It was still that familiar black business van.

As it circled the fountain and slowly came to a stop in front of Zhu Wenshu, her face looked composed on the surface, but inside she was panicking, even thinking about turning tail and running.

How had she been so brain-dead as to send such an awkward message.

Did she really think that was cute?

After sending it, she’d wanted to recall it, but when she turned around, the man himself was already standing behind her.

Fortunately, Ling Chen had glanced at his phone and said nothing.

Maybe he was too speechless from her awkwardness to comment.

The two of them just stood there under the eaves, two steps apart, neither speaking, wrapped in some indescribable awkwardness.

Ugh.

Would it be this awkward once they got in the car too?

Just as she was thinking this, the car pulled to a stop, and Ling Chen’s hand, hanging at his side, lifted. “The car—”

“Oh, Teacher Zhu is here too?”

A head suddenly popped out from inside the car.

Before Zhu Wenshu could speak, he answered his own question. “Oh right, it’s a high school classmate’s wedding, you two were in the same class.”

That hand quietly dropped back down, unnoticed. Ling Chen turned his head to look at Ling Xingyan. “Why are you here?”

“I just got off the plane. Little Zhou came to pick me up, and swung by to get you too.”

Ling Xingyan’s gaze swept over Zhu Wenshu and Ling Chen, then he suddenly got up and got out, going around to open the front passenger door. “I’ll sit up front. It’s windy, and you two shouldn’t just stand there either.”

When he’d first arrived, he’d already spotted Ling Chen standing with his head down, a young woman beside him, the two of them ignoring each other.

Through the glass he hadn’t been able to tell it was Zhu Wenshu, and he’d thought to himself that Ling Chen didn’t even bother avoiding people in public like this, standing so brazenly next to someone.

Once he opened the door and realized it was Zhu Wenshu, he decided it made sense that Ling Chen would just stand there.

Once the two of them were in the car, Ling Xingyan took the initiative to break the silence.

“Teacher Zhu, how has my kid been doing at school lately?”

“Him? Well…”

Zhu Wenshu glanced at Ling Chen.

They really were brothers—their lines were identical.

Catching Zhu Wenshu’s look, Ling Chen understood what she meant, but said nothing, turning his head to look out the window instead.

“He’s been pretty well-behaved lately. The little microphone he made last week even got shown off in another class by the teacher.”

Ling Xingyan laughed. “Wow, not bad.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone must have gotten some new message, because his eyes immediately locked onto the screen.

The car fell quiet again. Zhu Wenshu wasn’t sure where to look, so she took out her phone to fiddle with it too.

Just then, Shi Xue’er sent her a message.

[Shi Xue’er]: Teacher Zhu!!

[Shi Xue’er]: Ling Chen is at a classmate’s wedding today too!

[Shi Xue’er]: [Image]

She’d seen the photo on Weibo—not from any particular guest, but Shi Xue’er, who was constantly camped out on Ling Chen’s fan forums, had found it quickly.

The scene in the photo looked very familiar—it was Zhu Wenshu’s own table. The moment she opened it, she spotted herself eating in the corner of the frame.

Even though it was just a side profile, she was still keenly attuned to her own image.

[Shi Xue’er]: You’re at a classmate’s wedding! Ling Chen is at a classmate’s wedding too!

Seeing this line, Zhu Wenshu suddenly gripped her phone with a flicker of nervousness, feeling like the lie she’d told Shi Xue’er and Zhu Qisen earlier was about to be exposed.

[Shi Xue’er]: Round it up and that basically means me and Ling Chen went to a wedding together!

[Shi Xue’er]: You’re the bridge between me and Ling Chen!

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

[Zhu Wenshu]: Haha, what a coincidence.

Shi Xue’er must have gone back to browsing Weibo, looking for other fresh photos, because she didn’t reply again.

Zhu Wenshu looked at that photo another two times, wondering to herself whether anyone had caught an unflattering shot of her.

Even though probably no one cared about her, a mere background prop, Teacher Zhu—who had been pretty her whole life—still carried a bit of a complex about it.

Taking advantage of the silence in the car, she quietly opened Weibo and searched the two characters “Ling Chen.”

Scrolling through the real-time results, sure enough, plenty of photos from today’s wedding came up.

Looking through them one by one, Zhu Wenshu relaxed slightly.

Though the background was a bit messy, Teacher Zhu had survived various death angles intact.

But not all the posts tagged with “Ling Chen” were from today. Scrolling further down, Zhu Wenshu came across a post with fairly high engagement.

The poster was an entertainment marketing account that had jumped on the recent buzz to run a poll—Twenty million yuan, or a night with Ling Chen, which would you choose?

Over four thousand people had voted.

Zhu Wenshu clicked in to look, and—unbelievable! Incredible! There were actually two people who had chosen a night with Ling Chen!

That was something she hadn’t expected—so even in this day and age, there were still two such purely lecherous souls untempted by money.

She was so absorbed in reading that Zhu Wenshu vaguely heard Ling Chen seem to be saying something to her.

Just as she was about to look up, more traffic merged in ahead, and the driver braked hard. The sudden stop caught Zhu Wenshu off guard, and her phone clattered to the floor.

Then Zhu Wenshu watched, wide-eyed, as it rolled to a stop at Ling Chen’s feet.

Then she watched, wide-eyed, as Ling Chen bent down and picked up the phone—

Before Ling Chen could hand it over, Zhu Wenshu practically lunged to snatch it back.

Unfortunately, she was still a beat too slow to grab it away before Ling Chen’s eyes dropped to the screen.

“…”

The already-quiet car became even quieter.

But Ling Chen’s gaze had only swept across the screen in passing; Zhu Wenshu had no idea whether he’d actually seen it clearly.

In any case, the moment she got her phone back, she immediately turned off the screen and stared out the window without another word.

A while passed.

Zhu Wenshu stared at Ling Chen’s reflection in the car window.

She noticed the corner of his mouth seemed to have curved up slightly.

Was he smiling?

He was smiling!

So he really had seen it.

Zhu Wenshu quietly rolled her eyes.

Out of over four thousand people, only two chose you, and that’s something to be pleased about?

A few minutes later, Zhu Wenshu really couldn’t stand the eerie silence anymore and took the initiative to speak to Ling Xingyan in the front seat.

“Oh right, it’s already November.”

She said, “The school’s welcome art festival is coming up, and every class needs to put on a performance. Should Yuanyuan sign up for something?”

Then, remembering there was a Ling Chen at home, she added, “He can probably sing or play an instrument or something, right?”

“Him?”

Ling Xingyan, busy replying to messages, didn’t even turn his head. “He can sing, he can play, it’s just not really presentable.”

“…The art festival is a good chance to show off.”

Zhu Wenshu turned to look at Ling Chen again. “If you have time, maybe you could teach him.”

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried before.

Back then, teaching him had nearly made him want to smash that multi-million-yuan piano to pieces.

Later he’d tried teaching him to sing, and at least he’d stopped being off-key.

Because he simply wasn’t anywhere near the key to begin with.

“Teach him? I’d rather sell my body.”

Zhu Wenshu: “?”

“Either way it’s torture.”

Ling Chen stretched his legs lazily, leaning his head against the car window. “At least selling my body pays.”

“…”

Today also happened to be Zhang Yuming’s birthday.

After dropping Zhu Wenshu off at home, Ling Xingyan went home, changed out of his travel-worn clothes, drank some water, spent a bit of time with Ling Siyuan watching TV, and then got ready to head to the office for a meeting.

Before leaving, he pointed at a box on the table.

“Those are two bottles of good liquor I’m sending to Teacher Zhang. Bring them over later, and be careful with them.”

Ling Chen replied with an “Mm.”

Once Ling Xingyan had left, Ling Chen went to his room to listen to the new song demo the arrangement team had sent him.

He listened for four straight hours, and by the time he took off his headphones and looked up, the sky had already gone dark.

In the end he changed into his usual clothes and headed out, carrying the red wine Ling Xingyan had sent along.

Zhang Yuming, despite his high standing, disliked extravagance. For his sixtieth birthday he’d invited only a dozen or so close friends and booked a private room at a low-profile restaurant on the outskirts.

By the time Ling Chen arrived, the private room was nearly full.

Everyone present knew each other, so there wasn’t much need for pleasantries.

After a while, the door opened again.

A middle-aged woman in a plain trench coat walked in, taking off her sunglasses as she scanned the room.

“Oh? I’m actually the last one here?”

Someone laughed. “As it should be—when has Teacher Song’s performance ever not been the grand finale?”

Song Yuelan shot him a sideways glance, then pointed at Ling Chen. “Old, so old—washed up on the beach. Now it’s Ling Chen closing the show.”

Hearing this, Ling Chen just smiled and immediately stood up to pull out the chair beside him for her.

Today’s gathering counted as a star-studded affair, but the vast majority were behind-the-scenes people like Zhang Yuming.

The only two actual performers were Ling Chen and this Song Yuelan who had arrived last.

Unlike Ling Chen, a rising star, Song Yuelan had been famous for over a decade or two, and even though her output had slowed now, no one would question her standing.

In this era of fan economies, Song Yuelan might not show up on any of the vote-and-support charts, but her old songs had permanently occupied the top of the listening charts on various music apps.

Though Song Yuelan liked to joke about being washed up on the beach, she was actually very caring toward the younger generation.

Especially Ling Chen—she was quite fond of him, treating him entirely like a little brother.

After greeting Zhang Yuming, Song Yuelan took off her coat and sat down next to Ling Chen.

As she raised her arm, Ling Chen noticed a sparkling diamond bracelet on her wrist—

The gathering of old acquaintances was relaxed, cups passing back and forth. Even Ling Chen, who normally never touched cigarettes or alcohol, joined in with a couple glasses of red wine.

Of course, part of the reason he didn’t drink was to protect his voice, but the bigger reason was that his tolerance was genuinely terrible.

After only three glasses, his face had already flushed, a red tinge even creeping up his neck.

“Ling Chen, what’s going on with you.”

Suddenly, Song Yuelan spoke in a volume only the two of them could hear. “You’ve been staring at my bracelet ever since I walked in.”

Ling Chen lowered his head and smiled. “It’s very pretty. Where did you get it?”

“Get it? Now you’re underestimating me—this is an unreleased design from Barcelona, made specially for me. Where would you even buy it?”

Ling Chen gave a light “Mm.” “It really is special.”

Song Yuelan: “What, thinking of buying one for someone?”

Ling Chen: “Mm.”

Song Yuelan lowered her voice further. “A girlfriend?”

Ling Chen: “No.”

“Ha.”

Song Yuelan found it quite funny—after all these years in the entertainment industry, this was the first time she’d seen a male celebrity blush at the mention of “girlfriend.”

But she wasn’t the type to press for details either; she just stroked her own bracelet and said with a smile, “Actually there are two of these bracelets—the one on my wrist is a double chain, and there’s a single-chain one too, more suited for a younger woman. I’d originally planned to give it to my own precious girl, but if you’re asking, Ling Chen, well, it’s not like I couldn’t give it to you. It’s no big deal.”

“No need to give it to me, I’ll pay you for it.”

With that, Ling Chen raised his stemmed glass and lightly clinked it against hers.

Then he tilted his head back and drained it in one go.

“Thanks for the sacrifice.”

“We’re close enough that we shouldn’t be talking about money, but this thing of mine is one of only two in the entire world—you’re going to fob me off with one glass of wine?”

Song Yuelan stifled a laugh. “At least make it three.”

Unlike Ling Chen, who ate at two feasts in one day, Zhu Wenshu didn’t leave the house again after getting home, and even had dinner delivered.

Even though it was the weekend, young teachers carried all sorts of professional pressure. She’d just finished a teaching competition the week before, and right after that had to prepare for a new open class.

This time Zhu Wenshu was once again representing the young teachers of Experimental Elementary School, so she didn’t dare be careless. She’d written and rewritten her lesson outline several times, and only after confirming everything was correct did she start writing the actual text.

At nine at night, while she was deep in her writing, the phone on her desk suddenly rang.

Seeing it was a WeChat voice call from Ling Chen, Zhu Wenshu was a little dazed.

She had no idea what Ling Chen would want from her this late.

“Hello?”

She picked up, but there was no response from the other end.

She said “hello” twice more, still getting nothing back, and figured he must have accidentally hit the call button.

Just as she was about to hang up, he spoke.

“Zhu Wenshu.”

Just three words, and Zhu Wenshu could smell the heavy scent of alcohol even through the screen.

She asked, “Have you been drinking?”

“Mm, a bit.”

Just listen to your own voice—is that really “a bit”?

“Oh…”

Zhu Wenshu said, “What’s up?”

Ling Chen didn’t say anything again.

After a while, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m prepping a lesson.”

“Oh.”

Through the earpiece, Zhu Wenshu heard the whistling sound of wind.

She had no idea where he was right now.

“Are you drunk?”

“No.”

Mm-hm.

So he was drunk.

Zhu Wenshu sighed. “Maybe drink some water and get some rest early.”

Ling Chen: “Zhu Wenshu.”

“Yeah?”

After she answered, he went quiet again.

After a long silence, Zhu Wenshu looked at her computer screen, at the lesson document only half-finished.

“If there’s nothing else…”

Ling Chen seemed to guess what she was about to say.

“Don’t hang up.”

After a long pause, Zhu Wenshu quietly said, “Oh.”

The window was half-open, and occasionally a breeze drifted in, carrying the scattered scent of flowers from the balcony.

There was no sound of talking in the room, and the sound of the keyboard had stopped too—only the call timer on the phone kept ticking away, second by second.

“Zhu Wenshu.”

Ling Chen suddenly spoke again.

“Mm?”

“Do you like diamonds?”

The question, coming out of nowhere, left Zhu Wenshu a little baffled, but considering the person on the other end was drunk, she didn’t take it too seriously.

“Who doesn’t.”

She glanced at the document again, thinking that if she didn’t like diamonds, why else would she be working overtime this late.

“I’d love nothing more than to build a house out of diamonds.”

On the other end of the line, Ling Chen gave a light laugh.

“If you put it that way, I’d have to go sell my body just to afford it.”

“…”

Drunk man, drunk man.

Zhu Wenshu kept reminding herself not to take a drunk man’s words to heart.

But her heart still skipped a beat regardless.

To keep the long silence from giving her away, Zhu Wenshu rolled her eyes and blurted out, “Would selling your body make as much as selling your talent?”

“That’s hard to say.”

Ling Chen’s voice carried an obvious trace of drunkenness, not as steady as usual, sounding a bit flippant. “After all, two people chose me—that’s already forty million right there.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

She looked out the window, pressing her lips together, holding back the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“Zhu Wenshu.”

He called her name again.

“Mm?”

“If it were you, which would you choose?”

“?”

Zhu Wenshu was stunned for a moment before she realized what Ling Chen was asking.

Twenty million yuan, or a night with Ling Chen—which would you choose?

How could the man himself actually ask such a thing out loud!

Truly a drunk man.

“I am a proud member of the People’s Teaching Corps, a model for others…”

Zhu Wenshu’s heart pounded in her chest. “If I hesitated even a second, it would be an insult to those twenty million yuan.”