After Jiang Ling said “yes,” Xu Zhilin laughed and sat back in his chair, but thankfully, he still had his “conscience” as a teacher and didn’t tease her any further.

After escaping from the “paradise of tenderness,” Jiang Ling studied until late before finally finishing that assignment. Fortunately, she had a USB drive in her bag. After copying the file, she checked the time—it was already close to 2 AM.

Jiang Ling stretched lazily, closed the laptop, and fell asleep immediately.

She slept straight through until her alarm rang. Jiang Ling squinted, raised her hand to grab her phone, and turned off the alarm. She covered her eyes with her arm and squinted for a good while before opening them to stare blankly at the ceiling.

After completing the entire waking-up routine, Jiang Ling finally remembered she was at Xu Zhilin’s place.

She froze, and after her brain processed this information, she sprang up from the bed. Just as she was about to rush out of the guest room, she retreated—she hadn’t put on makeup yet.

Naturally, Xu Zhilin’s home didn’t have makeup remover, but fortunately, Jiang Ling had only worn light makeup yesterday. She roughly removed it with just water, then dug out her cushion foundation and lipstick from her bag, applied some simple makeup, and walked out to the living room.

As a mathematics professor approaching thirty, Xu Zhilin was already up at this hour and seemed to have been up for quite some time. Looking at him, Jiang Ling even wondered if he had already gone to the park to practice tai chi with the old Chinese men and returned.

Xu Zhilin looked up, then pointed at his phone, indicating he was on a call.

Jiang Ling nodded and quietly tiptoed over, tugging at the hem of her skirt.

Breakfast was already laid out on the table—eggs, tomatoes, bacon, and whole wheat bread. It looked like a set meal, with two identical portions, probably bought from the convenience store downstairs.

Jiang Ling touched it with her hand; it was still hot, probably just warmed up.

Xu Zhilin had his call on speaker, though the volume was turned down.

“I have something next week, so I won’t be coming home,” Xu Zhilin said into the phone, looking down.

A female voice came from the phone: “Why aren’t you coming back? How long has it been since you last came home? Your brother-in-law has already returned to China with me.”

Jiang Ling recognized the voice—it was Xu Zhilin’s sister, though now hearing it felt more embarrassing.

Xu Zhilin smiled. “Then spend some more time with him.”

His tone was lazy and casual.

Jiang Ling took a bite of bread, her gaze falling lightly on his phone screen.

Xu Zhilin glanced at her, thinking she was overthinking something again, and handed her a napkin: “It’s my sister.”

“Ah.” Jiang Ling blinked at him. “…I know.”

After two seconds of silence, the voice on the other end suddenly became excited: “Is that your girlfriend? Is it, is it her? It’s only just past nine there, right? Did she stay at your place last night?!”

Jiang Ling: “…”

Xu Zhilin looked at her with smiling eyes, his fingers lightly tapping twice on the table before lowering his head closer to the phone: “So what if she stayed at my place?”

Followed by an even louder exclamation: “—Grandpa!! Zhilin has a girlfriend!!!”

Jiang Ling: “…”

Xu Zhilin also paused, then sighed.

After hanging up, he explained to her that the Xu family business was started by his grandfather in the early years. For years, the old man had been hoping for Xu Zhilin to get married soon. His family was anxious about it, but he was unhurried, spending his days on research, never even seen with a girlfriend, living a free and comfortable life alone.

After that shout just now, Xu Zhilin estimated he would have to listen to nagging for quite some time.

Jiang Ling listened while eating breakfast and asked, “So why didn’t you find a girlfriend before?”

Xu Zhilin: “I just stayed single until I met someone I liked.”

Jiang Ling smiled: “So I must be a once-in-three-thousand-years encounter. If I hadn’t appeared, you still wouldn’t have met someone you liked.”

Xu Zhilin smiled and nodded, saying, “Yes.”

After breakfast, Xu Zhilin drove Jiang Ling to school. Xu Zhilin was too popular, and Jiang Ling was too embarrassed to let him drive her to the teaching building entrance. She got off across the street and ran to class.

She was still a bit late; the bell rang while she was in the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Jiang Ling sprinted to the classroom and entered through the back door, crouching low.

A classmate waved at her: “Jiang Ling, over here!”

Days passed quickly. After a few more days of classes, it was early October.

Although there was no National Day holiday, Jiang Ling had very few classes during those days, and He Nan was going to an out-of-town dance competition with some friends.

Without her most fun friend in the apartment, Jiang Ling felt extremely bored after just one day.

She sat up in her bed, thought for a moment, and sent a message to Xu Zhilin, asking if he was home.

She quickly received a reply saying he was, and after a while, another message: What’s up?

Xu Zhilin was reportedly researching a topic recently. Jiang Ling had glanced at it once, dense numbers and strange symbols that looked like mystical incantations. She couldn’t understand a single character and would get sleepy just looking at it.

He truly loved mathematics, often getting completely absorbed in his research and unaware of his surroundings. Jiang Ling had been busy with various reports these past few days, so they had each been occupied with their matters.

She pulled out the smallest suitcase from her closet, stuffed some things into it, and then took a taxi to find Xu Zhilin with her small shoulder bag.

Xu Zhilin opened the door and was a bit surprised to see her.

The young woman wore a white shirt dress with a tied belt around her waist, carrying a cute shoulder bag, her hand resting on a small suitcase, smiling up at him.

Xu Zhilin slowly raised one eyebrow.

Jiang Ling smiled and said, “I came to play with you.”

Xu Zhilin smiled, bent down to pick up her suitcase, and carried it inside. After she followed him in, he turned and closed the door.

Jiang Ling followed him closely, step by step, asking, “Are you still very busy?”

“Mm, I’m calculating something,” Xu Zhilin knew she wouldn’t understand, so he didn’t explain in detail. “Entertain yourself for a while. If you want to play games, there’s another computer in my bedroom. I’ll take you out to eat later.”

“Okay.”

But Jiang Ling was a restless person. Initially, she tried not to disturb Xu Zhilin, watching TV in the living room for a while, then playing some games. By three in the afternoon, she was finally bored enough to slip into Xu Zhilin’s study.

She carefully moved a chair to sit beside his desk, resting her chin in her hands to look at what was in front of him.

Xu Zhilin asked with amusement, “Do you understand it?”

Jiang Ling narrowed her eyes, not bothering to answer that question.

Xu Zhilin was drawing charts on the computer, seemingly for statistical data, alternating between typing on the keyboard to change some numbers and making notes on paper with a pen.

Jiang Ling shook her head slightly and, after watching for a while, began to feel dizzy.

So she turned to look at Xu Zhilin instead—his profile was something she would never get tired of looking at.

Jiang Ling had heard of Xu Zhilin’s reputation at her school, about all the awards he had won during his graduate studies, and how he was offered numerous opportunities when he decided to continue with academic research.

People said Professor Xu was an impressive person.

Jiang Ling propped her chin up, watching him. Xu Zhilin let her sit and watch, not showing any sign of being disturbed, continuing to reorganize and record data without interruption.

Suddenly, Jiang Ling raised her hand and, with one finger, hooked the metal-framed glasses resting on his nose bridge.

Xu Zhilin paused and turned to look at her, his voice not annoyed but characteristically gentle: “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Ling simply took his glasses off completely, put them on her nose, and looked at him. The prescription probably wasn’t strong, as she didn’t feel any discomfort or maladjustment wearing them.

“Aren’t you done yet?” Jiang Ling was getting unhappy. “I’ve been entertaining myself for half the day.”

Xu Zhilin took the glasses off her and placed them on the table, leaned over and kissed her: “Just a bit longer. Why don’t you think about what you want to eat later?”

Jiang Ling moved her small stool closer to him. The stool was much lower than the chair, so she had to look up to see Xu Zhilin.

She wasn’t even wearing her slippers properly. The young woman’s bare feet stepped on his slippers, and she narrowed her eyes like a little fox: “Am I not more fun than those numbers?”

Xu Zhilin looked at her with a bemused smile but didn’t speak.

They had been together for some time now, but Xu Zhilin had never really done anything to her except kiss her occasionally, and even intimate hugs were rare.

Perhaps he was mindful that she was still a student. Although he didn’t teach her, from a professional standpoint, they were still in a teacher-student relationship. He was still concerned about not wanting to be like a teacher who corrupts a student.

Jiang Ling noticed this and fearlessly continued to tease him, sitting with her knees touching his: “Come play with me.”

Xu Zhilin smiled.

Leaning back against the chair, he turned his head to smile at her. After a while, he leaned forward and touched her ear: “What do you want to play?”

“…”

Jiang Ling suddenly felt a bit scared.

That air of abstinent academic researcher around Xu Zhilin suddenly disappeared. His eyes curved, and he transformed into that cultured degenerate from that night.

His previous restraint in front of Jiang Ling had also vanished. Without the identity of a professor, it seemed only the identity of a boyfriend remained.

This was a bit terrifying.

She leaned back slightly, pointing at the computer nearby: “Aren’t you working on that?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t want me to work?” Xu Zhilin’s breath overwhelmed her as he chuckled softly. “What do you want to play? I’ll play with you.”

Jiang Ling looked at him, simply straightened her neck, and with dark eyes looked at him, softly and slowly leaning to his ear to whisper two characters.

Play, you.

Xu Zhilin froze, then smiled again.

He nodded, raising his hand to undo his shirt buttons: “Alright, play me.”

It wasn’t the first time for either of them. Xu Zhilin still retained the memory of that night, which had reappeared in his dreams several times, repeatedly reviewing it. Jiang Ling, however, had forgotten everything completely; all the touches and warmth were vivid yet unfamiliar.

She was pulled into the rolling dust of the mortal world again and again by this man whom she had once seriously liked but never thought she could be with.

Besides the enchanting and ambiguous atmosphere and sounds in the room, the repeatedly crumpled bedsheets were another piece of evidence of this pulling process.

Just before falling asleep, exhausted and unable to keep her eyes open, four words flashed through her mind:

Disrespectful as a teacher.

Jiang Ling never imagined that her boredom-driven visit to Xu Zhilin would result in such an event, and in broad daylight, too. She didn’t even know if the curtains had been drawn.

When she woke up again, it was already dark, and her waist and back ached.

Jiang Ling opened her eyes to see the tightly drawn curtains, and her first reaction was relief.

It was already dark, and they hadn’t even eaten. She checked the time and propped herself up to climb out of bed.

Xu Zhilin was already gone.

Tsk, tsk.

She pushed the door open and saw the man standing at the kitchen counter wearing an apron, broad shoulders, and narrow waist, still wearing that same shirt from earlier, the fabric on his back clearly showing signs of having been [intimate].

Jiang Ling blushed a little and walked over to him.

“You’re awake.” Xu Zhilin raised his hand to ruffle her loose hair. “I saw you sleeping and didn’t want to wake you. Let’s have dinner at home tonight.”

The quiet night and warm kitchen made Jiang Ling feel a sense of fullness in her heart. She nodded obediently: “Mm.”

After dinner, Xu Zhilin went back to his study to work for a while. This time, Jiang Ling didn’t dare to disturb him again, nor did she have the energy to. She watched TV while holding her phone and messaging.

After chatting with her mother for a bit, Xu Zhilin finished his work and came out.

He looked up at the clock and sat directly on the coffee table across from her: “Ready for bed?”

“So early?” She had napped in the afternoon and wasn’t feeling sleepy now, but when she checked the time, she realized it was quite late. She got up and headed toward the guest room.

After just two steps, Xu Zhilin grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back: “Where are you going to sleep?”

“Huh?” Jiang Ling was a bit startled, bent her finger, and pointed to the guest room.

Xu Zhilin smiled: “Sleep in my room.”

After what happened in the afternoon, everything else seemed to have become permissible.

Jiang Ling watched him take her small suitcase from the guest room and carry it into his bedroom. She stood there blankly for a moment before following him in.

Come to think of it, the bed she had slept on in the afternoon was also Xu Zhilin’s bed.

She just realized that the sheets had been changed to clean ones at some point, and her face heated up again.

Xu Zhilin finished washing up before Jiang Ling. She dawdled in the bathroom for a while, carefully and somewhat timidly arranging the various travel-sized sample packages from her suitcase on Xu Zhilin’s sink. After smearing and dabbing for a while, she slowly pushed the door open and went out.

She slowly pulled back one side of the blanket and lay down, only to be immediately wrapped in Xu Zhilin’s embrace.

Jiang Ling’s breathing slowed for a moment as she felt his chest press against her.

She vaguely remembered that when she woke up dizzy in the hotel that day, Xu Zhilin had also embraced her from behind in the same way, identical to now.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Xu Zhilin, with his face against her neck, asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“Just remembering the time at the hotel,” Jiang Ling held the back of his hand outside the blanket. “It was just like this.”

Xu Zhilin chuckled: “Woke up and found no one in bed. Sleep with someone and don’t take responsibility, huh?” His voice was lazy. “If I hadn’t seen your passport the night before, I wouldn’t have even known it was you.”

Jiang Ling wanted to scold him for his promiscuous private life, but realized that as one of the main participants in the event, she wasn’t in a position to say such things.

“Even after you knew it was me, you still came back to bed to continue sleeping with me,” Jiang Ling elbowed him backward. “Tell me, weren’t you plotting something against me all along?”

Xu Zhilin thought back.

At that time, holding the passport, he hadn’t fully recovered from alcohol. The woman who had just experienced intimacy rose languidly from the bed.

Smiling seductively, she leaned forward, her slender arms draped around his neck, eyes narrowed, asking, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

With a buzz, the name “Jiang Ling” from the passport was instantly temporarily erased from his mind, and his alcohol-stimulated nerves were once again in peril.

He smiled, moving closer to her ear, and said hoarsely, “Want to know?”

Jiang Ling naturally nodded and said, “Yes, I do.”

He then proceeded to describe the scene from that time in her ear, making Jiang Ling’s face burn instantly. She turned around to glare at him: “You’re lying! I couldn’t possibly have acted like that!”

He laughed: “I tell you, and yet you don’t believe me.”

“I’ve forgotten everything. How come you still remember it all?”

“If you want to know, I can tell you in detail about what happened that night,” Xu Zhilin smiled like an old fox. “I remember it all clearly anyway.”

Jiang Ling pouted: “No thanks.”

The room gradually quieted down, and Jiang Ling’s eyelids grew heavy.

That night’s sleep wasn’t great. It was somewhat awkward sleeping in a man’s embrace for the first time. She woke up early the next day, with Xu Zhilin still asleep, one arm draped over her waist, over the blanket.

As soon as she moved, the man sensed it and woke up, his voice muddled: “Hmm?”

She leaned back against him, nestling against his chest: “It’s nothing.”

Jiang Ling liked these small moments of intimacy.

In the following days, she had no classes, and He Nan was still away at the competition, so she simply stayed at Xu Zhilin’s place.

Xu Zhilin continued to busy himself with his research project, but he was good at separating academic and private life, and would spend time with Jiang Ling every day.

Early one morning, while both were still asleep, the doorbell rang.

Jiang Ling opened her drowsy eyes: “Who is it?”

Xu Zhilin picked up his phone to check the time. It was only 8 o’clock. His friends wouldn’t possibly come at this hour, and his sister had gone back to China these days, so it wouldn’t be her.

“I don’t know,” Xu Zhilin ruffled her hair. “I’ll go check. You keep sleeping.”

Jiang Ling truly did continue sleeping.

Xu Zhilin opened the door and was surprised to see a middle-aged woman with black hair. The woman was shocked to see him too, but hesitantly asked, “Excuse me, does Jiang Ling live here?”

Xu Zhilin: “…”

When Jiang Ling had initially decided to study abroad, her parents neither approved nor agreed, so she had handled everything herself, including finding accommodation.

A few days ago, Jiang’s mother had contacted her, saying she wanted to send some food over. Too lazy to type, Jiang Ling had simply sent Xu Zhilin’s address and location to her.

Who knew that her dear mother was planning to come in person to give her a surprise?

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Ling got up and sat face to face with her mother at the dining table.

Jiang Ling opened the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of milk, placed it in front of her, then anxiously smoothed her clothes and extended her arm: “Mom, have some first…”

…to calm down.

Her mother glared at her and snorted coldly: “You’re quite at home here, pouring milk for me like you’re the owner of this house.”

Jiang Ling: “…”

Her mother chattered on: “I thought you were so busy studying, but it turns out you’ve moved in with someone! How dare you! How long have you even been here?”

Jiang Ling thought to herself that they had known each other for six years.

She pursed her lips, then scooted next to her mother with a smile, called out “Mama” like she was spoiled, and said, “Why did you suddenly come? Did you miss me? Tonight we’ll take you shopping!”

Her mother’s gaze swept over, dissatisfied: “We?”

“He’s my boyfriend! What’s wrong with him joining us for shopping?”

Her mother was silent for a moment, then asked softly, “What does your boyfriend study?”

“…Mathematics.”

Her mother raised her eyebrows in surprise, and for the first time since entering the door, showed some goodwill toward Xu Zhilin—although this goodwill arose somewhat inexplicably. Her daughter had always been at the bottom of her class in mathematics since childhood, so she tended to admire people who were good at math, with that “other people’s child” kind of envy.

“Also a graduate student?”

Jiang Ling hesitated, then moved closer and said softly: “A professor.”

“?”

She repeated: “Mathematics Department, professor.”

Jiang Ling, afraid of causing unintended harm, had immediately sent Xu Zhilin to the adjacent room, but the soundproofing wasn’t good, and he could still hear the mother-daughter conversation while sitting in the next room.

Curving his lips helplessly, Xu Zhilin figured that if he didn’t come out soon, Jiang’s mother would think he was some kind of pervert professor.

Xu Zhilin walked over from the adjacent room, extended his hand to Jiang’s mother, and introduced his title and years of service politely, neither humbly nor arrogantly.

There was indeed an age gap, and Jiang Ling never knew Xu Zhilin had such persuasive eloquence. After a series of explanations, he dispelled Jiang’s mother’s concerns.

Jiang’s mother stayed for the holiday before returning to China. A few days after her return, she sent a message saying she had mailed a package to her—a real package this time.

Jiang Ling received the text just after class. He Nan had also returned from her competition with a first-place award, so she moved back from Xu Zhilin’s house to her apartment.

Jiang Ling walked out with her backpack, replying to the message: What did you send?

Tea leaves. I saw a few cans of tea at Little Xu’s place, guessing he likes tea, so I sent him two cans of Biluochun.

Jiang Ling: ???

Jiang Ling was speechless.

Xu Zhilin came to pick her up after class. Once in the car, Jiang Ling told him about this, and Xu Zhilin laughed for a while.

“My mom is the type who, because she gave birth to a daughter like me, especially admires people who are good at math,” Jiang Ling said. “She used to really like Shi Niannian.”

Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered, “Oh right, did you know that Niannian and Jiang Wang secretly got married? It happened so fast.”

Xu Zhilin turned his head to look at her, smiling without speaking.

Their stories all began early, but they all had twists and turns that delayed things.

His story with Jiang Ling began when the girl recklessly burst into the men’s locker room, making up a lie about coming to ask him a math question.

They were still having dinner at Xu Zhilin’s place. He was cooking in the kitchen when Jiang Ling suddenly called out from the living room.

Xu Zhilin hurried out to see her holding the teacup with wide eyes: “That egg cracked!”

That so-called love egg that had been thrown into the teapot.

Jiang Ling couldn’t wait and pried along the crack with her fingernail, directly breaking the egg. Sure enough, there was a little duck plush toy inside, though it was extremely ordinary, purely a cheap product. Compared to the little duck on the original packaging, it was a standard case of “actual product may differ.”

Jiang Ling pulled the little duck out of the water. The yellow fur, soaked and stuck together, looked even uglier. She also had a disgusted look, pouting: “So it’s just this crappy thing.”

She sighed, threw the little duck back, looked at Xu Zhilin, and smiled again: “But the good thing is, you’re already mine.”