AVRL 31

As a well-known tourist spot, Xichi boasts green waters, lush mountains, and picturesque scenery. Every spring, it attracts art students and painting enthusiasts from major universities to sketch and gather inspiration.

The moment Meng Chi saw Yu Tingzhi appear here, apart from astonishment, there was actually a trace of subtle delight in his heart—so faint that he didn’t even notice it himself.

Yet when he heard that Yu Tingzhi was here on a business trip, he couldn’t help feeling doubtful. Meng Chi had heard Chen Yan mention that freshman students from the College of Fine Arts at Zewu University indeed came here every year to sketch, but Yu Tingzhi was a specially invited lecturer. By normal logic, he would not be dispatched out of town to teach sketching.

So for a split second, Meng Chi felt that Yu Tingzhi was here because of him, but he quickly realized he was overthinking it.

Yu Tingzhi was indeed on a business trip; half of the university students staying in the youth hostel next door had been brought here by him.

Although they stayed in the same bed-and-breakfast, they rarely saw each other because of their different work schedules.

To manage the tea market in Xichi, the government had built a special Spring Tea Market for local tea farmers to sell dried tea leaves. The market opened early in the morning, so Meng Chi had to get up early every day to stroll through the market first. Once he found suitable tea leaves, he would follow the tea farmers to inspect their tea plantations. In the afternoon or evening, depending on the situation, he would head to the tea factory to wait and collect the newly finished dry tea.

Leaving early and returning late every day left him with hardly any chance to bump into Yu Tingzhi.

However, Xichi was only so big after all. Before two days had passed, Meng Chi ran into Yu Tingzhi at Xitang Lake.

Xitang Lake was considered a very famous scenic spot in Xichi. Its waters were a clear turquoise, like an emerald embedded within the stretching mountain range. A thin mist floated over the sparkling water’s surface, while lotus leaves—unsullied by the mud from which they grew—swayed gently in the breeze, revealing a few hidden flower buds among them. The air was filled with a crisp spring freshness.

Meng Chi had just sent the high-quality tea he collected from the market back to Zewu. Having nothing to do, he decided not to waste such beautiful scenery and wandered idly along the lakeside alone, intending to pick up some peach blossom pastries from a famous nearby snack shop once he finished his stroll.

He walked and paused along the way, occasionally raising his phone to take a few landscape photos.

In his camera frame, some people were boating while others lingered. Upon seeing rows of easels set up along the lake and young boys and girls wielding brushes to paint, Meng Chi paused his gaze and subconsciously looked around. Then, under a willow tree by the lake, he spotted Yu Tingzhi sitting on a bench.

By April, the temperature had warmed up, making heavy winter cotton coats unnecessary. Yu Tingzhi wore a light gray casual suit paired with a black turtleneck sweater underneath; the jacket was loose without looking bulky, adding an extra touch of easygoing charm. Sitting on one side of the bench, his upper body leaned back slightly while his gaze reached into the distance, quietly watching the hazy lake surface ahead.

Willow branches swayed in the wind above his head as sunlight sparkled. A white bird flew over, circled for a moment, and perched on the other side of the bench.

The bird entering the frame made the scene even more poetic. Meng Chi instinctively pressed the shutter, but then felt that secretly taking photos was inappropriate, so he put his phone away. Yet out of the corner of his eye, he noticed many tourists around holding cameras with their lenses aimed right in Yu Tingzhi’s direction.

“Teacher Yu—”

A young female voice sounded, startling the bird into flight and causing the seated Yu Tingzhi to turn his eyes toward the sound.

She was probably having trouble with her painting. Meng Chi watched as Yu Tingzhi stood up, walked over, took the paintbrush from the female student’s hand, and sat down in her chair.

Before long, quite a few students put down their brushes, stood up, and gathered around to watch.

Even many tourists stopped in their tracks to crowd around. By the time Meng Chi walked closer, Yu Tingzhi was completely blocked from view, and only the chatter of students could be heard: “Holy crap, that’s insane, you can paint it like that?” “With Teacher Yu leading our team, we really struck it rich!”

Meng Chi caught a earful of these glowing compliments and thought to himself that a genius truly was a genius. Just as he decided not to join the commotion and leave to buy the peach blossom pastries instead, Yu Tingzhi finished painting, stood up, and stepped out from the crowd, catching sight of him right away.

“Meng Chi.” Hearing his name called, Meng Chi instantly froze, turned around, and saw Yu Tingzhi walking toward him under the watchful eyes of the surrounding students.

“What a coincidence, you’re out here sketching?” Meng Chi made a preemptive move, acting as if he had only just seen him.

“Mm.” Yu Tingzhi let out a soft chuckle. “What are you doing here?”

“Just came out of the market, wandering around randomly,” Meng Chi said.

Yu Tingzhi nodded, walked to his side, and strolled forward side-by-side with him.

Perhaps because there were too many glances coming from behind them, Meng Chi felt somewhat uncomfortable, and a hint of awkwardness lingered in the air between them.

“Do you come here every year to buy tea?” Yu Tingzhi took the initiative to start a topic.

“Mm.” Meng Chi nodded.

“How long will you stay?” Yu Tingzhi asked.

Meng Chi glanced at him, then shook his head: “Not sure, maybe half a month, maybe a week.”

Yu Tingzhi nodded: “Since you come every year, you must know the local tourist spots worth visiting very well.”

Meng Chi: “Not really. After all, I don’t come here to play around each time.”

Yu Tingzhi turned to look at Meng Chi, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the tiredness left from being busy these past few days. He suddenly stopped walking. Just as he was about to speak, a brief shriek suddenly came from beside them.

The two turned toward the sound and saw two girls in dresses crouching on the lawn by the lake. One of them raised both hands with a frightened expression, while the other held a ham sausage. In front of them stood a tabby cat with a arched back and vigilant eyes.

“It’s angry, we can’t touch it,” the girl holding the ham sausage said to the other.

“Ah, gave me a scare.” The girl withdrew her hand with lingering fear. The tabby cat, no longer tempted by the ham sausage, ignored them both completely.

“Do you know how to coax an angry cat?” Yu Tingzhi retracted his gaze, looked at Meng Chi, and asked out of nowhere.

“Huh?” Meng Chi was taken aback, thinking to himself: You’re asking me?

“My cat is very cold toward me, and I don’t know how to coax him,” Yu Tingzhi said.

Meng Chi gave an “oh,” immediately recalling the little black cat Yu Tingzhi had posted on his Moments.

“Isn’t asking me completely pointlessly? I’ve never raised a cat either,” Meng Chi said. “You should ask Song Min. He keeps cats.”

“Is that so?” Yu Tingzhi stopped walking, the sunlight casting a clear, translucent glow through his light-colored pupils. He suddenly asked again, “Have you and Song Min been in touch much lately?”

Meng Chi froze, then recalled that he hadn’t contacted Song Min at all after that night. He hadn’t even thought about reaching out, instead constantly recalling the absurdity of that night.

During the moment he spent daydreaming, Yu Tingzhi, who was gazing at him, let out another questioning sound from his throat.

Snapping back to his senses, Meng Chi casually replied: “It’s fine, why?”

“Nothing, just asking casually.” Yu Tingzhi continued to stare at Meng Chi, seemingly trying to analyze what he was thinking from his micro-expressions.

Meng Chi stole a glance at him out of the corner of his eye: “Didn’t you already reject him? Why do you still care about him?”

“Reject?” Yu Tingzhi paused his steps, asking in confusion, “Reject him for what?”

“That night at the bar…” Speaking up to this point, Meng Chi abruptly shut his mouth. He was clearly the one who had said to leave that night behind, yet here he was bringing it up again, giving rise to awkwardness out of nowhere.

Meng Chi wanted to drop it right there, but Yu Tingzhi, who had captured all his subtle facial expressions, had no intention of letting the matter slide easily.

“Were you with Song Min that night?”

This question could be considered asking despite knowing the answer; Yu Tingzhi even guessed that this so-called rejection meant they had likely overheard his conversation with She Shan.

After observing the silent Meng Chi for two seconds, Yu Tingzhi spoke up again: “Then by sending me back, didn’t you leave Song Min all alone at the bar?”

The memories hidden in his brain began to play tricks on him again. Meng Chi wanted to force them back down, but since he was the one who had brought it up first, he couldn’t rudely tell Yu Tingzhi to shut up either.

He could only be strict with himself and lenient with others.

Meng Chi said: “No, Chen Yan sent him back.”

Thinking back to the scene at the hot pot restaurant where he saw the two of them chatting happily, Yu Tingzhi asked again: “How did you and Chen Yan meet?”

Hearing this, Meng Chi raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Yu Tingzhi sideways, a familiar smile breaking across his face: “Teacher Yu, are you conducting a background check on me?”

“No, I just want to understand my student better.”

“…”

“Your student definitely needs a good teacher like you,” Meng Chi nodded, casting a side glance at the students by the lake who were peeking over from time to time. “Go back to your class. I have things to do, so I’ll take my leave first.”

After parting ways with Yu Tingzhi, Meng Chi went to the snack shop selling peach blossom pastries. Looking at the long queue formed at the entrance, Meng Chi let out a sigh. With the midday sun shining brightly overhead, he really didn’t feel like queuing up, so he caught a taxi straight back to the bed-and-breakfast.

He took a shower and caught up on some sleep; upon waking up again, he felt completely refreshed and clear-headed. Jiang Hong’s father-in-law brought over two plump, delicious carp and invited him to eat together in the evening, so Meng Chi didn’t go out to forage for food. Instead, he sat in the courtyard, watching two little kids who had arrived along with the fish bickering with each other.

Both were Jiang Hong’s nephews. Although they were roughly the same age, there was already a half-head difference in their heights.

Kids at this age were competitive and possessed endless energy, squabbling over everything from comparing their toy collections to competing in talents and skills, starting a fight over the slightest disagreement.

One said, “I have Iron Man,” and the other replied, “I have the Hulk.”

One said, “I know martial arts,” and the other replied, “I can do the splits.”

The two little rivals went back and forth, boasting without giving an inch, each wanting to outdo the other.

Meng Chi watched with great amusement, sighing inwardly that kids nowadays were truly incredible—versed in all eighteen martial arts, and even capable of pulling off tricks with their tongues.

“Dat one, you def’nitely can’t do.” The slightly taller little kid stuck out his curled tongue and blew a proud whistle.

The shorter kid tried to copy him, sticking out his tongue and rolling it around for a long time, but could only produce a huffing sound accompanied by flying saliva.

The shorter kid was adorable, and his tongue-sticking look made Meng Chi unable to hold back a burst of laughter.

Then the little fellow glared at him fiercely: “What’re you laughing at?! You can’t do it either!”

“Who says I can’t?” Meng Chi opened his mouth and directly blew a loud, crisp whistle, instantly intimidating both little kids.

“How’s that?” Meng Chi curled his lips up, feeling surprisingly smug.

The shorter kid wore a face full of admiration, while the taller kid remained unconvinced: “Nothing special, I can do this too!”

Saying so, the taller kid opened his mouth and stuck out his little tongue curled into the shape of a lotus flower.

“Can you do this? Hmph.”

Meng Chi let out a scoff, his competitive spirit provoked. Opening his mouth, he tried curling his tongue, only to draw bursts of “hahaha” laughter from the two kids, as well as a low, light chuckle from nearby.

That deep voice made Meng Chi turn his head abruptly, whereupon he saw Yu Tingzhi, who had appeared behind him at some unknown point.

He was still wearing the same outfit from the morning, holding a pastry box in his hand, looking down at him with laughter floating in his eyes.

The tips of Meng Chi’s ears flushed hot, though his expression betrayed nothing. He also met his gaze with a smile: “It’s fine if those two laugh at me, but what are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, I just think you’re pretty cute,” Yu Tingzhi said.

“…”

This compliment did not bring Meng Chi any joy; instead, it added a touch of embarrassment. He glanced at the kid who was still showing off his tongue, narrowed his eyes, and taunted provocatively: “Teacher Yu, can you do it?”

Yu Tingzhi looked at the kid and shook his head truthfully: “No, I can’t.”

Before the smile on Meng Chi’s face could fully bloom, he heard him add another sentence:

“My tongue flexibility is pretty average—as you know.”

Meng Chi: “…”

Say that again?