Lin Shan asked him out twice, but he made up excuses to decline both times.
Lin Shan knew he hadn't been to class lately, and kept asking him, "Old Chi, something's wrong with you. Have you changed your personality? Is something going on?"
Lin Shan had seen him bring Shi Ling out before, and there was no hint of anything between them at the time. Now that they were suddenly together, Chi Cheng found it hard to say it on WeChat.
Chi Cheng gritted his teeth and sent a voice message: "I'll talk to you next time we meet."
Lin Shan understood the implication in his words and chuckled, "Alright, you're going to bring the person out."
The day before the exam preparation class started, Fang Ze sent a WeChat message to Chi Cheng, saying that he had been recommended the exam preparation class by an agent and asked him if he wanted to go.
Chi Cheng was having a hard time himself, so of course he dragged Fang Ze into it.
"Go ahead, why not?"
Fang Ze was still a little hesitant. Chi Cheng glanced at Shi Ling sitting next to him. She had been sending voice messages, but had switched to typing a line on the keyboard.
CC: I heard this time it's in a big villa in the suburbs. Just imagine, in the middle of nowhere, a lone man and a lone woman.
Fang Xiaozhe: Holy crap! Brother Chi, you're right. Take me galloping, take me flying.
Chi Cheng only realized it was indeed a desolate wilderness when he arrived.
Regular IELTS classes generally do not provide predictions. These private, secret-room classes use the recollections of test takers, delete the most recent test questions, and then have students memorize the remaining questions.
So they usually rent suburban villas to reduce costs, and a group of people stay there day and night to study the questions on the computer.
This area is full of villa communities. Chi Cheng and Shi Ling exchanged a glance.
I was hoping to meet up with someone from time to time, but seeing how desolate this area is, I know it's hopeless.
Before going in, Chi Cheng looked around and pointed to the small hill behind him for Shi Ling.
"Honey, how about trying outdoor sex?"
Shi Ling didn't even look at him and went straight to ring the doorbell.
"Try it yourself."
The two entered the house, feeling even more helpless.
A teacher was already waiting for them inside. "Did you come together?"
Shi Ling didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. "We met in an IELTS class, and I hitched a ride with him."
The teacher nodded and then looked down to find the list.
Chi Cheng squinted at it, then stretched out his slender fingers and tapped his own name first.
"Chi Cheng".
The teacher then remembered, "You were the first to arrive, I had forgotten. Just call me Ivy. I'll be mainly in charge of your studies during this period, and there's also a writing teacher, Lee, who comes over every night."
After she finished speaking, she also asked Shi Ling's name.
After the two signed in, she glanced at the list and casually made a joke.
"Your names are quite interesting, one means 'galloping,' and the other means 'malfunctioning.'"
Chi Cheng smiled. "Just a coincidence."
After Ivy finished speaking, she pointed to the room and said, "Hey, let's go upstairs and put our things down. It's just right for four men and four women, two rooms, bunk beds."
Chi Cheng and Shi Ling exchanged a glance.
Then they went upstairs together.
As soon as he turned the corner, Chi Cheng cursed under his breath.
"Damn, they're sleeping separately."
Shi Ling was initially a little disappointed, but seeing him even more frustrated, she burst out laughing first.
"Perfect timing, you should focus on learning IELTS."
Chi Cheng still remembered her verbal praise earlier, and his eyes hinted at her ambiguously, "So eager to be on top?"
Shi Ling glared at him and went straight into the room with the pink icon.
Chi Cheng casually put his bag into the locker and then came out to stand in front of the girls' dormitory to wait for Shi Ling.
Shi Ling had no choice but to stop the work of sorting and classifying the documents.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw Fang Ze walking up the spiral staircase at the corner.
Fang Ze was clearly excited to see them.
"Holy crap, you guys are all here! That's great!"
Chi Cheng didn't even have time to reach out and wrap his arms around Shi Ling's waist.
He saw Fang Ze with a smiling face, but his expression was a little unpleasant.
Fang Ze was still asking them, "Besides the two of you, is there anyone else? Did you two come together?"
Chi Cheng glanced at Shi Ling, who remained expressionless, clearly not intending to answer the question.
He didn't clarify their relationship.
"I haven't seen it yet. I guess so."
Fang Ze complained, "This place is so desolate, even the ghosts are dead. Where are you going after you put your things down?"
Chi Cheng replied, "Let's go find a place to eat."
Fang Ze nodded, "Hey, bury me together, I'll put my things in there."
After saying that, he ran towards the boys' room and quickly came out.
"Hey Chi-ge, which one are you sleeping in? I'll sleep in the bunk below you."
"I put a charger on the lower bunk to the right of the entrance."
"Sure, I'll sleep in the bunk above you."
Chi Cheng said with a hint of disgust, "Don't shake the bed for me in the middle of the night."
Fang Ze returned quickly, but when the three of them went downstairs, Ivy said that from now on, all meals would be served on the first floor at fixed times.
Chi Cheng didn't want to bring Fang Ze along as a third wheel, but after listening to Ivy's suggestion, he put his arm around Fang Ze's shoulder and went upstairs.
They played Switch together for a while on the pool bed.
People gradually arrived, and they heard laughter coming from the girl's side as they quickly became familiar with each other.
Chi Cheng twitched the corner of his mouth while playing the game, and sure enough, he couldn't hear Shi Ling's laughter.
Two boys, Wang Jiajian and Liu Zuowei, both from Guangdong, also came to their room.
Seeing them playing games, he watched and gave them random instructions.
Chi Cheng simply gave the Switch to them.
He walked outside by himself.
Fang Ze, while playing the game, asked him, "Brother Chi, aren't you going to play anymore?"
Chi Cheng was already standing outside the door. "I'm going to have a smoke."
As he went down the stairs, he glanced at the girls' dormitory. Shi Ling was sitting half-sitting on the edge of the bed with her laptop on her lap. She was probably writing her thesis again, so he didn't call out to her.
When he reached the corner, he ran into a girl with long, grass-green lob hair who was going upstairs. She greeted him.
"Hi."
Her nails, which she had placed on the armrest, were exquisitely manicured. She introduced herself, saying, "Call me Candy, or Sugar."
Chi Cheng glanced at her hands, which were far inferior to Shi Ling's, and nodded. "Chi Cheng."
Chi Cheng leaned against the wall outside the villa; it was already dark outside.
The area is rather desolate, with only two or three buildings visible, one of which is not lit.
The small hill behind was half-hidden in the darkness, with only a small part of its shape visible near the outer edge; it was indeed eerily secluded.
Chi Cheng shook his head when he remembered talking to Shi Ling about field battles.
He went inside after finishing his cigarette.
Ivy saw him and said, "Hey, I was just about to call you. Where have you been? Everyone's come down for dinner."
Chi Cheng glanced around and saw that Shi Ling hadn't come down yet, and several boys were still sitting on the sofa next to him, each holding a phone, seemingly playing games together.
He simply found a spot on the side and sat down.
Tangtang had changed into her pajamas, still wearing makeup, and sporting a cute panda headband. She was talking to another girl, who introduced herself as Zhuo Ting after the boys sat down.
Shi Ling arrived late.
One side of the table faced the stairs directly. Shi Ling already had a cold expression, and being tall, she caused Wang Jiajian, who was sitting on that side, to snap his fingers when she came down.
"Wow, the beautiful girl is the last to appear."
Chi Cheng squinted at her. Shi Ling was dressed quite normally, but from this angle looking up at her, he could see that she made even ordinary pants look shapely and beautiful, with perfect proportions.
Fang Ze was used to it; he glanced at it and then looked down at his phone.
There was only one seat left, so Shi Ling went over and sat down.
There were a total of 9 people, including Ivy, and they sat not far from Chi Cheng, just diagonally opposite him.
She glanced at Chi Cheng as soon as she sat down.
Chi Cheng subtly curled his lips into a smile.
He looked down and texted her, "Want to go for a walk after dinner?"
Shi Ling didn't look at her phone for a long time, and Chi Cheng also put his phone down.
Ivy briefly explained the schedule for the past few days to them. The listening and reading practice was all done on the computer, with the same questions, but the answers were removed, and the students had to be able to write them down from memory.
I write one essay a day, and in the evening a writing teacher comes over to correct them one by one.
Since there isn't dedicated time for the final speaking test, it's recommended to practice one-on-one with your teacher or send voice messages to them.
Chi Cheng has always been popular among the boys, and his casual remarks are always the perfect finishing touch.
The food here is rather bland, and when there was a spicy dish, it was placed far away. Shi Ling picked up a few bites.