The evening of the second.

Zhang Ruowei was stirring things up again.

The day out had gone perfectly well, but when it came time to head back that evening, when they could perfectly easily have driven, she insisted on Zhao Ming squeezing onto the subway with her.

Zhao Ming couldn't win against her, so he went along with it like a good boy.

But the station was packed everywhere you looked, and it took two trains going past before the two of them managed to force their way on.

Since coming home from abroad Zhao Ming could count his subway rides on one hand, and it had never occurred to him that a car that small could hold this many people standing.

Still — it was precisely because the car was so crowded that… Zhang Ruowei put her arms around him of her own accord, and with the car rocking, the two of them kept brushing against each other.

And just as Zhao Ming was floating along on that—

Zhang Ruowei suddenly reached out and tugged at him. From her expression Zhao Ming could tell she had something to say, so he bent down and brought his ear close.

Close to his ear, Zhang Ruowei said quietly, "Say 'I love you' right now, out loud, and once we're off the subway I'll let you kiss me."

Zhao Ming's eyes went round.

This was the first time Zhang Ruowei had ever put a kiss on the table as terms.

But the problem was…

There were a hundred-odd people in this car alone, and saying I love you in front of that many people was, for Zhao Ming, mortifying.

Zhang Ruowei teased him deliberately. "I'll count to five. If you don't say it, never mind."

As she spoke.

Zhang Ruowei raised a hand and started counting down.

Watching Zhang Ruowei's five fingers go down one by one, and thinking that an offer like this wasn't going to come around twice, Zhao Ming just said it. "I love you."

It wasn't loud, though. Only the few people nearest them heard it.

But Zhang…