Chapter 49: Are You Hinting at Something?

As the music progressed, little by little.

“Falling in lOve,
Falling in lOve,
Deeper than I’ve felt it befOre,
With yOU, baby.”

The girl’s voice drifted softly through the quiet living room, “Falling in love, falling in love—this moment with you feels deeper than anything I’ve ever felt before.”

Bian Yang pressed the pause button.

Tang Yu looked at him, waiting for guidance, uncertain where her translation had gone wrong.

“How do you interpret the last line?” he asked.

The last line was the simplest, and there was no blending of syllables; she heard it clearly and repeated, “With you.”

“Songs are like poetry—each line’s emotion builds upon the last. What you translated is just the surface meaning. Consider the context: when the creator is already deeply in love, ‘with you’ alone doesn’t fully express her state of mind.”

As he spoke, Tang Yu fell into thought.

It was true—whether reading comprehension or lyrics, she had always translated only the most superficial meanings.

But...

“How should it be translated then?” Tang Yu asked.

Bian Yang reached for a cushion, hugging it close, his phone resting on top, his body lazily reclining, “What do you think is the deeper meaning of ‘with you’?”

Tang Yu pondered, then shook her head.

“It means to be with you forever,” he replied, his Adam’s apple shifting.

His beautiful eyes gazed at her without blinking. “That’s what it means.”

To be with you forever.

That was the best expression of ‘With yOU’.

So perfect that Tang Yu paused, almost imperceptibly, as the gentle, lingering voice drifted into her ears, her fingers tingling as if a current had slipped inside.

It was like electricity.

His voice was truly pleasant, especially at this moment.

Tang Yu could hardly imagine how enchanting it must be when he coaxed his girlfriends with such a tone.

It seemed he was the lyricist, understanding every emotion of the song’s creator.

“Do you understand now?” Bian Yang’s voice drew Tang Yu back to awareness.

She responded with an “Oh,” then said joyfully, “Translating it this way really adds depth.”

Teachers only taught fixed grammar and vocabulary, with no emotion; the rest was left to personal intuition.

Bian Yang withdrew his gaze, his pale fingertips tapping the cushion, his voice languid and hoarse, “Don’t rush. The more you listen, the more you’ll find the feeling. I’ll send you a few songs later—translate them and bring them to me, I’ll help you analyze them.”

“Thank you, Bian Yang, sorry for the trouble!” Tang Yu looked at him with clear, grateful eyes.

Bian Yang tugged at the corner of his lips. “It’s nothing.”

He glanced at the time and looked at her. “It’s late—the dorm’s already locked, and it’s pouring outside. Looks like you can’t go back.”

Tang Yu was still revising lyrics, but upon hearing this, she looked up immediately—it was already eleven thirty!

She quickly sat up from the sofa and hurriedly said, “I need to go.”

She went to the study, packed her things, grabbed her canvas bag, and trotted to the entryway.

As Tang Yu anxiously changed her shoes, Bian Yang leaned against the shoe cabinet, watching her with lowered eyes.

“With this heavy rain, where are you going? Didn’t you hear the news? No one’s supposed to go out right now.”

Tang Yu bent to tie her laces. “I plan to stay at a nearby hotel for the night and return to school tomorrow.”

“With this rain, do you think you’re the only one with that idea? Hotels must be fully booked already. Even if there are a couple of empty rooms, the price will be outrageous. Tang Xiaoyu, you must be rich, wanting to be the fool who pays at times like this.”

His words made Tang Yu’s heart tighten.

She opened her phone’s hotel app, calculating how much money she had left.

As expected, even the most obscure little inns, usually costing only a few dozen yuan, were now exploiting the situation—prices had shot up to seven or eight hundred, not to mention the more reputable hotels.

That was two or three months’ living expenses.

Tang Yu’s brow knotted.

Bian Yang noticed her expression, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he spoke slowly, “How about this? I’ll reluctantly let you stay here for the night.”

Tang Yu hesitated, clutching her bag strap.

She knew he was being kind, but staying at his place—wasn’t that improper?

He’d already been dragged to the police station and was teaching her English; she felt guilty enough as it was, and now she was troubling him again... Wasn’t she taking advantage?

“No, that’s not necessary...” Tang Yu said cautiously. “I can’t trouble you any further.”

Bian Yang looked at her for two seconds, his gaze calm, even with a hint of amusement.

“So, do you really think you’d be troubling me, or are you afraid I might do something to you?”

She hadn’t meant that.

Tang Yu was about to explain, but Bian Yang stepped closer, lowering himself so their eyes were level. “But when you first came to me, wasn’t it by default that I could do something to you? Why be afraid now?”

Tang Yu froze, staring into his eyes, her feet rooted to the ground.

After spending time together, she’d gradually forgotten all that.

She’d even come to see Bian Yang as a friend she could confide in.

Now, suddenly reminded of it—his words weren’t wrong, but Tang Yu felt a strange sense of shame.

“But…” She ducked her head like a quail, her body tightening. “I’m not even of age yet.”

Bian Yang lazily lifted his eyelids, intending only to tease her.

But seeing her like that, his curiosity was piqued.

He wondered if, pushed to desperation, this little victim would bite.

“I know,” Bian Yang’s fingertips lifted her chin. There was clear panic in her pure eyes. “But if you don’t say, and I don’t say, who would know we did that before you turned eighteen?”

He grinned, a roguish air rising.

Tang Yu’s heart leapt into her throat, unable to utter a word, staring at him in disbelief.

He was tall, and standing before her like this, his presence pressed down from above.

Her breathing grew disordered; she hadn’t expected him to say that, biting her lip until it turned pale. “But Bian Yang, it’s not right…”

He released her chin and stepped closer, his slender fingers braced against the shoe cabinet, trapping her between his arm and the furniture.

“But I’ve done plenty of things that aren’t right—one more won’t matter.”

Tang Yu began to feel afraid, inching back a little.

She buried her head, her shoulders trembling, not daring to make a sound.

He leaned in just a bit, suddenly close to her ear, his words dangerously intimate. “And you said it’s not right, not that it’s impossible. Tang Xiaoyu, are you hinting at something?”

“No, I’m not,” she raised her face, panic-stricken and helpless.

Only then did Bian Yang see her reddened eyes, nearly clouded with tears.

Clearly, she was frightened.

He straightened slightly, all traces of joking gone, his fingertips brushing her eyes. “Crybaby, so delicate. No crying allowed.”