Zhou Zheng dawdled his way out the door.

Remembering something, he turned back to ask her: “Are you going to the shop today?”

“What do you want for breakfast? I’ll buy it for you downstairs — school’s probably going to be a bit hectic today, I might not make it back by noon…”

The lazy, languid feeling still hadn’t worn off Lin Shuang’s body, and looking now at the proper, gentle, considerate man in front of her, she felt a certain sense of disconnect between his bedroom self and his out-of-bed self. If she remembered correctly, the one who’d actually ended up pushed down and taken was, in fact, her.

She’d deliberately set out to seduce him, and he had indeed taken the bait, but the actual experience had felt pretty good — she wasn’t fond of either dead wood or men with performance issues, and Zhou Zheng’s responses fell well within her acceptable range.

After sleeping with him, Lin Shuang’s thinking had opened up, if anything.

Whatever happens, happens — seize the moment. Put another way: cherish the present.

Between two people, there was some wondrous opportunity that had brought them together, and naturally there would be corresponding reasons for parting ways eventually. At least for now, she thought Zhou Zheng was pretty good — cute in looks, cute in personality, even cute in bed.

Zhou Zheng, once he’d finished his work in the afternoon, made time to stop by the milk tea shop, but Lin Shuang was no longer there.

“The boss lady was here at noon, stayed a while, then left. She left us to mind the shop, said she wasn’t coming back today.”

He said “mm,” thanked the staff member, and turned to head back out. After thinking it over, he went back to his own place.

She had already left; the apartment was empty, only the cold afternoon sunlight shining on the window. There were strands of her hair left on the floor, the covers on the bed made up neatly, a cooled-off hot water bottle on the desk, and a glass of water still not fully drunk.

Zhou Zheng sat on the edge of the bed for a while in a daze, then carried the cotton quilt out to the balcony to air it, catching the scent lingering on it — her scent.

In that instant he felt an unguarded jolt. Women always carried all sorts of scents — orange-scented hand cream, lavender body wash, peach-scented shampoo, even various perfumes and fragrances. He’d never imagined that his once-empty life would suddenly be flooded with so many scents, so many that it was almost overwhelming.

Lin Shuang was in the middle of a facial at the beauty salon when Zhou Zheng’s call came in.

“Teacher Zhou’s done for the day?”

“Mm, nothing much going on right now. There’s still a meeting later, and evening study tonight.”

“Evening study on the very first day of the semester?” She teased him. “My boyfriend’s so busy — who’s going to accompany me to the movies, shopping, dates?”

Back when Zhou Zheng was single, he hadn’t thought much of it; but with her asking like this, he too felt something wasn’t quite right — as a core-subject teacher and homeroom teacher for the graduating class, he genuinely had very little time left for himself.

He let out a soft breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Actually it’s fine like this — distance makes the heart grow fonder.” Her tone was thoroughly nonchalant. “I don’t need that much from a boyfriend. You handle your business, I’ve got mine too.”

In other words, she wasn’t going to depend on him for anything, and had no intention of demanding much from him either.

That day, Zhou Zheng came out of the student dormitory already at eleven at night. Walking home, he stopped in his tracks and took a photo, sending it to Lin Shuang.

It was the milk tea shop, closed for the night.

Lin Shuang replied quickly.

[Do you pass by here every night on your way home?]

[Yes.]

[Why?]

[It’s like… a landmark. Something you always have to glance at.]

[Much obliged, Teacher Zhou — no need for an occasion, feel free to drop by anytime.]

[Okay.]

He asked her: [It’s late — aren’t you going to sleep?]

She had always tended to sleep late and rise late, and got the urge to tease him: [The night stretches on and on, lonely pillow, sleepless — nothing to do but kill time with a game.]

Attached was a provocative sticker.

He too wanted to be like some reckless, hot-headed young man, charging heedlessly toward the girl he loved, playing guitar under her window to woo her, or waving flags and shouting, doing all sorts of ridiculous, silly things — but Lin Shuang simply wasn’t the type to fall for that; she might just as well roll her eyes and call it boring.

But after this morning, the feeling was especially hard to bear. Zhou Zheng couldn’t hold back, took a deep breath, and called Lin Shuang: “Shuangshuang, would you mind… if I came to see you?”

“I’d mind — it’s too late.” She laughed softly over the phone. “I’m about to sleep too. Get some rest early, we’ll see each other tomorrow, okay?”

He nodded on the phone, took a couple of steps in the empty night, and then thought of something else: “Okay.”

“Shuangshuang.”

“Mm?”

“I’m just an ordinary person, no different from any other man.” He gripped his phone. “This morning you asked me if I was afraid you’d find me lacking. I’m not afraid of that — I just… find it hard to bear the feeling that comes after.”

“What feeling?”

“The feeling I have right now… every single second, I can’t control myself. Every dimension of time, every molecule of air — it’s all you.” His steps quickened, his voice low: “Thinking of you being right beside me, every moment.”

The sun rising in the west — the outwardly proper, upright math teacher, once he started talking sweet nothings, turned out to be just as clingy and mushy as anyone.

Who doesn’t love sweet talk? She giggled. “Got it. Then tomorrow, if it’s not too much trouble for my boyfriend, hurry over here to my side.”

The first ones to notice something was off were Nana and Kevin. Both of them independently noticed that the boss lady’s mood these past few days seemed pretty good.

It wasn’t that she was beaming or grinning ear to ear — Lin Shuang always greeted people with a smile anyway — it was that her body language and the look in her eyes had changed, carrying a certain lingering, soft quality now.

The shop had gained a regular customer: Teacher Zhou, who hadn’t shown up much for a long stretch before.

The boss lady and Teacher Zhou chatted happily together; there was clearly no overt intimacy between them, but the atmosphere was worlds apart from before, and the two of them even went out to eat together.

The two staff members hemmed and hawed before finally asking Lin Shuang to confirm it, and she admitted it generously: “New boyfriend.” Then added, “From now on, when he comes, it’s all on the house.”

For some reason, both of them shook their heads, clicking their tongues, wearing expressions of not knowing quite what to make of it. Kevin said, half sourly, “A rabbit doesn’t eat the grass by its own burrow, huh.”

Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow. “Got an opinion?”

“How did it end up being Teacher Zhou? Boss lady, you didn’t even seem that close to him recently.”

“Ever had steak? Too well-done and it’s actually worse to eat.” Lin Shuang smiled faintly. “Medium-rare is the most tender and juicy — best texture there is.”

At the school, the first one to notice was Zhang Fan.

After coming back from the New Year, Zhou Zheng’s schedule seemed to have switched to an entirely different mode — either buried in work with no time to spare, or off campus and unavailable. Zhang Fan called to invite him to eat, and Zhou Zheng turned him down.

“You’ve barely started the semester and you don’t even have time to eat together?” Zhang Fan tracked him down at the senior-year math office.

“No time.” Zhou Zheng was bent over his desk. “Reports and slides are all still piled up.”

“It’s not like this stuff is due today — you have to cram it all together to finish at once? Can’t you do it tomorrow?”

“I’m eating dinner at home.”

“The school has a cafeteria — you’re a bachelor cooking for himself at home?”

Zhou Zheng glanced at him, stood up, and headed out. Zhang Fan chased after his footsteps.

“Zhou Zheng, what’s kept you so busy lately? No more ball games, no more free time — what, has your spiritual level ascended, are you planning to sacrifice yourself for the school?” Zhang Fan was just running his mouth.

“I’m with her now.”

“Who?”

Zhou Zheng stopped in his tracks, his eyes flickering, a spark lighting up in them, gazing off toward the direction of the milk tea shop: “Her.”

“What do you mean, ‘with her’?” Zhang Fan vaguely sensed something.

An involuntary, floaty smile crept over Zhou Zheng’s face, a smile with a dazed, drunken quality to it.

Zhang Fan caught a whiff of that sour, love-struck air and suddenly clicked, pointing a finger, in disbelief: “Are you telling me you and the boss lady are together?”

Zhou Zheng nodded.

“Since when?” Zhang Fan was thoroughly stunned, his expression blank, uncomprehending. “I go away for the New Year and come back to find society’s been overhauled? Humanity’s evolved? Or did you two get possessed by something?”

“Not long. I know what you’re going to say.” Zhou Zheng gazed off for a long moment, reined in the smile on his face, patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder, and said seriously, “Say no more — I already know how this all plays out.”

He hurried off outside.

Zhou Zheng put real thought into arranging his schedule. The second half of senior year was the busiest stretch — classes and managing the class couldn’t be neglected — so he did his best to piece together his free time and put it toward dates, naturally consisting of trivial little activities: the standard trio of movies, shopping, meals.

Lin Shuang secretly caught him squeezing in study sessions while accompanying her shopping.

“This is the first time I’ve realized senior-year teachers are this busy — the workload’s about on par with a corporate CEO.” She laughed. “Teacher Zhou, carrying such a heavy burden of responsibility.”

Zhou Zheng smiled helplessly. “You’ve probably forgotten — there’s just over a hundred days left until the college entrance exam. The last semester of senior year is nothing but daily pop quizzes, evening study running past midnight, weekly tests, monthly tests, joint exams cycling through one after another.”

Lin Shuang thought back seriously for a moment. “I remember hugging my math textbook and crying every single day back then. If only I’d known you back then — at least someone could’ve tutored me in math once.”

Zhou Zheng blinked, then smiled. “You were in the liberal arts track, I was in sciences — would’ve been hard to even meet.”

She shrugged. “I had a boyfriend back then too, also a science student, but his grades were as bad as mine — no use at all.”

“Was that… the one mentioned at Luo Wei’s wedding banquet?” Zhou Zheng asked carefully. “The basketball team captain?”

Lin Shuang nodded. “You probably wouldn’t know him — he was in the regular science track, worlds apart from top students like you.”

“I was in the regular track for my first two years of high school too — only got promoted to the advanced class in senior year.” He mumbled the reply, somewhat vaguely.

Her attention was drawn to something nearby, and she turned her head, ultimately not taking his remark to heart.

Dinner ran late. Lin Shuang picked a Cantonese dim sum restaurant, and after the dishes were finally served, the waiter brought over a pot of tea.

It happened to be fruit tea.

The teapot held apple, pineapple, lemon, and a black tea bag — the flavor felt somewhat familiar.

Neither of them had brought up the subject these past few days; their thoughts had circled round and round, and now this one pot of tea turned everything upside down.

Zhou Zheng had always been the composed type — or rather, quietly restless underneath, but outwardly able to hold that patience. He tasted the fruit tea once and stopped there. Lin Shuang drank half a bowl, then looked at him with a smile. “Want to swing by the supermarket later?”

He lowered his eyes and gave a soft “mm,” his ears turning red and hot without his meaning them to.

Lin Shuang giggled.

The two of them went to the supermarket, picked up some daily necessities — with an extra person in the picture, some things now needed to be bought in double.

Zhou Zheng added a few kitchen odds and ends, and Lin Shuang picked out some household items she liked. When they reached the family planning products, both of them paused in their tracks.

“Get the priciest one.”

Zhou Zheng was excellent at math, sensitive to numbers (prices), and immediately spotted the king of cost-effectiveness — the bulk pack.

The package went into the very bottom of the shopping cart.

On the way home, Lin Shuang made a detour to her own place, carrying down a bag of odds and ends, and also brought along a “moonlight”-scented candle.

The mood at home that evening was clearly good — the lighting in the room soft, a cream-toned tuberose fragrance drifting through the air. Once bitten twice shy, so to speak — Teacher Zhou no longer bothered playing the proper gentleman, and Lin Shuang teased him with practiced ease.

This time was far more thorough — Teacher Zhou’s aptitude was startling, carrying a hint of self-taught surprise, and Lin Shuang only then vaguely grasped the difference in a top student. Though the process of exploration had been winding and dramatic, the ending was satisfying for everyone involved.

Lin Shuang curled up in bed playing a match-three game, while Zhou Zheng leaned against the headboard, like a pensive statue of David, lost in some thought.

She turned her head and saw his gaze resting on her bare shoulder.

“What are you spacing out about? Did I drain all your energy dry?” she asked, smiling.

Zhou Zheng leaned in close, still damp and sweaty, kissing the graceful curve of her back, his voice hoarse: “Shuangshuang… I love you.”

She mocked him: “You didn’t say it while we were doing it — now you say it?”

Lin Shuang wrapped her arms around his slightly damp head, coiling around him like some seductive spirit, and said softly, “Don’t love me too much. I’m only after your body — a few months from now, once I’ve drained you of all your vitality, I’ll be gone.”

He sealed her lips with his, pinning her down at her most vulnerable point, and heard a soft, muffled little moan as he pulled her up to sit astride him.