ASPWL Ch111: Zhang Qiran x Song Zhehan

The final stretch of the road to the mountaintop required walking. Zhang Qiran didn’t say another word to Song Zhehan, not even during the filming that followed for most of the day.

Zhang Qiran once again displayed his most practiced skill—avoiding.

Anything related to Song Zhehan, any topic, Zhang Qiran dodged whenever possible. If he couldn’t avoid it, he pretended to be mute and remained silent.

Song Zhehan understood—it seemed he had gone a bit too far, teasing Zhang Qiran until he was truly upset.

But Song Zhehan didn’t regret it.
After nine years, he felt that a missing piece of his heart was finally starting to return.

It was only then that Song Zhehan suddenly realized: he had never truly let go.

Of course, given his petty nature, how could he possibly have forgiven Xiang Yang so easily for leaving without a word?

Over the past nine years, Song Zhehan hadn’t just thought about it—he had even tried to forget that Xiang Yang existed. But he couldn’t. He still cared, still held onto the grudge.

Fortunately, today, Song Zhehan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Because the person he liked still liked him, just as he did.

Looking at Zhang Qiran sulking quietly, Song Zhehan felt nothing but satisfaction.

He couldn’t help but wonder: if he really pushed Zhang Qiran too far, would Zhang Qiran cry on the spot?

If he did cry, how should he comfort him?

Would a kiss scare Zhang Qiran?

Countless ideas flashed through his mind, but Song Zhehan only thought about them and didn’t act on any.

“Let’s wait a bit longer,” Song Zhehan thought.

However, what he hadn’t expected at all was that the next morning, right after filming ended and before he had even thought of how to tease Zhang Qiran again, Zhang Qiran had already run off.

Before dawn, Zhang Qiran left with his manager.

When Song Zhehan received the news, all he could do was laugh. But since there were still people around, he had to suppress the corners of his mouth repeatedly.

Turning away, he took out his phone, thought for a long time, and finally edited a WeChat message and sent it.

“Message failed to send. The recipient is no longer your friend…”

The smile on Song Zhehan’s face froze instantly.

The WeChat friend he had just added yesterday morning only had the system’s automatic greeting and a single transaction record in the chat history—clean and sparse, making the glaring red exclamation mark even more conspicuous.

Li Siyuan somehow appeared behind him and peeked at his phone, laughing out loud, “Whoa, blocked already, huh?”

His voice was loud, and the other guests who had yet to descend the mountain all looked over.

Zhou Zijian was the first to ask, “Who blocked you?”

“Was it Xiao Zhang?” Wen Xiangyue followed up.

Liu Yan was shocked, “Didn’t you just add him as a friend yesterday?”

Li Siyuan couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Song Zhehan turned around and gave them all a faint glance.

The others quickly turned their backs.

“Ahem… it’s about time. I’ll head down first!” Liu Yan grabbed her luggage and ran.

Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue followed closely, “We’re leaving too. See you later!”

Only Li Siyuan wasn’t afraid of Song Zhehan’s “murderous” gaze, laughing as he said, “Don’t rush. Didn’t he just delete you? You can add him back later. Besides…”

Without even glancing at Li Siyuan, Song Zhehan turned around and left.

That day’s filming had ended, but Song Zhehan still had a magazine shoot scheduled for the afternoon.

By the time the entire day’s work wrapped up, it was already the early hours of the next day.

Song Zhehan kept his work WeChat separate from his personal WeChat. Throughout the entire day, his personal WeChat was quiet, except for a few messages from his mother.

As soon as he realized that Zhang Qiran had deleted him as a friend, Song Zhehan immediately sent a new friend request. However, a whole day had passed, and Zhang Qiran still hadn’t accepted it.

In the nanny van, his manager sat beside him, briefly outlining the schedule for the next few days.

Leaning against the seat with his eyes closed, it was unclear whether Song Zhehan was actually listening.

After a long while, Song Zhehan suddenly opened his eyes.

The manager thought he had a question. “What’s wrong? If you’re not happy with this collaborating artist…”

Before the manager could finish, Song Zhehan took out his phone and opened Weibo.

The manager, puzzled, watched as Song Zhehan opened the search bar, typed in Zhang Qiran’s name, and found his Weibo account.

Although Song Zhehan and Zhang Qiran had collaborated in the past, due to numerous misunderstandings between them, Song Zhehan had never followed Zhang Qiran. On the other hand, Zhang Qiran had always followed him.

Song Zhehan clicked the follow button in return.

The manager opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

Song Zhehan quickly entered Zhang Qiran’s fan topic page and posted something.

“What are you doing…” The manager didn’t even finish her sentence before she saw Song Zhehan swiftly upload a photo. She recognized the dog in the picture—it was Song Zhehan’s dog of over ten years. Alongside the photo was a caption:

[@SongZhehan: I was wrong. #picture]

The manager: “?”

The manager: “Wait, no, hold on—”

Ignoring the flood of notifications on his phone, Song Zhehan put it away and smiled at his manager. “Apologizing. Didn’t you notice?”

The manager: “…”
You’re crazy!

She didn’t say it out loud, holding her tongue for a long moment as her rationality returned.

“So… this is your way of preparing to make amends?”

Song Zhehan nodded slightly. The light of the streetlamps flickered through the car window, momentarily illuminating his eyes.

The manager could see the joy and anticipation in his gaze.

To be honest, after knowing Song Zhehan for so long, this was the first time she had ever seen him wear such an expectant expression.

Thinking of last night’s overwhelming trending topics and the Weibo post Song Zhehan had just made, the manager sighed helplessly.

After a long pause, she finally said, “Zhang Qiran is a thin-skinned person. Be careful not to push him too far.”

This surprised Song Zhehan. “I thought you’d say I was being reckless.”

“You are being reckless,” the manager replied with a sigh.

But this was ultimately Song Zhehan’s personal matter, and the manager neither could nor wanted to intervene—even though she knew his Weibo post would skyrocket the already intense buzz to another level.

Trying to find some silver lining, the manager consoled herself that this might actually be a good thing.

Just two nights ago, Zhang Qiran had confessed his feelings for Song Zhehan with deep sincerity. Now, Song Zhehan had responded in his own way on Zhang Qiran’s personal fan topic page. The spectators and gossip accounts were probably laughing themselves silly.

The popularity would undoubtedly hit unprecedented heights!

More buzz meant more attention—a good thing, right?

With this thought, the manager finally relaxed, though she still added a final reminder: “Just go easy on him.”

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Song Zhehan nodded while holding his phone. “Got it.”

Throughout the ride home, Song Zhehan’s phone buzzed with notifications, but he didn’t even glance at it.

By the time he got home, it was already 2 a.m. After taking a shower, he finally checked his phone.

There were countless messages, most of them from Weibo. Without even looking, Song Zhehan knew Weibo was in an uproar.

But he wasn’t interested in those messages. Opening WeChat, he saw that Zhang Qiran still hadn’t accepted his friend request. Meanwhile, his mother had just sent him another message.

After briefly responding to his mother, Song Zhehan turned off WeChat notifications, set his phone’s ringer to maximum volume, and went to sleep.

After a full day of filming, he was exhausted. He fell asleep almost immediately upon lying down.

It wasn’t long before a sudden, urgent ringtone pierced the quiet night, waking Song Zhehan instantly.

Normally, being woken up by a phone call was one of Song Zhehan’s biggest pet peeves. But this time, there wasn’t even a trace of irritation on his face. In fact, his still-drowsy eyes carried a hint of starlit laughter.

Picking up the phone, he didn’t even look at the caller ID before answering.

On the other end came Zhang Qiran’s furious voice: “Song Zhehan! What are you trying to do? Are you crazy? Why are you posting on my fan topic? And what was that post even supposed to mean—”

“Zhang Qiran?” Song Zhehan mumbled, not even fully opening his eyes.

The anger on the other end halted abruptly, replaced by a hesitant voice: “You… were you asleep?”

The smile on Song Zhehan’s lips grew wider. The fish had taken the bait.

His drowsiness disappeared entirely as he opened his eyes. His voice, still low and hoarse with feigned sleepiness, carried a touch of deliberate softness: “Mmm… what’s wrong?”

The other end went silent for a long time before Zhang Qiran finally spoke, his voice much quieter now. “I… no, I just wanted to ask why you posted on my fan topic. I didn’t know you were asleep…”

Laughter filled Song Zhehan’s eyes as he reached over to turn on the bedside lamp, glancing at the time. “It’s 4 a.m., Zhang Qiran.”

“…I… Well, then you… Never mind, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait,” Song Zhehan stopped him. “Why did you delete me on WeChat?”

There was a long silence before Zhang Qiran finally said, “It’s really late…”

“Then accept my friend request, and we can talk about it tomorrow,” Song Zhehan replied calmly.

Zhang Qiran opened his mouth but said nothing, abruptly ending the call.

In the dim light of the room, Song Zhehan’s face showed no signs of sleepiness anymore.

Switching to a secondary account, he browsed Weibo, finding that his earlier post had already garnered over 200,000 comments.

Clicking on the comments, he saw a unanimous theme:

[@Zhang Qiran, what’s your take on this?]

And Zhang Qiran? He had only logged into Weibo about 20 minutes ago.

Was he scrambling to find his contact information?
Or could it be—

Song Zhehan’s lips curled slightly as he opened WeChat. There, he saw that Zhang Qiran had already accepted his friend request. The chat was now flooded with 99+ new messages and over 10 missed calls.

Song Zhehan couldn’t control the upward curve of his lips any longer. No wonder Zhang Qiran didn’t say anything after approving his friend request—it turned out he had approved it a long time ago.

As soon as the request was approved, Zhang Qiran’s messages came pouring in like a storm.  

First, he questioned the meaning behind Song Zhehan’s Weibo post, then explained that he didn’t intentionally delete him and had now re-added him. He asked if Song Zhehan could delete the post as well.  

Just about these few things, Zhang Qiran sent nearly fifty messages in a row. Then he asked if the dog in the photo was Gou Shi, inquired about Gou Shi’s recent health, and finally, started chasing answers as to why Song Zhehan wasn’t replying.  

After that, there were ten consecutive WeChat calls.  

It seemed like he was panicking. Without a reply from Song Zhehan, he must’ve gotten desperate and ended up asking someone for his phone number.  

The smile in Song Zhehan’s eyes deepened. He updated Zhang Qiran’s contact name in his WeChat and saved his phone number. When setting the remark, he hesitated briefly before typing three words: “Xiao Xiang Yang.”

After doing that, Song Zhehan logged into his main Weibo account and unhesitatingly deleted the earlier post. He then uploaded a new nine-grid photo post.  

This time, there was no caption, but all nine photos featured Gou Shi’s recent activities.  

After posting, he switched back to WeChat and typed:  

[Want to come see Gou Shi?]

The response came almost instantly: [Now?] 

Song Zhehan replied: [Why don’t you check what time it is?] 

Then added:  [When are you free?]  

This time, Zhang Qiran took a long while to respond:  [Maybe… let’s not.] 

Song Zhehan stared at the message for quite a while, his thin lips pressed tightly together, before typing:  [Gou Shi’s health isn’t as good as it was last year.]

After sending the message, Song Zhehan got up and poured himself a glass of water.  

He lived in a single-level apartment with one of the city’s most beautiful river views just outside. Standing by the window, looking at the glittering city lights, he heard his phone vibrate again.  

Zhang Qiran replied: [Then… how about the day after tomorrow?] 

As if afraid of being rejected, he quickly sent a few follow-up messages explaining: [Tomorrow I’m filming all day with the crew, so I really can’t make time.]  

[Is Gou Shi’s teeth still okay? Should I bring him some freeze-dried treats?]

[Are you keeping him at your place?]

The hard lines on Song Zhehan’s face finally softened. He replied:   [Send me your address. I’ll pick you up then.]

Not long after, Zhang Qiran sent over an address.  

After muting his phone, Song Zhehan set it aside and went to bed.  

On the other side of the city, Zhang Qiran was wide awake. After throwing his phone aside, he rolled back and forth on his bed.  

What on earth was Song Zhehan up to?  

Like Song Zhehan, Zhang Qiran was also at the height of his career. Even though he felt utterly socially defeated, he still had a packed shooting schedule.  

He spent the entire day filming with the crew. After wrapping up the final scene, before he could even say goodbye to the director, his manager rushed over to him in a hurry, informing him about Song Zhehan’s Weibo post in his personal super topic.  

When Zhang Qiran heard this, it took him a while to process. Then he raised his voice, “What did you say? Whose super topic?”  

The manager cleared their throat: “Keep your voice down—your personal super topic.”  

Zhang Qiran: “…”  

The set was bustling with people, and although the crew was busy, they weren’t as preoccupied as Zhang Qiran, so everyone already knew about it. Now, they were all eavesdropping with perked-up ears.  

Unable to bear the embarrassment, Zhang Qiran hurried to his dressing room.  

Once he opened Weibo, his notification feed was overwhelmed with mentions.  

Not only were random netizens tagging him, but even Song Zhehan’s fans and his own fans were joining in!  

This whole crowd! All waiting to watch him make a fool of himself!  

But could someone please tell him what Song Zhehan was trying to do?  

Fuming, Zhang Qiran opened Weibo, intending to scold him, only to remember that he had deleted Song Zhehan earlier. He quickly re-added him and began typing furiously.  

Initially, his tone was filled with indignation, but as the messages kept coming, Zhang Qiran gradually calmed down.  

Wait.  

Song Zhehan said he was wrong?  

Was he here to apologize?  

Thinking about the word apology, Zhang Qiran couldn’t help but recall the cable car ride and the moment when their hands had tightly clasped together.  

His face instantly turned bright red.  

On the way back to the hotel, Zhang Qiran kept sending messages to Song Zhehan. However, as the conversation went on, the topic gradually shifted.  

He even kept looking at Gou Shi’s photo repeatedly.  

Song Zhehan often posted pictures of Gou Shi on Weibo, and Zhang Qiran had saved quite a few. But this one was new, so he admired it for a while before finally arriving at the hotel.  

Before stepping in, his manager stopped him, “Got anything to say first?”  

Zhang Qiran looked puzzled: “Huh?”  

“About Weibo. You’re just going to leave it like this?” The manager looked incredulous.  

Snapping out of it, Zhang Qiran exclaimed, “I almost forgot!”  

manager: “…”  

Almost forgot?

What’s inside your head—just dating thoughts?  

The manager was speechless, watching Zhang Qiran call Song Zhehan on WeChat right there.  

But despite making ten consecutive calls, none of them were answered.  

An uneasy feeling crept over Zhang Qiran.  

Was Song Zhehan intentionally ignoring his calls?  

Then why did he post that on Weibo tonight?  

Not only had Song Zhehan gone to his personal fan forum to post, but even Song Zhehan’s fans and his own fans were teasing him…

Thinking about the comments under that Weibo post, Zhang Qiran’s face turned red.

After impulsively deleting Song Zhehan as a friend yesterday, Zhang Qiran quickly regretted it.

As the netizens had said, if Song Zhehan truly disliked him, there was no way he would have patiently listened to his explanations, let alone… use such a lame excuse like compensating for clothes to add him on WeChat.

He had even gone as far as demanding Zhang Qiran transfer him 52,000 yuan…

So what exactly was on Song Zhehan’s mind?

He had been the one to add him as a friend first, only to demand money afterward, then vanish without another word…

Although he had sent another friend request yesterday, Zhang Qiran was so flustered he had no idea how to respond and opted to ignore it.

Could it be that Song Zhehan was angry about being deleted?  

Was that why he purposely went to his personal fan forum to post Weibo—to mock him?

The more Zhang Qiran thought about it, the worse his expression became.

Seeing his prolonged silence, his manager sighed helplessly, made a phone call, and then sent him a number. “This is Song Zhehan’s personal number. Figure out a way to handle this with him. It’s late; I’m going to bed.”  

Leaving those words behind, the manager left.

Zhang Qiran stared at the number in his phone, hesitated for a moment, but still dialed it.

He hadn’t expected the call to go through right away. For a moment, he hadn’t organized his emotions and, feeling a little irritated, didn’t hold back his temper.

To his surprise, Song Zhehan had just woken up.

In that instant, Zhang Qiran suddenly realized—it wasn’t that Song Zhehan had ignored his WeChat messages; he had been sleeping and probably hadn’t even seen them.

The sour feeling in his chest disappeared instantly. Hearing Song Zhehan’s voice through the receiver, Zhang Qiran couldn’t help but smile.

Then, before he realized it, he was swept along by Song Zhehan’s pace. Somehow, he even ended up agreeing to meet in two days to visit Gou Shi together.

It wasn’t until no more messages came from the other side that Zhang Qiran snapped back to his senses.

What had he done?!  

Wasn’t he supposed to confront Song Zhehan?!

How had it turned into him agreeing to his invitation?!

And what about Weibo?!  

What was he supposed to do about that?!

Zhang Qiran felt utterly confused. His mind was a complete mess, but despite that, he couldn’t stop his lips from curving upward. He was even looking forward to their meeting in two days.

After rolling around on the bed a few more times, Zhang Qiran sat up and let out a heavy sigh. “Zhang Qiran, you’re hopeless.”

—

On the day of the meeting, Zhang Qiran got up early, but Song Zhehan was even earlier. With an hour left until their agreed time, Song Zhehan was already waiting downstairs at the hotel.

Despite feeling anxious, Zhang Qiran headed downstairs. However, when he got there, he didn’t see Gou Shi—just Song Zhehan, dressed casually, leaning against his car.

“Gou…”  

“In weather this hot, he usually stays inside to rest,” Song Zhehan explained, as though reading his thoughts. “Come on, let’s head to my place.”

Things had already come to this point, so Zhang Qiran couldn’t back out. He got into the car with Song Zhehan.

After they had been driving for a while, Zhang Qiran suddenly realized something. “This isn’t the way to your apartment, is it?”

At a red light, Song Zhehan turned to him slowly, a faint smile in his eyes, and looked at Zhang Qiran with great interest.

Zhang Qiran felt uneasy under his gaze and finally couldn’t hold back. “What are you looking at me for…”

“You know the way to my apartment?” Song Zhehan’s voice was light, but the teasing in his tone was unmistakable.

Zhang Qiran froze, his face instantly turning red. He stammered, “No… I…”

“Listen to me, I…”  

“I…”  

Song Zhehan’s lips carried a perpetual smile. He didn’t interrupt, nor did he say anything else, merely watching quietly. From his calm expression, it was hard to tell whether he was truly waiting for an answer.

As for Zhang Qiran, he couldn’t manage to explain himself.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, Zhang Qiran’s face as red as it had been that day after coming down from the cable car.

Song Zhehan, in a good mood, didn’t tease him further.

When the car finally pulled into a garage, Song Zhehan said, “We’re here. Let’s go in.”

Zhang Qiran, still unable to calm his nerves, glanced at Song Zhehan hesitantly before grabbing his phone and turning to get out of the car.

Suddenly, a strong hand gripped his wrist.

Startled, Zhang Qiran tensed up. “You…”

“Trying to run again?” Song Zhehan had already unbuckled his seatbelt at some point. With the press of a button, the car doors locked with a soft click.

Zhang Qiran’s pupils shrank. “What are you trying to do?”

“What am I trying to do?” Song Zhehan chuckled softly. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see Gou Shi? We just got here, and you’re already backing out?”

Zhang Qiran pursed his lips tightly.  

See him, my foot!  

Today had already been one humiliation after another!

—

Nine years ago, Song Zhehan had known Xiang Yang well. Even after nine years, Zhang Qiran hadn’t changed much.

Song Zhehan turned his face toward him and spoke lightly, “Why are you embarrassed? Didn’t you confess to me in front of so many people?”

Mentioning that incident was like striking a nerve. Zhang Qiran exploded, “Song Zhehan!”

In the next instant, his vision went dark. A warm, soft touch brushed against his lips, filling the space with the faint scent of Song Zhehan’s cologne. As he leaned closer, their breaths seemed to intertwine.

Zhang Qiran’s heart began pounding wildly, each beat more forceful than the last, as if it might burst out of his chest.

In a teasing tone, Song Zhehan murmured, “Xiang Yang, nine years later, you’re still just as silly as you were back then.”

Zhang Qiran stared at him, overwhelmed and flustered, yet somehow managed to retort, “I’m not silly.”

Song Zhehan chuckled. “Hmm, not silly. Just clumsy.”

Zhang Qiran’s face burned, his ears and neck turning bright red as he mumbled, “I’m not clumsy either.”

“Not clumsy?” Song Zhehan pressed. “Then why did you delete me as a friend?”

Zhang Qiran turned even redder, his eyes glistening as he stammered, “I… I…”

After a long pause, he still hadn’t managed to say anything.

Watching him, Song Zhehan saw his long eyelashes tremble slightly. Soon, a crystal-clear tear fell from his eye.

Song Zhehan’s heart softened.  

He had wanted to say these words ever since he realized this was Xiang Yang.

He gently brushed away the tear from Zhang Qiran’s eye, where there had once been a small black tear mole nine years ago.

“Zhang Qiran, if you’re neither silly nor clumsy, then you should understand what I mean,” Song Zhehan said.

Zhang Qiran blinked, more tears falling as he turned his head quickly to glance at Song Zhehan. His voice trembled as he finally broke down, “I… I don’t understand. I don’t know… Nine years ago, or even that day… You’ve never made it clear…”

He choked on a sob, unable to continue.

Song Zhehan felt as though the long-empty part of his heart had been filled with these tears.

“Look at me,” Song Zhehan said, gently cupping his face to make him meet his eyes.

Staring into those tear-filled eyes, Song Zhehan spoke slowly and deliberately, “I will only say this once, Zhang Qiran. If you don’t understand now, I won’t say it again.”

Zhang Qiran whimpered softly.

Song Zhehan pressed his thumb against his chin, looking into his eyes. In a voice heavy with sincerity, he said, “I like you too, Zhang Qiran.”