There’s a saying that goes: you toy with the world, and the world toys with you.

The city is so small, the web of relationships so dense, that no one can really escape it. Sooner or later, the people you blocked and deleted from your phone show up in front of you again.

In any other setting, it might not have been so awkward, but running into Lanting always left Lin Shuang with an itchy, unbearable feeling.

Lanting, for her part, seemed to want to show off a little this time, unwilling to lose face in front of Zhou Zheng. She hooked her arm affectionately around Guo Yuan, playing the delicate little bird, smiling warmly as she greeted Zhou Zheng: “You’re here to pick up Miss Lin from class too?”

“Mm.”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce him. This is my boyfriend, Guo Yuan. Ah Yuan, this is… Miss Lin’s boyfriend… Zhou Zheng, a teacher at Beiquan High School.” Lanting’s tone caught for a moment, unsure what adjective to attach to Zhou Zheng.

“Hello, Mr. Guo.”

“Hello, Teacher Zhou.”

Four people, one complete mahjong table, the whole tangled history laid bare — not a single thread left dangling.

The one responsible for the whole mess stared off into the sky.

Zhou Zheng and Guo Yuan had met before; he certainly remembered this man clearly. That aggressive Jeep had parked outside the milk tea shop for nearly two months before quietly disappearing.

Pretty girls never lack for boyfriends. Zhou Zheng couldn’t afford to dwell too much on Lin Shuang’s exes — frankly, he didn’t have the right to.

Guo Yuan had met Zhou Zheng once or twice, but had no real impression of him; the memory was hazy.

He and Lanting had met through a blind date arrangement, and neither had asked about the other’s romantic history — their feelings were just beginning to heat up.

Lin Shuang truly was beautiful, but her temper was too proud, her standards too high, difficult and picky to deal with, prone to sudden moods. Guo Yuan could never quite figure out what made her tick — she was wild by nature too, never taking men seriously, quick to turn cold in an instant.

Compared to Lin Shuang, Guo Yuan preferred Lanting — gentle and demure, delicate in her thinking, her eyes lighting up when she looked at him, stirring a man’s protective instincts. On top of that, her family background gave the relationship extra weight; he handled this romance carefully, with great attention.

The mood among the four was harmonious yet bizarre, lively yet deathly still, each person nursing their own awkwardness and private thoughts, emotions running thick or thin. Lanting remained the most oblivious and innocent; Lin Shuang, by contrast, was the calmest of them all.

The two couples exchanged a few pleasantries, seemingly none of them eager to say more, and quickly retreated from the scene.

Along the way, Zhou Zheng said little, his expression unusually calm, no ripple showing in his brow or eyes.

Sometimes, he really was angry with Lin Shuang.

Lin Shuang looped her arm through his as they walked home, clinging to him like a stubborn plaster: “How did you even get here? Did you just abandon your students during evening study?”

“Swapped shifts,” he said flatly. “Traded for tomorrow’s evening study instead.”

“Ohh—” she drew the word out.

The two of them climbed the stairs together, Lin Shuang’s heels clicking against each step, her dance bag in Zhou Zheng’s hand as he led the way, triggering the motion-sensor lights in the stairwell for her.

“Zhou Zheng, aren’t you going to ask?” Lin Shuang said, head bowed, holding up her skirt as she climbed.

“Ask what?”

“Ask what you want to ask.”

What kind of riddle was this.

Zhou Zheng didn’t break his stride: “You mean running into them today?”

“No, this is the third time. Same scene every time.” Lin Shuang licked her lips, finding it strangely funny. “Just perfect.”

He pulled out his key to unlock the door — the lock had been oiled, so the key turned without effort, though Zhou Zheng’s grip was strong regardless. The lock gave a soft “click,” and he pushed the door open, flipped on the light, and changed his shoes as he entered.

Lin Shuang slipped her feet out of her heels and into her fuzzy slippers, trailing close behind him.

“Zhou Zheng.”

“Mm,” he replied flatly.

“Looking at Lanting just now… she still doesn’t know that Guo Yuan and I dated. He never confessed to her.” She crossed her arms, leaning against the door to look at him. “Otherwise she couldn’t possibly have been so friendly to me.”

“That’s between the two of them,” he said, brow furrowing. “It has nothing to do with you or me. Just see less of them going forward.”

The situation was awkward, but it truly had nothing to do with Lin Shuang anymore — whatever was between Lanting and Guo Yuan was theirs to sort out.

“They seem to get along well,” Lin Shuang said, head down, fiddling with her nails, tone idle. “Lanting seems pretty innocent, and her personality suits Guo Yuan well enough. Though… I won’t comment on Guo Yuan’s character — he’s got a bit of a chauvinist streak. But if this doesn’t come out into the open now… if Lanting finds out on her own later, or something else happens between them, could it come back to bite me?”

Women understand women best.

An ex-boyfriend with lingering feelings, years in the making, had landed right back in Lin Shuang’s arms. Hard-won second chances aside, if the tender, loving current boyfriend turned out to have a past with her — one he’d carefully hidden — no matter how you looked at it, it would seem like Lin Shuang had come to cause trouble for Lanting.

If Lanting ended up with some knot in her heart she couldn’t get past, Lin Shuang would be the one to suffer for no reason — and who knew, Xie Xiaomeng might turn hostile again, jumping out to deliver some moral condemnation.

“You never told Guo Yuan about this?”

“I blocked him ages ago — why would I go out of my way to bring it up?” Lin Shuang tilted her chin stubbornly; when it came to discarding men, she was nothing if not clean and decisive. “That dog of a man played dumb and never came looking for me either.”

Both of them seasoned players, meeting again without flinching, content to let the matter rot quietly in their hearts.

Lin Shuang would certainly never go looking for Lanting either.

Zhou Zheng steadied his breath and glanced at Lin Shuang — standing there coquettishly, pouting, wearing an expression of both indifference and innocence.

“Zhou Zheng.”

He frowned: “I know. Don’t say anything else. Don’t explain anything either.”

Lin Shuang had dragged Zhou Zheng out to meet people, which meant she’d essentially handed this whole problem over to him.

He’d really become the perfect, dutiful boyfriend now — even responsible for cleaning up his girlfriend’s mess with her ex.

Well, whose fault was it that he was also Lanting’s ex.

If Lin Shuang didn’t drag him into this, who else would she drag.

Zhou Zheng let out a long breath, sat back down at his desk, and spread out the materials he hadn’t finished grading during evening study.

Lin Shuang leaned in close beside him, circling his chair, flattering him, kneading his shoulders, pounding his legs, pressing affectionate kisses to his cheek, acting coy like a little kitten: “Ah Zheng…”

Sometimes she really was this wicked at heart!

Never once considering his jealousy, the knot in his chest, the undeserved trouble he now had to sort out.

Watching Zhou Zheng keep his face stern, Lin Shuang grinned and nuzzled him with the tip of her nose, kissed his ear, murmuring sweetly: “Teacher Zhou is the best, capable of anything…”

Zhou Zheng frowned, trying to dodge her clingy affection, only for Lin Shuang to wrap her arms directly around his neck and nip playfully at his earlobe.

He glanced sidelong at Lin Shuang’s delicate features, her fox-spirit expression, feeling a mix of exasperated anger and a grievance he couldn’t quite voice. He pulled her onto himself, pressing her down onto his lap, and with some force, gave her rounded backside two firm smacks.

He genuinely wanted to pinch her, squeeze her, vent the frustration weighing on his chest.

“Smack.”

His broad palm landed on her pretty bottom, not too hard, not too soft, but the sound rang out loud and clear. Lin Shuang gasped at the sting, letting out a soft “mm,” twisting her head around on his lap, pressing her cherry lips together, brows knitting as she looked at Zhou Zheng with something between a smile and a smirk.

But his eyes were dark and unreadable, his expression deadly serious, carrying an inexplicable trace of anger — not a hint of playfulness in it.

Lin Shuang blinked, then let out a soft snort of laughter.

“Don’t do that again in the future,” he said, brow furrowed, not looking at her, staring instead at his lesson plan, as serious as could be.

“Don’t do what?” Lin Shuang’s temper was uncharacteristically docile.

“Don’t play games with people. Don’t casually date around,” he said through gritted teeth, word by word. “Don’t casually go find yourself boyfriends.”

Lin Shuang pressed herself against him, straddling his lap, wrapping her whole body tightly around him.

“You’re jealous.” She grinned, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “Zhou Zheng, aren’t you jealous?”

Zhou Zheng kept his face taut.

Ambition and possessiveness in a person both grow little by little. He had reason on his side, but he couldn’t manage to feel entirely indifferent.

Lin Shuang didn’t know what she’d become in the future, couldn’t predict what kind of person she’d turn into. In truth, she hadn’t given any thought to the future at all — future romances, future men.

Let the days pass slowly. Enjoy the present life, the present man, follow her own heart, and be happy — that would do.

“Want to do it?” Lin Shuang pressed her forehead to his, tempting him. “Zhou Zheng, if you’re upset, why not take some pleasure out on me?”

She hated the thought of men coveting her body, but she wanted Zhou Zheng to enjoy her body, to find pleasure in it.

With the beauty offering herself so directly, he only wrapped his arms around her slender waist, pressed his cheek to hers, his mood tinged with something bittersweet, making no further move.

Lin Shuang held him close, smiling gently, murmuring: “Zhou Zheng… playing games is one thing, but at least I never slept around with everyone I met. I never went to bed with Guo Yuan…”

When it came to her past romantic history, she kept things vague, unwilling to say much more on the matter.

Zhou Zheng looked at her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her lips.

The past was the past; he didn’t want to hear more of it.

In moments of deepening intimacy, thoughts like this would occasionally surface in his mind — that though he hadn’t cared about her past, he wanted to claim her future, possess all of her future, become the only one who ever would.

It was madness.

Lin Shuang didn’t want to deal with this matter, so after some thought, Zhou Zheng went to find Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan hadn’t yet met Lanting’s new boyfriend — Xie Xiaomeng hadn’t openly paraded him around yet.

“You two, ahem…” Zhang Fan choked on his water again, wanting to laugh but not daring to. “Wait, you’re telling me that big Jeep guy who chased after Lin Shuang last year is now Lanting’s new boyfriend?”

Zhang Fan remembered that Jeep too — the car had been flashy, and the guy just as eye-catching.

Zhou Zheng’s face turned cold.

“Well I’ll be damned, this is more dramatic than a TV show.” Zhang Fan clapped him on the shoulder. “Rough deal, man. In your position, I’m kind of getting cuckold vibes here… You’ve really fallen into the boss lady’s pit and can’t climb out now, huh.”

No telling what kind of embellished gossip Zhang Fan brought back and whispered into Xie Xiaomeng’s ear.

Xie Xiaomeng was fiercely protective of Lanting.

Later, Lanting found out about the whole thing — the story came out of both Guo Yuan’s and Xie Xiaomeng’s mouths at once.

Guo Yuan felt like garbage about it too.

He hadn’t originally meant to think that much about it, operating on the principle that the less trouble stirred, the better — worried that Lanting, being sensitive, would overthink it. Besides, back then he and Lin Shuang hadn’t even lasted two months before it fizzled out; nothing much to say about it. He’d planned to wait until the truth couldn’t be hidden any longer before admitting it.

Who could have guessed his girlfriend’s best friend would storm the door and give him an earful, accusing him of deception and dishonorable intentions.

There was no way around confessing after that.

Once Lanting found out, she stopped attending her dance classes, temporarily avoiding Lin Shuang.

Naturally, she felt hurt and unsettled inside, the heat of the relationship dropping suddenly, plunging into a cold war with Guo Yuan.

But given how coincidental it all was, no one was really to blame. She and Zhou Zheng, Guo Yuan and Lin Shuang — all just ordinary breakups and relationships.

Well, whose fault was it that the city was so small.