Chapter 2

"Yes and no," she mimicked his words.
The atmosphere slightly froze. Shuangyun clearly sensed the man's complete stillness, so she remained still too. Deliberately prolonging this wordless stare until the other two people at this table returned.
"Sorry, my friends are back." The hint to leave was far too obvious.
Shuangyun smiled and shrugged. "Really can't add me on WeChat?"
"Sorry, I don't add strangers."
Shuangyun pretended to be disappointed as she stood up and moved away from the man. As she passed by him, her fingers lightly touched his shoulder. "Teacher, goodbye." Then she drifted away lightly.
Naturally, her friends had to punish Shuangyun. Shuangyun willingly accepted the punishment and drank several more glasses.
She was definitely a bit disappointed, but not that disappointed.
Although she hadn't gotten his WeChat, Shuangyun felt that a man who wouldn't give her his WeChat was exactly the kind of man she liked.
He'd said he was a teacher. Shuangyun thought he might be a teacher at one of the local universities. After going home, she could search online slowly—she'd definitely find him.
Shuangyun smiled while drinking. She'd been single for a while and really wanted to find a handsome man to have some fun with. And here one had appeared! How lucky!
The group drank until past one in the morning before dispersing, everyone calling Ubers to go home. Linwen's driver came to pick him up and offered to take Shuangyun home, but she politely declined, showing him that she was already waiting for an Uber.
"Cancel it," Linwen said.
Shuangyun smiled and shook her head. "Forget it, Linwen."
"Forget what?" Linwen was also a bit drunk.
Shuangyun knew exactly what he meant.
Linwen was a typical rich second-generation international student. His family had money, so he could get anything he wanted. Shuangyun felt her own family background was quite good too—though not as good as Linwen's, she had no worries about food or drink. So there was no need to be with him just because of his family background.
And aside from his family background, Linwen was really quite ordinary—covered in brand logos, failing exams. Not Shuangyun's type.
"It's fine. Thanks for treating us to drinks today. Happy birthday." Shuangyun's eyes curved into little crescents as she waved at him. "My car's here, I'm going. You stay safe too!"
Shuangyun didn't wait for Linwen's response, getting into the car without looking back.
She lived right in the center of Sydney, on the 26th floor of an apartment building. The building had a 24-hour front desk downstairs, which was relatively safe. Shuangyun got out of the Uber, swiped her card, and entered the apartment lobby.
The lobby was always brightly lit, but at this hour in the early morning, usually only the front desk staff were there. Shuangyun nodded a greeting to the front desk and was heading toward the elevator when she stopped at the lobby's sofa area.
Shuangyun took two steps back to confirm she wasn't seeing things.
"Teacher?" she called out.
The man on the sofa looked up.
Shuangyun really wanted to burst out laughing.
"Teacher, are you following me?"
"I'm not." The man's tone didn't change at all.
Shuangyun wanted to laugh even more. "Then why are you here?"
The man seemed to take a deep but not very obvious breath.
"I don't have my keys."
Shuangyun finally understood. "You live here too?"
He nodded.
"I've never seen you before."
"I've never seen you before either."
"Are you arguing with me?"
"I'm stating a fact."
Shuangyun really did laugh out loud. How could he be so amusing?
"What about those two friends of yours?" she asked.
"One of them is my roommate. He accidentally took my keys."
"Why don't you ask him for them?" Shuangyun asked.
The man seemed somewhat exasperated as he took another breath. "It's not convenient."
"Oh, they went to a hotel to have sex." Shuangyun said directly.
The man seemed somewhat shocked by Shuangyun's bluntness, but it was indeed exactly as she'd said. That was why he couldn't get through to his roommate on the phone to ask him to bring back his keys.
"Want to come up to my place, Teacher?" Shuangyun's tone was extremely eager.
In the bright lobby, she clearly saw the man's expression become unreadable, and his ears suddenly turned red.
Shuangyun couldn't take it anymore. This person was way too proper.
"I've already called a locksmith," he said.
"When are they coming? Did they say two or three hours?"
He looked at Shuangyun somewhat surprised.
Shuangyun said with an understanding expression, "I've called them a few times too. Later I stopped using the locksmiths the front desk recommends. You know how it is—foreigners think making money is too much work. I have a Chinese locksmith here. Want me to send you his WeChat? He'll be here in ten minutes at most."
The man looked at Shuangyun for two seconds, said thank you, then took out his phone.
He opened his WeChat QR code.
Shuangyun moved closer, and he flattened his phone so she could scan it.
But Shuangyun suddenly said, "Oh, sorry, I just realized I can't send you the locksmith's WeChat."
The man looked up and asked, "Why?"
Shuangyun gave him a sweet smile and said clearly, "Because I don't add strangers on WeChat—"
After saying this, she turned and walked toward the elevator.