As a person of principle living in poverty, Tan Yin firmly refused Chu Hang’s “donation.” But having principles didn’t spare her the embarrassment. Fortunately, the heavens took pity on her — just as Tan Yin felt she had no face left to show anyone, a timely thunderstorm broke out outside. She truly didn’t have to face anyone now — or rather, no one could see her at least.
By this point Tan Yin had already changed out of her swimsuit into a loose short-sleeve top and a long skirt, and before the thunderstorm hit, she’d been walking toward the barbecue area to get something to eat. With no umbrella, the sudden downpour forced her to shield her head and dash around looking for shelter.
Behind the guesthouse pool was a very large botanical garden, with the barbecue grill situated behind it. Tan Yin wandered around the garden for a while before finally spotting, tucked behind some green trees, a small stone pavilion. Without a second thought, she dashed inside.
Perhaps because the pavilion was somewhat out of the way, there was no one else there besides Tan Yin. She shook the water off herself and had just settled down to enjoy this rare bit of peace when an uninvited guest burst into the pavilion too.
It was a girl in a white lace dress, her long black hair flowing gracefully as she walked. Tan Yin vaguely recalled her name was Tao Ting. Tao Ting had a baby face but was reportedly voluptuous — she was the campus belle of the foreign languages school, also joining this fieldwork trip with the architecture department.
Right now Tao Ting’s makeup had smudged a bit, and seeing no one around, she pulled out a compact mirror from her bag and began touching up. Tan Yin, sitting idly to the side, sized her up — a baby face indeed, but the voluptuous figure wasn’t quite apparent. Tan Yin glanced at her chest — actually pretty flat.
Before Tan Yin could think further, Tao Ting’s next move left her stunned.
Tao Ting tugged at her V-neck, pushed her chest together forcefully, then picked up a makeup brush with practiced ease and started working away right on her own chest…
Tan Yin watched wide-eyed as Tao Ting brushed a layer of dark contour powder along the curve of her chest and the line where cleavage would be, followed by foundation matched close to her skin tone, and just like that, a cleavage line appeared out of nowhere — the interplay of light and dark shading made that cleavage look absolutely dramatic…
This masterful cleavage-contouring technique nearly had Tan Yin dropping to her knees in reverence.
Genius! Absolutely genius!
No natural cleavage? Just pick up a brush and paint it on! Achieve a cup size that was never yours — mastering the technique was the whole trick!
Just as Tan Yin wanted to get a closer look at this new skill, footsteps sounded nearby — someone was coming.
Tao Ting was quite alert — she swiftly stashed her makeup bag away, smoothed her long hair, and struck a serene, rain-watching pose.
Soon, the newcomer walked into the pavilion.
Tan Yin felt a flash of annoyance at having her lesson interrupted, but when she looked up, she nearly lost her balance where she sat. Was she cursed by some unlucky star? How had she run into Chu Hang again? Did two people on Earth crossing paths this often not violate some law of probability?
Fortunately, the storm meant Chu Hang couldn’t see her. Tan Yin steadied her racing heart and picked a spot to sit down.
“Chu Hang?”
Chu Hang had already changed into a T-shirt by now. He nodded at Tao Ting in greeting. He was consistent, at least — showing no particular warmth toward other girls either.
But while Chu Hang wasn’t warm, Tao Ting didn’t seem to mind. She smiled and looked out at the rain, sighing softly as if making idle conversation: “This thunderstorm came on so suddenly, doesn’t seem like it’ll let up anytime soon. By the way, I’m Tao Ting from the foreign languages school. We had a basketball match against your architecture department before — I was the cheerleading captain for our school. Though I’m not from your department, I have to admit you all played really well. Your three-pointers were especially impressive.”
“Mm.”
At Chu Hang’s one-syllable reply, Tan Yin nearly fainted. She sprang to her feet and ran over next to Chu Hang, urging him earnestly: “Hey, Chu Hang, she’s making small talk to strike up a conversation with you! Responding like that basically means you’re talking to yourself and giving her nothing to work with. Keep this up and even with your good looks, you might end up a lonely old bachelor!”
Faced with Chu Hang’s coldness, Tao Ting did seem a bit awkward, yet rather than retreating, she pressed on with a determination born of repeated failures. Tao Ting only pursed her lips and smiled: “By the way, Chu Hang, could we add each other on WeChat? I recently took on a freelance translation job from my advisor — a set of architectural literature.” She paused, looking at him as if seeking help, her tone sweet. “But the architectural vocabulary is too specialized, there’s a lot I don’t understand. If it’s convenient sometime, I’d like to ask for your guidance.”
Tao Ting’s gaze was gentle and docile, fixed on Chu Hang like flowing water — the hint, the subtext, the whole playbook…
Sure enough, Chu Hang pulled out his phone…
“Wow, what a move! Really clever!” Tan Yin couldn’t help but praise. “First, use a perfectly respectable excuse to add WeChat — this kind of reason a straight guy would never suspect has any ulterior motive at all, he’d think it’s really just for guidance. Then, chat under the guise of asking for help now and then, and while chatting, naturally show admiration for the guy, praise him in all sorts of ways, let him get absorbed in it — maybe over time something develops. And even if it hasn’t worked by that point, no problem, she can still use the excuse of gratitude to invite him out, dress up nicely, eat together a few more times, and the feelings will develop that way too. All in all, this creates so many more opportunities to keep in contact with Chu Hang — she’s just one step away from capturing him!”
Tan Yin rubbed her chin: “Not a bad move, I should remember this — might be useful for scheming on someone else later…”
At that moment, Chu Hang had already held his phone up in front of Tao Ting, and just as Tan Yin thought the two were about to exchange WeChat and take the first step toward hooking up, Chu Hang suddenly changed course—
“There are lots of English-Chinese architecture dictionary apps these days, download one yourself. No need to add WeChat.”
“…”
“Also, write down this number: 189XXXX5576.”
Tao Ting’s eyes lit up: “Is that your number?”
“No.” Chu Hang said calmly. “That’s our department head, Zhu Kangmei’s number. He’s also quite accomplished in architectural English translation and welcomes students from other departments to discuss it with him. You can go to him directly with any questions.”
“…”
Tan Yin: ???
What kind of nonsense move was this?! And this guy still had girls chasing him?
Tao Ting clearly hadn’t expected this bizarre turn, and froze for a moment — but this girl was clearly cut out for big things, and even in this situation she managed to stay composed.
She bit her lip, apparently deciding to switch tactics: “By the way, I just wanted to ask — do you have a girlfriend? Or, what kind of girl do you like?” Tao Ting brushed her hair back, feigning casualness as she probed. “If there’s a suitable girl, I’d love to introduce you two.”
Chu Hang, as the person actually involved, remained perfectly calm — Tan Yin, on the other hand, got excited first: “Retreat to advance! Even more advanced tactics! It looks like she’s offering to introduce you to someone, but really she’s setting herself up to swoop in!”
After her outburst, Tan Yin glanced at Tao Ting’s face and chest, feeling a bit conflicted and worried.
“Chu Hang, she seems dead set on you, but I’d advise you not to give in to this one.” Even knowing full well Chu Hang couldn’t hear her, Tan Yin couldn’t help but add earnestly, “That cleavage of hers is painted on with a makeup brush — she’s actually not that big. In my estimation, she might be a C cup at best, smaller than mine…”
For some reason, though an unexpected romantic encounter was unfolding right in front of him, Chu Hang looked anything but pleased — not just unhappy, his whole expression had darkened, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter, as if something was tormenting him unbearably. Tan Yin was about to keep complaining when she heard him, expression stern, unable to hold back any longer, spit out two words—
“Vulgar.”
Tao Ting froze, stammering: “Chu Hang, you — you like vulgar girls?”
Tan Yin was also stunned: “So you actually like vulgar? What kind of vulgar girl exactly?” She thought for a moment, then had a sort of epiphany. “I’ve heard a saying — ‘the best life is to live like the upper class, work like the middle class, and enjoy the desires of the lower class.’ Going by that logic, maybe what you want isn’t actually a vulgar girl, but one who can enjoy those base desires together with you? In other words, the kind who looks refined out in public but is wild in the bedroom? Chu Hang, you’re quite bold to admit that…”
Whether it was because Tao Ting’s question had come off a bit too blunt, Chu Hang, rubbing his temples as if in pain, reacted sharply: “I don’t like vulgar girls!”
Tao Ting let out a breath of relief: “Oh, oh, so you’re saying you don’t like vulgar ones, right.” She rolled her eyes playfully, putting on a coy expression. “So then you like someone more refined?”
Chu Hang said nothing. His expression looked somewhat venomous, as if someone had greatly offended him.
“Not answering counts as agreeing, then.” Tao Ting smiled. “If it’s refined you want, I have a close friend who’d be perfect — she plays piano, has wonderful bearing, very elegant. Let me show you a photo.”
As she spoke, without waiting for Chu Hang’s response, Tao Ting pulled out her phone, found a photo, and held it up in front of him.
Though Chu Hang clearly had no interest, Tan Yin eagerly leaned in for a look — and the moment she saw it, she couldn’t help but exclaim: “Tao Ting, that’s not very fair of you — calling her your best friend? Is this how you treat a best friend? You said you’d introduce your friend to Chu Hang, but then picked a photo of the two of you together where your friend has no makeup on, while you’re perfectly done up — with that contrast, of course all Chu Hang will see in that photo is you! That’s a bit too calculating! Because of this, I won’t allow Chu Hang to get together with you!”
Since no one else could see or hear her anyway, Tan Yin got really into it, declaring righteously: “Rather than let our architecture department’s men fall into your hands, I’d rather they fall into mine! And besides, I’m someone devoted to art, with refined taste — I think that suits Chu Hang’s preferences quite well…”
Just then, Chu Hang’s cold voice rang out, laced with barely suppressed exasperation: “What’s refined about that?”
Tao Ting paused, then put her phone away, looking a bit embarrassed: “That one might just be a casual snapshot — my friend really is elegant when she’s playing piano. Actually, why don’t we all grab a meal together sometime and I’ll introduce you two properly?”
…
After two relatively normal days, the moment it rained again, Chu Hang found himself suffering from the hallucinations once more.
The pavilion held only him and Tao Ting, and yet Tan Yin clung to him like a persistent ghost, following him everywhere. She’d changed into a loose short-sleeve top and long skirt; if she just kept her mouth shut, she’d almost look serene — from a distance, with her black hair and red lips, one might even mistake her for elegant. But even in the hallucination, the moment she opened her mouth…
Knowing full well it was an illusion, Chu Hang finally couldn’t hold back and snapped back at the hallucinated Tan Yin. Fortunately, Tao Ting didn’t notice anything odd and kept enthusiastically trying to set him up with a girlfriend.
“What about this one? This friend has an amazing figure.”
The moment Tao Ting finished speaking, the hallucinated Tan Yin leaned in to look at the phone too, then offered her enthusiastic commentary: “Oh, Chu Hang, this one’s actually really good — perfect curves front and back, and look at that figure — by traditional standards, that’s the kind of build that’s good for bearing sons! I say go for it!”
“…”
Tao Ting pressed on: “If you don’t like this one, I have a younger sister who’s not bad either, let me show you a photo.”
“This one’s no good — her complexion is sickly greenish, like she hasn’t eaten properly…”
“What about this one?”
“This one — isn’t this the online ‘wife who’ll bring her husband fortune’ look people talk about? I think it could work, though Chu Hang’s already pretty fortunate — would this make him too fortunate, and then it flips into bad luck?”
…
Chu Hang felt his head buzzing, splitting with pain — he could no longer make out a single word Tao Ting was saying, his ears filled entirely with Tan Yin’s various running commentary, giving him the surreal sensation that he was some kind of breeding boar, with Tan Yin as his owner personally scouting out the finest sows for him one by one…
“I have something to take care of, I’m heading out.”
Chu Hang finally couldn’t take it anymore, and ignoring Tao Ting’s shocked expression, he threw out those words and walked straight into the rain without a shred of mercy. As he left, Tan Yin’s voice trailed after him—
“Chu Hang! It’s still raining out there! Be careful! I heard that because of pollution, all this rain is acid rain now — get too much on your head and you’ll go bald fast!”
“…”
Chu Hang pressed his lips tightly together, unconsciously quickening his pace, the cold raindrops striking his face. Yet rather than annoyance, he felt something closer to relief — the farther he got from that pavilion, the sooner he’d stop hearing Tan Yin’s voice, stop seeing her at all…
He had no idea that back in the pavilion, Tan Yin was still watching Tao Ting with sympathy, sighing at length—
“How tragic — Chu Hang would rather get soaked in the rain than stay with you! I can’t help but feel for you! Young lady, try to look on the bright side!”