Teng Yi watched as Ruan Yu got out of the car, but when he finished his phone call and looked up again, she had vanished. Just as he was about to step out to look for her, the passenger door suddenly opened. Ruan Yu tumbled in, holding a roasted sweet potato in one hand while shielding something with the other. “Quick, quick!” As she lowered her hand, Teng Yi saw a birthday candle stuck prominently in the sweet potato. “Hurry, blow out the candle, and make a wish!” Ruan Yu called out earnestly. Teng Yi couldn’t help but laugh at her unexpected gesture. “Top Scholar Miss, I’m truly impressed!”

“Hurry up!” Ruan Yu pointed at the candle that had already burned halfway down. “There won’t be time if you don’t blow it out now!”

“Alright, alright.” Teng Yi cooperatively made his wish and blew out the candle. This long-forgotten ritual now felt incredibly amusing to him.

“Done? Three wishes,” she monitored him like a teacher supervising homework.

He nodded.

“Good, now let’s eat the sweet potato.” She pulled out the candle, broke the sweet potato in half, and handed him one portion while keeping the other for herself. The warm, toasted aroma filled the entire car.

Teng Yi accepted his half and asked, “Where did you get the candle?”

“Borrowed it.”

“Borrowed?” he asked in surprise. On the cool autumn night, where could she have borrowed a birthday candle from?

“I found a child who shares your birthday and borrowed it from her,” Ruan Yu pointed to a sweet potato stand not far away. “That little girl over there.”

At the sweet potato stand, the mother and daughter were sharing a small cake. Their happy and content smiles seemed like a battle flag raised against the bleakness of life. Ruan Yu remembered how when she went over to wish the little girl happy birthday, she discovered the child had a cleft lip. Despite being somewhat shy and timid, the child remained friendly. When Ruan Yu asked if she could borrow a candle for a brother who also had his birthday today, the little girl agreed with a smile. That smile seemed as if it had been kissed by an angel.

The sweet potato was particularly sweet. After finishing his half, Teng Yi opened the door and got out.

“Hey, where are you going?” Ruan Yu asked.

“You borrowed something from them, of course, we need to return it,” he said as he strode toward the mother and daughter at the sweet potato stand. They had just finished their cake and were cleaning up when they saw Teng Yi approaching with his dreadlocks, their expressions immediately turning wary. Once Teng Yi explained his purpose, the mother and daughter smiled. He extended his hand to the little girl, both for their shared birthday and for that one candle that had filled several years of emptiness.

Ruan Yu sat in the car, quietly watching the tall young man, observing both his height and his kindness. Perhaps both he and that little girl had come into this world with an angel’s blessing.

After a while, Teng Yi returned with a bag full of roasted sweet potatoes. Behind him, the mother and daughter were happily preparing to close their stand.

“Did you buy them all?” Ruan Yu asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Can they eat so many?”

“They’ll have to eat them.”

“They?”

Just as Ruan Yu finished speaking, a slightly delayed group message came through on her phone. As it turned out, Teng Yi had already sent a message to the group. Everyone responded with dramatic wailing. They had already stuffed themselves with all-you-can-eat at the KTV, and now they had to eat a roasted sweet potato too – it seemed like torture. However, no one dared to refuse – after all, Teng Yi was the birthday boy.

The day after Teng Yi’s birthday, he went to see Teacher Jiang Weiguo, hoping he would give West Journey another chance to show their newly rehearsed piece. However, Jiang Weiguo flatly refused. His stance was that he had already selected the competition entries, and even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t recommend street dance. This directly angered Teng Yi, and even his good upbringing couldn’t contain the fury within him. He couldn’t help but argue with Jiang Weiguo in the office.

Throughout the argument, Jiang Weiguo kept fixating on the point that street dance was a foreign culture, remaining stubborn and immovable no matter how Teng Yi tried to explain.

“Teacher Jiang, I don’t understand why you look down on street dance so much. If it’s merely because street dance is a foreign culture, then forgive me for saying this, but your perspective seems rather narrow. Introducing excellent foreign culture doesn’t mean trampling on traditional culture – don’t we even have that much cultural confidence?”

Teng Yi left these words behind as he turned and left Jiang Weiguo’s office. This argument had no outcome, no winner or loser, but both were equally furious.

Ruan Yu didn’t learn about this until the afternoon. She messaged Teng Yi asking where he was, and he replied that he was on the rooftop. After finishing her broadcasting duties at the radio station, she hurried to the rooftop.

The rooftop was spacious. Teng Yi lay alone on a concrete block, one hand covering half his face from the sun, looking as if he had been lying there for a long time. Ruan Yu walked over and sat beside him. Hearing the sound, Teng Yi opened his eyes, and seeing it was her, he didn’t speak but simply pulled her closer and rested his head on her lap.

Ruan Yu raised her hand and gently stroked his cheek.

“Are you okay?”

He shook his head.

“Want to talk about it?”

He shook his head again and closed his eyes once more.

Ruan Yu understood and said nothing more. Those words of comfort and indignation – he must have heard them all morning until his ears were calloused. Right now, he just needed someone to be with him.

They sat in silence together. The autumn day was quiet, with only the rustling of falling leaves in their ears. The breeze amplified her clean fragrance, and his frustration gradually subsided.

After about half an hour, he opened his eyes.

“When I told you not to speak, you didn’t speak?” He gave her a faint smile. Even in his bad mood, he still smiled at her. This made Ruan Yu’s heart ache even more.

“What are you planning to do about Teacher Jiang?”

He let out a long sigh: “What else can I do? Just have to keep trying to convince him, thick-skinned as it may be.”

“Don’t let things get too tense,” Ruan Yu said. “It would be best if you could persuade him. A head-on collision won’t do you any good.”

Teng Yi nodded.

“Was the argument really bad?”

Campus gossip had spread like wildfire, saying that Teng Yi had gotten into a physical fight with Jiang Weiguo in his office.

“Not as dramatic as what you’ve heard.” Although he had been very angry at the time, he had remained relatively controlled overall, leaving room in his words for future interaction, not reaching the point of burning bridges.

“That’s good.” Her fingers played with his dreadlocks. “I think I understand now why you named the street dance club ‘West Journey.'”

“Why?”

“In ‘Journey to the West,’ the master and his four disciples went to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures, experiencing eighty-one trials. You all, bringing foreign street dance culture to China, it’s like retrieving the scriptures – you have to go through many, many difficulties.”

Teng Yi raised his hand, pressed the back of Ruan Yu’s neck, and pulled her down. Ruan Yu was forced to bend forward, her lips meeting his.

“Mmph! What are you doing!” She quickly pulled away.

Teng Yi smiled and kissed her hand instead. “Little Fish, you truly are my soulmate.” No one had ever truly guessed the meaning behind the name West Journey before – she was the first.

—

Although frustrated, Teng Yi didn’t give up. He thought, since he couldn’t convince Jiang Weiguo verbally, he would take action instead. Three days later, with Tian Cheng’s help, he figured out Jiang Weiguo’s end-of-day schedule. Together with Xiao Qing, Zhou Xi, and the others, they cornered Jiang Weiguo at the publicity office, and the five of them performed their newly choreographed street dance “Farewell My Concubine” right there in the office lobby.

“Farewell My Concubine” was Jiang Weiguo’s favorite Beijing opera. As soon as the prelude started playing, his anger dissipated, and he was even touched by Teng Yi’s thoughtfulness. Before coming, Teng Yi had instructed everyone to treat the publicity office lobby as their most important stage yet. None of the boys or Fang Wan dared to slack off, each performing more seriously than ever.

Jiang Weiguo was captivated from the very beginning. Teng Yi had completely refreshed his understanding – with proper choreography, Beijing opera, pop music, and street dance could be brilliantly and perfectly integrated.

When the performance ended, Jiang Weiguo naturally broke into applause. As he clapped, Teng Yi and the others breathed sighs of relief, though Teng Yi still felt awkward facing Jiang Weiguo, given their recent argument.

Fortunately, Tian Cheng stepped in at the right moment. “Teacher Jiang, didn’t I tell you Teng Yi would surprise you?” Tian Cheng linked arms with Jiang Weiguo while wrapping his other arm around Teng Yi’s shoulders, pulling them closer together. He kept nodding approvingly at Xiao Qing and the other dancers.

“It’s good, very good, but I’ve already selected the performance pieces,” Jiang Weiguo said.

“What piece?” Zhou Xi asked.

“Guzheng.”

“Come on, Teacher Jiang, every year it’s either guzheng or erhu performances. Don’t the leaders and judges at the arts festival deserve to see something fresh?” Xiao Qing spoke frankly.

“Xiao Qing!” Teng Yi shot him a sideways glance.

Xiao Qing obediently fell silent.

“Teacher Jiang, we mean no disrespect, and I apologize for my earlier confrontational behavior, but after seeing our performance, I hope you can give us and street dance a chance,” Teng Yi said with utmost sincerity. “Although street dance originated abroad, as you’ve just seen, we can create something distinctly Chinese by incorporating traditional elements.”

Jiang Weiguo still seemed hesitant.

Tian Cheng waved his hand decisively: “Come on, let’s take Teacher Jiang to see your base.”

“Base? What base?” Jiang Weiguo didn’t know about Teng Yi’s off-campus facility.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

The group moved en masse from the school to Teng Yi’s street dance training company. Jiang Weiguo and Tian Cheng rode in Teng Yi’s car. Along the way, Tian Cheng continuously educated Jiang Weiguo about street dance and its future development prospects, playing the perfect advocate. Driving in front, Teng Yi found the words increasingly familiar – these were all things he had once told Tian Cheng, who was now repeating them with his embellishments.

Jiang Weiguo seemed to understand some of it, and clearly, his prejudice against street dance was slowly being transformed.

When they arrived at the West Journey Street Dance Training Company, Teng Yi gave the two teachers a complete tour, briefly explaining the company’s current preparatory work and future development plans.

On the second floor, music could be heard coming from the practice rooms.

Teng Yi pushed open the half-closed door, and Jiang Weiguo and Tian Cheng peered inside.

In the room, a young man was practicing a street dance to the music. Despite the late autumn weather verging on winter, when people outside were already wearing down jackets, the young man wore only a T-shirt, with sweat visibly soaking through the back.

Jiang Weiguo suddenly felt a deep respect. He hadn’t expected that street dance, which he had dismissed as inferior, and these rebellious children were quietly building their dreams, working diligently and wholeheartedly in pursuit of their passion.

—

“Han Zuo?” Tian Cheng suddenly recognized the dancing young man.

The young man turned at the sound.

“Brother Tian, Teacher Jiang.” Han Zuo ran over to them.

Jiang Weiguo recognized him too – he was Cai Zhi’s nephew. They had met and chatted before at Cai Zhi’s barbecue gatherings, and he remembered him as a thoughtful and resilient young man.

“You rascal, already running with Teng Yi’s crowd!” Tian Cheng patted Han Zuo’s shoulder. “Thanks to me, right? How else would you have found your crew so quickly?”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Brother Tian,” Han Zuo said with a smile.

“Aren’t you a student at Hongshang University?” Jiang Weiguo asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Teacher Jiang, dance knows no national boundaries, much less university boundaries.”

“Right, right, well said! Very well said!” Jiang Weiguo nodded repeatedly in appreciation.

“Since we’re talking about Hongshang University, why don’t we ask Han Zuo what performance they’re planning for their New Year’s arts festival?” Tian Cheng seized the opportunity to gather intelligence.

“I’m not sure,” Han Zuo shrugged. “I heard it might be guzheng.”

Jiang Weiguo: “…”

Teng Yi led them further inside. In the next practice room, Caihong was also drenched in sweat. He was even more dramatic than Han Zuo, wearing only a tank top that exposed the large sleeve tattoo on his left arm, quite conspicuously.

Seeing Caihong’s tattoo, Jiang Weiguo immediately frowned.

Teng Yi gave Caihong a look, and he quickly put on a sports jacket, zipping it up to the top with a “zip!” sound, completely covering both the sleeve tattoo and the silver chain around his neck.

As Jiang Weiguo stared at Caihong, about to say something, laughter erupted from downstairs.

It was Xiao Qing and the others arriving by taxi, a few minutes late.

“Teacher Jiang, finished with the tour?” Zhou Xi asked.

“More or less.”

“Then come have some skewers with us?”

“No, no, I should go,” Jiang Weiguo declined.

“Join us, Teacher Jiang.” Teng Yi pointed to a skewer restaurant across the street. “It’s just over there, not far.”

Jiang Weiguo hesitated, wondering how it would look for him to sit and eat skewers with these kids.

“Come on, Teacher Jiang,” urged Tian Cheng, who was part of the group. “Since we’re already here, we should let Boss Teng treat us.”

Teng Yi nodded with a smile: “Teacher Jiang, don’t stand on ceremony with me. Look at Teacher Tian, he never does.”

“Hahahahaha…”

Xiao Qing and the others swarmed forward, half-pushing, half-pulling the reluctant Jiang Weiguo to the skewer restaurant across the street.

The restaurant owner gave them the largest table. Jiang Weiguo sat next to Teng Yi, initially feeling uncomfortable but gradually relaxing.

“Teacher Jiang, have some drinks,” Tian Cheng suggested.

“No, no, I don’t drink.”

Eating skewers was one thing, but drinking would be too much!

“Stop pretending, aren’t you known as the Wine Immortal of Yangshan?” Tian Cheng was determined to draw Jiang Weiguo into their circle. “Come on, bring Teacher Jiang some drinks. He likes erguotou.”

Teng Yi immediately arranged it.

Having already been drawn onto their “pirate ship,” Jiang Weiguo had no resistance left once alcohol was involved.

Teng Yi kept refilling his glass, and he kept drinking. His face quickly turned red, and he became increasingly talkative.