No matter how much Qian Chuan disparaged tango, Qian Wei kept up her intensive short-term training regimen with Lu Xun. Unfortunately, because of how slow his progress was, the daily hour-long practice session had to be extended to two hours.

Yet Lu Xun still didn’t seem satisfied. “Can’t we keep practicing a bit longer today?”

Qian Wei checked the time. “How about we practice more tomorrow? Today really doesn’t work, I’ve got plans with someone.”

Lu Xun’s voice turned sour. “Oh, a date?”

“Studying!” Qian Wei blinked, then decided to offer some comfort to the still-single Lu Xun, explaining rather rarely, “This really is studying, I’ve arranged for Li Chongwen to go over some real criminal law exam questions with me.”

Lu Xun’s expression eased up slightly. “Criminal law questions, huh? I could go over those with you too, you know.”

“No need, no need, I don’t want to trouble you.” Qian Wei waved her hands quickly. Having Li Chongwen tutor her in criminal law was something she’d deliberately arranged herself, because only this way could she treat him to dinner afterward under the guise of thanks.

But this time, Lu Xun was surprisingly insistent. “It’s no trouble. Every time after we finish dancing, I can just go over it with you.” He looked away. “Consider it my thanks for practicing with me. You don’t need to keep bothering Li Chongwen.”

“Really, no need. I’ve had a standing arrangement with Li Chongwen for a while now for criminal law, we already settled it, it’s no trouble at all.”

“I always score better than him on the criminal law pop quizzes.”

“Li Chongwen doesn’t score badly either.”

Lu Xun fell silent. He showed no expression on his face, and yet Qian Wei somehow felt he was sulking.

“You regularly study criminal law with Li Chongwen?”

“Yeah!”

“And Mo Tao’s fine with that? The frequency of your criminal law study sessions is starting to rival how often you actually go on dates with him. Being his girlfriend must be rough on him. Doesn’t he say anything about it?” Lu Xun’s tone turned sarcastic. “Or maybe he just doesn’t like you enough, which is why he lets you do whatever you want.”

Qian Wei blinked, then realized what he meant. She gave a couple of chuckles and decided to flex a little in front of Lu Xun. “I made it clear to Mo Tao from the start — if he wants to be my boyfriend, he needs to be sensible and considerate, gentle and virtuous, you know, understanding, seeing the bigger picture, and absolutely not interfering in my life.”

“…” Lu Xun said nothing, but his face was plainly written all over with disbelief.

“Alright, don’t worry about Mo Tao, worry about yourself.” As Qian Wei packed up, something came to mind. “Oh right, I borrowed you a bunch of books, forgot to give them to you earlier, take them back and read them properly.”

Lu Xun looked down to see Qian Wei handing him a stack of books.

“28 Heart-Moving Ways to Talk, How to Pursue a Girl, Dating Techniques, Get Someone to Like You in One Minute…” Lu Xun read the titles aloud, his expression darkening. “Qian Wei, what is all this?”

“I carefully selected these for you based on the online reviews, so you’d better go strengthen your theoretical foundation! It’s almost time for my meeting with Li Chongwen, I’ll talk to you later, gotta go!”

After half a month of practice, Qian Wei decided it was time to check the results.

“We’ve been breaking down and practicing each move of the tango individually every day, so today let’s dance the whole thing through from start to finish.”

Qian Wei turned on the music, and the opening bars of Por Una Cabeza began to play. She walked forward slowly, taking the tango stance, and gently drew Lu Xun into her arms.

She hadn’t held out much hope going into this full run-through with Lu Xun, since he’d been so clumsy during regular practice, and she’d already braced herself for him stepping on her feet.

But whether it was the accumulated practice finally paying off or something else, Lu Xun didn’t make a single mistake — in fact, his execution was even more skillful than Qian Wei’s own.

His footwork was elegant, fluid, and natural, every gesture exuding effortless charm. Drawing close, following, leading — like a deliberate seduction, or a tentative approach that kept its distance. Nothing needed to be said, yet everything was a message — the light brush of toes touching, the occasional graze of a calf, the tight embrace around the waist, the perfectly timed turns, and all those unspoken understandings, that rhythm that seemed to speak without words.

Every tango step Qian Wei knew had been taught to her by Lu Xun himself, and now, here she was dancing the very moves he’d taught her, in the arms of his nineteen-year-old self.

The twenty-eight-year-old Lu Xun was more mature and reserved — even when their eyes occasionally met, his gaze was calm and deep. But the nineteen-year-old Lu Xun was ardent and unrestrained.

Perhaps tango was the dance best suited to Lu Xun’s nature — quietly smoldering, yet full of temptation, drawing near, then pulling away; teasing, then ignoring; embracing you, yet never quite fixing his gaze on you.

Tango had a life of its own, and as the dance built toward its peak, Lu Xun finally let go of everything, his entire being radiating that elusive, simmering charge along with every step of the tango, those beautiful eyes brimming with an addictive allure. Qian Wei never imagined that the nineteen-year-old Lu Xun could dance the tango with such raw sensuality and desire.

Instinctively, Qian Wei found she couldn’t look directly into Lu Xun’s eyes. She closed her own, letting her body follow his lead.

But Lu Xun’s face was far too close to hers, his warm breath brushing lightly against her cheek, grazing her lashes, the heat of it almost scorching. Qian Wei suddenly felt as though even that classic background music had faded away entirely, and inside her head, there was only one sound left — the beating of her own heart. It felt as though every other organ in her chest had ceased to exist, leaving only that one heart, pounding violently.

A step she’d once executed with ease, and suddenly Qian Wei missed the beat; another step, and she stepped straight onto Lu Xun’s foot.

She never would have imagined it — with Lu Xun fully in his element, it was her, the supposed teacher in name only, who was fumbling through mistake after mistake.

Errors, once they started, seemed to spiral without end, and by the end, Qian Wei, red-faced and flustered, finally stumbled her way through the rest of the dance with Lu Xun.

Lu Xun, in contrast, remained perfectly composed, leaving Qian Wei with a hazy flashback to that time at twenty-eight when he’d taught her the tango.

“At this level, dancing with Mo Zixin should be no problem at all. You’ll definitely bring home a big award.”

“Mm.” Lu Xun took a sip of water, his face slightly flushed from the exertion, though his expression remained quite calm.

Qian Wei thought, go on and keep up the act, but who knows how excited you actually are inside right now!

Just as Qian Wei felt like everything was finally falling into place, all that remained was the final push — Lu Xun, of all people, managed to throw another wrench into things! He twisted his leg playing basketball!

“Let me see where you twisted it.”

Lu Xun, however, was less than cooperative. “It’s already twisted, what’s there to see?”

“I need to see how bad the injury is, whether it’ll heal in time before the dance competition!” Qian Wei said, anxiously crouching down and rolling up his pant leg as she spoke.

Lu Xun instinctively tried to pull his leg back, but Qian Wei grabbed his ankle and yanked it toward her. His ankle was pale enough to catch the light, and yet no matter how closely Qian Wei examined it, she couldn’t spot any swelling or bruising at all. “This looks completely fine to me?”

“It hurts when I move it,” Lu Xun said, pulling his foot away. “Don’t touch me, it hurts.”

But misfortune never comes alone — right after Lu Xun twisted his ankle, even more explosive news arrived!

In the afternoon, just as Qian Wei was about to drift off into a spontaneous nap, a text from Qian Chuan jolted her wide awake.

“Qian Wei, congratulate me! I’m off the market! Mo Zixin and I are together now!”

In that instant, Qian Wei practically shot bolt upright as if roused from her deathbed. What the hell?? In her previous life, Qian Chuan had chased Mo Zixin relentlessly for the better part of a year before finally winning her over — so how, before the dance competition had even happened, had this kid already succeeded??

Reliving this life, had her future boss’s future wife just been stolen away by her own brother again?? Thinking of Lu Xun, Qian Wei could already picture him standing at the foot of her bed with a cold expression, demanding an explanation — she could practically see the look on his face, one step away from saying “give me back my wife.”

Qian Wei didn’t dare waste a second — she scrambled out of bed and rushed straight to Qian Chuan.

“Tell me exactly what happened. How did you get a girlfriend? This isn’t scientifically possible!”

Basking in the glow of love, Qian Chuan looked radiant. “What’s so unscientific about it? Mo Zixin, a single, beautiful young woman, and me, a single, handsome young man — isn’t this obviously a match made in heaven?” he said smugly. “I’ve got personal charm to spare — a couple weekends ago I asked Mo Zixin out to the movies, and for her birthday I specially got a skincare set shipped from overseas ahead of time. A thoughtful, warm-hearted guy like me — of course she’d say yes the moment I confessed!”

“When did you take her to the movies???”

“That weekend two weeks ago!”

Qian Wei did the math, and — damn it — two weeks ago was exactly the weekend she’d suggested Lu Xun take Mo Zixin to see the horror film! So the “sudden upset stomach” was a lie, and going out with Qian Chuan was the truth!

“That skincare set — how much did you spend on it?”

“About two thousand.” Qian Chuan sounded a bit wary. “Don’t even think about asking me to lend you money, that two thousand was all my personal savings from pinching pennies, I’ve got nothing left.”

Damn it! Why?! Qian Wei felt like screaming inside — why was Lu Xun’s gift of the same price range rejected?! Why, why, why?! Was Mo Zixin simply fated to end up with Qian Chuan? But Qian Wei could have sworn Mo Zixin had shown at least some interest in Lu Xun!

“Also, tell Lu Xun to stop practicing that tango. Our Zixin said she doesn’t want to make me unhappy, so she’s dropping out of the duet dance and switching to a solo routine instead.”

“…”