He Xiaoyuan had a feeling—much like when he graduated during his senior year and moved out of the dorms after finding a job—that moving out of the company dormitory also felt like ending one stage of life and beginning a new one.
Although he had only lived there for half a year, and although he was not someone especially prone to nostalgia, He Xiaoyuan still felt a bit reluctant to leave.
He went to the property management office to handle the checkout from the dormitory. The staff there asked if he was buying a place. He Xiaoyuan smiled and said, “No, that’s still a long way off.”
The staff member said, “Then you’re not quitting and job-hopping, are you?”
He Xiaoyuan replied, “That’s even more impossible.”
The property staff, clearly good with words, said, “I get it. People always move upward. If you’re checking out, it must be because you’ve found a better place.”
“All right, I’ve completed the procedures here.”
“Congratulations, and I wish that every step you take from now on is a step up.”
He Xiaoyuan said, “Thank you. I’ll take that good luck.”
Back in the car, He Xiaoyuan was smiling.
As Lu Chen drove, he asked, “Moving makes you that happy?”
He Xiaoyuan leaned back in the passenger seat. “Yeah.”
He turned his head, looked at Lu Chen, and borrowed the property staff’s words. “Am I moving upward?”
Lu Chen smiled, approving of that sunny, positive mindset.
Not long after, they arrived at the apartment. Together, they carried the luggage upstairs and brought everything inside.
Once everything was moved in, He Xiaoyuan told Lu Chen to sit on the sofa and rest. He himself didn’t pause for even a moment, immediately starting to take things out of the suitcases and bags to organize and put them away.
Lu Chen didn’t go sit down. He rolled up his sleeves. This time, he didn’t even ask—he opened the boxes on his own and started taking things out.
He Xiaoyuan kept busy with what he was doing, glancing up at him. In his heart, he actually didn’t want to trouble Lu Chen, but seeing how Lu Chen wasn’t acting distant at all, he felt it would be awkward to be overly polite and make things seem too formal between them.
So the two of them worked together, running up and down the stairs countless times. Before long, everything was put away with remarkable efficiency.
By the time they finished, it wasn’t even eleven in the morning.
When they were done, He Xiaoyuan collapsed back onto the sofa and let out a sigh. “Ah!”
The efficiency was really incredible.
They had finished everything in a single morning.
Lu Chen leaned against the marble countertop by the stove, drinking water. His sleeves were rolled up, his expression relaxed, not looking tired in the slightest, calm and unhurried.
He even calmly lifted his hand to check the time and asked He Xiaoyuan, “Still have the energy? If not, I’ll order takeout. What do you want to eat?”
He Xiaoyuan leaned back against the sofa. His body didn’t move, only his neck turned as he looked over. “What do you feel like eating, Brother?”
Lu Chen said, “I’ll follow your lead.”
He Xiaoyuan thought about it. At first, he was considering fast food—things like spicy hot pot, rice noodles, or something easy to deal with. But then he thought about how Lu Chen had deliberately driven over early in the morning and helped with the moving and organizing. How could he have him eat something like that? So he reconsidered and said, “How about checking out the mall nearby?”
Lu Chen took a sip from his cup and looked over. Seeing that He Xiaoyuan hadn’t moved at all, he understood—after a busy morning, even if the young man wasn’t tired, he was feeling lazy now.
He took out his phone. “Let’s just order delivery. What do you want to eat?”
He didn’t even make He Xiaoyuan think too much, listing options directly. “Chinese food. Noodles? Or spicy hot pot? Fried rice?”
He Xiaoyuan raised his hand high. “Spicy hot pot!”
Lu Chen was amused by the reaction and started tapping on his phone.
He Xiaoyuan was still leaning back on the sofa. “You’re eating too?”
Lu Chen lowered his gaze to the phone. “Of course.”
Then he teased, “You eat the ingredients, I’ll drink the broth?”
He Xiaoyuan laughed. “No, no, it’s not that bad.”
He picked up his phone as well. “Let me order.”
He would treat, and also add some fruit and coffee.
So not long after, He Xiaoyuan and Lu Chen shared the first meal in the new apartment.
As they ate, He Xiaoyuan looked up and saw Lu Chen across from him, also eating spicy hot pot. A sense of contented happiness rose in his heart.
It felt just like being with Xu Ruomeng, like being with a close friend—relaxing and reassuring.
They ate and chatted at the same time. When the conversation turned to the Meow Woo Meow project, Lu Chen asked about He Xiaoyuan’s plans afterward.
He Xiaoyuan fished vegetables out of his bowl with his chopsticks. “I’m not sure yet.”
Lu Chen said decisively, “Chang Bei will want you to continue following his case.”
He Xiaoyuan thought about it and didn’t overestimate himself. “We’ll see.”
He had now followed a project from start to finish and had been in the project team for a while. He was no longer a complete newcomer who understood nothing.
On one hand, he knew that just because a project existed didn’t mean he could follow it if he wanted to.
On the other hand, he had developed some sense of his own direction and a clearer understanding of his abilities. He wanted to choose projects himself, rather than blindly taking on whatever came along.
As He Xiaoyuan thought about it, he continued, “And it seems like President Chang’s next case is still in gaming.”
Lu Chen listened quietly.
He Xiaoyuan considered it and said, “I’ve always been pretty slow and insensitive when it comes to the gaming category. It probably has something to do with the fact that I basically don’t play games.”
Lu Chen said, “To do well in a category, you need to be sufficiently familiar with it.”
He Xiaoyuan kept eating. After a few bites, he continued, “I used to not play games at all.”
Lu Chen asked, “You don’t like them?”
He Xiaoyuan explained, “I had to work part-time. I didn’t have the time, so I basically didn’t play. I also really don’t like them—no interest. I just don’t find them fun.”
Thinking as he spoke, he added, “For this category, especially for people who make games, you really need interest and passion.”
“I lack those. So even though Meow Woo Meow was very successful this time, in the end I was still riding on President Chang’s coattails.”
“If it were just me, I might not—maybe I definitely wouldn’t—have picked Balay, that little game, especially without understanding what the game was actually like beforehand.”
He was clearly reflecting and summarizing.
Lu Chen looked across the table. Watching the young man grow more and more serious as he talked, every word analytical, he felt that He Xiaoyuan was far too driven and conscientious when it came to work.
Wasn’t it said that serious men were the most attractive?
A serious He Xiaoyuan was also very attractive—so much so that it was hard to look away.
Lu Chen didn’t interrupt. He kept listening, watching him with appreciation.
When He Xiaoyuan finished speaking and noticed that Lu Chen had been looking at him the whole time, he paused and asked for his opinion. “Am I right?”
Lu Chen said steadily, “You don’t need to ask me. What matters is whether you think so yourself.”
He Xiaoyuan thought it over. With an innocent expression, his face serious and his eyes clear, he said, “Yeah. I think it is.”
Lu Chen smiled, his fondness overflowing, impossible to hide.
After the meal, they had some fruit and a few sips of coffee. Then He Xiaoyuan and Lu Chen went out together to shop at a nearby supermarket.
Because the apartment was close to the company and also not far from where Lu Chen lived at Yanlan Bay, they went to the same membership-based hypermarket they had frequented before.
The difference this time was that as He Xiaoyuan walked through it, he carried a strong sense of ownership—of course. Today he wasn’t buying things to bring to Lu Chen’s place as a guest; he was buying for himself, to take back to his own home.
There was another difference as well. When he had come before, especially the first time, although the items were sold in large quantities and multi-packs, he had always felt that nothing here was cheap. Buying casually would easily cost several hundred yuan.
That, of course, also had to do with He Xiaoyuan’s spending habits, income, and how much money he had in his pocket.
Now, he was already used to the price tags.
Even if he wasn’t so flush that he could grab things without looking at prices, at the very least he no longer secretly winced at them or felt heartache over the money—after all, he was earning money now, and not a small amount.
When buying his favorite king crab, he could stand calmly in front of the tank, skillfully picking one out and asking the staff to net it and weigh it.
“Please process it for me. Thanks,” He Xiaoyuan said smoothly.
The staff asked, “Do you want it cooked?”
He Xiaoyuan replied, “No. Just chop off the legs and peel the shell.”
Lu Chen watched from the side, noticing these changes in the young man, smiling to himself.
When it came time to check out, this time He Xiaoyuan paid.
It was Lu Chen’s turn to stand by the car, watching the young man take out his phone and let the staff scan the code.
Lu Chen watched with keen interest, his eyes full of appreciation—this young man had grown so fast, both at work and in life.
After the payment was completed, He Xiaoyuan seemed to sense something and turned to look over. Lu Chen curved his lips slightly at him, and He Xiaoyuan responded with a light lift of his brow.
Back in the car, He Xiaoyuan sat in the passenger seat, holding the long receipt from the supermarket and looking it over. He clicked his tongue and said, “It really isn’t cheap.”
Lu Chen wasn’t surprised by the comment and replied, “Spending around the company area is never low.”
He Xiaoyuan looked at the receipt again and said, “Still, it’s okay.”
Lu Chen was driving and turned his head slightly. “Mm?”
He Xiaoyuan stopped looking at the receipt, lightly flicked it with his finger, then turned to look at Lu Chen. “It’s not outrageously expensive—totally acceptable. There’s a big crab on there, plus other seafood and beef and stuff.”
“The fruit was a few hundred. It looks pricey, but the quantity’s good and the quality’s nice.”
“And we did buy quite a lot.”
Listening to him, Lu Chen felt rather gratified. The young man earned money and knew how to spend it, not shortchanging himself—that was a good thing.
It really was time to adjust his spending mindset and habits a little. Now that there was no longer financial pressure and his income was substantial, saving up to buy a house was one thing, but in daily life he should also be more generous to himself and improve his quality of living.
At this point, Lu Chen asked, “Your place or mine?”
He Xiaoyuan replied, “Mine. I’ve got pots and everything anyway. Today’s a good day to start cooking—I’ll make the crab for you.”
Lu Chen reminded him, “The cat’s at my place.”
He Xiaoyuan thought about it and suggested, “Then how about we go pick up the cat first?”
Then something occurred to him and he immediately added, “But then wouldn’t we have to bring the water fountain and the litter box over too?”
That really was a problem. The car fell quiet for a moment.
Two seconds later, both the driver and the passenger spoke at the same time: “Buy new ones.”
He Xiaoyuan paused, then looked at Lu Chen and laughed. Lu Chen smiled back as well—they had thought of the same thing.
So after exiting the parking garage, the car headed toward the pet hospital nearby, the same one where they had previously taken the cat.
After parking at the entrance and going inside, they hadn’t expected the staff to remember them. They were recognized immediately, and the staff asked how the big Maine Coon had been doing lately.
Standing in front of the shelves, He Xiaoyuan chatted with them. “Pretty good. He’s gained weight.”
The staff asked, “Did you name him? He’s got a name now, right?”
He Xiaoyuan turned to look at Lu Chen. The name still hadn’t been finalized—between him and Lu Chen, the Maine Coon’s name had been bouncing back and forth between Big Lu Cat and Big He Cat.
Just as He Xiaoyuan was wondering how to answer, Lu Chen, who had picked up cat bowls beside him, said, “He’s called He He.”
He Xiaoyuan: Huh?
Lu Chen had already taken two cat bowls, a litter box, and two bags of freeze-dried treats to the counter to check out.
He Xiaoyuan thought to himself—so the cat has a name now?
Hehe?
Which He?
Once back in the car, Lu Chen said solemnly, “The ‘He’ from congratulations.”
He Xiaoyuan laughed.
So that’s what it was—his He after all. In the end, the cat had taken his surname.
He Xiaoyuan joked, “Didn’t you say it was your cat?”
Lu Chen countered, “Isn’t it yours too?”
He Xiaoyuan said, “I feed him. You adopted him.”
Lu Chen persisted, “Isn’t it still yours?”
He Xiaoyuan conceded, “All right, all right. Mine. It’s mine too.”
Whatever. The name could be whatever.
He He—it actually sounded pretty nice.
At the top-floor duplex, when they stepped out of the elevator, the Maine Coon was once again sitting there in front of it.
He Xiaoyuan walked over, squatted down, and lifted the big cat’s front paws in his hands, facing him. “He He, He He. Your name is He He.”
The Maine Coon replied, “Meow~”
He Xiaoyuan teased him, “So am I your older brother, or am I your dad?”
The big cat answered, “Meow~”
He Xiaoyuan followed with a “Meow” of his own.
Lu Chen stood to the side watching. The scene felt warm and gentle, so he didn’t interrupt or urge them on. Instead, he took out his phone and snapped a few photos.
After finishing, a thought struck him. “We should just eat here. I’ll go downstairs to get the groceries.”
He wanted to keep the young man there.
Especially wanted to keep him in the top-floor duplex.
He Xiaoyuan was still holding the cat when he turned back in surprise, blinking. Hadn’t they agreed to pick up the cat and go to his apartment instead?
Lu Chen took a few steps closer, bent slightly, and reached out to give He Xiaoyuan a pat on the top of his head. He then casually stroked the cat as well, before speaking to He He, “Behave and stay with your big brother. Daddy will be right back.”
With that, he turned and headed for the elevator.
“……”
?
He Xiaoyuan turned his head, his gaze following the retreating figure of a certain “dad.”
Pulling his eyes back, he lowered his head and continued holding He He, touching his forehead to the cat’s. “We’re the same generation now. Your dad is taking advantage of me.”
He He: “Meow~”
He Xiaoyuan kept teasing the cat, calling out, “He He, He He, He He, He He.”
He clearly liked the name and couldn’t stop saying it.
So from afternoon until dinnertime, He Xiaoyuan and Lu Chen stayed together at the penthouse.
What had originally been planned as cooking at the apartment turned into Lu Chen doing the cooking, with He Xiaoyuan helping here and there—and petting the cat.
During a break, He Xiaoyuan snapped nine close-up photos of He He’s face and posted them to his Moments. The cat’s fur was now thick and fluffy, his appearance imposing and majestic.
He got plenty of likes. While reading the comments, Xu Ruomeng sent him a message.
Xu Ruomeng: 【You’re at your Brother Lu’s place.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【?】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Wait, that’s not right.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Weren’t you moving today?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【I am at his place.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Finished moving.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【I get it.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Brother Lu came to help you move, right?】
Xu Ruomeng: 【What a saint of a man.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【covering mouth, eyes full of tears.jpg】
He Xiaoyuan was holding the cat and about to reply when Xu Ruomeng sent more messages.
Xu Ruomeng: 【You don’t have money, and he doesn’t lack anything either.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Just saying thank you doesn’t really mean much.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Treating him to a meal won’t be anything special.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【And he’s helped you so much.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Forget it, you might as well repay him with your body.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【covering mouth, eyes full of tears.jpg】
He Xiaoyuan: “……”
They were extremely close friends—once one started being ridiculous, the other was inevitably dragged along.
He Xiaoyuan: 【Am I worthy of that?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【little dinosaur frowning.jpg】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Not worthy?】
Xu Ruomeng: 【covering mouth, eyes full of tears.jpg】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Then I guess you’ll have to repay this great kindness in your next life.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Next life it is.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Let’s just look at the cat.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【cat pic】【cat pic】【cat pic】
Xu Ruomeng: 【starry eyes.jpg】
Xu Ruomeng: 【drooling.jpg】
Xu Ruomeng: 【So cool, so handsome, so good-looking. I want to pet him.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Auntie hug.】
He Xiaoyuan smiled.
Great—another person who’d just outranked him by a generation.
Not far away, Lu Chen had temporarily stepped out of the kitchen and was leaning against the doorframe, watching from a distance at the man and the cat on the sofa.
He didn’t know what the young man was looking at on his phone that made him smile like that, but just seeing that smile made joy well up in Lu Chen’s heart.
As he watched, Lu Chen pulled out his phone again and raised it to take photos. On the screen, the young man quickly turned his head to look over. Seeing Lu Chen photographing him, he faced the camera openly and relaxed, smiling naturally while petting the cat.
Lu Chen’s lips curved up in response.
After dinner, He Xiaoyuan and Lu Chen went downstairs together.
They didn’t drive. Since it was close—just a road separating the back gate of one complex from the front gate of the other—they decided to walk.
Carrying bags with their things inside, they walked along. When they passed a basketball court enclosed by green wire fencing, He Xiaoyuan followed the rhythmic thumping of the ball and turned to look across the road.
So there was a basketball court near his apartment, right next to Yanlan Bay.
He was a little surprised, and his steps unconsciously slowed.
Seeing this, Lu Chen followed his gaze toward the court.
“Do you like playing basketball?” he asked.
He Xiaoyuan turned back and shrugged, answering indirectly. “I don’t play much.”
Back in middle school, there was academic pressure and part-time work. In college, he was busy working to pay off debts. He had no time—he basically didn’t play at all.
He’d played a few times, all because classmates had dragged him along. The number of games was so small that he still remembered exactly when they were, who he played with, and where.
He Xiaoyuan had entered society too early. Even though he’d only been working full-time for a little over half a year, it already felt like his student days were long gone.
Clearly only twenty-one and still very young, yet now, watching others sweat freely on the court, even his sense of envy felt faint. It was as if what separated them wasn’t just a road, but an entire stage of life.
He Xiaoyuan watched quietly.
Lu Chen suddenly said, “Want to play?”
He Xiaoyuan turned to look at him. Huh?
Lu Chen continued, “We just ate. Good time to work it off.”
Then he added, “There’s a small convenience store up ahead. They should sell balls. If not, I’ll have someone bring one over.”
He asked again, “Play?”
He Xiaoyuan’s expression visibly shifted from confusion to delight.
The corners of his eyes curved as he answered decisively, “Yes!”
Then he asked, “Now? Or should we drop the stuff off first?”
Lu Chen glanced down. He Xiaoyuan was wearing sneakers—no need to change. He himself was in dress shoes, which weren’t suitable; he’d need another pair.
Lifting the arm holding the big bag, Lu Chen placed it lightly behind He Xiaoyuan’s back, signaling him to cross the street. “Now.”
As they stepped forward, He Xiaoyuan lowered his head and asked, “Are your shoes okay?”
Lu Chen checked both directions on the road. No cars—safe to cross.
He answered calmly, “It’s fine. I’ll have someone bring them.”
As he spoke, he walked and pulled his phone from his pocket.
After crossing the street and circling around the wire fence to the entrance of the court, Lu Chen finished the call to have shoes and a ball delivered.
Walking beside him, He Xiaoyuan heard the call and wondered who Lu Chen had contacted—property management, maybe?
Once inside the court, He Xiaoyuan stopped thinking about everything else. His entire field of vision was filled with the court itself and the figures of several young men playing in the distance.
He was still envious after all—and the urge to move, to get active, was slowly being stirred awake.
He Xiaoyuan set the bags down on the ground beside the rest bench at the edge of the court. Watching the group of players nearby, he twisted his waist left and right, loosening up his joints first.
Before long, a car pulled over on the road outside the basketball court. A man got out from the driver’s seat, carrying a bag in one hand and holding a basketball in the other, and hurried over.
“President Lu.”
The newcomer was a man in his early thirties, with a gentle, mild temperament. When he approached, he handed both the sneakers and the ball from the bag to Lu Chen.
Hearing the voice, He Xiaoyuan turned his head. The man also lifted his gaze to meet his, then proactively extended his hand. “Hello, Chen Jun. Chen as in the Chen with the ear radical, Jun as in gentleman. Nice to meet you.”
He introduced himself very politely. “I’m President Lu’s personal assistant—also his life manager.”
He Xiaoyuan froze inwardly for a moment.
A butler?
His expression remained calm as he reached out to shake hands. “Hello, my name is He Xiaoyuan.”
Chen Jun smiled courteously. “I know.”
After all, he was the one who had handled the paperwork for that apartment.
After greeting them, Chen Jun didn’t linger. Seeing that Lu Chen had no further instructions, he left quickly. Before going, he didn’t forget to nod politely at He Xiaoyuan. He Xiaoyuan nodded back and said, “Goodbye.”
Once Chen Jun was gone, He Xiaoyuan plopped down beside Lu Chen, who had just finished changing his shoes, eyes full of amazement. “You even have a butler?”
Lu Chen straightened up, picked up the ball beside him, and asked, “Play?”
He Xiaoyuan immediately threw whatever he had wanted to say out of his mind and sprang to his feet. “Let’s go, let’s go.”
Lu Chen tossed the ball over. He Xiaoyuan caught it in one grab.
Awkward hands aside, once he actually had the ball and started dribbling, the restless, energetic love for sports buried deep in the young man’s bones gradually began to boil.
He Xiaoyuan dribbled as he walked onto the court, the thump-thump-thump sounding especially pleasant.
Lu Chen entered the court as well, unhurried. He walked up beside He Xiaoyuan and raised his hand, signaling for the ball.
He Xiaoyuan passed it over. Lu Chen caught it, jogging lightly as he dribbled. When he reached the white line near the basket, he stopped, gathered the ball, raised his arms, jumped—
Thump.
The basketball traced a smooth arc through the air and dropped cleanly into the hoop.
“Wow!”
As he walked over, He Xiaoyuan raised his hands and applauded in amazement. He had genuinely been shown up by that move.
He ran to retrieve the ball, dribbled it back, and looked at Lu Chen with smiling eyes full of admiration. “You can play?”
Lu Chen replied, “Sometimes Yang Yun invites me to play a bit.”
He Xiaoyuan praised him sincerely. “That’s impressive.”
What kind of comment was that?
It almost sounded like it was surprising that Lu Chen knew how to play basketball at all.
Lu Chen smiled, standing in place as he rolled up his sleeves. “I’m not an old man.”
He Xiaoyuan went to shoot as well. Missed. Shot again.
Lu Chen watched. When the young man raised his arms to shoot, Lu Chen saw that familiar look of focus. When the shot missed again, the young man turned back with an easy, open smile—mixed with a trace of helplessness at missing, but quickly letting it go—then happily ran off to chase the ball at the edge of the court.
Lu Chen habitually took everything in. He felt that He Xiaoyuan’s happiness came very easily—just playing a bit of basketball was enough to make him happy.
Lu Chen was affected by it. Even though he was long past the age of being passionately enthusiastic about ball sports, at this moment, his own desire to play was stirred as well.
As He Xiaoyuan dribbled the ball back onto the court and came toward him, Lu Chen spread his legs, bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity—assuming a defensive stance…