I could only skillfully get into the car, leaning far away towards the other side of the car door. Fu Yuye also got on the car afterwards, naturally having an assistant close the door for him.

When the car started, there was a clear boundary between me and Fu Yuye, like the dividing line between the Chu and Han rivers. I even folded my coat under my knees, not taking up any extra space.

Fortunately, Fu Yuye didn't pay attention to me either. He was holding a mini iPad, completely absorbed in whatever was on the screen. Seizing the opportunity when the car turned a corner, I discreetly stole a glance, catching sight of a plethora of colorful charts and data.

Looking at these things, I feel dizzy because I didn't understand them before.

At that time, he was seventeen years old and had already started dealing with investment data. When I was his home tutor, it was close to winter and we had only a few weeks before the holiday break. I went home and he simply said he would continue to hire me as his teacher next semester. At that time, I purely thought he was a good student, so I agreed.

When school started in March, I continued to go to his villa to tutor him. I was impressed by how he looked after not seeing him for two months. He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, which made his face appear very fair. His features were sharp and delicate, somewhere between that of a man and a young boy. He pushed aside a messy pile of files on the table and went to look for the teaching materials that I had sent him. He seemed unusually irritated.

But after finding the materials, he quickly entered a highly focused state during class. When class was over and I was leaving, he asked me to wait for a moment, and then took out a small blue box from the drawer.

"Teacher, here's a New Year's gift."

I was surprised and asked him what it was.

He asked me to open it myself, so I did. Inside was a rabbit zodiac jade pendant, the color of lake water green.

Carved beautifully.

Fu Yuye grew up abroad, so he didn't know that in China, giving jade pendants is actually a very intimate matter, especially when it is related to the zodiac. Usually, elders would give them, and family members would give them, but no student has ever given one to a teacher.

So, at that moment, the feeling of touched that welled up in my heart was something that truly caught me by surprise.

As a result, I was caught off guard without preparing anything myself.

From the looks of it, if I were to accept this gift without hesitation, it would be quite embarrassing and shameful.

So I declined and said, "I really like it, but this is too precious, I can't accept it."

Fu Yuye was initially smiling at me, but as soon as he heard my words, his smile disappeared instantly.

Curiously and disapprovingly, he looked at me and said, "This was originally meant as a gift for you. Since you like it, why would you want to return it to me?"

Every word he said made sense, but how could I explain to him the Chinese concept of "politeness" and "reason"?

I held the box, unsure of what to do with it, and looked at him with a troubled expression.

Fu Yuye pursed his lips and glared at me unhappily.

In the end, I shamelessly accepted the gift. However, I kept it well and couldn't bring myself to put it on, as it always felt too embarrassing.

Fortunately, Fu Yuye's birthday was coming up soon. He invited me to join him and conveniently, it fell on a Thursday, the same day I had evening classes. Nevertheless, I agreed and immediately hailed a taxi after class. The April weather had already warmed up, and a crowd of people were having a party inside the villa. There was music, loud chatter, and various lights illuminating the place.

I couldn't find Fu Yuye for a while. The villa was filled with young people. Judging from their attire, they were all rich and privileged sons and daughters. By the time I arrived, it was already 9:30, and I was also hungry. So I found a corner and ate a piece of cake first. Turns out, the cake tasted really good, so I wanted to go get another piece. But when I came back with the cake, the small round table in the original corner was already occupied by two girls. So I took my plate and headed towards the yard, meanwhile looking for the birthday boy.

I deliberately walked around areas with few people, and then I saw two figures leaning against each other.

One of them seemed familiar.

I was about to greet them when I saw them turn around. The one wearing a dark shirt on the left was Fu Yuye, while the one on the right was a handsome young man with delicate features. Fu Yuye's beauty was a blend of exotic attractiveness, while the young man was a typical classical elegance. He was a little shorter than Fu Yuye, but equally upright, with a mischievous smile on his face.

I saw the two of them smoking together.

The slender fingers of that boy held the cigarette, and with a slight shake of his fingers, the ashes fell delicately to the ground, the movement as captivating as if it were in a movie.

Fu Yuye saw me and called me "Teacher".

His voice was infused with a lazy and sluggish energy. After saying something to the boy next to him, he bit his cigarette and walked briskly towards me.

He approached me, and only then did I notice the scent of alcohol on him, as well as a hint of sweetness, like creamy vanilla.

This was the first time I saw him smoking, and also the first time I learned that he smoked.

I myself do not smoke. In my opinion, smoking is not a good thing. However, at this moment, when I see Fu Yuye, I cannot bring myself to feel disgusted. Before I have had a chance to explore the reason, Fu Yuye approaches me and exhales a puff of smoke towards me.

The air was foggy, as a hint of chocolate flavor dissipated in the atmosphere.

He flicked the ash off his cigarette with two fingers and asked me if I wanted one.

If I become a teacher in the future and my students offer me a cigarette while they're smoking, I will definitely confiscate their cigarette on the spot and make them write a thousand-word self-reflection.

However, at this moment, the moonlight is bright. Small neon lights hang on the trees. Fu Yuye, a seventeen-year-old, looks handsome like a masked face, revealing itself after the smoke dissipates. I probably felt that what I inhaled was not smoke, but poison.