The atmosphere in the private room was lively, everyone laughing especially freely. Only Ruan Yu, watching Fang Wan occasionally brush against Teng Yi with deliberate casualness, felt extremely annoyed.
“Ruan Ruan, see that? Compared to white lotus flowers and green tea bitches, tomboy flirts are the most dangerous,” Jian Xiangxiang had somehow made her way to Ruan Yu’s side.
“Tomboy flirts?”
Xiangxiang discreetly gestured toward Fang Wan with her lips: “Like Fang Wan. Acting casual and straightforward, using the pretense of being ‘one of the boys’ to flirt with this guy and that guy.”
Flirt? That word was… perfect.
“You know what? The other day, I saw her linking arms with Zhou Xihe walking around campus. I was furious and went to argue with him. Guess what he said?”
Ruan Yu shook her head.
Jian Xiangxiang took a deep breath, calming her resurging anger: “Zhou Xihe said they’re like brothers, that they don’t see Fang Wan as a woman, and she doesn’t see them as men. Bullshit! I hate this type the most – knowingly getting touchy-feely with guys who have girlfriends, absolutely shameless. Of course, the guys are trashy too, they’re not losing anything, even enjoying getting felt up.”
As she finished speaking, Jian Xiangxiang gestured toward Ruan Yu again.
“Look, look! She’s clinging to him again!”
Ruan Yu followed Xiangxiang’s gaze. Fang Wan was swaying her hips, using dance moves as cover to put one hand on Teng Yi’s shoulder and another on Xiao Qing’s. It looked natural to others, but to Ruan Yu, it felt like thorns pricking her.
She lowered her head, grabbed some candy from the table, and popped one in her mouth, hoping to counter sourness with sweetness. But to her dismay, they were dried tangerine peel candies – naturally sour.
As Ruan Yu was regretting her choice and wondering whether to spit out the candy, she saw Teng Yi break away from Fang Wan’s “accidental” touch and stride toward her with the music.
“Ooooh!” People around started cheering.
Across the table, Teng Yi extended both hands to Ruan Yu, gesturing for her to take them.
“Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law!” Caihong and the others called out.
Ruan Yu was led by Teng Yi to the center of the crowd. Compared to the completely flexible Fang Wan, she was stiff-limbed, couldn’t dance at all, and couldn’t perform any of those fancy moves.
“I… can’t dance,” Ruan Yu lowered her head, feeling unconfident for the first time in her life.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to know how.” Teng Yi interlocked their fingers. “Just follow me.”
The music continued, and Xiao Qing picked up the microphone. This was his song choice, and as soon as he started singing, his voice overlapped with the original.
“I’ve walked the steepest mountain paths, seen the most magnificent sunrises, on midnight highways told the night sky I won’t give up, bet my life as a wager, even danced with the devil before, I’ve long seen through all those tricks, just keeping a bit of truth is enough…”
Ruan Yu swayed left and right like a kindergartener. Though they’d agreed she would follow Teng Yi, in the end, Teng Yi ended up following her.
Their hands clasped tightly together – she was clumsy, so he was clumsy; she was adorable, so he was adorable… The legendary street dance master had been reduced to kindergarten-level dancing, and he seemed to relish it.
The crowd watching them occasionally burst into laughter.
Gradually, Ruan Yu loosened up and fully embraced the fun.
Fang Wan had retreated at some point as if this celebration could only have either her or Ruan Yu, but not both.
No matter how skilled a tomboy flirt might be, she was powerless against a determined man.
A fly can’t penetrate an egg without cracks, and it takes two hands to clap.
The music grew more exciting, the laughter more uninhibited.
Throughout the entire process, Teng Yi’s gaze never left Ruan Yu, not sparing others a moment, and Ruan Yu’s eyes held only him.
They didn’t need words – the dance had replaced all speech.
–_–
Ruan Yu couldn’t remember how Teng Yi had pulled her out of the crowd. When she came to her senses, they were already outside the private room.
It wasn’t any quieter outside than inside, but they felt like prisoners who had finally escaped their cage.
They stood side by side holding hands, backs against the corridor wall, listening to the crowd inside searching for Teng Yi.
“Hey? Where did the boss go?”
“Yeah, how did he disappear so suddenly?”
Ruan Yu looked at Teng Yi, who raised a finger to his lips in a “shush” gesture. They exchanged quiet smiles.
“Want to go for a drive with me?” Teng Yi leaned close to her ear. “Just the two of us.”
Ruan Yu nodded.
It felt like both a spontaneous impulse and a long-planned elopement.
Only after getting into Teng Yi’s car did Ruan Yu realize something might be wrong.
“It’s your birthday today. Is it okay for the main character to leave like this?”
“Oh, so you knew it was my birthday?”
His phone had been flooded with birthday wishes all day, but none from her. He’d thought she didn’t know.
“I didn’t check my phone during the day. I only found out tonight when they mentioned it.”
“It’s fine, it’s not important anyway.”
“Of course birthdays are important. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to prepare a gift.” She held his arm and swayed it slightly, acting cute. “Can I make it up to you later?”
“No need.”
“Not acceptable.”
“No need.” He waved his hand, pushing back his sleeve and revealing his watch, which caught her eye.
Ruan Yu pushed his arm away, jealousy surfacing again.
“You’re willing to accept others’ gifts but not mine? What do you mean by that?”
Teng Yi vaguely sensed something was wrong but didn’t know what she was jealous about.
“Whose gift did I accept?”
Her gaze fell obliquely on his watch.
“You mean this?” Teng Yi pointed at his watch.
Ruan Yu remained silent, her expression confirming it.
Teng Yi laughed: “You’re even jealous of my mom?”
“Your mom?”
“Yes.”
This was a graduation gift from Shen Bing when Teng Yi entered university – a Breguet classic dual time zone watch worth several hundred thousand yuan.
“I thought it was…”
“Thought it was who?”
“No one.” She certainly wouldn’t say Fang Wan’s name.
Teng Yi didn’t pursue it further. On his birthdays, he never accepted gifts from others and never had cake-cutting or wish-making ceremonies. Firstly, he was allergic to eggs and couldn’t eat cake; secondly, he found it troublesome.
Friends used to make token gestures, but after understanding his habits, they gradually dropped both cake and gifts.
These past couple of years, his birthday was just an excuse for friends to get him to treat them, without any sense of ceremony.
“How can it be a birthday without anything? When I was little, I loved birthdays the most – blowing out candles, making wishes, receiving gifts.”
“So what gift are you planning to give me?” he asked.
“Uh.” Ruan Yu stammered. “I haven’t thought about that yet.”
“No need to think about it.” He leaned in close to her. “I’ll just take what I want directly.”
“Wha-“
Her words were sealed by his kiss, swallowing both her words and the sweet-bitter taste of tangerine peel on her tongue.
Perhaps because it was a gift, once given it became his, so he kissed her very composedly, unhurried, slowly savoring her taste.
Ruan Yu was conscious of her role as a gift. She actively wrapped her arms around Teng Yi’s neck, her lips ready – opening when they should open, welcoming when they should welcome, completely surrendering control to him.
The temperature rose inside the car.
The autumn night’s cold wind pressed against the car windows, quietly guarding this small secret of love.
–_–
Teng Yi took Ruan Yu for a drive around the Liao City Cross River Bridge.
The bridge was brilliantly lit, with yellow and blue LED lights alternating along both sides of the bridge deck facing the river, defining the boundary between the river and the bridge, making it appear like an isolated “house of light” in the darkness over the Liao River.
The “human-shaped” main tower was pure white and translucent, beautiful as a wonder.
Teng Yi had opened the convertible top.
Ruan Yu raised her hands, letting the wind pass through her fingertips. The streetlights scattered soft light like nearby hexagonal stars, seemingly within reach.
“Do you like this bridge?” Teng Yi asked her.
The wind scattered his words – they were so close, yet seemed worlds apart.
“What did you say?” Ruan Yu called out loudly.
Teng Yi raised his voice and repeated the question.
“I like it! I like this bridge!” she shouted, the first two words answering him, the latter two a passionate declaration to the cross-river bridge.
Using “super” wasn’t enough.
After a moment, she added: “It feels like a bridge leading to paradise.”
Such a literary expression didn’t feel affected at this moment. Instead, this description perfectly captured the beauty before them, neither excessive nor lacking.
Teng Yi nodded: “Great minds think alike.”
“Do you often come here for drives?”
“Sometimes.”
“How did you discover this place?”
Teng Yi thought for a moment.
His connection with this bridge began during the Spring Festival two years ago. Shen Bing had taken him and Teng Hao back to their hometown to visit relatives. They’d thought driving would save time, but before they could even get on the highway, they got stuck on this cross-river bridge due to a rear-end collision.
The long line of cars resembled a giant dragon sprawled across the bridge.
For two straight hours, the traffic ahead didn’t move an inch.
Teng Yi’s back was aching from sitting in the car, and Teng Hao was getting restless. Shen Bing suggested the brothers get out and walk around, so they did.
On the bridge, many drivers were squatting beside their cars smoking.
Teng Yi went to the side and did some simple street dance moves to stretch, with Teng Hao following along, imitating him. At first, no one paid attention to the two of them, but then a clear voice came from somewhere.
“Big brothers, you’re so cool! Can you teach me too?” A boy about six or seven years old poked his head out from a silver sedan behind them.
“Come on over!” Teng Hao enthusiastically waved to him.
With his parents’ permission, the little boy got out of the car and joined them.
Teng Yi now had two little shadows behind him – whatever move he made, Teng Hao and the little boy would copy.
The boy was clever and picked things up quickly. Simple dance moves were no challenge for him at all. When Teng Yi increased the difficulty with a handstand flip, trying to intimidate him, the boy fearlessly followed along.
Gradually, the number of shadows increased from two to three, from three to four… Several children, as if addicted to the fun, were laughing and playing, making the traffic jam wait enjoyable.
Perhaps it was from that day that Teng Yi first conceived the idea of starting a street dance training company, with children’s street dance as a key component.
For children who love movement and activity, children’s street dance was like a game – a “game” that could promote their intellectual development, enhance physical fitness, improve body flexibility, and help them develop imitation skills and aesthetic sense through following movements and rhythm.
He spent two whole years preparing for this idea.
–_–
The car left the cross-river bridge, that brilliant world gradually receding into the distance.
“To come up with such an idea from a traffic jam – you’re something,” Ruan Yu leaned against the passenger window. “Besides street dance, do you have any other interests?”
Teng Yi pondered seriously for a moment.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You.”
Ruan Yu was stunned.
“Me? In your heart, I’m just an interest?” She wasn’t satisfied.
“Mm-hmm.”
Still, agreeing?
She was even less satisfied.
Ruan Yu pressed her lips together, trying to give them both a way out: “I’ll give you a chance to explain. If you don’t explain well, I’ll get angry.”
“Love of my heart, joy of my heart. Is that explanation satisfactory?” His voice carried over with the wind.
Ruan Yu was stunned again, and when she recovered, she was overwhelmed by an immense sweetness.
“Ugh, so cheesy,” she complained verbally, but her face bloomed with joy.
Teng Yi also felt he was being quite cheesy, but as long as she was happy, it was fine.
“Are you really in your first relationship?”
“Yes.”
“Seems like you have a natural talent.”
Whether for making girls happy or speaking sweet words.
Teng Yi smiled. He hadn’t known he could be this cheesy before, but with her, these words just came naturally.
If this counted as a talent, then loving her was his talent.
The car entered the Higher Education District.
Throughout the drive, Teng Yi’s phone had been vibrating constantly with texts and WeChat messages. Those who hadn’t managed to send their wishes during the day seemed determined to make their presence known before the stroke of midnight.
He had good relationships with people – both in and out of school, he had friends everywhere.
And why wouldn’t he? Who couldn’t like him?
A street dance master with maxed-out professional skills, a gentleman showing courtesy and gentleness in every gesture, a handsome guy who was wealthy, generous, and loyal…
If she hadn’t met him herself, she couldn’t have imagined all these qualities could exist in one person.
As Ruan Yu was thinking this, Teng Yi’s phone received a call.
Teng Yi pulled over to the side.
“I’ll take this call,” he said.
Ruan Yu nodded, leaning against the window, and looking outside.
After the weather turned cold, students became less inclined to go out, and the small stalls near the school followed suit in closing down. The entire long street was desolate, with only a few outdoor restaurants still open.
Suddenly, she spotted a sweet potato stand.
“I’m outside… Do I need to report to you? Come on, I already paid the bill when I left…” Teng Yi was expressionlessly dealing with the bombardment from the other end of the phone.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Ruan Yu pushed open the door and got out of the car, walking straight toward the sweet potato stand.
The stand owner was a woman in her thirties or forties, her hair messily pinned back, cheeks flushed red. Though it wasn’t yet deeply cold, she was already wearing a thick military coat.
Under the woman’s military coat, a little girl was huddled. The girl had her hair in pigtails, her eyes bright, smiling radiantly at a very small cake on the stool.
Today must be the little girl’s birthday too. A single candle was stuck in the small cake, and the woman was softly singing the birthday song to her. The little girl hummed along, shyly swaying her little head as she sang.
Finally, the girl blew out the candle, clasped her hands together, and lowered her head to make a wish.
Whatever wish the girl made, she told it to her mother, and the mother and daughter collapsed into laughter together.
The orange streetlight warmed this scene thoroughly.
Ruan Yu stood quietly, her eyes suddenly moist, transfixed by the sight.