Chapter 48: I Only Wish to Belong to You

Tang Yu had never been inside a boy’s room before. It was nothing like the messy scene Wang Qing had described: no shoes and socks strewn about, no chaotic clothes, and certainly no unpleasant smells. His room was spotless, just like he himself—cool and nonchalant.

The bedroom was spacious, and as she stepped onto the gleaming wooden floor, Tang Yu couldn’t help but look around. The curtains and bedding were all in soft, smoky gray tones. The grass-cloth wallpaper was decorated with subtle prints of underwater exploration, and where the ceiling met the walls, intricate plaster carvings adorned the corners. On her left was a row of floor-to-ceiling wardrobes; on her right, a shelf stretching up to the ceiling, displaying various sculptures and car models.

She walked to the large bed and saw the clothes that Bian Yang had mentioned. They matched the pants he was wearing, both in a beige-gray shade. Tang Yu gathered them in her hands and hurried out, feeling oddly as if she had trespassed into his private domain.

As she left his bedroom, she saw Bian Yang emerging from the kitchen. The boy had one hand in his pocket, pale fingers holding a glass water cup, and walked toward her.

“Is this the one?” she asked, handing him the clothes, her gaze a little evasive.

Bian Yang took them, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Thanks.”

He walked to the living room, set the glass on the low table, slipped on the jacket, and then sat on the sofa, patting the spot beside him.

He looked at her. “Come over, let me see your test paper.”

“Oh.” Tang Yu went over, handed him the paper, and sat on the sofa herself, keeping about half a meter between them—a distance neither too close nor too far.

Bian Yang glanced at the gap, then calmly looked away and began reviewing her test paper.

Tang Yu reached for the glass she had used earlier, only to find that the two glass cups were identical and placed so close together that she couldn’t tell which belonged to whom.

She hesitated, withdrew her hand, and asked, “Bian Yang, which one is yours?”

Bian Yang glanced at the two cups. “I forgot.”

Tang Yu stared at the cups for a moment, recalling that Bian Yang’s water seemed to be more than hers. She’d drunk some, so the one with less must be hers. She picked up the one with less water, took a light sip, and while Bian Yang appeared engrossed in her test paper, he said lazily, “You’re drinking mine.”

“Cough, cough!” Tang Yu was instantly choked by the water, coughing hard. Water even splashed out of the cup.

Bian Yang handed her a few tissues, watching her eyes redden and cheeks flush from the coughing, unable to suppress a chuckle. “I was teasing you. That cup is yours.”

How mischievous he was!

Tang Yu grumbled as she wiped the water from her lips and the sofa, glaring at him with a mixture of confusion and complaint. “But didn’t you just say you didn’t know which was yours?”

Bian Yang gave a roguish smile, his tone playfully provocative. “Suddenly remembered—I poured a glass but haven’t drunk from it, so the one with more left is mine.”

The girl felt a bit mocked.

She snorted softly, turned her face to the TV, and ignored him.

Bian Yang suppressed another laugh, then heard Tang Yu ask, “Where’s my phone?”

Her pale hand was held out in front of him, but her eyes remained on the TV, clearly still upset.

She was especially transparent when angry; everything showed on her face.

Bian Yang looked at her for a few seconds, his throat itching, and finally took her phone from his pocket, placing it in her palm. Tang Yu’s expression improved, and she immediately lowered her head to unlock her contacts, found her grandfather’s number, and dialed.

After confirming all was well at home, she relaxed. Then she called Wang Qing, who said she’d already picked up Tang Yu’s clothes and taken them to her own place. Tang Yu thanked her profusely.

Wang Qing said, “But Xiaoyu, where are you now? Are you still at the milk tea shop? Don’t wander around—the wind outside is terrifying! Just now, some little girls downstairs nearly got blown away if the security guards hadn’t held them back. The water outside is so deep, and I heard several manhole covers have been washed away. If you’re careless, you could fall right in—so scary!”

Tang Yu glanced at the torrential rain outside; black clouds shrouded the city, even the streetlights barely visible.

“But the dorms are about to close. If I don’t go back now, what should I do…”

At this, Bian Yang quietly touched the test paper.

Wang Qing suggested, “Why don’t you find a hotel for the night? There are hotels on the same street as the milk tea shop. Our dorm doesn’t check attendance, so you could stay out for one night.”

Tang Yu twisted her fingers in the sofa, biting her lip as she pondered the suggestion.

After hanging up, Tang Yu appeared downcast. Bian Yang tapped his palm with her rolled-up test paper, then handed it to her.

“Tang Xiaoyu, your reading comprehension is pretty terrible.”

“Huh?” Tang Yu took the paper, spread it out, and looked. The reading section was worth fifty points, divided into two parts with twenty questions, each worth two and a half points. Bian Yang had circled five mistakes!

The rest was fine, but that alone cost her twelve and a half points. Her listening was weak too, usually missing one or two questions, plus deductions in the essay. At best, she could score around 130.

This had always been Tang Yu’s bottleneck.

Although she was among the top students in her class, a single point could drop her thousands of ranks in the college entrance exam—let alone twenty.

But reading comprehension wasn’t just vocabulary; it tested language sense and understanding. No matter how many practice papers Tang Yu tackled or words she memorized, she couldn’t overcome this deficiency.

She brooded for a while, then looked questioningly at Bian Yang.

He hadn’t just marked her mistakes; he’d underlined in the passage itself, highlighting the places she’d misunderstood. Reading his notes gave her sudden insight, though she never noticed these things when actually solving the questions.

And he’d done all this just while she made two phone calls.

He never paid attention in class—how did he know all this?

“Bian Yang, your English is amazing! In less than ten minutes, you finished four passages and found the correct answers. How did you do it?”

Bian Yang raised his brows, basking in her surprised, admiring expression. “Is it really so hard?”

Tang Yu nodded repeatedly. “English is my weak point. No matter how hard I try, I always score around 130. The points I lose are always in listening and reading. Teacher Gao made me class rep hoping it’d boost my English, but it’s no use—I just can’t improve.”

Her eyes sparkled as she earnestly sought his guidance, forgetting even the time.

“Bian Yang, you don’t even pay attention in class—how do you finish reading comprehension so quickly?”

She always spent the most time on it, only to get mediocre results.

Bian Yang lounged back on the sofa, looking relaxed. “Who said I don’t pay attention? Believe it or not, even if I’m asleep, what the teacher says still gets in my head. Of course, that’s not something you can copy—not everyone is as talented as me.”

His words sounded a bit like a joke, arrogant and not at all modest.

But Tang Yu felt inclined to believe him.

Perhaps he secretly studied late into the night after returning to his apartment? Highly likely.

“Can you teach me how to do these questions? And listening, too—I’m weak there as well.”

Tang Yu’s attitude was sincere.

Bian Yang glanced at her. “Plenty want to be my apprentice—tell me, why should I take you?”

Tang Yu thought for a moment, realizing she didn’t have much to offer, and backed down. “Forget it then.”

Bian Yang: “…?”

Just like that? The girl really didn’t know how to rise to a challenge.

He watched her for a moment, pressing his thin lips together, then feigned indifference as he looked down at the paper, pretending to review it. “Actually, it’s possible. After all, why waste good fortune on outsiders? You’re my little sidekick, aren’t you?”

“Really?!”

Her eyes immediately sparkled like crystal.

Bian Yang felt he’d agreed too quickly, so he acted reserved. “Hmm, I’ll consider it.”

The college entrance exam was looming, every moment precious.

Tang Yu didn’t want to waste his time, so she quickly added, “If you have any concerns, you don’t have to feel obliged; you can reject me outright.”

Bian Yang was taken aback, then calmly replied, “No trouble. You have some talent—I won’t lose out by taking you as my apprentice.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu brightened, her spirit lifting.

“But don’t celebrate too soon. I see you memorizing plenty of vocabulary, but you still make mistakes in places you shouldn’t. That means your problem isn’t with words or grammar—it’s with language sense. Rote memorization is useless, especially for listening.”

He tapped the paper. “You need to practice with a different method and develop language intuition.”

Tang Yu asked humbly, “What works best?”

“Watch more English movies or speeches—that’s the fastest way to build language sense.” He paused, then dismissed the idea. “But those take too long—not suitable for someone about to take the exam. Better to start with English songs.”

Tang Yu listened, half-understanding.

Bian Yang got up, fetched his phone from the bedroom, crossed his legs, and sat back in his spot.

“So let’s start with a diagnostic test. Any objections?”

Tang Yu shook her head obediently. “None. How do we do it?”

Bian Yang unlocked his phone, his gaze glancing over her earnest, pale face, lips curving briefly before returning to seriousness. “I’ll pick a random song. You listen, and after each line, translate it for me. Got it?”

“No problem.”

Mentioning a test made Tang Yu a little nervous; her eyes fixed on his elegant fingers.

As Bian Yang played a song, its gentle prelude slowly filled the room.

She held her breath, afraid to miss a lyric.

“When I hold you close to me,
I could always see a house by the ocean.”

Bian Yang paused, looking at her.

Tang Yu recited what she heard, her soft voice careful and clear. “When I hold you in my arms, I always seem to see a house by the sea.”

Bian Yang tapped the screen, his dark eyes lazy, continuing.

“Last night I could hear the waves,
As I heard you say, ‘all that I want is to be yours.’”

Tang Yu translated, “Last night I seemed to hear the waves roaring, just like I heard you say, ‘I only want to be yours.’”

“Hm?” The boy’s voice was low and magnetic. “The last line—I didn’t catch it.”

Tang Yu repeated, “I only want to be yours.”

“Oh.” His languid voice was tinged with huskiness.

Bian Yang’s fingers tapped his knee, a quiet laugh escaping his lips. “Yeah, this time I heard it clearly.”