Song Nanyin had graduated from Haida University. As one of the top three universities in Jiahai City, Haida always put on a decent show for its anniversary celebration each year. Song Nanyin had gone once, in her second year after graduating, and she never expected that, a few years later, they would still invite her.

The person who messaged her was Liu Yi, her class monitor from university. Word had it she had stayed on as a teacher right after graduating. That made it only natural for her to be the one to reach out.

“Class Monitor Liu, though I should probably call you Teacher Liu now. It’s been so long since I graduated, how does the anniversary still remember someone like me?”

Song Nanyin typed and sent the message. The teasing in the first half dispelled much of the awkwardness of contacting someone she hadn’t spoken to in years. The other side showed as typing, then a stretch of content drifted over.

“I got notified by the school too. They asked me to invite this year’s old classmates. The reason, well, you understand: this is the 88th anniversary. The old principal has his heart set on that number and wants to make it a big one. Who knows, by the 100th, I might have to come looking for you again.”

“Alright, if nothing comes up, I’ll go.” That was how Song Nanyin replied, though her heart was still hesitating over whether to go.

She dithered, and a few days passed in the blink of an eye. The anniversary date had been considerately chosen, landing exactly on a Saturday, a day when everyone had leisure and felt like doing something.

“So, what are you wearing? Can I leave marks?” Liu Zhaoran hugged Song Nanyin from behind, their smooth bodies pressed together, still damp with sweat from their fierce exertions.

Song Nanyin waited for the aftershocks to fade, letting Liu Zhaoran hold her, letting her bite at her ear.

“It’s just an anniversary, there’s no dress code, or… Mmph!? Liu Zhaoran, are you a dog or what?”

Just as Song Nanyin finished speaking, Liu Zhaoran bit the back of her neck and sucked hard, leaving a love mark. Song Nanyin had finally figured her out. Liu Zhaoran looked all calm and carefree, but in her bones she was lewd and wicked, and she loved leaving marks on Song Nanyin’s body.

“Team Leader Song really doesn’t care about me at all. I’m not a dog, I’m a snake, but I can bite too.” Liu Zhaoran smiled, her eyes narrowing into pretty crescent moons. This was the first time Song Nanyin had heard her mention anything about herself, and it was indeed only now that she learned Liu Zhaoran was born in the Year of the Snake.

There was a saying that the face reflects the heart, but it clearly did not apply to Liu Zhaoran. Now she understood. So this infuriating woman’s black-heartedness was inherited from her zodiac sign?

“Hey, what are you doing? You’re not going to go again, are you? We’ve already done it several times.” Feeling Liu Zhaoran’s hands wandering over her chest, Song Nanyin hastily grabbed hold of her. Only now, at this point, did she realize that what Liu Zhaoran had said before about having a strong libido in the morning was not a lie.

Ever since Song Nanyin had agreed to honor the contract, Liu Zhaoran had completely let herself go, no longer repressing her desires in the least. The result was that nights of ceaseless revelry were a given, and occasionally Liu Zhaoran would pester her for another round or two in the mornings, which had made Song Nanyin late for work three days in a row, her perfect-attendance bonus basically down the drain.

So at the company, Song Nanyin did her best to avoid Liu Zhaoran, because just laying eyes on that Black-Hearted Lotus was enough to give her phantom aches in her waist and legs…

Last night, Song Nanyin had meant to have a proper talk with Liu Zhaoran about this morning-libido business. She wasn’t telling Liu Zhaoran to repress anything, but at least, in the mornings, couldn’t she hold back a little?

Before Song Nanyin could get the words out, Liu Zhaoran placed a newly bought handbag in her hands. It was a small crossbody bag Song Nanyin had had her eye on for a long time, a luxury runway piece, the kind that couldn’t be bought even with money, that required some connections to get your hands on.

Song Nanyin wanted it, but her wallet and her connections didn’t allow it, so she’d only ever looked. She never expected Liu Zhaoran to notice, and to buy it for her.

And so, the conversation Song Nanyin had meant to have was forcibly swallowed back down. What else could she do? She just couldn’t do a thing about this Black-Hearted Lotus…

“Because Team Leader Song keeps saying she’s tired, I just wanted to rub it for you. What time’s the anniversary?”

“It starts at 18:00.”

“Then we still have six hours. We can get up first, have a cup of coffee, tidy the room a bit, then change and do our makeup.”

“That’s my thing. What’s it got to do with you?” Song Nanyin shot her a sidelong glance at those words, and Liu Zhaoran just smiled in response.

“I remember the anniversary allows people to bring family. I have no other plans today. Team Leader Song wouldn’t have the heart to leave me home alone, would she? I’ve been to your school quite a few times before, and I’m curious what your school’s anniversary is like.”

Liu Zhaoran’s case was utterly flimsy, yet she stated it with full confidence, forcibly wrangling a connection to an anniversary that had nothing to do with her. Song Nanyin thought it over. There probably wouldn’t be any troublesome people at this anniversary, right? In that case, bringing Liu Zhaoran along wasn’t out of the question.

“Then come with me. Don’t wander off. If you get lost, I’m not responsible.”

“Okay, I’ll definitely stay close to Team Leader Song, so you won’t have the chance to lose me.”

Song Nanyin and Liu Zhaoran went together. Though they had calculated the timing, they still arrived half an hour later than planned.

By the time they arrived, quite a few graduates had already gathered on campus. Most were seeking out classmates from their own year, drinking and chatting as if it were a class reunion.

Because Song Nanyin arrived late, she missed Liu Yi greeting people at the gate and naturally missed out on catching up with her classmates. Not that she was all that keen on it anyway. In four years of university, her only true friend had been Chai Yue.

And Chai Yue was abroad, hadn’t come back. For Song Nanyin, most of the people who had returned for the anniversary were “old classmates” she hadn’t been in contact with in years, and there was really no need to see them at all.

“Team Leader Song doesn’t seem to like it here much?” Liu Zhaoran had been standing by Song Nanyin’s side the whole time and could tell she didn’t care for all this bustle. There were many people coming and going, and the two of them standing near the school gate were undoubtedly extremely conspicuous.

Song Nanyin was dressed simply, in a low-cut round-collar blouse, a hip-hugging short skirt, and a short black-and-green plaid trench coat over the top. She wore knee-high boots, her fair, slender legs exposed.

Liu Zhaoran, in tacit agreement, had not chosen anything too formal either. She wore a loose pure-white hoodie, a light-khaki pleated long skirt, and coffee-colored mid-calf boots.

This was the first time Song Nanyin had seen Liu Zhaoran dressed like this, and she had been stunned the moment she saw her back in the room. How to put it? The two of them didn’t look like graduates, but like female students still in college who had come to help out.

“I just find it a bit boring, too noisy.”

“Then let’s go over there, somewhere quieter. If we keep standing here, we’ll probably get surrounded.”

Liu Zhaoran said with a light smile, sweeping her gaze over the people around them who were itching to come over and strike up a conversation, then abruptly turned and led Song Nanyin running toward a garden on the other side of the campus where few people were.

Luckily, both of them were wearing boots today, which made running much easier than high heels. They fled the clamor, as if running past time itself, and came to a halt on the sloping path in the garden.

This was the road every Haida student had to take to reach the cafeteria and the dorms. The path was long, its flagstones worn by years of trampling. It wasn’t level at all, but had a considerable slope, which was why it was called Long Slope Road.

Many graduates would bring it up afterward. You might not remember the school’s teachers or other students, but you would always remember this long, rough road.

Walk it enough times, and it always leaves a memory.

“Team Leader Song’s school is much more romantic than mine. You know, at medical school everything is cold and sterile.”

Liu Zhaoran walked shoulder to shoulder with Song Nanyin, glanced at the hand hanging at the other’s side, and simply reached over and took it. Song Nanyin’s body stiffened for a moment, but she didn’t pull away. She let Liu Zhaoran hold her hand as they strolled quietly against the wind.

“Speaking of which, does Team Leader Song remember how she felt the first time she saw me?” Liu Zhaoran suddenly brought it up. As Song Nanyin listened, her memory, like a clock hand being nudged, snapped back to that time.

She and Liu Zhaoran had first met at a mixer in her junior year. She hadn’t wanted to go, but Chai Yue had dragged her along to fill out the numbers. It was then that she saw Liu Zhaoran for the first time. Saw how she looked on the surface, and saw the way she smoked away from the crowd.

Actually, Song Nanyin’s impression of Liu Zhaoran was very deep, so deep that even after all these years, thinking back, it was still fresh in her mind.

Back then, Liu Zhaoran’s beauty had been striking and unique. Many people approached her at the mixer, but Song Nanyin could tell that none of them could catch Liu Zhaoran’s eye. Even so, Liu Zhaoran still smiled and greeted them, without the slightest trace of impatience.

Only now, thinking back, did Song Nanyin realize she remembered so many details about Liu Zhaoran. But she would never admit it. If she said it out loud, that Black-Hearted Lotus would probably be insufferably pleased with herself.

“With so many people there, who would remember you? Don’t flatter yourself.” Song Nanyin snorted lightly, to make her words more convincing. Liu Zhaoran didn’t doubt her and leaned in close.

“Is that so? Then I’m rather disappointed, because my impression of Team Leader Song is especially deep. The kind where, out of a million people, I saw you at a glance, and have remembered you to this day.”

“As if I’d believe you.” Song Nanyin knew Liu Zhaoran loved to exaggerate and loved saying these mushy, coaxing lines. There was no way she’d believe Liu Zhaoran remembered her.

“Fine, if Team Leader Song won’t believe me, so be it. I remember that after that mixer, you had a boyfriend, right? Did you two walk this road together? Did you have dates here?”

Liu Zhaoran looked at the trees lining both sides of Long Slope Road and easily guessed that this was also a holy ground for couples’ dates. Forced by that question, Song Nanyin had to recall an unpleasant memory.

Back then, there was a guy who had been pursuing her, confessing again and again. Annoyed by his persistence, Song Nanyin figured dating him wouldn’t be such a big deal, and agreed. Who knew he’d bring her here late at night, saying it was to experience a romantic date!

But what Song Nanyin experienced wasn’t romance. Instead, she was bitten all over by mosquitoes, and in a fit of anger, she broke up with him on the spot.

Seeing Song Nanyin staring blankly into space, Liu Zhaoran immediately suspected she was reminiscing about her past with her boyfriend. Although she had brought up the topic herself, Liu Zhaoran felt a little uncomfortable inside.

She believed the discomfort came from the fact that she was right there in front of her, and yet Song Nanyin was thinking about someone else. It was like a favorite toy of hers had been taken away and put to greater use, fermenting the malice in Liu Zhaoran’s heart. And an even bigger part of it was that Liu Zhaoran found the environment here thrilling.

They had never done it outside before.

A single street away, voices bustled. Over there, lights blazed and wine flowed, clamorous and alive.

And over here, hidden in the dark woods, desire thickened in the air.

Maybe someone would walk by. Maybe someone would discover them. That thrill sparked a measure of excitement in Liu Zhaoran.

Seeing Song Nanyin still lost in thought, Liu Zhaoran simply pressed her against the tree behind her, lowered her head, and kissed her.