep talk.

Shen Duoyi also forgot to draw the curtains, although it wouldn't make much difference even if he did. It was past three in the morning, and the bedside lamp was still on. He leaned against the pillow in a daze, not knowing that his eyes had turned red from staying up.

Closing his eyes, all he could see was that message, like a set of big data that he couldn't sort out, running through his mind without order. He didn't say anything, so why did Qi Shi'an seem to know everything?

As the sky began to brighten, Shen Duoyi finally couldn't hold on any longer. His eyelids closed, and he fell into a deep sleep. The screen of the phone beside the pillow changed from bright to dark, and the line of text on the screen had been read countless times.

It was the first message Qi Shi'an sent to him.

"I want to accompany you to watch the moon set and the light turn red again."