Fan Mei wasn’t convinced but there was no point in trying to make a person in love see what kind of trash they were swooning over. You just couldn’t get through to them. You had to wait until they were able to see it themselves.

Thinking this way, she didn’t insist on continuing the topic. In fact, she didn’t even continue to ask about Si Yi and Si Jin. She would have loved to just to maybe find a clue or put her suspicions to rest for real but she didn’t think that Si Qi deserved to be put through that. He might love to tell her all about Si Yi but it would needlessly hurt him.

As much as Fan Mei could be a nightmare to the people she opposed, she was also somebody who was great to the people she liked. Somehow, despite his affiliation with Si Jin and Si Yi, Si Qi had managed to squeeze his way into the latter camp. Of course, she wouldn’t do something that she could see would hurt him like that.

Suddenly changing the topic would seem too strange though so she thought for a bit and finally found the easiest way to turn it around. “Speaking of Mister Xiao, I was a bit surprised today. He is the same on the show as he is in his live streams.”

Si Qi noticed her deliberate change in topics but pretended not to. “He is. I can’t say I’m surprised. When I met him outside, he was exactly the same. Your thoughts on this are probably quite different but to me, he was very … empathetic. He listened and let me vent even though he didn’t really know me or Si Yi. It felt good.”

“You don’t have anyone to talk about this normally?” Fan Mei furrowed her brows. He had indicated that he felt like he didn’t fit in but she had thought that maybe this was a thing of the past. Now, it seemed that it wasn’t.

Si Qi sighed. “No. You’ll laugh at me for this but most of the people I know are also acquainted with Si Yi in one way or another. It’d be awkward to mention it. I was never somebody who had many friends. That hasn’t changed. I just … I don’t connect with people easily. I don’t know why.”

Yes, this was indeed a problem for him. Part of it was surely the Si clan and the secrecy surrounding it. That made it difficult to fit in with regular people. But even in the clan itself, he had trouble getting along with the others. His relationships were all shallow. The best one was probably still with Si Shi Yi but that was also because they both loved artsy things. It didn’t go further than that.

The others though, they didn’t seem to have this problem. Nobody was close to everyone but there were always one or two people they were closer to. Well, other than Si Er maybe but he was weird in the first place. And they also had connections to the outside world. It seemed that he was the only one who was stuck not knowing what to do with himself.

Fan Mei gave a hum. “Well, that just means it takes some more effort. What are you doing next week?”

Si Qi looked at her, his eyes turning round. “Next week?” Why? He really wanted to ask but he didn’t dare to. “Uh …” Considering that they still had the order to go out and mingle, he should find something valuable to do. But it wasn’t like he had had much luck with that last week either. “Actually, I’m not sure. I might be a bit of a homebody.”

“Well, that’s really not conducive to meeting people. You should go out more. What are things you like doing?”

Si Qi stared at Fan Mei, not sure what to think. He had invited her to have this talk for the Si clan. Now, it seemed that she wanted to coach him on how to make friends? How had this happened?

He had trouble keeping up with the change but as the ninja ranking number seven in the Si clan, he was also somebody who could regain control of his emotions and thoughts fast. “If I do feel like going out, then I am definitely somebody who is more inclined to quieter things. I loved going to that bookstore last week, for example. I also enjoy anything cultural. A book reading, a concert, an exhibition at a gallery or in a museum … I could spend hours doing these types of things.” He gave a smile, a genuine one for once, just thinking of the times he did something like that.

“I see.” Fan Mei pulled out her phone, typed for a moment, and then gave a couple of hums while scrolling.

Si Qi had a rough guess of what she was doing but he didn’t say anything. Actually, this was interesting. He only knew Fan Mei through the trouble she had made for Si Shi Qi in particular and the Si clan in general. His opinion of her hadn’t been high, originally, mostly because he hated the thought of how much extra work this would cause for Si Yi. But after observing her for a while, he started to understand her.

Now that they had private contact for the first time, he realized that his understanding of her had still been quite limited. Actually, she might not be such a bad person.

Finally, Fan Mei turned her phone around and held it up for him to see. “What do you think of this one?”

Si Qi looked at what was on the screen, his thoughts difficult. What she was showing him was an exhibition at a local museum with a tour in the evening. The topic was the cultural heritage of one of the minorities in the country. He had to admit that this was right up his alley.

Looking at it for a moment, he finally nodded. “I’d love to see that.”

Fan Mei smiled happily. “Alright. Let’s go and have a meal first. The exhibition starts at six so maybe we could meet at a nearby restaurant at four-thirty? Or is that too early to eat? Would you prefer going afterward?”

Si Qi stared at her and could only keep quiet for another moment. He had thought she just wanted him to go out more but she actually intended to accompany him? “Do you … really have time to do this?”

Fan Mei sighed while putting away her phone. “If there is one thing I have more than enough of, it’s time. You know that they let me go, right? So I’m out of a regular job at the moment. I guess it’s convenient when it comes to taking part in ‘Golden Spoon’ or going out with friends though. There is basically no time I can’t make these days.”

Si Qi wasn’t sure what to think. “I’m sorry.”

Fan Mei shook her head. “No, don’t be. You’re the smallest part of this whole matter. Anyway, I provoked the other side first. They just retaliated. Your article didn’t focus on me all that much. You put the spotlight on Bright Yellow Water and tried to whitewash their reputation. It was that other guy who exposed my identity who caused that to happen.”

Si Qi nodded but he still felt guilty. That ‘other guy’ was Si Er, so still one of the ninjas of the Si clan. It might be true that she had provoked it but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t hard to see this kind of outcome. “How are you holding up? Is it very difficult?”

Fan Mei shook her head. “It’s alright. I’m resourceful. In fact, going out to take a look at this kind of exhibition is also good. You know, I’ve thought about it and I don’t want to be put into the situation again where I have to weigh my decisions based on whether somebody might fire me for them. So maybe in the future, I’ll be my own boss. For now, I’ll give it a try.”

“Do you have the funds?” Si Qi knew about her family’s situation thanks to the fact that, well, they were one of the families under the Si clan but he still felt like he should ask. Who knew how things were right now after she had made so much trouble, after all.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ve always been smart about money. Also, in the worst case, I can rely on my family. They’re …” She wanted to mention how they were supportive but then remembered how Si Qi had said that his relationship with his family was strained. “Anyway, they’d take me in if things were really rough. But I don’t think I’ll need it. For now, I’ll start a new blog and maybe sell some articles online. It takes a bit of hustling but you can still survive that way. So … I need some content.”

Si Qi smiled faintly. “And this kind of exhibition is the perfect way to get that. I guess in that case, I don’t have an excuse to stay at home and mope.”

“Exactly!” She smiled proudly and wanted to lean back but then pulled out her phone again. “Right, let’s add each other on WeChat. I can also buy the tickets ahead of time.”

Si Qi gave a hum and pulled out his phone. “I don’t mind adding each other but how about letting me buy the tickets? You might not see it that way but I still feel like I owe you.”

Fan Mei shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. Although, if you do feel like you owe me, you can help me out another way.”

Si Qi raised his brows. It seemed she had some hidden thoughts? “What is it?”

Fan Mei leaned over the table and glanced around surreptitiously. “Well, how about an interview? If I start off with a banger like that, my new blog will be famous in no time!”

Si Qi stared at her in a daze and finally nodded. “Sure, if it’s nothing more than that …” He actually felt that he was getting off cheap. “When do you want to do it?”

Fan Mei pondered for a moment. “Well, I don’t want it to feel like work for you. How about I just throw in a couple of questions these days and then make an article out of that? Of course, you can read it over before I post it.”

Si Qi didn’t mind either way. “Sure. Is it going to be a special topic or just regular things?” With the type of fame he had gotten over the years, he had given many interviews. The thought didn’t bother him much. It was just that the person in question was Fan Mei. Even though his opinion of her had gotten higher today, that didn’t mean that he could be careless.

Actually, Fan Mei wasn’t sure how to answer this. “Well, this time, I want it to be a serious blog but a bit personal. So I’d love it to be about your job but also some more personal thoughts. If that’s alright.” She raised her brows and raised her hands as if afraid that she had assumed too much.

Si Qi thought for a moment and felt that it shouldn’t be a problem. Anyway, he knew his cover-up story by heart and some things could even be told directly as they were. “Well, I’m looking forward to it. I’ve given quite a few interviews but this is probably the first time it’s going to be like this.”

He smiled, feeling that the whole situation was funny. Don’t even mention the way she wanted to conduct her interview, his relationship with her was strange in the first place. He really was curious to see just how this would work out.