Chapter 25

Zheng Xiyu blushed, and she knew it.

The sudden spike in her body temperature was impossible to ignore. When she connected it to where her gaze had landed, it felt downright perverted.

It was such a nice photo. Tang Tianman looked so beautiful, smiling so happily. Yet the first thing Zheng Xiyu had noticed was their bodies pressed tightly together.

They had just been posing, with Tang Tianman cooperating fully. Only in the finished photos did the impropriety reveal itself.

For instance, Tang Tianman’s chest was pressed against her arm. Even through their clothes, Zheng Xiyu could trace the soft outline.

The worst part was that once her attention was captured, she couldn’t tear it away.

As Zheng Xiyu scrolled further through the photos, her eyes would sweep over every spot where their bodies touched. It was as if she both feared those overly intimate areas and secretly anticipated them.

Doing something like this behind the back of the innocent little one made Zheng Xiyu feel truly… shameless.

Eventually, reason took hold, and she began flipping through the photos faster and faster. When she reached the last one, she let out a breath and turned to hand the phone back to Tang Tianman. “They look pretty good.”

“Mm.” Tang Tianman took it without saying more.

Zheng Xiyu didn’t look at her. Instead, she turned her head to watch the leaves drifting down on the breeze.

“Still up for the movie?” Tang Tianman clutched her phone and tilted her head up to ask.

“Yes.” Zheng Xiyu immediately backtracked. “Do you want to?”

Tang Tianman’s head swiveled side to side. “Nothing else going on anyway.”

“Alright, let’s head out then.” Zheng Xiyu walked over to the picnic blanket, half-kneeling to pack everything up.

The bag felt much lighter on the way back.

But the atmosphere between them hadn’t improved at all—or at least, it hadn’t become more relaxed and natural, which was what she meant.

The timing was perfect. They arrived at the cinema just in time for the next showing.

Zheng Xiyu rushed to buy cola and popcorn, but Tang Tianman tugged at her sleeve. “Don’t you have a ton of snacks in your bag already?”

Zheng Xiyu felt a little foolish. “Right.”

Once they were seated, though, neither of them touched the food or drinks as they stared at the ads flickering on the screen.

The theater wasn’t crowded. People sat scattered in twos and threes.

The seats Zheng Xiyu had picked were a bit off to the side. The most awkward part was that the armrest between them was broken.

It wouldn’t budge.

Zheng Xiyu was about to give it another try when Tang Tianman whispered, “Stop messing with it.”

Zheng Xiyu’s hand froze. Tang Tianman added softly, “You’re bothering the other people.”

Zheng Xiyu straightened up and left it alone.

It would have been easy to fix—just move to other seats, with so many empty ones around.

But neither of them did.

They simply sat there, straight-backed and still, until the movie began.

They both watched intently. Whether they were truly focused was anyone’s guess, but they looked the part.

Their bodies stayed motionless, their eyes locked straight on the screen.

That held until the movie reached the central action sequence. A sudden, massive explosion jolted Tang Tianman. Her body jerked backward involuntarily as her hands shot out to grab the armrests.

Her left hand found purchase. Her right sank into empty space and latched onto Zheng Xiyu’s arm instead.

She yanked it back as if scalded.

No amount of frantic action or plot twists on the screen could recapture Zheng Xiyu’s attention after that. She tilted her head ever so slightly, watching Tang Tianman from the corner of her eye, where she wouldn’t be noticed.

The chaotic, shifting lights played across Tang Tianman’s face. In the dim glow, the shadows of her lashes grew deeper, fluttering with every blink.

Tang Tianman blinked a few extra times. Tang Tianman pursed her lips. Tang Tianman swallowed hard.

Tang Tianman was nervous.

Zheng Xiyu glanced at the screen. It was a legitimately tense moment.

And judging by the ominous background music and setup, something even more intense was about to hit.

Zheng Xiyu timed it carefully, splitting her attention evenly between the movie and Tang Tianman.

So when the next blast of sound and wave of terror crashed over them, Zheng Xiyu struck first—just a fraction of a second early— and took hold of Tang Tianman’s hand.

“Don’t be scared,” she whispered.

Tang Tianman’s hand was pale and soft, like a warm, pliant lump nestled in Zheng Xiyu’s palm. It felt nothing like her own.

In that startling instant of contact, Zheng Xiyu couldn’t tell whether Tang Tianman’s skin was impossibly smooth or whether her own palm was just too rough.

Tang Tianman froze completely. Her gaze didn’t waver, her body didn’t shift.

And her hand? It didn’t resist. It didn’t pull away. It simply stayed there, enveloped in Zheng Xiyu’s grasp.

A fierce impulse surged up from somewhere deep, bypassing Zheng Xiyu’s brain and igniting her nerves directly.

She gave the little hand in her palm a squeeze. One second later, she squeezed it again.

Someone died on screen, the display awash in blood-red.

The light washed over their faces too. It was impossible to tell if it masked their original flush or deepened it further.

After a long moment, Tang Tianman finally moved her lips. “I’m not scared.”

Zheng Xiyu coughed lightly and let go.

She had no clue what happened for the rest of the movie.

Truth be told, Tang Tianman didn’t either.

Her clever little mind felt stuffed with sponge, crammed full of useless fluff.

Afterward, they took a cab back to school. In the back seat, they sat with nearly a person’s width between them. Tang Tianman wasn’t sure what to say, and Zheng Xiyu was even quieter.

Fortunately, she could play it off as exhaustion. Tang Tianman leaned her head against the car window and watched the scenery roll by.

There wasn’t much to see: cars zipping fast or crawling slow, and the bare, late-autumn branches of the roadside trees.

The one thing that struck her came when they plunged into a dark tunnel. Zheng Xiyu’s face reflected vaguely on the window, the light and shadow distorting it into something unreal.

Tang Tianman’s heart clenched. She simply closed her eyes.

The cab pulled up at the school gate. They got out, exchanged a few polite words, and parted ways toward their dorm buildings.

It wasn’t until Tang Tianman pushed open the dorm room door that she finally exhaled a long breath.

“Yo~~~~~~~~~” Li Tong drew out the sound, dripping with sour envy.

Tang Tianman shot her a glance. “I didn’t know you could hold a note that long.”

Li Tong leaned over the edge of her bed, grinning with excitement. “Want me to do another? Even longer than that one.”

Tang Tianman dropped her bag and shrugged off her jacket. “Are you annoying or what?”

“Now I’m annoying? Miss Tang, your face sure changes fast.” Li Tong pointed an accusing finger at her. “What about this morning, when you begged me to answer roll call for you? Can’t burn bridges like that. So, how’d it go? You’ve got that indescribable look on your face.”

“Did the prof call my name?” Tang Tianman asked.

“Yeah, I pinched my voice like this…” Li Tong mimicked in a high falsetto. “Heeeere~~~”

Tang Tianman scowled. “Do I sound that gross?”

Li Tong nodded solemnly. “Yep.”

Tang Tianman leaned in close to Li Tong’s face and bellowed in a gravelly voice, “HERE!!!”

“Fuck!” Li Tong jumped back in shock. “What’s your problem with me? If you’ve got the guts, yell like that in front of Zheng Xiyu!”

Tang Tianman made a pouty face and climbed onto her bed to change clothes.

Li Tong still couldn’t hold back. “So what did you two even do? Don’t try denying you were with her—you totally were. But what? If you’re not telling me, at least spill to Ruan Ruan, right? You…”

Tang Tianman cut off her babble. “Took photos.”

Li Tong blinked. “Oh.”

Tang Tianman finished changing and hopped down to head to the bathroom. Li Tong leaped off her own bed, more excited than ever. “Not some boudoir photoshoot, was it?”

Tang Tianman’s towel flew without mercy, smacking Li Tong square in the face.

But Li Tong wasn’t wrong. If she wouldn’t tell her, she’d tell Ruan Ruan anyway.

A girl’s joys and sorrows—the indescribable mix of sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy—had to be hashed out with her close friends. She didn’t even need answers. That was just youth in all its messy glory.

They talked right there in the dorm, not really hiding from Li Tong. She’d skipped plenty of details, but Li Tong’s sound effects from the sidelines were as colorful as ever.

“Ewww~~~~~~~”

“Tsk tsk tsk…”

“Fuck, oh.”

“My god.”

“Irr~~~~~~~”

“Show us the photos already.”

Tang Tianman hesitated.

The photos were normal enough if you called them that—or not, if you didn’t. But as one of the subjects, she wasn’t the best judge.

In the end, she pulled them out. Mostly, she wanted her roommates’ verdict on whether they were actually normal.

Ruan Ruan and Li Tong crowded in on either side of Tang Tianman’s head as she scrolled through them.

This time, Li Tong stayed uncharacteristically quiet. Ruan Ruan was her usual unflappable self.

But when they finished, both let out long sighs in unison. They looked even more troubled than Tang Tianman.

“What’s wrong?” Tang Tianman asked.

Ruan Ruan propped up her cheeks in her hands. “You two are so skinny.”

Li Tong scratched her head. “You two have so much hair.”

Tang Tianman rolled her eyes. “Speak human.”

Ruan Ruan exploded. “Fuck, how is Zheng Xiyu that gorgeous? Damn, her look today is perfection. Why didn’t you bring her back to the dorm for a bit? My taste back then was spot-on. You two should just debut already—I could brag to people that I loved her once!”

Tang Tianman sighed. “Let me get you some water so you can catch your breath.”

Li Tong jumped in. “No need to breathe. I’ll say it.”

Tang Tianman just stared. “…”

Li Tong blurted out, “Just two words for it—where on earth did this match made in heaven pair of pure beauties come from? Old Man has such a sharp eye. I’m pretty perceptive myself. How about I bring city hall right here to you two? Got your IDs? We can get married on the spot.”

“Two words?” Tang Tianman asked.

“Perfect match,” Li Tong replied.

Tang Tianman lowered her head and fiddled with her phone for a moment. “It’s not as exaggerated as you all are making it sound. I think Old Man’s later parts still need some work. I’ll tweak them some more later.”

Ruan Ruan tilted her head. “Do you know that the way your mouth corners are turning up makes you look like a little frog who just found its mom?”

Li Tong grinned. “I really should snap a pic and send it to Zheng Xiyu so she can see this.”

Tang Tianman opened her mouth to retort, but her phone buzzed.

The words died on her lips. Ruan Ruan and Li Tong didn’t budge from their spots. With perfect synchronization, they both turned to stare at Tang Tianman’s phone.

It was a message from Zheng Xiyu—nothing out of the ordinary:

-Are you in the dorm?

Yet the three of them reacted as if it were anything but ordinary. Ruan Ruan turned to gaze at the ceiling, her expression one of melancholic sorrow, like a mother sending her daughter off to wed. Li Tong slapped her thigh and burst into an impromptu poem: “Gathering wild vines, one day without you feels like three months! Gathering mugwort, one day without you feels like three seasons! Gathering… Ruan, what comes next?”

Tang Tianman ignored them. She turned her back to block their view and typed back to Zheng Xiyu:

-Yes.

Zheng Xiyu: Wait a moment.

Tang Tianman’s heart lurched. What is she going to do?

But Zheng Xiyu didn’t reply. Panic quickly spread from Tang Tianman’s chest to her limbs. She paced in a circle before suddenly pointing at the door and telling Ruan Ruan and Li Tong, “Out.”

Ruan Ruan blinked. “???”

Li Tong’s eyes widened. “????”

“Um… you know, don’t you think… it might be a good time to go visit some friends or something?” Tang Tianman stammered.

“Nope,” Li Tong said flatly.

Ruan Ruan smiled sweetly. “But if Zheng Xiyu is coming to see you, we can be super gracious and understanding about it.”

Tang Tianman waved her hands frantically. “No way…”

Her words had barely faded when a knock sounded at the door.

A very familiar voice called from outside, dead serious: “Hello, Sports Institute water delivery.”