"What's wrong?"

The next afternoon, Yan Feng was still at his computer desk dealing with files he hadn't had time to finish earlier. When he looked up, he met the gaze of the young girl standing quietly at the doorway, her expression indifferent.

"When are you going to tutor me?"

Yan Feng blinked, immediately stood up, and apologized with a smile, "Ah, sorry, I was so busy before that I forgot. Shall we... start now?"

And so, like a duck being pushed onto a perch, the man began an entire afternoon of tutoring.

"So, is there anything you don't understand about the postgraduate entrance exam questions?"

Sitting side by side, Yan Feng looked at the papers in front of them and asked.

Chen Xi didn't speak, she just swallowed secretly, thought for a moment, and pointed to one of the big questions:

"This one."

The man glanced over, thought for a moment, and realized it was indeed a bit difficult. The main issue was that he had graduated so many years ago, and picking up past knowledge was somewhat challenging.

Fortunately, his mind was always sharp, or rather, he had what could be considered the ultimate brainpower-enhancing tool—Baidu.

He took a photo to search for the question, glanced at the forgotten formulas and theorems, then broke down the problem-solving approach, and finally extended it to the question stem, smoothing out the solution method for the young girl. Although there were some stumbles in between, it was still quite good.

At least Chen Xi nodded after listening and then pointed to another question.

"What about this one?"

Yan Feng didn't see it clearly, so he leaned closer and asked, "Which one?"

He looked up, meeting Chen Xi's eyes. For some reason, the young girl's heart, hidden in her chest, suddenly pounded against her chest, followed by a series of rapid beats.

At that moment, she saw the man's handsome face up close, so close that she could even smell the scent emanating from him.

It was a strange smell, not particularly pleasant, but she couldn't help but take a couple more sniffs.

He had almost leaned in voluntarily, but strangely, Chen Xi didn't instinctively pull back. Instead, she sat there dumbfounded, watching Yan Feng's face, his puzzled expression, his hand waving in front of her eyes, watching...

"Little Xi? Little Xi?"

Her consciousness returned, her hearing restored, and Chen Xi hastily nodded, only to see the man looking at her in confusion:

"I just asked you something, why did you suddenly zone out? Are you feeling unwell?"

The young girl swallowed imperceptibly and shook her head.

"Don't get distracted," Yan Feng continued patiently and responsibly with the explanation.

But she didn't hear a word of it.

A strange emotion invaded her heart, making her feel a sudden unease, yet she couldn't escape it no matter what.

Her heart was racing, blood coursing through her veins, and a barely noticeable blush appeared on her cool face, all of which filled her with immense fear.

Her world was one she had built herself, her body something she could control entirely, and anything beyond her control would be rejected and erased.

But now, her familiar world was crumbling, her body increasingly slipping out of her control, and she didn't know when it all started. The only thing she knew for sure was...

It couldn't continue.

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The chair scraped against the tiles, making a harsh sound, and the young girl, like a startled bird, was panting heavily, looking at the bewildered man in front of her.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Yan Feng was taken aback. Everything was going fine, so why the sudden change? Did he say something wrong just now? But he didn't...

While he was reflecting on himself, Chen Xi had somehow returned to her previous state, sitting back down with an unchanged expression.

"Nothing, keep going."

The young girl's voice still betrayed no emotion, leaving Yan Feng puzzled.

But the tutoring had to continue, and nothing strange happened afterward, except for one difficult question that he couldn't solve even after searching, forcing him to frown in thought for a while.

Meanwhile, Chen Xi sat beside him, busy dealing with the inexplicable thoughts that had surfaced in her mind.

Why would...

She sneaked a glance at the man beside her, still as handsome as ever, focused on the problem, seemingly too busy to notice anything else.

Could it be...

Swallowing the saliva in her mouth, her sweaty palms unconsciously clenched, Chen Xi leaned back without changing her expression, then slowly moved closer behind the man.

Sniff,

Sniff.

Sniff...

"I got it!"

Yan Feng suddenly straightened up, turning to the young girl who hurriedly snapped back to reality, his words filled with obvious excitement: "I solved it, Little Xi, look, it should be like this..."

After the excitement passed, the man noticed the young girl's odd behavior and quickly asked with concern:

"Hey? Little Xi, why is your face so red? Are you feeling unwell again?"

Chen Xi blinked, brushed the hair from her ear behind her head, her hidden fist under the table clenching and unclenching, and her cold, iceberg-like face showed a faint, unfamiliar smile:

"It's nothing."

...

The tutoring ended, but Chen Xi didn't seem to plan on leaving. Instead, she looked around curiously like a child.

Come to think of it, this was probably her first time in the man's room.

He lived very simply, almost to the point of being sparse. The entire room had only a bed, a set of tables and chairs, a computer, and a guitar.

"Can you play this?"

Chen Xi slowly walked to the corner, pointing at the clean guitar and asked.

The man turned his head at her words, his gaze softening slightly as he looked at the instrument, then smiled shyly and replied, "Yeah, I learned a little."

Yan Feng stood up, took the guitar in his hands, and gently brushed the strings with his fingertips, a hint of melancholy appearing between his brows.

"I haven't played in a long time."

After a sigh, the man sat back on the bed with the guitar, his long fingers slowly moving, and the music began to play.

It was the first time Chen Xi had heard the sound of a guitar so close.

She didn't know what kind of song it was, only that it sounded inexplicably sad.

With the last chord's tail note, the performance ended.

"What's the name of this song?" Chen Xi asked.

"Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day." Yan Feng's eyes carried a hint of dim light, and he sighed with a bitter smile, "It's an old song, and it's the only one I know. I haven't touched a guitar in so long, I've almost forgotten it."

He lied.

There wasn't a speck of dust on the guitar, it must have been well-maintained, even if he didn't play it often, he couldn't have never touched it.

Chen Xi looked at the guitar, lost in thought for a long time, before finally turning back to the man, saying each word clearly:

"Teach me to play."