During the Qingming Festival holiday, both Zhou Xue and Zhou Feng went back to Tangfang Village. With senior three having extra classes, Zhou Zheng carved out one day to buy a few things and go home to the countryside to sweep the family graves.

Shunzai came to pick Zhou Zheng up, and specifically got out of the car to go into Lin Shuang’s shop, greeting her warmly and ingratiatingly: “Hello there, sister-in-law!”

Should Lin Shuang eventually marry Zhou Zheng, Shunzai figured he’d count as an important witness to it all.

“Hello.”

She’d met Shunzai a few times before, and they were fairly familiar with each other; her manner toward him was warm enough.

“I’ll be back tomorrow night.” Zhou Zheng stood in front of her, his tone a bit reluctant to part. “I’ll bring you back something good to eat.”

The two of them had only just entered into living together; these past while Zhou Zheng had a bit of a clingy feeling in his chest, worried she wouldn’t be used to being alone.

Lin Shuang didn’t feel much about it either way: “Sure.” She packed up a few cups of milk tea and handed them to him. “For the road.”

Zhou Zheng carried the milk tea out the door, and looked back at her once more at the shop entrance. Lin Shuang leaned against the counter, cheek propped on one hand, and even threw him a flirtatious wink, smiling.

He swallowed down a faint sense of loss, strode out, and got into Shunzai’s car.

“A-Zheng, you two seem to be getting along pretty well.” Shunzai took the milk tea, grinning. “You really are something else, aren’t you — smart as anything, and landed such a pretty girlfriend too. Hey, no plans yet on when to bring her back to see grandma? Actually I think today would be great — bring her by your parents’ grave to light some incense, they’d definitely be happy too.”

Zhou Zheng felt it was still too early for that: “We’ll see.”

There was music playing in the car; Shunzai had more to say too: “I’ll transfer the remaining fifty thousand into your account — that settles things between the two of us for good.”

“It’s only been a few months?” Zhou Zheng asked. “Where’d you get the money?”

“Sold off that pen of pigs at home, and I’ve saved up a bit these past few months too — scraped it all together to pay you back.” Shunzai kept his focus on driving. “No debt, easy conscience, right?”

Shunzai’s blind-date relationship from over the New Year had fallen through after a month; last month he’d run several long-haul trips, working himself hard to save up for a wife.

“I paid it all back quick as I could, didn’t want to hold you up either… are you thinking about buying a place?” Shunzai asked Zhou Zheng. “I’ve been driving around lately, seen a few new developments going up in the city, they look pretty good — you should go take a look sometime.”

Zhou Zheng let out an “mm.” The two hundred thousand he’d lent Shunzai had all been paid back now, and with the bit of savings he already had on hand, he had in fact been thinking about buying a place lately.

“Why the long face?” Shunzai glanced at Zhou Zheng. “Isn’t this a good thing? Buy a place, and you and Miss Lin can get married, no?”

Zhou Zheng leaned back against the seat, a bit gloomy, arms crossed, turning his head to watch the scenery flash by outside.

“It’s nothing much…”

He wasn’t sure himself whether he could even dare to hope for that step.

To him, as an ordinary-income high school teacher, financial matters were, frankly, a rather fatal issue.

That night, Zhou Zheng put in a video call to Lin Shuang. The call connected quickly; the background was unfamiliar — not the tea shop, not home either.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a bit fat, want to get some exercise.” Lately, dining out for dinner with Zhou Zheng, her waistline seemed to have grown a touch. “I passed by a dance studio at noon — they’ve also got yoga and Pilates here, the atmosphere felt pretty good, came to try a couple of classes.”

She wore a white tank top and workout pants, sitting cross-legged on the floor, glistening sweat on her forehead, head bowed as she tied off her braid.

Zhou Zheng looked at her vibrant, lively features; even though they already had the most intimate of relationships, at first glance he still found himself sinking into her beauty. A rose in full bloom can’t do without the nourishment of money and effort, and even as he mulled things over, he also felt a quiet, careful fear — afraid he might shortchange her somehow.

“Tired? What class did you just take?” he asked gently.

“Jazz dance.” Her brows danced with life as she sat on the floor chatting with him. “When I was little I studied a bit of dance too, gave it up halfway through eventually. In high school there was a school gala one year, and I did a hip-hop routine with a classmate — the next day I got so many love letters, hahaha.”

He remembered that; Zhou Zheng smiled. “It must have been gorgeous.”

“You like it?” Lin Shuang squirmed a little, crooking a finger at him, winking, lowering her voice. “I’ve learned it — I can dance it for you at home.”

“Good.” He kept perfectly composed, no flutter in his heart. “I’ll look forward to it, then.”

With Zhou Zheng’s support, Lin Shuang got an annual membership at the dance studio, two or three evening classes a week, a mix of dance and yoga — conveniently timed for when Zhou Zheng was off at evening study supervision, giving her somewhere to pass the time in the dance studio.

She hadn’t expected to run into Lanting there one day.

Lanting was taking an ethnic dance class there.

The two of them bumped into each other in the lounge; Lin Shuang had just finished a call with Zhou Zheng, and looking up to see the person before her, they both froze for a moment.

“Teacher Lan, long time no see.” Lin Shuang smiled, putting her phone away.

Lanting’s long lashes flickered slightly, and she replied gently: “Miss Lin, long time no see.”

Late last year, Lanting had come by the tea shop to visit, and the two of them had had quite a conversation, agreeing to talk again the next year — but afterward, Lanting never showed up again.

“You take classes here too?” Lin Shuang made small talk.

“Yes, I’ve been dancing at this studio for several years now — one of the dance teachers is a friend of mine.” Lanting smiled. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“I only just started recently, came to pass the time.”

There were other people in the lounge too; Lin Shuang packed up her bag to leave, while Lanting turned toward the restroom, timing it to avoid overlap.

After going back, Lin Shuang mentioned the incident to Zhou Zheng: “Lanting was there too, we chatted a bit.”

His eyes were fixed on his computer, his mind nowhere near Lanting at all; hearing Lin Shuang say this, he gave an “mm,” his expression completely unruffled.

Lin Shuang watched his expression, gave a faint smile, and let the matter drop as well.

After that, Lin Shuang ran into Lanting several more times at the dance studio; whenever they met, there was a bit of an awkward lull, both of them racking their brains for topics.

“Teacher Xie mentioned you were sick a while back — are you doing okay now?”

“It’s nothing, just a bad cold, cleared up ages ago.”

“That’s good, then.”

There was a café downstairs; Lin Shuang was waiting for a taxi by the roadside when Lanting spotted her, paused her steps, and called out to her, a little downcast: “Miss Lin, do you have some time — could we… talk?”

Actually, Lin Shuang felt… it would be better not to talk.

There were countless romances in this world; hearing enough of them, she always felt they lacked any real novelty. She herself had dated plenty, and the people she’d met could fill a whole book of oddities — she had no real curiosity about Zhou Zheng and Lanting’s past.

But this clearly mattered a great deal to Lanting; her sense of loss right now urgently needed some outlet for relief.

Lanting cradled her coffee cup, sitting with a somewhat restless posture: “Xiaomeng told me you and Zhou Zheng are together.”

“That’s right.”

“Actually I’ve wanted to say congratulations all along, just didn’t know how to bring it up — happened to run into you here.” Lanting bit her lip. “Also wanted to apologize… back then, I said some things about Zhou Zheng in front of you — thinking about it now, it was pretty inappropriate. I hope you don’t mind.”

Back then, Lanting had vaguely confided her feelings about Zhou Zheng to Lin Shuang, and Lin Shuang, standing by, had offered a few words of comfort in passing.

She’d never expected that not long after, she herself would end up together with Zhou Zheng; on Lanting’s end, this kind of gap was genuinely hard to accept.

“It’s nothing.” Lin Shuang took a sip of coffee, at ease. “I don’t mind any of that.”

Seeing Lanting’s downcast look, she felt her own earlier tone had come across with a bit of condescension, and softened her voice, apologizing to Lanting in turn: “Back then, I didn’t know how things would turn out either — don’t take it to heart.”

“I understand, Miss Lin… honestly, deep down I really admire you — living so vibrantly and boldly, so free and unrestrained, you’re the kind of person I’ve always looked up to.” Lanting gazed out the window, downcast. “There must be a lot of people who like you….. I wish I could be like you too.”

“I can never manage to be that free — so many things I keep bottled up inside, don’t know who to tell, don’t know how to let them go.”

Lin Shuang sank back into the sofa, feeling like this time she was well and truly cornered into playing the role of confidante.

Actually, going straight to Zhou Zheng would be more direct — but everyone always preferred to come to her, as if she were the one who’d started it all.

“Is this about Zhou Zheng? If you want to get it off your chest with me, I’m happy to listen.”

“You… don’t mind?”

Lin Shuang didn’t mind in the least, and shrugged. “Teacher Xie’s already said some of it in front of me.”

“I’m sorry, Xiaomeng always takes my side, and every time we end up arguing over this… afterward I stopped telling her much about it…”

Lanting sank into a curious, dreamlike weave of memory: “Before I met Zhou Zheng, I’d heard his name a few times from Xiaomeng. We really got to know each other at an evening gathering — back then he sat in a corner, not talking, quite reserved. I was seated diagonally across from him; during an activity I rotated over next to him, and there was a dance partway through — he stepped on my foot, and pulled back to the side, terribly embarrassed. After that dance, we exchanged contact info and became friends…”

“Back then, Xiaomeng, Zhang Fan, and a few other friends — we were always together, went out to play ball and eat together, chatted and gathered together. One time we all went hiking together, and I couldn’t keep walking, so he handed me a branch and led me along. Later the branch slipped, and I ended up holding his hand instead — the people around us all whooped and laughed, egging us on to get together. I looked at him shyly, and he looked at me very seriously too, asked if I wanted to try it… I remember his eyes were very bright, very dark, and I nodded without even meaning to.”

“We were together for around four or five months, all told. That was right after I’d started working, and he was still in grad school — we joined the new-teacher training program together, talked about work and our hopes for the future. I felt he was a careful, gentle, and forthright person, exactly my ideal type, and I really wanted to keep going with him.”

Lin Shuang took a sip of coffee, feeling a bit flat, a faint sense of discomfort settling in her chest.

“But my family strongly objected — they always felt I should find someone more suitable. Back then Zhou Zheng’s salary was very low, and whenever we went out on our own, it was always something simple; my family knew and were never happy about it… Once, during a holiday, I brought him home, and my parents said some fairly harsh things, asked what he planned to use to marry me. I’m my parents’ only child… they wanted him to marry into our family instead. That day ended badly… For a while after that, I fought with my family constantly, and eventually my parents relented — but he never came back around, and instead brought up breaking up directly.”

“I always believed it was because I’d hurt him, that’s why he hasn’t dated anyone in all these years since — that he’s been quietly waiting all along… waiting and waiting… until I forgot what I myself was even waiting for.” Lanting smiled. “But now, it feels like none of it means anything anymore… I feel like I’ve finally reached the end of it, and also feel relieved… thank you.”

It was an odd sort of feeling — like some midnight radio confession show that had nothing to do with her at all; she’d listened to a whole unfinished romance, seen a girl’s fierce, quiet devotion, and received in return a heavy, bittersweet blessing.

Lin Shuang shrugged. “I really don’t think about it that much. What feelings, what not — none of that matters. It’s just, I feel like sleeping with Teacher Zhou is probably pretty great, and I’d like to try this particular model of his.”

Lanting was stunned, the coffee in her hand nearly spilling over.

She arched a brow, giving Lanting an exquisitely wicked smile, thoroughly ill-natured: “Feels pretty good, actually.”

That night when she got back… Lin Shuang gave Zhou Zheng a proper working-over.

She nipped lightly at his throat: “Zhou Zheng, I never realized — your pride runs pretty deep, doesn’t it.”

His pride was entirely in her hands; his ears burned red as he kissed her, clingy and warm: “What’s this about?”

“That thing with Lanting… whatever excuse about mismatched personalities or being busy with work — if you didn’t want to marry into her family, just say so. Lanting was still defending you, actually, you two got along pretty well, didn’t you — you had it in you to just break things off like that?”

Zhou Zheng came to his senses, took a breath, and stared at her, lips pressed thin: “Does it bother you? Does it bother you that I…”

She pushed him down, cutting off his words, looking down at the man from above: “What’s there for me to be bothered about — this has nothing to do with me at all.”