Lumi read until the middle of the night, moving from the living room to the bedroom, with a reading lamp on. She was engrossed and excited. She deliberately cleared a space on her bedside table to place the comic books within arm’s reach, planning to use them as bedtime reading for the next few months.

“Wow, I actually have bedtime reading material, and such good ones at that.”

Lumi felt that this was the best gift she had received in many years. She held the books, reluctant to let go. Strangely, this time she didn’t feel the urge to show off, like when she ate stir-fried noodles and found a piece of meat at the bottom of the bowl, wanting to eat it secretly, afraid someone else would snatch it away.

As she was about to go to sleep, Zhang Xiao called, and it was very noisy on the other end: “Come and play!”

“I’m too tired.” Lumi had recently taken an interest in clubbing, and she hadn’t gone for a while, actually missing it, which was quite unusual.

“Then I’ll play by myself, go to your place, and sleep with you.” Zhang Xiao deliberately teased Lumi, feeling that something was off with her and wanting to go over and investigate.

“I’m hosting you today, I have something to do tomorrow, you go have fun!”

“What are you doing?”

“Learning to play tennis.”

Lumi had already gotten her equipment, saying she would learn as soon as possible, efficiently and decisively.

“You’re playing tennis? You said the only sport suitable for you in this lifetime is clubbing! You’re actually betraying yourself!” Zhang Xiao shouted on the phone, then suddenly remembered Tu Ming and seemed to have an epiphany: “You’re afraid of your boss! Lumi is actually clubbing because she’s afraid of her boss!”

She hung up the phone, and within five minutes, all her friends knew: Lumi was afraid of her boss, so afraid that she dared to go clubbing.

“Afraid of him? Who do you think you’re looking down on? I’ve never been afraid of anyone! Today, this lady is just too tired. Wait until I recover, and I’ll club with you for three days and three nights!” Lumi stubbornly finished her sentence, then covered her face with the blanket and fell asleep.

The next morning, she woke up in an unusually good mood, humming as she showered, brushed her teeth, and ate breakfast. She applied a subtle makeup look, admiring herself in the mirror, feeling that she was truly a radiant beauty.

She grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

On the way downstairs, she encountered Uncle Er, who was walking his bird, and went over to chat: “Uncle Er, why does your bird seem a bit listless today?”

“You’re the one who’s listless! It’s full of spirit!” Uncle Er retorted, whistling, and the bird also retorted with a sound.

Lumi laughed for a long time: “I’ll teach it a few Chinese curses in a couple of days. Since we’ve started with dirty talk, we might as well go all the way!” As soon as she finished speaking, Uncle Er slapped her on the shoulder: “Off you go!”

Lumi jumped to the side, still laughing: “Look at you, why are you in such a hurry! I’ll take you to the morning market tomorrow!”

When she arrived at the venue, the others hadn’t arrived yet. Aunt Er saw Lumi and was startled. Seeing her dressed so formally, she teased her: “Lumi, you’re dressed so nicely to help Auntie work. Who can concentrate on playing tennis now?”

“Looking good?” Lumi spun around: “Auntie Er, you’re using the wrong words. You should say, ‘How do you look like a celestial being?'” She turned her head and saw Tu Ming, so she gestured towards him with her mouth, whispering: “Auntie Er, help me see if Tu Ming is looking at me.”

Auntie Er glanced at Tu Ming, who was focused on organizing his equipment: “He’s not looking. No matter how beautiful the girl, Tu Ming has never glanced sideways. This team, only Tu Ming is like this.”

“Impossible, right? Every man likes beautiful women. Can he really not look even once?”

“Anyway, I’ve never seen Tu Ming act like others.”

“Maybe those girls weren’t as pretty as me.” Lumi glanced at Tu Ming. He was taking off his sweater, revealing the sports T-shirt underneath, exposing his abdominal muscles. The clear sight of his abs made Lumi exclaim “Holy shit!” in her mind, silently shouting: “Pull your pants down a bit more! I’ll pay you!”

Auntie Er was still muttering beside her: “There were one or two who looked like celebrities…”

“Auntie Er!” Lumi stomped her foot: “You’re making me blush!”

She ran up to Tu Ming and greeted him: “Good morning, boss. You’re here to play tennis too?” Her eyes lingered on his waist, what a great waist and abs!

“Did the group open up for sign-ups?” He meant that her opening line was too smooth.

“Hehe. I just wanted to say hello to you. I’ve read two of those comic books, and they’re so much fun. Do you have any more? If you do, you can give them to me, or I can come and get them myself.”

“I don’t have any more.” He really didn’t have any more.

Tu Ming saw how much she liked them yesterday, so he also looked through his collection at his Summer Palace home last night, thinking to give her whatever he found. But he didn’t find a single one. He vaguely remembered there should be more, either in Wudaokou or the Summer Palace, but there really weren’t any left.

“That’s alright. What you gave me yesterday will keep me occupied for a long time. Thank you, boss.” Lumi thanked him: “I’ve spent a lot of money to hire a private coach. I’ll play with everyone later. When I become an expert, I’ll beat each of you one by one.”

Tu Ming caught the phrase “beat each of you one by one” and looked at her: “You’re so competitive? Then why do you slack off at work?”

…

Lumi was taken aback by his question. She thought that Tu Ming giving her comic books last night meant their friendship had deepened, but it turned out he was still stuck in the same place!

Lumi really couldn’t figure out Tu Ming, so she asked Yao Luan: “Do you think there’s a possibility that Will divorced because he likes women?”

“Huh?” Yao Luan sent a question mark, followed by a string of “hahaha,” and then said: “How about this, I’ll introduce you to a boyfriend, and you stop thinking about Tu Ming. You two are from different worlds; even if you enter the same door, it’ll be hard to end up in the same bed. Tu Ming isn’t into your type.”

“Look at what you’re saying, does it matter what type he likes? I like his type too, so does that mean I’m also into him?” Lumi retorted. What type did Tu Ming like? His ex-wife’s type? She could pretend to be like that! She was just being herself, but she wasn’t discouraged. Life was long, what was the rush!

“Giving up so easily?”

“Mainly because I want to win the equipment.” She tossed her phone to Auntie Er and went to find her private coach.

The two of them were at the side of the court, with the coach throwing balls for her to hit, practicing her fixed-point hitting. After hitting a few balls, Lumi felt bored and thought, “What’s so fun about this?” She almost wanted to quit. But then she remembered she had already bragged to Tu Ming, so she gritted her teeth and continued practicing.

Fortunately, the coach was good-looking, with a smile that showed off his white teeth. He was a young man full of vitality, very appealing to girls. Lumi was chatty, so she chatted and joked with the coach: “How old are you?”

“Only 23? Wow, you’re in the prime of your life! With you being so handsome, there must be a lot of girls who like you, right?”

“What do you usually do?”

“You play tennis and basketball, so your body must be in great shape, right?” Lumi hit another ball and looked at the coach.

The young man’s face turned red, as if he was thinking of something embarrassing. Lumi clicked her tongue, thinking this guy was really nice. She decided to ask Lu Qing if she wanted him later. Her mind was full of trivial matters about the people around her.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Lumi asked again.

The tennis court wasn’t that big, and everyone could hear Lumi’s banter with the coach. Finally, when she asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?” Dagliang spoke up: “Lumi, are you here to learn tennis or to find a boyfriend!”

“I’m not wasting time!” Lumi hit another ball.

She was chatty, and the private coach blushed whenever he faced her, unable to teach her properly. Her forehand and backhand stances were all wrong, and her stance was too stiff. During a break, when everyone was together drinking water, Lumi sat next to Tu Ming, sweating profusely, her skin clean and translucent, like porcelain, with a hint of redness, looking quite attractive.

“How much did you pay for your private coach?” Tu Ming asked her.

“Three hundred an hour, how about it? Handsome, right?”

Tu Ming thought to himself, only someone with a big head like yours would pay 300 an hour for a private coach, and still not get the stance right, with such an ugly hitting posture. If your elbow doesn’t hurt tomorrow, consider yourself lucky.

“Come here. Bring your racket.”

“Huh?”

“Quickly.”

Lumi was thrilled, thinking this trick worked. Tu Ming couldn’t stand seeing others being careless, and he was finally going to get involved. She followed him, and the two went to a corner where no one else was.

Tu Ming stood opposite her, holding the racket, and swung it seriously: “This is a forehand.”

He swung it again: “This is a backhand.”

Lumi followed his movements and quickly grasped the technique, deliberately asking him: “Is this right?”

“Yes.”

Tu Ming stood behind her, holding her elbow to help her swing, teaching her how to use force. His palm was warm, the heat transferring through her sportswear to her body, with just the right amount of pressure. How could she concentrate on playing tennis like this? Lumi was distracted, slightly turning her head to smell the pleasant scent of laundry beads on his clothes.

“That’s better.” Tu Ming let go of her hand, squatted down, and tapped her feet with the racket: “Spread them a bit.”

“Where should I spread them?” Lumi blurted out, but when she saw Tu Ming looking up at her with a serious expression, she quickly shut her mouth and whispered: “Like this?”

“Yes.”

Tu Ming watched her hit a few more balls against the wall, and she was better than before, so he said: “Practice more, find the feeling.”

“I think I can learn faster with you. Can you teach me? Let’s spend some time after this.”

“I have an appointment. I’ve taught you enough for today.”

“Then when do you not have an appointment?”

“Two months later.”

“Why are you pushing it all the way to next year?”

Lumi resisted the urge to argue with him. Tu Ming thought for a moment and said: “It really might be next year. Learn well from your private coach.”

He left.

Lumi’s subsequent practice was a bit distracted, always feeling that Tu Ming was standing behind her. She turned around to look for him, only to find that he was standing behind another woman, teaching another team member with the same posture!

She had thought it was special treatment, but it turned out he was like that with everyone.

Lumi turned back, cursing Tu Ming in her heart a thousand times. With his behavior, no wonder his ex-wife suspected him of cheating. Anyone would suspect him. If he was so caring, why didn’t he just open a free class to teach everyone?

It took her half a day to realize that he was a divorced man, single, and could teach whoever he wanted. It was none of her business! In a good mood, Lumi threw her racket aside: “I’m done, I’m tired. I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“Alright.”

Lumi’s anger was evident on her face, and the private coach thought he had done something wrong and asked her: “Did I teach well, Sister Lu?”

“Nonsense! You taught very well. I’m just being neurotic, don’t mind me. And don’t call me ‘sister,’ it’s weird.”

After changing clothes and coming out, she saw that the team members were also packing up.

Today, everyone had their own things to do, so there was no gathering for dinner. Lumi felt a bit like ignoring Tu Ming, so she waved goodbye to everyone, took Auntie Er’s hand, and got into the car: “Uncle Er is at my parents’ place. Let’s go too. If they want to eat well without us, no way!”

She fastened her seatbelt and saw Tu Ming getting into his black car.

“Lumi, you’re wrong. In Auntie Er’s opinion, Tu Ming is better than Zhang Qing. At least he makes your parents worry less.”

“There’s not even a hint of anything! He’s weird, hard to deal with.”

“What’s so hard to deal with? You need to show weakness. Don’t always act like a fighting cock, ready to pick a fight with anyone. You should be like this…” Auntie Er took out her skills from when she was young and tamed Uncle Er to teach Lumi: “Oh, my ankle twisted, can you help me look at it? At the tennis club, I often see girls twisting their ankles, catching their breath, or having back pain. Some of them must be pretending, right? Think about why they pretend…”

“Also, don’t always look like you’re trying to get close to him. Tu Ming is so serious, if you’re always serious with him, he’ll definitely be on guard. You need to pretend…”

“Why should I pretend? Do I need to pretend with him? I’m just being myself!”

“Look at you, going in like this? Then you’ll just have to wait and be frustrated!”

“I’m the one who’s frustrated! There are so many men out there. One day, when I’m not interested, I’ll stop playing with him.” Lumi started the engine, turned the steering wheel to exit the parking space, and happened to meet Tu Ming as he was also leaving.

She wanted him to go first, but she dawdled and exited the parking space three times before straightening her car. She honked the horn and drove off.

Tu Ming’s car followed behind hers. She deliberately slowed down, watching Tu Ming through the rearview mirror. This guy wasn’t in a hurry at all. Lumi was also in no rush, so she dragged it out. Anyway, there were no other cars at the moment.

“Auntie Er just advised you to show weakness, and here you are, driving like you’re competing.” Auntie Er laughed heartily beside her. She found the young people too funny. Lumi was obviously serious, but she herself didn’t realize it.

Lumi felt that she had finally let out her frustration, so she decided to stop the car, got out, and walked up to Tu Ming’s car, knocking on his window.

Tu Ming rolled down the window: “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t teach others how to play tennis when I’m around, okay? I’m happy that way.” Lumi was unusually serious: “You like me, I accept it, and I’ve decided to like you too, but you need to give me time to adjust. Teaching others in front of me is like showing off. You respect me, this is not acceptable!” Lumi was full of twisted logic, but she was happy and prepared to make things difficult for Tu Ming: “Keep your distance from other girls in front of me. The closer you are to others, the more competitive I become. The more competitive I am, the more I want to mess with you. If you want to get rid of me sooner, don’t provoke me.” Lumi realized at the end that she was talking nonsense and laughed at herself.

Tu Ming listened to her one by one, finding it quite refreshing. He wanted to reason with her, but she laughed at herself. Well, there was no need for reason anymore.

“There’s a car coming from behind.” Tu Ming reminded her.

“Alright, remember, stay away from other girls!” Lumi left with a harsh word.

She had always been like this, unable to bear grievances. If she was happy, she would say it out loud. She never did things that made others guess. Who could read minds? Why bother guessing! Whether it made sense or not, she refused to be a silent sufferer! After saying all that, she felt great and drove off with a heavy foot on the accelerator.

Tu Ming watched her drive away in the rearview mirror. Her car, like her, carried her emotions.