Summer blazed on, and before long, finals week arrived.

Ning Sui was flying at full speed—library, dormitory, lecture halls, her whole life reduced to three fixed points.

Hu Ke’er was no different. English as a major was no easy thing. Staring at long stretches of academic literature had nearly crossed her eyes; she was in perpetual agony, had reached the point where opening a file folder triggered a physiological stress response.

And yet someone was determined to add to her misery.

“I’m genuinely speechless. Is Xu Zhou out of his mind?! He and Zhao Yingyao are celebrating their anniversary, and he asked if I want to come?? Am I an idiot for saying yes??”

“Do you think this was Zhao Yingyao’s idea? I feel like she just thinks Xu Zhou has money, and now that she’s locked him down she’s feeling pretty pleased with herself—she wanted to flaunt it in front of me, the ex-girlfriend. Is she okay in the head?”

When they went to the cafeteria for lunch, Hu Ke’er’s furious voice was still ringing through the phone with vigorous clarity.

Coming right in the middle of exam season, when everyone’s brain was already half-fried from revision, her ex-boyfriend had to pull this particular stunt—which utterly ignited the hot-tempered side of this small but fierce person.

As for Xu Zhou and Zhao Yingyao getting together, Ning Sui was surprised, but not completely caught off guard. Back in Yunnan, she had picked up on a few signs, though at the time it hadn’t felt right to say anything.

Hu Ke’er couldn’t contain things to herself, and gave a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the whole experience—from Xu Zhou showing up in Beijing to meet her, through to sitting down in the restaurant and watching Zhao Yingyao glide in. She described it all so vividly that Ning Sui felt like she’d been right there.

Ning Sui: “So what are you thinking?”

Hu Ke’er said: “He and Zhao Yingyao have probably already slept together. He’s an ex, so I know it’s a bit weird to even care, but when I think about it, it’s still kind of gross.”

“So how did you actually end things?” Ning Sui, sharp as ever, caught that she was being somewhat vague about the conclusion.

Hu Ke’er’s voice hitched: “Oh… it’s like I said, those two were just annoying, the whole situation was irritating, so eventually I just stopped engaging, haha.”

In reality, Hu Ke’er had agonized over it for a long time and still couldn’t bring herself to mention the Du Junnian situation.

She didn’t know why, but things always managed to get so embarrassing on her end. Right there in the moment, watching Du Junnian stand up—she didn’t even know if he was coming over—she simply couldn’t stay seated. She made some excuse and ran.

Afterward, her conscience gnawed at her; she was genuinely afraid he’d think she was an unhinged person. So she’d sent him a WeChat message in a tone of utmost humility.

He hadn’t blocked her—whether that counted as any consolation, she wasn’t sure.

Paopao Ke: [Junnian-ge, I’m so sorry. I was talking nonsense in the restaurant and gave you the wrong impression.]

She paused, then added context in the most deferential manner possible: [My ex-boyfriend and his current girlfriend were sitting across from me, and I just wanted to say something to needle him…]

Hu Ke’er had no idea what Du Junnian had been doing at the time, but from what the middle-aged man across from him had been saying, it sounded like a blind date set up by his family, with the man serving as the go-between.

Would a man like him really need to be set up on blind dates? And she had no idea whether she’d gone and ruined something for him.

Thinking about it made Hu Ke’er feel extremely guilty.

Du Junnian’s profile picture was a photo of him from behind, on a mountain climb. The sky was a blue-violet, only a sliver of sunrise visible in the distance—looking as though it were just about to rise. Hu Ke’er thought the color palette was profoundly striking.

She checked her phone at least a dozen times during one evening lecture, glancing over to WeChat again and again to see if he’d replied. Every time she thought a message had come in, it was from someone else. Her mood stayed slightly suspended the whole time. She finally waited until almost the end of class, when a notification appeared from him.

Hu Ke’er’s whole body gave a jolt. She immediately sat up straight.

Du: [You’re A’Chen’s classmate, right?]

His tone was mild, with no reproach at all—but Hu Ke’er felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her heart.

What the——!

He had barely even remembered who she was.

All that time she’d spent spinning dramatic scenarios in her own head. Save her!

Hu Ke’er, mortified and flailing, eventually found an excuse for herself: it had been over a year since New Year’s Eve, and in that time he must have met countless different kinds of people. Forgetting was perfectly reasonable.

She typed back, feelings complex: [Yes]

She thought about it, then—half to salvage some dignity, half out of stubbornness—added one more line: [I’m very sorry for the trouble. If anything needs clarifying on my end, I can come forward and explain.]

But the other party didn’t take her bait at all: [No, don’t think anything of it [happy face emoji]]

Hu Ke’er: “……”

What is that ancient-person emoji!! Ahhhh!

—

Ning Sui discovered that the apartment they’d rented was actually quite wonderful.

The floor area wasn’t huge, but it was cozy, and the landlord had left behind many things—a few tiny succulent plants on the balcony, and a colorful dreamcatcher with wind chimes hanging beside them.

Before finals, Ning Sui had dutifully stayed in the dorm, not giving Liang Xinyue or Yu Qin any reason to notice anything unusual. But the moment exams were over, she let herself go completely—her entire center of gravity shifted to the apartment.

Liang Xinyue, of course, didn’t believe she’d gone home so quickly. There was much meaningful eyebrow-raising—but she also had her own business to attend to; once her boyfriend came to find her, she likewise vanished without a trace.

Bi Jiaxi had gone home early for summer. With the whole dormitory essentially down to just Yu Qin left with nothing to do, Ning Sui remembered her earlier promise to Qu Handong and arranged for the two to come out together—just as an introduction, getting to know each other.

To make it feel more natural, Xie Yichen came too. Ning Sui chose a newly opened amusement park in Beijing as the venue, hoping the rides would give the two of them a chance to warm up to each other.

But Ning Sui hadn’t anticipated that Qu Handong would be such a disaster.

He apparently had essentially no experience with romance. In normal conversation he seemed quite ordinary, but with a girl present, he became strange and awkward.

Nearly everything they talked about was forced, and he kept looking for openings to tell cold jokes.

Qu Handong: “Do you know how to express inner fury in an elegant way?”

Yu Qin, at a loss: “I don’t.”

And then she watched him perform the move of pushing his glasses up with his middle finger.

Yu Qin: “……”

Afterward, Ning Sui asked her: “What did you think?”

Yu Qin was somewhat at a loss for words: “Well, I feel like……” She picked her words carefully. “He’s a little… blunt?”

He really was a good person, but he was different from the other smooth-talking guys she’d encountered before—he felt a bit rough around the edges.

There was one thing, though, that Yu Qin genuinely liked.

There were a lot of little trinkets and souvenirs being sold in the park, and she loved that sort of thing. She bought a few items, and Qu Handong kept walking alongside her the whole time. The weather was oppressively hot, but he didn’t complain at all. After she paid, he casually picked up her shopping bag for her.

Later, seeing she was really suffering in the heat, Qu Handong said, “Wait here a minute.”

Yu Qin didn’t know what he was up to, but a short while later, he reappeared huffing and puffing—holding two ice cream bars. He thrust one toward her, no-frills: “Here.”

But one meeting was really not enough time to get a thorough sense of someone. Yu Qin felt she didn’t feel a particular spark, thought about it, and then smiled and said: “Besides, someone as accomplished as him probably wouldn’t look twice at me anyway.”

Matters of the heart can’t be forced. Ning Sui understood, and nodded.

Finals ended right around June. Ning Sui rested for a few days, then dove headfirst into the lab—connected through Xie Yichen with the faculty advisor he’d arranged.

She’d been a little uncertain going in, worried she wouldn’t do well. But the challenges she’d anticipated somehow didn’t materialize—everything went smoothly. Even the occasional small stumble would sort itself out after a momentary snag.

By the midpoint of the summer, the advisor had even praised her in front of the senior students.

This gave Ning Sui a tremendous boost of confidence. Every morning she woke up feeling more motivated than the day before.

During those two months, she and Xie Yichen were together constantly—going to the lab together in the mornings, studying, coming home to watch TV, even cooking together.

She’d heard from Zhang Yuge and Lin Shuyu that his cooking was very good, and she’d been dying to find out for herself. Now that they had a proper kitchen, she made good use of the situation and had no qualms about putting in a specific request: she wanted Xie Yichen to make her a pan-fried steak.

“Sure.”

That evening he bought not just the steak, but a whole array of other ingredients, and genuinely showed off. He made cola chicken wings, seared codfish with scallops, silken tofu with loofah, and stuffed pepper with shrimp paste among others.

Ning Sui thought her boyfriend looked good from every angle—even wearing an apron while cooking was attractive. Wide shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs—naturally built like a clothes hanger.

The food was also delicious, of course.

“This is Michelin-star level,” she declared.

Xie Yichen laughed: “Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

“It really isn’t!”

Ning Sui thought it over and volunteered: “I want to cook you a meal too.”

“What would you make?”

Ning Sui cast him an earnest look: “First time—I’ll be realistic about my abilities.”

Xie Yichen raised an eyebrow: “Which means?”

She took her time: “I’ll fry an egg.”

Xie Yichen looked at her with an amused, half-smiling expression.

Ning Sui genuinely did not know how to cook. Growing up, her hands had barely touched any kitchen work. When she and Ning Yue were small and Xia Fanghui couldn’t manage it all, she’d hired a part-time housekeeper to cook. Later, as the children grew up, Xia Fanghui took over herself.

To be fair, Fanghui was actually quite a good cook—she especially excelled at soups and broths. Ning Sui’s favorite was always the pot of piping hot snow fungus black-bone chicken soup waiting for her at home, packed with all manner of nourishing ingredients.

On the coffee table in the living room sat a slender little plant she’d been tending—a pitcher plant, kept for catching mosquitoes in summer. Ning Sui tied on an apron and stood at the stove. Her courage failed her, and she stood there gripping the spatula without daring to move.

She’d barely poured the oil in when the flame made the oil spit and crackle in the pan. Ning Sui went into a flap; a small rogue tuft of hair sprang up from the top of her head, and Xie Yichen watched her and began to laugh. He walked over, took the spatula and the raw egg from her hands.

Ning Sui watched him tap the egg neatly against the edge of the counter—one smooth, effortless motion—and tip it into the pan, and couldn’t help herself: “Wow.”

That look on her face, as though cracking an egg were something deeply impressive.

Xie Yichen couldn’t contain the amusement, and with a few quick motions set the egg into shape, then turned the heat down low. “Do you want to try?”

Ning Sui tentatively took the spatula back and stepped forward, carefully and slowly flipping it over.

It worked.

Xie Yichen had broken the egg so neatly that it came out perfectly round—like a little sun. A faint, delicious smell rose from the pan. Ning Sui marveled: “Hey, this really isn’t hard at all——”

She wrestled with whether to turn around, like she’d made a major discovery: “Do you think I’m actually pretty talented in this area too?”

Xie Yichen came up from behind and held her, his nose nuzzling softly against her neck. His quiet laugh was warm against her skin: “Were you raised on Mochi ice cream?”

The two sat on the sofa chatting after dinner.

Ning Sui discovered that when a couple lives together, it is genuinely very difficult to keep things restrained—conversations had a way of drifting somewhere else entirely without warning.

Intimacy became a regular occurrence.

The only difference was that they were never again in the straitened situation of those first two times. After that first night, Xie Yichen had bought a generous supply. Now whenever Ning Sui found herself kissed breathless and watched him reach toward the bedside drawer, she always knew what was coming.

They also grew ever more familiar with each other in this regard.

Ning Sui made a startling discovery: he really had been holding back at the beginning. Or perhaps his learning curve was simply exceptional. Either way, his true nature was now in full evidence—as though released at last—the boundless audacity and energy of youth seemingly all poured out in her direction.

She was frequently overwhelmed, wanting to glare at him but too limp to bother: “Xie Yichen!”

At moments like these he would press close in that infuriatingly satisfied way, acting the picture of innocence: “What’s wrong?”

Ning Sui couldn’t hold back the edge in her voice: “……My calf is cramping.”

Xie Yichen knew he’d gone too far. He pressed a lingering kiss to her face, and murmured soothingly: “Okay, I’ll rub it better.”

Ning Sui hadn’t recovered yet. She looked at those pitch-black, bright eyes of his, and heard his husky voice remark with exaggerated sympathy: “Such a good girl—even lasting one minute is very impressive.”

“……”

She was so annoyed she gave him a kick.

Afterward, Xie Yichen went to the supermarket to buy her favorite fruits as a peace offering—all sweet: strawberries, grapes, and a mango among them. The mango was a little oddly shaped—while all the others had one bump, this one had two round lobes. Generously described, it looked like a heart; turned the other way, it looked… a bit indecent.

Ning Sui lay in bed, holding the mango up and examining it with great curiosity: “This looks like a……”

A mutant?

A new variety?

Xie Yichen, from beside her, in a leisurely tone: “Hmm?”

She inadvertently glanced sideways at him. The word forming in her mouth somehow quietly changed course mid-thought: “……Lopsided mango.”

“……”