So Tan Yin, blushing and flustered, forked a small piece of beef and brought it to Chu Hang’s mouth. Strangely enough, back in the cafeteria in front of everyone, she’d fed Zhou Ming for ages without feeling nervous at all, but facing Chu Hang, just this one small bite left her feeling utterly mortified.
Fortunately, it was just one bite, she told herself, trying to calm down—but it seemed Chu Hang, sitting across from her, had other ideas.
He finished the bite in his mouth with elegant composure, then looked at her.
Though he said nothing, his expression clearly conveyed an air of reserved anticipation, waiting to be fed again…
Tan Yin, blushing, fed him another bite.
But Chu Hang, seemingly insatiable, finished that bite and looked at her expectantly for a second, and after the second, a third…
And so it went, until Tan Yin had fed him half her plate of beef. Just as she thought she’d finally satisfied his appetite, Chu Hang picked up his fork, speared a small piece of his own steak, and brought it to her mouth.
“Fair’s fair.”
Though this restaurant’s other patrons weren’t as openly gossipy and direct as the students in the school cafeteria, Tan Yin’s feeding gestures had still drawn more than a few sneaking glances from waitstaff and other diners. Chu Hang had a physique that rivaled a professional male model and a face to match—flaunting affection this blatantly was bound to draw attention!
Normally Chu Hang disliked being the center of attention, keeping a low profile in almost everything he did, trying hard to minimize his presence. But this time, in this restaurant, he paid no mind to anyone else’s gaze, focused entirely on her, feeding her bite after bite.
By the time the meal was over, Tan Yin’s face was burning and her heart was pounding like a drum. Just as she felt like she might need a cardiac stent if she kept this up, the beef was finally finished.
But Chu Hang still seemed to have more to say: “Was mine tastier, or Zhou Ming’s?”
“Yours! Yours was better!” Tan Yin, terrified Chu Hang might get competitive and order another steak just to feed her bite by bite again, quickly swore up and down. “Chu Hang, there’s only you in my heart, I don’t know any Zhou-whatever-Ming!”
This clearly delighted Chu Hang immensely, and he finally smiled like a cunning fox spirit.
And so, the matter of her and Zhou Ming pretending to be a couple and feeding each other was finally put to rest.
After finishing dessert, Chu Hang took her hand again and continued walking back toward school. The weather was still overcast, and although the earthquake in the neighboring province had stopped with no major casualties, and the impact on City A had been minimal, Tan Yin, having just been through such a frightening ordeal, couldn’t shake the feeling that the ground might start shaking again at any moment and crack open, with lava bubbling up. She gripped Chu Hang’s hand tightly, both afraid of another earthquake and nervous about holding his hand.
Fortunately, the restaurant wasn’t far from school, and before long, they’d arrived at the school gate.
Tan Yin, who hadn’t felt embarrassed even when she’d scored last in her architecture class and they’d hung up a celebratory banner about it, now suddenly felt shy, like a bride nervous before her wedding: “Maybe we shouldn’t hold hands, it’s too conspicuous, isn’t it?”
But Chu Hang stopped her from pulling her hand away, gripping it firmly, completely ignoring the uncertain, questioning looks from students passing by who noticed their clasped hands, walking forward with calm composure: “I finally managed to ‘swoop in and steal you away’—it’d be a shame not to make it public after all that effort.”
“…”
“I was raised to believe that whatever you do, you should do it to the fullest, be the best in your field,” Chu Hang said coldly. “Even being ‘the other man’—same principle applies.”
Hey! What’s there to be proud of about being “the other man”?! Tan Yin was genuinely astonished—this was the first time she’d met an “other man” with such professional pride. Was something wrong with him? Did he have to be the most outstanding, most dazzling “other man” in the entire universe too?
But since there was no arguing with him, Tan Yin gave up trying and walked with him, enduring everyone’s stares, all the way to the entrance of the women’s dormitory.
Because of the earthquake, all classes had been cancelled for the day, and the library and many classrooms were still being cleared up, so there was nowhere else to go. Most people had opted to return to their dorms, so the entrance to the women’s dorm was several times busier than usual.
Chu Hang showing up holding her hand like this drew a level of attention comparable to a celebrity appearance.
“Well, I’m heading back to my dorm. You should head back too,” Tan Yin said, feeling a bit self-conscious under all those stares. She looked down at the ground, trying to compose herself, but inwardly she wanted nothing more than to dash back to her dorm and hide under the covers. She’d barely finished speaking before turning to bolt up the stairs.
But she’d only taken a couple of steps before Chu Hang gently caught her arm from behind.
“There’s one more question I want to ask you.”
Tan Yin turned around, puzzled, and just as she was about to ask what it was, Chu Hang leaned down, wrapped one hand around her waist, and gently cupped the back of her head with the other, then, right there in front of everyone, at the entrance to the women’s dormitory, almost audaciously, kissed her.
It was not a shy, tentative kiss. Chu Hang’s lips and tongue carried an unhesitating, claiming intensity—he gave her a deep kiss.
Just as Tan Yin’s face burned so hot she felt she might explode, Chu Hang finally released her. Only then did she notice that his face had flushed slightly too, though his expression remained utterly composed, as if unshaken even if the sky itself were falling.
Tan Yin’s mind went completely blank. She bit her lip, glaring at him: “Why would you just kiss me without saying anything first!”
Chu Hang just shrugged: “Kissing your girlfriend doesn’t require a permit.”
Tan Yin’s face flushed red: “That was my first kiss!”
Way too sudden! She hadn’t been mentally prepared for this at all!!! Tan Yin felt a rush of heat and nervousness, her insides a tangled mess of sweetness and anxious uncertainty. The moment she’d said it, she regretted it a little—admitting to something like a first kiss felt like showing her hand, somehow making her feel like she’d lost the upper hand…
But to Tan Yin’s surprise, Chu Hang showed his own hand just as freely, his voice low and seductive as he chuckled: “Oh, what a coincidence, it was mine too.”
Well… fine… you damned fox spirit… I suppose I’ll forgive you…
But despite her thoughts, Tan Yin still put on a show of being annoyed: “And you lied and said you had a question to ask me, when really you were just ambushing me with a kiss! Chu Hang, you’re such a liar! I’ll never trust you again!”
“I wasn’t lying, I did have a question,” Chu Hang said with a soft laugh. “I’ve always been curious—was the dog food really that good? You ate over half of Cocoa’s bag.”
Though the question was quite the non sequitur, Tan Yin actually thought about it seriously: “It really was pretty good, actually. Imported dog food lives up to its reputation.”
“Idiot.” Chu Hang leaned in close and, without warning, kissed her again.
“Don’t eat Cocoa’s dog food anymore. I’ll feed you our own dog food from now on.”
Combined with his voice right by her ear and his warm breath grazing her earlobe, Tan Yin felt like she might just drop dead and ascend to heaven on the spot. She was now completely convinced she was in perfectly good health, because if she had any kind of heart condition, she’d have already had a heart attack from all this excitement…
But Chu Hang, as if that still wasn’t enough, leaned in closer to her ear and kissed her already-burning cheek: “So, whose dog food tastes better? Cocoa’s? Or the one I fed you?”
With Chu Hang clearly not planning to let her go until she answered, Tan Yin felt every pore on her body practically evaporating from the heat. Unable to even meet his eyes, she blurted out “yours was better” and bolted from his grasp like a startled rabbit, running off as fast as she could.
The moment Tan Yin got back to her dorm, the first thing she did was bury herself under the covers to try to calm down. That reckless display Chu Hang had just put on at the entrance to the women’s dorm had been witnessed by countless eyes, and even as she’d run up the stairs, she could still feel all kinds of complicated stares following her.
Given Chu Hang’s campus fame and reputation as the unattainable ice prince, this kind of public display—forcibly feeding someone dog food in front of everyone—had definitely earned her a whole wave of enmity…
But curled up under her covers, Tan Yin couldn’t help but smile foolishly to herself. Chu Hang hadn’t lied about one thing at least—eating Cocoa’s dog food really wasn’t that exciting. Making dog food together with Chu Hang was far more thrilling.
Tan Yin lay curled up under the covers, her mind a jumble as she replayed that kiss, when suddenly her blanket was yanked away by Jiang Yilu, followed immediately by her booming voice—
“Tan Yin, stop hiding under there and sleeping! You’re in huge trouble! The school forum’s gossip board is completely flooded with posts about you!”
Jiang Yilu hauled her up without ceremony.
Jiang Yilu’s expression was dead serious: “Who did you piss off? The gossip board is going crazy right now talking about you and Chu Hang, saying you dumped Zhou Ming, cheated with Chu Hang, used some kind of love spell to trap him, seduced him into your clutches. This is definitely some organized smear campaign against you—the rumors are so detailed, and they even Photoshopped fake photos of you two holding hands and kissing! I downloaded the photos and sent them to a friend of mine in computer science, and even they said it’s clearly the work of an expert—there’s not a trace of editing to be found!”
“…”
Jiang Yilu looked deeply worried: “Even though I’m a moderator and can delete posts, there are just too many, I can’t keep up, and since I can’t technically prove the photos are fake either, I can’t just start deleting posts recklessly. Everyone online right now is completely one-sided, all sympathizing with Zhou Ming—his image has been completely rehabilitated from all the earlier smearing, and he’s even earned a huge wave of sympathy. But you…”
“They’re not Photoshopped…” Tan Yin swallowed, about to explain, when Chu Hang’s call came in.
Before she could even pick up, Jiang Yilu spotted Chu Hang’s name on the screen and grabbed the phone first, giving Tan Yin an exaggerated wink. “He’s probably calling to demand an explanation, definitely going to yell at you, thinking you’re the one stirring up trouble. Let me handle it—I’ll say you’re not here, and once we’ve figured out what actually happened, we’ll deal with Chu Hang, the other person involved…”
Jiang Yilu rattled all this off quickly, then hit the answer button: “Hello? Chu Hang? Oh, sorry about this, Tan Yin’s in the shower right now, can’t come to the phone, but I promise you, she hasn’t done anything crazy—I’ve been watching her lie in bed sleeping in our dorm all day today!”
Just as Jiang Yilu was about to continue vouching for her, Chu Hang’s voice paused on the other end: “I personally walked Tan Yin to your dorm entrance thirteen minutes ago. Before that, she was with me the entire time.”
“…”
Jiang Yilu froze, seemingly still processing what Chu Hang meant by this, but before she could figure it out, Chu Hang’s calm voice continued from the other end: “Alright, put my girlfriend on the phone.”
In the face of this earth-shattering revelation, Jiang Yilu seemed completely stunned. She moved the phone away from her ear and stared blankly at Tan Yin: “I think Chu Hang dialed the wrong number, he said he’s looking for his girlfriend…”
Tan Yin had no time to explain and just took the phone.
“I saw the post. Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it.”
The instant she heard Chu Hang’s voice, Tan Yin felt her whole body relax. Just hearing him say that made her feel like there was nothing left to worry about.
Tan Yin nodded: “Mm!”
Chu Hang paused, then his voice turned somewhat husky: “Is there nothing else you want to say to me?”
If he hadn’t asked, she might not have thought of it, but now that he had, Tan Yin remembered something: “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Whatever you want to ask for, I’ll seriously consider it. I know finals are coming up soon so time’s a bit tight, but I happen to be free tonight, so if you want to catch a movie or go shopping, that’s not out of the question either…”
But before Chu Hang could finish, Tan Yin excitedly cut him off: “Chu Hang! I want to study!”
Chu Hang paused, sounding incredulous: “Are you sure?”
“Mm-hm!”
Of course she was sure—the structural mechanics exam was coming up soon, and Tan Yin felt like there were still several concepts she hadn’t fully grasped. Since Chu Hang happened to be free tonight, of course she should take the opportunity to get some tutoring! Now that Chu Hang was her boyfriend, she should definitely make the most of it!
Chu Hang was silent for a moment, but eventually agreed: “I’ll come pick you up at your dorm later. We’ll grab dinner and then find somewhere for me to tutor you.”
**
The moment Tan Yin hung up, Jiang Yilu pounced on her, eyes gleaming, shaking her by the shoulders: “Tan Yin, spill it! What is going on?!”
Tan Yin tried to play it cool: “Exactly what you saw. The photos aren’t fake, I really am with Chu Hang now.”
“Where did you even buy that love spell? Was it on Taobao? I heard those actually work?”
Tan Yin was utterly speechless: “Can you please stop with the superstition?” She flipped her hair back, putting on airs as she explained. “Chu Hang simply couldn’t resist my charm and suddenly realized how adorable I am, that’s all.”
Jiang Yilu: ???
“Wasn’t Chu Hang with that Anna girl? How did he suddenly fall for you instead?” Jiang Yilu clearly still couldn’t process this, muttering to herself. “But if you and Chu Hang really are together, and he just walked you to the dorm entrance, then all those photos of you two kissing that people posted must be real too… does that mean I banned people’s accounts for no reason… they weren’t even lying… as moderator, do I owe them a public apology? Would I get lynched?”
But Jiang Yilu soon discovered her worries were completely unfounded, because no one on the gossip board had any time to spare pursuing her failure as moderator—everyone was too busy buzzing over the main characters showing up in person on the hot thread.
The post had been trending explosively on the gossip board’s front page for a while now, with an especially provocative title: Explosive Inside Scoop—Tan Yin Caught Cheating, Zhou Ming Cruelly Dumped, Is Chu Hang Under a Love Spell? What Could Have Driven the Ice Prince to This—Desperate Self-Destruction After Being Stalked, or Forced Into It Under Threat of Death?
…
Jiang Yilu clicked into the thread and scrolled down, wading through several hundred pages, before finally reaching the reply from the person in question themselves.
“Post #434: Tan Yin didn’t cheat, didn’t stalk anyone, never jumped off a building for me. She and Zhou Ming broke up amicably, and I’m the one who pursued her after the breakup.” Signed: Chu Hang.
This reply was, unsurprisingly, met with a huge wave of skepticism at first:
“Post #435: This is probably someone cosplaying as Chu Hang, it’s an anonymous forum, anyone can register under any name.”
“Post #437: How do we know you’re really him, OP?”
…
Until—
“Post #566: Everyone give it up, Chu Hang made his relationship public on Weibo. Today’s been a series of gut punches for me—my dream guy is officially off the market, and it’s not with me. RIP me, everyone remember to burn paper money for me at Tomb Sweeping Day.”
“Post #578: Went in not believing it, and, sniff, it really is Chu Hang. I’m salty, I regret it now—if I’d been brave enough to jump off a building for love back then, would Chu Hang be announcing his relationship with me today instead?”
“Post #579: Wake up, OP above—Chu Hang literally just said Tan Yin never jumped for him!”
“Post #590: Bold theory here, maybe we’ve had it backwards this whole time, what if Chu Hang’s actually the other man who cheated with Zhou Ming’s girlfriend?”
“Post #592: Chu Hang clearly said they only got together after Zhou Ming and Tan Yin broke up, is #590 blind? How dare you slander our Chu Hang!”
…
The thread splintered into several factions arguing back and forth endlessly over this, until Zhou Ming eventually showed up under his real identity too, denying any claims of cheating or being the wronged party, personally vouching for Chu Hang and Tan Yin.
“Post #700: Oh my god, little angel Zhou Ming is so pitiful and so adorable, why is there an ex this magnanimous and gracious out there, still protecting his ex’s reputation even after breaking up—compared to my ex, he’s basically a saint.”
“Post #705: Feeling for Zhou Ming, adopting him. Honestly he’s pretty good-looking too, the refined scholarly type. Hey Zhou Ming, since you’re single now, want to consider me?”
“Post #706: +1 for wanting to be Zhou Ming’s girlfriend”
“Post #707: Genuinely feel for Zhou Ming, and to think there was actually a post before smearing him, saying he was secretly twisted and obsessed with Duan Yingfei to the point of scheming—what utter nonsense! Ugh!”
…
Tan Yin no longer had the heart to keep reading the rest of the thread. She quickly opened Weibo instead, and was immediately stunned.
Her Weibo showed over two thousand mentions. Tan Yin took a deep breath and, hands trembling, clicked in, only to discover that Chu Hang, who rarely ever posted, had put up a new status—”Chu Hang: girlfriend @TanEngineeringIsTheBest is world class.”
Chu Hang’s Weibo username had always just been his full name. Though he rarely posted, he had an enormous number of followers—partly campus admirers, and partly because he’d posted highly professional papers and analyses on several architecture forums, earning him a substantial following among industry professionals too. But her own Weibo account… how did Chu Hang even know her Weibo handle!
Tan Yin felt her heart pounding out of control. She immediately called Chu Hang: “How do you know my Weibo handle?”
Tan Yin nearly wanted to cry to the heavens—if she remembered correctly, she’d been posting like crazy on her barely-followed Weibo just days ago, spamming wishes for Anna and Chu Hang to break up as soon as possible…
Chu Hang’s voice on the other end was light; he laughed softly, his warm, low voice trying hard to mask the awkwardness in his tone: “Oh, I just read through all those love letters you wrote me over that half a year. One of them said, ‘Chu Hang, my Weibo is @TanEngineeringIsTheBest, can we follow each other?'”
“You kept my love letters from back then?”
“I did.”
Tan Yin was stunned for a moment: “So you kept every other girl’s love letters too then? Even if you didn’t throw them out, you never opened them either? You must need a whole dedicated cabinet in your dorm just to store all that stuff.”
“Just yours, I kept.” Chu Hang lowered his voice. “Everyone else’s, I returned them all. Only yours I never returned—I just kept it exactly as it was, unopened.”
Humph, so he’d already had inappropriate feelings for her way back then! Tan Yin’s heart felt sweet and satisfied, but she quickly thought of a new question.
“Then why did you only keep it without opening it?”
“I was afraid that if I opened it and read it, I wouldn’t be able to control my own attention anymore,” Chu Hang said, his voice calm, though the faintest trace of bashfulness and carefully concealed nervousness lingered in the tail of his words. “I had misunderstandings about you back then—I thought you had questionable character, that I should stay away.”
Oh… well, that certainly turned out to be quite the opposite of “staying away,” didn’t it…
But… Tan Yin suddenly grew alert, remembering all that nonsense on her Weibo: “You just followed my Weibo, right? You didn’t go browsing through anything, did you?”
“No.”
But just as Tan Yin was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Chu Hang continue, a smile in his voice: “I didn’t go browsing, I just glanced at your homepage, and saw a whole bunch of creative variations on wishing for my relationship to fail—how did they go again? ‘I’m willing to eat vegetarian for the rest of my life in exchange for CH’s breakup,’ ‘If only the time difference between America and China were a year instead,’ ‘Did CH break up today? No.’ ‘Every time I think about CH being in a sweet relationship, all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend, I just want to smash his head in…'” Chu Hang laughed. “Quite the jealous streak you’ve got there.”
“Stop, stop reading them! I surrender! I admit I had impure motives!” Tan Yin wailed. “I think you’d better keep staying away from me after all!”
“How could I do that? I need to keep you close so I can properly supervise your redemption,” Chu Hang said, laughing. “From now on, I’ll be personally responsible for overseeing your conduct.”