Jiang Yueming was reading with his head down. The girl beside him rested her chin on her hand, her gaze lazily falling on the pages he was turning.

"Wait, you're reading too fast, I haven't finished yet." Su Xiaoyue reached out, two fingers pressing the edge of the page to flip it back.

Jiang Yueming stopped his hand and let her flip the book back, sighing helplessly.

"Are you always this slow at reading?"

"Yeah," Su Xiaoyue didn't look up. "I've always read slowly. If I read too fast, I can't remember."

"Then why don't you read your own copy?"

Su Xiaoyue followed Jiang Yueming's finger to look. Her own book had been tossed far away by her.

"That one isn't interesting."

Jiang Yueming was taken aback.

‘Was there really any difference between these two books?’

"So this one of mine is interesting?"

"Mhm mhm." Su Xiaoyue nodded.

Jiang Yueming pushed the book towards her and said, "Then you can read this one."

"Don't be like that, let's read together."

Su Xiaoyue pushed the book back again, her fingers pressing the edge of the page, showing no intention of taking it.

Jiang Yueming had no choice but to keep holding the book. The girl moved closer, her shoulder nearly touching his.

Her shampoo had a faint scent, that kind of barely-there freshness, drifting over now and then like a wisp, then quickly dispersing.

Jiang Yueming shifted a little to the side, pulling some distance away. After a while, she leaned over again, as if completely unaware, her eyes fixed on the page the entire time.

"Do you think this craftsman can finally get his wish?" Su Xiaoyue suddenly asked.

Jiang Yueming was staring blankly at the book. Her words brought him back to his senses, and he glanced at the passage she was pointing to.

"Hard to say."

Su Xiaoyue kept looking at the book as she continued, "I think so too. If that female lead found out there was someone hiding under her chair, she'd probably be scared to death."

Jiang Yueming grunted in agreement.

"A seemingly ordinary life, and someone is secretly spying on it... Just the thought of it makes one's hair stand on end."

Su Xiaoyue's voice dropped, carrying a kind of pensive undertone.

"Maybe she's not just spying, but also quietly pushing you from behind, leading you to where she wants you to go."

Su Xiaoyue paused at this point and suddenly turned her head to look at him.

"Do you think we might run into something like that too? Maybe there's someone hidden inside one of the chairs we're sitting on."

This joke didn't sound the least bit funny. Jiang Yueming involuntarily looked down at the chair beneath him.

A wooden stool with four legs. The space under the seat was empty, easily seen through at a glance. He retracted his gaze and found Su Xiaoyue looking at him with a smile.

"What are you looking at?"

"At the chair," he said.

"Afraid there's someone inside?"

"No." He shifted his eyes back to the book. "It's just that after you said that, I'm a bit creeped out."

Su Xiaoyue laughed, pushing the book more towards his side. Her fingers still pressed on the book's edge, and Jiang Yueming could clearly see those distinct knuckles, slender and fair, with a faint pinkness at the fingertips.

"You're such a scaredy-cat," she teased.

"Anyone would be scared," Jiang Yueming protested.

"True, everyone would be scared." Su Xiaoyue rested one hand on the book and propped her face with the other, her gaze falling on his face as if studying something interesting. "What about you? If you ran into something like that, what would you do?"

"I'd run away, of course," Jiang Yueming said without a second thought.

"What if you can't run away?"

"How could I not run away?"

Su Xiaoyue didn't answer right away. She was silent for a few seconds, then began to paint for him a world he had never imagined before.

"What if that person isn't just hiding under a chair? Underground, in the sky, inside the walls, every road you walk, every person you meet, she's everywhere, she knows what you're going to do next. Can you still run away then?"

Following her words, Jiang Yueming thought about that scene for a moment. A world with no escape rose in his mind, eyes staring at him from all directions.

This thought made him somewhat uneasy. He shook his head and retorted, "Isn't that just The Truman Show?"

Su Xiaoyue smiled sweetly. "Exactly, just like that movie. If your life was a huge lie, everyone around you an actor, everything you've experienced a script arranged by the director, do you think you could escape?"

Jiang Yueming lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up. "Haven't you been watching too many movies?"

"Is that any way to talk to a girl?"

Su Xiaoyue playfully hit him, her force light, just like a good friend would.

"Fine, fine. Then what do you think one should do?"

"I..."

Su Xiaoyue tilted her head and pondered for a bit. As she was about to speak, the bookstore door was pushed open.

Jiang Yueming's gaze passed through the thinking Su Xiaoyue and saw Xia He walking over with two bottles of Oolong Tea in hand, also noticing the situation on this side as she walked.

Jiang Yueming watched her expression change from initial puzzlement to a hint of annoyance. His body instinctively pulled away from Su Xiaoyue.

He didn't know why he did that, but his intuition told him he'd better keep some distance from others.

Su Xiaoyue was talking when she suddenly felt a shadow looming behind her. She turned her head and saw Xia He staring at her face.

"Hello."

Xia He spoke first, placing the two bottles of Oolong Tea on the table, right in the direction Su Xiaoyue had been leaning towards Jiang Yueming, directly between the two.

Su Xiaoyue froze for a moment, staring blankly at Xia He. After a while, before Jiang Yueming could sense anything amiss, she naturally bloomed into a smile.

"Hello there."

"What are you two chatting about?" Xia He glanced at Jiang Yueming, intentionally or not. "Looks like you were having a good time."

"Chatting about this book."

Su Xiaoyue held up The Human Chair, but it wasn't her own copy. She reached towards Jiang Yueming and took his copy instead.

"Have you read it too?"

Xia He's gaze followed those hands as they moved.

From reaching out, to naturally taking the book, to finally holding it up in front of herself. The whole process was smooth, and Jiang Yueming showed not a trace of resistance he should have had.

"I have. This book is written quite interestingly."

Xia He's gaze paused on the book for a second, then shifted to Jiang Yueming's face. "Oolong Tea. I'll leave it here for you."

Jiang Yueming grunted in response and reached for the bottle of Oolong Tea pushed in front of him.

Xia He wasn't looking at him. Her gaze was on the seat Su Xiaoyue occupied, that chair which had been moved, disconcertingly close to Jiang Yueming.

Xia He's face betrayed nothing—at least in Jiang Yueming's eyes, nothing was betrayed—but her heart was deeply displeased.

She sat down on Jiang Yueming's other side, then very naturally took hold of the edge of his chair and pulled it towards herself, like a parent pulling a child's chair closer.

Not just a little bit. A lot.

So much so that a clear gap opened between Jiang Yueming and Su Xiaoyue, and there was almost no distance between her and Jiang Yueming.

Su Xiaoyue watched her actions, the curve of her lips remaining completely unchanged.

"Are you Jiang's girlfriend?" she suddenly asked.

Jiang Yueming choked on this question. His hand, which was twisting the bottle cap, slipped, nearly spilling the tea.

"No," he said.

"Not yet," Xia He said at the same time.

The two of them spoke different words, their voices overlapping, creating a subtle sense of misalignment in the air.

Su Xiaoyue's gaze circled between the two of them, her smile deepening.