By the time Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing had said goodnight to each other it was half past ten.

He didn't put the phone down straight away, though — he messaged Pei Youwei first, to ask how the Taobao store was doing.

Since the store had gone live Pei Youwei had been staying at the office until late every night. She saw Xu Ye's message and replied at once, smiling. "Operations just told me we had a spike — we've sold over a hundred pieces today."

Xu Ye: "Sounds like business keeps getting better. Tell after-sales to pay more attention and keep the review rating where it is if they can. That part's critical."

Pei Youwei: "Mm, I've already expanded the Taobao team."

Xu Ye: "I'll say something to my classmates tomorrow morning and pad another round of reviews. I'll send you the order numbers and you can just ship empty packages."

Pei Youwei: "Is it all right to let your classmates in on this?"

Pei Youwei: "Won't it make you lose face?"

Xu Ye: "What do I want with face when I'm doing business?"

Pei Youwei: "/thumbs-up."

Xu Ye: "All right, it's late. I'm going to sleep. You get to bed early too."

Pei Youwei: "Mm."

Xu Ye had barely tucked the phone under his pillow when it went off again. He assumed Pei Youwei had sent something else and dug it out to look — but the person messaging him wasn't Pei Youwei. It was... Li Lulu.

Li Lulu: "Asleep?"

Xu Ye: "Just about to. Something up?"

Li Lulu: "I'm sorry about tonight. The student union is a mixed bag — you get all sorts. Don't hold it against us."

Xu Ye: "It's fine. I don't run into them normally anyway."

Li Lulu: "How about I take you to dinner tomorrow, just the two of us, to make up for it?"

Xu Ye: "No need to go to any trouble."

Xu Ye: "I'm going to see my girlfriend tomorrow."

Xu Ye: "I'm tired. Going to sleep."

Li Lulu: "Okey~"

Li Lulu: "Night~"

Xu Ye didn't reply again. He…