The summer night breeze was slightly cool. It brushed gently past, making the bonfire dance, its warm orange glow lighting up the courtyard and the faces of those seated around it.
Wen Yanyu peeled a freshly roasted sweet potato and held it out to Lu Mingxu.
"Thanks, Little Fish." Lu Mingxu's eyes lit up. He took the sweet potato and immediately bit into it.
"Hsss-"
The piping-hot flesh burned his tongue, and he couldn't help hissing a few times, fanning his mouth with his hand.
Wen Yanyu said, "Eat slowly."
"Want a spoon?"
Wen Yanyu picked up a spoon and held it up to him.
Lu Mingxu smiled sheepishly and reached out to take it.
Beside them, Duan Mufeng looked at the thoughtfully peeled roasted sweet potato in Lu Mingxu's hand, then finally looked at his own, which hadn't even been broken open.
After what had happened during the day, Jiang Keyan still hung her head, occasionally glancing at Wen Yanyu beside her. She wanted to talk to him, but wilted without daring to make a sound.
In over twenty years of smooth sailing, this was the first time she had encountered a situation she couldn't bring herself to face at all.
Until he held a freshly peeled sweet potato, still steaming, out to her.
"The sweet potatoes here are really sweet." Wen Yanyu rubbed the corners of his eyes, which had reddened from the heat of the fire.
The summer night was neither cold nor hot, but sitting beside the bonfire, Wen Yanyu still couldn't help pulling his jacket tighter around himself.
His frame, thin to the point of looking somewhat sickly, seemed even more frail in the firelight. The wrist holding the sweet potato was so slender it looked as though it would snap with a single bend.
His voice was very soft. "It's freshly roasted. Want a piece?"
Wen Yanyu looked at her, his eyes misty from the smoke. The redness at their corners seemed impossible to dispel, and an air of illness radiated from him, fragile yet warm.
He was like some weak, pitiful little animal that had gone out to find you something tasty before its wounds had fully healed.
Holding it out eagerly before you, carefully tending to your feelings.
Jiang Keyan froze, unable to recover for a long while.
An inexplicable ache spread through her heart.
It was a longing both tart and bitter, tingling and itching, uncomfortable yet impossible to resist.
Having grown up doted on by her family, the greatest bitterness she had ever tasted might have been an iced Americano. Even now, she couldn't describe what she felt in her heart.
She seemed to understand the feeling her older sister had once told her about.
Wen Yanyu's lashes trembled slightly. He pressed his lips together and was just about to withdraw his hand.
The girl caught his wrist and took the half sweet potato from his hand.
She lowered her head and took a big bite. The soft sweetness of the roasted sweet potato instantly filled her mouth, softening her heart along with it.
She soon finished the small half of the sweet potato.
Jiang Keyan looked up and gave Wen Yanyu her usual sweet smile again. "It's so good! Can I have another piece?"
Seeing Jiang Keyan return to normal.
Wen Yanyu hurriedly nodded and continued his grand undertaking of feeding everyone roasted sweet potatoes.
They sat around the bonfire eating roasted sweet potatoes.
Watching Lu Mingxu chat away happily despite barely getting any response, Duan Mufeng bit his cola straw, then suddenly cleared his throat. "Let me sing everyone a song."
Jiang Wanrou immediately voiced her enthusiastic support.
Wen Yanyu barely reacted. Too hungry, he kept his head down and ate his sweet potato.
"Babe, what song do you want to hear?" Duan Mufeng took out his phone and held it in front of Wen Yanyu.
"I get to choose?" Wen Yanyu looked up in confusion, his cheeks bulging as he chewed the roasted sweet potato he had yet to swallow.
Leaning back in his chair, Duan Mufeng smiled at him. "Of course you do."
Wen Yanyu hesitated for a moment, then took the phone and started browsing.
Lu Mingxu frowned at Duan Mufeng.
Having known him for years, he immediately understood what he was thinking, and recalled all the things he had done during those first few days.
The instant their gazes met, a smile surfaced in Duan Mufeng's eyes, carrying teasing amusement and silent boasting.
He mouthed silently, "Can you sing too?"
Duan Mufeng's smile was wicked.
Lu Mingxu knew about his messy romantic history, and he also knew that Little Fish's looks were exactly his type.
Lu Mingxu's expression darkened slightly, and he shot him a cold, warning look.
Duan Mufeng's smile remained bright as he leaned intimately closer to Wen Yanyu, seemingly checking what music he had chosen. His deliberately narrowed eyes held an ambiguous challenge.
Lu Mingxu gritted his teeth, his gaze turning cold.
[I'm dying. Never thought I'd see these two in a romantic showdown one day.]
[Duan's feeling threatened too, hahaha.]
[The way Duan Mufeng looked at everyone else's roasted sweet potatoes just now, then down at his own-I could laugh about that for a year.]
[Someone's getting different treatment, hahaha.]
[Stop it. Has it occurred to you that Lu just thinks Duan Mufeng's dating history is too messy, and Wen Yanyu is his friend, so he doesn't want them dating? Also, please, don't Lu Yu fans' lives matter? Stop shipping random people. I'm seriously about to black out.]
[Has it occurred to you that the comments are joking too? And when you forced the Lu Yu ship together to put others down, why didn't you think about how solo fans' lives matter too?]
[Exactly, hahaha. It's just a joke. Why are some people getting so worked up? Hehe.]
[As a Lu solo fan, this feels great! First time I haven't minded another random ship!]
"Babe, have you picked one?" Duan Mufeng leaned close to Wen Yanyu's ear and asked softly.
Wen Yanyu casually tapped shuffle.
Duan Mufeng took the phone, raised his eyebrows when he saw the song, and smiled. "'Body shots'? Babe, we're on the same wavelength. This happens to be exactly my style."
After glancing at the lyrics, Wen Yanyu took a bite of his soft, sweet potato and neither agreed nor disagreed.
Lu Mingxu gritted his teeth. "Cut the crap."
Duan Mufeng clicked his tongue softly and cleared his throat as the intro began.
"Walk up to the club."
"My girls cut the line."
"'Cause we're a step above."
"Walk up to the bar."
"Buying drinks like a star."
His voice was languid, with a slight lilt, as he cast an intensely suggestive gaze at the young man beside him.
But when he realized Wen Yanyu was merely staring blankly at the bonfire, Duan Mufeng propped up his chin and continued watching him as he sang the rest of the tune.
"My girls they wanna try it."
"So we had to buy it..."
"Uh huh, whip it up."
"Lick it up, suck it down."
"Uh huh, drink it up."
The song ended.
Duan Mufeng looked at Wen Yanyu, who was still lost in thought, with a face full of grievance.
"Babe, you're breaking my heart."
Wen Yanyu came back to his senses and turned to ask him, "What's wrong?"
Duan Mufeng turned his head and complained, "I sang that especially for you. Aren't you going to give me any reaction?"
"You sang really well." Wen Yanyu added, "It really suits you."
Duan Mufeng said, "..."
[My chaotic shipping, hahaha. Duan's showing off his feathers right there, while my wife stares at the fire and eats sweet potatoes.]
[Bunny Baby's so worried everyone will go hungry, hahaha. He roasts sweet potatoes and feeds everyone in turn, like a little bunny that's stocked up for winter, carrying roasted sweet potatoes in his mouth to feed all the neighbors. Too cute.]
[Wen Yanyu: my roasted sweet potatoes are especially delicious (so all of you have to eat them).]
[Baby didn't have lunch. What's wrong with him having a few more bites of roasted sweet potato? What's wrong with it? Grabbing Bunny Baby and giving him a huge kiss.]
[Hahaha, I can't. What kind of legendary natural airhead is Wen Yanyu? You can tell he's never dated.]
[Didn't he pursue Fu Hanchuan?]
[Pursuing someone doesn't mean you've dated. His way of pursuing someone was pretty, uh... You can tell he's never dated. Who says something that ridiculous in public when pursuing someone?]
[Feels like he's been possessed.]
"Then... should I sing you a song too?"
Still not understanding what was going on with him, Wen Yanyu asked tentatively.
Before you continue