The notebook under the pillow looked well-made, with a thick leather cover bound by a hemp rope. A small bookmark with a little tassel dangled inside.
There were many notebooks like this at home—Ti Xiao used them for drawing, sometimes sketching outdoors, sometimes drawing the human form.
But no matter how good the notebook was, in Ti Xiao’s hands it would end up in ruins—missing covers, pages torn out here and there, or curled page corners covered in oil paint and pencil smudges.
The one in front of Xiao Yao was probably the best-preserved notebook he had ever seen from Ti Xiao.
Not only was it in good shape, but it had even been taken out on the road and tucked under a pillow—this was different.
With this special sense of care, and knowing Ti Xiao didn’t keep diaries, Xiao Yao gently opened the notebook, feeling a strange sensation as his fingertip brushed the paper.
It was blank.
The second page, third page—still blank. Nothing drawn.
He flipped back a few pages until the fourth page showed an image right in the center.
A milk-tea colored little hamster, facing away from the viewer, showing off its cute little hamster butt.
Xiao Yao burst out laughing, shoulders shaking. What exactly was his boyfriend drawing?
On his computer, the livestream had officially begun the first segment. Xiao Yao settled into a comfortable position, watching the livestream and glancing at the little drawing in the notebook.
There were three young ladies streaming with Ti Xiao—the first, second, and third ladies. Ti Xiao was the only guy, disguised as a mysterious guest in a hamster suit. No one could even tell the gender.
As soon as the hamster guest appeared, the chat started guessing which author’s wife it could be.
One message made everyone laugh and cry at the same time: “That’s a hamster, and Achi has cats at home, so this definitely isn’t Achi.” The ladies couldn’t hold back their laughter and had to suppress their smiles.
Before the livestream, the four of them had rehearsed the schedule and just needed to read from the cue cards.
The first lady glanced at her card and said, “I’m sure everyone noticed the mysterious guest sitting next to me. This person is also a well-known author on our platform. Today, he’s serving as the mystery guest. Let’s all enjoy guessing who this might be, no prizes!”
“Before the game segment officially starts, I’m going to ask our mystery guest a few questions first,” the first lady turned to Ti Xiao. “Can you introduce yourself to everyone?”
“Hi everyone, I’m Hamster-kun,” Ti Xiao said from inside the mascot suit.
His voice was specially processed before being broadcast to the audience, sounding kind of funny. But anyone who knew him well could recognize it right away.
When Xiao Yao heard “I’m Hamster-kun,” he couldn’t help but glance down at the hamster butt drawing in the notebook he held.
Flipping one more page, there was another hamster drawing—clearly the same milk-tea colored hamster from before, only this time it wasn’t showing its butt. It was standing on a two-tiered cake, waving a small flag.
The flag was light blue, with the number “24” written on it.
What was 24?
Xiao Yao was puzzled—is that some special number?
In the livestream room, the first lady asked the second question, “So you’re Hamster-kun. Do you have any good friends?”
“Yes,” Ti Xiao nodded inside the suit, controlling the mascot’s head. “A coal-digging Siamese cat.”
That cracked up the viewers watching the livestream, including Xiao Yao.
[“Hahahahaha, what the heck, coal-digging!”]
[“Siamese cat: Where’s my dignity? Hahaha.”]
[“Classic Li Shizhen’s sass.”]
Xiao Yao smirked and flipped another page.
It was a Siamese cat, its face blackened, just like it had crawled out of a coal mine.
The Siamese cat sat on the ground, showing a side profile, eyes following the hamster from the previous page. On its head was a crown—not a fancy jeweled gold crown, but the paper birthday crown.
Don’t ask how Xiao Yao knew—because it had “Happy Birthday” printed on it.
Next to the Siamese cat were small words: “24 years old!!!” with three exclamation marks.
Seeing this, Xiao Yao finally understood why this notebook was so well-preserved, why Ti Xiao insisted on bringing it to events, and what it really was.
By rough estimation, the notebook was more than half filled—the front half showed signs of use, and Ti Xiao took great care not to crease the page edges.
Xiao Yao snapped the notebook shut, slipped it back under the pillow, and fluffed the pillow a bit.
His heart was bursting with joy, pounding so hard he felt like it might burst out.
Suddenly, he remembered the time Ti Xiao got caught sneaking snacks at night while sick and got spanked on the thigh. His own expression back then must have been pretty grim.
Ti Xiao had rubbed his sore backside and muttered that Xiao Yao looked like a coal-digging Siamese cat.
Thinking of that made Xiao Yao chuckle again.
The ladies told a joke to lighten the mood on the livestream, and after a flood of “hahahahaha” in the chat, the first official segment began.
Everyone had a pen and a whiteboard. The challenge: draw a small animal in one minute. The contestant with the fewest votes would be punished.
On the right side of the livestream screen, four gift boxes appeared—the number of gifts corresponded to the votes.
Although everyone knew this was just a way for the company to make money, fans still eagerly sent gifts to vote for their favorite stars.
[“Hahaha, you guys are bullying the poor honest hamster!”]
[“How’s the hamster supposed to draw if it can’t see?”]
[“Don’t even know who the hamster is. The hamster’s fans can’t even find where to vote for their waifu!”]
Still, the competition started.
For Ti Xiao, it wasn’t so bad—since the costume’s eyeholes allowed him to see the pen and whiteboard on the table, and he could reach his hand out to draw.
The only problem was how hot it was inside the suit.
Unlike those flashy, cheap mascot costumes, the company’s was well made. Even with the air conditioning on in the studio, Ti Xiao still sweat profusely inside.
He didn’t care about the rankings. Since he was the only guy on stage, he let the ladies take the spotlight. He just wanted to know when he could take the mascot head off and feel some cool air.
The one-minute timer ran out quickly. Ti Xiao had drawn a Siamese cat.
Unsurprisingly, he ranked fourth—but voting wasn’t over yet.
Although he didn’t know what the punishment would be, Xiao Yao couldn’t bear to see his boyfriend finish last and get punished. Without hesitation, he became a big spender in the livestream.
Registering and recharging his account took just a few smooth clicks—bam, bam, bam—Xiao Yao sent out nearly ten of the most expensive gifts in the blink of an eye.
Ti Xiao’s rank instantly shot up to first place, leaving the second place trailing behind by thousands of votes.
[Whoa, a real-life money spender appears!]
[Respect, respect!]
[Is this Hamster-kun’s Siamese cat friend?]
[I mean, if you’re out here mining coal, of course you’ve got cash! Hahaha]
Inside the mascot suit, Ti Xiao couldn’t see the screen or the flood of comments, and he had no idea how the votes were going. All he could hear was the chatter of the host girls.
Then he heard the first host lady say, “Wow, looks like we’ve got a very different kind of player—someone just threw a ton of votes for our Hamster-kun!”
Ti Xiao perked up his ears, curious—who was this mystery big spender supporting him, even though he hadn’t even revealed himself?
Could it be… Xiao Yao again, that shameless money-waster?
“Hold on, let me check the records and see who the big boss is,” the host leaned closer to the screen. “It’s an English name—‘pass by.’”
Ti Xiao let out a sigh. As expected, it was Xiao Yao.
But right after that sigh came a grin he couldn’t suppress—and more than that, he wanted to brag.
Look! That big spender is my boyfriend.
Tall, hot, and completely into me—my boyfriend.
The hamster’s shoulders were bouncing with laughter, and the first host lady couldn’t help asking, “Aww, what’s our Hamster-kun giggling about over there?”
Ti Xiao replied with a smile in his voice, “Mmm, just… thank you to my Siamese cat friend.”
His Siamese cat friend—well, Siamese boyfriend, to be precise—was sitting at his computer, smiling as he watched the hamster on screen.
The livestream continued. The punishment went to the second host lady, who whined to her fans, “Guys! You owe me a car!”
Then she tilted her head back and downed a glass of lemon juice, making such a sour face her features all scrunched up.
Xiao Yao thought to himself, Thank god I helped my little fluffball climb to first place. If he’d lost and had to drink that lemon juice, with his sensitive stomach, it’d be a disaster.
Feeling good, he tossed in a few more gifts just for fun.
Voting had already ended, so extra gifts didn’t count anymore—but Xiao Yao didn’t care. He was just in a good mood.
Ti Xiao could hear the first host lady reading aloud in amazement, “User ‘pass by’ just sent Hamster-kun a… wait, no, two luxury yachts—ah! Another one?! Sir, I beg you! Please stopppp!”
His heart bled a little. All that cold hard cash… just evaporated.
Well… I’ll pay him back later.
With kisses, hehehe.
The livestream went on. Xiao Yao set the laptop down on the bed and lay on his stomach, still watching.
His gaze wandered to the pillow hiding the notebook. He couldn’t help but move it aside again, staring at the notebook lying on the bedsheet.
He reached out to touch it, hesitated, then pulled his hand back.
Just from those first three doodles, he was dying to know what else was in the rest of it. He really wanted to see.
It was like opening Pandora’s box—you couldn’t just stop. He just wanted to flip through the whole thing in one go, then drag Ti Xiao back home and make him keep drawing.
With that thought, he lifted the cover a little… then paused, closed it again, and gently replaced the pillow on top, patting it down.
Better save it for my birthday.
Give myself something to look forward to.
But let’s be honest—once you get a taste, it’s hard to stop. And so there he was: a six-foot-two grown man, rolling around on the bed, hugging a pillow.
I wanna see it. I wanna see it. I wanna see it.
Now that he knew about this sweet surprise, he missed him even more.
He wanted to hug him.
He wanted to kiss him.
He just… wanted him.
Then he sat up, scratched his head, and sent a message to Ti Xiao.
Ti Xiao was still livestreaming, so he couldn’t check his phone just yet. Luckily, the stream was wrapping up, and it was almost time to reveal Hamster-kun’s true identity.
“We still haven’t guessed who our mysterious Hamster-kun is? Come on, one last chance—let’s see those guesses in the comments!” said the first host lady.
The barrage of guesses flooded the screen—people were naming all sorts of folks, including the author Da-Achoo—but everything got drowned out in the wave of comments.
“Alright Hamster-kun, time to take off that head and show us who you really are~!”
Finally, Ti Xiao saw the light at the end of the tunnel and quickly took off the mascot head.
On-screen appeared a fair-skinned young man with bright, expressive eyes. His cheeks had a bit of baby fat, giving his face a soft, round look. His hair was a bit messy, and sweat beaded on his face, making his skin look flushed and radiant.
He wiped the sweat with a wet tissue and said to the camera, “Hi everyone, I’m the author ‘Brave & Brainy Da-Achoo.’”
Then he smiled with his eyes slightly squinted, revealing straight white teeth and two cute dimples at the corners of his lips.
Because of a bit of stream delay, the audience froze for a moment—and then, a few seconds later, the comment section exploded.
[AAAAHHHH is our Achoo actually this adorable?! I’m dying!]
[Wait, the one who draws the hot wolf boys??? Too cute to handle!]
[His boyfriend is hot and he’s adorable—I’m a fan now, thank you.]
[I went from fan to girlfriend real quick.]
Back home, Ti Nanyi was also watching the stream with Xiao Hulu. As soon as Xiao Hulu saw Ti Xiao, he meowed loudly at the screen.
Ti Nanyi posted a comment herself: [That’s my uncle and his boo, hehe.]
But of course, it disappeared almost instantly in the sea of comments.
Ti Xiao smiled shyly at the overwhelming flood of comments, which only caused another tidal wave of AAAAAAHHHHs to pour in.
In the hotel room, Xiao Yao was practically itching to cover Ti Xiao’s face—so no one else could see it, only he could.
The last segment of the stream was everyone’s favorite: a prize giveaway. Each of the four authors would draw a signed illustration, and one lucky viewer would win it.
Ti Xiao, likely in a hamster-and-cat art groove lately, submitted a drawing of a milky brown hamster with a coal-mining Siamese cat. He signed it in the bottom right corner with his pen name, and when he held it up for the audience, Xiao Yao—watching from his screen—had to fight the urge to grab the notebook again.
Hold it in. Hold it in. Save the surprise for August 14.
Xiao Yao held down his hand and gave himself a pep talk.
“Okay, last event of the night! Let’s see which lucky little angel wins this prize—comments, let’s gooo!” The first host lady hyped up the chat. “Actually, I’ll throw in an extra artbook too, and we’ll ship them together!”
The other two hosts chimed in, also offering bonus gifts. When it was Ti Xiao’s turn, he thought for a moment and said, “I’ll throw in one of my comics… and a custom CP car. You pick the couple, I’ll draw them.”
[Hehehe the winner’s already rigged, it’s me 😎]
[That’s our pro driver Da-Achoo, alright!]
Xiao Yao didn’t expect to win anything, but he still showed up in the chat, spamming comments just for fun. As expected, the prize went to someone else.
But he wasn’t disappointed—after all, he was with Da-Achoo. He didn’t need to request fanart of a couple—he could be the couple. If he wanted to “drive the real car,” he absolutely could.
“Good job today~”
After the stream ended, Ti Xiao stood in front of the AC to cool off while checking his phone—and finally saw Xiao Yao’s message.
Magic Conch Shell’s Shell:
[Wanna kiss.]
Unless they were having a meme war or being lovey-dovey, Xiao Yao rarely sent cutesy messages like that out of the blue.
Ti Xiao was surprised, but he replied quickly.
Magic Conch Shell:
What’s up? [kiss emoji]
Magic Conch Shell’s Shell:
Nothing, just… I want you to come back soon.
There was still one dinner event left that night. All the authors were going, so Ti Xiao couldn’t really skip it. Xiao Yao understood.
Magic Conch Shell’s Shell:
Okay, but remember: don’t eat too much cold or spicy food, sit away from the AC, and absolutely no alcohol.
Total Dad Mode™ activated.
Magic Conch Shell: I’ll be super good—no spicy food, no cold drinks, no alcohol!
Magic Conch Shell’s Shell: Good. One more thing.
Magic Conch Shell: What is it?
Xiao Yao thought for a moment, then lowered his head and started typing again.
Magic Conch Shell’s Shell: I want one of your drawings too… of the cat and the mouse. [puppy eyes]
Pretending not to know about Ti Xiao’s secret sketchbook, he deliberately called the hamster and Siamese cat “cat and mouse.”
That made Ti Xiao laugh out loud. After chuckling for a while, he replied:
Magic Conch Shell: Okay, I’ll draw you a whole book of cat and mouse when I get back. [kiss emoji]
After a bit more chatting, Ti Xiao hopped in the company-arranged car to head to the restaurant.
The private room was packed with authors signed under Guapi’s label. Everyone squeezed in around a big round table. Most of them were women, with just three men: Ti Xiao, Guapi, and Duck Neck. The latter two—excluding Ti Xiao—were very much each other’s type.
Li Yi leaned over and whispered to Chang Qi, “Stop getting handsy with me or else tonight…”
Chang Qi raised an eyebrow—and promptly kept getting handsy.
Li Yi looked like he was about to cry. Ti Xiao just shook his head, took a sip of his drink, and—honestly—started missing Xiao Yao a little too.
After a few rounds of toasts and banter, all the drinks—alcoholic and otherwise—were drained. The servers were busy and didn’t respond even after being called a few times, so Ti Xiao volunteered to go get more drinks himself.
“Cola, Sprite, and orange juice with pulp.” He returned slowly, carefully placing the bottles on the glass table.
As the drinks hit the surface, his ring made a light clink against the glass—just enough for the sharp-eared ladies to notice.
“Wait a sec, A-Choo—is that a ring on your left hand?” one of the women asked.
“Huh?” Ti Xiao looked down at his hand, a little caught off guard. “Yeah… it’s a ring.”
He’d worn it every day for so long, he barely noticed it anymore. Funny to think it was the same ring Xiao Yao had given him during his birthday proposal.
A few of the women leaned in close around him. “Hey hey hey, lift your hand—let us get a look! Is that an engagement ring?”
Ti Xiao raised his left hand. The ring was on his ring finger, and under the light, it caught a soft, silver gleam. He looked a little embarrassed. “Kind of…”
“What do you mean kind of?” the women chirped all at once.
“Well… we’re not officially engaged yet. He just… proposed,” Ti Xiao said, his voice growing quieter with each word.
Even though, inside, his heart felt like it was soaking in honey.
“No biggie,” one of the women said with a dramatic wave. “Close enough. Just round it up—it’s basically marriage. And when the big day comes, you better drop us some sweet wedding candy!”
“God, I’m so jealous. You two better keep being cute—I’m waiting for your post-marriage fluff content!”
Ti Xiao stared at the ring for a moment, eyes soft, like he could see right through the metal to the engraving inside: our love, deeper than the seas and higher than the mountains. He nodded. “We will.”
Off to the side, Chang Qi glanced at them, then trotted back over to Li Yi. He leaned in and whispered, “Hey… do you want a ring? I’ll get you one.”
Li Yi’s face turned bright red.
After dinner, the girls were still full of energy and wanted to go karaoke. The first host tried hard to drag Ti Xiao along. “C’mon A-Choo, let’s go! Even Guapi’s coming!”
“Pfft, leave him be—his boyfriend’s waiting back at the hotel.”
“We are not the same, clearly.”
Ti Xiao politely declined. “I’ll pass. If I stay out all night, I might not make it back alive. You guys have fun!”
Back at the hotel, the moment the doorbell rang, the door swung open—and Ti Xiao was swept up into a big bear hug.
Xiao Yao buried his face in the crook of Ti Xiao’s neck, taking a deep inhale of his scent, then pulled back just enough to pin him against the door for a long, thorough kiss.
“I didn’t drink,” Ti Xiao murmured against his chest.
“Mhm,” Xiao Yao said seriously, “but I still need to double-check.”
The two of them stayed wrapped around each other, stumbling toward the bed—left foot deep, right foot shallow—wobbling like a pair of drunks before finally tumbling down onto the mattress.
After a long moment, Xiao Yao finally let go of Ti Xiao and gave his cheek a gentle pinch. “It’s getting late. I’ll go shower. You take a break.”
What he really meant was: “Go ahead and secretly draw my cat and mouse gift.”
Ti Xiao couldn’t be more thrilled. The second Xiao Yao shut the bathroom door, he fished his little sketchbook out from under the pillow and dove into drawing mode.
What he didn’t know was that Xiao Yao had quietly cracked open the bathroom door, peeking out through the gap to spy on him.
He watched Ti Xiao lying on the bed, hunched over the pages. The pen in his hand moved in smooth strokes, then stopped, then tapped lightly against his own head. His feet dangled and swayed, and he softly hummed a tune under his breath.
If you listened closely, he was singing the theme from Calabash Brothers—and he was even on-key.
“Ding dang dang, dong dong dang dang, Calabash bros~
Ding dang dang, dong dong dang dang, super strong~”
Xiao Yao shook his head, smiling to himself, then quietly closed the door again.
This gift… this surprise… he’d let it stay a surprise until August 14th, just like it was meant to be.
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