When Ye Qiusuo's message came through, Xie Xi was in the recording studio playing the drums. He had recently taken a liking to this, neglecting his singing, giving his team a break, and coming to bang on them every day.
After listening to her voice message, and even though he knew it was just to get measurements for glasses, the big star's heart beat louder than the sound of the drums.
After a moment, Xie Xi said with feigned reserve that he didn't know how to measure his facial features and was afraid the data would be inaccurate, asking if she could come find him if she had time.
Ye Qiusuo quickly replied: "We can come over now."
Xie Xi's attention was completely captured by the latter half of the sentence, 'can come over now,' completely missing the plural pronoun at the beginning.
He stood up, paced nervously for a bit, then said to Zhang Dong beside him: "Let's go back."
Zhang Dong was watching a TV drama. He let out an "Ah?" and said, "Bro Xi, you're done practicing?"
"She's coming to find me." The corners of Xie Xi's lips lifted slightly before he quickly pressed them down. "Let's head back first."
As soon as Zhang Dong heard 'she,' he knew who it was.
"Bro Xi, did you tell Professor Ye to go to the villa?"
"Not yet." Xie Xi gripped his phone, about to reply.
Zhang Dong earnestly advised, "Bro Xi, they say people are most attractive when they're focused on their work. I think it would be better to have Professor Ye come find you here, with you right in the middle of practicing." This way, he could also finish watching these two episodes of the drama.
Xie Xi thought it over carefully, found his reasoning sound, and sat back down: "Then I... won't leave?"
"Bro Xi, I'll keep watch outside for you. As soon as Professor Ye arrives, I'll notify you."
"Okay."
Zhang Dong immediately walked out of the recording booth to keep an eye out at the main entrance.
Only then did Xie Xi reply to Ye Qiusuo, sending her an address.
...
"Sorry to trouble you to come along." After hearing the address Xie Xi gave, Ye Qiusuo took the designer with her.
Sitting in the car, the designer couldn't help asking curiously, "Is Tianqiu developing some high-tech glasses?"
Tianqiu Technology had long been associated with high-tech in the public's mind.
Ye Qiusuo originally intended to say they were just glasses to correct dyslexia, but suddenly remembered that Xie Xi seemed to have never publicly disclosed his condition. So she gave an ambiguous acknowledgment.
Half an hour later, Ye Qiusuo arrived at the address Xie Xi had sent. She and the designer walked in together.
Zhang Dong, who had been squatting behind the main door, saw her and immediately sent a message to Xie Xi in the recording booth: [Bro Xi, Professor Ye is here!]
Xie Xi inside the booth had been waiting all along. As soon as he read Zhang Dong's message, his foot immediately pressed on the bass drum pedal and his hands picked up the drumsticks to start playing.
Meanwhile, Ye Qiusuo had already led the designer towards the recording booth. The hallway was lined with them, various sounds leaking from within.
She only stopped when she reached Xie Xi's studio, reaching out to knock on the door.
There was no response. She gave it a light push, and the door opened.
Xie Xi was playing the drums. He wore only a thin shirt, a black headband around his forehead, longer strands of hair falling outside it. A similar black wristband was on his wrist, making his skin appear even more cold and pale like jade, his profile breathtakingly handsome.
Ye Qiusuo stood at the doorway, stepping aside to let the designer in. She didn't go further, intending to wait for him to finish playing.
Xie Xi saw them enter from the corner of his eye, waiting for her to come over and call him. To his surprise, she didn't move.
Xie Xi almost stopped himself, but remembering Zhang Dong's words, he pretended nothing was amiss and kept going. Only after finishing the piece did he gradually stop, a light sweat on his brow.
"Professor, you're here." Xie Xi pretended to have just noticed her, getting up to greet her.
"Yes, sorry to interrupt." Ye Qiusuo introduced the designer beside her. "We need to measure your facial features to make glasses that fit you better."
Xie Xi understood this perfectly well; the optician had said the same when he first got glasses.
The designer rummaged in his bag for his tools, asked Xie Xi to sit down, and prepared to take the measurements.
Ye Qiusuo watched from the side. Before the designer began, she pulled a tissue from nearby and handed it to Xie Xi. "Wipe."
He still had sweat on his forehead.
"Oh." Xie Xi obediently took it, removed the headband, and wiped off the sweat.
The designer mainly measured the distance between his eyes, the height of his nose bridge, and his ears, taking other areas in passing. As he measured, he marveled inwardly at how exceptionally well-proportioned the young man's features were; the data could practically be used for 3D modeling.
"All done." The designer noted down the data and packed up his tools.
Ye Qiusuo said, "We'll head back now."
Xie Xi hadn't expected her to leave so soon. He stood up and asked, "When... when will the glasses be ready?"
"If the designer finalizes the design, they can probably be made in a day or two."
"It won't take me many days. I can have the design ready by the day after tomorrow at the latest," the designer said confidently from the side.
Xie Xi looked at Ye Qiusuo. "When they're done, I'll come find you to get them."
"Alright, come directly to the company." Ye Qiusuo nodded and then left.
After they were gone, Xie Xi stood where he was, motionless, until Zhang Dong slipped in.
"Bro Xi, Professor Ye left already? It hasn't even been ten minutes."
"She just came to take measurements." Xie Xi hooked a chair over with his foot and sat down, feeling dejected. "And someone else did the measuring."
As an all-around capable assistant, Zhang Dong felt compelled to solve Xie Xi's woes. After thinking, he said, "Bro Xi, didn't you invest in this project? You can totally visit often for check-ups. Once a month isn't excessive."
"Then if I invest in a few more projects, can I see her every week?" Xie Xi extrapolated.
"...Theoretically, yes, but Bro Xi, you seem to be out of money." He had heard that conversation with Sister Wei loud and clear—all the money in his accounts over the years had been withdrawn.
Xie Xi: Annoying.
"Ask Sister Wei tomorrow if there are any gigs." Xie Xi finally developed an awareness of needing to work.
...
Within a week, the eyeglass frames had been designed. Not only were there regular frames for daily wear, but also several sunglass frames. Ye Qiusuo had lenses fitted to them, resulting in ten pairs in total, all neatly boxed.
She then contacted Xie Xi, asking him to come pick them up and to test whether the glasses were successful.
Xie Xi arrived extremely quickly. Ye Qiusuo hadn't even finished reading a document before he was already downstairs at Tianqiu Technology.
"I'm going down for a bit. If there's anything, please wait." Ye Qiusuo came out and said to Zhao Guiyin.
"Understood, President Ye."
Ye Qiusuo took the elevator to the first floor, got two temporary ID cards from the front desk, and then walked to the lobby, where she saw Xie Xi sitting on a sofa.
"These are ID cards. You'll need to swipe them to go up later." Ye Qiusuo handed them to him and his assistant.
Xie Xi took his, feeling as if it still carried her body warmth.
Ye Qiusuo led them upstairs to the lab.
"These are your glasses. Pick a pair to wear first; they're all the same. You can try the sunglasses again later." Ye Qiusuo pointed to a row of glasses cases.
Xie Xi randomly picked a pair of glasses and put them on. Ye Qiusuo led him to a station, where she took out two booklets. The top lines of both had text, and the lower halves were filled with paragraphs.
"Feeling dizzy?"
Xie Xi shook his head. There was no dizziness at all, and the words in the paragraphs no longer danced or swirled.
"Write down what you see." Ye Qiusuo pointed to the blank space in the upper section.
This time, Xie Xi copied willingly, even feeling a bit nostalgic.
Ye Qiusuo stood beside him, watching him write. His strokes were almost all wrong; writing for him was like drawing characters, but at least the overall structure was finally complete.
"The glasses are effective." Ye Qiusuo felt relieved. "You can relearn how to write later."
Xie Xi was also delighted that he could see the characters clearly, his eyes brimming with intense joy.
"Wear them for the whole day first to see if there are any other issues." Ye Qiusuo pointed to the other three glasses cases. "You can try the sunglasses now too."
She had intended to watch him try the sunglasses, but a researcher called Ye Qiusuo over, so she had to leave Zhang Dong to keep an eye on things.
"Brother Xi, can you really see clearly?" Zhang Dong found it somewhat miraculous.
"Mhm." Xie Xi opened a sunglasses case, took out the sunglasses inside, put them on, and wrote another page before showing it to Zhang Dong. "Is it correct?"
Zhang Dong nodded. "Completely correct."
The corner of Xie Xi's mouth lifted slightly. "The glasses she made for me."
After putting down the sunglasses, Xie Xi opened all the other glasses cases and looked them over. Suddenly, he picked up the pair in the middle and asked Zhang Dong, "Doesn't this one look like the pair she was wearing just now?"
Zhang Dong examined it carefully. "Somewhat similar. They both have metal frames, but Professor Ye's has a chain."
Xie Xi fiddled with them for a moment and then put them on directly. "A chain can be added separately." Besides, he knew where to find an identical chain.
Zhang Dong sighed inwardly: To find a connection with Professor Ye, his Brother Xi was really going out of his way to spot similarities.
After speaking a few words with the researcher, Ye Qiusuo walked over. "Have you tried them all? How are they?"
"The sunglasses work too. I really like all these glasses," Xie Xi said bluntly.
He didn't dare say he liked the person directly, but saying he liked the sunglasses? That he could do.
"That's good. Wear them for a while first. If no issues arise, we'll start mass production here." Adopting the attitude of the project lead, Ye Qiusuo said seriously, "There will be a project plan then. You're welcome to come and participate when you have time."
Xie Xi, of course, agreed immediately. He promptly asked, "When?"
He even wanted to come tomorrow.
"First, give yourself some time to adjust." It was best to be cautious about such things.
"Then... can I come tomorrow?" Xie Xi asked, his mind running ahead of him.
"Tomorrow?" Ye Qiusuo was surprised.
Xie Xi pinched his palm, pretending to be calm. "Don't you need my data? I can come for testing every day."
Ye Qiusuo was taken aback for a moment, then said, "No need for such trouble. As long as you're comfortable wearing them and your eyes are fine, that's all that matters."
"Could there be eye problems?" Xie Xi asked.
"If the glasses aren't suitable, they could indeed cause issues for your eyes."
Xie Xi said gravely, "Then I'd better come every day. My eyes can't have problems."
Celebrities indeed had to pay more attention to their health, especially areas like the eyes. Ye Qiusuo expressed understanding. "That's also possible. Just let me know the day before you come. You'll need a temporary ID card to enter and exit the company."
This actually worked?
Zhang Dong stood to the side, watching his brother tell such a straight-faced lie. He felt sorry for Professor Ye.
"You're the first case. A batch of other test subjects will be receiving their glasses this month gradually, so don't worry too much." Professor Ye felt it necessary to reassure Xie Xi, after all, he was the first to wear the glasses.
Xie Xi, wearing the pair of glasses similar to the ones on Ye Qiusuo's face, listened to her comforting words, feeling utterly pleased.
Starting tomorrow, he would come every day, doing his best to get closer to her.
"Brother Xi." Once the two of them were downstairs, Zhang Dong burst his bubble. "Coming occasionally is fine, but every day is impossible."
"Why?" Xie Xi felt he had a perfectly good reason to come daily.
"You forgot? You asked Sister Wei to find you some work." Zhang Dong took out his phone. "She's already booked some."
