Before Duan Ling kissed her, he deliberately paused for a moment, giving Lin Ting a chance to pull away.
When he confirmed she wouldn’t, he cupped the back of her neck and kissed her, leaving no room for escape—like intertwining vines wrapping around her from all directions.
The kiss was brief, only about one or two seconds, but no matter how short, it was still a kiss.
Lin Ting was unusually slow to react.
“Holy shit.” Xia Zimo’s hand trembled, and the food on his chopsticks slipped off, quietly landing on the floor.
He didn’t care about the fallen food—he was utterly shocked.
Duan Ling actually kissed her?
Duan Xinning was no better than Xia Zimo, her face full of shock.
Clearly, she hadn’t expected Duan Ling to follow Xia Zimo’s words so directly.
Xie Qinghe was frozen in place.
Jin Anazi was somewhat calmer, but not by much.
He had just taken a sip from a bottle when Duan Ling kissed Lin Ting and almost choked.
They all found it a little strange and instinctively glanced at Lin Ting, then at Duan Ling.
Duan Ling’s expression didn’t change, as if he hadn’t put much thought into it.
It was purely to avoid eating Xie Qinghe’s cooking and to complete the dare.
To them, Duan Ling was someone who could afford to play.
The worst kind of player is one who can throw caution to the wind and go all in.
Lin Ting came back to herself and was surprised that Duan Ling also feared eating Xie Qinghe’s dishes.
Well, who wouldn’t?
Those dishes were like poison.
He hadn’t tried them himself yet, but after watching everyone else vomit, he definitely got the message.
If Duan Ling could play like this, then so could she—it was just a game.
Besides, Lin Ting didn’t want to eat that stuff either.
To put it dramatically, putting it in your mouth was a torturous punishment.
Suppressing the odd feeling inside, she cleared her throat and said, “Next. Let’s keep going.”
That meant they were going to continue playing.
Seeing that Lin Ting didn’t mind, the last bit of awkwardness vanished.
They gathered up the paper slips, folded and shuffled them, then drew again.
“Alright, next round! Draw.”
Jin Anazi seized the opportunity to tease Lin Ting hard. “
We should learn from Duan Ling and Lin Ting’s spirit when it comes to playing games.”
Lin Ting kicked him, “Get lost.”
Duan Ling said nothing.
After that, they didn’t dare suggest dares involving kissing again—it wasn’t fun to repeat what had already been done.
The atmosphere livened up again.
They played more than a dozen rounds, but no one was ever forced to eat the dishes.
Without exception, they chose truth or dare.
Even when the dares were difficult, they did them—the bottom line was suffering challenges, not eating the food.
Though lying during truth was possible without being caught, the players all agreed that if you lied during truth, you’d never get what you wanted.
Modern people were still quite superstitious about certain things—better safe than sorry.
Mainly, no one wanted to gamble with their most precious people or things.
So some of them chose dares just to avoid telling the truth.
After a few more rounds, Jin Anazi glanced at Xie Qinghe and couldn’t help but say, “Look what your cooking’s done to everyone. They’d rather tell the truth or do dares than eat your food. Take my advice and stay out of the kitchen.”
Xie Qinghe didn’t want to give up.
“Maybe I’ve only been learning to cook for a short time, but don’t worry. My parents hired a chef to teach me. I’m confident I’ll improve soon.”
Jin Anazi rolled his eyes.
Duan Xinning thought Xie Qinghe meant well and didn’t want him to be discouraged, so she encouraged him sincerely.
“I believe in you. Cooking is like studying; it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to take it slow.”
Xia Zimo chimed in, “Xinning’s right. Just because your food’s bad today doesn’t mean it’ll always be. If you work hard, you’ll get there someday.”
Xie Qinghe blushed under their encouragement.
“Alright, once I get good, I’ll cook for you all.”
Studying and scoring well was a form of recognition for learning; cooking and receiving praise from tasters was recognition for cooking.
Xia Zimo felt like he’d just kicked a stone and hurt his own foot.
Who would dare eat Xie Qinghe’s food?
Even Duan Xinning went silent, just awkwardly smiling.
“Ha ha ha.” Lin Ting munched on sunflower seeds, listening to their conversation.
She couldn’t help but laugh, and that odd feeling inside her vanished completely.
Duan Ling glanced at her.
Jin Anazi tapped the table to get Xie Qinghe’s attention.
“Xie Qinghe, here’s an idea that’ll make you feel better and get people to try your food.”
Xie Qinghe was curious and asked, “What’s your suggestion?”
Jin Anazi was serious.
“Whenever you hate someone, cook them a meal. I guarantee they’ll regret offending you. No, not just regret—they’ll kneel and beg for mercy, promising never to do it again.”
He spoke with conviction, “I’m not joking—if you traveled back to ancient times and became an official, you could invent a new form of torture: no confession? Then eat the food!”
Xie Qinghe said, “Thanks for the advice.”
Lin Ting laughed until she bent over.
She knew Jin Anazi’s mouth was full of nonsense.
“Jin Anazi, you lick your lips, you’ll be poisoned by your own words.”
Amid the lively scene, Lin Ting finished her sunflower seeds and reached to grab more from her left side.
Someone placed a handful into her palm.
She looked up and saw it was Duan Ling, sitting to her left, who had casually handed them over.
It was a simple gesture—Duan Ling had done countless things like this for her before, and she had done the same for him many times.
But today, seeing it with fresh eyes, Lin Ting inexplicably magnified this ordinary act.
Feeling she was being overly sentimental, she resumed munching without thinking further.
They played until after five in the afternoon before heading back.
As she left, Lin Ting regretted bringing her bike to Strawberry Garden.
The summer afternoon sun was even fiercer than the morning, making it hard to open her eyes and feeling like a furnace baking her alive.
Xie Qinghe gave them sun hats for shade and walked them to the exit.
Jin Anazi rode past and slapped Xie Qinghe’s shoulder.
“Let’s go. I’ll come to your place to play games the day after tomorrow. I’m walking the dog tomorrow, so no time.”
Xie Qinghe, who was trailing behind like a dog, was amused and a bit helpless.
“Sure, my third uncle just bought a new game console—you can come try it out.”
Xie Qinghe said to them, “If you ever want strawberries, feel free to come to Strawberry Garden anytime.”
Lin Ting hung a bag of washed strawberries on her bike’s handlebar, occasionally popping one into her mouth to satisfy her craving and cool off.
“Don’t worry, we won’t hold back with you.”
“Let’s go,” Duan Ling said.
Lin Ting waved goodbye to Xie Qinghe and pedaled forward.
“See you another day.”
Xie Qinghe smiled, “Alright.”
***
On the university’s opening day, after Lin Ting registered, she met up with them to eat.
Of course, they didn’t eat Xie Qinghe’s cooking this time but went to a small restaurant near her university.
Jin Anazi, Xie Qinghe, and Xia Zimo didn’t attend the same university as Lin Ting, and their semesters started a few days earlier.
But since they studied in the same city, meeting up was fairly easy—definitely better than those in different cities.
Still, since it was just the start of the term, everyone was busy, and after eating, they all went their separate ways.
Lin Ting went back to school with Duan Ling and Duan Xinning, who were siblings and classmates.
On the way back, she heard Duan Ling say he planned to apply to rent an apartment off-campus.
“Why rent instead of living in the dormitory?”
He was brief, “Not used to it.”
Before school started, Duan Ling had already mentioned renting off-campus.
Duan Xinning wasn’t surprised; their parents always prioritized their wishes and hadn’t opposed it.
Plus, he was using his own savings from the years—not their family’s money.
Lin Ting respected his choice.
“Alright, when are you looking?”
Before he could answer, she asked, “What’s your budget? Want me to help search online?”
Even though she’d never looked for a place herself, she knew it wasn’t easy.
Even buying groceries required comparing prices, let alone renting a place.
Duan Ling softly said, “No need. I looked online before school started and found a few I like. After military training, when I have time, I’ll go check them out.”
Indeed, you can’t rely on photos and videos when renting—you have to see the place in person.
Lin Ting thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go with you. Many college students get scammed by agents. It’s better to have more eyes. Maybe I can help haggle.”
Duan Ling smiled slightly, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“Thanks in advance, then.”
Lin Ting bumped his arm and replied, “We’ve known each other for over ten years. No need to be polite. Just a little something, a few hundred will do.”
He pulled out his phone, “Sending it now.”
She stopped him, “I’m joking. Look at you taking it seriously.”
Lin Ting liked money, but since Duan Ling had lent her countless times, she generally didn’t charge him when helping out.
Duan Xinning didn’t join in; she knew she couldn’t judge apartments, was too soft to haggle, and couldn’t help much.
She might even lower their bargaining power with the agent.
Once Duan Ling found a place, she’d help tidy up.
Lin Ting glanced at the time and said, “I should head back to the dorm now.”
She’d just registered and eaten but hadn’t packed her dorm stuff yet.
“Okay.”
Duan Ling watched her walk away.
***
More than half a month later, the freshman military training finally ended.
A few days after training finished, Duan Ling confirmed which apartment he wanted to rent.
He planned to move off-campus this Saturday, not waiting for the school to approve his dorm withdrawal.
After all, university dorms rarely check attendance, so he could stay out at night if he wanted.
Lin Ting was free and went to help.
Duan Xinning originally planned to go with Lin Ting but had something come up and had to leave school later, so she went ahead.
Before moving in, they had to do a thorough cleaning.
But Duan Ling had already hired a cleaning lady, so when they arrived, the place was spotless.
They only needed to move the piled-up boxes inside.
Duan Ling asked Lin Ting to carry smaller items, so she wasn’t too tired and had time to examine the apartment.
When they went apartment hunting, Lin Ting had immediately liked this one.
Now, the more she looked, the happier she was with her choice.
She thought her taste was pretty good.
Satisfied as she was, she was reluctant to spend money renting off-campus.
Dorm fees for a semester were just a few hundred yuan—a bargain.
Renting off-campus was thousands a month, easily over ten thousand per semester.
Lin Ting carried a new desk lamp inside and placed it on the table.
“Let’s invite them over in a few days to celebrate your moving out.”
By “them,” she meant Jin Anazi and the others.
Duan Ling came in, cutting open a box full of books and putting them on the shelves.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Lin Ting helped put away the books, then went to the living room and took some photos of the apartment to send to their group chat.
Lin Ting: Look, this is the apartment Duan Ling rented.
Jin Anazi: [Looks nice.]
Xie Qinghe: [Pretty.]
After sending the photos, Lin Ting felt sleepy and didn’t reply to messages.
She lay down on the sofa, still wrapped in plastic.
“I’ll nap a bit. Wake me when Xinning gets here. They agreed to go to the snack street after moving in.”
Duan Ling: “Okay.”
***
At eleven at night, Lin Ting was woken by the sound of wind and rain.
She sat up and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.
It was dark, but she couldn’t tell the exact time.
“Duan Ling, what time is it?”
Duan Ling came out of his room and turned on the living room light and replied, “Eleven.”
Lin Ting scratched her messy hair.
“It’s so late, and Xinning still isn’t here? Also, why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
“You’d only been asleep a little while when the heavy rain started. I wanted to wait for it to ease before waking you, but it just got heavier and heavier. Some places flooded. Xinning messaged me that she couldn’t make it and asked how you were. I told her you were still here with me.”
Lin Ting opened WeChat and saw Duan Xinning had messaged her a few hours earlier, but she was asleep and hadn’t replied.
She leaned against the window and watched the relentless rain.
“How am I supposed to get home?”
“The rain’s too heavy; it’s not safe to go back.” Duan Ling came beside her and looked at her.
“You… stay here tonight.”