Perhaps due to the cold wind on Christmas Eve, Cheng Liao caught a cold the next day. Her nose was constantly running, and she used up all the tissues she had brought to the office.
Yan Xiao tossed her own stash over. "Use them sparingly. Who knows how long your nose will keep running."
Sheng Jingchu called, concerned. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Her head was a bit dizzy, and she touched her forehead, feeling a slight fever. Speaking with a stuffy nose, she replied, "No need."
Holding her phone between her shoulder and ear, she made herself a cup of cold medicine. She took a sip and grimaced at the bitterness.
She muttered, "It's not so bad, except the medicine is too bitter." Then, with a hoarse voice, she reminded him, "Panda, remember to eat on time."
After that was the company's year-end review meeting. Xu Chi first gave a summary of the year and then laid out the goals for the next year.
The electronic display was filled with charts and data.
He was dressed in a suit and tie, his speech concise and efficient, yet not lacking in humor.
The young women in the meeting room were practically starry-eyed, occasionally letting out a sigh of admiration.
As he said his final words, he glanced at Cheng Liao in the audience.
She was sitting in the back row, bundled up like a chick that hadn’t yet hatched. Despite the ample heating, she still looked like she had no energy. She only perked up slightly when she heard the applause, hurriedly clapping along, a bit perfunctory.
After the meeting, Xu Chi followed her and overheard her taking a call before she quickly entered the elevator.
When he took another elevator down, he saw her at the front desk signing for a package.
He watched as she opened the package and found a bag of milk candies inside.
Her eyes lit up instantly at the sight of the candies. She pulled out her phone and made a call.
He could only hear bits and pieces of her conversation as she spoke softly.
"I got it."
"Actually, I prefer yogurt-flavored ones. Remember to get those next time."
"Okay, okay, I’ll have them with the medicine."
He had rarely seen Cheng Liao act coy. She was always cheerful, taking things lightly no matter how big the issue, rarely crying, but not one to be overly affectionate either.
He couldn't say whether this side of her was better than before, but he could clearly see her happiness.
Her smile had many meanings—a big laugh when she was happy, a self-deprecating smile when embarrassed, and even when she was sad, she would force a smile. She smiled a lot, but it didn’t always convey positive emotions.
But he thought this was just right.
Even if he couldn't always see her, she was happy, and that was good.
January 1st, New Year's Day, the first day of the new year.
Cheng Liao had invited Sheng Jingchu to her home for New Year’s, but unfortunately, the Go Academy was holding a celebration that day.
It had originally started as a small party thrown by a few lonely, single Go players, but over time, more players joined, and since many of them hadn’t settled down, they ended up spending the holiday together at the academy.
Cheng Liao asked him, "Are you performing?"
Sheng Jingchu paused for a moment and then said, "It might be a bit late after it ends, but I’ll come to pick you up."
Cheng Liao was very curious. It was rumored that the New Year's Eve celebration at the Go Academy was strictly confidential, with participants not allowed to bring cameras, and all phones had to be collected.
First, she went to Xie Hanzhou's Go dojo to deliver some gifts to the children, all handmade crafts by her. The quality depended on the kids' luck—some were quite decent, while others were purely abstract.
The academy was some distance from the Go dojo, and by the time she arrived, the New Year's Eve party had already begun.
The audience looked familiar to her—famous Go players who were often in the public eye.
Director Zhu saw her and waved. "Come sit here."
She looked around but didn’t see Sheng Jingchu, so she whispered to Director Zhu.
"Jingchu has a performance, he’s getting ready," Director Zhu replied.
Cheng Liao obediently waited, still not fully recovered from her cold, occasionally sneezing.
After watching for a while, Cheng Liao finally understood why the event was kept secret from the public—it was absolutely ridiculous. Yao Ke, Zhao Yanxun, and Ye Chen performed a comedy skit together. Yao Ke played the role of a village women’s director, Ye Chen played a pregnant woman, and Zhao Yanxun played the pregnant woman's husband.
The performance quickly went off the rails; none of them had memorized their lines, so they ended up improvising. Zhao Yanxun aside, Yao Ke and Ye Chen were typically known as the "Twin Jewels of the Go Academy," both tall and handsome with similar refined and elegant demeanors. Yet, here they were, acting in this absurd skit, all while keeping straight faces without breaking character.
Ye Chen, with a fake pregnant belly, stumbled as he stepped off the stage, popping the balloon hidden in his costume, which sent Director Zhu into fits of laughter, doubling over.
The host, Jiang Chunlai, had no prepared script and was winging it entirely.
"Was that performance ridiculous or what?"
The audience was in high spirits, yelling, "Ridiculous!"
"Well, there's something even more ridiculous—uh, I mean, even better. Please welcome our boy band!"
First up was Cao Xihe, who threw a flying kiss to the audience as he came on stage, earning a round of whistles.
Next were Guan Ce, Xie Hanzhou’s disciples Zheng Xinyu and Xu Heqi, and finally, Sheng Jingchu.
All five were dressed in sleek, black tailored suits.
The music started, and to everyone’s surprise, it was "Nobody," the classic dance track by the Korean group Wonder Girls.
Cheng Liao’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
The five of them wore microphones on their ears, singing and dancing at the same time.
Sheng Jingchu’s right arm hadn’t fully healed yet, so it was a bit stiff, but his moves were still spot-on, graceful and seductive.
As they reached the climax of the song, Cao Xihe even took off his jacket and tossed it into the crowd.
It wasn’t until the very end that Sheng Jingchu noticed Cheng Liao in the audience, causing him to momentarily falter.
Cheng Liao, mimicking an obsessed fan, shouted, "Oppa, saranghaeyo!" and made a heart shape over her head with her hands.
After the party, Sheng Jingchu and Cheng Liao left the Go Academy together.
Cheng Liao couldn’t stop laughing the entire way, and Sheng Jingchu felt a bit embarrassed. "The Go Academy is only this relaxed on this one day of the year."
"No worries, no worries," Cheng Liao said, still stifling laughter. "Do you have a performance every year?"
He didn’t respond, so Cheng Liao tried tickling his armpit, but with all the layers he was wearing, she couldn’t reach, though he still smiled and made a gesture of surrender.
"Not every year..."
Fireworks were being set off by the river, so they both stopped to watch.
One after another, the fireworks bloomed, eventually filling the sky with bursts of red, green, purple, and yellow, all mixed together in a joyful mess.
Cheng Liao grabbed Sheng Jingchu’s hand with both of hers. "Panda, happy birthday!"
January 1st, New Year's Day, the first day of the year, was also Sheng Jingchu’s birthday.
"Your birthday is great, it’s the start of a whole new year. Unlike me, who just gets a bit older."
In fact, when a birthday coincides with a holiday, people often celebrate the holiday and forget the birthday.
Sheng Jingchu hadn’t celebrated his birthday in many years, deliberately avoiding the day.
He didn’t like the noise and excitement because, eventually, the excitement would end, and the joy of gathering would be matched by the loneliness of parting.
He asked her, "Where’s my birthday present?"
Cheng Liao rummaged through the bag she was holding and pulled out a small yellow duck.
"I noticed you really liked this," she said, grinning as she waved the duck in front of him. "I picked this one out especially for you. Give it a squeeze."
Sheng Jingchu squeezed the duck’s foot, and with each squeeze, it made a "quack" sound.
By the fifth squeeze, the duck suddenly said, "Isn’t this enough already?"
Cheng Liao had been waiting for this moment and burst out laughing, tears streaming down her face. "Isn’t it fun?"
Sheng Jingchu nodded.
Then Cheng Liao pulled out something else. "I’m just teasing you. This is your real birthday present."
When she finally revealed it, she seemed a bit shy. "I painted it."
It was a fan she had painted herself and had someone make into a folding fan. She knew Go players liked to hold a fan while playing, as it was considered an art form in Go. Sheng Jingchu, however, never held anything in his hand while playing, likely because it wasn’t a habit of his.
Sheng Jingchu unfolded the fan to reveal a chubby panda, holding a cluster of bamboo.
"I took some traditional Chinese painting lessons when I was younger," she said, feeling a bit self-conscious. "The painting skills are so-so."
He folded the fan. "It’s perfect."
He wasn’t one for embellishments; when something was good, he simply said it was good, which was why the Go Academy never asked him to commentate on matches—he was too concise.
He thought this was a moment when he should say something else, but he couldn’t find the right words to describe how he felt.
He was, at his core, a very simple person, with simple emotions. He rarely got angry, and he rarely felt joy.
But after being with Cheng Liao, he began to experience a full range of emotions—anxiety, worry, sadness, joy, and... happiness.
Another firework burst in the sky, filling the air with crackling sounds.
He carefully placed the fan in the inner pocket of his coat, the spot closest to his heart.
He reached into the outer pocket of his coat, where he had a gift for Cheng Liao.
Just then, his phone rang. He answered it.
Cheng Liao couldn’t hear what was being said, but she noticed Sheng Jingchu’s expression growing more serious.
When he finally hung up, he remained silent for a long time.
Cheng Liao asked, "What’s wrong?"
He replied, "My teacher has passed away."
The day after Xie Hanzhou’s death, Cao Xihe rushed to Hangzhou. Before leaving Jiangcheng, he announced to the media that due to his mentor’s passing, he would be withdrawing from the 'Ji Shi Cup' Go tournament to focus on handling the funeral arrangements.
Cheng Liao’s colleague was sent to cover the story and reported that Cao Xihe had cried so hard at the funeral that he fainted.
In contrast to Cao Xihe’s profound grief, Sheng Jingchu was remarkably calm. He did not attend Xie Hanzhou’s funeral, nor did he post any tributes on social media.
The media harshly criticized Sheng Jingchu for being cold and unfeeling. At first, his fans defended him, but gradually, they too began to doubt him, leaving thousands of comments on his Weibo. Some accused him of being heartless, while others demanded an explanation. Only a small number believed that Sheng Jingchu must also be deeply saddened.
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