Chapter 42
With a loud bang, the noise rang out like thunder. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought somebody had just set off fireworks.
After making intimate contact with Shi Ye’s forehead, the transparent glass door shook slightly on its hinges. He’d even had a running start before crashing into it. The reporter twitched his mouth; just looking at it made his forehead start to hurt.
The reporter quickly asked with concern, “Is the child okay?”
He Yu immediately adjusted his expression, suppressing the twitch at the corner of his eye, and said with calm composure, “He’s fine. Xiao Ye just got too excited seeing you all come. He’s known for a while that you were coming to do an interview.”
The reporter’s newspaper had a huge following of dancers across international media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. It was an outstanding press outlet known for dance-related coverage.
The reporter knew perfectly well that He Yu was smoothing things over for Shi Ye. He Yu had always been arrogant in the dance world—there was no way his student would get so excited over a newspaper interview that he’d act like this.
Still, for He Yu to put it that way was also giving them face, elevating their status. Naturally, the reporter was happy to hear it. Who didn’t like being made to feel important and in demand?
Shi Ye pulled the door open and came in, sweat already breaking all over him.
Facing the camera, He Yu said, “This is my student, Shi Ye. He just came over straight after school.”
The camera turned—
and landed on Shi Ye’s bright red forehead.
He’d hit the glass that hard, the door itself looked half ready to fall apart, yet the boy’s forehead was only red. His head wasn’t just iron—it was reinforced steel.
The cameraman hoisted the camera and filmed Shi Ye from every angle. Young as he was, his looks were exceptional, and his whole person radiated vigorous life. His build was outstanding too—the makings of a ballet prodigy.
Even just standing there, he had an extraordinary aura. If not for the red mark on his forehead, that flush would only have added a fitting bit of recklessness to his age.
For people outside the ballet world, the moment they heard of a boy studying ballet, their first thought was often “sissy.” As if boys couldn’t dance ballet. It was one of the ugliest stereotypes outsiders held.
Shi Ye, in the camera’s frame, completely shattered that prejudice. With sharp brows and bright eyes, he carried an unpolished, youthful gallantry about him. His every movement had spirit and presence. He studied ballet because he loved it.
Standing together, master and student made for an extremely pleasing picture, and the cameraman kept changing up the angles, filming the two of them in every way imaginable.
He Yu had no idea what had happened to Shi Ye. He’d come rushing over in such a hurry that his forehead was covered in sweat.
It wasn’t polite to meet guests like this. He Yu said, “Xiao Ye, go wash your face.”
When receiving guests, there was no excuse for being disheveled. He Yu had always cared about that sort of thing.
Shi Ye nodded, set down his backpack, and walked into one of the washrooms.
The washroom had a minimalist design, with only a sink and a resting chair. The toilet and shower were elsewhere.
He Yu and the reporter stood outside the door waiting for him.
At that age, boys were bound to be a little rash. Not seeing a glass door and running into it was understandable. Surely washing his face couldn’t go wrong too.
The reporter asked, “Teacher He, is it alright to film this?”
He was only washing his face.
In personal documentaries, shots like that were common enough. Water droplets sliding over distinct features would better highlight a dancer’s physical advantages.
He Yu nodded. “Yes.”
The cameraman stepped inside and began filming Shi Ye washing his face.
He saw the boy turn on the faucet, wet his hand with a little water, stare at the water pooled in his palm for several seconds, then pat one side of his face with it.
Then again.
And again.
He repeated the motion seven or eight times.
And only on one side of his face.
He Yu: ……
What exactly are you doing? Playing with water?
The veins at He Yu’s temples started throbbing.
The reporter kept his lips pressed together and didn’t dare say a word. Was this how art students washed their faces? Or was there something wrong with the kid? First crashing into the door, now not knowing how to wash his face.
Every student He Yu took in was undoubtedly a gifted young talent when it came to dance. The reporter had seen many genius youths before.
Some of them only knew how to study. When it came to everyday life, large matters or small, they were helpless at everything, unable to take care of themselves.
The reporter’s heart gave a thud. Shi Ye wasn’t one of those genius youths too, was he?
He Yu forced a smile and tried to smooth things over for Shi Ye. “See? The way he washes his face is kind of interesting, hahaha…”
Reporter: ……
Reporter: Didn’t dare laugh. Thought the kid might actually have some kind of issue.
Seeing that Shi Ye was clearly not in good form today, He Yu shut the door and sent the reporter off, politely asking him to come back another day.
The reporter hurriedly agreed. “We’ll come again when the child is better.”
That better was doing a lot of work.
After seeing off the reporter and cameraman, He Yu turned and strode back to the dance studio to find Shi Ye. What was wrong with this brat today? Usually such a smart kid—today he’d turned into an idiot.
When He Yu reached the dance studio door, he found Shi Ye acting bizarrely inside. One moment he was sitting on the studio floor, the next he was covering his face and staring into space, and then suddenly blushing and pounding the floor wildly.
He Yu: ……
Good thing he’d sent the reporters away first.
What kind of madness had come over this kid today?
Shi Ye was completely immersed in the fact that his precious cheek-kiss had been stolen. Xia Fengsheng had just puckered up and taken his cheek-kiss away.
Did Xia Fengsheng like him that much, to the point of kissing his face?
Shi Ye’s face itched red-hot. He rolled around on the dance studio floor.
He Yu walked in and kicked him once. “You brat, are you in love?”
Shi Ye froze all over, then sat upright. “No.”
He Yu didn’t believe him. “Really not?”
Aside from falling in love, what else could make a normal person act this insane?
Shi Ye nodded. “We just eat together every day, sometimes use our phones to take a couple of photos together, and sometimes walk home together. We’re really not dating.”
He Yu: ……
Sometimes he really wanted to saw Shi Ye’s head open just to see what exactly was inside it.
Covering his face, Shi Ye thought: being with Xia Fengsheng was something he’d been forced into. They weren’t dating.
How were two men supposed to date?
Shi Ye was seventeen this year, an age where dating wasn’t strange at all. He Yu pressed further. “A boy or a girl?”
Shi Ye froze. “What do you mean, a boy or a girl?”
He Yu said, “The person you’re having your puppy-love relationship with—is it a boy or a girl?”
Shi Ye’s worldview took a hit. Instead of answering, he shot back, “How can two guys date?”
He Yu lifted a hand and gave him a head knock. “What do you mean, how can two guys date? However ordinary couples date, that’s how gay people date.”
Shi Ye went still for a long time after hearing that. It was the first time he had ever heard words like that.
After quite a while, he finally asked, “Teacher… so two men can date, right?”
He Yu thought maybe the boy had genuinely gone stupid today. Why was he asking nothing but strange questions?
“What’s there that they can’t do? It’s not illegal.” He Yu frowned. “What exactly is wrong with you today?”
Shi Ye thought back to that moment when Xia Fengsheng kissed him. That cold, taciturn boy had actually puffed up his lips and kissed him because he wanted to express that he liked him.
But even if he liked him that much, he still couldn’t force him into it. If he wanted to be together, he should’ve just said so nicely. Though… Shi Ye had rejected him at first…
Shi Ye shook his head hard. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Teacher said two men could date—but how did Teacher know that?
Unable to figure it out, Shi Ye asked directly, “Teacher, have you dated one?”
He Yu hadn’t expected the question to suddenly land on him. “Me?”
For a brief moment, his expression blurred, as if he had fallen into memory. “Of course I have.”
Shi Ye still wanted to ask more, but before the question could leave his mouth, the dance studio door suddenly opened.
Both teacher and student turned to look.
A woman in a fishtail dress and black high heels walked in through the door.
He Yu’s bodyguards outside the storefront hadn’t stopped her.
He Yu had specifically instructed them that if they saw this woman, they were to be respectful and polite. If she wanted to do something, they were not to interfere.
She looked no older than thirty-four or thirty-five, maybe only a year or two older than He Yu.
Her gorgeous makeup couldn’t hide the sternness on her face, and her high heels clicked sharply across the dance studio floor.
Other than dance shoes, outside shoes weren’t allowed in the studio, but she paid that rule no mind at all.
He Yu, who normally upheld rules to the letter, saw it and didn’t get angry in the slightest. Instead, he completely changed his demeanor and greeted her with bright enthusiasm. “Sis, you’re here.”
Shi Ye had rarely ever seen He Yu smile at anyone so warmly.
The woman looked down on that expression on He Yu’s face—one could say she looked down on He Yu entirely. She had come for one reason only and got straight to the point.
“We agreed I’d only rent you that house for half a year. The time’s up. When are you moving out?”
He Yu bent slightly at the waist, lowering himself as he spoke to her. “Sis, I’d still like to rent it for another two years.”
Two years?
Her willow-leaf brows knotted sharply. “Do you think there’s any chance I’d rent it to you? If you hadn’t shamelessly begged me back then, I only would’ve given you half a year because I pitied you. We agreed on half a year, and now the time’s up. Move out.”
There was no room for discussion in her tone. After dropping those words, she turned to leave.
He Yu hurriedly stopped her. “Sis, sis…”
The moment she heard that title, disgust flashed across her face, as if she’d just heard something filthy. “Who’s your sister? Am I blood-related to you or something? Get your things packed and move out within two days! Don’t push your luck!”
Those harsh words stung the ears. Shi Ye stood up, wanting to say something on his teacher’s behalf, but He Yu threw an arm in front of him and stopped him. “This has nothing to do with you!”
He Yu pushed him behind him. The moment he heard her say he had to move out, his face went white, and the sickly air that had once faded from him climbed back over his features.
Even though she gave him no kindness at all, he still bent low, lowering himself as far as he could. “Sis, please, let me rent it for another two years. I know you don’t want to see me, but please… cough… cough cough…”
He Yu suddenly began coughing violently, as if being forced to leave that shabby old residential building would sever the root of his very life.
Afraid his coughing would keep him from getting the words out properly, he caught his breath a few times and said in a broken rush, “Sis, how about this—I’ll raise the rent by another ten thousand. No, twenty thousand. On top of the original rent, I’ll add another twenty thousand.”
Shi Ye looked utterly confused and lost.
He didn’t understand why his teacher insisted on living in such a decrepit residential building. The location was bad, and everything was inconvenient there.
The original rent had been ten thousand; now he was offering thirty thousand a month in total.
Whether the place was worth that was another matter. He Yu wasn’t short of money. The honors he had won and the investments he had participated in had made money seem like sand to him.
And yet, instead of resting in some luxurious property after returning to his hometown because of illness, he was inexplicably attached to a dirty, messy, badly soundproofed old apartment building.
He Yu pleaded, “Sis, just think of it as letting me keep one little memory.”
Shi Ye had never seen He Yu humble himself this way before. Since the first day he’d known him, he’d never once seen him bow to anyone.
This woman’s arrival had completely shocked him by exposing this helpless, humiliated side of his teacher.
The woman stared at him. “You think you deserve to keep a memory?”
In the end, after endless begging from He Yu, she still agreed to keep renting him the place.
.
Morning.
The seven o’clock sunlight rose over the hot spring resort.
A thread of golden sunlight slipped through the gap in the not-quite-closed curtains and fell across Shi Ye’s tightly shut eyes.
Shhk—
The orange behind his eyelids grew brighter and brighter until Shi Ye suddenly opened his eyes. He carefully sat up from the bedding and, at once, looked at Xia Fengsheng sleeping beside him.
The resort had a Japanese-style layout, and the sleeping arrangement was bedding spread on tatami mats. When the staff made up the room, they had placed the two sleeping spots close together, close enough that one only had to reach out to touch the other.
Seeing that Xia Fengsheng was still asleep, Shi Ye let out a breath of relief. Moving as quietly as he could, he slipped out of the bedding, went to the window, and closed the curtains properly so that no sunlight could sneak into the room.
Even after drawing the curtains, he continued to move with extreme caution, not making a sound. Every few seconds he glanced back at Xia Fengsheng to make sure he hadn’t woken, then he scampered into the washroom like a thief.
Standing before the sink, Shi Ye brushed his teeth and washed his face. Once that was done, he pulled out a flat iron and began styling his hair. When it came to doing his own look, he had a real knack for it.
Once the hairstyle was done, he patted toner onto his face. When the whole morning prep was complete, he checked himself in the mirror from left to right, making sure every last strand of hair remained perfect.
Hair perfect. Skin perfect. State of mind perfect.
Rustle rustle—
There came the faint sound of someone turning over in the bedding area.
Shi Ye instantly tidied the sink. The washstand, which had just been a mess, became spotless in the blink of an eye, as though no one had touched it at all.
Once everything was in order, Shi Ye rushed back to the bedding, pulled the covers over himself, and lay down again.
When Xia Fengsheng woke up and saw him still perfectly handsome after a full night’s sleep, his favorability would definitely rise sharply. It would be another step forward in Shi Ye’s plan of making Xia Fengsheng fall hopelessly and wholeheartedly in love with him.
Less than ten minutes after Shi Ye lay down, Xia Fengsheng began to wake up. Like a snail, he slowly pushed himself upright out of the covers.
Having just woken, his brain was a little hazy, and he sat there in the bedding trying to gather himself. Though mentally he was still muddled, his face already looked awake.
Seeing him sit up, Shi Ye also pretended to just be waking and sat up as well. What he’d worn to bed last night was a white T-shirt, excellent for showing off the lines of his arms.
As the blanket slid from his shoulder and exposed his arm, it looked effortlessly striking.
Shi Ye even deliberately rolled his neck once to either side, showing Xia Fengsheng the left side of his face—the side he thought looked better than his right.
Hearing the rustling beside him, Xia Fengsheng looked over at Shi Ye. “Did you sleep with a crick in your neck?”
Shi Ye: ……
Throwing flirtation at a blind man, truly.
He had originally thought the hot spring resort trip would be a trip for just the two of them, but who would’ve thought Jing Changyu would also be there, completely wrecking Shi Ye’s plan for a romantic, feelings-deepening two-person world and even giving him a sense of crisis.
Xia Fengsheng remembered Jing Changyu but didn’t remember him. What did that mean?
It didn’t mean anything.
At most, the amnesiac brain had briefly come online and happened to retrieve this old high school classmate. That was all. It didn’t prove anything.
Still, Jing Changyu undeniably had a bit of attractiveness. In order to make sure Xia Fengsheng didn’t have a change of heart, Shi Ye decided that every single morning at the hot spring resort, he would wake up early and go to the washroom to groom himself, making sure that every day when Xia Fengsheng opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the perfect version of him.
After washing up, the two of them went downstairs for breakfast.
The hot spring resort had built a giant glass sunroom in the mountains. Meals were available there all day, and eating breakfast in the glasshouse meant you could enjoy the mountain scenery of the early morning.
When the two walked in, seven or eight tables were already occupied.
Shi Ye scanned the room.
There were men, women…
His eyes landed on Jing Changyu in the distance, waving at them.
And also: Shi Ye’s enemy.
Jing Changyu was like a randomly spawning NPC—different map, same encounter. The moment Shi Ye saw him, his smile vanished.
Sure, in the same resort, running into each other now and then was normal. But how could it be every single time?
Other than when he was in the room with Xia Fengsheng, every place they went, Jing Changyu somehow also appeared.
Shi Ye: felt like fate was playing him like a toy.
Jing Changyu walked over. “Good morning, Xia. Good morning, Mr. Shi.”
Xia Fengsheng said, “Morning, class monitor.”
Shi Ye forced out a face-tight little smile. “Morning.”
Since they’d already run into each other at breakfast, the three automatically ended up sitting together. Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng sat side by side, while Jing Changyu sat across from Xia Fengsheng.
Once breakfast was finished, Jing Changyu put down his fork and knife, wiped his mouth, then said, “Xia, could I borrow your phone for a moment?”
His expression turned troubled. “I dropped my phone into the sink while washing my face this morning, and it won’t work anymore. The replacement I ordered is still being delivered locally. I want to call a friend.”
The friend was a colleague from the same field, and they’d arranged for Jing Changyu to send over some mountain landscape photos this morning.
But now his phone was dead, and he hadn’t brought his laptop, so for the moment he could only borrow a phone and get in touch that way.
Before Xia Fengsheng could even move, Shi Ye had already pulled out his own phone and handed it over.
Shi Ye said, “Use mine.”
There was absolutely no way he was giving Jing Changyu a chance to get close to Xia Fengsheng.
Jing Changyu took it. “Thanks, Mr. Shi.”
He borrowed the phone and called his friend. Honestly, he’d been pretty unlucky all morning. First his phone had fallen into the sink, then as he was leaving, the elevator had clipped him in the head. On the way to the glasshouse, he had slipped on the snow and ice and taken a hard fall.
Jing Changyu explained all of this to his friend.
The moment he heard the story, the friend laughed out loud as if he were watching an episode of Backkom.
Jing Changyu pressed a hand to his forehead and smiled bitterly. “Friend, this really isn’t that funny.”
At the side, Shi Ye, covering his mouth: “Hahahahahahaha.”
Jing Changyu: ……
After the call, Jing Changyu returned the phone to Shi Ye.
The sunroom’s view was magnificent, greenery all around, and the place was beautiful for photographs. Quite a few guests having breakfast there were busy taking pictures.
“Want to take a photo?” Shi Ye asked Xia Fengsheng.
Xia Fengsheng nodded. “Sure.”
Seeing Shi Ye raise his phone, Jing Changyu said, “Taking photos? Let me join.”
He leaned in.
And just like that, what had originally been a photo of Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng turned into one with Jing Changyu stuck in the middle.
Shi Ye: ……
The frame froze. A two-person photo became a three-person one.
Looking at the photo Shi Ye had taken, Jing Changyu looked quite pleased. “Mr. Shi, don’t forget to send me the picture. I’m going to post it to Moments later.”
The two of them had added each other as contacts yesterday.
Shi Ye’s brows twitched. He sent Jing Changyu the original image, then immediately opened a photo-editing app and tried to edit Jing Changyu out of it.
But Jing Changyu was positioned right in the center. No matter what he did, he couldn’t erase him cleanly.
The sheer frustration drove Shi Ye almost mad.
Why! Why couldn’t he edit him out!
At that moment, Ding Qizhen sent him a message.
Ding Qizhen: “Hey, what’ve you been up to lately?”
Things had been so busy on Ding Qizhen’s end recently with finals that his feet barely touched the ground, and he hadn’t been in contact with Shi Ye for a while. Since he finally had some free time today, he figured he’d send a message and maintain their brotherhood a little, just in case Shi Ye forgot about him across the ocean.
With a blank expression, Shi Ye replied, “Having breakfast at a hot spring resort.”
Ding Qizhen: “With who? My Xia-ge too?”
Ever since the last robbery incident, Ding Qizhen had gained a new big brother. He hadn’t seen Xia Fengsheng in a while and now asked, “Send me a picture.”
Shi Ye sent over the edited one.
Staring at the big-eyed, sharp-faced Jing Changyu between Shi Ye and Xia Fengsheng, Ding Qizhen frowned in confusion.
“Who’s the guitar pick standing between you two?”
