Red Bean

She didn't want to leave him, so she found many excuses, not to convince others, but to convince herself.

Li Changle looked at Wang Siyi without speaking, so he simply picked up his guitar and started playing.

Hearing the accompaniment of the acoustic guitar, Wang Siyi looked up, looked at Li Changle, and began to sing:

"Haven't properly felt The season when snowflakes bloom We shiver together And will better understand what gentleness is Haven't held your hand And walked through desolate sand dunes Perhaps from now on We'll learn to cherish forever Sometimes, sometimes I believe everything has an end Gatherings and partings all have their time Nothing is eternal But sometimes I'd rather choose to linger and not let go When all the scenery has been seen Perhaps you'll accompany me to watch the steady flow of a small stream

After the song finished, Li Changle let out a sigh of relief.

He asked Wang Siyi a question.

"What do you think of this song? Is it suitable for you?"

"What is this song called?"

Wang Siyi stared blankly at Li Changle.

Did he really mean it? When all the scenery has been seen, perhaps you'll accompany me to watch the steady flow of a small stream.

Did he like her too?

Wang Siyi's mind was in turmoil. If he really confessed his feelings, would she still continue singing, or would she live a simple life with him?

"It's called Red Bean. What do you think?"

"It's very nice,"

Wang Siyi said softly.

"Then do you want to sing this song?"

Li Changle asked eagerly. He had thought about it for a long time and still felt that the song Red Bean was very suitable for Wang Siyi to sing.

Wang Siyi's voice was clear and ethereal, yet also melodious.

Li Changle felt that there was no female singer in the world more suited to sing this song than her.

"How did you write lyrics like these?"

Wang Siyi did not directly answer Li Changle's question, but instead asked a seemingly irrelevant one.

"Huh? I just felt like I had a song like this in my head, so I wrote it out?"

Li Changle chose to tell the truth. This song was indeed in his mind, and he had many other songs in his mind as well.

"Then, is what you said true?"

Wang Siyi didn't press him further after hearing his explanation and asked another vague question.

"What is true?"

Li Changle looked at Wang Siyi in confusion.

Wang Siyi looked at his expression, feeling a little annoyed. She had been happy, thinking that he wrote such a song because of their relationship.

"When did you write this song?"

Wang Siyi asked another question that seemed very strange.

"A long time ago. I even sang a part of it for you before, don't you remember? The first time you left, I was thinking about whether I should give it to you, but then you said someone else wrote songs for you, so I didn't mention it again."

Wang Siyi understood. She suddenly remembered that when she was writing songs here before, that guy had once hummed a very pleasant tune.

So it was this song. At that time, she didn't have any special feelings for him; he was probably just an ordinary friend at most.

He probably felt the same way about her back then.

She was a little upset that the song wasn't about her; it was just a coincidence.

"What's wrong? Don't you like this song?"

Li Changle saw Wang Siyi looking dejected and not speaking, her head lowered. He thought she didn't like the song.

That didn't make sense. Li Changle had thought about it for a long time before choosing this song.

"No, I like it very much."

Wang Siyi mumbled, her head still lowered.

"Then do you want to sing this song? I think it suits you quite well. Of course, it's up to you. If you like it, I'll give it to you. If you don't like it, just pretend you never heard it."

Li Changle really hoped Wang Siyi would continue singing. He had countless songs in his mind anyway, and he thought it was nice to hear familiar songs from Earth here.

Wang Siyi didn't answer directly.

"I'll think about it."

With that, she got up and returned to her room. She was in a bad mood because the song wasn't written for her specifically.

Wang Siyi also thought of another problem: if she decided to sing again, wouldn't she have to go back to Shanghai?

But right now, she just wanted to stay here and have Li Changle accompany her every day. The allure of singing didn't seem as strong anymore.

Li Changle watched Wang Siyi walk away briskly, looking puzzled. He muttered to himself in confusion:

"Strange, wasn't her leg still injured? How is she running so fast?"

"Women are really strange."

Li Changle wasn't bothered by the lack of a definite answer. No matter what Wang Siyi decided, he felt it would be fine.

In her room, Wang Siyi hummed the song "Red Bean":

"Sometimes~ sometimes, I believe everything has an end. Meetings and partings, they all happen sometimes. Nothing is eternal. But sometimes, I'd rather choose to linger and not let go."

The lyrics were written beautifully, perfectly capturing her current mood, and the song's style suited her very well.

Should she, then, sing this song or not? She looked up blankly at the ceiling, a sigh echoing in the room.

The next day, Li Changle saw Wang Siyi sitting on the sofa with dark circles under her eyes, looking like an impossibly beautiful panda. He couldn't help but stare at her for a few extra moments.

Wang Siyi seemed a little embarrassed by Li Changle's gaze.

"What are you looking at!"

She glared at Li Changle.

Last night, she had been going back and forth between the decision to stay in Yangcheng and go to Shanghai, and she still hadn't figured out what she should do even when she finally fell into a deep sleep around three or four in the morning.

However, she still got up early. She had to eat breakfast. After eating, she would go back to sleep for a while to catch up. Those dark circles were unacceptable.

Li Changle chuckled speechlessly. This woman was finally acting somewhat normal. Heaven knew that lately, she had been acting like she was possessed by a soft girl, constantly acting spoiled towards him, which made Li Changle's scalp tingle.

"Um, I heard that applying a hot egg wrapped in a towel to your dark circles can effectively reduce them. Do you want to try it?"

Li Changle asked a question that was practically asking for death.

Upon hearing Li Changle's words, Wang Siyi's expression froze.

Then she looked up at Li Changle with a blank expression. Her dark circles were very prominent, making her look a bit… cute?

Li Changle seemed to realize he had asked a question that was too risky and quickly said:

"I was just saying. Dark circles are fine too. You look good like this, cute like a panda from the zoo."

"Ah, this, I'm sorry, I didn't mean you look like a panda..."

Wang Siyi now felt like hitting this clumsy guy with a chopstick. Couldn't he just say less if he couldn't speak properly?

"Um, I have some things to do, I need to prepare for my new book. You eat first, I'll come back to clean the dishes later. Goodbye!"

Li Changle ran back to his room without looking back, wishing he could slap himself.

He was usually quite smart, so why was his mouth acting so impulsively today, constantly wanting to court disaster?

He stayed in his room for a while and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Wang Siyi was no longer in the living room. He quickly went to the living room to clean the dishes.

Today, people from Chinese Web Novel Platform were coming to discuss the contract and the adaptation rights for the Sword and Fairy novel.

So Li Changle decided to tidy up his room again.

At eleven in the morning, Qinghe, the chief editor of Chinese Web Novel Platform, along with the junior editor Ruyi and several assistants from Chinese Web Novel Platform, arrived.

They were here to meet, or rather, to discuss the contract. The most important thing was to keep the author Li Xiaoyao on Chinese Web Novel Platform; that was the top priority.

The doorbell rang outside. It was probably them. Li Changle quickly went out to greet them.

"Hello, you must be from Chinese Web Novel Platform."

Li Changle greeted the group from Chinese Web Novel Platform with a smile as he opened the door.

Qinghe and Ruyi were both surprised. This Li Xiaoyao was actually a young man who looked only in his early twenties!

This young man in his early twenties had written a novel that had exploded in popularity across the entire network.

Moreover, the writing style and the emotional core of the novel didn't seem like something a young man in his twenties could have written.

Before they arrived, they had guessed that Li Xiaoyao was an old geezer, or perhaps a middle-aged man. They never expected him to be a young and handsome guy.

Ruyi, who was following Qinghe, looked at Li Changle with sparkling eyes.

"So Great God Xiaoyao, you're this young? Then can't I call you Brother Xiaoyao? Hehe."

Ruyi spoke cheekily to Li Changle from behind Qinghe. Qinghe, however, had a dark expression. How could this young fan not know the occasion?

Li Changle wasn't a stern person. The moment he saw Ruyi, he knew this bubbly girl must be his chatty editor from before.

"You must be Editor Ruyi, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Hello, Brother Xiaoyao!"

Ruyi had let loose. She had already planned how she would brag to everyone back at the company about how the author of Legend of Sword and Fairy truly resembled the image of Li Xiaoyao in her mind!

"Hello, it's better to meet than to hear about you. I never expected the hottest author on the entire internet to be so young," Qinghe said with a hearty laugh.

Li Changle smiled but didn't say anything.

"My name is Li Changle. Please don't call me Li Xiaoyao anymore. Li Xiaoyao had a pretty tragic life. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to be called Li Xiaoyao either."

"Knowing Li Xiaoyao is tragic, you still wrote him so tragically. You're so mean, Brother Xiaoyao." Ruyi said indignantly from the side, still unable to let go of the ending of Legend of Sword and Fairy 1. The impact was too great.

Wang Siyi heard some noise outside and realized someone had come to the house, so she opened the door to take a look.

"Did someone come to the house?" Wang Siyi said as she walked out.

"Ah! Wang Wanjun? Are you Wang Wanjun?" Ruyi was stunned for a moment when she saw the figure walking out, then exclaimed excitedly.

She really liked Wang Wanjun. She had liked her since her debut; she was a die-hard fan.

She didn't expect to meet her here. Suddenly, she seemed to realize something. Wang Wanjun lives here, and Great God Xiaoyao also lives here, so they...

Ruyi seemed to have discovered something incredible. Her eyes were full of gossip as she pointed at Wang Siyi, then at Li Changle, all while muttering to herself.

"You... you guys..."

Ruyi never expected that she had only come to meet Great God Li Xiaoyao, to admire her most admired web novel author, and to see what Great God Xiaoyao looked like.

And he didn't disappoint. Great God Xiaoyao was practically Li Xiaoyao himself. Ruyi had never seen such a handsome web novel author.

Not only that, but she also saw her favorite singer, Wang Wanjun, here. She had been silently following her for three years, ever since her debut.

Then she discovered that Great God Xiaoyao and Wang Wanjun lived together!

There were too many coincidences in this world.

Ruyi, who was passionate about shipping couples, had already conjured a dramatic love story between a web novel master and a popular celebrity in her mind.

It seemed like Wang Wanjun hadn't been active recently. She heard it was because she had a conflict with her company. Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all...

Wang Wanjun and Great God Xiaoyao!

They were already living together! Doesn't that mean they're a couple?

Ruyi's large eyes sparkled. The two of them were so perfect for each other! Please, please be together!

Wang Siyi was cornered by an enthusiastic, big-eyed fangirl and immediately looked to Li Changle for help.

Li Changle pretended not to see. Ruyi clearly looked like a fan of Wang Siyi, probably a superfan.

"I'm your fan, Wanjun!"

"I've been following you since your debut!"

"I didn't expect you to be even prettier in person than in your pictures online!"

"Are you and Brother Xiaoyao a couple? Are you together!?"

Ruyi bombarded her with questions like a magpie, one after another, as if she didn't need Wang Siyi to answer.

All her words turned into a single sentence: "Hello, I am Wang Wanjun."

"Wow, it really is Wanjun, sob sob, I'm so touched. I finally get to meet my idol..."

"Can I call you Sister Wanjun? What's your relationship with Brother Xiaoyao!?"

Ruyi, who was overly familiar, was clearly not someone Wang Siyi could handle. She again looked to Li Changle for help.

Ruyi's mouth spewed words non-stop like a machine gun. Li Changle quickly said, "Don't overthink it. She and I are just ordinary friends. Living together is just temporary."

Hearing this, Wang Siyi felt a pang of discomfort, as if Li Changle was distancing himself from her, and to another girl, no less.

She instantly became unhappy, her face falling, and her demeanor turned cold.

Ruyi suddenly felt a chill emanating from beside her, not a physical one, but a psychological one.

Seeing Wang Wanjun's expression turn sour and recalling what Li Changle had just said, Ruyi suddenly understood.

Understood, they're dating in secret, not wanting anyone to know.

As a die-hard fan of Wang Siyi and the very first reader of Legend of Sword and Fairy, she firmly believed she was trustworthy.

Because she had undergone rigorous training, no matter how juicy the gossip, she wouldn't spill a word.

"Oh~ I get it!"

"Don't worry, if I, Li Ruyi, were to jump off the Chinese Web Novel Platform building, I still wouldn't leak a single word about you two dating in secret!"

This book has been signed, and I'm very grateful for the support of the readers reading it, thank you!

The author is a new author and also a reader. I felt that the current entertainment novels weren't quite to my taste, so I thought I'd try writing one myself, and it actually got signed!

This book will continue to be written, it won't be dropped or abandoned. However, it's been signed but not yet put on shelves, so the updates can't be as haphazard as before. My editor told me I need to build up a backlog of drafts~

Before it goes on shelves, I promise to write four thousand characters daily. I hope those who can will cast a Monthly Ticket, or a recommendation ticket if you prefer! If you think it's good, please add it to your collection, and ideally keep following it, so this book can get recommendations. Thank you, everyone!

As a new author, please bear with me!