Jin Yiken wasn’t joking when he said those words that day.

After that day, he made no move, but the next day, he threw her a complete tutoring and training outline.

The specific arrangement was this: every Monday through Friday at noon, she would prepare difficult concepts to consult him about; Saturday would be a full day of reviewing old material and learning new content; Sunday morning she would do practice test papers, and in the afternoon he would explain them; the remaining time she could contact him anytime, striving to improve one subject per week.

And as compensation for taking up her time, all her expenses during this period would be on him.

Long Qi said how come he didn’t leave her any time for fun.

Jin Yiken asked who would she have fun with?

Long Qi deliberately said, with you, of course.

Jin Yiken said right, I’m tutoring you, you’re keeping me company while I tutor you, that’s the fun.

Long Qi had nothing to say to that.

So at this time when the exam period had long ended and most students were in a relaxed state, she alone was not—Jin Yiken kept a tight grip on her, and when it came to pushing people, he was definitely no less demanding than any teacher. Fortunately, her mind was reasonably quick to turn, so she didn’t get scolded (she could see that Jin Yiken most disdained stupid people). If Dong Xi’s tutoring style was gentle rain and wind type, seeking stability not speed, then Jin Yiken was lightning speed type, especially efficiency-focused. Long Qi was tortured quite miserably in this process; she felt he was somewhat schizophrenic.

But she had to admit, her knowledge reserves were indeed genuinely increasing every single day.

Actually, the fact that she could test into this high school in the first place showed her level was quite good; it was just that during three years of high school she’d been busy doing part-time work as a model, not spending any thought on studying, which had created the current precarious situation. Fortunately, first Dong Xi had pulled her along, and then Jin Yiken was tightly holding onto her.

Jin Yiken’s reason for holding onto her also had selfish motives. On one hand, it was genuinely for her own good; on the other hand, it was more long-term—he wasn’t like Long Qi who always held the idea that the two of them would date for two or three years and then split up. His sense of novelty and passionate love for her hadn’t faded yet, and he wholeheartedly felt he could live a good life with her, so he hoped she could keep up with him, at least reach the standard he wanted. Although even if she ended up failing her exams badly he wouldn’t mind (he even felt that would be part of who she was), his family members first of all would not accept someone who couldn’t even achieve general standards in studying.

So in those few days before going abroad, Jin Yiken desperately pushed her studies, pushed to what extent? The two of them met for nothing but tutoring, just tutoring, and since after New Year’s they hadn’t had any intimate behavior—he was like someone who had suddenly practiced abstinence.

A good thing.

In the blink of an eye, winter break was approaching.

The day before winter break started, during the school’s last PE class, Long Qi waited for Jin Yiken to finish playing ball in the gymnasium bleachers while snow fell outside the building.

Today he rarely gave her a day off, running off to play ball with people himself, because this was his last day at school—after school he still had to eat dinner with his classmates, and Long Qi would go too.

Zhuo Qing wasn’t going.

Long Qi had his coat on her knees, with a magazine pressed on top of the coat. She propped up her chin looking at the newest popular “little表砸s” in the magazine, and with each face she looked at, within half a second she could mentally reconstruct what they looked like without makeup. She ate an apple, turning page after page, occasionally glancing at Jin Yiken below on the court, just like “a carefree spicy mom glancing at her son having a blast in the McDonald’s playground area.”

Her phone received a text message at this moment.

Lao Ping called her to attend a training class he’d signed her up for when she was free. She held the apple in her mouth and used her free hand to reply: What training?

Lao Ping: Etiquette, dance, vocal training.

She typed: Looks like artist training.

Lao Ping: Right, that’s what it is.

She: I can just rely on my face.

Lao Ping: !!!!!

She replied again: After the college entrance exam.

Lao Ping: Okay, it would be best to start training now, but I respect your decision.

Lao Ping’s tone in this sentence had a bit more official air, seeming very polite. Based on Long Qi’s understanding of him, probably her value had invisibly increased somewhat again. But of course Lao Ping wouldn’t let her know how high her value actually was—this was equivalent to letting a tyrant clearly know how much power they had. Long Qi didn’t investigate further either; she put her phone back in her coat pocket and continued eating her apple.

A long whistle sounded from below. The game ended accompanied by jubilant cheers for scoring goals—Jin Yiken’s team won.

She ran her fingers through her long hair and perfunctorily clapped twice.

After the last class bell rang, school officially let out and winter break began.

Jin Yiken’s farewell banquet was set in a private room of a large hotel near the school. Most of those present were male students; a very few brought their girlfriends from the same school—there were no other girls (most of the girls in his class were Bai Aiting’s followers). But there were enough people on Jin Yiken’s side. At the beginning the atmosphere still had some parting melancholy, but later it gradually heated up. Jin Yiken especially liked making people drink; his technique in this area was first-rate. Long Qi watched him bring down pair after pair, and gently said: “That’s about enough.”

At that time the male students had all gotten drunk and were all standing, their respective girlfriends also standing. Only she sat listlessly beside Jin Yiken with no interest. A male student suddenly blurted out: “Long Qi, you should stand up too.”

Actually it was quite a normal sentence.

But the other person’s tone was different—his voice raised high, with dramatic inflection, conveying ill intent. He directly elevated her sitting there unmoving to some moral level. Long Qi reflexively glanced at the source of the voice, and Jin Yiken also glanced. He instantly replied: “It’s fine, I just like her this way.”

That male student was quite tall, dark-skinned, somewhat muscular, named Jiang Bing. He counted as a friend relatively close to Jin Yiken, and was also a main player on the basketball team. Long Qi remembered him, because at the same time his relationship with Bai Aiting was also quite good—there had even been widespread rumors throughout the grade that he’d once liked Bai Aiting.

At the start of the farewell banquet he hadn’t said a word, and just now was the first time he’d spoken, directing his words at Long Qi.

After Jin Yiken replied to him that way, his expression looked somewhat unpleasant, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Jiang Bing actually represented that group who “couldn’t accept Jin Yiken abandoning Bai and choosing Long,” and also represented that group of “upright righteousness.” After rumors about Long Qi and Jin Yiken emerged, he’d never taken any stance in public opinion, but his hostility toward Long Qi had always been displayed on the surface. The few times Long Qi had seen Jin Yiken and encountered him at the same time, he always wore a dark face toward her, as if constantly voicing injustice on behalf of Bai Aiting.

The farewell banquet continued, the atmosphere not changing at all, as if everyone pretended not to notice the emotion that had been on the verge of erupting just moments ago. Only Long Qi turned her phone in her hand, looking at Jiang Bing through the overlapping wine bottles and crowd. Jiang Bing regarded her as if she didn’t exist, his expression revealing contempt.

He felt she just had this unruly temperament, no manners, no upbringing, couldn’t compare to Bai Aiting, wasn’t worthy of Jin Yiken.

He even seemed to be waiting for her to reveal her true nature, to lose her temper at him on the spot to prove his thoughts were correct.

But Long Qi didn’t.

She couldn’t possibly put Jin Yiken in a difficult position at this time, so she decided to give Jiang Bing a big show of face. She put her phone back on the table and took the bottle of beer Jin Yiken had just opened, but just as she was about to stand up, Jin Yiken’s hand suddenly pressed on her shoulder, gently pressing back the force of her rising. She looked at him; he was enthusiastically chatting with a buddy across from him, while his right hand steadily pressed on Long Qi’s shoulder. After finishing the chat, he only said one sentence while pouring wine: “Sit, no need to stand.”

Having said this, he toasted Jiang Bing with a drink.

The meaning didn’t need to be said more explicitly. Jin Yiken spoke the toasting words quite smoothly; Jiang Bing of course couldn’t not drink. The two said they were toasting each other, but actually it was a drinking contest. Fortunately Jiang Bing’s alcohol tolerance was quite weak, and Jin Yiken in a short while had gotten him drunk. At that time the entire venue had collapsed to about the same degree; only Long Qi sat steadily and securely in her chair. By the end Jin Yiken was also somewhat tipsy. After he settled down, he held Long Qi’s hand and placed it on his own knee, sitting without making a sound.

Long Qi wiped his flushed neck with a cool wet napkin. He suddenly turned his head and asked her: “Will you miss me?”

***

Jin Yiken said he forgot how Long Qi answered that evening. He really had gotten drunk at the time; his consciousness only existed up until before asking the question. And after asking it, the last thing he remembered was falling asleep with his head on the chair—he really didn’t remember how she answered. He felt she hadn’t answered this question at all.

Long Qi said bullshit, she clearly answered.

Jin Yiken wanted her to repeat it again.

She told him to think it over himself.

Entering winter break next, they didn’t stay idle either. Long Qi reviewed her studies while accompanying him to eat meals with wave after wave of friends. Among them, part were people Long Qi had seen before; this part she had previously categorized as Jin Yiken’s fair-weather friends (otherwise he wouldn’t have openly brought her—who was still secret at the time—along with him, indicating they either hadn’t stepped into Jin Yiken’s normal life and didn’t know about Bai Aiting’s existence at all, or they were birds of a feather with Jin Yiken who even if they knew would help conceal it). Another part was friends whose elders were all mutually close, proper friends. Long Qi quite liked his state when he was together with these proper friends, so she told him to have less contact with those fair-weather friends—every single one a rich playboy just like him, with even more bad habits than him, and messy private lives.

Jin Yiken said she was being naive in this, saying he made friends only distinguishing between genuine and false, not between good and bad. The financial resources and energy spent would one day be recovered; that gang of rich playboys couldn’t be called fair-weather friends, could only be called future business friends.

At the root it was about “leaving himself a path,” just like he’d advised Long Qi a long time ago—it counted as his life principle.

Long Qi said: “Fine, I’ll learn this too in the future.”

He said: “Don’t learn it, you just need to have me.”

After several consecutive days of snow, the day for Jin Yiken to go abroad was approaching quickly.

His last meal was planned to be eaten with Long Qi. That was the last day before going abroad; the plane was at nine in the morning. After he picked up Long Qi, he started booking restaurants. During this period there were always incoming calls interfering; he was somewhat annoyed, and because of this the car drove with alternating acceleration and deceleration. Outside the car, heavy snow fell; inside the car, warm air overflowed. Long Qi propped her elbow by the car window, pressing her forehead, looking at him without saying a word.

After several signal interruptions, Jin Yiken tossed his phone onto the gear shift area in a throwing motion, showing a trace of irritation. The car sped on the road. Long Qi methodically watched his behavior and actions, watching like this continuously since just now.

Jin Yiken didn’t notice.

“The temperature in England has been unstable these past few days,” Long Qi said slowly. “Bring more clothes.”

“I brought them.”

“Drink less alcohol, smoke less, don’t let yourself deteriorate, when driving don’t look at your phone, and also, since the weather isn’t good, slow down the car speed.”

“Okay.” He said this while releasing the accelerator.

The car interior quieted slightly for a moment, with only the crackling sound of snow particles hitting the car window glass. After a long while, Long Qi asked: “Jin Yiken, are you hungry?”

“Not hungry, I’m okay.”

“Then let’s not eat.”

Hearing her say this, Jin Yiken looked toward her.

Her gaze was as always on him as she said: “Let’s get a room.”