The four of them decided on a dining spot at the nearby university town, not far from here. Since Lan Ting and Zeng Anyu had come by bicycle, they all ultimately decided to ride there.

The sun wasn’t strong. Spring sunlight, no matter how it fell, didn’t seem ostentatious. With the warm spring breeze blowing against their faces, Sang Ru sat on Zhou Tingzhao’s rear seat, feeling completely carefree and happy.

The white shirt billowed in the wind, and Sang Ru pressed it down for him, her hand naturally resting on his waist without moving away.

“I lied to you,” she said, leaning in closer.

Zhou Tingzhao turned his head slightly: “What did you lie about?”

“I do have a bicycle, and I can ride one.”

Earlier, when they were discussing whether everyone should ride their bicycle, Sang Ru had shamelessly lied: “I don’t have a bicycle and don’t know how to ride one.”

That’s why she now had the opportunity to sit on Zhou Tingzhao’s rear seat, comfortably enjoying the breeze and sunshine.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Tingzhao responded nonchalantly: “I know.”

Sang Ru became interested: “How did you know?”

How could someone who had posted weekend cycling photos on social media not know how to ride?

Zhou Tingzhao didn’t answer. Ahead was a slope, and he said: “Hold on tight.”

In the instant they sped down the slope, Sang Ru tightly embraced Zhou Tingzhao’s waist. The scenery beside them rapidly receded, the sound of wind passed by their ears, and only they remained connected as they moved forward—

This barbecue restaurant was quite famous in the university town. Even though it wasn’t yet noon, many people had already arrived.

They parked their bikes outside and found an empty table inside. Before Sang Ru could sit down, she heard someone calling her.

At another table across the aisle, Li Chenfei looked over with surprise and delight. Someone else was sitting beside her. Sang Ru raised her eyebrows as her gaze swept between them, and Yang Fan also somewhat embarrassedly greeted them.

Li Chenfei glanced at the person behind her and asked: “How did you end up here too?”

“We just happened to meet some friends from No. 3 High School at the essay competition, so we came to eat together.” As Sang Ru spoke, she introduced them to each other.

After these initial introductions, Yang Fan invited them: “Why don’t you join our table? We can all eat together.”

Sang Ru looked at Li Chenfei and smiled: “That’s alright, you two enjoy your meal. Six people wouldn’t fit at one table.”

Everyone took their seats. Sang Ru turned her head to secretly observe the activity across the aisle, but before she could discern anything, she received a thumbs-up from Li Chenfei.

Not disturbing her friend’s date—very conscientious!

Their orders gradually arrived. Although Sang Ru rarely ate such food, it had been a long time since she had indulged, so her appetite increased significantly.

The bamboo skewers were too oily, leaving an uncomfortable residue on her hands. Sang Ru held up her hands and looked around the table, just about to reach for the napkins on Zhou Tingzhao’s right when he had already pulled some out.

Sang Ru was about to say “thank you,” but Zhou Tingzhao had already lowered his head, focusing intently on wiping the oil from her hands.

Lan Ting and Zeng Anyu sat opposite them and had been talking about something, but now they both mysteriously fell silent in unison, watching the two.

Sang Ru cleared her throat and withdrew her hand: “That’s enough.”

“Mm.” Zhou Tingzhao responded softly, then pulled out two more napkins and handed them to her.

The stare from across the table was so intense that Sang Ru stood up and said, “I’ll go get some drinks. What would you like?”

Lan Ting also stood up: “No need, I’ll go myself.”

“Sit down, I’ll get them,” Zhou Tingzhao said, also rising.

Sang Ru felt a bit dizzy and held her forehead as she looked to the side. Suddenly, she saw two people pushing two bicycles by the road that looked very familiar. She carefully identified them for a moment before exclaiming in shock: “Aren’t those your bikes?!”

Everyone’s gaze immediately turned toward the door, with even Li Chenfei and Yang Fan curiously looking too.

When Lan Ting saw, he said urgently: “Oh no! They are!”

“Aren’t those Lan Ting’s and Zhou Tingzhao’s bikes?!” Zeng Anyu exclaimed.

The group hurriedly ran outside, and sure enough, only Zeng Anyu’s flashy pink bicycle remained where they had parked.

Goodness, they couldn’t even eat a meal without encountering bike thieves!

Seeing that the thieves had already pushed the bikes to the other side of the road, the group exchanged glances and immediately gave chase.

The restaurant owner shouted from behind: “Hey! You haven’t paid yet!”

Li Chenfei, who had originally intended to follow them out, had to stop and say: “They’re my friends. Their bill can be combined with our table.”

The owner finally relaxed and continued to serve other customers.

She had to stay behind as a “hostage,” but Yang Fan was the sports representative and an excellent runner. Li Chenfei patted him and said, “Quick, go help them!”

Yang Fan had already planned to go but hesitated and asked: “What about you?”

“I’ll stay so the owner can feel at ease.”

“Okay!”

This was just a small street, and the traffic lights in the middle of the road weren’t very standardized. Given the urgency of the situation, no one paid attention to these things.

The two thieves each had one bike. Suddenly, as if hearing people chasing from behind, they quickly mounted the bikes, changing from pushing to riding, fumbling about as if they’d seen a ghost.

The thieves also appeared to be young men who pedaled with extraordinary agility. Before the pursuers could catch up at an intersection, the two thieves unexpectedly split up in different directions.

Sang Ru immediately pulled Zhou Tingzhao to speed up and chase after his bike, tossing back a sentence to the others: “Let’s split up and chase them!”

“Mm! Be careful!” Lan Ting said before conscientiously turning toward the other direction to give chase.

When chasing thieves, the concern wasn’t having too few people but rather distributing them unevenly. Zeng Anyu sighed but still followed Lan Ting.

After chasing for so long, Sang Ru almost wanted to applaud the thief in front of them. He rode with agile form through the crowd without bumping into anyone, while Sang Ru accidentally collided with several pedestrians and had to apologize multiple times.

With a lack of recent exercise, Sang Ru was starting to lose stamina, yet the thief seemed to be pedaling with increasing vigor. The two of them followed him through several small alleys, and in the moment they stopped to catch their breath, they saw him disappear around a corner.

Sang Ru prepared to continue running, but Zhou Tingzhao gripped her wrist, saying between slightly labored breaths: “Let’s stop chasing.”

“But what about your bike?”

“That barbecue restaurant has surveillance cameras. If they didn’t capture anything, we can check the cameras from the surrounding stores. There are also cameras on the streets. We’ve run through so many streets just now—something must have been recorded,” Zhou Tingzhao said calmly. “No need to chase. Let’s report to the police.”

Sang Ru finally sighed in relief: “Okay.”

While pedestrians came and went at both ends of the alley, there weren’t many people in the alley itself. Sang Ru was about to return the way they had come when she was suddenly pulled into an embrace.

Zhou Tingzhao’s hug was passionate. Sang Ru felt his arms tightening around her. She patted his back and asked softly: “What’s wrong?”

She only heard Zhou Tingzhao take a deep breath by her ear before saying: “Thank you. You’ve worked hard, baby.”