The hotel was located in the suburbs of Shanghai, where the air was particularly fresh.
After dinner, Zhong Tingyue pulled Chu Fang out for a walk.
As they walked out of their room, the door to the room next door opened, and the couple came out with their child.
"Are you two going for a walk?" the hostess asked with a smile.
"Yes," Zhong Tingyue replied with a smile.
They walked down from the hotel together. Along the way, Chu Fang felt that Mr. Liu and Ms. Cen, the couple, were giving him strange looks.
"Ms. Zhong, do you think they're looking at me strangely?" Chu Fang scratched the back of his head.
"What do you mean?" Zhong Tingyue took his arm.
"Um..." Chu Fang thought for a few seconds, "That couple looks at me with a 'disappointed' kind of gaze."
Zhong Tingyue didn't think much of it: "We don't know them, and they barely know us. Where would that kind of look come from? You must be imagining things."
"Maybe," Chu Fang didn't dwell on it.
The two strolled along the street, and after a while, they arrived at a nearby square, where they met the couple and their children again.
"Oh, Miss Zhong, Brother Chu, we meet again. What a coincidence," their neighbor, Ms. Cen, said with a smile.
"We meet again."
They sat down in the square and chatted about interesting things from all over the world.
After a while, Chu Fang got bored and started playing with the couple's children. The three of them squatted under a streetlight, playing marbles.
Seeing Chu Fang's childish behavior, Mr. Liu carefully chose his words: "Your boyfriend is really... still a child at heart."
A man in his twenties was competing with two children to see who was better at playing marbles, arguing endlessly, and even citing classic techniques and methods from over a decade ago.
"He's always like this," Zhong Tingyue's lips curved into a perfect smile, leaving a rare and beautiful sight in the world.
"But... as a man, he shouldn't only be focused on playing. He should bear his own responsibilities and obligations, and shouldn't put all the pressure on his partner," Mr. Liu said.
"Huh? What do you two mean?" Zhong Tingyue didn't understand.
"Nothing, just talking nonsense," Ms. Cen patted her husband and said.
After a while, Chu Fang walked over and held out his palm: "Zhong Tingyue, give me twenty."
"What's wrong?" Zhong Tingyue asked.
"I lost all the marbles I bought. I don't have any money on me. Give me money to buy marbles."
Zhong Tingyue: "..."
You just said so much about analyzing the wind direction, force, and slope to figure out how to play marbles.
I thought you were amazing, but I didn't expect you to lose?
Zhong Tingyue took out twenty from her pocket. Chu Fang took the money and went to the convenience store to buy marbles, then headed towards the two children: "The loser doesn't quit, the winner can't leave. Tonight, we'll battle three hundred rounds. Either you die, or I live!"
Mr. Liu and Ms. Cen exchanged glances, speechless.
He even asks his girlfriend for a mere twenty yuan, and so openly. What's even more outrageous is that this beautiful and elegant woman still indulges her boyfriend.
Chu Fang played marbles with the two children until nine o'clock at night. He actually lost nearly a hundred yuan worth of marbles. The two children left fully loaded.
"Big brother, you're too weak."
"I'm not weak. I have a cold today and I'm not in good shape," Chu Fang said seriously, completely ignoring the fact that the temperature in Shanghai was thirty-two degrees today. "We'll continue the battle tomorrow."
Finally, Mr. Liu and Ms. Cen took their children inside. Chu Fang scratched his head: "I always feel like they're looking at me strangely."
"I know why it's strange."
"Why?"
Zhong Tingyue pursed her lips: "A man in his twenties can't even beat two children at playing marbles. Anyone would find that strange."
"Oh~" Chu Fang nodded in agreement.
After a pause, he looked at his fiancée seriously: "It's not that I can't beat them. I was letting them win."
Zhong Tingyue nodded: "Yes, yes, yes."
The hotel rooms were shaded by trees. At night, the moonlight barely reached the hotel, making the entire room particularly quiet.
Chu Fang liked this feeling, as if there were only him and Zhong Tingyue in the world.
"Mr. Chu."
"Mm."
"You seem to really like children?"
"It's alright," Chu Fang rubbed his chin. "Anyway, I had a lot of fun playing with those two kids tonight."
"You're not having fun, you're protecting your pitiful and fragile self-esteem."
Chu Fang lowered his head and looked at her delicate face: "Zhong Tingyue, who are you subtly mocking?"
"Hehe..." Zhong Tingyue revealed her pearly white teeth and stopped dwelling on the topic, changing the subject, "Mr. Chu, since you like children so much, how many children do you think we should have?"
Chu Fang blurted out: "Twelve."
Zhong Tingyue pushed him: "What do you take me for? A breeding machine?"
"Of course not, I take you as a person."
Zhong Tingyue: "..."
So I'm not a person now?
"I think it's good to have twelve."
"Why?"
"Twelve is made up of two 6s, which means 'double sixes bring great luck'. I want to have good luck for the rest of my life."
Zhong Tingyue: "..."
Chatting with Chu Fang always gives her the feeling of floating in the sky, never knowing what he'll say next.
... ...
The next morning, Mr. Liu got up and heard a noise from the balcony next door.
He saw Chu Fang lying on the balcony sofa, ordering Zhong Tingyue around like a boss:
"Zhong Tingyue, pour me a cup of tea."
"What about the melon seeds?"
"I'm feeling a little unwell. Order me a massage from 'Eastern Suburbs Home Service'. The masseuse should be pretty, have a good figure, and be gentle."
Zhong Tingyue asked, "Isn't my massage good enough?"
"Do you think you fit the word 'gentle'?"
Zhong Tingyue gently kicked him and then went into the room to tidy up.
Seeing Chu Fang acting like a boss and Zhong Tingyue acting like a maid, Mr. Liu couldn't help but sigh: "What a wonderful girl, this guy doesn't know how to cherish her at all."
"Yes," his wife, Ms. Cen, also sighed.
As experienced people, they could see that Zhong Tingyue only had Chu Fang in her eyes, letting Chu Fang order her around, and Chu Fang not only had no income but was actually 'bullying' Zhong Tingyue.
"No, I have to advise that Brother Chu," Mr. Liu couldn't stand it anymore and decided to do something.
He didn't want to see this couple heading towards their doom and eventually separating.
"Honey, I support you," Ms. Cen gave a thumbs up. "This is the greatest good deed you've ever done."
"That's right, who told me to be your husband," Mr. Liu puffed out his chest.
