Chapter 22 "I'm coming right away."...

A cold wind whistled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the store even quieter; even the slightest movement of a spoon would cause a tremendous commotion.

Tang Ci stiffly and carefully loosened her grip on the spoon, then quietly clenched her hands under the table, feigning ignorance with an embarrassed expression: "What... what kind?"

Sheng Yu picked up the coffee she had bought earlier, took a sip, and spoke so casually as if she were discussing the weather: "Criteria for choosing a partner."

He spoke so clearly, his voice was magnetic, and his pronunciation was perfect. The bar owner glanced at the booths.

With a warm pear in her mouth, Tang Ci glanced at the shopkeeper out of the corner of her eye and saw him turn away to attend to other things before vaguely saying, "You must be a good student."

Sheng Yu gave a lukewarm "hmm," skipping over the topic, and asked again, "Did you have a grudge against those two before?"

Tang Ci swallowed the chewed pear and briefly recounted what had happened in junior high school.

Sheng Yu frowned upon hearing this, crossed his arms, and said domineeringly, "Where did your energy go when you blocked my car? You just have to put up with being bullied?"

Tang Ci lowered her eyes in silence, and after a long while said, "They were just spreading rumors. I was busy studying at the time and didn't have time to pay attention to them."

Sheng Yu's brow was still furrowed, and the curve of his lips was flat. He took out a small silver cube from his trench coat pocket and threw it at her from a distance.

Tang Ci subconsciously stretched out her hands, and the heavy silver metal landed in her palms, still warm from Sheng Yu's fingertips.

It was the lighter he often played with.

Tang Ci looked up at him blankly, "Thank you... I don't smoke."

Sheng Yuping's straight lips curved into a smile, and he tapped her forehead with his knuckles. "If you get bullied again next time, use this to fight back."

Tang Ci solemnly took the lighter, nodded, and said, "I understand."

Although she knew she would never use it to hit someone.

After drinking a cup of hot pear and brown sugar water, the pain in her lower abdomen lessened, and Tang Ci's hands and feet warmed up. Even when she stepped out of the store and was hit by the north wind, she didn't feel too cold.

Tang Ci rubbed the lighter repeatedly in her hand, then moved closer to Sheng Yu with a serious expression. "Are you really going to give me this lighter? It looks expensive."

Sheng Yu lowered her eyes, "Take it if I give it to you."

Tang Ci said "Oh," put the lighter into the pocket of her backpack, and stepped out of the zebra crossing: "I will cherish it."

Sheng Yu grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back onto the zebra crossing: "Watch where you're going first."

When Tang Ci arrived at the bus stop, the bus she needed to take arrived just in time. It wasn't rush hour, and there were plenty of empty seats on the bus, which would normally be considered lucky, but she wasn't so happy at this moment.

The massive bus opened its doors automatically with a "whoosh," and a mechanical female voice announced the arrival information.

Tang Ci turned her head and said, "Then I'm leaving."

Sheng Yu raised his chin.

Tang Ci slowly entered the carriage and chose a seat by the window.

The previous passenger opened the window a crack, and she followed that crack to open it as wide as possible. Ignoring the strange looks from the few passengers in the car, she leaned out the window and said to the figure who had not yet left, "Thank you, Sheng Yu, thank you."

Sheng Yu stood outside the car, his gaze level with hers. "I can hear you, you don't need to repeat yourself."

Tang Ci gripped the window frame with her fingertips, pursing her lips as she looked at him.

The second time was to thank my younger self.

Sheng Yu sighed and knocked on the glass to warn her, "We're about to leave, so sit tight."

Tang Ci closed the window again.

Separated by the scratched thick glass, Sheng Yu's figure was kept out, shrouded in mist, carrying a dry temperature under the late autumn sun.

Tang Ci blinked her sore eyes, but before she could nod, the bus roared off.

/

Several rounds of cold rain fell, and the temperature dropped to zero.

Strong winds howled past the classroom windows all day long, and the bare tree branches outside swayed incessantly in the wind.

The students all changed into jackets, and once get out of class was over, no one went outside the classroom unless absolutely necessary.

During the afternoon break, the sky darkened again, with thick, leaden clouds gathering in the gray expanse.

With the back door open for students to come and go easily, Tang Ci quietly buttoned her coat all the way up.

Zhou Yiyang turned to Sheng Yu and asked, "Want to smoke?"

Sheng Yu put down his pen and stood up.

Zhou Yiyang reached into his pocket and raised an eyebrow: "Brother Yu, did you bring any fire?"

Sheng Yu raised her eyes: "Let's go downstairs to buy it."

Zhou Yiyang nodded and was about to leave when he saw Tang Ci take out a silver lighter from a hidden compartment in her schoolbag and hesitantly hand it to them.

Sheng Yu refused, saying, "Didn't I say I was giving it to you? Keep it."

Tang Ci said "okay," and obediently put the lighter back in her schoolbag and zipped it up.

Zhou Yiyang rubbed his eyes, confirming that what he saw was the silver lighter that Sheng Yu always carried with him. His tone was incredulous: "You gave the lighter to Tang Ci?! This isn't yours—"

"They're gone."

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking by Sheng Yu patting him on the shoulder.

Zhou Yiyang swallowed the rest of his sentence and followed Sheng Yu out of the classroom under Tang Ci's bewildered gaze.

As soon as they came down the stairs, Zhou Yiyang couldn't hold back any longer: "Give your mother's belongings to Tang Ci, don't tell me you just gave them away for fun."

Sheng Yu glanced at him sideways, her tone casual: "Is that not allowed?"

"Alright, alright." Zhou Yiyang waved his hand. He knew how much Sheng Yu treasured that lighter, and reminded him seriously, "You should at least tell Tang Ci. What if she thinks it's just an ordinary gadget and loses it again someday?"

"She won't." Sheng Yu said confidently as she came downstairs with her hands in her pockets.

Zhou Yiyang paused, realizing he had been meddling, and a frivolous smile appeared on his face: "Brother Yu, you're really in love now. Does Xiao Tangci know what you mean?"

Sheng Yu scoffed, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Yiyang shrugged and laughed, "How would I know? I've been in five relationships and I've never given anyone anything this important."

As soon as he stepped out of the teaching building, Sheng Yu took out a cigarette and, with clear enunciation, answered a question that seemed completely unrelated: "Remove the 'small' character."

Zhou Yiyang: "..."

When Jin Ming arrived, he kept his head down replying to messages, his tone strange: "Brother Yu, why is your family suddenly having a banquet tonight? My dad insists that I go with him tonight."

With a cigarette still between his lips, Sheng Yu stubbed out the buzzing phone and tossed the lighter toward Zhou Yiyang.

Zhou Yiyang reached out and took it. He obviously knew about the news, but he only glanced at Sheng Yu and didn't say anything.

Sheng Yugang's phone rang again after he had just hung up. He exhaled a puff of wispy smoke and asked Jin Ming in a low voice, "Don't you want to go?"

Jin Ming couldn't find the answer in his aloof expression, so she scratched her head and said, "I'll listen to you two. If you're not going, I won't go either."

Zhou Yiyang patted him on the shoulder, "We're both in our final year of high school, and we can't spare time for studying. Uncle Jin will understand."

Sheng Yu remained noncommittal, his eyelids lowered, his fingertips casually swiping the phone screen.

A well-known domestic financial public account just pushed out a message.

The Nanling Shengshi Group and the Cheng family of Beijing have entered into a marriage agreement, with the wedding scheduled for August 12th next year.

Sheng Yu's prominent Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and he slowly narrowed his eyes. The dim light from the phone screen made his face appear as cold as frost.

Zhou Yiyang took out his phone and searched for the tweet. After reading it for a few seconds, his brows furrowed deeply.

Jin Ming sensed the sudden chill in the atmosphere, glanced at Zhou Yiyang's phone, and her eyes widened in surprise, "Uncle Sheng is getting remarried?!"

Zhou Yiyang's expression was complicated, and he muttered in a deep voice, "Why did you choose this time?"

Jin Ming, unaware of the secret, blankly asked, "Is there a problem with this timing?"

Zhou Yiyang gave him a complicated look and shook his head.

Jin Ming swallowed hard and remained silent.

The laboratory building was dim and quiet in the afternoon, with three-story-high shrubs standing tall in the shadows, like gatekeepers of the underworld.

Sheng Yu stared at the empty space for two seconds, then suddenly sneered coldly, "Let's go."

"Where to?" Zhou Yiyang frowned.

Sheng Yu didn't even turn his head: "It's a great joy for President Sheng, and as his son, I should go and offer my congratulations."

/

Sheng Yu did not return to the classroom until school ended in the afternoon, and Zhou Yiyang was also absent.

Tang Ci folded up the test paper he had only half-finished and put the cap back on his ballpoint pen.

Then she took out her phone, hesitating whether to send him a message, but couldn't come up with a solution even by the time class started.

The last class was taught by Teacher Xu. Before class, she had inquired about Sheng Yu's absence, but no one knew, so she had to give up.

After school, as Mr. Xu finished tidying up his lecture notes, he caught a glimpse of Tang Ci staring blankly at Sheng Yu's seat, her cheek resting on her hand.

Thinking of some recent rumors at school, her heart skipped a beat. She walked to Tang Ci's desk, tapped the edge of the desk, and said gently, "Tang Ci, come to my office."

Tang Ci put down her textbook, got up from her seat as instructed, and followed Lao Xu out of the classroom.

Before even reaching the office, Old Xu asked, "Tang Ci, how have things been going with Sheng Yu lately?"

Thinking that Lao Xu was asking about her grades, Tang Ci nodded, "They're doing well. We've been studying together lately."

After hearing this, Old Xu considered it for a moment and finally said frankly, "I'm not worried about his studies, but let's talk about other aspects. What do you think of him as a person?"

"..."

Tang Ci pursed her thin lips, her fingertips fidgeting nervously between her trouser seams, and after a pause, she finally spoke: "I think he is... a very good person."

Kind, soft-hearted, and responsible.

She swallowed those words; she didn't say them aloud.

Unconsciously, they walked into the empty stairwell, and Tang Ci's voice was so soft that it did not elicit any echo.

Old Xu sighed and gently patted Tang Ci's shoulder. "Besides being a good person, he's also a complicated one."

Tang Ci's dark eyelashes trembled.

“This all stems from his complicated family background,” Old Xu said earnestly, crossing his arms. “You are a smart kid. In this important stage of senior year, you know best what you should and shouldn’t do.”

Old Xu spoke gently, but his eyes were clear and sharp: "I hope you can cherish your talent and hard work in your studies, wholeheartedly prepare for the college entrance examination, and think more about your future. You have to understand that many people in this world do not live in the same world."

The evergreen trees outside the corridor stood tall in the inky darkness of the night. Suddenly, a lone bird emerged from among the branches and leaves, perched on a swaying branch, its head turning wearily, unable to find its companions. In the end, it flapped its wings and flew aimlessly into the night sky.

Tang Ci's eardrums throbbed with each thud as the birds flew away. She gently closed her nostrils and said in a hoarse voice, "I understand, thank you, Teacher Xu."

Five minutes before evening self-study class, Tang Ci felt a dry throat when she returned to the classroom, so she went downstairs to get hot water.

Standing under the orange-yellow chandelier in the water room, she realized she had forgotten her water bottle and had no choice but to mechanically retrace her steps.

As soon as Tang Ci stepped onto the stairs of the teaching building, her cell phone vibrated in her coat pocket.

She snapped out of her daze and took out her phone to check. It was a voice call from Zhou Yiyang, whom she had added on WeChat but had never spoken to before.

Her heart tightened suddenly, and even before the call was connected, Tang Ci was certain that the call was related to Sheng Yu.

Tang Ci stopped going upstairs and pressed the answer button.

"Hello."

"Tang Ci! Are you at school right now?" Zhou Yiyang's voice was urgent, accompanied by heavy breathing, and came through the receiver with anxiety. "Sheng Yu and his father got into a fight, and things are getting serious. Would it be convenient for you to come to the Sheng residence—"

"Clang—"

Zhou Yiyang's words were cut off by a sharp impact, followed by a chorus of screams.

Tang Ci saw Old Xu's warning gaze before her eyes, and the school bell suddenly rang, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

Her fingertips, gripping the phone, turned white, and her body, before her mind could process it, turned and ran towards the school gate.

Tang Ci heard herself say, "I'm coming over now."