Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, dappling the ground. A boy and a girl danced gracefully under the tree. The girl's eyes were focused as she murmured something to herself, while the boy looked down at her with doting eyes, following her steps, sometimes twirling, sometimes embracing her.

But the moment he opened his mouth, he shattered the beautiful atmosphere.

"Su Qingyue, guess what's wrong with my foot."

Su Qingyue felt a little wronged. "You stepped on me so many times and I didn't say anything. What's wrong with me stepping on you once? Besides, I didn't do it on purpose."

Ye Jiu felt guilty. "Cough, I'm a girl and I'm light, so it doesn't hurt when I step on it. You're a boy, so just bear with it."

It was agreed at the beginning that Ye Jiu would teach, and Su Qingyue was prepared to play dumb. Who knew that Ye Jiu would forget the steps from the start, remember the previous step but forget the next step, and go back to watch the video more than ten times but still couldn't memorize it. As a result, she sat in the pavilion for 20 minutes without even starting to dance.

Su Qingyue had no choice but to abandon his plan to play dumb and offered to say that he had memorized the steps, and the two of them would try it together, otherwise get out of class would be over. Naturally, Ye Jiu's dream of dancing the men's steps was shattered.

After several rounds of actual practice, Ye Jiu stepped on Su Qingyue quite a few times, only thankfully it wasn't high heels, otherwise Su Qingyue would have suffered.

"Will you wear high heels to the ball?" Su Qingyue asked casually.

"Of course I will wear it; a formal dress must be paired with high heels."

"...Okay." Her foot was already throbbing slightly, and she was determined to practice a few more times before the ball to try not to step on it even once. Just thinking about it made her heart ache, in case her heel happened to step on his foot.

The bell rang, and Su Qingyue regretfully let go of Ye Jiu's hand. She felt that the time had been too short, yet she was also afraid that it would be too long. It was a bittersweet experience.

——

Days without heavy academic burdens always pass quickly. On the day of the welcome party, the campus seemed to have changed. Students on the road were dressed up, some in dresses and some in performance costumes.

After two days of school closure, we spent the entire day yesterday rehearsing. We'll rehearse again in the afternoon, going over the positioning, timing, and lighting adjustments again and again, just to avoid any mistakes tonight.

Ye Jiu was still wearing her school uniform. It was only morning, and she could change and style her clothes when she got back in the afternoon.

The classroom was nearly empty, with only a few people chatting idly in small groups. Ye Jiu was engrossed in her phone, hunched over her desk. Tian Tian wasn't coming to school this morning; she said she was at a beauty salon and would come over this afternoon after getting her hair and makeup done.

Su Qingyue was also alone, and he was still writing his exam paper.

Ye Jiu: ...

Dude, you're really calm. The whole school is making such a fuss and you're still writing your test.

Grade 11 students returned to school last week, and Grade 10 students also registered last week. This welcome party is mainly for Grade 11 and Grade 12 students. After the party, there will be a dance party. The main purpose of the dance party is for students from wealthy families to get to know each other and socialize. In fact, it has nothing to do with students from average families, but the school still requires all students to participate. Formal attire is not required, but school uniforms are also acceptable. There is an unlimited buffet at the dance party, so ordinary students don't say much.

Ye Jiu casually picked up a workbook, moved closer to Su Qingyue, and pretended to ask a question, without attracting the attention of the others in the classroom.

"I've arranged for makeup and styling at three o'clock. You can do it with me." Ye Jiu said as she opened the exercise book. She glanced down and saw that it was a classical Chinese reading exercise book. She quickly closed it. "Ahem, I didn't really mean to ask you a question."

"Do I need to do it too?" Su Qingyue handed her a math problem book and told her to pretend.

“Of course, although you…” Ye Jiu looked up at him, “Although you look great now, you’d look even better with some makeup and styling, and such an exquisite suit deserves a handsome hairstyle.”

Ye Jiu reached out and grabbed a handful of his hair. His bangs were a bit long, partially obscuring his eyebrows and eyes. If he lowered his head, he would have a somewhat brooding, handsome air about him. His hair was also very fine, smooth to the touch, and Ye Jiu couldn't resist touching it twice more.

"Your hair is so healthy, tell me what brand of shampoo you use?"

Ye Jiu leaned closer to examine Su Qingyue's hair, almost clinging to her, but she didn't feel that their actions were too intimate.

Su Qingyue shook her head, "It's the one you bought for me the other day, but I don't remember what brand it was."

"Damn it, I use this brand too, why is my hair not this good?" Ye Jiu complained indignantly, how could the same shampoo produce two different results?

Same shampoo... Su Qingyue subtly lowered his head and leaned in to smell her hair. The familiar coconut milk scent lingered around his nose, and this discovery brought him a sense of pleasure.

"Is the shower gel you bought for him the same brand as yours?"

"No, the one I'm using now isn't very good, I wouldn't recommend it." Ye Jiu was disappointed with the scent of this brand, but adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, she's still using it. She'll never repurchase it once she's finished.

"I see..." Su Qingyue said regretfully, wishing they were the same. Then he asked, "Which brand do you want to buy next time?"

"I haven't thought about it yet, what's wrong?" Ye Jiu looked at him, puzzled. Why did he suddenly ask this?

"Nothing, just curious. I don't know much about these things, and they all seem to feel pretty much the same to use."

"Actually, I don't really know much about it. Anyway, I don't like the scent of this one. I won't buy this scent next time."

Ye Jiu picked up a mechanical pencil from Su Qingyue's desk and started doing the exercises in the workbook he had given her, skipping the ones she didn't know and writing down the answers to the ones she did know. She answered whatever Su Qingyue asked her.

Actually, she came over just to talk about makeup and styling. After she finished, she didn't want to go back. She was all alone around her seat, which was quite boring.

"You got this wrong." Su Qingyue pointed to the question that Ye Jiu had just written down the answer to.

"Hmm? Wrong? Where is it wrong?" Ye Jiu handed him a pen, indicating that he should write out the process.

Su Qingyue took out a piece of draft paper, wrote down the detailed steps on it, and explained them to Ye Jiu as she wrote.

Before we knew it, casual conversation turned into tutoring.

After working on a few more problems, Ye Jiu suddenly interrupted, "No, this is turning into tutoring, and it's not time yet."

"But you've already written several questions. Don't you want to know if your answers are correct?" Su Qingyue took out the draft paper again to write down the steps.

“Well… that’s true. Since we’ve already written it, let’s hear why it’s wrong.” Ye Jiu scratched his head and continued practicing with Su Qingyue.

Something seems off, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

The morning passed quickly as they chatted and laughed. After school at noon, Ye Jiu and Su Qingyue walked home side by side.

They ran into acquaintances along the way. Ye Jiu nodded and greeted them. They didn't seem too surprised that the two of them were walking together. Ye Jiu thought she would have to explain for a long time, but it turned out that no one cared. That was good.

What Ye Jiu didn't know was that a small group of "shipping experts" on the forum were already analyzing the two of them, looking for clues from various sources. People who frequently read the forum were speculating whether the two were together, but because of what happened with Xia Banmeng last time, no one dared to say it. Even the "shipping" on the forum was done discreetly, like an underground organization, not daring to make too much of a fuss.