Chapter 37

In the days that followed, Ruan Ruan rose early every morning for jogs, while Tang Tianman went out for night runs each evening. Li Tong, however, remained forever devoted to her bed. Even when spurred to exercise, she might manage a couple of sit-ups right there on the mattress.

Ruan Ruan always returned from her morning runs bursting with energy. That mix of enthusiasm tinged with tragic determination would carry her through half the day, steeling her against the grueling diet.

Tang Tianman, on the other hand, always came back late from her night runs, slipping into the dormitory building right at curfew and drawing the sharp eye of the dorm auntie.

In their tiny ten-square-meter room, joys and sorrows could be shared, but true understanding remained elusive.

Tang Tianman was riding high on her emotions. She asked Ruan Ruan twice if Jiang Xue had shown up at the sports field again, only to be deftly dodged both times.

Li Tong advised her to check her expression in the mirror before asking such questions, lest people mistake her excitement for gloating.

Tang Tianman stared at her reflection for a long time and realized Li Tong had a point.

Her mouth kept curving upward uncontrollably, and even when she didn’t notice, her eyes sparkled with mirth. Her whole demeanor glowed with pleasure—her skin radiant, flushed with a healthy pink sheen. If a reporter asked Tang Tianman right then if she was happy, she might have replied, “Call me Bliss Tianman.”

But happiness couldn’t last forever, especially when one got too carried away.

The CUVA Division Preliminaries finally arrived, a day Tang Tianman had long anticipated. Once she learned the exact date, she even booked a nearby hotel.

Then Teacher Li suddenly notified her of a conference she hoped Tang Tianman could attend with her.

It was a rare opportunity. Tang Tianman had joined Teacher Li’s research group some time ago, and though she had never been much of a studious type, she had poured at least eighty percent of her effort into it. For Teacher Li to invite her along now felt like real recognition and encouragement.

Of course she wanted to go—no one wanted their hard work to go to waste.

But skipping Zheng Xiyu’s match for it? That left her deeply reluctant.

Torn between reason and emotion, Tang Tianman stewed all afternoon. She skipped the library that evening and stayed in the dorm, brooding.

Li Tong and Ruan Ruan were both there, but she didn’t dare ask their opinion. She just sat on her chair, frowning.

Finally, Ruan Ruan couldn’t stand it anymore. “What’s going on? Did Zheng Xiyu bully you?”

“No way, how could she bully me…” Tang Tianman caught herself mid-sentence. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean her.”

“Has nothing to do with her? Now I’m curious.” Ruan Ruan climbed down from her bed and dragged a chair over to sit in front of her.

Tang Tianman blinked her big eyes. “Well, it’s not entirely unrelated to her.”

Ruan Ruan stood up and turned back toward her bed.

“Aaaah, it’s not like that!” Tang Tianman lunged forward and hugged her waist. “Ruan, save me! I don’t know what to do!”

Ruan Ruan: “Beg me.”

Tang Tianman: “Please, world’s best Ruan Ruan.”

Ruan Ruan: “Say it again.”

Tang Tianman: “Please, world’s slimmest Ruan Ruan.”

“Hey, spill it.” Ruan Ruan beamed and sat back down.

Tang Tianman explained everything. Ruan Ruan furrowed her brow. “You even have to think about this?”

Tang Tianman looked baffled. “You don’t have to think about this?”

Ruan Ruan reached out and slapped Li Tong’s bed. “Tongzi, come tell her.”

Li Tong poked her head out. “How do you know I’m listening? And why me?”

“You’re not deaf. I’m calling you out to show Tang Tianman that even a foot could figure this out, so why’s she been agonizing half the day?”

Li Tong: “You’re insulting feet—no, you’re insulting me.”

Ruan Ruan: “Just say it.”

Li Tong: “Not saying. I’m not Li Foot.”

Ruan Ruan: “I didn’t mean you’re a foot.”

Li Tong: “You mean my brain’s on the same level as your foot.”

Ruan Ruan: “That doesn’t sound wrong.”

Li Tong: “You’re dead.”

The two bantered on for a while before it devolved into a playful scuffle.

The dorm erupted into chaos, but Tang Tianman sat frozen in her chair, chin in hand, lost in thought.

Was the answer really that obvious?

Did they mean she should pick the conference?

But then she couldn’t watch Zheng Xiyu’s match.

They had planned to go to the match! It was a huge event! And now it was gone.

The key point was… the key point was… going to the match would basically be a trip with Zheng Xiyu…

This time, the event was in H City. While N City had already dipped into winter, H City was mild and pleasant, with sea and flowers—a perfect tourist spot.

She and Zheng Xiyu could do so much there. Maybe even share the hotel she’d booked…

Aaaah! Tang Tianman shook her head violently and slapped her cheeks with resounding smacks.

Li Tong and Ruan Ruan jumped, whirled around, and rushed over to pin her hands down.

Li Tong: “What’s got you so down you have to do this to yourself!”

Ruan Ruan: “Talk it out. We won’t tease you anymore.”

Tang Tianman pulled a pouty face. “You guys have no idea what I’m thinking, you…”

She trailed off without finishing.

Ruan Ruan caught on and let go, raising her hands in surrender. “Okay, fine, got it. Bai~”

She climbed back onto her bed.

Li Tong, still confused, asked Ruan Ruan, “What does she mean?”

Ruan Ruan: “She means you’re a dog.”

Li Tong: “Better than being a foot… Wait, what? Tang Tianman, you look down on single dogs???”

Li Tong retreated to her bed too.

Tang Tianman, looking all teary-eyed, pulled up her phone’s food delivery app and ordered treats for these two old timers.

One of them insisted on low-fat, low-cal options.

When the food arrived, Ruan Ruan said sincerely, “Any normal person would pick the conference. You’re not acting normal lately, so maybe don’t ask us. Go find another weirdo to talk to.”

Li Tong, munching cake: “Yeah, go to the Tall One. After twists and turns with no way out, the one who tied the bell must untie it.”

Ruan Ruan: “What’d you get on the college entrance essay?”

Li Tong: “Flexible application, you wouldn’t get it. This cake is so good.”

Ruan Ruan hurled a pillow at her.

The two started causing chaos again.

Tang Tianman realized they had a point. Most importantly, she hadn’t used up her daily quota of seeing Zheng Xiyu yet.

She messaged Zheng Xiyu on WeChat to ask when she had time. Zheng Xiyu replied: evening, usual time, usual spot.

Tang Tianman’s nose tingled. Look, we even have our usual spot. Why can’t we go on a trip together!

She jabbed at her phone, indignant:

– Emergency. Need to see you now. Ten minutes tops.

Zheng Xiyu:

– Canteen 4. Got twenty minutes for dinner.

Tang Tianman bolted out the door.

She jogged all the way to Canteen 4, not even bothering to fix her hair or clothes, and barreled straight toward Zheng Xiyu waiting at the entrance.

The momentum was too much, the speed too great. Spotting her, Zheng Xiyu crouched down and opened her arms.

Tang Tianman didn’t hold back. She crashed right into the embrace.

“Oof.” The impact was hard; her own face stung.

Zheng Xiyu chuckled helplessly and patted her head. “What’s the rush?”

“Super urgent! Critical!” To emphasize, Tang Tianman thumped her chest.

Zheng Xiyu’s face suddenly scrunched up in pain.

Her whole face twisted. It really hurt.

For a tough-as-nails girl like Zheng Xiyu to wince like that… Tang Tianman stared at the spot she’d hit, mortified.

How could she be so stupid? How could she hit her there!

Sure, Zheng Xiyu was on the flatter side, but she was still a girl—everything a girl should have was there!

“Aaaah…” Tang Tianman let out a string of yelps. She wanted to rub it better but realized groping her chest in public wasn’t appropriate. She flailed in panic.

“It wasn’t on purpose! Sorry, I didn’t notice. Does it hurt? My fault. I just swung without thinking. Who made you so tall? My hand just landed there!”

By the end, it almost sounded like Zheng Xiyu’s fault.

Zheng Xiyu couldn’t hold back her laughter at the sight.

“Ah, why are you laughing again? Doesn’t it hurt anymore?” Tang Tianman gaped up at her.

“Doesn’t hurt.” Zheng Xiyu said, “Just stung for a second. I’m fine.”

“It can hurt a lot sometimes!” Tang Tianman insisted. “I know!”

“Mm.” Zheng Xiyu leaned down to whisper in her ear, “My period’s coming soon. That’s why it stung. Don’t worry.”

Oh, period. Period.

Tang Tianman’s face flushed. “Mine’s about the same time.”

The mood turned oddly intimate.

But Tang Tianman just thought it was so coincidental, so fated, that their cycles synced up.

She didn’t delay Zheng Xiyu’s dinner any longer and pushed her toward the cafeteria. “Eat first. We can talk while you eat.”

When she thoughtfully bought her a drink, she made sure it was a hot one with red dates.

Zheng Xiyu sipped the drink Tang Tianman had bought and ate the tray of food Tang Tianman had fetched for her, feeling both flattered and a little uneasy.

Tang Tianman didn’t eat or drink, just watched her, which made Zheng Xiyu even more on edge.

“What is it?” Zheng Xiyu finally asked.

“I’m sorry,” Tang Tianman blurted out.

Zheng Xiyu paused for a moment, and amid Tang Tianman’s heartfelt apology, she imagined a hundred different ways that Tang might let her down.

Then she was stunned to realize that, when she boiled them all down together, there was really only one possibility.

Tang Tianman was going to run off with some other girl.

Or some other guy.

Whether it was running away or running off to do something else, none of it was allowed.

Zheng Xiyu stopped eating. She set down her food and sat up straight, looking right at her.

“No,” she said.

“Huh?” Tang Tianman blinked in confusion. “No what?”

Zheng Xiyu summed it all up in a single phrase. “No letting me down.”

Tang Tianman’s face scrunched up like a sad little pug, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. “You already know? Did Ruan Ruan tell you? I thought she’d never talk to you again. I wanted to pick you, I really did—but they all said even a fool could tell I shouldn’t. I don’t want to either…”

Zheng Xiyu fell silent.

This meal was over.

She stood up, reached across the table, grabbed Tang Tianman’s arm, and dragged her toward the exit.

Tang Tianman was surprisingly compliant. She didn’t struggle at all. She followed along at first, then broke into a little jog when she couldn’t keep up with Zheng Xiyu’s longer strides.

Zheng Xiyu pulled her behind the cafeteria, to a secluded and desolate spot surrounded by three tall walls on one side and the school’s perimeter fence on the other.

Beyond the fence lay a river that always swelled with seasonal floods.

Zheng Xiyu came to a halt. With a slight tightening of her fingers, she spun Tang Tianman around.

She pinned Tang Tianman into a corner where not even the wind could slip through, her face shrouded in the shadow cast by Zheng Xiyu’s body.

“Explain yourself,” Zheng Xiyu said. “Why didn’t you pick me?”

She thought her voice sounded calm enough, and that she’d kept her expression reasonably neutral too.

It wouldn’t scare Tang Tianman. It wouldn’t put any pressure on her.

But in the next second, Tang Tianman changed her answer without a moment’s hesitation.

“I pick you,” she said.

Zheng Xiyu froze. She decided that those two soft, flower-like lips were probably the cutest thing in the world.