Chu Hang had actually spotted Tan Yin from far off in the crowd at the cafeteria. She was wearing a white dress that was, astonishingly, identical to the one in his hallucination. The dress had no elaborate design, no other embellishments — just plain, unadorned white, a style that was actually a bit bland. And yet worn on Tan Yin, set off by her striking looks, it took on an air of mutual enhancement instead.

He hadn’t actually meant to see her. But by the time Chu Hang came to his senses, he had already walked up in front of Tan Yin. Chu Hang figured he must have simply wanted Hainan chicken rice too badly, and that was why he’d found himself walking, without meaning to, right up to the window in front of Tan Yin.

It was only in the instant he brushed past Tan Yin that Chu Hang froze.

The hem of her skirt — why did it have the exact same watercolor stain as the one in his hallucination?!

What on earth was going on?

Tan Yin walked off, but Chu Hang remained utterly stunned, unable to calm himself for a long while. He forced himself to eat his meal with composure, while his mind raced.

So that meant…

He recalled every small detail of Tan Yin’s appearances in his hallucinations…

A bold guess suddenly flashed through Chu Hang’s mind —

Could it be that what he’d seen in those hallucinations wasn’t a hallucination at all?

Yet once he reasoned in that direction, Chu Hang found that everything seemed to make sense.

Although none of this conformed to scientific principle in the least, faced with such ironclad evidence, Chu Hang felt this might be the only reasonable explanation.

Still, even if the Tan Yin in his hallucinations really existed, it seemed that apart from himself, no one else could see her.

Chu Hang furrowed his brow and thought it over, deciding this could perhaps be explained using QQ’s invisible mode. Tan Yin was genuinely online, but the moment she logged on she slyly switched to invisible — only somehow, without meaning to, she’d set herself to “visible to him” specifically.

This theory was far too absurd. Although the paint stain on the skirt hem was undeniable fact, given how careful and thorough Chu Hang was, he felt he really ought to verify it once more.

He looked out at the sky, still dark and overcast, and made up his mind.

At almost the same moment, curled up in bed, Tan Yin also looked up at the gray sky and stretched. “Why does it feel like this rain hasn’t finished? I have a feeling there’s going to be a thunderstorm today too…”

Though it was an overcast, rainy day, the rest of the dorm had all rushed off to the city to prepare for Jacky Cheung’s concert that evening. Now only Jiang Yilu and Tan Yin remained in the room, living it up in their carefree solitude — one binging American dramas, the other grinding through practice problems.

As Tan Yin worked through her problems, she ran into a difficult one. She asked Jiang Yilu, but that one drew a total blank too.

“Why don’t you ask Jiang Yumeng next door?”

Tan Yin nodded, and just as she was about to get up and head next door, her phone rang. She pulled it out to look — the caller ID showed it was Chu Hang.

Tan Yin answered the call almost tremblingly.

Chu Hang’s voice, carried through the audio, seemed even colder than usual. He said tersely: “Come to the café outside Zhixing Building. Private room 108.”

“Huh?” Tan Yin glanced outside at the sky, sensing another thunderstorm was coming, and her instinct was not to go. “The weather’s not great today. Why don’t we wait until it’s sunny to meet up?”

“Come now, and I’ll give you back the manga manuscript.”

Tan Yin felt a bit tempted…

But Chu Hang taking the initiative to look for her — somehow it never boded well…

Almost simultaneously, Chu Hang’s next words completely dispelled Tan Yin’s doubts. His voice was cold: “I have a little niece who wants a cartoon avatar. Aren’t you able to draw? Come over and draw one for me.”

This time Tan Yin didn’t hesitate at all. “Deal! Give me ten minutes! I’ll be right there!”

She thought it over — going to see Chu Hang wasn’t a bad idea either. She’d draw an avatar for Chu Hang’s niece, Chu Hang would return the manga manuscript, and while she was at it, she could ask him about that problem she couldn’t solve. There was also that electric scooter from last time she wanted to ask him about — Tan Yin had just returned the scooter to Zhou Ming a few days ago, and Zhou Ming had certainly marveled at how the scooter looked brand new. Except a couple of days later he’d contacted her, saying the scooter definitely wasn’t his own, because the equipment serial number didn’t match…

Tan Yin set off harboring a stomach full of questions, only to find, once she arrived at the private room, that Chu Hang wasn’t even there yet. And while Chu Hang hadn’t arrived, the thunderstorm that had been threatening earlier had.

Amid the crashing thunder and flashing lightning, Tan Yin, most inconveniently, turned invisible. And at nearly the same instant, Chu Hang pushed open the door and came in — with Xu Yu following behind him.

Xu Yu’s tone carried a note of complaint: “Chu Hang, why’d you drag me out in weather like this? Look how much the temperature’s dropped all at once — lucky I dressed warmly…” As he entered, he sat right down. “But where’s Tan Yin? I remember seeing her push the door open and walk in right before you sent me off to order — how come there’s no one in the room now?” Xu Yu scratched his head. “Weren’t you on the phone in the corner the whole time? Wasn’t your line of sight facing the door? Didn’t she come in?”

Tan Yin’s heart lurched — she’d rushed in too hastily earlier and hadn’t expected the thunderstorm to hit the very next second, so she hadn’t paid any attention to whether anyone was around…

Fortunately Chu Hang only lifted his eyelids slightly, his voice indifferent: “I was looking down replying to a message just now, wasn’t paying attention. But she probably hasn’t arrived yet — you probably saw wrong.”

“Oh…” Xu Yu, not suspecting anything, went back to drinking his beverage.

Tan Yin patted her chest and let out a breath of relief too. “That scared the hell out of me.”

But once she relaxed, Tan Yin realized she was starting to feel cold — she’d rushed out so hastily she hadn’t grabbed a coat, and now indoors, she found herself actually shivering a little.

Fortunately Chu Hang seemed to feel cold too, and he turned the air conditioning in the room up a few degrees.

But this quickly drew a protest from Xu Yu: “Hey, Chu Hang, it’s plenty warm — why turn it up more? I’m going to start sweating at this rate!”

Chu Hang shot Xu Yu a cold glance. “If you’re hot you can take something off.”

“You’re dressed pretty warmly too, aren’t you?! With all those layers, you’re still cold?”

“Mm.”

Tan Yin took a look — and indeed, Chu Hang really was dressed in quite a few layers…

Although the raised temperature made Tan Yin comfortably warm now, looking at Chu Hang still in his thick coat, she felt quite sympathetic. “Chu Hang, you’re so young and yet you’re cold even dressed this heavily — that’s probably kidney deficiency.”

“…”

But Tan Yin leaned in closer to look at Chu Hang. “Huh? But are you really not hot? Why does your face look flushed? Really not from the heat? Why does it look like there’s even sweat on the tip of your nose?”

Xu Yu, equally sharp-eyed, noticed Chu Hang’s face too. But before he could even ask, Chu Hang said calmly: “I’m not hot.”

Xu Yu asked, puzzled: “Then why’s your face so red?”

“Oh, bit of an allergy.”

Xu Yu looked utterly suspicious. “Since when are you allergic to anything? Aren’t you someone who doesn’t react to anything you eat? And you’re not allergic to pollen either, are you?”

Xu Yu clearly meant to say more, but his words were cut off by a string of his own sneezes. He frowned. “What’s that smell?”

Tan Yin sniffed and only then noticed that the room really was suffused with some kind of incense scent, a bit like citrus, a bit like strawberry — quite distinctive. She followed the scent and finally found a bottle of scented perfume in the corner of the room.

Xu Yu also traced the source of the smell, and he complained with a bitter face: “Isn’t that the little box you brought in earlier? It’s got perfume in it?! Chu Hang, what’s gotten into you? Why are you carrying around this girly-smelling perfume? And you’re just here to meet someone — do you really need to have incense diffusing in the room for that?” Xu Yu’s expression was utterly exasperated. “With the AC set this high, in a sealed room, this smell is honestly torture…”

Faced with Xu Yu’s interrogation, Chu Hang remained perfectly composed, glancing at him unruffled. “Xu Yu, a man ought to stay polished at all times too.”

“…”

Not just Xu Yu — even Tan Yin was stunned. This was the first time she’d witnessed such a flamboyant move — carrying his own incense out with him. Truly the model of aloof, high-class pretentiousness. Chu Hang really was a meticulous pretty boy — how utterly, utterly impressive!

But very soon, Tan Yin found she could no longer be impressed. She was hungry…

Studying burned up too much energy — three big meat dishes just weren’t going to cut it!

“Ahh, I really want a cheese bun, a chocolate mille-feuille, and matcha cookies…” Tan Yin pressed on her stomach, unable to resist talking herself into a craving. These three items were this little café’s specialties — every time Tan Yin came here, she ordered this classic trio without fail.

Tan Yin glanced mournfully at the rain outside the window and could only console herself by muttering: “Look on the bright side — at least this time I won’t have to watch someone else eat well while I go hungry…”

But before she’d even finished speaking, Chu Hang rang the bell and called over a server: “Could you bring me a cheese bun, a chocolate mille-feuille, and some matcha cookies, please.”

…

By the time the server had delivered these three desserts, over which Tan Yin was now drooling helplessly, Chu Hang actually began eating them, elegantly, one bite after another — as if biting straight into Tan Yin’s heart…

Was there anything in this world more painful than watching something you couldn’t have?

There was not!

Tan Yin’s composure completely collapsed…

As for Xu Yu across from Chu Hang, his own mood didn’t seem too great either. He looked at Chu Hang as if he’d seen a ghost. “Weren’t you the one who hated this kind of sickly-sweet dessert the most? Why’d you order this whole pile?”

Chu Hang’s noble face bore no expression as he took a small bite of the matcha cookie in his hand, his voice calm and utterly infuriating: “I never gain weight no matter what I eat, anyway. Just felt curious all of a sudden.”

Fine then… Tan Yin figured today’s Chu Hang was purely here to rack up grudges.

Yet Tan Yin couldn’t act out at all — she could only bounce around beside Chu Hang, watching helplessly, stomach empty, as Chu Hang worked his way through every single one of her favorite desserts. It was practically a human tragedy.

“I’m not jealous, I’m not jealous, cheese buns, chocolate mille-feuille, and matcha cookies aren’t tasty at all — honey cheese tarts and mango mousse are the real delicacies of this world!”

Almost at the same instant, Chu Hang rang the service bell once more: “Could you bring me a honey cheese tart and a mango mousse as well, please.”

“…”

Was it even legal for Chu Hang to be this ruthless???

And as if heaven still felt this wasn’t enough, Tan Yin, who had drunk a bottle of juice before heading out, now suddenly felt a bit of an urge to pee.

Except the door to the room was shut tight…

Fortunately, right at that moment, Xu Yu glanced at his watch, seeming to run out of patience. “Weren’t you and Tan Yin supposed to meet up? It’s been fifteen minutes already — why isn’t she here yet?” Xu Yu clearly couldn’t stand the incense in the room any longer, and he advised, “It’s pouring like crazy out there now — I bet she’s decided to stand you up. Chu Hang, why don’t we just head out.”

Chu Hang took a sip of coffee and lifted his eyelids, unruffled: “It’s fine, you go ahead.”

Tan Yin nearly jumped for joy — she couldn’t resist giving Xu Yu a thumbs up. “Xu Yu, for this alone, in whatever bet you two make about who’s bigger, I’ve decided to put my money on you winning!”

As she spoke, Tan Yin headed for the door. “Alright, alright, Xu Yu, hurry up and go — I’m waiting, the second that door opens I’m running for the bathroom, I’m about to burst!”

But just as Tan Yin was standing by the door, watching Xu Yu about to pull it open, Chu Hang suddenly stood up, grabbed Xu Yu’s hand, and shut the door that had just been cracked open. ???

Somehow, Chu Hang’s face, which had been perfectly composed a moment ago, suddenly darkened as if clouds had rolled in. He paused, seeming to suppress some kind of anger, and turned to look at Xu Yu: “On second thought, why don’t you stay and keep me company.”

“Huh?”

Chu Hang rubbed his temple, trying hard to keep smiling, but his voice, gritted through his teeth, clearly betrayed his mood.

Tan Yin heard him say, word by measured word —

“I’m afraid that without a third person here, Tan Yin might make a move on me.”

WTF???

Tan Yin was stunned! Talk about a trumped-up charge with no shortage of pretexts! This was truly a case of disaster falling from the sky while sitting peacefully at home!

But Chu Hang, as if that still wasn’t enough, added another line: “After all, you know how she’s even jumped off a building for me before. I’m worried she still wants to force things between us.” He gave Xu Yu an apologetic smile. “So this is actually the reason I asked you to come out with me in the first place.”

Damn you, Chu Hang! Tan Yin was practically boiling with rage! If she weren’t invisible right now, she’d really want to take off her shoe and beat Chu Hang to death with the sole!

“Chu Hang, what do you even mean by that?! What do you mean I’m going to make a move on you? Making me sound like some lecherous predator who’s going to lock the door and assault you the second it shuts? Getting cocky just because you’ve got a passably decent face?”

Tan Yin was simply furious beyond words: “You’re a grown man — even if I wanted to, I couldn’t possibly force myself on you, could I? And couldn’t you fight back to the death anyway? If all else fails, die defending your chastity! If you’re that worried, I’ll build you a memorial arch for chastity right now!”

Besides, whichever way you looked at it, this excuse of Chu Hang’s sounded strange no matter how you sliced it — it was practically as if he were deliberately keeping Xu Yu from opening the door. Tan Yin, holding in her need to pee, was furious, but fury solved nothing. Chu Hang, as if deliberately working against her, picked up the teapot on the table and started pouring himself water — and once he started, he wouldn’t stop, and the sound of the flowing water only made Tan Yin’s urge to pee even worse.

When a person is forced to hold in the need to pee or worse, the usual approach is to distract oneself, trying not to think about going to the bathroom — once focused on something else, one can usually hold on a bit longer.

Tan Yin walked two laps around the table, and finally, with no other option, resentfully walked over to stand beside Chu Hang and cleared her throat —

“Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendliness…”

Unfortunately, even after reciting the entire core socialist values, Chu Hang remained unmoved. Only, perhaps from drinking too much tea, his hand trembled slightly as he poured.

Tan Yin sighed — the core socialist values weren’t going to save her. In this agonizing moment of holding it in, she figured she’d better try reciting poetry instead. One of Tan Yin’s elective courses was a poetry appreciation class, and her regular homework was memorizing poems. She took a deep breath and began reciting from memory, reviewing the old to learn the new.

But recite as she might, these difficult classical poems really were asking too much of her. Soon Tan Yin lost interest, and while still struggling to hold it in, she started rambling nonsense instead.

“…If heaven had feelings, heaven too would grow old; if a person has feelings, they die early.”

“…A spring night’s moment is worth a thousand gold; true knowledge comes only from personal practice.”

…

Tan Yin didn’t actually know many proper classical poems by heart, but once she started on this stream of nonsense verse, she found herself unstoppable, flowing on and on like the Yangtze River. Just as she’d finally managed to forget the agony of holding it in and was reciting with real momentum, Xu Yu’s voice suddenly interrupted her train of thought.

“Chu Hang, watch out! How’d you suddenly spill the tea all over your own hand?! Did you get burned?”

Tan Yin looked over and only then noticed a clear red mark already scalded onto Chu Hang’s pale hand. His expression was hard to read, as if he were suppressing some emotion. If he were an anime character, Tan Yin had no doubt his temples would already be lined with those little black stress marks.

“It’s fine.” But he must have been burned after all, because Tan Yin thought she detected an edge of barely-contained instability beneath Chu Hang’s low, muted voice.

But Tan Yin had no mind to spare for that — the moment she stopped reciting, her need to pee came surging back, and she had to force herself to focus again.

“…We promised to grow old together, but you secretly dyed your hair.”

“…Why must the moon be full only when we’re apart — I’ll fly to you like a superhero instead.”

“Cough cough cough!”

Tan Yin was on a poetic roll, but somehow, Chu Hang choked on his tea for no apparent reason, forcibly interrupting her creative flow once again.

Tan Yin, holding it in with great difficulty, waited until Chu Hang’s coughing stopped before starting up again: “…Rising suddenly from deathly illness, startled awake — what do I do, I might be pregnant…”

“Pfft—”

Along with the sound of Chu Hang choking again came Xu Yu’s anxious shout: “Chu Hang, what’s wrong with you? Why are you coughing so hard the tea’s spraying out?”

Chu Hang, who normally drank tea like a textbook example of aristocratic etiquette, was today making these embarrassing table-manner blunders again and again — truly a case of performing well below standard!

Perhaps aware of his own loss of composure, Chu Hang finally stopped insisting on keeping the door shut this time. He pressed his lips together and spoke: “Tan Yin still hasn’t shown up after all this waiting — I suppose she probably has something else going on and won’t be coming. Since that’s the case, I don’t want to keep waiting either. Let’s head out.” Chu Hang lowered his gaze. “I’ll give her a deadline — if she contacts me after the rain stops today, asks to meet, and apologizes sincerely, I’ll return the manga manuscript to her. Otherwise, this unsightly manuscript is going straight into the paper shredder.”

“My manuscript, wait for me — the moment the rain stops today, I’ll come get you and take you home!” Tan Yin looked reluctantly at the manuscript set aside nearby. “Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t let you perish under Chu Hang’s iron heel! I’ll fight for you until the very last moment!”

Just then, Xu Yu had already opened the door and was standing there urging them on: “Right, hurry and go run cold water over that burn, or you never know, it might blister…”

Seeing the door open, Tan Yin didn’t care about anything else — she immediately bolted, dashing out of the room to answer nature’s call, straight for the bathroom.