As long as someone is invested in it, love becomes a tug-of-war — you advance, I retreat; I advance, you retreat — no one holding a complete upper hand, no one stuck permanently at a disadvantage.

Take Lin Shuang after her anger had passed, for example — she became especially… docile.

Docile didn’t refer to her actions, but to her state of mind.

Rather like a cat that’s been stroked until its fur lies smooth and silky, purring in its throat — once the ruffled fur is smoothed back down, the cat goes along easily too.

Zhou Zheng hadn’t done anything wrong, yet Lin Shuang had put him through the wringer. Combined with his back injury, Lin Shuang personally applied his ointment every night, and gradually the three nights a week she stayed over turned into four, five, six… a full week.

Staying over and living together were two entirely different concepts — one satisfied physical needs and a bit of separate space, while the other had already reached the very peak of a romantic relationship. Zhou Zheng had a craving where she was concerned and said nothing about it; Lin Shuang, too, played dumb on purpose and simply went along as she pleased.

She thought about it quite open-mindedly — this relationship had, after all, been ripened through sleeping together anyway, and there was still a lingering appetite for it. They’d already slept together so many times, so what did a few more matter, especially since Zhou Zheng’s place was close to the tea shop, provided three meals a day plus attentive care — better than going home to her own place.

Besides, no one kept tabs on her — Fu Min was busy making a living and couldn’t reach that far, and her aunt was, after all, a step removed as relatives, with no say over her private life. On Zhou Zheng’s side, his family was all out in the countryside and had no idea what was going on; Zhou Feng was still a kid boarding at school, and Zhou Zheng hadn’t brought him in front of Lin Shuang; Zhou Xue occasionally popped up on the phone, but that too kept its distance.

This cohabiting life was, in fact, rather pleasant to live.

“Are you this busy even before the college entrance exams? Squeezing in work even during meals — I saw your computer still on at midnight yesterday.”

Senior-three homeroom teachers all slept past midnight and rose at dawn — there was little chance to slack off. Lin Shuang had only now fully come to appreciate how hard teaching work was. Just as they’d finished dinner, a student’s parent had called, and Zhou Zheng chatted for half an hour, and by the time he turned back, even the food had gone cold.

“The college entrance exams are coming up soon, all the parents are anxious, the teachers are anxious too — this is a time to pay special attention to the students’ mental states, it’s very easy for something to go wrong.” Zhou Zheng rolled up his sleeves to go wash dishes.

Lin Shuang stood by in the kitchen doorway keeping him company, occasionally handing him a bowl or plate, or a dish towel.

“If they do well on the exams, is there some kind of reward?”

“Yes, around twenty to thirty thousand or so.”

That was the most generous bonus the school gave out.

Lin Shuang let out a “wow.” “Not bad — that’s several months’ salary.”

She took the soap-covered bowl from his hands, her tone easy: “Go on and do your own thing, I’ll wash the dishes.”

Her fingers were slender, long, and fair, her nails done in the latest manicure style — when had she ever done housework? Zhou Zheng wouldn’t hand it over: “I’ll do it, it’s fine.”

“What, looking down on me?” Lin Shuang arched a brow. “You cook, and I can’t even wash a bowl?”

“Have you ever washed dishes before?” Zhou Zheng’s gaze landed on her nails; he asked, hesitant.

“I’ve done more things than you’d imagine.” Lin Shuang rolled up her own sleeves, reaching into the sink. “For the sake of the class’s good scores, for the sake of my boyfriend’s college-entrance-exam bonus, of course I should also support the logistics department a bit.”

Zhou Zheng let his soap-covered hands be pushed aside, and standing in the kitchen doorway, planted a clingy, gentle kiss on her hair.

“Once the bonus comes in, and it’s summer break again, want to go traveling together?”

That was still several months off yet; Lin Shuang smiled. “Sure. Domestic or abroad?”

“Either’s fine, whatever you like.”

“Then I’d better do my homework properly.”

After finishing the dishes, she curled up on the sofa playing on her phone; when she got bored, she looked up to see Zhou Zheng bent over his desk, absorbed in work, and zoned out silently for a while, then pulled a book off the shelf, pretending to read.

It was a ten-volume bestselling series about dynastic history. Lin Shuang had started out just casually flipping through it to pass time, but as she went on, she gradually found herself absorbed in the book too, resting her cheek on her hand, reading page after page.

Zhou Zheng, hearing the continuous sound of pages turning, glanced back and saw her long hair covering half her face, only half the soft curve of her cheek showing, her expression a rare kind of serious, fingers absently tucking back a loose strand of hair — full of allure, and yet utterly absorbed at the same time.

He smiled faintly and turned back to his own work.

In the past, staying over meant more of their time was spent in bed; now, with more time spent together, intimacy had become something that happened naturally, shifting from “purpose” to “occurrence” — like moving from the main course to dessert: skip it and you won’t go hungry, but eat it and you feel satisfied, body and spirit both content.

Still, when a delicious, tempting dessert is right there in front of you, who wouldn’t happily dig in with relish — when it comes to food and desire, no one needs to hide anything from the other.

What had once been three times a week became unlimited every week; the consumption rate of contraceptives shot up in a straight line. The two of them didn’t want to keep running to the supermarket, so they simply switched to ordering restocks online.

“Not only have I emptied out Teacher Zhou’s wallet, soon I’ll empty out Teacher Zhou’s kidneys too.” Lin Shuang picked out her favorite flavors, cheerfully placing an order for a batch of household items.

He leaned against the headboard reading, listening to her teasing; his expression stayed perfectly serious, though he raised an eyebrow with a hint of impropriety: “Is that so? I think my own performance is a bit stronger than you’d expect.”

Lin Shuang rarely saw him with such a lively expression; her words came with a laugh. “Sure it is — proof positive, Teacher Zhou’s performance has been seriously underrated. Not sure about the wallet, but the kidneys are doing just fine.”

She always had a bit of an improper tone in bed; Zhou Zheng rubbed his nose, lifted his water cup and took a sip as if that were the most natural thing in the world, though the corner of his mouth couldn’t help curling up as he lowered his head.

With the two of them having reached this point, the tea shop staff and Zhang Fan bore the brunt of it first.

Zhang Fan had completely let go of his distrust regarding this relationship — at least, given Zhou Zheng’s current state, not only did he look pleased with himself, he was practically glowing with vitality. Men always feel that possessing a woman’s body means they’ve seized the advantage; Zhang Fan felt Zhou Zheng had somehow blundered his way into leveling up, and had now transformed into someone whose every word dripped with the sour-grapes bitterness of a single man. Every day when he ran into Zhou Zheng he’d clap him on the shoulder: “Bro, give me some tips — any trick for winning over Xie Xiaomeng?”

Zhou Zheng and Xie Xiaomeng hadn’t been getting along lately; the two of them hadn’t exchanged a single proper word in a long while.

Zhou Zheng, too, counted as one of the standout young representatives at the school; naturally there was some gossip going around school about his relationship. Setting aside the female teachers’ attitudes for now, the male teachers were split — half envious of his good fortune with women, half shaking their heads and sighing that he’d fallen into a pit without knowing the ways of the world. The news had also spread among the students, causing quite a stir, though — notably — both parties involved unanimously refused to admit to it.

A student from Zhou Zheng’s class came into the tea shop to buy a drink and boldly raised her hand to ask: “Boss lady, are you dating our Teacher Zhou?”

Lin Shuang leaned against the counter, smiling brightly, playing dumb: “Which Teacher Zhou? Who’s that? Don’t know him.”

“Our Zheng-ge, Zhou Zheng.” The girls giggled. “Our Teacher Zhou’s really something else.”

She shrugged. “I’m not close with your Teacher Zhou.”

“Teacher Zhou already admitted it.”

“Admitted what? That he likes the milk tea at my shop?”

“When we asked him, he kept a straight face, but when he turned around he couldn’t help smiling secretly — totally love-struck, so cute.”

Lin Shuang pictured the scene, and thought it was pretty cute too, curving her lips into a smile.

“Boss lady, you’re smiling too!”

“Don’t you all have coursework to worry about, being seniors? What are you doing gossiping about this kind of stuff?”

For Zhang Fan’s birthday, he invited a group of teachers from the school out to dinner. Zhou Zheng worked up his courage and asked Lin Shuang again: “This time it’s Zhang Fan inviting you — want to come to dinner together?”

Lin Shuang thought it over and asked him: “Will Xie Xiaomeng be there?”

“She’ll be there too. Zhang Fan invited several female teachers, they’ll come together.”

“OK, I’ll go.” She made a little gesture. “It’s just a meal after all.”

Before heading out, Lin Shuang deliberately did a full, elaborate makeup look, fully armored from head to toe, even her hair styled with meticulous, competitive flair.

Zhou Zheng looked her up and down, his tone hesitant: “We’re going to that… rustic farmhouse restaurant.”

“I know that.” Lin Shuang layered on another coat of lipstick. “Can’t a city sophisticate show up at a rustic farmhouse place? You’ve got a bit of a stereotyped impression there.”

She looked less like she was headed to eat farmhouse cooking than like she was walking a red carpet.

The farmhouse restaurant’s entrance was decorated with its own distinctive charm — a little bridge over flowing water, green vegetable plots, and free-range pigeons pecking at the ground. Lin Shuang held onto Zhou Zheng’s arm, working hard to keep her heels steady on the paving stones, or else risk sinking into the mud.

Xie Xiaomeng and a few female colleagues sat drinking tea in a decorative thatched pavilion; seeing Lin Shuang looking like an exquisite vase on display, her gaze flicked sideways.

It wasn’t that she found vases distasteful — she just felt that even a vase ought to have its own code of conduct.

Lin Shuang clung to Zhou Zheng, a face full of fake smiles: “Hello, everyone.”

She lifted a small hand in a wave: “Teacher Xie, what a coincidence, you’re here too — long time no see, seems like it’s been ages since you came by the shop.”

Called out by name, Xie Xiaomeng nodded politely: “Mm, been a bit busy lately.”

Lin Shuang left Zhou Zheng behind and went to sit with the female teachers. She and Xie Xiaomeng were both beauties, though their auras were worlds apart — one lush and alluring, the other cold as frost. Lin Shuang’s chatting technique was particularly simple and direct: “Wow, this dress of yours is so pretty, the tailoring is especially delicate.”

No woman can resist this kind of self-flattery — and besides, women tend to appreciate other beautiful women even more than men do, and understand better how to admire them. Compared to Xie Xiaomeng’s coolness, the female colleagues were instantly drawn toward Lin Shuang.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I actually had something on today, but Zhou Zheng insisted on dragging me along.” Lin Shuang laughed coyly. “I feel a bit embarrassed myself, honestly — I’m a fairly shallow person, always feel a bit inferior in front of you all.”

Xie Xiaomeng played on her phone, expressionless.

Zhou Zheng stood together with a few of the male teachers, watching Lin Shuang, brows furrowed, looking thoroughly puzzled.

“Teacher Xie, do you think this bag of mine looks nice?” Lin Shuang turned to Xie Xiaomeng with a bright smile. “I feel like your taste has always been excellent, and you really understand clothes and bags too — Zhou Zheng helped pick this one out, and I think his eye’s actually gotten pretty good lately, everything he gives me really fits my taste.”

She didn’t mean anything much by it — she just held a bit of a grudge and could be a little childish about it.

“It looks nice.” Xie Xiaomeng gave it a cool glance.

“It’s Zhang Fan’s birthday today — Teacher Xie, you must be the guest of honor. Have you got some kind of surprise planned for the birthday boy today? Care to give us a sneak preview? We can help build the mood and celebrate for Zhang Fan together.”

Xie Xiaomeng looked at her fixedly for a moment, then walked off with an expressionless face; the rest of the meal was eaten in silence.

On the way home, Zhou Zheng asked her: “Do you and Xie Xiaomeng have some kind of grudge?”

“No.” Lin Shuang brushed back her hair. “What made you notice that?”

Zhou Zheng frowned: “You two never used to talk at all… today you had a lot to say to her, it’s a bit odd.”

Zhou Zheng took her hand: “If… she said something that upset you, tell me.”

“I’ve got no grievance with her, none at all. Why, did you do something you feel guilty about? Something that would make her come say something upsetting in front of me?” Lin Shuang was good at cutting straight to the point.

Zhou Zheng was startled: “There’s nothing…”

“It’s about Lanting, isn’t it.” Lin Shuang grabbed his collar. “Did you wrong Lanting somehow.”

“I didn’t wrong her. Back then I was still in grad school, went to Wancheng for classes every week — honestly we didn’t spend all that much time together… After we broke up, we never kept in touch again. Occasionally we’d run into each other at certain events, once or twice, just exchange a greeting.”

“You know Lanting still thinks about you, don’t you.” Lin Shuang looked at him. “She’s your first love. First loves are always precious, always pure, always something to cherish — yet you’ve treated her lingering feelings as nothing at all. Zhou Zheng, you’re actually pretty coldhearted.”

Zhou Zheng looked at her, his expression odd; he too was good at cutting to the point, and asked her: “Then what about your first love — is your first love… still precious and cherished too?”

Lin Shuang smiled. “My first love? In my heart, I’ve already decided that person’s dead.”

“Why did you two break up?”

It took her a long while to answer him.

“His grades weren’t good, so after high school graduation his family sent him off to study in America. I was supposed to study domestically for two years first and then go abroad too… but then my father was sent to prison, and he quietly vanished.” She looked out the window, her tone light. “I couldn’t reach him anywhere in the whole world. I called his family, and his parents said he was busy with exams and told me not to contact him anymore… His family were all in government — when my father’s company was thriving, his parents would even bring me gifts back from their business trips. But the moment my family fell apart, of course his family wouldn’t accept someone like me. I understand it, so it made sense we broke up.”

Zhou Zheng held her hand, thought it over for a long while, then asked her gently: “Should we buy another bag?”

She laughed.

He had regrets too — perhaps if he’d chosen a different career, made a great deal of money, he could have bought up every bag in the whole world and given them all to her, so she’d be happy forever.