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Several days passed by uneventfully.
One morning, Le You enthusiastically recommended a new restaurant in City A to the group chat. She said the restaurant was excellent, with delicious dishes, a stylish interior, and beautiful scenery outside.
She tagged Lu Yunshu, who was currently embroiled in a mind-bending love affair, and mentioned that it was the perfect location for a date.
Lu Yunshu had just closed her work documents and picked up her phone when she saw that she had been mentioned.
“…”
[Le You]: Need me to book a table for you, President Lu?
[Le You]: The owner is a friend of mine, so I can reserve a seat for you in advance~
“…”
Lu Yunshu casually clicked on the photos of the restaurant that Le You had shared.
The restaurant was built halfway up a mountain, far from the city’s hustle and bustle. In the pictures, it offered views of the setting sun dying the horizon in hues of red and orange, the darkened sky giving way to a sea of stars, each one twinkling brightly.
The thought of sitting at a restaurant and watching the sunset with your lover while enjoying plates of delicious food…indeed, it was quite wonderful.
But Lu Yunshu didn’t have a lover yet. Nor did she have an excuse—any excuse to ask her crush out to dinner.
She stared at the restaurant photos, not saying a word.
Then, she opened Jin Hanshuang’s WeChat.
—That’s right, it was better to be more direct.
Her finger hovered over the voice message option, hesitating for two long seconds, before ultimately choosing to bring up the on-screen keyboard instead.
If she sent too many voice messages, she worried that her feelings would be obvious and easy to expose. Best to type some words properly.
[Are you available?]
A few minutes later, Jin Hanshuang replied: [Just saw your texts. Why, did something happen?]
Lu Yunshu pressed the voice message button. “I want to treat you to a meal.”
[Jin Hanshuang]: A meal?
[Jin Hanshuang]: Why?[1]
Lu Yunshu lowered her head in thought.
She came up with an excuse.
“Because the person I like accepted my gift, I’m happy and want to celebrate. I just happened to discover a new restaurant recently, the food is delicious and the scenery is beautiful, so I wanted to invite you to celebrate with me as well as check out the restaurant together.”
Jin Hanshuang understood immediately.
[Jin Hanshuang]: So President Lu wants to drag me along for an evaluation.
[Jin Hanshuang]: If the restaurant is good, you will take her next time, right?
Lu Yunshu’s lips curled.
[Jiejie is so smart.]
When Jin Hanshuang read these four words, she couldn’t help but shake her head.
This kid’s thoughts were so easy to read, she had seen through them right away.
[Jin Hanshuang]: Why aren’t you going with your friends?
[Lu Yunshu]: I want to go with someone I can talk to about her.
[Lu Yunshu]: My friends don’t know that I’m a—
Lu Yunshu didn’t need to finish the sentence for Jin Hanshuang to fill in the blanks.
Jin Hanshuang remembered the day that Lu Yunshu had come to her for love advice.
What did Lu Yunshu say that day?
Oh, right—she mentioned that, amongst her circle of friends, she only knew herself and Jin Hanshuang as women who also liked other women.
As the memory faded, Jin Hanshuang looked at Lu Yunshu’s message again, and a wave of sympathy washed over her.
It seemed like this kid had been bottling things up in front of her friends for quite a while. It must not be easy. How pitiful.
[Jin Hanshuang]: When are you thinking?
Getting repaid for a favor—it was only right that she went.
[Are you free tonight?]
[I am.]
[Then see you tonight.]
[Alright, see you.]
Le You suddenly received three messages from Lu Yunshu.
[Make a reservation for me.
[Tonight.
[Thank you, Miss Le.]
Le You: “?”
So quickly???
In the early evening, Lu Yunshu and Jin Hanshuang arrived at the new restaurant right on time. It was the perfect hour to watch the sunset, a treat specially arranged by Le You. And their table was by the window—also arranged by Le You.
Miss Le had worked very hard for her friend’s happiness.
After sitting down, Jin Hanshuang sincerely praised, “Wow, the view here is really amazing.”
Outside the window, high-rise skyscrapers condensed into a prosperous sphere of human activity. Above the city, the soft pink afterglow painted the sky along the distant horizon, magnificent and beautiful.
Jin Hanshuang took out her phone, snapped several photos, and sent them to her friends.
Then she turned to Lu Yunshu and praised with a lazy smile, “President Lu has great taste.”
Lu Yunshu’s lips curved. “As long as jiejie likes it.”
She couldn’t help but glance at Jin Hanshuang’s ears, where the crescent earrings she had gifted her idol sparkled beautifully.
Retracting her gaze, her mood lifted even more.
Jin Hanshuang didn’t think much of it. “You’re spoiling me, President Lu.”
The new restaurant was indeed impressive.
As Le You promised, the scenery proved stunning and the food suited their tastes. It was their first time having a meal together, and the two of them enjoyed a harmonious dinner.
After they left the restaurant, they slowly walked along the repaired mountain path toward the parking lot.
The sun had already set, the sky dimming around them. Their path was lit with string lights shaped like stars, crisscrossing above them like a net of the Milky Way, illuminating the road under their feet as the evening breeze gently brushed past them.
—Everything was perfect.
In this moment, Jin Hanshuang said, “The restaurant is very good. You can rest assured bringing her here.”
Lu Yunshu smiled slightly, careful not to show too much joy.
She said, “Alright, I will bring her next time.”
Jin Hanshuang glanced around and added, “Don’t let her drive. You should pick her up yourself and park the car a bit farther away. After dinner, take a walk along this path, chatting as you stroll. Take your time.
“The mountain trail is arranged so beautifully, and the cool breeze—it’s perfect for fostering a little romantic ambiguity.”
Lu Yunshu raised her eyebrows, obediently replying, “I understand.”
She had made a mistake: She should have picked Jin Hanshuang up herself tonight.
Jin Hanshuang nodded.
The conversation came to a stall.
Once again, Lu Yunshu took the initiative to start over.
“What if she doesn’t like it…then what do I do?”
Jin Hanshuang was stumped by this question.
If the person she liked didn’t enjoy such a beautiful place, chosen with so much care, what should Lu Yunshu do?
Jin Hanshuang glanced at Lu Yunshu and witnessed her overly sincere expression, tinged with a hint of distress, making her look somewhat pitiful.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“What should you do? Maybe you could act pitiful around her, get her to soften her heart.”
“En?” Lu Yunshu didn’t understand.
They stopped walking.
Jin Hanshuang faced Lu Yunshu and said with a bright smile, “Did you know sometimes you look really pitiful? Like a little puppy, so pitiful that people can’t do anything about it.”
The smile in her eyes deepened. “I never expected the great President Lu to have this side.”
Lu Yunshu blinked gently, hesitating.
Did…she?
Jin Hanshuang held her (own) cheek and said, “I never expected you to be like this when you grow up. Wenxin probably never expected it either.”
“Don’t tell her.”
Lu Yunshu’s tone suddenly became serious, with a trace of childish stubbornness.
“She’ll laugh at me.”
Jin Hanshuang was caught off guard by Lu Yunshu’s cuteness.
She couldn’t hold herself back and soon burst into laughter.
“You’re afraid of her laughing, but not jiejie laughing?”
Lu Yunshu looked at her. “You’re already laughing.”
Jin Hanshuang pressed her lips together and gazed at her silently, as if to say: See, I’m not laughing anymore.
Lu Yunshu sighed softly, a helpless expression on her face. “Jiejie can laugh, but only her.”
Jin Hanshuang’s lips curved into another smile.
“So cute.”
Lu Yunshu was stunned.
Cute…
Jin Hanshuang said she was cute.
Then, a gentle hand fell on top of her head, gently stroking through her hair.
Jin Hanshuang even took the initiative to touch her.
She couldn’t help it, because the person in front of her was just too adorable.
Serious yet childish, so endearing that she unconsciously crossed a line.
The two of them locked eyes, and for a moment, the air stagnated.
Lu Yunshu suddenly asked, “Can I be your friend?”
She broke the silence.
“What?”
“Be your friend.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Because I’m cute.”
“?”
“This cute person wants to be jiejie’s friend.”
Lu Yunshu’s tone was so serious that Jin Hanshuang couldn’t hold back another laugh.
It was absurd, so inexplicable.
Inexplicably cute but also inexplicably serious, not annoying at all.
Then again, why not?
If, in the future, the Lu family and Shen family were ever to live in harmony, this could be the first step.
Jin Hanshuang responded softly, “Since President Lu is so cute, of course she can.”
“Don’t call me President Lu,” Lu Yunshu said, “It feels too distant.”
Her brows were furrowed slightly, looking troubled and a little displeased.
In Jin Hanshuang’s eyes, she appeared very pitiful.
Jin Hanshuang was silent for two seconds.
Then she reached out to gently pat her head. “Alright, Little Classmate Lu[2].”
Little Classmate Lu.
Lu Yunshu was reminded of her school days again.
“You used to call me that too.”
Jin Hanshuang withdrew her hand. “You still remember?”
When Lu Yunshu and Shen Wenxin were in high school and their families lived close by, Jin Hanshuang didn’t quite know what to call Lu Yunshu when she saw her.
Calling her “Yunshu” felt inappropriate. It was too intimate.
But calling her “Miss Lu” seemed odd, completely out of tune with the environment.
So she settled on calling her “Classmate Lu” or “Little Classmate Lu,” polite but fitting.
“Of course, I remember.”
Lu Yunshu unconsciously mimicked her tone.
“And I remember what you taught me, Teacher Jin.”
She was referring to the present.
Jin Hanshuang smiled. “Then you better put it to good use and start a sweet relationship as soon as possible.”
Lu Yunshu couldn’t help but sneak a glance.
She lowered her eyes. “I’ll try.”
Then she slipped her hand into one of her trouser pockets.
She suddenly said, “Hanshuang, give me your hand.”
Jin Hanshuang, caught off guard by Lu Yunshu’s intimate address, didn’t react right away. This was the first time she heard Lu Yunshu call her by her first name, and it felt very unfamiliar.
But Lu Yunshu said it so naturally and intimately, as if they had always been this close, never alienated as acquaintances.
“What is it?”
“I want to show you something.”
Still puzzled, Jin Hanshuang extended her hand.
Then she saw Lu Yunshu slide something round onto her wrist like a magic trick.
She blinked in surprise, then looked closely.
—It was a hair tie.
A small, floral hair tie.
She had never seen it before. It wasn’t hers.
She looked up at Lu Yunshu.
Lu Yunshu said, “I saw it today and thought it was very cute, so I bought it for you.”
Behind gold-rimmed lenses, her gaze met Jin Hanshuang’s, a smile playing on her lips. “Consider it a little gift to celebrate Little Classmate Lu and Teacher Jin becoming friends.”
As night fell, the star-studded string lights quietly glowed around them.
As dusk settled over the evening, the star-studded lights sparkled with life, their soft orange glow delicately illuminating the charming light in her eyes. The night wind blew across her long hair, carrying the subtle scent of her perfume.
Suddenly, everything about her—bright and delicate, like the lights around them—appeared right before Jin Hanshuang, impossible to ignore.
Jin Hanshuang stood stunned for a moment, before coming back to her senses.
She asked, “Why do you like giving people gifts so much?”
Lu Yunshu answered without hesitation, “Because I’m the kind of friend who enjoys giving gifts.”
Jin Hanshuang was amused. “Is that so? It seems like being friends with Pres—Little Classmate Lu comes with great benefits.”
Lu Yunshu smiled when she heard Jin Hanshuang deliberately change the form of address.
Not being called “President Lu” felt so much better.
Jin Hanshuang watched the smile spread across Lu Yunshu’s face.
She silently fiddled with the small, floral hair tie.
Everything should be perfect, but she suddenly felt like something wasn’t quite right…
The author (热到昏厥) has something to say:
Little Classmate Lu experienced happiness yet again.
[1] The original Chinese text (好好的请我吃什么饭?) reads something like “everything is going fine so why am I being treated to a meal?” This is a pretty casual sentence structure in Chinese but translates as somewhat overly formal in English, so after some consideration, I reduced it to a single “Why?” to capture the effect of being a native speaker. Let me know your thoughts.
[2] 小路同学 (xiǎolù tóngxué) or literally “Little Lu Classmate.” In Chinese grammatic convention, a person’s title goes after the name. Here, Jin Hanshuang uses the title “同学” or classmate, which can literally refer to your classmate, or less literally, to someone who is young and in school. In addition, the word “小” (or small) before a name implies a young person or child. Jin Hanshuang combines these two titles to create the phrase “Little Lu Classmate” or more naturally in English, “Little Classmate Lu.”
