Lin Weixia went in to take her exam, and by the time she came out, night had already fallen. She walked out of the school, just thinking about what to eat for dinner, when a lazy shout came from behind her:

“Lin Weixia.”

Lin Weixia instinctively turned around — it was Zhou Jingze, who tilted his chin at her. “It’s rare for the two of us to run into each other. Let’s grab a bite.”

“Sure.” Lin Weixia nodded in agreement.

Only after she agreed did she notice that a cold, imposing figure had appeared beside Zhou Jingze. Ban Sheng had been leaning against the wall the entire time, going unnoticed until now.

There was no taking it back. Their gazes collided, and Ban Sheng stared directly at her, the emotions in his eyes deep and intense. Lin Weixia looked away.

Zhou Jingze had chosen the venue — a retro music bar. Pushing open the door, the lighting was dim, an English song played on the center stage, and a projector continuously cycled through photos of several athletes.

The three of them settled at a long walnut-colored table. A waiter came over with menus. Lin Weixia took one, unsure what to order from the dishes listed, and settled on a pasta dish. Then she flipped straight to the drinks section at the back and spoke to the waiter:

“Also a gin and tonic, please. Thank you.”

The gaze from across the table bore straight into her. Lin Weixia deliberately ignored it and handed the menu to Zhou Jingze. Just as he was about to take it, the phone propped against the edge of the table buzzed.

Zhou Jingze picked up his phone and accepted the call. From the earpiece came a clear, pleasant voice — even through the phone, her lively energy was unmistakable:

“Uncle, where are you right now!”

“Eating.” Zhou Jingze gave her the address.

Lin Weixia had no choice but to pass the menu to the dark-clad figure sitting across from her. As she handed it over, the hand supporting the bottom of the menu inadvertently brushed against ice-cold fingers and grazed bony knuckles. She recoiled with a start.

Ban Sheng’s expression was not pleasant.

From the other end of the phone came a string of “Oh, oh, oh,” followed by a coaxing tone. “Hehe, Uncle, can I come mooch a meal? But that little shadow, Sheng Nanzhou, insists on tagging along too. Uncle, don’t treat him — he should pay for his own share. I’ve never seen a rich person so stingy.”

Before Zhou Jingze could respond, a male voice from the other end broke in: “Princess, I’ve been covering your food and drink all along, you——”

Zhou Jingze impatiently arched his brow, held the phone further away, and said, “You two keep bickering and neither of you is welcome.”

After hanging up, Zhou Jingze told the two of them, “Two more people are coming.”

About fifteen minutes later, the door swung open and a young man and woman walked in. Lin Weixia looked over. The girl wore a white shearling coat and was adorably pretty, with a pair of large, bright eyes that looked like they belonged in a cartoon. The young man was very tall, the sunny and handsome type, and he stayed behind the girl the entire time, his gaze never leaving her.

“Did you order yet, did you order yet?” Hu Qixi sat down beside Lin Weixia, her voice as crisp as a fresh apple.

Lin Weixia handed her the menu, speaking gently: “We ordered already. Take a look and see if there’s anything you’d like.”

Hu Qixi took the menu carelessly and then, without expecting it, found herself looking up at a breathtakingly beautiful face. She exclaimed, “Wow, you’re so gorgeous, sister.”

Then she turned and spotted Ban Sheng sitting diagonally across from her. He was leaning his back lazily against the wall, head bowed over his phone. The light cut across the bold tattoos at his collarbone, and everything about him oozed a bewitching, dangerous allure.

Her gaze moved further. The dappled light fell on his cool, striking face. Ban Sheng caught the scrutinizing look and raised an eyebrow, glancing over —

Hu Qixi immediately averted her eyes, not daring to meet Ban Sheng’s gaze. She leaned close to Lin Weixia and whispered, “Sister, that guy is so handsome. Is he your boyfriend?”

Despite being whispered, Hu Qixi’s voice was loud enough that everyone present could hear. The atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all — Lin Weixia actually found her endearing and let out an amused laugh as she shook her head:

“No, he’s not.”

The words had barely left her lips when everyone in the room distinctly felt the atmospheric pressure drop by a degree, as if the air itself had frozen.

Sheng Nanzhou stepped in to smooth things over, asking, “Xixi, I see there’s a mousse cake here that you like. Want one?”

“Yes, yes.” Hu Qixi’s attention was immediately redirected.

The food and drinks were delivered one after another by the waitstaff. With the last-minute addition of Sheng Nanzhou and Hu Qixi, the mood at the table became noticeably more lively.

During the meal, Zhou Jingze noticed one thing: Lin Weixia and Ban Sheng had not exchanged a single word, not even a glance. Every potential moment of eye contact had been deliberately or casually deflected by her.

Between the two of them flowed a strange, tense standoff of an atmosphere.

Back when Lin Weixia had come to Jingbei to compete, this guy had dropped everything and flown all the way there to be with her, and the affection in both their eyes had been enough to melt each other. And now it had come to this.

Zhou Jingze knew a little about what had happened between them. He was the type who always sided with his own people regardless of reason — besides, was he really going to let his girl be wronged?

After eating a little, Lin Weixia was now sipping her gin and tonic. Every type of alcohol, to her, had only one taste: bitter. Her teeth chattered slightly, and she was still turning the taste over on the tip of her tongue, completely unaware of what Zhou Jingze was scheming.

“Lin Weixia, are you single right now?” Zhou Jingze suddenly asked.

Lin Weixia looked up, bewildered, but still answered, “Mm.”

“What kind of guy do you like? I can set you up.” Zhou Jingze smiled.

The air stiffened for a moment. Lin Weixia belatedly met Zhou Jingze’s gaze and picked up the slender-handled spoon to poke at a green lemon slice floating in her gin and tonic, trying to fish out the seeds.

After genuinely thinking it over for a moment, Lin Weixia said, “Someone who won’t lose their temper at me.”

Ban Sheng sat across from her, idly playing with his phone in a relaxed posture, fingers flying swiftly across the screen. At her words, his hands stilled. The game kept emitting its kill sound effects.

“What else?”

“Someone I can figure out.”

“Someone who doesn’t flirt with other people.”

Ban Sheng looked over at her directly and without preamble. Lin Weixia bowed her head and took two quick sips of alcohol, grimacing at the bitterness, and still didn’t meet his eyes.

Each time Lin Weixia and Ban Sheng had met again, they were caught in a relentless cycle — entangled, pulled toward each other, then torn violently apart — like the blue, ice-filled gin and tonic in front of her now. Knowing perfectly well how bitter it would taste, she had still been irresistibly drawn to it and had willingly tried it again and again.

In the end, she was the one left with the bitterness.

Zhou Jingze gave a low, amused laugh and picked up his phone. “I actually have someone in mind — he’s at our aviation institute. How about I have him add you on WeChat?”

No sooner had the words landed than Ban Sheng, who had been silent for a good while, finally spoke. His tone held suppressed fire, and his eyes cut over with a clear warning, his voice going low and heavy:

“Zhou Jingze.”

Zhou Jingze wasn’t bothered at all. He draped an arm over Ban Sheng’s shoulder, undisguised satisfaction tugging at the corners of his eyes, and shot back: “What’s the matter, brother?”

Ban Sheng instantly understood what he was up to, and his nerves relaxed. He let out a slightly irritated laugh:

“It’s almost ten o’clock. Didn’t you say you were going to pick up Xu Sui?”

The expression on Zhou Jingze’s face, which had been completely at ease, shifted in an instant. He grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from the table and stood straight up. “My wife is about to leave the lab. She’s afraid of the dark — I need to go get her.”

Having a serving of saccharine romance shoved down their throats, Sheng Nanzhou was a little disgruntled and called after his retreating figure, “Zhou-ge, that’s no fun at all!”

Afraid of the dark — what did that matter? Every smartphone these days had a flashlight.

Zhou Jingze walked out of the bar without looking back, and even extended his middle finger as a cheeky farewell.

The bar lights were making Lin Weixia a little dizzy. She got up and made her way to the restroom at the far end of the corridor. Ban Sheng still had a cigarette pinched between his fingers, thin wisps of white smoke drifting from between them. Then he dropped the cigarette into a glass — the ember hissed and crackled against the liquid before going dark.

Like a signal from a hunter finally holstering his gun.

Ban Sheng rose to his feet and followed after her.

Lin Weixia walked through the dimly lit corridor, where the booths on either side periodically gave off the soft sounds of flirtatious banter between men and women. Following the green emergency signs, she reached the restroom.

The restroom was empty. Lin Weixia stood in front of the sink, the mirror reflecting back a dim, distracted face. She twisted on the faucet. A rush of clear water came pouring out, and she cupped both hands beneath it, tilted her neck down, and without hesitation, splashed it onto her face.

The winter water was bone-piercingly cold. Lin Weixia shivered from the chill but didn’t pull away. She kept splashing the cold water onto her face, again and again, trying to clear her head. Her skin was naturally thin and delicate, and the redness appeared almost immediately at her cheeks. But her mind felt significantly calmer and more rational.

The faucet was twisted shut by a pale hand — not her own. Lin Weixia pulled a paper towel from the dispenser below the mirror and slowly dried her face, then took out her phone to send a message to Menzi:

[Menzi, call me in a bit.]

Menzi received the message and, without even asking why, replied with an OK emoji. The two of them did this for each other often — whenever they found themselves somewhere they didn’t want to be or couldn’t easily slip away from, they’d ask the other to call them so they could use it as an excuse to leave.

Lin Weixia really didn’t want to be here anymore.

After drying her face, Lin Weixia turned and started to walk out, but was met at the doorway by an extremely imposing figure. Ban Sheng had stepped right into her path, and she, not noticing in time, walked straight into him — her cheek landed squarely against the zipper of his athletic jacket, ice cold, while warm breath from above drifted down onto the top of her head.

She stepped back two paces. Lin Weixia looked down, intending to sidestep him and leave, but the figure blocked her. She went left — Ban Sheng went left. She went right — he went right.

Like an incorrigible, reckless scoundrel.

“Can you move?” Lin Weixia looked up at him, her gaze distant and detached.

Ban Sheng’s hand shot out and caught Lin Weixia by the wrist before she could slip away. He stepped forward, pressing closer, forcing her to back up. With his other hand, he reached behind him and pulled the door shut — a soft click, and then the sound of the lock turning.

Lin Weixia’s eyelashes trembled. She stared at him wide-eyed, disbelief clear in her expression: “Are you out of your mind? This is the women’s restroom.”

“We need to talk.” Ban Sheng bent his neck to look down at her.

Looking down, he hadn’t expected to see what he saw — a face with a reddened nose and reddened eyes. His gaze locked onto her, and his throat moved. “Have you been crying?”

Ban Sheng didn’t know this was from the cold water. He assumed he’d been the one to make her cry.

“I have nothing to say to you.” Lin Weixia kept her expression flat and tried to shake off his hand.

Ban Sheng not only refused to let go — he pulled her directly toward him. One arm went around her shoulders, the other encircled her waist. The posture looked like an embrace, but it was in fact a nimble trap that held her in place, an overbearing, high-handed way of locking her in his arms.

As if she were the one being unreasonable.

Lin Weixia struggled without stopping, raising her hands to strike at his shoulders. In the struggle, her nails scraped across his slender neck, and two vivid red lines appeared on his pale skin. He still didn’t let go, letting her fight as she pleased, not making a single sound.

No matter how much she struggled, Ban Sheng held Lin Weixia fast, refusing to let her go.

Lin Weixia was pinned against him, his body heat radiating over her. The familiar scent of cigarettes on him made her eyes sting. Her elbows were pressed against Ban Sheng’s chest, forcing her to look up at him. His head dipped into the curve of her neck, and his lips grazed the soft pale skin there.

“Ban Sheng, are you serious right now?”

Ban Sheng let out a quiet laugh, assuming she was fussing the way she always did — she’d make a little noise, he’d coax her, kiss her, and it’d be fine. He answered her with his usual casual ease:

“Everything with you is worth it.”

His warm breath spilled across her neck. He held her close. On the surface, the two of them were engaged in something intimate, yet Lin Weixia’s eyes had gone completely red. A single tear slipped free.

What did he take her for? The same as all those girls who threw themselves at him? Just that she was somehow a little more special to him, so no matter what outrageously excessive thing Ban Sheng did, she was supposed to forgive him?

That wasn’t who Lin Weixia was.

“What do you think I am to you? Someone you can beckon at will and dismiss just as easily.” Lin Weixia sniffled.

“The last person I want to see right now is you.”