Zhou Zheng explained it this way: “It helps me follow along with some foreign university courses online, and a lot of math textbooks are only available in the original English—if your English isn’t good you can’t get through them. I only started learning English in the second year of middle school, so my foundation is pretty weak. If I want to keep my language skills from slipping, I just have to keep at it long-term.”

A high school math teacher in an eighteenth-tier city, working himself this hard? Lin Shuang could now understand all those excellence awards he won every year.

No matter the field, as long as you kept putting in consistent effort, there was always a payoff eventually.

Like teaching. And like Lin Shuang.

Zhou Zheng made her lunch because he had an extra math competition tutoring class every day at noon and had no time to go home and cook. On top of that, given the location of Lin Shuang’s place, it was a fair distance from Beiquan High School, so the round trip ate up time. If he made lunch in the morning ahead of time, Lin Shuang could bring it along to the milk tea shop.

“When are you leaving?”

He had classes second and fourth periods that morning, so he had to head out by 8:30.

The milk tea shop’s busy hours were mainly concentrated around the two mealtimes, lunch and dinner. Lin Shuang took a cab to the shop every morning at 9:30 to open up, and started prepping ingredients at ten—perfect timing for the lunchtime rush when school let out.

Zhou Zheng went to shower, and on his way out said goodbye to Lin Shuang, who was drinking milk.

“I’m heading to school first—don’t forget to bring your lunchbox when you go out.”

“How are you getting there?”

There was a bus stop right at Fountain Plaza; Zhou Zheng planned to take the bus to school.

He looked at her lips for a few seconds, leaned down, and kissed her—Lin Shuang accepted the good-morning kiss without hesitation.

Both their lips were cool; her mouth held a rich milky taste, his carried the cool freshness of water. Where they touched, there was a refreshing sensation.

Lin Shuang blinked.

Before kissing her, he no longer asked whether it was okay, whether he could kiss her—those sort of silly, tentative questions.

She really had given him the courage after all.

Ever since the “friends with benefits” incident, Zhou Zheng had taken a step forward, tentatively loosening the pace of things a little.

She touched her own lips and saw him off at the door.

Lin Shuang once again brought along that blue-gray thermal lunchbox.

Nana had sharp eyes and let out an “Ooh” the moment she spotted the lunchbox, shooting Lin Shuang a glance.

Lin Shuang hadn’t made their reconciliation public yet; the past few days both she and Zhou Zheng had been busy, and they hadn’t crossed paths at the milk tea shop.

“Boss lady, that lunchbox looks kind of familiar.”

“It’s the same one as before,” Lin Shuang said lightly. “I know what you’re thinking, and yes, it’s exactly what you think.”

Nana and Kevin both sucked in a breath, eyes wide: “Did you and Teacher Zhou really get back together?”

This gossip was too explosive.

She and Zhou Zheng had broken up in April or May; now it was already September—nearly half a year had passed, and no one had expected a reconciliation.

The boss lady, eating her words for the first time ever—unprecedented.

“I’ll treat you both to a meal,” Lin Shuang said, lips curving into a smile. “You’re probably going to be busy again.”

When not dating, Lin Shuang spent most of her time holed up in the milk tea shop; when dating, she went out on dates, shopping—time spent in the shop dropped.

Zhang Fan had also noticed Zhou Zheng’s mood had been really good lately, at least back to his usual gentle baseline. He ran into Zhou Zheng at the cafeteria at noon: “When are you moving to the dorm?”

“Not moving,” Zhou Zheng said, calmly eating.

“Why not?” Zhang Fan asked casually. “Want to come stay at my place?”

“No need, I’ve already moved somewhere new.”

“Renting again?”

“Something like that.”

“Something like that?” Zhang Fan caught on. “Where’d you move to?”

“My girlfriend’s place.” Zhou Zheng paused his chopsticks, looking up.

“Which girlfriend?”

Zhou Zheng smiled faintly and lowered his head to keep eating.

Zhang Fan jumped up in shock, face full of disbelief: “You… got back together with Lin Shuang?”

“Yeah.”

“No way, no way, no way!” Zhang Fan choked on a mouthful of soup, coughing until his face turned red. Zhou Zheng fetched him a glass of water.

Zhang Fan braced himself against the table, tilting his head back: “Bro, I’ve never really admired anyone at this school—you’re the only one I actually admire.”

Nobody had seen this coming.

The first time Zhou Zheng and Lin Shuang got together, it hadn’t been that unusual, since Lin Shuang went through boyfriends fast—maybe she just wanted to try something new.

But getting back together—that meant… something well beyond just trying something out.

That evening, the two of them separately took their respective coworkers out to dinner.

Once the mattress arrived at the house, after two nights on the floor Zhou Zheng finally had somewhere to sleep. Lin Shuang’s lazy sofa went back to her room.

Her bedroom smelled lovely, a sort of flowery, fussy yet orderly, warm and intricate refinement to it.

Having taken care of her before, Zhou Zheng had the layout of the room and the placement of everything memorized.

Compared to his own room, he actually preferred Lin Shuang’s territory.

People who’d once lacked for material things didn’t necessarily grow up with strong material desires, but they were at least more receptive to all kinds of beauty, and more drawn to fine, exquisite things.

Zhou Zheng thought of something and asked Lin Shuang: “Does your mom—your auntie—know I’ve moved in?”

“I haven’t told her,” Lin Shuang shook her head.

“Qi Ling is in the class I teach,” Zhou Zheng said, hands in his pockets, leaning in the doorway chatting with Lin Shuang curled up on the sofa. “Do you remember?”

Her expression turned slightly resentful. “How could I forget—I even got hung up on by a certain teacher twice over it.”

She’d never properly thanked Zhou Zheng for the Qi Ling business.

“I’ve kept an eye on Qi Ling in class. He doesn’t integrate with the class much either, and his emotions run a bit restless. His homeroom teacher’s talked to him a few times, doesn’t seem to have done much good,” Zhou Zheng thought for a moment, then asked her, “Maybe I could talk to him?”

Lin Shuang was silent, thinking it over.

“Qi Ling’s father—Uncle Qi—has called me quite a few times too, saying he wants to thank me for the help. I’ve never agreed to it.”

Lin Shuang already knew about this—Fu Min had mentioned it to her twice, that Qi Xiong wanted to take her and Zhou Zheng out to dinner. Actually, he specifically wanted to invite Lin Shuang over separately as well, to strengthen the family bond.

The troublesome part was, if things became transparent between the families, the Qi Ling matter would end up hanging over her and Zhou Zheng, and she really couldn’t be bothered to deal with any of that.

If she didn’t come clean, though, it wouldn’t stay hidden for long anyway—Zhou Zheng moving in with her, Fu Min would find out sooner or later, and when that happened Qi Xiong would be the first to have complaints, aimed at mother and daughter both. She herself didn’t much care, but as for Fu Min…

Lin Shuang thought it over and over, watching Zhou Zheng’s composed expression, and finally made up her mind: “How expensive are your tutoring fees?”

Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow.

“If you want to take on this tutoring gig, we’ll go out to dinner together, and I’ll introduce you to my mom and stepdad. If you don’t want the trouble, I’ll go alone—you don’t need to show up.”

His heart quietly skipped, though his face showed nothing. He said flatly, “Let’s have dinner together, then—I’ll get to know Qi Ling a bit better too, since he’s in my class after all…”

The dinner was set for the weekend. Qi Xiong was more eager about it than anyone, since it was Zhou Zheng stepping in to look out for Qi Ling—and at this point in senior year, cultivating a good relationship with a solid, dependable teacher mattered a great deal.

The couple brought Qi Ling along too, leaving Qi Shan at home.

When Lin Shuang appeared arm in arm with Zhou Zheng, Fu Min froze for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up; Qi Xiong’s gaze brightened even more, and he opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated and held back.

Qi Ling, meanwhile, was perfectly composed, an air of indifference about him, his gaze wandering.

“Shuangshuang, Teacher Zhou, you two…”

Lin Shuang smiled, a touch bashful, rubbing the toe of her shoe against the ground. “I don’t even know what to say right now…”

The explanation was one Zhou Zheng had prepared, also delivered with a smile: “We weren’t that close before, with Shuangshuang. It was actually the whole situation with Qi Ling—Shuangshuang made several trips back and forth to the school, and that’s how we gradually grew closer, and eventually ended up together…”

Well now, talk about things falling perfectly into place.

Fu Min had always hoped Lin Shuang would settle down, but the mother-daughter relationship had a rift in it, so she couldn’t really do anything about Lin Shuang’s side of things and had privately worried about it. Now, though, everything had worked out—her daughter had found a stable, steady boyfriend.

What Qi Xiong was thinking was that now there’d be someone at school keeping an eye on Qi Ling, giving him a hand—and maybe there was even a chance of getting a renowned teacher to give him private tutoring. And though Lin Shuang hadn’t been in close touch with their family, at least deep down she still had some affection for them.

Everyone was happy.

Qi Ling stood off to the side, eyes darting about, silently mouthing a “tch.”

The meal went off very cheerfully. Fu Min and Qi Xiong first asked the couple about their relationship, then pushed Qi Ling forward to talk to Zhou Zheng.

“Come on, come on, thank Teacher Zhou properly, and from now on you really need to study hard with Teacher Zhou, put more effort into your coursework.”

Zhou Zheng had observed Qi Ling in class before, but since he wasn’t the homeroom teacher, and given the awkwardness of his relationship with Lin Shuang and Qi Ling, he’d never let it show much.

Qi Ling kept his head down, not saying much. Zhou Zheng wasn’t overly warm either, offering just a few words of advice to Qi Ling.

The formal dinner ended up exceeding expectations, nearly turning into a family gathering, running an extra hour or two longer than planned. In the end everyone parted happily, and once it got late, Qi Xiong finally paid the bill and wrapped things up. Before they left, he repeated his invitation several times over, insisting that Zhou Zheng and Lin Shuang come to their house for dinner the following weekend.

In the taxi on the way home, Lin Shuang’s smile faded, and she quietly watched the scenery outside.

Zhou Zheng held her hand.

She leaned into his shoulder.

After they got home, Qi Xiong called Lin Shuang, thoughtfully asking if she’d gotten home safely, then reminded her again to bring Zhou Zheng home for dinner next time.

She leaned against the door, her expression somewhere between a smile and not: “Have you decided? How much are you charging for tutoring fees?”

“Should I even charge anything?” Zhou Zheng looked at her, saying gently, “Qi Ling is basically your little brother too.”

Given Qi Ling’s grades, this tutoring—or at least some extra attention—was already a foregone conclusion.

Zhou Zheng actually didn’t mind this sort of thing at all; as long as it was something related to her, as long as she wanted it, he was willing to shoulder it on her behalf.

“Don’t you dare go soft on this—no one appreciates free labor, and this world is full of people who’ll take a mile if you give an inch,” she said, her spirits picking up, a glint of light in her eyes. “Aren’t you short on money for the house renovation? I’ll negotiate your hourly tutoring rate for you.”

Zhou Zheng sighed.

That night she stayed in Zhou Zheng’s room.

The new mattress really was soft—sleeping on it felt wonderful.

These past days, she’d been thoroughly proper and well-behaved, no mischief, not the slightest bit of deliberate teasing.

The two of them had been getting along in a very ordinary, understated way—even less sweet than those first three months together.

Not until a light, lingering kiss deepened, their breath turning sticky and hot, did the atmosphere start to shift.

That one time they’d made up and ended up in bed after a fight—they hadn’t done it again since.

Both of them had deliberately kept some distance for a while.

Lin Shuang’s hand began wandering inside his clothes again, starting up familiar, practiced teasing.

Zhou Zheng caught her wrist, braced himself above her, gazing down at her with heated eyes.

Her eyes were hazy and moist, a beautiful, sinking glow to them.

“Teacher Zhou,” Lin Shuang said, hooking her arms around his neck.

“Hm?”

She licked her red lips, eyes narrowing, fingers mischievous against his body.

“My math grades aren’t great either. When’s the teacher going to give me some tutoring too?”

A chill ran through Zhou Zheng; alarm bells rang.

“Except I can’t afford the tutoring fee—can I maybe…”

His expression froze, ears burning bright red, and he quickly reached out to cover her mouth.

“Mmph…”

“Shuangshuang, behave,” Zhou Zheng said through gritted teeth.

That wasn’t how you played this game.

Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow, her small sharp teeth catching his palm, gnawing at it playfully like she was teething.

That loss of control began spreading through him again.

She was like a rabbit caught by the ears, or a kitten bitten by the scruff—her fate, entirely in his hands now.