AVRL 44

When Meng Chi arrived in Xichi it was already near noon. From Chen Yan he learned that Yu Tingzhi was currently taking his students on a visit to the Xichi Tea Culture Museum.

【Song Min and his older brother are also here, chatting happily】

【If you don’t come soon, you won’t be able to become my teacher’s wife anymore】

After sending this line, Chen Yan also secretly took a photo—of Yu Tingzhi and Song Chen standing in front of a painting, looking at each other as they conversed.

Yu Tingzhi’s expression was relaxed, while Song Chen’s brows and eyes held a smile—truly a scene of pleasant conversation and warm smiles.

“Senior Chen Yan?”

Chen Yan’s fingers paused just as he finished sending the photo to Meng Chi. Looking up at the sound, he saw Song Min staring at him in surprise from the direction he had just secretly photographed.

“What are you doing here too?” Song Min asked in delighted surprise.

That startled cry of his successfully made the happily conversing Yu Tingzhi and Song Chen look over toward Chen Yan.

Chen Yan gave a dry laugh: “Of course I came to play.”

Song Min nodded and asked again: “What are you standing at the doorway for? Why don’t you come in?”

The Xichi Tea Culture Museum was composed of five relatively independent yet interconnected exhibition spaces: Tea History, Tea Essence, Tea Affairs, Tea Utensils, and Tea Customs.

Passing through the prologue hall brought one to the Tea History Hall. The exhibits here were arranged along the main thread of the development of tea culture—some classical records, some ancient paintings—displaying the court and secular tea culture of various stages in ancient times, with special emphasis on highlights such as the Tea-Horse Road of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The spot where Chen Yan stood was exactly at the junction of the prologue hall and the Tea History Hall; the nearest exhibit was still ten meters away from him.

“I’m waiting for someone,” Chen Yan put away his phone. Seeing Yu Tingzhi walk over, he called out “Teacher Yu.”

Yu Tingzhi gave a slight nod. Song Min pointed at Song Chen and said: “This is my older brother. He might also become your teacher later.”

“Ah? What do you mean?” Chen Yan was stunned and looked at Song Chen in confusion.

“My older brother should also be coming to teach in the sculpture department at our school next semester,” Song Min said, then turned to Song Chen. “Ge, this is Chen Yan, a senior in our club.”

Song Chen smiled faintly and nodded: “I’ve heard Xiao Min mention you before.”

Chen Yan was stunned again. In all fairness, Song Chen’s appearance was also very outstanding. He was very tall, only two or three centimeters shorter than Yu Tingzhi. Dressed in a set of rice-white casual clothes, with delicate features and a gentle temperament, he made Chen Yan think of the line “A jade-like gentleman on the path, a young master unmatched in the world.”

Song Chen’s noble and cool temperament was different from Yu Tingzhi’s; the lines of his brows and eyes were softer, making him appear gentle and approachable. Standing together, the two of them actually gave off a somewhat matching feeling.

Most likely teaching at the school was the pretext, and getting back together after the broken mirror was the real goal.

This time the wild bottom has met his match.

Chen Yan muttered to himself.

“Are you waiting here for Zhou Wan? But their class is only coming to the museum in the afternoon,” Song Min said.

“Who’s waiting for him!” Chen Yan’s temper flared the moment he heard that name. “I’m waiting for Meng Chi. When visiting a tea culture museum, don’t you need someone who understands it to keep you company?”

As he said this, Chen Yan cast a sidelong glance at Yu Tingzhi out of the corner of his eye.

Before Song Min could speak, Yu Tingzhi opened his mouth to ask: “He came back to Xichi?”

Tsk, still cares a lot, huh. Looks like our wild bottom still has a chance.

“Yes,” Chen Yan thought to himself as he glanced at the time on his phone. “He should be here any moment now.”

The high-speed rail station in Xichi was not far from the museum. After about ten minutes, Meng Chi arrived at the museum entrance.

At that moment, Yu Tingzhi and Song Chen were standing in front of the painting Tuning the Qin and Sipping Tea Scroll, listening to Song Chen talk about how he had been fortunate enough to see the original at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art abroad.

“When I saw that painting, I thought of the Lady with a Fan I saw at the Palace Museum when we were in university. At the time, you even argued with a visiting scholar about who was superior—Zhou Fang or Zhang Xuan,” Song Chen’s face showed a nostalgic expression as he looked at Yu Tingzhi. “You thought Zhou Fang was better.”

Back then Yu Tingzhi was still in university. Calling it an argument was certainly an overstatement; he had only casually expressed his own view.

Yu Tingzhi: “Although Zhou Fang imitated Zhang Xuan, in terms of innovation and expression in lady paintings he had a few more degrees of spiritual charm than Zhang Xuan…”

“Not only similar in form, but also similar in spirit,” Song Chen smiled as he completed the sentence Yu Tingzhi had once spoken. “As if seeing the emotion.”

Yu Tingzhi glanced at him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he revealed a faint smile.

What Meng Chi saw upon entering was precisely this scene.

This was not the first time he had seen Yu Tingzhi’s smiling face, yet it was the first time he found it a bit glaring.

“Over here!” Chen Yan saw Meng Chi and waved to him in indication.

This call interrupted the conversation between Yu Tingzhi and Song Chen. Yu Tingzhi turned his head and looked in Meng Chi’s direction. The residual smile on his face slowly receded, returning to a cold expression.

“If you’d come any slower, we wouldn’t even get lunch,” Chen Yan said with an ambiguous meaning.

Meng Chi laughed once. His gaze swept over the three people looking at him, finally stopping on Song Min’s face.

“Teacher Meng,” Song Min squeezed out a smile toward him. “Long time no see.”

This was the first time they had met since the night Meng Chi was rejected at the bar. Song Min felt a bit embarrassed and switched back to the polite form of address.

“It has been quite a while,” Meng Chi replied very calmly, then looked toward Song Chen beside him. “This is your older brother, right? You look a lot alike.”

Song Min nodded and introduced Meng Chi to Song Chen: “This is Teacher Meng. Although I call him teacher, he’s not a teacher—he’s a tea master.”

Song Chen’s brows lifted slightly. He smiled and nodded in greeting: “Hello, I’m Song Chen.”

Meng Chi: “Meng Chi.”

After the somewhat awkward greetings were exchanged, Meng Chi finally turned his gaze toward Yu Tingzhi, who had been looking at him the whole time, and asked with a smile: “Teacher Yu, why have you been staring at me the whole time?”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t coming back?” Yu Tingzhi asked. “Why did you suddenly come back?”

Meng Chi curved his lips in a smile toward him and asked in return: “You don’t want me to come back?”

Yu Tingzhi: “No.”

Meng Chi laughed once and explained: “Plans changed. That brat Chen Yan insisted on calling me over.”

Chen Yan: “…When the fuck did I call you over?”

Yu Tingzhi glanced expressionlessly at Chen Yan. Chen Yan inexplicably felt a bit intimidated, as if he had been caught daydreaming in class and received a cold sweep of the teacher’s eyes that made his heart tremble.

“Let’s go, let’s go. We’re here to see the exhibition, not to chat,” Chen Yan averted his gaze, pushed the still-dazed Song Min who had been staring at Yu Tingzhi and Meng Chi, and took the lead walking inside, not forgetting to turn back and call to the other third wheel. “Brother Song, hurry up.”

Song Min’s expression turned strange: “You’re calling my Ge ‘Brother Song’?”

Chen Yan: “What else should I call him? He’s not a teacher yet, is he?”

Song Min: “…Call him something else.”

Chen Yan gave a snorting laugh: “Your Ge doesn’t mind—what’s your problem?”

Song Chen had no time to care about Chen Yan’s form of address. His gaze traveled back and forth between Yu Tingzhi and Meng Chi, then he opened his mouth and called “Tingzhi.” Only when they looked over did he glance at Meng Chi and say: “Let’s go in too.”

Meng Chi’s brows lifted very lightly, then he raised his feet and walked toward Chen Yan’s direction.

The Tea History Hall took history as its theme, opening with a thousand-year-old wild tea tree, then beginning with the story of Shennong tasting the hundred herbs. It displayed crude drinking vessels, exquisite court tea utensils, historical relics of tea culture, as well as poems, songs, and monographs on tea from successive dynasties.

As the group entered the depths of the Tea History Hall, apart from Chen Yan and Song Min who had walked a bit farther ahead, the distance among Song Chen, Yu Tingzhi, and Meng Chi was no more than half a meter. They all strolled through the exhibition hall neither hurriedly nor slowly.

Song Chen sometimes looked around, sometimes stopped and lingered, chatting with Yu Tingzhi about certain exhibits. Meng Chi pricked up his ears to listen while looking at the messages Chen Yan was sending him on his phone.

【You’d better step up your game. This love rival of yours came prepared】

Meng Chi typed on the keyboard and asked 【What do you mean】.

Chen Yan rattled off the news that Song Chen might be coming to teach at Zewu University.

Tsk, looks like he really did come seeking a reunion.

Thinking this, Meng Chi lifted his eyes and glanced at Song Chen standing beside a display case. When he withdrew his gaze he happened to collide with the look Yu Tingzhi was casting over.

“Teacher Meng, are you very busy?” Yu Tingzhi asked him.

Hearing this form of address, a subtle flash passed through Meng Chi’s heart: “Not really.”

Yu Tingzhi glanced at his phone: “You don’t seem to have much interest in these exhibits. Didn’t you come to see the exhibition?”

“Since Mr. Meng is a tea master, he should be very familiar with all of this, right?” Song Chen interjected at the right moment.

Meng Chi smiled: “Yes. I’ve been here several times; I’ve seen these exhibits many times.”

Yu Tingzhi raised a brow and said calmly: “I haven’t seen them.”

Before Meng Chi could speak, Yu Tingzhi added: “You know a lot—won’t you introduce them to me?”

Meng Chi met Yu Tingzhi’s gaze. A bit of amusement surfaced in his slightly narrowed eyes as he remained silent without speaking.

They locked eyes in silence, as if probing each other and yet as if locked in a stalemate.

Yu Tingzhi and Meng Chi held each other’s gaze for about four or five seconds. In the end it was Meng Chi who lost. He laughed softly, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and took on the role of guide, introducing everything from the origin of the tea tree to the tea culture of the Tang and Song dynasties.

Song Chen’s gaze traveled back and forth between the two of them again. His brows furrowed lightly; the emotion in his eyes was somewhat subtle. He quietly listened to Meng Chi speak, yet the corner of his eye remained fixed on Yu Tingzhi, who kept asking questions from time to time.

In addition to the tea utensils of the Tang and Song periods, the exhibition hall also had replicas of famous paintings related to tea from the Tang and Song dynasties.

When they reached the area displaying calligraphy and paintings, Song Chen’s words began to increase. From time to time he discussed the brushwork and freehand style of those paintings with Yu Tingzhi, clearly having deep research into the history of fine arts.

“The Tang dynasty can be considered the true originating period of tea culture. It truly flourished in the Song dynasty. Some people say tea culture is…”

“Rose in the Tang, flourished in the Song.” Before Meng Chi could finish, Song Chen completed the sentence.

“That’s right,” Meng Chi smiled and nodded.

Song Chen looked toward Yu Tingzhi again: “Literati painting seems to be the same.”

“No. Literati painting can only be said to have begun in the Tang and flourished in the Song,” Yu Tingzhi said.

Song Chen smiled and continued chatting with him about the painting art of the Tang and Song periods.

Meng Chi was not familiar with these things, so he did not interject. Seeing that the situation was not right, Chen Yan ran over and pulled Meng Chi to the side by the vending machine.

“How about it? Doesn’t this love rival of yours have a bit of something?” Chen Yan said. “I just asked Song Min. Song Chen studied sculpture. In university he and Teacher Yu were in the same college. They got together at that time—seems like it was their first love. Later Song Chen was going abroad for further study, Teacher Yu didn’t go, and that’s how the two of them broke up.”

Meng Chi bought water while listening quietly. With no particular expression on his face he repeated the word “first love.”

“Yeah, first love.” Chen Yan clicked his tongue. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced in the direction of Song Chen and happened to see Yu Tingzhi looking this way. That guilty feeling of being caught red-handed appeared again.

Meng Chi suddenly laughed softly: “I have an idea of what’s going on. Don’t worry yourself over nothing.”

“Fine.” Seeing his confident, sure-of-himself appearance, Chen Yan said nothing more.

Meng Chi took the mineral water he had bought from the vending machine and said to Chen Yan, “Go ask Song Min and his Ge what they want to drink.” Yet the voice that answered him was Yu Tingzhi’s.

“Why not ask me?”

Meng Chi turned his head and saw that Yu Tingzhi had already walked over to his side, while Chen Yan had gone over to Song Chen’s side and was chatting with him.

Meng Chi laughed once and asked Yu Tingzhi: “Then what do you want to drink?”

Yu Tingzhi: “Mineral water.”

Meng Chi was about to press the button for mineral water when Yu Tingzhi pulled the half-drunk water from his hand: “Isn’t this already here?”

Meng Chi arched a brow and quietly watched him unscrew the bottle cap and drink a mouthful from the mouth of the bottle that Meng Chi himself had just touched.

While waiting for the vending machine to dispense the drink, Meng Chi suddenly opened his mouth: “Teacher Yu, it seems you don’t have much interest in these exhibits either.”

As he spoke he paused, lifted the corner of his eye to glance at Yu Tingzhi, and slowed his tone: “Your eyes have been stuck on me the whole time.”

Yu Tingzhi neither confirmed nor denied. Instead he asked: “You suddenly ran over here—was it really just because Chen Yan called you?”

The expression on Meng Chi’s face froze for an instant. Then he turned his eyes toward Yu Tingzhi. After two or three seconds he said: “Actually, not entirely.”

“Hmm?” Yu Tingzhi’s brows lifted slightly as he waited quietly for what came next.

In the rise and fall of his lashes, Meng Chi’s gaze suddenly became tender and affectionate, pouring like water into the depths of Yu Tingzhi’s eyes.

He turned around to face Yu Tingzhi, tilted his head against the vending machine, curved the corners of his mouth, and spoke with an ambiguous meaning: “I came mainly to take away what’s mine, so no one can snatch it midway.”