The holiday ended, and summer rushed in. Temperatures rose for several days in a row; the phoenix trees formed flower buds, adorning the entire campus in faint purple.

The long-prepared basketball tournament finally kicked off. The school required it to be completed within a week, so every evening during dinnertime, the small playground and the gymnasium were surrounded by people. The PE teachers rushed between various venues, incredibly busy.

Boards displaying the schedule and match results stood under the phoenix trees, their pages fluttering gently in the breeze. During every break, crowds gathered under the trees. When it rained at night, students even climbed out of their dorms to move the boards under the eaves of the cafeteria.

Walking along any path in the school, Xie Lan could hear almost everyone talking about the basketball tournament or some standout player. He was responsible for documenting Class 4’s basketball matches. For days, he carried a heavy DSLR camera, setting up a tripod in the classroom aisle, to which Hu Xiujie could only turn a blind eye.

Filming the games was a relaxed and pleasant job, but he was a bit annoyed.

—Why were there so many people shouting “Dou Sheng” around the playground? Not only did it torture his ears, but it also frequently distracted him from behind the lens.

Through the lens, Dou Sheng wore a pure white jersey, running and jumping lazily on the court. In the last game against Class 12, he had accidentally fallen and almost hit his forehead on the base of the basketball hoop, so for this game, he wore a black headband. The headband confined his hair, making the fluffy strands look even more vigorous in the sunlight. A gust of wind blew his hair back as Dou Sheng jumped for a layup. The basketball arced through the air, falling into the net and stirring up an orange vortex.

“Dou Sheng!! Dou Sheng!!”

“MVP!!”

“I love you!!!”

“Chen Jixian from Class 12 likes you!!”

Xie Lan’s hand, rotating the lens, paused. The shot, originally focused on Yu Fei’s retreat defense, suddenly drifted to the crowd of Class 12 students, focusing on a girl.

He stared expressionlessly at the somewhat familiar face of the girl in the lens.

Unbelievable. Just a month ago, this person had left him a message: “If you want to date someone from this school, you can find me. I’m Chen Jixian from Class 12.”

The speed at which she switched targets shocked Xie Lan for a whole year.

During halftime, music began playing over the campus broadcast. It was the adapted version of At the Peak of Red Flame, which had recently swept major platforms. This piece had dominated the evening broadcast for several days. Dou Sheng would hum a few bars before going on court every day, and if he heard it mid-game, he would whistle along while running.

The players left the court, and some of the audience surged toward the convenience store, clearing a large space in the middle. Liu Yixuan organized the Class 4 girls into formation. Wearing light purple simplified Hanfu, they stood under the phoenix tree and called the Class 4 players over for a group photo.

Xie Lan casually picked up his tripod and moved to the other side of the court to find an angle. He fished a fountain pen out of his pocket, compared a few lines on the display screen, and zoomed in slightly.

Che Ziming tutted beside him. “Nice pen.”

Xie Lan looked intently at the lens and replied softly, “It’s a sponsorship.”

“What sponsorship?” Che Ziming paused. “This pen is for you to advertise?”

“Yeah.”

M-brand fountain pen. Its main selling point was an entry-level handmade nib, and it looked nice too, priced over two hundred.

There had been many business collaborations recently, but Xie Lan wanted to focus on his studies for a while. He also had many of his own video plans queued up and didn’t want to take on big commercial projects temporarily. However, this one only required a short video post of about 60 seconds, and the price was right, so he took it.

Mainly, he wanted to save some money.

It was mid-May now, and Dou Sheng’s birthday was in early August. Preparation needed to start.

Che Ziming leaned in curiously. “What are the usual steps when you take an ad?”

Xie Lan said, “Dou Sheng and I have been testing the pen for the past few days. We just signed the contract today. Next, we’ll produce a video script.”

The sunlight was dazzling, and looking through the lens for too long made him dizzy, especially since it contained someone who kept his gaze fixed.

After adjusting the angle, Xie Lan stood up straight and zoned out in the breeze for a moment.

He had accumulated a lot of footage from the games over the past few days and already had a rough video concept.

The killer part was that this basketball tournament video was supposed to be a group portrait of Class 4, with no absolute protagonist. Yet, a certain someone’s face kept flashing in his mind, making him feel a bit irritable in the hot weather.

The PE teacher blew a whistle. “Two minutes until the second half! Players, get ready!”

Students who were cooling off at the entrance of the small cafeteria trickled back to the sidelines. Dou Sheng and the others briefly discussed tactics, then went to the sidelines to wipe sweat and drink water.

Dou Sheng looked around, locked eyes with Xie Lan, and walked toward him through the playground and the crowd.

Che Ziming casually handed over a bottle of water. “Here.”

“Don’t want yours.” Dou Sheng yawned. “Xie Lan brought me water.”

“Holy crap, are you sick?” Che Ziming glared. “We bought our water together. It’s identical, unopened. What’s the difference?”

Dou Sheng leaned close to the camera, casually checked the playback, and smiled. “The difference is Xie Lan brought it for me. No need to drink someone else’s.”

Che Ziming looked numb. “People who didn’t know would think you two are dating.”

Xie Lan’s expression vanished instantly. He picked up the water from the ground and slapped it into Dou Sheng’s chest.

The small playground was crowded, and the voices of girls from other classes discussing Dou Sheng kept buzzing in Xie Lan’s ears.

Relying on their numbers, some were arrogant enough to almost shove a megaphone into Dou Sheng’s ear, but Dou Sheng seemed to hear nothing. He stood nonchalantly in front of Xie Lan, tilted his head back to chug half the bottle, and shoved it back to him.

“Film me looking handsome,” Dou Sheng said, steadying the camera again, his hand covering Xie Lan’s.

Xie Lan’s eyes flickered, and he quickly looked away.

“Mm.”

In hot weather, people couldn’t withstand teasing.

Although Hu Xiujie always said, “A calm heart keeps you cool,” Xie Lan felt it would be very difficult for him to maintain a calm heart.

Che Ziming sighed with emotion. “Herring’s state is still a bit listless. Ever since we came back from the Three Gorges and she returned the Hanfu to him, he’s been totally wrecked.”

Hearing this, Xie Lan glanced at the court. Yu Fei had finished drinking water and returned to the court, looking decadent, as if standing upright took great effort.

Dou Sheng clicked his tongue. “Rejected?”

“No, didn’t she say she’d consider it after the college entrance exam?” Che Ziming sighed. “Young Master Herring probably wants to speed through this year and a half by being listless, wishing he could fast-forward directly to after the exams.”

The referee blew the whistle, and Dou Sheng ran back onto the court.

The camera’s memory card was getting full. Xie Lan scrolled through the previous footage and decided to take a break.

He watched Yu Fei’s despairing face on the court for a moment and couldn’t help asking, “Liu Yixuan already returned the clothes to him?”

Che Ziming nodded. “Yeah.”

Then didn’t Yu Fei now have two homeless Hanfu sets?

Xie Lan suddenly felt a pang in his heart, thinking of a certain uniform hanging in Dou Sheng’s closet.

Dou Sheng’s closet couldn’t hold any more. Absolutely not.

“Help him sell the Hanfu,” Xie Lan said.

Che Ziming turned his head in surprise. “Me help him? Why me? Let Bean help. Bean has so many Weibo followers, he just needs to shout once.”

Xie Lan felt a chill down his back. After a long pause, he said calmly, “He’s been in a bad mood lately, too lazy to post on Weibo. Besides, you are Yu Fei’s best friend.”

“Look at you saying that.” Che Ziming suddenly beamed. “Alright, then I’ll quietly help him list it on a secondhand site. Sigh, Herring is pretty good with you guys too, don’t overthink it. It’s just that I have a cheerful personality and I’m a nice guy, always actively pestering him, so he’s willing to talk to me more. If you guys could be like me…”

Xie Lan nodded like a woodpecker. “Mmhmm, mmhmm…”

---

The basketball tournament finally concluded after a week. Class 4 took second place in total points, and Dou Sheng was the player with the most MVPs in the grade. Both certificates were pasted on the classroom wall.

On the way home Friday, Xie Lan suddenly received a reply from the fountain pen brand. He frowned unconsciously after opening the message.

Dou Sheng leaned over. “What’s wrong?”

“Script rejected.” Xie Lan casually asked for the reason in the group chat, frowning. “The PR said the direction was completely wrong.”

It was a bit baffling. He had designed usage scenarios for the four colors of pen bodies. Whether in terms of cinematic aesthetics or functional demonstration, there were no faults to be found. Even if the other party was dissatisfied, it shouldn’t be a total rejection, right?

A moment later, the group chat vibrated. The PR named Kris followed up with a message.

Actually, our main request is to film you using our pen to write. You can think about what to write and how to showcase our nib.

Xie Lan stared at these lines in shock for a while.

Bing Ru Gao Huang (Xie Lan): Are you sure you want me to film this ad? Is it me or the devastatingly handsome Dou @RJJSD?

The other party replied instantly: It’s you.

Xie Lan felt a chill in his heart and mumbled, “I feel like this ad is gone.”

“Ask again,” Dou Sheng said. “Maybe they have other arrangements.”

Xie Lan sighed and bit the bullet to ask again.

Bing Ru Gao Huang: Have you seen my handwriting? My writing isn’t very good.

Kris: Yes, I’ve seen your study streams. Your writing can’t be called ‘not very good,’ only ‘very interesting.’

Bing Ru Gao Huang: …

Kris: That’s the effect we want. A goofy ad. The uglier the writing, the better.

Kris: Oh right, it’s best to act out the clumsiness of your writing and the crossing out in the ad. The funnier, the better.

Dou Sheng face-palmed beside him, shaking all over.

Xie Lan put down his phone expressionlessly. “He seems to be insulting me.”

“Pfft.” Dou Sheng couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. Coughing wildly, he reached out and messed up Xie Lan’s hair.

Xie Lan dodged with a cold face. “Get lost.”

But the contract was signed. Whatever the brand said, the video had to be changed accordingly.

After getting home, Xie Lan expressionlessly set up two cameras on the table, preparing to record a test focus on writing first, then see how to design the plot and program effects.

Zhao Wenying wasn’t home. Dou Sheng rushed upstairs to shower as soon as he returned, coming down with damp hair to sit beside him and order takeout.

It was just a test recording, so it didn’t matter what he wrote. Xie Lan planned to write out the ancient poetry fill-in-the-blanks Old Qin gave him today. He put a new ink cartridge in the pen, started recording mode, sat down, and adjusted the camera angle.

Two cameras: one for a close-up of hands, paper, and pen; one recording his upper body writing. The small red light began to blink. Xie Lan lowered his head and started writing the test paper.

Dou Sheng was right next to him. In the lens, half his body was also in the frame. The view cut off perfectly at the junction of his collarbone and neck, and his hand holding the phone.

Xie Lan glanced at Dou Sheng on the monitor screen out of the corner of his eye. That slender hand held the phone, occasionally swaying slightly in the shot.

For a sixty-second short video, if he wrote non-stop, Xie Lan could probably write five to seven questions at his speed. But that would be a bit rushed, and the audience’s attention would be entirely on the answers, paying insufficient attention to the pen.

Xie Lan controlled the rhythm of his writing, looking at the monitor image from time to time.

His writing had a characteristic: it was big. The strokes were large and stiff, like a primary school student’s writing. After practicing with copybooks for so long, he had merely upgraded from first grade to second grade; it was still just as ugly.

He had to say, holding such a beautiful fountain pen but writing these characters looked really shameful in the lens.

Xie Lan grew more uncomfortable as he wrote. He felt uncomfortable all over whenever he glanced at the close-up shot, and irritation began to bubble in his heart.

He shifted his body subconsciously. Dou Sheng gave a low “Hmm?” beside him, looked up, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Xie Lan had to calm down again. “Just feel like the writing is ugly.”

Hearing this, Dou Sheng leaned over. “Let me see.”

With the movement of getting up, he entered the frame completely. His arm with smooth lines propped on the table. After watching for a while, he smiled. “It’s fine. You only think it looks bad because you care about your own writing. Actually, it looks quite cute to outsiders. And how should I put it? It instantly closes the distance between this pen and the audience. It’s not that kind of cold advertisement. This PR has quite some ideas.”

“Mm.” Xie Lan sighed and lowered his head to continue writing the next fill-in-the-blank line.

Shang you liu long hui ri zhi gao biao (Above, the high peaks where the six dragons circle the sun).

The next line should be “Xia you chong bo ni zhe zhi hui chuan” (Below, the river churns with reverse waves and twisting currents), from The Road to Shu is Hard.

Dou Sheng sat back in his seat to place the takeout order. Xie Lan wrote down this line and saw there were still about ten seconds left.

He prepared to write another line.

First line blank, second line “Wei hu gao zai!” (Ideally high and perilous!).

Still The Road to Shu is Hard. The previous line should be “Yi xu xi” (Alas!). Xie Lan’s mind suddenly went blank. He barely managed to write the two characters “Yi xu,” then traced over the “Yi” character again. In the position of the third character, he wrote a “mouth” radical, and the pen tip paused awkwardly.

He couldn’t write “xi”.

He had actually written it twice in class today, but he didn’t remember it, and now he had forgotten it all.

Even though it was a test recording, he suddenly felt a bit nervous facing the camera. He looked around blankly—he hadn’t brought his Chinese textbook over.

Dou Sheng put down his phone; the screen showed the takeout order submitted.

“Done recording?” He said, glancing casually at the paper. “Let me see the effec…”

“Eh?” He paused. “Can’t write the character ‘Xi’?”

“…”

After a long time, Xie Lan sighed. Just as he was about to accept his fate, turn off the camera, and find the book, Dou Sheng suddenly leaned in.

His right hand went around Xie Lan’s back and pinched Xie Lan’s hand holding the pen. The distance was so close; his breath brushed against Xie Lan’s ear.

Xie Lan’s scalp tingled. He turned his head sideways a bit awkwardly and whispered, “What are you doing?”

“Teaching you,” Dou Sheng laughed in his ear, his light and low voice somewhat cool. “Boyfriend can’t write; I have an obligation to teach hand-in-hand.”

Summer clothes were thin. With the boy’s body pressing slightly against his, they could feel each other’s heartbeats and the rise and fall of their breathing.

And the heat conducted by body temperature.

Xie Lan’s brain began to go blank. His senses split in two: one half was Dou Sheng’s breath rubbing against his shoulder and ear, the other half was Dou Sheng holding his hand.

He held the pen, and Dou Sheng’s slender fingers covered his, mimicking his grip to hold his hand. Then Dou Sheng applied gentle force with his wrist, guiding his hand to where the character should be on the paper, the nib dipping onto the page.

Dou Sheng guided his hand, stroke by slow stroke, whispering in his ear, “This character ‘Xi’ is a modal particle expressing a sigh. On the left is ‘mouth’ (kou), on the right is the right half of the homophone ‘Xi’ (play/drama). For the middle, you can remember it this way: the top part of ‘tiger’ (hu), replace the ‘legs’ (ji) inside with ‘Bean’ (Dou) from Dou Sheng. Big Cat Bean, that’s the middle part of this character.”

The breath Dou Sheng exhaled while speaking made Xie Lan ticklish from behind his ear to his neck. Caught off guard, he glanced at the lens. The red dot blinked; the camera was still recording. In the long shot, Dou Sheng was pressed against his side, while his own eyes trembled in panic, flushed red from his cheeks to his collarbone.

After writing this character, Xie Lan let go of the fountain pen, but Dou Sheng didn’t let go. His body pressed against Xie Lan’s back, his lips gently brushing along his ear cartilage. His five fingers naturally slipped into the gaps between Xie Lan’s fingers, curving, holding his hand loosely then tightly, rubbing against his palm.

An electric sensation climbed from his ear cartilage to his whole body. Xie Lan looked up in panic, only to see even more clearly in the lens Dou Sheng turning his head to kiss him lightly. The camera auto-focused with click-click sounds. The background blurred slightly in the focus, but he and Dou Sheng were so clear—clear enough that even the trembling of their eyelashes was captured completely.

Xie Lan looked away in panic. After a long time, he hurriedly turned his head back and brushed his lips against Dou Sheng’s.

Finally, Dou Sheng let go of his hand.

Under the boy’s fair skin, a faint crimson also showed through, but compared to Xie Lan, he was much better. He cleared his throat, casually took off the camera, and scrolled back. After scrolling for a while, he whispered, “Oh, this footage seems unusable.”

Xie Lan didn’t make a sound. Dou Sheng couldn’t help laughing low again. “If we send this as a demo to the brand, I guess they wouldn’t have any problems, but we really could blow up Bilibili.”

Xie Lan looked at him somewhat blankly.

His brain was still very blank. There was a slight ringing in his ears. His Chinese ability seemed to have vanished instantly again. Dou Sheng talked for a while, but he didn’t absorb a single word.

After a good while, he struggled to get up. “I’ll go get a… Coke. Do you want one?”

What was the Chinese for Coke again…

Doomed. Couldn’t remember.

Back to square one overnight. The child was mostly ruined.

Dou Sheng curled his lips. In his distinct black and white eyes was evident smugness. He whispered, “Do you know which shelf the Cola is on? Want me to take you to find it?”

The stool scraped against the floor with a harsh sound. Xie Lan turned woodenly and walked toward the kitchen, leaving someone’s laughter behind him.

He stomped into the kitchen. The glass frame of a picture on the wall reflected his profile. He turned his head and met the dazed eyes in the reflection.

Damn it. Dou Sheng is so annoying.

Xie Lan felt a wave of suffocation. He walked to the fridge and opened the door, staring blankly at the meat in the freezer for a while before slamming the door shut with a bang and opening the fridge compartment next to it.

A dazzling array of drinks was piled together. He reached in, his fingers tapping each can one by one. After tapping for a long time, he finally reached two red and black cans. He curled his fingers to pry them out, his fingertips still trembling slightly.

Xie Lan clamped the two cold drinks against his body with his right arm. The cold spread from his skin instantly, and after a moment, it froze him until it hurt a little.

He zoned out in place amidst the slight pain until the phone in his pocket vibrated continuously, barely bringing him back to his senses.

It was Food-Loving MR.X, who had shamelessly pestered him for his WeChat after returning from the Three Gorges.

X: I’m telling you, go to that domestic anime arrangement qualification selection link I sent last time right now and sign up.

X: “At the Peak of Red Flame” is too awesome. My friend said the studio specifically named you to participate in the OST recording.

X: But the awkward thing is, the poster says the main arranger and two collaborative creators are selected from applicants, so you have to submit an application.

X: Do you know what a heavyweight opportunity this is? Student Xie Lan, drop the aloofness and sign up immediately! If you really can’t, paste these words to Bean and let him analyze it for you hand-in-hand. He’ll definitely understand.

X: Are you there? People are waiting. Did you understand what I said??

Xie Lan looked blankly at the screen from top to bottom for five minutes.

Brain crashed. Couldn’t process.

Then he frowned, scrolled back to the top, and read it again.

He seemed to see some keywords.

Wait.

His gaze suddenly swept over the last few lines, scanning hurriedly: Give to Bean… let him hand-in-hand…

!

Silent breakdown in his brain. He panicked, typed a line, and slapped the phone onto the counter.

Bing Ru Gao Huang: Talk tomorrow. I can’t understand Chinese today.

X: ???