Lin Shuang owned a great deal of clothing, and every piece looked expensive, yet she rarely actually went shopping for clothes herself. Lately, though, she’d been spending a lot of time accompanying Miao Cai to the mall.

It was the season change, with new fall and winter collections rolling out, and Miao Cai, splurging heavily for her wedding, was replacing her wardrobe head to toe on a grand scale — not just for herself, but for Zhao Feng too, and even for her future in-laws.

“This is getting excessive.” Lin Shuang put her hands on her hips. “Yesterday you asked me to pick out a suit and tie for your husband — is tomorrow going to be his underwear and socks too?”

“You’re my most important style consultant.” Miao Cai pressed her palms together, pleading. “You’re a trained professional — I have no idea what any of this means, worsted wool, spun blends, whether wool pills or not, who else would I even ask?”

“I’ll treat you to dinner today for the shopping, plus a full set of nail art on me — the most expensive kind, all-glitter, Baroque crystal rhinestones, shell chips, whatever you want!”

Lin Shuang grabbed her bag and stood up. “Enough talk, let’s go.”

They headed to the largest budget-friendly mall in town, mostly stocked with men’s and women’s clothing, with a full range of both big and small brands — a full day of shopping there was guaranteed to leave your legs jelly.

The two of them went to the women’s section first. Miao Cai tried on clothes while Lin Shuang waited outside the fitting room; customers trickled in and out of the store.

A familiar voice sounded behind her. She turned to look — it was Xie Xiaomeng, along with a long-haired girl.

The long-haired girl wore a white dress, dressed sweetly and demurely; her features weren’t especially striking, but she had a fresh, open quality to her that made up for it, an excellent air about her — the kind of unassuming, gentle comfort that put people at ease.

Something stirred in Lin Shuang’s mind.

Xie Xiaomeng noticed Lin Shuang and greeted her: “Miss Lin.”

“Teacher Xie, what a coincidence.”

Xie Xiaomeng nodded. “What a coincidence indeed — you’re out shopping too.”

“Helping a friend buy clothes.” Lin Shuang smiled brightly.

“Same here, out with a friend.”

Miao Cai happened to step out of the fitting room just then, spinning around in her new dress in front of Lin Shuang: “How does it look? Is it nice? I feel like this one’s a bit too busy, and a bit cold too.”

“It’s not the outfit that’s dressing you — it’s you dressing the outfit.” Lin Shuang walked over to the rack and casually pulled out two autumn-winter coats. “Put this on first and let me see.”

She scanned the shop, then grabbed a belt and hairband from the accessories section too, handing them all over. “Try these on.”

Once the whole look came together, even the shop owner’s eyes lit up — a handful of completely unrelated pieces had somehow transformed entirely; the colors and textures suddenly felt fresh and new, an otherwise unremarkable coat now looking bright and playful, and the busy-patterned skirt, tucked beneath it, looked unexpectedly light and eye-catching.

“That looks great.” Nearby girls’ eyes turned toward her.

The shop owner, watching how skillfully and sharply Lin Shuang picked out pieces — with an eye for both cost and quality — said, “Miss, are you… in the trade, by any chance?”

“My friend studied fashion design — she even used to run her own online store, sales were great.” Miao Cai proudly vouched for Lin Shuang. “Such a waste that she’s not running a shop herself.”

A girl came over to ask Lin Shuang, “Could you help me? What kind of coat would go well with this dress?”

“Of course.” Lin Shuang answered politely.

With a style consultant and critic on hand, the whole shop’s atmosphere livened up considerably.

Even Xie Xiaomeng and her friend picked out a few pieces to try on, chatting with Lin Shuang about fabric and cut. Before leaving, the girl said goodbye to Lin Shuang with a warm smile, her tone gentle: “Miss Lin has such wonderful taste — I really envy your friends.”

She held out her hand: “Hi, I’m Lanting. I’m an elementary school Chinese language teacher.”

Lin Shuang heard the name she’d been expecting: “Hi, I’m Lin Shuang.”

After finishing their shopping, Miao Cai dragged Lin Shuang upstairs to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. Just as they sat down, the table next to them called out: “What a coincidence.”

It was Xie Xiaomeng and Lanting.

Four girls, two small tables, chatting across the aisle between bites — by the end, they’d all gathered together talking about a recently popular TV drama and celebrity gossip, growing noticeably closer. Lanting, learning that Lin Shuang ran a tea shop outside Beiquan High School, hooked her arm through Xie Xiaomeng’s, deeply envious: “I’m so jealous of Xiaomeng and the others — I’d love to finish class, yell at the kids all day, then go grab a milk tea to unwind too. Sadly there’s nothing like that outside our school, just a snack shop the little kids like.”

“If you want some, I’ll bring you a cup next time,” Xie Xiaomeng offered.

“Milk tea’s only really good fresh, though.” Lanting tilted her head, her expression endearingly cute. “Next time I get the chance, I’ll definitely stop by Miss Lin’s shop to try it.”

“Anytime, Teacher Lan, you’re always welcome.” Lin Shuang smiled.

Lin Shuang’s meeting with Lanting came quickly — just a few days later.

The doorbell chimed, and someone pushed the door open.

Beiquan High School was still in session, so the tea shop had few customers. Lin Shuang was curled up in the corner playing a game when she heard someone standing at the door, calling out cheerfully: “Miss Lin.”

She looked up — it was Lanting.

“Teacher Lan.”

“The head of academic affairs wasn’t at school this afternoon, so once I finished my classes I had nothing to do and snuck out to wander around.” Lanting stuck out her tongue. “I was originally going to go shopping, but I suddenly remembered your shop, so I came to check it out.”

Lin Shuang had a good impression of Lanting and naturally kept her company chatting.

Just as Zhang Fan had said, Teacher Lan really was gentle and considerate, polite and endearing — and her manner of speaking and bearing showed it too: Teacher Lan clearly came from a well-off family with good upbringing, not much worldly experience, a girl who’d been well-protected by her family her whole life.

A girl this innocent could easily stir up a man’s protective instincts.

As the two of them chatted, the bell rang over at Beiquan High School. A few minutes later, the school gates opened, and a crowd of students poured out, along with teachers getting off work too — school was out.

Seeing the stream of people outside the window, Lanting’s mind seemed to drift; she gradually stopped talking, quietly gazing at Beiquan High School’s gate, as if searching for someone’s figure among the crowd.

She quickly snapped out of it and gave Lin Shuang an apologetic smile: “Sorry, I zoned out for a second… I haven’t been around here in a long time… suddenly thought of some old memories.”

Lin Shuang smiled knowingly: “Happy memories?”

“I suppose so.” Lanting stood up. “It’s getting late, I should head back.”

The two of them said their goodbyes: “Come back again sometime.”

A few days later, Lanting visited the tea shop once more — this time after work, bringing two coworkers along to hang out and take photos at this “trending” tea shop.

Lanting ran into Zhou Zheng.

To be precise, she ran into Zhang Fan first. Zhang Fan had come by the tea shop again to bring milk tea for the female teachers, and upon seeing Lanting sitting inside, he startled badly: “Teacher… Teacher Lan? Long… long time no see.”

“Long time no see.” Lanting waved. “Feels like it’s been a whole year since I last saw you. Time really flies.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since you came out to hang out and play ball with us.”

Lanting lowered her eyes, a hint of loneliness crossing her face.

After buying the milk tea, Zhang Fan mulled it over the whole way, and finally, with a sigh, pulled out his phone to call Zhou Zheng: “I just went to buy milk tea — the boss is looking for you.”

“Hm?” Zhou Zheng had just come out of the classroom, dusting chalk powder off his hands. “She’s looking for me?”

“Pro… probably. I can’t really explain it, just go check it out when you have time.”

Zhou Zheng turned and headed straight out the school gate, teaching materials tucked under his arm. Walking into the tea shop, he first noticed Lin Shuang looking at him with bright, animated eyes, her expression somewhere between amused and knowing; a flicker of surprise crossed his mind. Following her gaze, he spotted a familiar face among the group and froze in his tracks.

Lanting stood up. “Zhou Zheng.”

“It’s been a while. How have you been lately?” Zhou Zheng greeted her steadily, the light overhead falling on him without a hint of shadow.

“I’ve been well.” Lanting smiled. “What a coincidence, running into you here.”

Her gaze swept over the teaching materials in his hand. “Just finished class?”

“Yes…”

Lin Shuang sat at the counter, chin propped on both hands, watching the show unfold; she wasn’t much for meddling in other people’s business, but she was quite interested in watching how this scene played out.

Under Lin Shuang’s amused, sweeping gaze, Zhou Zheng, though he felt he had nothing to hide, still felt a flicker of unease. He forced himself through a few more pleasantries with Lanting, then turned toward Lin Shuang, his expression composed: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head off now.”

“Not going to grab a drink now that you’re here, Teacher Zhou?” Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow. “How about I get you a lemon black tea?”

“No… no need. I’ve got things to take care of back in the office.”

He turned back to Lanting and nodded a goodbye to her.

Zhou Zheng’s retreating figure still managed to maintain a fair bit of composure as he left.

He went to the PE office, and seeing Zhang Fan’s grinning face, frowned and grabbed a ping-pong ball off the desk, throwing it right at Zhang Fan’s face.

Zhang Fan yelped, wincing in pain.

“Did you set me up on purpose to run into Lanting?” His tone was calm, but there was a faintly deflated air about it.

“I wasn’t trying to… it’s just, if you and Teacher Lan could get back together, then maybe Teacher Xie and I could make some progress too.” Zhang Fan, taking advantage of the empty room, casually propped his feet up on the desk. “I really think there’s a chance you two could reconcile.”

“Not a chance. Thanks for your good intentions, though.”

Zhang Fan noticed his mild irritation and dropped the grin, speaking seriously for once: “Zhou Zheng, I saw you yesterday, you know.”

Zhou Zheng glanced sideways at him.

“I saw you going to deliver a lunch box to the boss.” Zhang Fan tossed the ping-pong ball in his hand. “I thought it was strange — you used to eat all three meals at school before, but lately you’ve stopped eating at the cafeteria, cooking at home instead. Turns out it was to bring the boss some warmth, huh.”

“No, I eat it myself.” Zhou Zheng said flatly. “I just occasionally bring her a meal.”

He added, “Just helping out a friend, that’s all.”

Zhang Fan scoffed. “Friend?”

“Yes, friend.”

Zhang Fan crossed his arms. “I could barely believe you helping a friend get takeout — but making a home-cooked meal for her yourself? What’s that supposed to mean? And another thing — you’ve been off ever since this tea shop opened. All summer, whenever you had free time, you stayed at school on duty prepping lessons — didn’t you always used to go stay at your hometown before? And since when have you ever drunk milk tea before all this? You used to shake your head every time the female teachers offered you some, so why do you go by every few days now? And another thing — from your rental place to school, you could easily go in and out through the side gate, so why has it been through the front gate this semester, looping past the tea shop every time?”

“And another thing — every time I go to the shop with you, you’re not like your usual self at all. You stop talking, your expression’s off, you dawdle around till the very end before leaving. And when the topic of the boss comes up, either you clam up and just listen, or you jump to defend her.”

He leaned in toward Zhou Zheng, looking genuinely distressed: “Zhou Zheng, you don’t actually like her, do you?”

Zhou Zheng glanced at him, then looked away, saying nothing.

Zhang Fan knew he’d guessed right, more or less: “I get it, Lin Shuang’s gorgeous enough that any man would like her, but she’s got a boyfriend — when has she ever been short of one? Are you out of your mind? Someone like her… she doesn’t even see you in the picture. And even setting that aside, I heard from the other female teachers that everything she wears and uses isn’t cheap — could you even afford to keep up with someone like that… I’m not trying to put down my own brother here, but you two really aren’t a good match. If you don’t turn back now, and this whole thing gets out later, people talking behind your back — nobody wants to hear that kind of thing.”

He patted Zhou Zheng’s shoulder. “Just let it go. Don’t make things hard on yourself.”

Zhou Zheng was silent for a long while, pressing his lips together, a thin thread of stubbornness in his voice: “I haven’t been thinking that much about it… I just consider her a friend, that’s all…”

Zhang Fan chucked the ping-pong ball at him. “Working this hard just to stay ‘friends’? Zhou Zheng, wake up. She hasn’t even lifted a finger, and she’s already got you completely wrapped around it, all while carrying on with her glamorous life without a hitch — and you’re just fine being her little colony? You think you’re in some tragic romance drama? It’s the 21st century, man. There’s a perfectly good road ahead of you, and you’d rather jump off a cliff instead?”

Zhou Zheng didn’t want to hear any of this.

“My business is my own, you don’t need to worry about it.” He turned to walk out, his steps heavy. “I know what I’m doing.”

Zhang Fan clicked his tongue and shouted after his retreating back: “You don’t know a damn thing, you giant idiot!”