It was nearly nine when Teng Yi returned.
After picking up Shen Bing from the airport, he first took her home. Shen Bing was tortured by jet lag, yawning constantly along the way. She went straight to bed upon arriving home, leaving mother and son no time for a proper conversation.
After settling his mother, Teng Yi returned to the base.
Unlike his usual routine of heading straight to the practice room, today he went directly to the office at the end of the hallway upstairs.
The office door was ajar. Teng Hao was bent over his work, while Ruan Yu sat beside him, also writing something, both deeply focused.
Teng Yi watched quietly from the doorway for a moment before knocking.
Hearing the knock, both occupants lifted their heads simultaneously, wearing similarly expectant expressions.
“What? Were you waiting for me?” Teng Yi entered, seemingly addressing Teng Hao though his gaze fell directly on Ruan Yu.
Ruan Yu met his gaze and blinked.
“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you. How did it go? Did you talk to Mom?” Teng Hao asked anxiously.
“No.” This time his gaze shifted to Teng Hao.
“Why not?”
“Later. She was very tired today.”
Teng Hao pouted, though while anxious, he understood his mother’s exhaustion from the long journey.
Teng Yi walked to Teng Hao’s side, ruffling his brother’s hair with one hand while discreetly placing his other hand on Ruan Yu’s back.
Ruan Yu felt the warmth of his palm through her blouse, steadily pressing against her back. Her heart jumped, and then her whole body went soft.
“What if Mom doesn’t agree?” Teng Hao hadn’t noticed their subtle interaction, still absorbed in his worries.
“Thinking of giving up again?”
While talking with Teng Hao, Teng Yi’s hand moved downward, using his body as cover to secretly hold Ruan Yu’s hand.
“No, this time I won’t give up no matter what.”
Teng Yi gently scratched Ruan Yu’s palm, and she opened her fingers, intertwining them tightly with his.
“Mm, good boy.” His voice was deep.
It wasn’t clear who that “good boy” was meant for.
Ruan Yu didn’t dare move, this secret sweetness nearly overwhelming her.
“Is today’s tutoring almost over?” Teng Yi suddenly turned to Ruan Yu with a serious expression.
Though their hands were still tightly clasped, his tone was purely professional.
“Mm. Almost. After he finishes these problems and I check them, we’ll be done if everything’s okay.”
“Let’s go get some late-night food when you’re finished.”
Ruan Yu was startled – why was he making plans in front of Teng Hao?
“With everyone,” he added.
He was doing it on purpose, speaking with dramatic pauses, making her nerves unnecessarily tense.
“Is today special?” Ruan Yu asked.
“We have a new member, everyone’s getting together to welcome them.”
“Han Zuo?”
“You’ve met?” Teng Yi’s eyebrow twitched.
“Mm, ran into him in the hallway earlier.”
“How was it?” His tone was meaningful.
“How was what?” Ruan Yu didn’t understand.
“Nothing.”
He wanted to ask: How was it? Do you regret not letting him pursue you?
Thinking about it, such a question would be too blatant, too direct. He wasn’t the type to be easily controlled by jealousy.
“Can I come too?” Teng Hao looked up at Teng Yi. “Tomorrow’s the weekend, so it’s okay if I stay up late today.”
“Sure.”
“Yay!” Teng Hao was delighted.
“I’ll head out first, don’t want to disturb you.”
Teng Yi released Ruan Yu’s hand, but before turning away, he secretly winked at her.
That gesture was both roguish and playful.
Just like during the school anniversary.
She suddenly realized that her heart had started fluttering for him even back then.
–_–
Ruan Yu watched Teng Yi leave, her lips curved upward.
Teng Hao glanced at her, full of questions: “What are you so happy about? Is late-night food that exciting?”
“Nothing.”
“Hmph.”
The tutoring session ended right at nine.
Ruan Yu went downstairs with Teng Hao. Fang Wan was already waiting in the lobby, and others gradually emerged from the practice room to gather.
Han Zuo was chatting and laughing with Caihong and the others, seeming to have integrated well.
Teng Yi did a head count and noticed someone was missing.
“Where’s Shanzi?”
“He had something come up,” Caihong winked. “Heard him on the phone earlier. Seems like a fellow townsman wanted to introduce him to a girl. He didn’t want to go, but the girl was very enthusiastic about meeting him.”
Everyone shared knowing smiles.
“Alright, let’s go,” Teng Yi pointed across the street. “The usual place, skewer bar.”
“Skewers again?” Fang Wan walked out while covering her forehead, acting coy. “Having skewers with you guys every day is giving me acne. Next time let’s eat something lighter!”
“What do you want to eat?” Xiao Qing looked at her. “You want a bunch of high-energy guys to eat grass with you?”
Everyone laughed again.
“You’re terrible!” Fang Wan raised her hand to punch Xiao Qing’s shoulder.
Xiao Qing quickly dodged behind Teng Yi. Fang Wan chased after him, and the two played around with Teng Yi between them. Several times, Fang Wan used the excuse of trying to hit Xiao Qing to brush against Teng Yi.
Ruan Yu tried her best not to watch this scene, but catching it in her peripheral vision still made her jealous, as if her territory was being invaded.
“Enough.” Teng Yi stopped the two. “We’re crossing the street, stop fooling around.”
“You always bully me.” Fang Wan glared at Xiao Qing, then looked at Teng Yi. “Teng Yi is the nicest.”
Teng Yi didn’t respond, but everyone else started teasing them.
Red light.
Ruan Yu was so focused on their playful banter that she didn’t notice the traffic signal, walking forward absent-mindedly.
“Hey!” Teng Yi grabbed her suddenly.
The movement was rushed, not gentle at all.
Ruan Yu came to her senses, startled to see the traffic flowing in front of her.
“Be careful,” he warned from behind her.
Ruan Yu was already feeling upset and didn’t want to respond to him. She pulled away from his hand and moved a few steps to the side, accidentally stepping on Han Zuo’s foot.
“Ah, sorry,” she quickly apologized.
“It’s fine, doesn’t hurt,” Han Zuo smiled good-naturedly.
This small incident passed quietly, but Ruan Yu still felt unsettled.
The group entered the skewer bar.
The environment was nice. Although the main hall was lively, it was clean liveliness with just conversation and the clinking of glasses, and no customers smoking.
Teng Yi had called ahead to reserve a large table that could fit everyone.
When they sat down, Fang Wan as usual claimed the spot next to Teng Yi, then guided Teng Hao to sit on his other side. Teng Yi showed no reaction, and Ruan Yu couldn’t be bothered to compete. She sat next to Teng Hao, with Han Zuo taking the seat beside her.
The server brought menus.
Caihong helped Han Zuo order while others chatted and laughed.
Ruan Yu looked down at her phone but kept watching Fang Wan from the corner of her eye.
Fang Wan poured water for Teng Yi, handed him napkins, and reminded him about stains on the table… she was seizing every opportunity to flirt.
–_–
The skewers, drinks, and beer arrived quickly.
Everyone focused their conversation on the newcomer, asking Han Zuo everything from when he started dancing, what styles he danced, what competitions he’d participated in… more thorough than a background check.
Surrounded by questions, Han Zuo had no chance to eat.
Seeing the second plate of chicken wings about to be finished off, Ruan Yu quickly saved one for Han Zuo.
This simple kind gesture happened to be caught by Xiao Qing’s gossip-seeking eyes.
“Little Miss Top Student, don’t go after our handsome new brother just because he’s good-looking,” Xiao Qing called out, drawing everyone’s attention.
“I’m not,” Ruan Yu said anxiously.
She and Han Zuo had just cleared up their relationship, and now Xiao Qing’s teasing might make things awkward again.
“Then why did you dress up so prettily today?”
“…”
Ruan Yu was frustrated. She hadn’t expected her carefully applied makeup to be noticed at such a moment, and by Xiao Qing first of all.
Following Xiao Qing’s comment, everyone looked at Ruan Yu.
Under the lights, her face had a soft glow, her usually understated beauty now quietly radiant.
Everyone regretted not noticing earlier how beautiful Teng Hao’s top student tutor was.
“I…”
“They must have known each other before,” Fang Wan spoke up with a smile, her gaze sweeping over Ruan Yu and Han Zuo with some suggestiveness. “I just saw them chatting happily earlier.”
“Oh my, looks like something is going on,” Xiao Qing got excited.
Ruan Yu was flustered by the teasing. When she turned her head and saw both Teng brothers staring at her, she felt even more helpless.
“Ruan Yu and I are just normal friends,” Han Zuo explained.
But this explanation was subtly interpreted as a cover-up by everyone.
“Wait, wait, suddenly you look familiar,” Xiao Qing jumped up from his chair, rubbing his temples. “Han Zuo, were you at the Red Eagle Dance Competition that night?”
“I was.”
“That’s it!” Xiao Qing had a look of sudden realization. “So you’re the guy who exchanged WeChat with Ruan Yu that night! I knew you looked familiar! Oh… now it makes sense.”
“What’s wrong with adding WeChat?” Ruan Yu glared at Xiao Qing. “Isn’t that normal?”
“Normal? Then how come I don’t have your WeChat?” Xiao Qing smiled.
“I don’t have it either,” Teng Yi, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up. After speaking, he deliberately opened his WeChat QR code and held it out to Ruan Yu. “Add it now.”
Everyone laughed, not detecting Teng Yi’s jealousy. Only Ruan Yu caught the sour note.
The knot in her heart suddenly untied – let’s call it even.
“Didn’t you hear Xiao Qing? It’s not normal once you add it,” Ruan Yu deliberately said in front of everyone.
“Add it anyway,” Teng Yi insisted.
“Oh.”
Ruan Yu slowly took out her phone, opened WeChat, and scanned his QR code.
Only after the “beep” sound did Teng Yi’s furrowed brow finally relax.
“Boss, add Little Miss Top Student to the group later,” Caihong said. “Everyone should add her. We’re all friends, it’s not right not to have any way to contact each other.”
Teng Yi didn’t respond, just looked down at his screen.
Ruan Yu felt her phone vibrate. She unlocked the screen to see a message from Teng Yi.
“Eat quickly, I’ll show you something interesting after you’re full.”
–_–
Ruan Yu wasn’t hungry; two chicken wings and a can of cola already had her fighting back hiccups.
“I’m full,” she replied.
“Follow me.”
After sending this message, Teng Yi stood up and walked toward the back of the hall.
“Boss, where are you going?” Caihong asked.
Teng Yi had walked too far to hear.
Xiao Qing reached out to ruffle Caihong’s head: “Always thinking about Teng Yi. He doesn’t need you looking after him, hurry up and find yourself a girlfriend.”
Caihong giggled, saying how pitiful he was that no girls liked him.
Everyone started giving Caihong dating advice.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Ruan Yu also got up and left the table.
Behind the skewer bar was a small courtyard connected to the kitchen. Except for the servers in the main hall, all other staff were busy in the kitchen. After looking around, Ruan Yu saw Teng Yi chatting with the bar owner in the courtyard, laughing and talking like good friends.
She didn’t go over to disturb them.
Teng Yi noticed her come out, said goodbye to the owner, and strode toward her.
“Full after eating so little?” Teng Yi asked.
“Mm.”
“Afraid of getting fat?”
“No, just wasn’t hungry.” Ruan Yu looked around. “What interesting thing is here?”
He didn’t answer, just naturally took her hand.
“Come.”
She followed him through the courtyard and into the bar’s corridor.
The corridor was long, with dark blue lights flickering, making it feel like walking into a nightclub. Before reaching the end, Ruan Yu first saw a “fish wall.”
The “fish wall” was an ecological aquarium built into the wall during renovation. Blue water, green plants, swaying fish – from a distance, it looked like a miniature ocean world.
“How beautiful!”
Ruan Yu walked to the aquarium and pressed against the glass to look inside.
The bottom was covered with colorful coral rocks, artificial mountains in strange shapes, and lush water plants swaying with the waves. Silver-white and light pink fish swam slowly back and forth in front of her eyes, their movements graceful.
They puckered their thick lips, sometimes sucking algae from the tank or water plants, sometimes sweetly kissing each other.
They were kissing gourami fish, filling the entire tank.
As Ruan Yu watched intently, a pink fish swam to the front and forcefully bumped into another pink fish, like lovers kissing, staying connected for a long time.
While it was interesting, why had Teng Yi brought her to see this?
Just as Ruan Yu was wondering, Teng Yi’s tall frame suddenly loomed over her.
“Have you learned, little fish?” he breathed softly in her ear.
Ruan Yu’s ear tingled, and she instinctively tried to escape to the side, but Teng Yi caught her waist in one motion.
“W-what?” Ruan Yu stammered.
Teng Yi nodded toward the kissing fish.
“What do you think?”
Ruan Yu’s face burned hot under the dark blue lights. Her legs were nearly giving out, but her mouth remained stubborn: “I don’t need to learn at all.”
Teng Yi raised an eyebrow: “You know how?”
What did that expression mean?
Was he looking down on her?
“Of course, I know! I… mmph…”
Ruan Yu’s lips softened as her words were swallowed up.
She felt Teng Yi’s lips moving against hers, her eyes wide with surprise.
Azure light washed over them, fish danced, the world spun, and she clutched his sleeve tightly, completely losing her ability to respond.