At five in the afternoon, at a public sports stadium, He Xiaoyuan arrived and swept his gaze across the place. On the track, he spotted a figure in blue sprinting through acceleration drills.
From a distance, he couldn’t see the person’s face clearly, but he knew right away it was Qin Chengfei. A project had been cut, months of effort wiped out—anyone in his place would want to vent.
He Xiaoyuan walked down the stepped seating. He completely understood why Qin Chengfei wasn’t at work and was here running instead.
Reaching the seats not far from the track, he sat down casually and waited.
Before long, Qin Chengfei, dressed in a blue athletic T-shirt and shorts, slowed to a jog and came over. He didn’t stop directly in front of He Xiaoyuan, but kept stepping in place, breathing hard, hands on his hips as he adjusted his breathing.
He Xiaoyuan stood, rested a hand on the railing, bent forward slightly, and spread his palms. “I didn’t bring any water.”
Qin Chengfei was drenched in sweat and panting. “I brought some. I’ll go get it—wait a second.” With that, he jogged off.
When Qin Chengfei returned, he carried a large bag with clothes and electrolyte drinks inside. He walked through the spectator seats and headed toward He Xiaoyuan.
He dropped down beside him and tilted his head back, chugging water. Turning his head, He Xiaoyuan saw sweat dripping from Qin Chengfei’s short hair, temples, jaw, neck, and chest. He looked okay mentally, but he was clearly thinner.
“You didn’t spend the last few days running here, did you?”
He Xiaoyuan asked.
Qin Chengfei lowered the bottle, bent forward with his legs spread, wet arms resting on his thighs, and turned his head toward He Xiaoyuan. “Pretty much.”
Then he lifted the bottle again and drank more.
He Xiaoyuan watched him for a moment before speaking calmly. “Because your project was cut?”
Qin Chengfei capped the bottle. “You heard?”
He didn’t elaborate, instead asking He Xiaoyuan, “You came to find me—finished your case?”
He Xiaoyuan said, “Yeah.”
Qin Chengfei stuffed the bottle back into the bag on the ground. His expression looked normal, his tone ordinary as well. “Congrats.”
He Xiaoyuan didn’t beat around the bush. “A perfectly good project—why was it cut?”
Qin Chengfei wiped sweat off with a towel, gaze drifting toward the track, answering directly, “The boss said it wasn’t very meaningful.”
Not very meaningful?
He Xiaoyuan waited for him to continue. There was no way that was the only reason. But after a moment, Qin Chengfei turned to look at him and said, “You don’t think there were other reasons, do you?”
He Xiaoyuan replied calmly, “You even stormed President Lu’s office. All you got was ‘not very meaningful.’”
“Yeah.”
For the first time, emotion flickered across Qin Chengfei’s face.
A self-mocking sneer.
He exhaled slowly, eyes looking into the distance, and said quietly, “I didn’t expect it either. The project I fought so hard to push forward was summed up in four words in the big boss’s eyes.”
He Xiaoyuan’s thoughts were clear. He didn’t comfort him, because he knew Qin Chengfei didn’t need comfort right now.
He asked, “What are you planning to do next?”
Qin Chengfei took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
The sense of defeat on his face was something He Xiaoyuan had never seen on him before—even though his expression was outwardly calm.
Qin Chengfei turned to He Xiaoyuan and asked, “Do you drink? At a time like this, would drinking make you feel better?”
He Xiaoyuan said, “No. I mean, it wouldn’t make me feel better.”
Qin Chengfei leaned back against the seat, lowered his eyes, then lifted them again. Finally, in a very calm tone, he revealed his plan. “I might resign.”
He Xiaoyuan froze.
Qin Chengfei’s eyelashes were beaded with sweat. He narrowed his eyes slightly, sunlight scattering into fractured reflections within them.
Frowning faintly, he said slowly, “I still can’t accept this result.”
Turning his head, he looked at He Xiaoyuan. “I’m thinking maybe taking this project to another company, or even doing it myself, might be a better choice.”
Would it?
He Xiaoyuan thought instinctively.
He wouldn’t deny Qin Chengfei—because in his eyes, someone with such a perfect résumé was a prodigy he could never catch up to.
But he wouldn’t deny Lu Chen either—because Lu Chen had Lu Chen’s ability and vision.
What he questioned, instinctively, was whether there might be some misunderstanding in all this.
Not very meaningful.
Were those really Lu Chen’s exact words?
—
He Xiaoyuan and Qin Chengfei found a restaurant in the city and ate together.
While Qin Chengfei was ordering, He Xiaoyuan messaged Lu Chen, telling him he would be home late that evening since he was eating with Qin Chengfei.
Lu Chen replied: 【Okay.】
He didn’t say anything else.
He Xiaoyuan had planned to talk about it after getting home, but when he looked up at Qin Chengfei—who had noticeably lost weight in just one week—he couldn’t hold back and messaged Lu Chen anyway:
【I heard you cut Qin Chengfei’s project?】
Lu Chen replied: 【Yes, I cut it.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Because ‘not very meaningful’? Did you really say that?】
Lu Chen: 【Yes.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Little Dinosaur frowning and blinking.jpg】
Lu Chen: 【Big Dinosaur patting Little Dinosaur’s head.jpg】
At that moment, Qin Chengfei asked, “Do you want to drink?”
He Xiaoyuan looked up. “No. Don’t drink either.”
Qin Chengfei handed the menu back to the server and said, “Let’s do this for now.” Then he looked at He Xiaoyuan, seemed to remember something, and added, “This feels like the first time we’ve eaten dinner alone together.”
He Xiaoyuan thought about it and realized it was true.
When they ate alone together, it was usually lunch at the company cafeteria.
The last time they ate together was after Lin Xuhan’s salon lecture, grabbing a late-night meal—but that time there were other people there, not just the two of them.
Qin Chengfei raised his glass of water in place of alcohol and gestured to He Xiaoyuan. “First dinner.”
He Xiaoyuan raised his glass too and clinked it with his. “First dinner.”
After drinking and setting the glass down, Qin Chengfei brought up another topic. “You eating dinner with me like this—your boyfriend won’t mind?”
He Xiaoyuan thought to himself: if you knew who my boyfriend is, you might be the one minding.
“It’s fine. I messaged him already—told him I’d be back late.”
Qin Chengfei always zeroed in on the key point. “You live together? You’re cohabiting with him?”
He Xiaoyuan: “……”
Qin Chengfei made an exaggerated wow face, then said, “Congratulations, congratulations.”
He Xiaoyuan asked, “What are you congratulating me for?”
Qin Chengfei answered bluntly, “Congratulations on having a sex life.”
His voice wasn’t loud or soft—just loud enough for a nearby table to hear. Two girls at that table turned their heads and looked over together.
He Xiaoyuan glared at Qin Chengfei. “Lower your voice!”
They ate and chatted, no different from how things usually were at the company.
As they talked, the conversation inevitably drifted back to the project that had been cut.
He Xiaoyuan asked Qin Chengfei, “Are you really going to resign?”
All for the sake of getting the project to finally land.
Qin Chengfei shook his head. “I don’t know.”
This was the first time He Xiaoyuan had ever seen Qin Chengfei uncertain about something.
All along, Qin Chengfei had been the type who knew exactly what he wanted to do and what he would do, even if it meant offending people.
Qin Chengfei ate his food, eyes lowered. “You don’t know—lately I’ve been feeling pretty useless.”
He Xiaoyuan: ?
Qin Chengfei continued, “Ever since I joined the project team, I haven’t accomplished anything. And you—”
He lifted his gaze and looked at He Xiaoyuan. “Even though you’re not really a member of any project team, just seconded over, from last year to this year, from the moment you joined, you’ve been getting things done.”
“And recently, you even pulled off your own project.”
He Xiaoyuan could hear the discouragement in these words. It didn’t sound like the Qin Chengfei he knew.
He Xiaoyuan said gently, “What I did recently actually wasn’t a project.”
Qin Chengfei: “?”
He Xiaoyuan didn’t go into details, only revealing a little. “The company needed a pretty important person. I just helped poach them.”
He shrugged. “Does that even count as a project?”
Qin Chengfei showed a look of understanding, but still said, “You don’t think it counts, but you still got it done.”
Then he spoke candidly. “He Xiaoyuan, you might not feel it yourself, but I really think you’re impressive.”
“You can easily get along with people you meet. Everyone in the office likes you, and all the bosses want you on their projects.”
“You’re very steady in how you do things—never in a rush for quick wins. You always find a way, your mindset is good, and your emotions are especially stable.”
“You’re the impressive one, okay?”
He Xiaoyuan wasn’t just trading compliments—he genuinely thought so.
The two of them clinked glasses again.
Qin Chengfei said, “Lately I suddenly feel like, compared to you, I really amount to nothing.”
He Xiaoyuan replied, “Why compare yourself to me? If anyone should feel inadequate, it should be me.”
He advised him, “Don’t deny yourself just because of a temporary setback. There’s still a long road ahead.”
Then, speaking about himself, he added, “When I first joined the company, I didn’t know how to do anything either.”
“If I’d thought the way you do now, I would’ve broken down and left a long time ago. How could I be in a project team like I am now?”
He Xiaoyuan picked up his glass of water and clinked it against Qin Chengfei’s. “When you hit a mountain, climb the mountain. When you hit water, cross the water. Work and life—it’s basically like that, isn’t it?”
……
That night, after leaving the restaurant, Qin Chengfei slung an arm over He Xiaoyuan’s shoulder. “Is there some kind of magic in your mouth? I actually feel comforted by you.”
He Xiaoyuan turned to look at him, smiled, and also reached out to drape an arm over Qin Chengfei’s back in a buddy-like way. “If one of us gets rich and powerful, don’t forget the other. Don’t resign—I’m still waiting for you to do a big project someday and pull me along with you.”
Qin Chengfei turned his head and smiled.
They stood outside the restaurant, gazing into the distance where the tip of a tower lit with neon lights shimmered. It was a famous landmark nearby, something that could represent a city.
Qin Chengfei looked at it. He Xiaoyuan looked at it too.
When the night breeze blew, it felt as though the distant neon lights were blown straight into their hearts.
Qin Chengfei murmured, “He Xiaoyuan, I always thought I was standing at the top of the tower—above so many people—destined to succeed.”
Reality, however, had slapped him hard in the face.
He Xiaoyuan didn’t speak, but as he looked at the neon-lit tower tip, he smiled softly—what tower top or not? He had never even thought about that.
All he had ever wanted was to survive in some corner of this fast-paced, colorful city. Now, when he lifted his head, he suddenly realized that the city’s brilliance and beauty could actually appear right before his eyes.
There was a smile in He Xiaoyuan’s gaze.
Then his hand, resting on Qin Chengfei’s back, gave a solid pat. “You’d better stay grounded! You can’t climb that tower—it’s illegal.”
Even so, when he returned to Yanlan Bay and stepped out of the elevator, he saw Lu Chen standing by the window, gazing outside. He Xiaoyuan ran over barefoot, leapt up, and jumped onto the man’s back, shouting, “Climbing the tower!”
Lu Chen hurriedly reached out to catch him. He hadn’t heard clearly—climbing what?
He Xiaoyuan lay high up on Lu Chen’s back, cupped Lu Chen’s face with both hands, made him tilt his head back, and said, “Someone like you is that tower top—something you can only look at, never reach, way up in the sky, right?”
Lu Chen was forced to tilt his head back. Hearing that, he smiled and said, “If I’m the tower peak, then what are you?”
He Xiayuan asked him, “What am I?”
Lu Chen smiled gently. “You’re moonlight.”