They stood very close, not quite within arm's reach, but close enough to touch if they extended their hands. Shen Duoyi was still gripping the armrest of Qi Shi'an's bar stool, and even as the applause ended and the music changed, he never let go.

Qi Shi'an was still facing him sideways. "What are you doing, gathering strength to spin me flying out of here?"

Shen Duoyi laughed and forcefully spun Qi Shi'an's stool again, stopping once they were face to face. Qi Shi'an had already finished his drink and waved for another. "On the rocks-"

"A glass of ice water," Shen Duoyi interrupted. "Your voice is already so hoarse, don't drink any more alcohol."

Qi Shi'an obediently put down his hand and waited patiently for his ice water. In all the times he had come to this Tokyo bar, this was the first time he had ordered ice water. Shen Duoyi could see he found it tasteless. He raised his own glass. "Shall we toast?"

The clink of the glasses was crisp and clear. There was no toast, no meeting of eyes, just the gentle sloshing of liquid in the glasses, reflecting the mottled lights.

They had drunk, listened to music, and now toasted. It was late, and seemed about time to head home to rest, especially after such a tiring workday. Shen Duoyi packed up his book, lamenting, "I'll be busy after this. It may be a long time before I can finish reading this book."

Qi Shi'an said, "Originally, futures were going to make up a larger portion of this plan, but after a lot of consideration, I still decided to split it evenly with foreign exchange. There's no point in being the leader of the pack, but being an adventurer is very exciting."

Shen Duoyi recalled their initial disagreement at the meeting. "I felt your opinion was relatively conservative, seemingly inclined toward stability, so I thought you didn't like taking risks."

"Your feeling was correct," Qi Shi'an really enjoyed discussing work matters with Shen Duoyi and exchanging opinions. "The longer you're in the investment business, the more you seek stability and the more factors you have to consider vertically and horizontally. That's the difference between a professional and an amateur investor. But investing itself is a form of risk-taking. An investor without a spirit of adventure is like me sitting in a bar drinking ice water - very foolish."

Shen Duoyi reacted, "How is that foolish? I don't think so at all."

Qi Shi'an seized the opportunity, "Then what do you think of me?"

Shen Duoyi replied mischievously, "I think at most you're not too bright!"

Talking and laughing, they exited the bar. The wind on the street simultaneously tightened their relaxed nerves, and they stopped joking back and forth. Neither had driven in anticipation of drinking. Qi Shi'an called his driver to pick him up, while Shen Duoyi had already walked to the curb to hail a taxi.

A cab pulled up and stopped. After opening the door, Shen Duoyi glanced back.

Qi Shi'an was still standing in place, his suit immaculate, his demeanor calm. Only his hair was tousled by the wind. There was not a hint of drunkenness, and there was even a touch of solemnity between his brows.

This scene also seemed a bit familiar.

A few meters was not far, but the light pouring from the buildings and the flowing neon lights seemed to draw a galaxy between them.

How did that song go?

"Fellow passers-by, fellow dreamers, should have been a pair."

"In our youth, unaware in dreams, upon waking we must return."

The melody tumbled in his mind, dredging up buried memories in a few turns. Qi Shi'an had once bid Shen Duoyi farewell from this distance, and then did not appear again for many years.

"Three meals and a night's lodging, also a pair, who will it be in the end."

"Anything not obtained, anything in the past, is always the most fitting match."

On the same desolate long street, under the same sparse starlight, this time it was Shen Duoyi leaving in the car while Qi Shi'an remained. The taxi gradually drove away from the Central Street. Shen Duoyi gazed out the window in a daze, having a hard time distinguishing the past from the present.

A moment later, a notification sound woke him. A text message popped up on his phone.

Qi Shi'an had sent: "Did you know, the year we parted, I thought you would ask my name."

The short message conveyed a sense of deep grievance.

The glowing screen finally dimmed. Shen Duoyi's face was reflected on it. He hadn't asked anything at the time, just watched as Qi Shi'an got in the car and left.

The car's taillights receded into the distance, turned a corner, and disappeared.

Qi Shi'an sat in the back seat. He didn't initiate conversation, so the driver remained silent the whole way, the car quiet because of its passenger. When they arrived at the apartment, the silence was finally broken. The driver said, "Mr. Qi, we've arrived. Do you need a pickup in the morning?"

"No need, you can go."

Qi Shi'an took his bag and got out of the car. In a minute or two, he was in the door. The home was spotlessly clean. With no regular cooking, there was no homey atmosphere. As usual, he headed straight for the bathroom to shower. If he wasn't sleepy after and had nothing to do, he would play some video games.

His throat was dry and burning. Overuse compounded with the searing of the alcohol made Qi Shi'an quite uncomfortable. He went to the dining room to find cold water to drink and first caught sight of the hydrangea in the center of the dining table.

Wilted again.

This flower was truly delicate, showing its displeasure at the slightest inattention. Qi Shi'an had no choice but to give up on gaming. He dug out some potting soil and vitamin solution from the cupboard to attend to this blue hydrangea. After the hassle, drowsiness set in. The cold water left on the side had turned to room temperature. He made do, drinking it to moisten his throat. Swallowing made him let out a few "oww" sounds in the empty apartment.

Who knew this was just the beginning. The night only had a few hours, but in those few hours, Qi Shi'an's throat felt like it had been scraped by a knife point 180 times. Touching it from the outside, the entire length of his neck was stiff. Even opening his mouth to brush his teeth after waking brought on a stab of pain.

The medicine cabinet, unopened for a long time, was like a display. Besides some throat lozenges and a few bottles of cold medicine, there was basically nothing useful inside. Qi Shi'an pocketed a box of mint tablets and kept popping them on the way, chewing seven or eight in total.

Shen Duoyi still didn't know that round of drinks had added fuel to the fire. He got up early and pestered Grandpa Shen through his bedroom door. "Grandpa, are you awake? Want a deep-fried dough stick?"

The elderly woke even earlier. Grandpa Shen rolled over. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to have tofu pudding with Maomao later."

"Then I'm off to work." Shen Duoyi let it go and got ready to leave.

At this point, Grandpa Shen called out to him again and asked, "Will you be back on time in the evening? Should I wait for you to eat dinner?"

Although he always called ahead when coming home late, last night he had been drinking, so the old man asked this extra question. Shen Duoyi replied embarrassedly, "I'll be back on time. I'll buy groceries and make wontons for dinner."

After saying that, he went out the door. When he arrived at the company, he went to the nearby coffee shop to buy breakfast and happened to run into Annie again. Annie had already finished buying, so she stood aside waiting for him.

After Shen Duoyi finished buying, he entered the Ming'an Building together with Annie. Seeing that she was only holding a cup of coffee, he couldn't help asking, "Mr. Qi isn't having breakfast today?"

"I'm also puzzled. Mr. Qi never eats at home, but this morning he told me not to buy anything," Annie said. "This cup of coffee is my own. It made me quite nervous."

Shen Duoyi said with amusement, "What are you nervous about? Isn't this less trouble?"

Annie said with an air of seriousness, "When things are out of the ordinary, I'm afraid something happened and Mr. Qi is too upset to eat." She then comforted herself, "It's also possible his girlfriend came over and he wants to eat at home with her before going to work."

Shen Duoyi thought to himself, every single one of them is quite gossipy.