In room 6235, Xu Renfei threw himself onto the sofa the moment he entered, without even removing his makeup. He placed one hand on his forehead, the smile he had when facing Bi Xia gradually fading away. His expression turned indifferent as he stared at the ceiling, his eyes carrying an indistinct gloom, lost in thought.

Truth be told, Xu Renfei didn’t even know what he was thinking. He only knew that he’d felt off the entire day.

Ever since... those hands...

The sensation of touching those hands lingered persistently, even after a day filled with countless other touches, refusing to fade away...

It wasn’t the first time he’d touched, even dragging around carelessly before. But today, it felt as if a key had suddenly unlocked a selectively closed door...

Ding dong—

A WeChat message arrived. Xu Renfei raised his hand to fetch his phone. As he opened WeChat, he paused, looking at the top-pinned ’Little Bastard Jiu’. Xu Renfei’s eyes dimmed somewhat as he swiped left on the contact, observing the striking red options to unpin and delete. He hesitated, then let out a self-mocking laugh... Xu Renfei, you’re a damn mess!

Diverting his fingers to the popping messages below, he opened one from Jiang Bo.

"Xu Xiaoqi, I’ve backed up both your and Bi Xia’s solo audios as well as the duet. Do you want to listen to them again to ensure everything’s alright before I proceed with the final edits?"

Is it already done?

Xu Renfei propped himself up, resting his forearms on his legs, slightly hunched as he typed a voice message, "Sure, send it over."

He spoke with a mild expression but with a lively tone, "Actually, I think it doesn’t matter whether I listen or not; I have great confidence in us."

"..." Listening to Xu Renfei’s voice message, Jiang Bo paused in his recording transfer, picked up his phone with no expression, "Then I won’t send it. Let’s just leave it at that."

"!!!"

"No way!" Xu Renfei immediately dialed Jiang Bo’s number. As soon as Jiang Bo answered, not waiting for him to speak, Xu Renfei shouted, "Brother Jiang!!!! You can’t play me like this!!!"

"Who’s playing you," Jiang Bo replied, nonchalantly clicking his mouse, "I just told you to check if there’s any issue. Since you’re confident, why should I send it? Instead of wasting time, I might as well proceed with the synthesis."

Xu Renfei:... Although it’s true, still feels like hitting someone!!!

Without needing Xu Renfei to speak, Jiang Bo could already imagine Xu Renfei’s frustration on the other end, so he shrugged, "Alright, alright, I’ll send it to you in a bit."

Then, after a pause, he added, "Understanding things is a good thing. It’s better than tormenting oneself unknowingly, and think it through carefully. This path isn’t easy. Alright, hanging up."

Xu Renfei stared blankly at his phone, pursed his lips slightly, then heard three consecutive WeChat notifications, each one pounding in his chest.

Watching the three voice messages in the chat box, Xu Renfei saved each one, plugged in his headphones, and lay back on the sofa. Just when he was about to play his own recording, his hand paused, moved down, and opened the second recording.

He had heard the youngster sing before, listening intently during the live recording with headphones on. At that moment, he noticed his heart pounding violently, almost as if he were alarmed by an illness.

Slowly closing his eyes, the youngster’s voice echoed through the headphones, and Xu Renfei thought, perhaps he should stop, not think about it, shut off the phone entirely, just like before...

Wait, just like before? Like how?

In that instant, Xu Renfei felt as if his heart was filled to the brim. He suddenly sat up straight, staring blankly ahead, his eyes carrying confusion, bewilderment, and a dawning realization.

After a while, he lowered his head and removed the headphones, his bangs covering those eyes, and no one could see the young man’s expression at that moment, nor know the waves already surging in those eyes.