Winter Wind (YiZhan)

59. Trouble

"It would be more than enough. Can we be just 'kissing' friends then? Is this a thing?"

A small smile curves his lips at the suggestion, so he adds a laughing emoji to the message.

"I want to be friends with you again," he says.

"Yesterday, I couldn't even fathom the thought but today, I want to tell you that I'll take it. I'll accept it. Should I find a way to call you to tell you this? I promised I'd give you space, but damn, I keep making promises and threats these days that I can't seem to keep."

"Yibo, let's be friends," he writes."Let's throw out all this break up nonsense and just be friends. I'll accept it. It'll be enough. For now. I think."

He sighs, and is about to log out of WeChat when a message arrives. It's from Li Ping.

"Are you sure you want the chair delivered? Shouldn't I just get rid of it?"

His stomach twists in agony at the very thought.

"Deliver it!!" He responds, and sits up .

He pushes his hair out of his face, and dials Nini.

She picks up immediately.

"Good morning," she says in a bright tone, and all he gives in response is a"Mn."

She continues on.

"I have great news." she says, and he rises to his feet to head into the bathroom.

"What news?" he asks.

"Spotlight," she says. "It just passed thirty-five million copies in sales. It's officially number three in the entire world for the most sold digital singles in history."

She is excited, extremely, or perhaps she particularly sounds so in order to lift his spirits.

"That's great," he says simply, and at his lackluster response, her energy seems to quell.

He stares at his reflection in the mirror, his face swollen and streaked with tears, and his eyes puffy and reddened.

"I remember telling you in April to wait a bit more for things to calm down before releasing it, but I'm glad you didn't listen to me. It's raking in a lot of revenue for us. A dizzying amount. You're wealthy Laoban. Extremely."

He sighs."Is it enough for me to retire on?"

At this and just as he expects, she goes completely silent. It is a thought that he has entertained from time to time, but now... he doesn't dare.

Not unless he ever wants to see Yibo again.

"I'm kidding," he consoles her."In fact I'm ready to come back to work. Which of our current standby projects can we push forward?"

She's just as stunned by this, that it takes another stretch of silence for her to respond.

"You're... you want to come back to work?"

"Mn," he replies. "There's no need to wallow anymore. It doesn't solve anything, and it's not going to get me what I truly want anyway so what's the point? Let's fight and move forward."

"Alright," she seems overtaken with joy. "But... it's only been a day. Don't you need at least a little more time to rest? To take your mind off things?"

"Sure, but let's get things started. There's a month left till the end of the year. What can we release?"

"Well, you don't have any performances scheduled but I can review the options available to us and get back to you."