The yellowing streetlights and car headlights stretched the entire road, with neon lights flickering endlessly into the distance. A few more tables of customers gradually filled up at the outdoor food stalls, though business remained slow, with only scattered conversations.

Xu Zhi’s eyes silently questioned, “Is it okay?” Chen Luzhou pulled back his arm from the chair, letting it hang by his side. With his other hand, he picked up the small teapot on the table and poured her some tea, completely ignoring her hopeful gaze. Xu Zhi, growing impatient, tugged at his hand, shaking it and carelessly squeezing his palm.

He caught her hand, his warm touch pressing against hers. Xu Zhi’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat. They rarely showed affection in public, either going straight to their secret spot to kiss or seriously studying in the library. Xu Zhi hadn’t had much time to walk hand-in-hand with him around campus. Despite dating for so long, it felt like they had never properly held hands.

Under the table, his fingers secretly grasped hers one by one. Xu Zhi’s heart fluttered as he spread her fingers apart, slowly intertwining them and holding them tightly in his palm. Her palm was warm, and so was her head.

Chen Luzhou’s face remained cold and expressionless as he continued discussing the mathematical modeling competition with Li Ke, asking about the timing of the American competition. During a pause, he glanced at her, his eyes unusually playful.

Xu Zhi’s fingers scratched his arm, her eyes questioning, “Is it okay?”

Chen Luzhou looked back at her, “No.”

Xu Zhi, pouting, pinched his palm. Chen Luzhou calmly looked at her with an expression that said, “What can you do about it?” The two were engaged in a silent, intense standoff.

Li Ke finished eating his crab, wiped his hands with a napkin, and suddenly asked, “Xu Zhi, why did you decide to participate in the math competition? Isn’t your major quite busy?”

Xu Zhi snapped back to attention, her hand still held by Chen Luzhou. “Professor Wang suggested I give it a try. I thought he would participate too, but it seems you guys don’t think much of it?”

Li Ke smiled, “It’s not that we don’t think much of it. It’s just that someone has limited energy. He says dating takes up a lot of his focus.”

Xu Zhi looked at Chen Luzhou suspiciously, “Am I distracting you?”

Just then, the waiter came to serve the dishes. Chen Luzhou coughed, stacking the empty plates and handing them over, placing the new dishes in the center. He said, “No, don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Li Ke didn’t elaborate further, “Anyway, it’s up to you. If you want to compete for scholarships or graduate school recommendations, your current state definitely won’t cut it.”

Xu Zhi, lowering her head to eat the crab Chen Luzhou had peeled for her, suddenly said, “Li Ke, don’t pressure him. He knows what he’s doing.” She then picked up a piece of crab meat from the bowl, dipped it in vinegar, and held it to Chen Luzhou’s mouth. “Want some? I’ll peel it for you.”

Their other hands were still tightly intertwined under the table.

To peel or not to peel? Peeling meant letting go of her hand. He looked at her.

Xu Zhi seemed to guess his hesitation and said with a smug smile, “I’ll peel it with my mouth. It’s my special skill.”

The two across the table fell silent: “……”

That night, Zhu Yangqi posted on his social media:

[Some people eat crabs while secretly holding hands, others eat crabs and poke their tongues. I won’t say who, but when I find a girlfriend in the future, I’ll show you all up. *dog face emoji*]

Li Ke also posted:

[How long does the honeymoon phase last, seriously asking.]

Zhu Yangqi’s post was essentially a semi-official announcement. Most people had probably guessed already, given that he was Chen Luzhou’s best friend. The comments section exploded, mostly from girls with indescribable, complex feelings. Zhu Yangqi felt sorry for them as he read, especially those carefully probing without daring to mention his name directly.

[Does he have a girlfriend?]

Zhu Yangqi replied: [Yes.]

After replying, Zhu Yangqi sat in the taxi thinking: Xu Zhi is so lucky.

Then he thought, Chen Luzhou is lucky too. Xu Zhi has a great figure and good looks, she’s smart and quick-witted, not fussy, and always protective of him.

Finally, he sighed deeply. They’re both so lucky—

The unlucky one is me.

Damn.

*

The lucky ones eventually went to the hotel.

Xu Zhi had already booked the room. When she took out the key card from her bag to swipe it, Chen Luzhou’s gaze became particularly meaningful. “You’ve been waiting for me with the room already booked. Giving me a gift? I thought I was the gift.”

“Beep,” the door opened. Xu Zhi didn’t let him in, saying, “Wait at the door for a moment.”

Chen Luzhou was confused for a moment. Dressed all in black, with a sleek figure and tall stature, he stood at the door with his hands in his pockets, his tone a bit cocky, “What for?”

Xu Zhi’s clean, straightforward eyes peeked through the door crack, smiling ambiguously at him: “I’m preparing something.”

The door was closed.

Chen Luzhou naturally thought of some not-so-proper things. Based on his extensive viewing experience, couples in the early stages of dating would be eager to explore physical pleasures with each other. He would naturally reach this stage with Xu Zhi, but they were both not even twenty yet—strictly speaking, they were only nineteen this year. Some adult pleasures, to be honest, he didn’t want to experience too early.

So, without much patience, he leaned against the corridor wall, his eyes scanning the empty hallway. He knocked twice with his index finger knuckle, absent-mindedly. “Stop messing around, open the door.”

About two minutes later, Xu Zhi came to open the door. She hadn’t changed her clothes but had taken off her coat and thrown it across the sofa. She had changed into a pair of slippers.

Chen Luzhou came in and, finding nowhere to sit, perched on the edge of the coffee table. He took his phone out of his pocket and tossed it aside, pulling her closer. “What were you doing in there?”

Xu Zhi looked down at him: “Preparing a surprise for you.”

Chen Luzhou glanced around following her words, “Where is it?”

“It’s inside. You can’t see it yet.”

Chen Luzhou naturally misunderstood, coughing, “Don’t get too risqué.”

However, in the blink of an eye, she pulled out a cake from somewhere and placed it on the coffee table. She was now kneeling on the carpet, concentrating on lighting the candles with a lighter. The room’s overhead light wasn’t on, only a small wall lamp was lit. Her shadow stretched out, light as a feather falling on the carpet. The flickering candlelight danced on her face, her originally cool white skin taking on a warm yellow hue in the candlelight, gentle beyond words, and beautiful beyond words. Xu Zhi wore only a tight-fitting sweater, accentuating her shapely figure, slender shoulders, and back, with smooth, tight lines that invited imagination. She seemed not to have heard, kneeling there gently but firmly, lighting the candles for him without moving, while smiling and looking up to ask him, “Hm? What did you say?”

Chen Luzhou sat on the coffee table with his arms crossed, quietly looking down at her. His heart was stirring with waves difficult to suppress, like small fish unable to resist leaping out of the water. It seemed to ease a bit, but then more and more of these invisible little fish began to leap up and down in his heart, and some emotions became harder to control. But at that moment, he had only one thought: It’s good I didn’t leave.

Xu Zhi finished lighting the candles and pushed the cake in front of him. She crossed her arms on the coffee table, carefully protecting the flickering little flames, and said, “Boyfriend, make a wish quickly.”

He didn’t listen at all, carelessly leaning down and blowing out the candles without a word.

“You didn’t make a wish—”

She was kneeling on the carpet, and as she looked up, a dark shadow suddenly loomed close. Her mouth was covered, and the back of her head was caught. Xu Zhi was forced to tilt her head back, and a familiar scent seeped in densely.

The room was quiet, with the sound of intense kissing between their lips and tongues gradually becoming clear. It grew increasingly fierce, no longer muffled by the cicadas of summer or halted by the drifting snow of early winter.

The lamp cast flickering shadows, and their silhouettes intertwined like snowflakes, falling lightly on the carpet, never separating.

“It’s snowing!” Perhaps there were southerners among the hotel guests, particularly excited to see snow. They called out in the corridor for their companions to come see the snow—the first snow of the year.

Inside the room, the two remained unmoved, eyes closed, continuing their kiss quietly.

Chen Luzhou had taken off his coat at some point, pressing her against the edge of the sofa. One hand propped on the sofa cushion, he kissed her deeply and silently. The air seemed to have been fed a small fireball, the atmosphere unbearably hot. His other hand moved from her ear, slowly and teasingly downward, caressing her chin, neck, collarbone… Wherever his fingers brushed, Xu Zhi felt as if her whole body had been electrified, her scalp tingling, a shiver running down her spine.

Sparks ready to ignite were everywhere, and the air filled with rapid breathing.

Wild and dazed, Xu Zhi’s consciousness had already been squeezed dry. In her hazy state, she felt a firm squeeze on her waist, “Where’s the stuff?”

“On the computer desk,” she answered instinctively.

Chen Luzhou carried her to the bed, kissed her briefly, and then got up to fetch the items.

However, on the computer desk was only a square cake box.

There were no condoms.

He had originally wanted to buy some, but Xu Zhi said it wasn’t necessary. He thought she had brought them.

“There’s nothing here,” he said after searching around.

Xu Zhi lazily pointed her chin towards the cake box on the table, “Open it, it’s inside.”

Chen Luzhou lifted the lid of the cake box. Xu Zhi got out of bed, barefoot, and walked over saying, “I bought a cake box of similar size on purpose. Otherwise, this thing would be too conspicuous no matter where I put it. You’d easily find it.”

Chen Luzhou only now understood. This was his gift, about the size of an eight-inch cake, square in shape. It was a small model of a Western-style house, made of wood, using entirely mortise and tenon structure without a single nail. The interlocking of mortise and tenon was crucial; if one piece of wood wasn’t locked correctly, such a large house couldn’t be assembled. One of Chen Jishen’s friends was originally a carpenter and later opened a large construction company. He once said that among all building structures, mortise and tenon were the most intricate, time-consuming, but also the most solid. This model had four floors in total, with a small garden with a green lawn on the side. It must have been handmade by her. Just the design alone would have taken considerable thought, and such a large project might not be completed in one or two months.

There was also a card embedded on the side.

Chen Luzhou picked it up, reading the elegant handwriting:

“TO six-year-old Chen Luzhou:

Nineteen-year-old Chen Luzhou has nineteen-year-old Xu Zhi by his side. This gift is for six-year-old Chen Luzhou.”