Chapter 26

His suit was dirty, his hair was messy, and he didn't even know where he had put his phone.

You might say you're not pitiful, but in Fang Xu's dark eyes, the man with drooping eyebrows and a miserable expression is clearly you.

The surrounding area was densely forested, with no village or shop in sight.

If he subtly touches your arm and asks if you want to stay, and you say you can't sense his intentions, you're completely lying.

You opened your mouth, as if to say something.

But if I have to go home alone, I feel like I want to stay somewhere, as long as I don't have to go back.

Fang Xu's friends are very hospitable. If you don't know who they are, Fang Xu will take you into his house and say that you should stay for dinner. His friends will make a lot of noise, but it doesn't seem to be malicious; it's more like banter between acquaintances.

You changed your clothes and dug potatoes together.

The others went into the woods to gather dry firewood that hadn't been wet by the rain, and intentionally or unintentionally brought you all together. The group laughed and joked, and soon a campfire was lit in the yard.

After you finished your work, you were pushed to take a shower. You came out soaking wet, leaned on the railing, and felt neither good nor bad.

Fang Xu squatted down next to you with a can of beer in his hand. He had changed into loose jeans and flip-flops, and smelled of fresh shower gel.

You sniffed, and he looked up at you, his gaze focused, and suddenly said, "You look very good in this dress."

"this?"

You tugged at your old hoodie, which you didn't know where it came from, and chuckled to yourself. It had been years since you'd worn something like this. You looked at him, and he said to you while drinking beer, "Yeah, it looks better than a suit."

You smiled but didn't say anything.

His friends were making a ruckus down below, poking at the embers to roast potatoes, and calling for you to come down. Suddenly, one of them shouted at you loudly, "Teacher Nan, do you think our Fang Xu is any good?"

You glance over instinctively, and several people below burst into laughter.

"Hello!"

Fang Xu stood up, laughing and cursing as he tossed a flip-flop down: "What the hell are you doing?"

A small girl with a baby face took off her hat and waved it: "Hey, Teacher Nan, look at me, do I look familiar?"

You looked at the other person closely, and they did look somewhat familiar.

Fang Xu paused for a moment, put down the beer can, and quickly tried to climb down from the second floor, but the little girl spoke even faster.

"This idiot made me pretend to be a middle school student to try out your training course just so I could get in."

"I'm fucking doing my exam papers inside."

"That stupid idiot is watching you from outside."

"Teacher Nan, please make sure he pursues her for a while longer, and don't let him be seduced by her beauty."

"Otherwise, I'd be letting down the week I spent nervously working on those tests!"

The crowd below erupted in laughter. Fang Xu, halfway up the railing, awkwardly swung his long legs, perched on the railing, glanced at you, then at his friends laughing, and tried to cover up his embarrassment by pretending not to care: "Teacher Nan, she only got 39 points on her math test."

After thinking about it, I realized something was wrong: "Of course, I'm not saying your training courses are bad."

"Your course is really good; it helped her improve from 8 to 39 points."

A young man who plays guitar is enjoying himself, and everyone is laughing and joking. They don't care much about your sexual orientation and can even crack jokes. Everyone is having a great time.

The rain-soaked earth has a unique kind of refreshing feel to it.

The banana leaves are green, the roses are fragrant, and the golden beetles soar high in the walnut trees, buzzing and chirping.

You said, "I don't date."

Fang Xu remained silent for a moment, then jumped off the railing.

He's very close to you; you can feel his body temperature.

"Feel sorry."

After a while, he touched your arm, his expression calm and serious: "It's okay."

"If it doesn't work this time, I can try again."

You raised an eyebrow.

He held up a beer can and winked at you.