“After school the other day, I saw you with a girl,” Lin Weixia said.

The question cut through the tender atmosphere. Ban Sheng paused, then bent his head and let out a quiet laugh. His girl really was sharp — when she wasn’t in the mood to be kissed, she switched straight to wanting an explanation.

He reached out with one arm and lifted Lin Weixia up onto the edge of the pool. She sat there at the poolside, soaking wet all over, like a small animal that had been rained on.

Ban Sheng climbed out of the pool, picked up a bath towel, and held it out to her: “Go shower. You’ll catch cold.”

He was worried she would catch a chill and wanted her to shower first before they talked.

Lin Weixia did not take it. She looked up at him steadily. The two of them locked eyes in a silent standoff. Her eyes were beautiful — clear and transparent. Ban Sheng held her gaze for exactly three seconds before he conceded:

“Li Ning is Wusuan’s relative — which makes her half my relative too. She helped me out with something before.”

So he helped her hide her phone.

“Her boyfriend was actually introduced by me. I’ll take you to meet them both sometime,” Ban Sheng said, his tone completely forthright.

His manner was open and uncomplicated, and Lin Weixia believed him. Still, she kept her eyes on him without saying anything, deliberately keeping her expression composed — and that faint, almost pouty look made her seem rather endearing.

Ban Sheng bent his head and gave a small laugh, and a moment later, understanding settled over him. He spoke slowly:

“From now on, I’ll only open cola for you.”

The two of them were about to go shower when a sound came from the doorway. Li Yiran walked in holding a young coconut drink. Ban Sheng went over, and the two of them stood together talking. Lin Weixia was towel-drying her wet hair, catching fragments of what was being said — something about Li Yiran wanting to modify one of his cars and needing to borrow a toolbox.

Ban Sheng told him to go get it himself. Li Yiran glanced at Lin Weixia, and a contemptuous smirk curved the corner of his mouth:

“Ban Sheng. Haven’t gotten rid of this girl yet?”

“Hasn’t been long enough.”

Ban Sheng’s lips moved — from the shape of the words, he was clearly telling him to get lost. Li Yiran did not take offense at all and simply pushed the door open and left.

Ban Sheng came back over and told her that Li Yiran spoke that way to everyone, and she shouldn’t take it personally. Lin Weixia shook her head. But Li Yiran’s words had brought something from yesterday back to her mind.

The previous evening, Lin Weixia had been working on assignments in the classroom. There weren’t many people around at the time, and a few girls had gathered together, chatting over bubble tea.

“It’s genuinely strange,” one girl was saying. “Ban Sheng has always been the type to watch fires from the riverbank — he never gets involved in anyone else’s business. And yet how many times now has he put himself against everyone else for Lin Weixia’s sake? I honestly think it’s not worth it.”

“Right? You remember that thing from before — when he—”

“Ahem, ahem—” Another girl signaled her to stop, then picked up the earlier thread: “Never mind that. The point is, for her sake, you have no idea how viciously Zheng Zhaoxing and that crowd have been talking about Ban Sheng behind his back.”

“And it’s not even like Lin Weixia particularly cares about Ban Sheng. Tsk. What a waste on behalf of such a gorgeous guy.”

“What are you thinking about?”

A low, unhurried voice reached her ear, and Lin Weixia’s thoughts were pulled back. She shook her head. Ban Sheng reached over and wrapped the bath towel snugly around her. The two of them went upstairs one after another to shower.

On the second floor, Ban Sheng took a cold shower. He was done quickly and came to the room where Lin Weixia was washing up.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of trousers, slouched casually on the sofa, facing the balcony. Droplets from his damp black hair kept falling, rolling down over his sharp brow bone.

Girls took longer to shower. Behind the glass door, the sound of water continued — rushing, splashing. The warm steam, carrying the clean fragrance of shower gel, drifted out through the gap in the door, and Ban Sheng kept feeling as though the heat was settling against his arms, his chest.

The heat in the air was scorching, searing at his every breath.

Ban Sheng picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned the air conditioning higher.

The water stopped. She was getting dressed. Perhaps because the room was so quiet, Ban Sheng heard the faint click of a bra clasp being fastened. He closed his eyes. His Adam’s apple slid slowly up and down.

She must have slender wrists, reaching around to her snow-white back, fingers working around one side of the clasp —

Water droplets pattered steadily against the tile floor, each small sound distinct and maddening. Ban Sheng leaned his head back against the sofa, his eyes carrying some emotion he could not name. His throat was suddenly parched.

He muttered a low curse under his breath.

Ban Sheng leaned forward and scooped his cigarettes and lighter from the table, shot to his feet, pulled a black T-shirt on — the line of his spine snapping straight in an instant — and pushed straight through the door to stand at the balcony railing and smoke.

The cool breeze, combined with the nicotine in his lungs, quieted the restlessness. Ban Sheng’s eyes settled back into their usual cool composure. Not long after, Lin Weixia pushed open the door and stepped out.

Ban Sheng lifted his gaze from under his lashes and looked at her from across the room. “Come here.”

Lin Weixia was wearing his shirt. The sleeves were far too long, and she had done her best to roll them up twice. The shirt hung loose on her, yet barely managed to cover the root of her pale thighs.

A pair of dark, deep eyes fixed on her without blinking.

Lin Weixia had just finished a hot shower, and her skin had taken on a soft, faint pink. She looked as though she had just been peeled — pristine and luminous — her lips red against her white teeth, her long black hair soaked and darkening the front of the shirt where it clung.

The emotion in his eyes surged, then was fiercely restrained. Lin Weixia walked over slowly, pressing hard against her own accelerating heartbeat. She also felt embarrassed — wearing Ban Sheng’s shirt, she couldn’t help but feel that his presence on it was too overwhelming.

Lin Weixia came to stand before him. Ban Sheng watched her trying to avoid him like he was some great flood or fierce beast, and let out a quiet laugh:

“You think I’m going to eat you?”

Before she could react, a forearm threaded with veins reached out. The wrist hooked inside her shirt collar, and with a sharp tug, Lin Weixia was effortlessly pulled in close. The soft skin at the top of her thighs grazed the smooth black fabric of his trousers.

Her leg was pressed against his.

A shadow fell over her.

The distance between them closed to nothing. Ban Sheng bent over her, looking down. Lin Weixia’s breathing tightened involuntarily. She caught the faint smell of cigarette smoke on him.

She glimpsed the glowing red cigarette tip clamped between Ban Sheng’s long fingers. He unhurriedly pressed it into the potted plant. A small sizzle sounded. A small hole was burned into the green cactus, and the fleshy stem curled and contracted slightly.

Trembling slightly.

Lin Weixia’s heart trembled in answer. She felt as though she were that cactus — as though the flame burning in the depths of Ban Sheng’s dark eyes had singed a hole straight through her chest.

Blazing heat flooded out.

“You’d go out like that without trousers?” Ban Sheng raised an eyebrow.

“Your trousers are too big,” Lin Weixia murmured.

Ban Sheng laughed softly: “Fine, I’ll go buy you some in a bit.”

Lin Weixia tried to reclaim her collar from Ban Sheng’s grip. But he held on unhurriedly, not loosening his hold, and suddenly leaned in close — his nose skimming near.

Then came a low, amused sound: “My shower gel.”

Ban Sheng let his gaze sweep over her from head to toe with that reckless ease of his, then added with slow deliberateness:

“My shirt.”

His laugh — low, unhurried, impossibly casual — settled against her ear. The heat rushed up Lin Weixia’s fair ears, leaving them burning and tingling. Her toes curled involuntarily, and she could not ignore the fact that simply from having this person so close, the entire side of her neck had gone warm and buzzing.

The two of them were pressed together. His breath wrapped around her. If she tilted her head up, she could see the clean line of his jaw — and above that, if her eyes kept moving:

She would be looking straight at that dangerously bewitching face.

A sudden rush of panic.

Lin Weixia yanked her collar back firmly, retreating a full step, her face slightly flushed as she caught her breath:

“Why do you always pull my collar — I’m not your buddy.”

Ban Sheng let out an amused grunt, picked up his lighter and cigarettes, and headed out to get her some clothes. After the door clicked shut, Lin Weixia sat on the sofa and drank some water. Then the boy came back, took one look at her, and added:

“Lock the door.”

“Oh.”

Ban Sheng went quickly downstairs and had his driver take him to a nearby shopping center. The car drove for about ten minutes before pulling up at a brand-name store.

He always bought clothes based on comfort first. His eye fell immediately on a clean, minimalist co-branded shirt on the rack. He also picked out a pair of jeans, thinking they would suit Lin Weixia’s cool, detached temperament perfectly.

Ban Sheng picked up the clothes without even checking the price and headed straight for the register.

The sales associate took the clothes and started scanning the tags. Ban Sheng pulled a card from his wallet and passed it over. At that moment, the associate happened to look up and got a full view of the young man’s face — and was visibly startled.

Wow. What a face.

The associate held up the shirt with a smile: “Hello — the shirt you’ve picked is from a couples’ line. This piece is for women — would you like to grab the men’s version as well? Buying both together gets you ten percent off.”

“No thanks,” Ban Sheng said.

The moment you said “discount,” you were trapped into registering your phone number as a member, and then a flood of promotional messages came through every holiday without fail. Ban Sheng found that kind of thing tiresome.

Ban Sheng picked up the blue paper bag and walked out. He glanced down at the shirt inside and paused for a moment.

Lin Weixia had been entertaining herself in the meantime. She had barely drunk half a glass of juice when Ban Sheng was already back. He handed her the bag and passed her a handful of strawberry candies along with it.

“Did you buy these specifically?” Lin Weixia asked, eyes widening.

“No. They were at the front counter when I was buying the clothes, so I grabbed a couple.” Ban Sheng paused slightly before continuing.

Lin Weixia took the bag. Her sharp eyes noticed what looked like another blue bag on the sofa where Ban Sheng had been leaning, and she asked, naturally:

“Did you buy clothes for yourself too?”

Ban Sheng was bent forward undoing his mechanical watch. At her question, his Adam’s apple moved in a way that was just slightly too deliberate, and he answered:

“Yeah. I was short on clothes.”

After Lin Weixia changed, the sun was slowly descending, and the evening was beautiful right at that golden hour. The two of them decided to walk over to the bay park to stroll and watch the seagulls, and headed out together.

The moment they stepped outside, away from the air conditioning, the surrounding heat was sweltering and oppressive. The two of them walked side by side along the road, surrounded by the hum of traffic. Along the way, Lin Weixia kept thinking about things from earlier, drifting off every so often.

“Want something cold to drink?” Ban Sheng asked.

“Sure,” Lin Weixia replied.

The two of them crossed the road one after the other. This stretch was a central thoroughfare — there were two sets of traffic lights, and the volume of vehicles and pedestrians packed together made it feel more crowded still, with delivery bikes weaving through the middle, adding to the density.

Worried that a vehicle might clip her, Ban Sheng stayed a steady, unhurried presence on her left side the entire time. His tall, upright frame deliberately shielded the greater part of the sunlight from falling on her.

He said nothing about it. Taking credit was not in his nature. But Lin Weixia noticed every bit of it.

He was good to her — unconditionally, indulgently good.

The two had just crossed one stretch of road, and the next light was green — but only a few seconds remained. Ban Sheng deliberately quickened his pace. He did not want to waste any more time waiting for a red light.

He walked a few steps before realizing the person behind him had not kept up. He stopped. Not far away, the green light flickered rapidly and flipped to red. There was no crossing now.

Ban Sheng felt a flicker of resignation and was about to turn to go find his girl when a warm, steady voice reached him, unhurried and deliberate:

“Don’t turn around. Stay where you are. I have something to say to you.”

Ban Sheng went still, his back to her, and did not turn.

Lin Weixia paused, then spoke with sincerity: “Ban Sheng, I’m the type who warms up slowly. People might say I’m cold-hearted — and honestly, I do have a conscience problem.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

The words hit Ban Sheng with a sudden tightening in his chest, like a thread around his heart pulled taut and suspended in the air. He didn’t understand what Lin Weixia meant. Was she saying she wanted to stop things here?

At that thought, his jaw drew tight, locking into a sharp line. He said nothing.

“I’m not very good at expressing myself—” Lin Weixia paused, her own heart constricting with nerves.

She knew what he had put himself through to stand in opposition to everyone else. She knew how much he had done for her.

“But right now, I want to try — to walk toward you.”

Sincerely. Wholeheartedly.

The sixty-second red light ended. The signal beeped and flipped to green. Lin Weixia stepped quickly forward. Her slender, pale fingers grazed the back of Ban Sheng’s hand. The knuckle at the tip of his finger shifted.

Warmth and cold meeting.

Lin Weixia took the initiative and held his hand.