Lumi didn’t speak to Tu Ming until they arrived in Hokkaido.

As the Lunar New Year approached, everyone’s work was winding down, making Hokkaido the perfect destination at this time. When they gathered at the airport, the group was chatting and laughing. To ensure everyone’s safety, Tu Ming entrusted the trip to a company, organizing a high-end private tour.

The foreign tour guide held a small flag and helped everyone check their customs documents, taking the opportunity to explain some precautions. He specifically mentioned the nude bathing: “If anyone feels uncomfortable, I can negotiate with the hotel and pay for some services. However, if there are other guests, the hotel may not agree. This is a local custom.”

Lumi and Tang Wuyi stood to one side. Tang Wuyi took out a pair of slippers from his bag and handed them to Lumi: “Will these do?” The small ladies’ slippers were quite suitable. Lumi had forgotten to bring them when she left home and asked Tang Wuyi, who left later, to help her get a pair.

This action did not go unnoticed by others. They exchanged glances, thinking that Lumi and Tang Wuyi were living together. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the slippers.

Tu Ming also noticed. He glanced at Lumi, his eyes indifferent. Tang Wuyi, who was observant, happened to notice. He nudged Lumi with his elbow: “Will is glaring at you.” Tang Wuyi exaggerated Tu Ming’s glance. He felt that there was definitely something between Tu Ming and Lumi, and the two of them were not quite right.

“So what if he’s glaring? It’s not like I’ll lose a piece of meat.” Lumi turned her head, her chin slightly raised, and snorted softly.

“You two are not right.” Tang Wuyi said with certainty.

“Others think we’re not right too. Are we not right?” Lumi retorted.

“If we’re really not right, I can try a May-December romance.” Tang Wuyi tossed a lollipop to Lumi. They each held one in their mouths, walking together, making others think that these two were quite outrageous.

Daisy whispered to Wumeng: “Is your mentor dating Jack? You know the company doesn’t allow internal employees to date, right? If they want to date, one of them has to leave.”

“How would the company know?”

“You can make an anonymous report.”

The two exchanged glances and stopped discussing the topic.

When the plane landed at New Chitose Airport, it was noon. Lumi, who had slept the entire way, opened her eyes to a world of ice and snow. The Beijing of Lumi’s childhood was also a city with snow. Back then, there would be several notable snowfalls in the winter, with red walls, grey tiles, and white roofs, and steam rising from the hutongs. If there was less snow, she especially wanted to visit a city of ice and snow in the winter.

Lumi’s travels were always refreshing. She had been to Alshan, Harbin, Xuexiang, and Heimu. As long as there was snow, she loved it. She would play wildly for two years, flying out on Friday nights and returning on Sunday nights, spending a quiet weekend, which was particularly pleasant.

Sapporo was covered in snow everywhere.

Sitting in the car, everyone’s eyes were not enough to take it all in. Tang Wuyi said to Lumi: “I have a friend in Sapporo. Would you like to have a drink together tonight?”

“Male or female?”

“Female.”

“Then I won’t go.” Lumi refused him decisively: “Have a nice date.”

While eating ramen after dropping off their luggage, Lumi asked the secretary while eating: “Will we be going to Mount Tengu? Will we take the Snow Country Train? Will we have a full crab feast?” She bombarded the secretary with questions, who listened carefully and pointed at Will: “The boss has arranged everything. He said that since we’re here once, we should have a good time.”

“That’s great. Will is really generous.” Lumi said while stuffing noodles into her mouth, glancing at Tu Ming. Tu Ming didn’t take the bait and chatted with Wumeng and Serena on the side.

Lumi vaguely heard that Wumeng was asking Tu Ming if he had been to Hokkaido before. Tu Ming said he had, for an academic conference, and took the opportunity to travel for a few days. Wumeng’s eyes sparkled, as if there were little stars in them: “I really want to see the boss’s travel map. I feel like it must be very cool.”

Serena nodded: “Yes, the boss is deep and doesn’t show off.”

Lumi turned on her phone to record a segment and sent it to Shang Zhi Tao: “Listen, I should learn from this. It’s a textbook example of workplace chatting.”

Shang Zhi Tao replied: “Less anger, I wish you a good trip to Hokkaido and sleep with Will.” Knowing that Lumi hated such conversations, she was the type who could argue with Luke when she was in a bad mood.

“I won’t sleep with him. I’m too lazy to deal with him.”

“But if you don’t sleep with him, you won’t have the energy to sleep with anyone else. I know you. Why not have a few cups of sake and try again.”

“I have my dignity.”

Lumi put away her phone, recalling that night when their breathing was in disarray, her legs entangled with his, brushing against his hardness, and then he left. Lumi felt particularly defeated.

Tang Wuyi, while eating, observed Tu Ming and then Lumi. The perceptive younger brother suddenly had an epiphany, realizing what was going on. After the meal, while others were drinking hot tea, he pulled Lumi outside to enjoy the snow, standing in front of the window where people inside could see them.

Tang Wuyi put his arm around Lumi’s shoulders and asked with a playful smile: “Let me ask you, did you get rejected by Will?”

“Rejected how?”

Tang Wuyi raised his eyebrows: “Brother has also rolled around in the flower bushes. Just tell me, did you try to seduce him and fail?”

“Damn! How did you know?”

Tang Wuyi pouted: “I’m not one of those fools sitting inside. Let me help you.”

“Do I need your help?” Lumi tried to push him away, but he held her tightly: “Think about it. I’m not just anyone. If I make a move, you’re guaranteed to succeed. I’m very accurate with men.”

Lumi glanced back. Inside the window, people were chatting and laughing, and someone was watching them.

“What can you do to Will?”

“Will treats you differently.”

“Nonsense! He’s run away from me three times. He is different. He avoids me like a snake.”

“He’s just pretending to be a big bad wolf!”

Tang Wuyi whispered various ideas into Lumi’s ear, and she kept shaking her head: “Your ideas are so bad. Just listening to them makes me feel unreliable. You’re not using me for practice, are you?”

“Since he doesn’t care about you anyway, why not try it?”

“Fine, let’s try it!”

The two whispered outside for a long time, and it was clear they were not discussing anything serious. Daisy joked from inside: “If we had known earlier, we should have booked a room for Lumi and Jack together. It would also save Lumi and Jack from disliking each other.”

After hearing this, Tu Ming said seriously: “Before there is factual evidence, it’s better not to have such speculation and rumors.”

Tu Ming felt that such a work environment was not very healthy. Everyone was particularly concerned about other people’s private lives, as if private life was an important lever to bring others down. It was extremely boring and low-level.

The curry soup was delicious, and everyone ate to their heart’s content. They walked back to the hotel. There was no specific schedule for the day, so they could rest at the hotel and then visit Hokkaido University on their own.

Tang Wuyi left early to meet his friend, and others mentioned in the group that they would take a short nap. Lumi had slept enough on the plane in the morning and obviously wasn’t sleepy, so she tidied up and went to Hokkaido University alone.

Lumi had been here before. The woods, streams, and teaching buildings on campus were not much different from those years ago. A main road stretched forward, with bicycles half-buried in the snow, which was particularly fun.

She played by herself, taking out her phone to take pictures, squatting and standing, having a great time. When she wanted to take a selfie with the scenery, she realized she hadn’t brought a selfie stick, and no matter where she placed her phone, the shot wasn’t right.

“Let me help you.”

Lumi turned around and saw Tu Ming. Her face tensed up: “No need.”

Tu Ming ignored her refusal and walked up to her: “You’re the one who made a move on me, not the other way around. Why are you still giving me the cold shoulder afterward?” Tu Ming suddenly bringing this up was something Lumi never expected. She stiffened her neck: “I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing!”

“You were drunk enough to call Tang Wuyi ‘Jack.'”

“…”

“When you were being a drunkard, your actions were quite energetic.”

“Since I was so out of control when I was drunk, maybe I shouldn’t drink anymore in the future.”

“I’m afraid you’ll lose a friend every time you get drunk.”

Tu Ming spoke one sentence after another, his face serious, making it impossible to tell if he was being sincere or not, leaving Lumi unable to interject.

Finally, she blurted out from behind: “None of your business!”

Tu Ming didn’t respond to her outburst. He just asked her: “The scenery is so beautiful. Do you want to take a portrait to remember it?”

“I don’t need you.”

“Suit yourself then.”

Tu Ming turned and walked away, as if he was very angry. Lumi scooped up a handful of snow and chased after him, jumping up to pour it down his neck. Tu Ming shivered from the cold, and Lumi, satisfied, turned and ran away.

In the evening, she was alone in an izakaya, enjoying Wagyu beef and king crab, and was about to pour herself a bottle of honjozo sake to drink. She had just taken a sip of the warm sake when someone took away her cup. She turned around to see Tu Ming.

His expression was not good, and his words were harsh: “Drinking alone in a foreign country, are you planning to pick up a corpse?”

“Are you sick? Why do you care so much?” Lumi tried to grab her own glass, only to see Tu Ming down it in one gulp. She was momentarily stunned. This guy’s alcohol tolerance, and he dared to snatch her drink?

“Drink less, it’s for your own good.” Tu Ming poured himself another glass.

“It’s just a bottle of honjozo, what can it do? Sapporo isn’t that small, why did you come here specifically? Are you following me?”

Tu Ming didn’t answer. He sat down next to her and looked at her seriously: “Can’t we be friends if we don’t sleep together?”

“Do I need a friend like you?” Lumi turned her head away.

“Then what should we do?” Tu Ming asked softly: “I don’t want to be anything more with you, but not being friends with you makes me feel quite uncomfortable.”

Lumi didn’t respond. She was trying hard to remember what Tang Wuyi had taught her, but Tang Wuyi’s teaching level wasn’t very good. He only talked about methods without explaining when to use them.

She focused on eating the crab legs, thinking about Tu Ming’s infuriating words. You’re really something, not letting me sleep with you, and then not letting me be friends with you either. Do you think you’re the sun?

She was full of anger and drank a few more cups of sake. Finally, she put down her glass, tapped the wooden table with her knuckles, and said: “Come outside with me.”

Next to the izakaya was a narrow, dark alley that no one entered. Lumi walked in and saw Tu Ming standing there motionless. She said to him: “Come here, let’s make things clear today.”

Tu Ming saw the anger on Lumi’s face, more intense than any time before. He followed her and walked to her side.

Lumi pushed him against the wall, her whole body pressing against his. Tu Ming tried to move away, but she used all her strength to push him back: “Don’t move!”

Lumi was exhausted from that push, her breath uneven: “I just want to know what’s going on.” Her teeth bit into his neck, her tongue flicking over the vein, her hot breath passing over him, suddenly reaching out, grabbing him, and whispering: “What is this? What is this hard thing?”

Tu Ming took a deep breath and looked at her, no longer pushing her away or speaking.

“If I hadn’t felt this at my house the first time, I wouldn’t have tried a second time.”

“Are you sure it’s just my one-sided wish between us? Tell me, what is this thing?”

Lumi’s strength waned, her fingertips brushing against him, feeling Tu Ming holding his breath.

“It’s actually very simple. You let it out, I put it in. You don’t have to pretend to be a saint, and I don’t have to waste my efforts. Is it that hard? Isn’t that what adult men and women do?” Lumi’s lips pressed against his ear, whispering: “Why are you so annoying? Is this fun for you?”

“Do you know the difference between humans and beasts?” Tu Ming finally spoke: “Beasts don’t know how to restrain their desires after they arise, but humans can. This reaction, if someone else did these things to me, I would also have it.”

“I can have a physical relationship with someone, but it’s meaningless. I won’t sleep with someone I don’t love.”

Tu Ming grabbed her wrist. Lumi felt extremely uncomfortable with what he said. She refused to let go and even stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Tu Ming turned his face away, hearing Lumi say with grievance: “If you don’t let me kiss you today, then I’ll never kiss you again!”

“I’ll resign when I get back! I’ll stay away from you!”

Lumi had never suffered such grievances. All the setbacks in her life were given by Tu Ming. No matter how hard she tried, he didn’t take the bait, making her feel like a fool. Lumi’s eyes even reddened. She looked into Tu Ming’s eyes. He didn’t move and no longer resisted, so she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth, lightly.

Never before had she been so serious.

Tu Ming’s heart roared, as if that train was about to leave the station.