In the afternoon, when the class bell rang, Shen Chuo walked into the classroom and casually glanced around. At least one-third of the students who usually attended class were absent that day.

He started teaching without making any fuss, but by the second class, several more students had left, and those who remained seemed distracted, often looking at their phones.

“Now, let’s take attendance.”

The entire classroom instantly fell silent.

As Shen Chuo called out names, he made a record, deciding to deduct points from the attendance grades of those who were absent.

After that, no one dared to leave halfway through the class from the back door. Two minutes before the end of class, Shen Chuo shut down his computer, packed his briefcase, and said to the students, “Alright, let’s end class a minute early. It’s only 5:30 now, so those of you who want to go on a date for May 20th can still make it.”

The students laughed instantly. Someone gathered the courage to ask, “Teacher, are you also rushing to celebrate?”

Shen Chuo replied expressionlessly, “No.”

“These students nowadays just love all these fancy things, talking about May 20th. Back when we were studying, we didn’t know about these things.”

“That’s right. Instead of studying properly, they’re busy with these things all the time, not focusing on the right path.”

“I had a student bring a big bouquet of flowers to class this afternoon. What’s that all about?”

In the faculty cafeteria, several senior professors shook their heads and sighed. Shen Chuo sat at a separate table behind them, eating quietly.

A colleague he knew came over and sat across from him. “You didn’t go to celebrate today?”

Shen Chuo smiled wryly. “Celebrate with students in their teens and twenties?”

“Come on, you’re only thirty years old. You’re still young. What’s the problem with celebrating this festival?”

“No partner,” Shen Chuo said honestly. “Can’t celebrate without one.”

“If you don’t have a partner, go find one. With your qualifications, finding a partner should be easy, right?”

A young female teacher from their department sat down beside them and jokingly said, “Professor Shen, are you looking for a partner? I have a friend who’s also looking for a boyfriend, and she’s quite nice. Should I introduce you?”

Shen Chuo sighed. “Don’t listen to Professor Xu’s jokes. I prefer to go with the flow and see what happens.”

The two across from him chuckled at his high standards, and Shen Chuo decided not to continue the conversation.

The female teacher continued talking about the fresh things she encountered today. “In the class I taught today, two male students openly confessed to each other during break time, and a bunch of people cheered them on. Kids these days are really something.”

“Boys confessing to boys? That’s bold,” Professor Xu exclaimed.

“Yes, young students nowadays don’t shy away from this. Some even treat it as fashionable and fun.”

“If they were my kids, I’d break their legs.”

“Professor Xu, your mindset can’t keep up with the trends of these young people.”

“Hmm, I’d rather not follow such trends.”

Shen Chuo lowered his head and quietly ate his dumplings, not participating in their conversation. However, the female teacher suddenly asked him, “Professor Shen, what do you think?”

Shen Chuo chuckled dryly. “Most of these students are adults now. As long as they can take responsibility for their actions, it’s fine.”

After finishing his meal, he returned to his dormitory, took a shower, and quietly read a book for a while. Then, he received a call from an unknown number.

Shen Chuo answered absentmindedly, “Hello?”

“Professor Shen,” came a slightly deep voice from the other end. “Do you remember who I am?”

Shen Chuo was stunned. “… Lawyer Pei?”

“It’s me,” Pei Tingyue’s voice sounded rather pleased. “I’m calling to ask, have you considered my proposal?”

Shen Chuo immediately hung up the phone.

When the call came a second time, he ignored it directly.

Just as he was about to block the number, a new text message came in: [Let’s talk. Even if you block me, I can use another number to call, or I can come find you at your school.]

The phone rang for the third time, and Shen Chuo took a deep breath before reluctantly answering it.

“What exactly do you want?” he asked.

“Again with this question,” Pei Tingyue sighed on the other end. “Professor Shen, you’re still young. You shouldn’t be forgetful. I feel like I’ve already told you what I want.”

“And I’ve already said, no, I’m not considering it, I won’t agree,” Shen Chuo said, trying to remain patient.

He had been busy every day lately, not only with his regular work but also coordinating with the cooperation project with the UK. He hadn’t taken Pei Tingyue’s words seriously that night. Perhaps he didn’t take Pei Tingyue’s threat seriously, after all, he was a respectable lawyer externally, and bothering him didn’t seem necessary.

Pei Tingyue hadn’t contacted him in a week. If it weren’t for today’s sudden call, Shen Chuo would have almost forgotten about this matter.

“Why not?” Pei Tingyue asked. “I thought we got along pretty well that night.”

“I didn’t think so,” Shen Chuo refused to admit. “Your skills were just too poor.”

“Is that so?” Pei Tingyue didn’t argue. “You can give me another chance to try.”

“No need. Find someone else.”

“I don’t want to find someone else,” Pei Tingyue wasn’t interested in Shen Chuo’s suggestion. “I’m quite picky. I finally met someone satisfactory, and I don’t plan on changing.”

“Lawyer Pei,” Shen Chuo spoke firmly. “As a law student, you should know better than me that most things in this world don’t just go according to personal will. Winning a lawsuit isn’t as simple as just wanting to win, right?”

“If you’re talking about that,” Pei Tingyue replied indifferently, “as long as I step into the courtroom, I can find a way to win if I want to. My personal will can indeed change the outcome of a case.”

Too arrogant.

But Shen Chuo didn’t buy into his rhetoric. “For cases that are absolutely unwinnable, you probably wouldn’t have taken them from the start.”

“Professor Shen, you’re quite interesting,” Pei Tingyue’s tone was hard to decipher, whether it was praise or something else.

“You’re right. For cases that are absolutely unwinnable, of course, I wouldn’t take them. I’m not stupid,” he shifted the conversation back to his purpose, “Likewise, for you, if it’s absolutely impossible for you to accept, I indeed won’t waste time pestering you.”

“Where do you get the confidence that I’ll accept your proposal?”

“You’ve forgotten again. That night, you were the one who came to talk to me,” Pei Tingyue brought up that night again, “From start to finish, the one who took the initiative was you.”

There was silence on the phone, but it wasn’t hung up. Pei Tingyue waited patiently, leaning against the railing of the balcony outside, smoking a cigarette, his gaze sweeping over the people in the courtyard below.

A young couple stopped in front of the screen wall, studying the relief above it. The woman reached out excitedly to touch it. “This wall alone must cost tens of thousands. Lawyer Pei is really rich. It’s good to be a lawyer; you can afford such a nice house.”

“It’s not all that great. Living alone in such a big villa feels eerie,” the man beside her said.

“I’d gladly live alone in such a big villa. What about you? You were roommates with Lawyer Pei back then. He’s been a senior partner at a law firm for ten years after graduation, making so much money. Your annual salary isn’t even enough to cover his lawyer fees for one case.”

“But then I’d have to marry you, and he’s still a lonely man.”

“What are you so proud of?”

Their conversation drifted in and out, followed by suppressed laughter.

Pei Tingyue casually swiped the screen of his phone while biting the cigarette, the voice of Professor Shen, clean and crisp but tinged with impatience, resounded in his ear again: “I regret it.”

“What do you regret?”

“If I knew you were so difficult, I wouldn’t have approached you that night.”

“Who else would you have approached? Those foreigners reeking of booze?” Pei Tingyue chuckled lowly, “I’m afraid you wouldn’t have enjoyed their company.”

“At least I wouldn’t have these troubles now.”

“If you could just let go and see troubles as blessings, then you wouldn’t have any worries.”

“No, I can’t enjoy such ‘blessings’.”

Pei Tingyue lightly curved his lips.

Below, Song Xuan approached and called up to him from beneath the terrace, “Lawyer Pei!”

Pei Tingyue glanced down through the smoke and replied, “Song Xuan!”

“We’re leaving first, Xiao Man and I. It’s May 20th today, and we’re planning to go watch a movie in the evening.”

Pei Tingyue’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment before he casually nodded.

The young couple walked away hand in hand, leaving the courtyard.

After a moment, Pei Tingyue’s gaze returned, and he asked the person on the phone slowly, “Professor Shen, have you ever been in love?”

Shen Chuo’s voice paused, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and when he spoke again, his impatience was more evident, “What does that have to do with you?”

“Just asking,” Pei Tingyue said, “If you don’t want to talk about it, forget it.”

“But our matter can’t just be forgotten,” Pei Tingyue’s tone verged on stubbornness, “Professor Shen, forgot to tell you, that night was my first time too. You have to take responsibility for me.”

Shen Chuo: “…”

He would be suspicious of someone like him.

Shen Chuo hung up the phone and turned it off directly.

He didn’t feel like reading anymore, so he simply went to bed.

It took a long time for him to fall asleep, and he was awakened by the heat after only a couple of hours of sleep.

He wiped the sweat off his face with his hand, turned on the bedside fan, and now he couldn’t sleep even more. He stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, recalling the erotic dream he had just had, and reached into the blanket.

After a few strokes, he felt deflated. He always felt like something was missing when he did this himself.

In the end, he had to open the drawer of the bedside table and take out what was hidden inside.

The realistic shape and hardness of the toy were just right. Adjusting it to his preferred vibration frequency, he turned to his side, bent over, and reached behind with the toy in his hand.

Biting his lip and closing his eyes, the fragments of the erotic dream just now rushed into his mind, then were replaced by those more vivid memories.

— Pressed chests, hot beads of sweat, wandering hands, muscular thighs that restrained him, and the sticky soft kisses and the overwhelming sensations that kept rising.

He never watched videos or thought about anyone while using these toys. He always cleared his mind and satisfied his physical desires.

This was the first time he had such specific images in his mind.

It didn’t take long.

Shen Chuo stopped his movements, panting faintly in a daze, still feeling empty.

After the tide receded, there was an endless void.

He wiped his hands clean with a few tissues, sat up, and reopened his phone, which was lying on the bedside table.

After turning it off, Pei Tingyue sent a new message: “See you at your school tomorrow. Let’s have dinner together.”

Shen Chuo held the phone in his hand and stared at it blankly for a moment, then turned it off again with annoyance.