The breath puffed up in Tao Zhi’s cheeks spilled out all at once, leaving her momentarily unable to react.

She had thought she was already being straightforward enough, but she hadn’t expected Jiang Qihuai to be even more blunt than she was, asking so directly without any preamble.

Although she had indeed been showing it rather obviously lately.

Still, hearing him ask it so plainly caught her off guard.

Tao Zhi held her breath, her lowered head suddenly lifting, looking at him under the streetlight.

In the next second, she almost jumped in place like a startled cat darting out from a corner, then took two steps back, pressing against the cold wall, her dark eyes wide as she looked at him.

Exactly like that frightened cat that had just fled.

It wasn’t “Do you want to be my girlfriend?” that Jiang Qihuai asked, but “Do you like me?”

A question — one that allowed two answers.

If she said she did, then Jiang Qihuai would also have two possible replies.

“I like you too.” Or, “I don’t like you. Please don’t trouble yourself over me, and don’t keep liking me.”

Tao Zhi already had a rough idea in her heart which of the two answers was more likely, but she didn’t really want to admit that she might be rejected.

Yet she was also unwilling to deny that she liked him.

At least for now, she liked this person very much.

Even if it was just empty words, even if it was only a lie, Tao Zhi didn’t want to deny that fact.

Liking was liking.

She frowned as she looked at him, racking her brains for a long time before she finally spoke with some difficulty.

“This is hard to say.”

“……”

Jiang Qihuai’s voice was calm. “What’s hard to say.”

“It’s just… hard to say.” Tao Zhi pressed her finger against the wall, scratching at the paint nervously, stammering, “I have to think about it. I’ll give you an answer in a few days.”

Jiang Qihuai: “……”

With one question, she had instantly turned the tables on him. The stifled emotion in his chest was blocked and thrown back at once. Jiang Qihuai felt both exasperated and amused. Without changing expression, he slowly stepped forward.

“You still have to think about whether you like me or not?”

Tao Zhi looked at him and nervously licked her lips.

He took another step forward.

“Do I have to ask before you start thinking about it?”

The alley was narrow, only two or three people wide. Tao Zhi pressed herself against the wall, watching as he came closer step by step, his long shadow enclosing her completely.

Jiang Qihuai caged her between the wall and his body, leaning down slightly, lowering his eyes to look at her. His breath surrounded her instantly.

“What did you come here for today? To show off your senior’s tutoring?”

The warmth of the young man’s breath was in stark contrast to the cold air outside. At such close distance, his voice brushed right against her ear, each warm puff of breath brushing across the rim. Tao Zhi’s breathing went uneven, her fingertips tingling, her mind starting to short-circuit.

No.

I came to ask for a hug.

Tao Zhi lowered her eyelids. Her heart was beating fast and hard, so loud she thought it was pounding right by her ears.

She suddenly moved—her whole body leaning forward half a step.

Jiang Qihuai was still bent slightly toward her when Tao Zhi abruptly lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck as she leaned in completely.

Her soft body pressed against him through their coats, her forehead resting lightly on his shoulder. She hugged him gently.

The scent of her shampoo, faintly sweet, lingered at the tip of his nose.

Jiang Qihuai froze where he stood.

Tao Zhi’s head rubbed against his shoulder, nuzzling softly. Her voice was small as she said, “That’s what I came for.”

After speaking, she instantly released her arms, pulling away again, slipping through the narrow space between him and the wall, darting out of his arms, and running off without looking back.

At one end of the alley was dim yellow light; at the other, the bright glow of night.

Her silhouette broke away from the darkness, like Cinderella when the midnight bell rang—fleeing hurriedly against the light.

Jiang Qihuai stood there for a long while, until Tao Zhi’s shadow had completely vanished from his sight.

He raised his arm, his fingers touching the back of his neck exposed above the collar, the pads of his fingers rubbing lightly.

Her fingertips had just rested there—cold, soft, leaving a trace that lingered beneath his skin.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When Tao Zhi ran back home, dinner had just finished.

Tao Xiuping sat on the sofa with his laptop, handling work emails, while Ji Fan lay across the couch reading a comic book.

Tao Zhi took off her bag, tossed her coat aside, and padded into the living room in her slippers.

As soon as she looked up, she saw the father and son both staring straight at her.

Ji Fan’s eyes peeked out from above the comic book.

Tao Xiuping lowered his head slightly, looking at her over the rim of his gold-framed glasses.

Ji Fan said, “Where did you go?”

Tao Xiuping added, “Didn’t come home for dinner?”

“……”

Feeling a bit guilty, Tao Zhi scratched her nose and said casually, “I went to eat with Timely Rain.”

“Oh, that’s fine then.” Ji Fan relaxed and went back to his comic.

Tao Xiuping could tell at a glance she was lying, but he didn’t say anything—just pushed up his glasses and continued working.

Tao Zhi let out a sigh of relief, walked over, dropped her schoolbag onto the sofa, sat down beside Ji Fan, and pulled out an exercise book.

She bent one leg up onto the couch, resting the workbook on her knee as she began to read.

Tao Xiuping’s keyboard clacked as he typed. Without looking up, he asked casually, “That little boy you like, what’s his name again?”

Ji Fan, still looking at his comic, lazily turned a page. “Little bastard.”

Tao Zhi lifted her hand and smacked him on the head.

Ji Fan yelped, clutching his head. “Jiang Qihuai! There, happy?”

Tao Xiuping nodded approvingly. “Surname Jiang? That’s a good name.”

“It’s mainly ’cause his dad’s surname is good,” Ji Fan muttered. “Look at someone in this house—got stuck with a fruit for a name.”

Tao Zhi’s pen paused mid-stroke. His words suddenly reminded her of what had happened that afternoon in the kitchen.

Jiang Qihuai was allergic to peaches.

And her surname was Tao.

It felt as though, in the unseen workings of fate, the two of them were destined not to be a perfect match.

Why did she have to be surnamed “Tao”?

Why couldn’t she have been a Li, or an Xing, or even a Grape, or something else?

Tao Zhi frowned, feeling a little unhappy. She looked up at Tao Xiuping.

“Dad.”

Tao Xiuping raised his head. “Hm?”

“I don’t want to be called Tao Zhi anymore,” she said seriously.

“Then what do you want to be called?” Tao Xiuping respected her opinion and asked, “Tao Xiaozhi? Tao Meimei? Or how about Tao Big Fatty? You were pretty chubby when you were little.”

“The name doesn’t matter. Anything is fine,” Tao Zhi sighed gloomily. “I just don’t want the surname Tao.”

Tao Xiuping nodded. “You just don’t want the surname Tao, huh? Sounds to me like you want to ascend to heaven.”

“You can take my surname, call yourself Ji Shangtian,” Ji Fan said. “Let’s isolate Old Tao.”

“Alright, you two, that’s enough,” Tao Xiuping glanced at him, then looked at Tao Zhi again.

“Tell Dad—why don’t you suddenly want your name anymore? Did someone say it sounds bad?”

“No one said that,” Tao Zhi refused to admit her childish reasoning. “I just suddenly don’t want to be surnamed Tao.”

“She just suddenly wants to ascend to heaven,” Ji Fan said, growing more animated.

Tao Zhi grabbed a sofa cushion and shoved it into his face.

Ji Fan struggled to pull the cushion off.

Tao Xiuping set his laptop aside, leaned forward, and picked up his teacup from the coffee table, taking a sip.

“Our little princess has been full of strange ideas lately.”

“That’s what girls in one-sided love are like. Can’t be helped,” Ji Fan said, hugging the cushion.

Tao Xiuping sighed. “In a few days, I won’t be the most handsome man in the world anymore.”

Ji Fan: “Soon enough, her elbows will start turning outward.” [Note: Chinese idiom meaning “favoring outsiders over one’s own family.”]

“When a daughter grows up, she can’t be kept.” Tao Xiuping said.

“Even if you try, you can’t keep her,” Ji Fan added languidly.

“……”

Tao Zhi didn’t want to listen to the two of them performing their duet anymore. Her head was a mess, and she couldn’t focus on her exercises. She gathered up her workbook and went upstairs to her room.

The bedroom was quiet. Tao Zhi stood beside the bed holding her workbook, then stiffly fell forward, face-first onto the mattress with a dull thud.

Her head buried in the blanket, she rubbed her face against the quilt corner.

Suddenly, Tao Zhi felt a little regretful—she had been too timid before and had missed such a perfect chance to confess to Jiang Qihuai.

But she didn’t want to rush into a confession and end up being rejected either.

She needed to think of a way so that even if Jiang Qihuai didn’t agree, he wouldn’t be able to say the word “no.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

For several days in a row, Tao Zhi didn’t bring the matter up again.

Zhao Mingqi had been especially energetic lately. Normally, when he went out to play, chat, or shoot hoops, it was just an excuse to slack off and have fun. But with the school sports meet just around the corner, everything he did suddenly had a reason: playing basketball was “to strengthen the body and prepare for upcoming events,” chatting with classmates was “to earnestly persuade them to sign up for competitions.”

The students in Class One were all outstanding academically, but when it came to sports or extracurricular activities, most of them were just average. Aside from a few boys, everyone else lacked enthusiasm. Zhao Mingqi had to bribe, coax, and lure them with snacks just to fill all the event slots. After much effort, he finally managed to complete the sign-up sheet and handed it to the P.E. teacher.

Under his relentless persuasion, Tao Zhi ended up signing up for two events as well.

The sports meet was scheduled for mid-November. Since the school’s outdoor track was under renovation, they temporarily borrowed the nearby Imperial Capital Second Medical University’s field.

The day before, Tao Zhi had checked the map and noticed that this school wasn’t far from Jiang Qihuai’s house. If she went from her home, she would pass right by it.

The next morning, she got up early, washed up, and even banged on Ji Fan’s and Tao Xiuping’s doors to wake them up, insisting they leave half an hour earlier.

The father and son yawned one after another, while she sat in the back seat bright-eyed, a bag full of snacks on her lap, nervously pressing her lips together.

When the car turned onto Jiang Qihuai’s street, Tao Zhi’s eyes lit up. She straightened and patted the driver’s seat.

“Dad, stop the car for a sec.”

Tao Xiuping slowly pulled over to the side and stopped, turning around. “What is it? Did you forget something?”

“No, I’m just going to find my classmate,” Tao Zhi said as she opened the car door. She turned back quickly. “You guys go ahead, I’ll head there with my classmate later!”

Before Tao Xiuping could say anything, the girl had already dashed off with her little backpack. The light was green, and she skipped across the street, trotting all the way down until her figure disappeared from view.

Tao Xiuping looked back at Ji Fan. “What’s up with this kid?”

Ji Fan yawned and waggled his brows. “What else could it be? She’s off to see that someone.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It was a late autumn morning, heavy with frost and dew. The sky was gloomy, thick clouds blocking out the sun.

Tao Zhi jogged all the way to the alley in front of Jiang Qihuai’s house. She stopped, bent over with her hands on her knees, taking small, shallow breaths as she tried to steady her breathing.

Her heart was racing—she wasn’t sure if it was from running or from something else.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, she straightened up, leaned against the wall, and took a deep breath to calm herself.

The street had lost the bustle of nighttime; it was quiet and empty. Daylight spilled over the narrow alley, illuminating the dim, elongated path.

Tao Zhi rubbed her cold, stiff fingers together and waited there for a while.

After about ten minutes, a figure appeared at the far end.

He walked forward through the morning mist, and when the two were only a few meters apart, his steps slowed.

Tao Zhi lifted her head and looked at him. Through the haze, she gazed at his faint, blurred outline.

Jiang Qihuai slowly walked closer.

Tao Zhi stayed where she was, watching him approach. Her heart started pounding faster, her mouth went dry, and her saliva glands worked overtime. By the time he stopped in front of her, she could barely think.

He seemed to have just taken a shower—his hair was still damp at the ends, and there was a faint, barely noticeable scent of body wash around him.

Tao Zhi swallowed hard, looked up at him, then lowered her head again.

“I thought about it,” she said softly. “I like you.”

“…I like you very much.”

Her voice collided with the cold air as it entered his ears.

Tao Zhi scuffed the tip of her shoe against the concrete ground, her fingers clutching tightly at the cuffs of her coat sleeves. She couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from nerves—her voice itself seemed to tremble.

He was such an exceptional person.

Good grades, good at sports too, and easily the best-looking in the whole world.

The only flaw he had was a bit of a difficult personality.

But that was fine—she had a good temperament. She could make up for that tiny, harmless shortcoming.

The only problem was—

Tao Zhi lowered her eyes, and a faint, unfamiliar sense of inferiority rose in her heart. It felt stuffy, like the weather that morning—gray and sunless.

In a very small voice, she said, “But right now, I can’t score seven hundred points.”

Jiang Qihuai looked at her.

The tip of the girl’s nose was red; her long lashes drooped and trembled slightly. She looked both downcast and sad—it made one almost want to reach out and pat her head.

He stood there with his hands at his sides, not moving, and simply asked, “So?”

“So,” Tao Zhi licked her lips, summoning her courage to raise her head. She blinked up at him and said tentatively, “Can you… let me take the test a few more times?”