The application period for the Computer Science minor was about to open, and Ning Sui mentioned her thoughts to Xia Fanghui.

Although Xia Fanghui couldn’t help worrying about this and that—feeling that jumping in last-minute meant she’d be starting on unequal footing with everyone else—after the whole family sat down together for a serious discussion, they ultimately decided to follow her interests.

Ning Deyan had always been more open-minded about this sort of thing. His view was: let the child do what she wants, she’s still young, and we’re both here to catch her if she falls—what is there to fear?

After doing her own research online, Xia Fanghui discovered that switching into the computer science track would benefit one’s career more if one had overseas study experience. The day they discussed graduate school locations, Xia Fanghui said that as long as the school was good, she was fine with either domestic or abroad.

Ning Sui knew that tuition overseas was not cheap—it could easily run into several hundred thousand yuan—which was no small expense for the family, yet neither her mom nor her dad brought it up.

That detail moved Ning Sui deeply.

And so throughout April, Ning Sui poured herself into preparing personal statements and other application materials. Having heard that the training curriculum didn’t cover Python, she used her spare time to revisit and consolidate the programming knowledge she’d taught herself earlier.

Xie Yichen was preparing for his sophomore-year summer research placement. This semester he had won the National Scholarship, and it was no surprise that he ended up with the best professor in the department—he would be staying on campus in July.

The two of them went to the library study rooms together every week to work; whenever she had a question she didn’t understand, she could ask him at any time.

For Ning Sui to complete the Computer Science minor, it would be best if she could enter a lab directly in the second semester of her sophomore year and learn under a faculty member. Xie Yichen pulled some strings and asked around through senior students he was close with.

The opportunity was genuinely quite rare. While he and Zhang Yuge were eating together, Zhang Yuge overheard him busy on the phone: “Yeah, my girlfriend is looking to switch into computer science… She’s still exploring the direction. Does Professor Lu’s lab have any open spots? Okay, could you ask the senior student to check again for me?”

“……”

Zhang Yuge had been staring longingly at the braised beef shank in front of him for a long while. When their eyes finally met, he immediately launched into a soundless campaign of threatening and cajoling—are you going to eat or not, man, I’m genuinely starving!

But the other person lazily stretched out his legs, and his gaze mercilessly drifted away again: “Right, lately it’s been some content in the AIGC space. Right now it’s mainly the text domain, hasn’t touched imaging yet.”

After a bit of small talk, the person on the other end apparently gave some positive signals. Xie Yichen wrapped things up at just the right moment, smiling: “Sure, no problem—let’s find a place to treat you to dinner this weekend. I’ll pick the spot.”

Having finally waited for him to hang up, Zhang Yuge across the table had undergone a transformation. He was staring down at the food on the table, chopsticks untouched.

He’d been lively and chatty while Xie Yichen was on the phone, but now he suddenly went quiet and heavy. Xie Yichen kicked him under the table: “What are you brooding over?”

Zhang Yuge thought it over and summarized his central point: “Brother, I’ve realized that ever since you got a girlfriend, you’ve stopped loving me.”

Xie Yichen gave him a sideways glance and smiled at his leisure: “Isn’t that pretty normal?”

Zhang Yuge: “……”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the beef shank, wolfing it down: “You’re absolutely paying for dinner today!”

With things more or less sorted, Xie Yichen was in a good mood: “Sure, order whatever you want.”

His attitude was so agreeable that Zhang Yuge had the feeling of trying to throw a punch and hitting cotton.

He’d had a gossip-fueled impulse to ask about where things stood between the two of them after all this time, but then he thought—given Xie Yichen’s personality, he probably wouldn’t say anything even if asked.

Xie Yichen guarded his girlfriend closely and never used anything about Ning Sui as conversation fodder. Zhang Yuge thought about it and decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask.

After a moment, he switched topics: “I just heard from what you said—Ning Sui wants to get a second degree in computer science?”

Xie Yichen made a sound of confirmation: “It’s a minor. I found her a faculty advisor in the lab. This summer break she can stay on campus with me.”

Zhang Yuge thought her path was genuinely impressive—Mathematics and Computer Science, and either one was at the very peak of difficulty. He himself couldn’t even dream of it. He could only marvel inwardly: this is still our Sui boss, truly not an ordinary person.

When those two were together, it always gave people the feeling that they occupied the intellectual high ground.

Zhang Yuge did the math: “So that means during summer break, Ning Sui will be going to Qing University with you every day?”

Xie Yichen: “Yeah.”

Zhang Yuge had been about to say it sounded like a lot of trouble, but then reconsidered: “Fortunately, the two schools are pretty close to each other.”

On that note, in fact the two of them had only recently been discussing whether to short-term rent a place together in the residential area on Qing University’s campus and live together for these two months.

It would be more convenient—meals and accommodation right on campus; if they worked late at the lab they could still get home at a reasonable hour with no safety concerns. Also, Beijing University’s dorms would be empty during the summer, and he worried Ning Sui would feel lonely by herself.

But Xie Yichen was still hesitating. Given Xia Fanghui’s temperament, she would surely object. He didn’t want Ning Sui to be caught in the middle in an awkward position—there might be specific situations requiring her to lie or conceal things—so he hadn’t actively pushed it forward.

Ning Sui also knew Fanghui well. She first selectively brought up in the family group chat the matter of staying at Qing University for summer research.

Xia Fanghui: [Huh? You won’t be coming back for the whole summer?]

Sui-sui-sui: [Not exactly—it’s about two months, and I can still come back in August, there are more than ten days left~]

Xia Fanghui: [That’s so long]

Xia Fanghui: [Does it have to be like this?]

Sui-sui-sui: [This is going to be really useful for going into computer science later on.]

Xia Fanghui: [Oh, alright.]

Then Ning Deyan chimed in: [Sweetheart, we’ll miss you [sad face emoji]]

How did he suddenly get sentimental? Ning Sui replied with an emoji: [[hug emoji]]

Ning Deyan quickly replied: [One fewer person means one fewer share of being tortured by the noise]

Ning Deyan: [During summer break the Beatles and Gorbachev will be for only your mom and me to endure.]

Ning Yue: [???]

Ning Yue: [Do I really still sound like Gorbachev when I play Tchaikovsky now???]

Ning Deyan magnanimously replied: [A little better—you’ve evolved into Maksim]

Ning Yue apparently shut down and stopped appearing in the family group chat, choosing instead to send a private message to Ning Sui.

He now treated his sister as his great authority—whenever he had a math problem he couldn’t solve, he eagerly came to ask, and occasionally said some random things.

Ning Yue: [Sis, you’ll be gone for two months, and Mom will be watching me from start to finish forcing me to attend all sorts of interest classes. How am I supposed to survive?! [sob emoji]]

Ning Sui, gently: [Life is short, like morning dew—grin and bear it, and it’ll pass.]

Ning Yue: [……]

He chose to start fresh: [Do you know what Mom has been up to lately?]

Sui-sui-sui: [Hmm?]

Ning Yue: [She’s obsessed with gardening, turned the balcony into a virtual farm, planted a few pots of kohlrabi—she says it’s healthier that way, so from now on we won’t be buying vegetables from the market because she’s afraid of pesticides. And to give the whole family a sense of participation and responsibility, she’s had us take turns watering and fertilizing.]

That sounded like exactly the kind of thing Xia Fanghui would get up to.

Ning Sui had been wondering why Fanghui had eased up on her a bit lately. Turned out she’d had her attention diverted.

Sui-sui-sui: [Why did she suddenly start doing this?]

Ning Yue: [Apparently she saw it recommended in some short video.]

He sent a photo—the kohlrabi in it had sprouted little green tips, but it didn’t look especially vigorous, even somewhat sickly and yellowing.

Sui-sui-sui: [This kind needs organic fertilizer, doesn’t it?]

Ning Yue: [It does, and that part is my responsibility [awkward face emoji]]

Ning Yue: [I walked around the market yesterday but couldn’t find the kind Mom wanted.]

He was still using his basic phone, which only had the most rudimentary social apps and no online shopping. He’d probably run off to fool around with friends after school and hadn’t seriously looked.

Ning Sui reminded him: [If you keep not fertilizing, it’ll be really obvious after a while.]

Ning Yue: [I know, so yesterday I tried a shallow little pee on it [grinning emoji][grinning emoji][grinning emoji]]

Ning Sui: “……?”

She was at Qing University right now and had a computer science lecture to sit in on shortly—one Xie Yichen had picked for her, at a slightly more foundational level.

At that moment, he was playing in a basketball game in the gym. It happened to be halftime, and the several sweaty, red-faced young men on the court scattered in all directions. In the seats below, several rows of girls had been watching in their direction the whole time.

Xie Yichen was dressed sharply today—white tank top, white athletic shorts, paired with a black compression long-sleeve underneath and black sneakers. Black hair, sharp eyes, his shoulders and arms conveying smooth, flowing lines of muscle. He was the kind of handsome that made it impossible to look away.

His teammates all went to the chairs for water, but he walked straight off the court, swept the sweat-damp loose hair from his forehead, and headed directly toward the spectator stands.

The girls watched him approach, eyes brightening, unable to help whispering to each other—they’d been wondering what was going on—but then they turned back and saw, a little ways behind them, a girl sitting alone in the seats.

A floral dress. Pale skin, a slender waist, a cascade of black hair—graceful and beautiful.

They watched Xie Yichen walk up the stairs without any attempt at concealment, then naturally take a seat beside her. The girl was instantly made to look small and delicate by contrast. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a bottle of an energy drink, handing it to him.

Xie Yichen took it without rushing to open it. Instead he bent down, picked up the hem of her long dress that had accidentally fallen to the floor, carefully brushed it off, and folded it neatly onto the seat.

“Is that Xie Yichen’s girlfriend?”

The girls chattered: “He walked straight over to her the second he stepped off the court—it’s definitely her!”

“Oh my god, picking up the hem of her dress is so sweet.”

One girl went excited: “And the contrast in their sizes is honestly such good couple material……”

At this moment, Xie Yichen still had a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. He paid little attention to others around him, his gaze low and contained: “Who was that guy just now?”

“Huh?”

Ning Sui hadn’t even noticed any guy. Xie Yichen said: “The one who was sitting next to you just a moment ago.”

It was then that Ning Sui remembered—there had been a male student who came over for a while and exchanged a few words with her. When he saw she wasn’t particularly interested in chatting, he’d left after a short time.

Just those two minutes, and he’d caught it. His eyesight really was something.

Ning Sui blinked her lashes, and said sincerely: “He was just asking for directions.”

Only then did Xie Yichen make a measured sound of acknowledgment and lazily twisted open the drink in his hand: “Don’t you have that computer science lecture to sit in on later? How do you have time to come watch the game?”

Ning Sui had previewed the course material earlier; the professor’s pace was slower than her own progress. Plus she’d been thinking about his game today, so she’d decided to come watch for a bit beforehand.

“I came to bring you water first.” She glanced at him and dug a pack of tissues from her bag’s side pocket. “Do you want to wipe off the sweat?”

Xie Yichen glanced down at them. They had delicate cartoon prints and were the scented kind.

He leaned in a little closer, laughed quietly: “Wipe it for me.”

“……”

Ning Sui had already noticed the furtive glances from the rows in front of her. Qu Handong was down below too, nudging his teammates and whispering something. Her fingertips curled for a moment, but she still did as he said, lifting her hand and carefully wiping his cheeks and forehead.

Xie Yichen watched her with a smile. The distance was a bit close. Ning Sui deliberately ignored this conspicuously handsome face and cast about for a topic while she worked: “If it’s convenient, should we start looking at apartments sooner……”

Xie Yichen paused: “Hmm?”

Ning Sui held her breath for a beat and explained: “Because it’s a short-term rental—if we leave it too late it might be hard to find a place.”

She lowered her hand. Only then did Xie Yichen straighten up: “Hold on.”

Ning Sui: “Ah?”

He asked in a low voice: “Are you sure you want to rent a place?”

Ning Sui’s gaze suddenly stilled.

——She practically didn’t need to ask. She knew that, given Fanghui’s conservative ways, she would absolutely object. And once they were living together, so many things would become different.

But Ning Sui felt that a healthy intimate relationship should progress at a pace that felt comfortable for both people.

She wanted to do this—not out of any reckless impulse, but simply to follow her own heart.

She wanted to spend more time with him.

And so she nodded: “Yeah.”

Xie Yichen’s eyes were deep and unhurried. He gave a slight dip of his chin: “Alright, I’ll look around.”

“Okay.” Something occurred to Ning Sui, and she said without thinking: “But I think I tend to steal blankets in my sleep……”

Xie Yichen’s brow suddenly shot up.

Ning Sui met his gaze, her heart giving an involuntary jump. Belatedly, she realized they hadn’t actually discussed whether to rent a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom.

The way she’d phrased that—it was as though she was taking it for granted that the two of them would be sharing one bed.

The tips of Ning Sui’s ears went warm. She swallowed and licked her lips: “……What I mean is, if you’re someone who gets cold easily, then of course we’d have separate rooms.”

Xie Yichen stared at her straight on, the look in his eyes somewhat heated.

He first gave a soft sound of agreement, then lowered his gaze with meaningful implication: “So——do you want me to be someone who gets cold easily?”

“……”

No.

How is that… something that can even be asked that way.

There’s even a hint of… leading her somewhere on purpose.

Ning Sui’s heartstrings felt as though they’d been lightly swept by a feather—a little ticklish. Her mind wandered as she looked away, affecting a composed tone: “Summer break is coming up, it’s not really…… all that cold anyway.”

Xie Yichen gave a sudden laugh.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he raised a brow with clear relish: “Got it.”

“……”

Qu Handong, who had just finished huffing and puffing up the steps, happened to catch this last line. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but the entire atmosphere stuffed a mouthful of second-hand affection down his throat.

He and Zhang Yuge had privately discussed this phenomenon.

Inexplicably, watching those two always made one want to fall in love. Yet the “Nash equilibrium” theory of game theory didn’t seem to have taken effect—having spent so much time around Yichen, none of those girls had come to look for him as a consolation prize.

Qu Handong felt his family’s circumstances weren’t quite as wealthy as Yichen’s, but he himself often helped people write code to earn a bit of extra money, and at school he at least had no worries about food and clothes. It was just puzzling why he still hadn’t met a girl he clicked with.

Even Liu Chang had recently gotten into a relationship, snapping up the last single girl in the Yao Class.

It was absolutely devastating.

Last time a group of joking friends even went to ask the girl what exactly he had lost out on. The girl said she liked Liu Chang’s earlobes—they looked auspicious and prosperous.

Qu Handong: “……”

Sigh. Dongdong’s heart was truly in anguish.

In the second half, Qu Handong subbed himself out and simply went to sit a couple of seats away from Ning Sui.

Xie Yichen was still the key player on the court. Both of them had their eyes fixed on that impossibly agile white figure. Qu Handong sneaked a sideways look and couldn’t stop himself from speaking up: “Sui boss.”

Ning Sui had just taken a couple of photos and put her phone away: “Hmm?”

Qu Handong, with his most earnest expression: “Could you look around and see if you have any single friends you could introduce to me?”

Ning Sui thought about it: “Do you have any requirements?”

“Not high—female is enough.” Qu Handong lowered himself humbly. “Also, no strong feelings against someone whose earlobes aren’t particularly auspicious.”

He paused. “Of course, the second one isn’t a dealbreaker either. If she really likes them, I’ll pinch them every day and try to squeeze out two big fat ones.”

“……”

Ning Sui suppressed a laugh and pondered: “Actually, there is someone.”

The first person who sprang to mind was, naturally, the poor soul Yu Qin, who had fought and lost in romance time and again.

Every time she set out with high hopes and came back empty-handed.

Qu Handong was overjoyed: “Really, really?”

“Yeah.” Ning Sui said, “She’s my dormmate. I’ll find an opportunity to introduce you two sometime.”

—

Summer is the season when all living things grow restless—some rejoicing, some in sorrow: those deep in love, those in pursuit of love, and those who think about romance every day yet come away with nothing.

Hu Ke’er had recently been exchanging coy glances with a reasonably good-looking guy from her student club, but after they exchanged anonymous social media accounts, she accidentally discovered records of him posting online solicitations for hookups.

Though he swore up and down it had only happened once, Hu Ke’er still felt a severe outbreak of her fastidious nature, and cut off contact immediately.

Hu Ke’er felt that ever since she’d entered university, her luck in romance had completely dried up—she’d been searching and searching, but kept hitting walls.

Who could believe it—the only time she’d kissed anyone since college had been a drunken, accidental collision on New Year’s Eve.

Hu Ke’er was actually a little afraid of loneliness, so she did everything with friends. But now that her close friend had a boyfriend and had less time, plus the fact that second semester of sophomore year was inherently busy, sometimes she wanted to go out and couldn’t find anyone to go with.

So whenever she received an invitation, she basically always said yes.

But when she found herself standing face to face with Xu Zhou at the entrance to Beijing University, Hu Ke’er still felt she’d been a little rash.

It must have been the result of going too long without anyone.

This guy came back from overseas and, rather than finding family or friends first, came straight to her—what was that about?

The two stood glaring at each other, neither one bringing up the historical baggage between them. In the end it was Xu Zhou who spoke first, looking perfectly innocent: “I’m coming to Beijing University for an exchange next semester, so I came to Beijing to have a look around, see you all, and get familiar with the environment in advance.”

He paused, and then nonchalantly took out his phone to check a review app: “Let me find a restaurant—we can eat and chat?”

No one said I wanted to eat and chat with you.

Hu Ke’er’s feelings were complicated. Her first instinct was mild reluctance, but thinking that she genuinely had nothing on today, and that he was dressed decently enough to look at, she fogheadedly agreed.

Xu Zhou’s rich-young-master nature hadn’t changed; he didn’t find anything troublesome. He found an upscale Chinese restaurant over in the Central Business District area. He’d even driven over in a not-inexpensive car, which he said he’d borrowed from a friend here. The car door swung up dramatically. When Hu Ke’er got in, she nearly didn’t know how to close it.

Xu Zhou had reserved a spot—an open-style booth, screened by hanging bead curtains, quiet and atmospheric.

The two sat down to order. Hu Ke’er was a bit spacey; Xu Zhou leafed through the menu casually. This time, unlike before, he unusually consulted her opinion, asking what she wanted to eat. Hu Ke’er’s sharp instincts caught this.

The two put their heads together and quickly sorted the order.

After ordering, the air went a bit quiet—seeing an ex again really was awkward. Hu Ke’er touched her nose and searched for something to say: “Your school has its vacation this early? What about Shen Qing? Is he around?”

Xu Zhou: “Yeah, he hasn’t finished his final exams yet, but he’s probably close.”

Hu Ke’er dragged out an “oh,” and joked: “So you’ve got a pretty long holiday then—won’t you feel at a loss about what to do with yourself?”

Xu Zhou: “I’ll be fine—overseas universities are all like that.”

“We only get two months, and already everyone feels like there’s nothing to do.”

On that note, Hu Ke’er’s train of thought jumped, and she blurted out before she could stop herself: “My aunt’s kid has the college entrance exam coming up soon, and she’s worried about what excuse to use to keep him home during break. Apparently he’s showing signs of puppy love—he and a girl in his class are really clingy with each other. Since there’s nothing going on during vacation, she’s afraid that if she takes her eyes off them for a moment they’ll get into some kind of trouble.”

The food arrived just then. Xu Zhou put a piece on her plate and offered his sincere suggestion: “In that case, she could book him in for a circumcision. Recovery is at least two months.”

Hu Ke’er: “?”

The two made absolutely stilted conversation.

Hu Ke’er’s thoughts kept swirling in complicated circles, drifting without landing anywhere solid. Xu Zhou had changed quite a bit since coming back, actually—he seemed like a better person, more attentive and considerate in a lot of ways. She was just about to say something when she heard him ask offhandedly: “Oh right, I haven’t asked you yet.”

“Hmm?”

“What’s your relationship situation like these days?”

Hu Ke’er paused. His expression was quite natural, but his eyes never left her face.

She didn’t know if it was from reading too many romance novels, but she felt there was something hard to read in those eyes—something deep and complex. She involuntarily swallowed: “Well, I don’t have……”

Before she could finish, a female voice cut straight across: “Oh, you’re here! I’ve been looking forever.”

Hu Ke’er looked up. Zhao Yingyao was standing beside him, smiling her springtime smile, and then gave Xu Zhou a reproachful tap on the shoulder: “It’s all your fault—you could have sent a more detailed location.”

Hu Ke’er: “……………..”

Alright. Men and their perpetually soulful gazes.

The booth wasn’t wide to begin with, and Zhao Yingyao made herself right at home settling down next to Xu Zhou—conspicuously close. Hu Ke’er, expressionless: “You didn’t mention another person was coming.”

Xu Zhou made a noise: “Sorry, sorry—Yingyao had something else going on tonight originally, but it got canceled. Since it was dinnertime and I didn’t want her to scramble for somewhere to eat, I told her to come.”

He paused: “I figured you all know each other, so you wouldn’t mind, right?”

Hu Ke’er really wanted to roll her eyes and say something like what, does she not have money, can’t find a place to eat on her own? and also what if I do mind?

But her mouth very dishonestly produced a polite smile: “……Heh, of course not.”

Xu Zhou let out a breath of relief, turning to Zhao Yingyao: “See, I told you she’d be fine with it.”

Zhao Yingyao gave him a winning smile: “Okay, okay, I was overthinking it.”

Hu Ke’er: “……”

A server brought over another set of chopsticks and a menu, asking the young lady if she’d like to add anything.

Zhao Yingyao slowly surveyed the menu, pointed at an abalone-sauce braised sea cucumber, and asked Xu Zhou: “Honey, is this okay?”

Xu Zhou had absolutely no objections: “Order whatever you want.”

Zhao Yingyao gave a little turn of her lips: “Oh.”

She really did know how to make other people feel terrible.

Attentive to a fault—one moment helping Xu Zhou to food, the next pouring tea, and when chatting she’d give him affectionate little pats on the shoulder and laugh until she had to lean back.

Xu Zhou clearly enjoyed all of this very much. The two exchanged glances without much regard for Hu Ke’er. After a while, Xu Zhou seemed to remember the earlier conversation and looked over at Hu Ke’er: “So—do you have a boyfriend or not?”

The truth was, Hu Ke’er was fairly certain Xu Zhou hadn’t done anything to betray her when they were together. It was just that right now she had this overwhelming sense of having been played—being forced to sit here and share a meal with his current girlfriend.

Zhao Yingyao was watching her too. Hu Ke’er curved her lips into a smile: “Of course I do. How could I possibly not have a boyfriend?”

Zhao Yingyao immediately hooked her arm through Xu Zhou’s, staking her claim: “Oh—is your boyfriend also a classmate?”

“……”

Two pairs of eyes swept toward her at once. Hu Ke’er held back another massive mental eye-roll: “No, actually—my boyfriend is a CEO.”

Zhao Yingyao: “Huh?”

Hu Ke’er, with great flair, gave her a glance and began to improvise: “Mm-hmm, he treats me exceptionally well. Every night he video calls me, asks after my every need. Every month he sends me gifts—if I don’t accept them he actually gets upset with me.”

“And he listens to everything I say—if I say something once he would never do the opposite. He buys me whatever I want—he’d pluck the stars from the sky for me.”

Her account became increasingly lavish. Zhao Yingyao was listening with a slightly stunned expression, her smile fading as she forced out: “Heh—is that even real?”

Xu Zhou was staring at her too, his expression a little complicated.

“Of course.” Hu Ke’er swiped through her phone, and just then a news notification popped up. She smiled, raised an eyebrow, and turned the screen around: “Right here—you’ve heard of Flashmap, haven’t you? That’s his company.”

She paused and added: “Oh, those things I just listed—those are just perks on the side. The most important thing is——he has an eight-pack, and every night he lets only me touch them and kiss them, and he wouldn’t let anyone else so much as look.”

“……”

Neither of the two had said anything yet, but Hu Ke’er clearly heard a sharp spitting sound—someone choking on liquid—from a booth slightly ahead of them to the side.

There were two people at that table. Facing her was a middle-aged man. The young man in the white shirt with his back to her had broad shoulders and a straight back; from the half of his wrist that was visible she could already sense a refined, cultured quality about him. She’d actually already glanced his way a few times without realizing it.

Now, the man turned around. Behind his glasses, his unusually deep and inscrutable gaze met hers directly.

The matchmaker across from him was still repeatedly clearing his throat. Though he was an acquaintance and elder, he chose his words carefully for a moment before speaking: “Junnian, shall I… continue making introductions for you?”

Hu Ke’er: “……”