"So what will make you convinced?"

"Fight me."

"Fight you?" She found his suggestion amusing, "I’m so much older than you, and you want me to fight you?" Wouldn’t she just be bullying a kid?

"If you don’t fight me, you can’t be our coach!"

She looked to her mentor, hoping for help, but the mentor simply nodded at her. What did that mean? Was she supposed to fight him? Though he stood out among this group, still... she couldn’t bring herself to hit him.

"If you don’t fight, you’re a coward!"

"A coward?! Fine, I’ll fight you then. To be fair, I’ll let you use one arm!" She couldn’t stand being called a coward! Her competitive spirit was successfully provoked! Today, she would show him what she was made of!

A fourth degree black belt isn’t just for show!!

The idea was appealing, but reality was harsh. After three rounds, she put him down on the ground with only one arm!

"Convinced yet?!"

"..."

Whether or not he was convinced, she was certainly going to be this coach!

Over the next few days, this guy never said he was convinced, but surely he was inside; kids are prideful and won’t argue with you, yet he kept hanging around her, which was starting to get a bit annoying.

"Coach," the young boy said.

"Yeah? What’s up?" He wouldn’t ask her to talk about Taekwondo matches again, would he?

"Are you really Huang Pu’s girlfriend?"

Hm? Huang Pu?

"You know Huang Puchen?"

The boy raised his head proudly, "Of course!"

Even knowing Huang Puchen, she wouldn’t cave in and talk about the matches, because there was nothing more left to say!

"How do you know Huang Puchen then?"

"Our families are old friends."

"Then why is Huang Puchen already in college while you’re still so young?!"

"I have an older sister!" The boy looked at me with disdain, "Your skills and your intelligence are truly proportional."

This kid, he’s so cheeky!

As she got to know him better, she and the boy became quite chatty.

The month flew by quickly, and she received her well-deserved pay, without any deductions—she had firmly opposed them with her skills rather than kowtowing to Huang Puchen.

When it came time to leave, her companions tearfully bid her farewell, and she found herself reluctant to leave them. The young boy pulled a little trick and handed her a small gift, claiming it was for good luck. She rewarded him with a big hug, and he said, "Don’t forget me, okay?"

"Of course, I won’t."

School days weren’t as marvelous as she had imagined, especially since Huang Puchen didn’t come to school for some reason.

There weren’t many classes at the start of the semester, so each day she listened to Han Wanwan talk about her summer adventures, envy and jealousy stirring within her. When stories came up about going to the beach with Lin Zhong, she imagined herself and Huang Puchen walking along the shore... the breeze blew by, Huang Puchen dressed in a white shirt holding her hand, barefoot on the sand.

"Nangong Yang, are you even listening to me?"

"I am! You were talking about collecting seashells while barefoot!" Haven’t you heard that flaunting love leads to trouble? A thousand crows flew through her mind.

"Nangong Yang, where did you and Huang Puchen go during summer break?"

"Nowhere!"

"What! Didn’t you meet over the two-month holiday?"

"We did, meeting once is still meeting."

"Hasn’t Huang Puchen got any sense of romance? He didn’t take you out despite the long-awaited holiday! Winter break is freezing, it’s even less likely he’ll take you anywhere." Han Wanwan looked at her pitifully with big watery eyes.

"I spent my summer with a bunch of kids, and we had a blast," she retorted, unwilling to admit defeat.

She truly missed those kids a bit. They’ve started school too, haven’t they? The young boy must be back at school; she was really curious if he would use Taekwondo to bully other students! Next time, she definitely needed to emphasize the importance of Taekwondo to him!

Next time?

Before leaving, the principal said she could come teach again during winter break! Did she earn that on her merit or was it because of Huang Puchen?

Being naïve, she of course believed it was the former, and gladly accepted the principal’s offer—she would return during winter break!

Huang Puchen’s phone had consistently been unreachable. She wanted to ask Su Ke, but Su Ke hadn’t returned either—it turns out seniors in the finance department don’t have to attend classes during their final year; they go for internships and merely submit their thesis report by graduation.

"Nangong Yang, why aren’t you playing basketball?" Lin Zhong ran over asking, "You look so downcast; are you ill?"

"She’s lovesick!" Han Wanwan chimed in.

Too lazy to respond to them, she continued staring at her phone. Was the signal bad? The screen showed full bars though?

"Han Wanwan, she’s flailing her phone about—is the signal really bad here? Our school shouldn’t have dead zones, right?"

Lin Zhong, no one would treat you like a mute if you stayed quiet!!

"Huang Puchen isn’t coming back." Lin Zhong couldn’t bear to see her like this anymore, and blurted out the "truth"!

"Huang Puchen returned before the school reopened, but his mother placed him under house arrest."

"Why?" Why the house arrest? In today’s society, that’s illegal!

"Because of you!"

"Me?" She looked innocently at Lin Zhong.

Han Wanwan was standing nearby, lowered her head, her body shaking slightly.

She glanced at Han Wanwan—she was secretly laughing! "Lin Zhong, you liar!"

Lin Zhong and Han Wanwan laughed out loud, and she pouted at them, eyes catching a familiar figure approaching from afar.

"Huang Puchen!" She bolted over, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"What’s wrong?" Huang Puchen asked, seeing her about to cry.

She pointed at Lin Zhong and Han Wanwan, "They bullied me!"

Huang Puchen looked at her with disbelief, "If you said they were bullied by you, I’d believe it!"

So, Huang Puchen had indeed returned before school started; something came up that delayed him for a few days.

Originally, Huang Puchen didn’t need to come back to school—now he was back because of her?

"Why didn’t you answer my calls?"

"My phone was on silent while working."

Even when he saw them, he didn’t care to send her a reply!

"Aren’t senior students free from classes?" Lin Zhong asked.

"There’s a business deal here to discuss, so I came over to check it out."

"You’re here to see Nangong Yang, right?" Han Wanwan teased.

Huang Puchen just smiled silently—was that a tacit admission?!

Discussing business? Does that mean he’ll be leaving after the discussion?!

"Huang Puchen, are you leaving after finishing your business talks?"

Huang Puchen nodded!

Such emotional ups and downs—her little heart truly couldn’t take it.

"I’ll be back," Huang Puchen promised.

After years of unrequited love, now together, what’s a bit of long-distance love! Not afraid!