The meal was lively and noisy. Liang Zhaozhao and Sui Yu seemed to have known each other for years; they bickered while eating, like a live cross-talk performance.
Liang Yifeng sat beside Zhong Nian.
Their conversation went no further than, “This dish is good, you should try it,” “This one’s good too,” and “That one has chili.”
Halfway through the meal, Liang Zhaozhao suddenly asked Zhong Nian, “You’re not working at the newspaper anymore?”
Zhong Nian was puzzled. “Of course I am.”
“Then why wasn’t it you who came to interview us? Why was it someone else?”
Realization dawned on Zhong Nian. “I changed sections. Someone else took over my previous work.”
Liang Zhaozhao nodded and said sympathetically, “That person is really miserable.”
Zhong Nian paused, chopsticks midair. “Zeng Yu? What happened to her?”
Liang Zhaozhao waved her hand with a grin. “What else? She was rejected by our great Dr. Liang so many times she was practically about to cry in the emergency room. She tried every trick in the book—first sweet-talking us, then when soft tactics didn’t work, she went hard and threw a tantrum outside his office. But guess what?” She sighed dramatically, though her eyes sparkled with amusement. Propping her chin on her hand, she swayed her head as she spoke. “Our Dr. Liang has absolutely no idea how to spell the words ‘cherish the fairer sex.’”
Sui Yu snorted. “If he did, he wouldn’t have been single for so many years.”
Liang Yifeng shot him a cold glance.
Liang Zhaozhao sneered. “You think everyone’s like you? — Stud pig!”
Sui Yu instinctively glanced at Zhong Nian. She was focused on her food, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.
He grabbed a piece of mochi and stuffed it into Liang Zhaozhao’s mouth. “Shut up!”
Her mouth filled with matcha mochi, she mumbled incoherently before finally swallowing it in defeat.
After a few bites, Zhong Nian suddenly asked, “Zeng Yu came to see you?”
Realizing she was speaking to him, Liang Yifeng replied indifferently, “That person’s called Zeng Yu?”
“……”
When he didn’t care about someone, he truly didn’t care. Zhong Nian thought about how Zeng Yu had likely been running interviews for a whole week just to secure one with Liang Yifeng, yet he couldn’t even be bothered to remember her name—as if memorizing it would cost him years of his life.
“Yes,” Zhong Nian said helplessly.
“Oh.” He paused, then added flatly, “Annoying.”
“Hm?” She turned to look at him.
His profile was sharp and clean, nose high, eye sockets deep. When she glanced sideways at him, he leaned slightly toward her, then turned his face fully to hers.
They were only about a foot apart. Under the bright lights, she saw a trace of weariness in his dark pupils.
“That person,” he said, “is very annoying.”
Zhong Nian was stunned for a moment before she burst into laughter.
“All reporters are like that,” she explained. “Without interview material, they can’t complete their assignments. If they can’t complete assignments, their pay gets docked. And competition at Tongcheng Evening News is fierce—one mistake and you could lose your job.”
Liang Zhaozhao immediately objected. “But having someone camp outside every day is unbearable. Following us everywhere, writing down every tiny thing. Even what my third brother eats for lunch and how many patients he sees in an afternoon. That’s not journalism—that’s perversion.”
Sui Yu shook his head. “Don’t insult perverts like that.”
“……”
Zhong Nian tapped her fingers lightly against the wooden table, producing a crisp sound. When all three looked at her, she said calmly, “This job is hard to begin with. Entertainment reporters have it even tougher.”
Liang Zhaozhao scoffed. “In your eyes they’re ‘entertainment reporters.’ In ours, they’re paparazzi. They photograph anything for money. A celebrity going on a date or having dinner gets snapped. I don’t get it—people in their twenties or thirties dating is normal. Why secretly photograph them? Hugging and holding hands is normal for couples, but in their mouths it sounds like some dirty affair.”
Crude words, but not unreasonable.
Zhong Nian pursed her lips. “I don’t really understand it either.”
“You’ve never worked as an entertainment reporter?” Liang Zhaozhao asked.
Sui Yu cut in, “Why would she do that?”
“It pays fast!” Liang Zhaozhao said confidently.
Sui Yu scoffed. “Does she lack money?”
Liang Zhaozhao: “……”
Zhong Nian: “……”
Seeing Liang Zhaozhao’s eyes sparkle at her, Zhong Nian sighed. “Whether I lack money or not has nothing to do with it. I just want to be a reporter. A good reporter.”
In truth, she wasn’t as financially carefree as Sui Yu implied. Quite the opposite—she desperately needed money.
During her years studying in the UK, she never stopped working part-time. At her hardest period, she worked three jobs a day. Even then, she had never considered becoming an entertainment reporter.
She had her principles.
Liang Zhaozhao muttered, “If only all reporters were like you.”
Zhong Nian gave a faint, self-mocking smile.
Everyone had secrets. Everyone had a past they couldn’t speak of.
Suddenly, Liang Yifeng’s phone rang on the table.
He picked it up. “Mm.”
He responded intermittently, and Zhong Nian assumed it was a patient or partner. But it turned out to be his mother.
Liang Yifeng glanced at Zhong Nian. “She wants to talk to you.”
He handed over the phone. “Ms. Liang wants to speak with you.”
Zhong Nian hesitated, then took it politely. “Auntie, this is Zhong Nian.”
“Oh Zhong Nian! Come over for dinner tomorrow.”
Instinctively she declined. “I’m going home for dinner tomorrow.”
“Your mother’s coming too. It’s settled. I’ll have Yifeng pick you up.”
“Auntie—”
The line went dead.
How afraid was she of being refused?
Zhong Nian handed the phone back.
Liang Yifeng placed it face-down on the table and raised an eyebrow. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” His tone left no room for argument.
Liang Zhaozhao looked thrilled. Sui Yu’s expression darkened.
“Zhong Nian-jie, you’re going to my third brother’s house tomorrow?” Liang Zhaozhao asked excitedly.
“…Probably,” Zhong Nian answered. With both mothers involved, she had no reason to refuse.
“What a pity I’m on duty tomorrow,” Liang Zhaozhao sighed. “Otherwise I could’ve spent a perfect evening with you.”
Zhong Nian: “……”
She stood. “I’m going to the restroom.”
Two minutes after she left, Sui Yu—who had been lazily flicking a lighter—also stood.
Liang Zhaozhao bit into her enoki mushrooms. “Where are you going?”
“To pee.”
She spat out the mushrooms. “Can’t you be more civilized?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
“Get lost!”
He left the private room smiling, but once outside, his face fell completely.
He had noticed Liang Yifeng’s attitude toward Zhong Nian. Ever since their student days, Sui Yu had known that Liang Yifeng liked her.
He never let anyone touch her seat. He kept her belongings untouched for three years.
Once, after playing basketball during lunch break, Sui Yu returned to find the entire class asleep—except Liang Yifeng. He stood against the wall by the air conditioner at the back of the classroom. The noon sun blazed over him.
His gaze was fixed on Zhong Nian.
In that unguarded moment, his eyes were almost pathological—like a bonfire igniting at the bottom of a pitch-black abyss.
Burning endlessly. Spreading inch by inch.
Sui Yu was the first person, besides Liang Yifeng himself, to know about that love.
The one who understands you best, aside from your lover, is your enemy.
The second-floor corridor was silent.
Sui Yu walked toward the restroom.
The sinks were shared by men and women.
Zhong Nian was washing her hands when she looked up and saw him behind her.
He seemed hesitant.
Drying her hands, she turned. “What’s wrong?”
She looked the same as always—calm, faintly smiling, her features like a painting.
He suddenly snapped back to himself. What had he come out here for?
To question why she and Liang Yifeng were so close? But their closeness was in exchanged glances, not physical contact.
And question her… as what?
He gave a lazy grin. “Nothing. Just wondering—how’s my restroom? Smells nice, right?”
“……”
She laughed in exasperation. “You’re so childish.”
He whistled. “Bored to death!”
·
The meal ended quickly.
Sui Yu grabbed his car keys to drive Zhong Nian home, but Liang Zhaozhao pulled him back. “I heard there’s a new trending milk tea shop. I’ll treat you!”
“Why do I have to go with you?” he frowned.
“I don’t like going alone!”
“Don’t say ‘I don’t like’ like that. You’re not some delicate girl.”
“SU YU!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liang Yifeng walk up to Zhong Nian.
“What are you doing later?” Liang Yifeng asked.
“Going straight home, I think.”
“I’m heading back too. Same direction. I’ll take you.”
“No need. Sui Yu will probably take me.” It was their unspoken understanding.
Sui Yu lowered his eyes, slipped the keys back into his pocket.
“I’ll take her for milk tea,” he said lightly. “Zhong Nian, why don’t you go with Liang Yifeng?”
“…Okay then.”
She looked at Liang Yifeng. “Sorry to trouble you.”
He adjusted his glasses with a soft laugh. “Not trouble at all.”
They split into two groups.
At the milk tea shop, Liang Zhaozhao asked quietly, “Do you think Zhong Nian and my third brother will end up together?”
Sui Yu’s finger paused on his phone. “End up how?”
“Dating!”
“Can’t tell.”
“You pig!”
He smirked. “Alright, I’ve got a date.”
Outside, the heat was heavy. He clenched his phone so tightly his knuckles hurt.
Painful?
But you couldn’t wait for her for years. Couldn’t love only her.
Sui Yu, you deserve this.
·
Back in the car, Zhong Nian asked, “Have they known each other long?”
“Neighbors,” Liang Yifeng replied.
No wonder they were so familiar.
“Want to walk around?” he asked.
“No.”
He nodded and pressed the elevator button.
Soon they arrived at her apartment complex.
She unbuckled her seatbelt, stepped out, then turned back. “Tomorrow—is it lunch or dinner?”
“Dinner.”
“Okay.”
Standing outside, wind lifting her hair, she bent slightly toward him. “Thanks for picking me up tomorrow.”
His eyes were clear. “You’re welcome.”
She closed the door and smiled through the glass before walking away.
He watched until she disappeared.
His gaze fell to the passenger seat where she had sat. The leather still bore faint creases. Her fragrance lingered in the car, wrapping around his heart.
See you tomorrow, Zhong Nian.
Liang Yifeng curved his lips, a quiet smile flashing in his eyes.