Chapter 26

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At every stage of life, there are things one ought to do.

Those were the words Xu Xieyi’s grandfather left her before he died.

It was the summer of her second year of junior high, on a sweltering night.

Her grandfather lay in the hospital. His old, wrinkled hand clasped her small one as he said, “Grandpa is going away. From now on, I won’t be able to look after you anymore, my good granddaughter. In all these decades, I’ve come to understand just one thing: in a person’s lifetime, you should do what belongs to each stage of life when you reach it. That’s the right way… You must remember this, Xieyi.”

And so she remembered it for many years.

The older she grew, the more deeply she understood its meaning.

In high school, do what belongs to high school. In college, do what belongs to college. Work after graduation, marry after beginning your career, have children after marriage… Take things one step at a time.

She had never been a naturally gifted or exceptionally clever child, but she had always kept in mind the final maxim her elder had left her.

Grow steadily and live a stable life.

Therefore, once the first monthly examination was over, Xu Xieyi immediately devoted herself to preparing for and studying for the second.

The academic pressure of senior year temporarily made her forget the troubles of puberty. Even the mischievous boys who used to discuss her behind her back had begun to rein in their minds and focus on their studies.

The classroom was quiet during evening self-study. Every student in Class Five had their head bent over, struggling through the teachers’ endless sea of exercises.

Xu Xieyi had just finished explaining a function problem to Zhang Xiaoli.

Zhang Xiaoli looked up from her paper. “Xuxu, how did your grades improve so quickly? You flew straight from the middle of the class to the top!”

Yang Bingbing tossed aside her pen and leaned over, whispering, “You secretly signed up for tutoring, didn’t you?”

Xu Xieyi lowered her eyes and saw a row of strong, neat handwriting in her notebook. The style was unmistakably masculine.

She pressed her lips together and smiled. “No.”

Zhang Xiaoli said, “Then how did you suddenly become enlightened?”

“Exactly,” Yang Bingbing agreed. “It’s like your governing channels suddenly opened.”

The two of them loved gossip, and Xu Xieyi did not want to tell them.

Perhaps because she had a mild temperament, some of the girls in class who were ostracized or considered eccentric liked to stay close to her.

Yang Bingbing, for example.

Her classmates called her socially clueless and a gossipmonger. She was a little of both, certainly, but she was not a bad person.

The opportunity for Xu Xieyi and Yang Bingbing to become close friends came during a physical education class. The girls ran first while the boys waited to one side.

As Xu Xieyi ran, several boys kept hovering nearby, laughing and jeering. One of them even whistled at her.

Some girls in the class were indignant on her behalf, but no one said a word—except Yang Bingbing.

With her hands on her hips, she pointed at the mischievous boys and cursed loudly, “Keep whistling, why don’t you? Whistle at your own mothers! You filthy scum!”

After that, Xu Xieyi no longer cared how other people described Yang Bingbing.

When it came to friends, one should judge them with one’s own eyes, not listen to what others said.

Because the teacher made surprise inspections during evening self-study, the three girls did not dare talk for long.

After Zhang Xiaoli turned back around, Yang Bingbing leaned over again and whispered excitedly, “Hey, Xuxu. Don’t pretend with me—I’ve figured it out!”

“What?”

Yang Bingbing lifted her hand, nodded toward the notebook, and pointed at the row of handwriting. “If you don’t have a tutor, then who wrote this? It’s obviously a boy’s handwriting.”

Seeing Xu Xieyi’s mysterious expression, Yang Bingbing grinned wickedly and leaned closer. “Which class is this handsome top student from? His handwriting is so beautiful… Is he someone pursuing you?”

Yang Bingbing’s wild guess made Xu Xieyi break out in a cold sweat. She remembered Lin Sheng’s serious profile beneath the desk lamp as he wrote those lines… The misunderstanding made her heart race.

She turned her palm over and covered Lin Sheng’s handwriting. After thinking for a second, she put on a stern face and said, “My father.”

Yang Bingbing froze. “What?”

Xu Xieyi looked at her and calmly repeated, “My father wrote it.”

In November, the row of plane trees beside the parking lot began to wither.

Fallen leaves covered the ground.

Lin Sheng leaned against the car door, smoking, when he suddenly sneezed.

He lowered his eyes to his watch. It was a little after nine—the time when the day students finished evening self-study.

Sure enough, just as his gaze left the watch face, the bell rang.

Within minutes, students began arriving at the parking lot one after another, and the place filled with the bustle of people and cars.

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“Brother Lin!”

Lin Sheng turned his head. Amid the crowd, a girl in a school uniform broke into a smile when she saw him and ran toward him. Students repeatedly blocked her path, but she kept sending him an expression that was both anxious and delighted.

Lin Sheng lazily exhaled a stream of smoke and remembered something he had once read online: People who have never kept a pet will never understand the joy of having one run toward you.

Huh.

Now he understood it.

Panting, Xu Xieyi came to a stop one step in front of him, her bright eyes raised to his face.

Lin Sheng had already put out his cigarette before she reached him.

A few students passed by them in twos and threes, laughing and playing.

“Classes are over?”

“Mhm, they just ended, Brother Lin.”

A faint smile touched Lin Sheng’s lips. “You didn’t need to run so fast next time. You might get knocked into and hurt.”

“Okay!”

“Get in the car.”

“Mm.”

Xu Xieyi climbed into the vehicle, her movements far more practiced than they had been when the two of them first met.

She removed her schoolbag and set it on her lap. When she looked over, Lin Sheng had just sat down, pulled the door shut, and turned toward her.

Their eyes met.

Xu Xieyi immediately pressed her lips together in a smile.

Lin Sheng’s expression remained calm. Looking ahead, he asked casually, “How was your studying today?”

“Not bad. I’m much more efficient than I used to be. Thank you, Brother Lin. Those memorization methods you taught me are really useful.”

“As long as they work.”

Lately, Lin Sheng had been gentle with her. Whenever he had time, he drove her to and from school. It seemed he truly had not been angry that she had refused the bracelet.

Xu Xieyi had relaxed as well.

She glanced to the side. Lin Sheng was wiping the steering wheel with a clean white towel. The back of his hand was very fair, the contours of his tendons and bones sharply defined.

“Were you busy today, Brother Lin?”

Lin Sheng gave her a faint smile but had no intention of explaining. Even if he did, she probably would not understand, so he simply said, “It was all right. Not particularly busy.”

“Did you just get off work?”

“Mm.” His voice was low.

Xu Xieyi smiled brightly, her eyes curving. “I knew it.”

Then a cup of bubble tea suddenly appeared in Lin Sheng’s line of sight.

He paused in surprise and saw the drink cradled in several slender, pale fingers.

“I bought it in the evening and kept it warm under a thick scarf. It’s still hot.” Xu Xieyi held the milk tea in both hands, her tranquil smile softened by the gentle light coming through the car window. “You’ve been working late until now. You must be hungry.”

Lin Sheng’s gaze deepened as he studied Xu Xieyi.

The girl remained completely unaware.

Huh.

She had brought him a cup of…

Bubble tea?

He truly had not had any in many years.

—

That night, halfway through tutoring Xu Xieyi, her parents called by video to ask about their daughter’s life.

Xu Xieyi spoke with them for several minutes.

Her parents said that their business in Tibet was finally showing some promise. They told her to study hard, stop worrying about them all the time, take care of herself, and focus on her studies—that was what mattered.

She was still young, after all, and had never been separated from them for so long. As she spoke, tears began to gather in Xu Xieyi’s eyes.

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“All right, give the phone to your brother Lin. Mom wants to speak with him,” Chen Huiping said.

“Oh…”

Xu Xieyi glanced toward the window. Lin Sheng stood there with his back to her, getting some air. He was still wearing the shirt and trousers from work, one hand resting casually in his pocket. His formal clothes outlined his straight, upright back, giving him a composed dignity that made her feel the distance between them even more keenly.

She walked over, doing her best to suppress the heavy nasality in her voice. “Brother Lin, do you have a moment?”

Lin Sheng turned around. “What is it?”

“My parents would like to say a few words to you.”

Xu Xieyi handed him the phone.

Lin Sheng took it while Xu Xieyi stood beside him.

“Mr. Lin, Xieyi told us that you’ve been tutoring her all this time. We’ve really caused you a great deal of trouble,” Chen Huiping said politely.

“Not at all. You’re too kind, Mrs. Xu. Please just call me Lin Sheng.”

Only then did Chen Huiping realize that her form of address had been too formal. The young man looked so dignified in his suit on the video call that she had instinctively addressed him with excessive respect.

“All right, all right. Lin Sheng, our Xieyi has always been a slow learner, and now you’re even driving her back and forth. We’re really imposing on you…”

“I pass by that way after work anyway. It’s no trouble.”

Lin Sheng was experienced in social situations, humble and courteous. Xu Xieyi’s parents chatted with him easily, their conversation revolving around every aspect of her studies and daily life, with repeated expressions of gratitude.

Xu Xieyi listened nervously from the side, especially when Lin Sheng described her: obedient, hardworking, gentle-tempered, intelligent…

Everything he said was positive.

Only then did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Lin Sheng noticed her reaction and smiled faintly, almost mockingly.

After Xu Xieyi’s parents offered a series of requests and reminders, Lin Sheng agreed to them all and returned the phone to her.

The family of three spoke for a while longer, their conversation warm yet tinged with sadness.

Lin Sheng watched from the side, patiently waiting until Xu Xieyi finished and ended the call.

Then he saw the girl sniffing repeatedly at the phone, tears trembling in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. She looked pitiful.

She was this sad merely because she had been separated from her parents.

Lin Sheng thought this, and the faintest smile touched his lips.

But he was really laughing at himself.

Then he walked over and bent down.

Xu Xieyi raised her damp lashes, meeting his eyes at such close range that she could see how dark and absorbing they were.

“Brother Lin…”

Lin Sheng brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb, his voice low and gentle.

“Good girl. Don’t cry. I’ll take you out this weekend.”

—

Xiao Yufeng and his wife had invested with some friends in a hot-spring resort located in a small hot-spring town in the county.

Their childhood friends, who had all grown up together in the same compound, had come to show their support—a group of ten or twenty people, many bringing their families along.

A convoy of more than ten cars arrived in the parking lot. Fashionably dressed young men and women climbed out one after another. They stood around chatting and waiting for a while.

Xiao Yufeng looked over the crowd and asked Chu Yuefei, “Brother Sheng still isn’t here?”

Before Chu Yuefei could answer, Chen Xia spoke up. “He just said on the phone that he’s reached the intersection by White Bamboo Grove. He’ll be here in another minute or two.”

Chu Yuefei thought for a moment, then draped an arm over Xiao Yufeng’s shoulder and asked curiously, “Brother Sheng reserved two tickets. Did he bring someone? Do you know who it is?”

At that, everyone else turned to look as well. Clearly, they were all surprised and knew nothing about it.

Just then, the sound of an engine approached. A black Jeep climbed onto the raised parking area and stopped near the bamboo grove.

“Oh, Brother Sheng is here!”

“Ah Sheng, you’re really late!”

“We’ve all been waiting for you.”

The entire group walked over.

Lin Sheng got out and shut the door. In a black casual jacket and baseball cap, with clear, healthy skin, he looked bright and immaculate.