Summer in Your Name - 94

Boston, USA. Cheng Zhuoyang's rented apartment.

The phone on Zhang Shu's nightstand vibrated furiously. He fumbled for it, squinting at the screen. It was a voice call from Sheng Xia.

Zhang Shu answered and put it to his ear.. “Why not video call, baby?”

His voice carried a lazy, half-awake drowsiness. But in the next instant, his entire body tensed. His eyes flew open, and he shot upright, alert as a hawk.

Because the voice on the other end wasn’t Sheng Xia’s. It was a familiar, serious, middle-aged woman's voice he hadn't heard in a while.

“Zhang Shu, are you resting?”

“Hello, Auntie.” His tone was steady, as if his earlier laziness had been Wang Lianhua’s imagination.

"Mm, what time is it over there?”

“Seven in the morning.”

"Did I wake you?”

"I’m usually up by now, but I’m at a friend’s place, so I slept in a little. It’s fine, I’ve stepped out to take the call. Please go ahead, Auntie.”

As Zhang Shu spoke, he walked out of the room. Outside the door, Cheng Zhuoyang, who had gotten up to use the bathroom and was heading back to his room, wore an innocent expression: Damn, Brother Shu is ruthless, he thought. To build a good image with his future mother-in-law, Zhang Shu didn’t hesitate to throw him under the bus. Is this what it takes to be a businessman? Terrifying.

Zhang Shu spoke on the phone in the living room for about ten minutes. After hanging up, he yanked Cheng Zhuoyang’s blanket away. “If you’re awake, get up. We're going to check out some hospitals today."

“Nope. Sounds boring.”

“Then how about a game company? Surely playing games is fun enough for you?”

“Still nope. You’re not really going to play games. You'd probably play me instead."

"You just want to stay holed up in the lab, the library, and your desk?”

Cheng Zhuoyang buried his face in the pillow. “Just go back, Brother Shu. I need some time to think.”

He knew why Zhang Shu had come to Boston, but Cheng Zhuoyang had no interest in starting a business, nor any plans to return to China anytime soon.

“I do have to go back,” Zhang Shu said, standing over him. "If you really don't want to get out and see anything, I’ll book a flight to California tonight.”

Cheng Zhuoyang turned over.

Zhang Shu stated calmly, "I’ll send you another copy of the business proposal and the tech equity agreement. Look them over when you can. Zhuoyang, I really need you.”

Cheng Zhuoyang sat up, legs crossed like a kid, but his expression was serious. "Brother Shu, you know as well as I do that it's nearly impossible for a research institute or company in China right now to provide enough computing power and data storage for my research... let alone a startup.”

"Then what's your research for?" Zhang Shu interrupted, pulling a chair over and sitting on it backwards. "Breakthroughs for the sake of breakthroughs? Where's the demand side?"  

“I’m not cut out to start a business,” Cheng Zhuoyang muttered.  

"And what exactly is the ‘right cut’ to start a business?” Zhang Shu countered.

Cheng Zhuoyang fell silent. Zhang Shu knew his personality and didn’t press for an immediate response. His voice lowered, deliberate, "If you join Yixia, I can’t promise you the best research conditions at this stage. But Zhuoyang, if you ever plan to step outside the lab, you won’t find a boss who understands you better than I do, or colleagues more aligned with your vision. I'm different. Whoever I find, I'm confident I can mobilize them. But I also can't wait. I can't wait for you to finally get sick of someone else and come looking for me. My company has to launch. I need my team in place.”

"Research conditions in China aren’t as dire as you think. The support systems are robust, it’s all in the proposal. Beyond your core work, you won’t be forced to do anything. No other company can promise you that. I can. You can still stay in your comfort zone and do your research. Hell, you could even pursue your PhD while at it…”

“I’m heading back to California. You’ve got half a semester to think it over.”

After speaking, Zhang Shu swiftly packed his things and booked his ticket. Before leaving, he turned back and stared at Cheng Zhuoyang for a long moment, “Zhuoyang, forgot to mention, Liao Jing’s been single all these years. With her qualities, it’s hard to understand why. I can’t understand you either. If you were always set on coming to America, on staying here, why bother attending that group date back then?”

Zhang Shu left.

Cheng Zhuoyang stood at the door for a few minutes, then returned to his desk, clutching his head and raking his fingers through his hair.

And he still asks what's the ‘right cut’ to start a business?

Zhang Shu is the ‘right cut’—laying out sincerity like a banquet, then striking straight for the heart.

…

Sheng Xia never found out what Zhang Shu and her mother talked about that day. After hanging up, Wang Lianhua just went back to her room. Sheng Xia spent the whole day on edge, but in the end, her mother never brought it up. When she asked Zhang Shu, he just said, "It's nothing. Your mom's a reasonable person."

Yeah, right! 

Wang Lianhua had always been hypersensitive about these things. She wasn’t some rigid traditionalist. She just took the concept of "self-protection" very seriously, and had her own uncompromising definition of it.

So, Sheng Xia returned to campus with her heart still tangled in unease.

The second semester of her second year had light coursework, Sheng Xia mostly occupied with her thesis. During her free time, she began managing a short-video account with a few undergrads. They mainly posted videos interpreting classical poetry and explaining the nuances of characters. With her good looks, especially when dressed in Hanfu, her videos gained great traction, and the account’s popularity climbed steadily. But the comment section kept clamoring for her daily vlogs or, more bluntly, for ‘the guy she lives with’. 

Her days were full and busy, but the moment she paused, longing grew wildly. 

Sheng Xia secured her visa, took a week off, and, stitched together with Labor Day holidays, carved out ten days of freedom.  

On May 1st, Sheng Xia boarded a plane to California.

Before takeoff, she had even told a little white lie, saying she’d be recording a show intermittently and might not have her phone on her, so don't panic if she was out of touch. Zhang Shu didn't suspect a thing.

The Bay Area in May was slightly warmer than Heyan. This was Sheng Xia's first time traveling abroad alone. She was a little nervous, starting to regret this whole surprise idea. What if it turned into a shock instead? But she was already here, she couldn’t back out at the ‘last mile’. 

So, Sheng Xia decided to just take a taxi to the Stanford graduate student apartments.

The moment she got out of the cab, her mind went blank. The driver said they'd arrived, but which building was it? She only remembered Zhang Shu saying the building had a red roof and gray walls. But there were several buildings like that around: three-story villas, two-story townhouses, even a seven- or eight-story high rise. None had signs or unit numbers, turning the entire area into an indistinguishable maze. Standing on the roadside, Sheng Xia pulled out her phone and texted Zhang Shu. 

Sheng Xia: “Let’s go on a date.”

Sheng Xia: “Share your location.”

The messages just kept spinning, trying to send. Sheng Xia frowned. She'd activated international roaming, so why didn't she have service? Just minutes ago, in the taxi, she’d been chatting with Xin Xiaohe and the others in their group chat without issue.  

Ding-ding. Several notifications chimed in quick succession. Sheng Xia opened them, it was a message informing her she had over 500 yuan overdue.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. She'd recharged over 500 yuan right before leaving! How could this happen?  

But she had no time to dwell on it. Stranded in a foreign country without internet, she was stuck. Then she remembered Wang Lianhua had given her a U.S. SIM card, tucked in her suitcase. So, she squatted at the sidewalk, rummaging through her luggage as passersby shot her curious glances.

Sheng Xia’s cheeks burned with embarrassment and nerves, sweat beading on her back. Scenarios of sleeping on the street started playing in her mind.

Just as she switched out her SIM card and closed her suitcase, for better or worse, she caught sight of Zhang Shu through a gap in the bushes. 

He was sitting outside a café across the small garden, chatting and laughing.  

Sheng Xia rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn’t mistaken. He looked thinner than in their video calls. After over half a year in the U.S., his style hadn’t changed a bit from back home: a T-shirt layered with a shirt, jeans, and sneakers, simple and clean.

Sitting across from him was a girl.

From Sheng Xia’s vantage point, she could only see the girl’s profile: a delicate, petite face half-hidden under neat bangs, looking no bigger than the palm of a hand. Her jet-black hair fell in a sharp, straight cut, sleek as satin. She looked capable and aloof, like a girl who'd stepped out of a manga.

Sheng Xia glanced at her silent phone. On the WeChat interface, Xin Xiaohe’s last message hit like a prophecy: “Don’t let your surprise turn into catching him cheating.”

Didn’t he say there were no pretty Chinese classmates?

At that same moment, Zhang Shu's phone on the table buzzed twice. He glanced at it casually, not changing his posture or the rhythm of his speech. Suddenly, his expression shifted. He grabbed the phone and shot up, looking around wildly.

In that instant, Sheng Xia straightened up, letting the bushes hide her disheveled state.

She didn’t know why her first instinct was to hide. Regret followed immediately, she wasn’t the one who should feel guilty! So she crouched back down, pulled out the handle of her suitcase, and was about to walk out when her phone rang.

A voice call request from Zhang Shu.

She stared at the screen, letting it ring a few times before answering, her voice weak and tinged with a grievance she hadn’t noticed herself. “Hello…”

“Stay right there.”

Zhang Shu’s voice came through, then he hung up. Seconds later, Sheng Xia was enveloped in a broad embrace. Startled, she nearly dropped her phone, but he caught it deftly and pulled her back into his arms, holding her tighter and tighter, as if trying to meld her into him.

"How could you just show up like this? I almost made you wait again.”

Only then did the reality sink in, it was really him. But her heart still felt sour. Her arms hung stubbornly at her sides; she didn't hug him back. Her voice was muffled. “Sorry for interrupting your date with a pretty classmate.”

Zhang Shu chuckled, pulling her into another tight embrace before slowly releasing her. He cradled her face in both hands, his gaze roaming over her features, intense, almost reverent, then pecked her lips. "Jealous?"  

He pecked her again, then another, and another, a shower of light kisses. Finding his phone annoying, he took his hands from her face, then stuffed it in his pocket, all without breaking the kiss. The next second, he was eagerly cupping her face again, kissing her deeply.

It had been too long since they’d kissed.

His scent filled her senses. Sheng Xia lost all sense of time and place. He only let go when she felt dizzy, like she might lose her balance from standing so long.

Her lips were numb, her tongue was numb, her legs were numb from standing too long.

"Let me go say a word to someone first." He murmured in her ear, taking her hand with one hand and pulling her suitcase with the other, leading her towards the coffee shop.

Sheng Xia didn't understand, but she obediently followed, staring at the back of his head, lost in thought.

I miss him so much, miss him so much, I still want to kiss him.

Inside the coffee shop, the manga girl looked up, glanced at her watch, and said to Zhang Shu, "Ten minutes. You were gone for ten minutes."

Zhang Shu lowered his head and smiled. “Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Let’s call it here for today, we’ll talk again when I’m back in the country.”

The manga girl replied coolly, “I probably won’t have time to wait. I have decisions to make today.”

Zhang Shu didn’t hesitate. "Then this decision must be very important to you. A gentleman does not take what others cherish. I, too, have something more important.”

The girl shot him a questioning look.

Zhang Shu said, “A date with my girlfriend.”

The girl paused, glanced at Sheng Xia, then nodded. Picking up her coffee cup, she took a sip. "What a shame. Goodbye, then.”

“Goodbye.”

Sheng Xia was utterly confused by the exchange. Zhang Shu led her out, still holding her hand.

He lived in the same building as the coffee shop. The apartment was old, but the room was well-equipped, it even had a kitchen and living room. Since he had roommates, he simply packed a few clothes and took Sheng Xia to stay at a hotel instead.

During their brief stop in his room, Sheng Xia noticed countless traces of herself scattered around: his computer screensaver was a photo of her in Hanfu; the three books she'd published were on his desk; the photo in the frame on his desk was also her.

What surprised her was that it was a photo from her sophomore year of high school, taken by Sheng Mingfeng during the finals of an essay competition.

How did he have this?

“This photo… where’d you get it?”

Zhang Shu, done packing with just one bag, glanced over casually. “Your dad sent it to me.”

“Why?” Sheng Xia was stunned. Since when had he been in contact with her father, and exchanging photos, no less?

Zhang Shu thought she meant why this photo, he answered with the same casualness, "Didn’t you say I never knew the 16-year-old you? Well, now I do.”

Sheng Xia: …

So, leaving it here, forcing himself to stare at it every day, counted as ‘knowing’ her younger self?

“Childish,” she remarked.

Zhang Shu took the photo frame from her hands and placed it back on the table, retorting, “Childish? It's my girlfriend. 'A natural beauty is hard to ignore.' Whether you're sixteen or twenty-three, you're stunning."

Sheng Xia’s cheeks flushed. This guy, who said anything about the photo being childish?!

On the way to the hotel, Sheng Xia recalled the earlier scene and asked, “Didn’t you say you didn't have pretty classmates?”

"She doesn’t count. I only just learned from Cheng Zhuoyang that she’s studying natural language processing at Stanford.”

“Then who is she?”

Zhang Shu raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember her?”

Sheng Xia shook her head, confused.

Zhang Shu: “She’s the girl I helped at Yifang Bookstore back then. Her name’s Yuan Zhiyi.”

Too much time had passed, Sheng Xia could no longer recall the girl’s face, but the icy impression she’d left was still vivid. “Wasn’t she deaf and mute?”

"No, just hard of hearing. She can't hear well, so she just doesn't like to speak. I'm trying to recruit her as a partner. She's considering it."

 

"So I messed up your important business?” Sheng Xia’s heart clenched, fearing her so-called ‘surprise’ was anything but.

"No, it’s fine. You are the important thing. I'll never miss a date with you again."

He said it so naturally, without any special inflection. She tightened her grip on his hand, still uneasy. “Don't do that next time. Just tell me. I can understand."

Only then did Zhang Shu realize how much it weighed on her. He pinched her cheek. “Really, it’s fine. She was distracted anyway. She’s fishing for her catch, I’m fishing for mine. We each get what we need.”

…

At the hotel room, Sheng Xia had barely set down her luggage when he pulled her into his arms, capturing her in a deep kiss. She responded with equal fervor, their bodies tumbling onto the bed in a heated embrace. When he finally paused to catch his breath, he murmured against her lips, "Any more questions for me?”

Dazed from the kiss, her mind was blank, consumed only by the need to claim him. She shook her head weakly. "None…”

Zhang Shu: “Then I’m gonna push my luck.”

“Don’t misuse idioms, mmph—”

But pushing his luck was an understatement. He was insatiable, a bottomless pit of desire, greedy beyond measure!

She didn’t ask his feelings; he didn’t ask why she came. They etched their unspoken longing into each other’s bodies.

When the storm settled, it was past midnight.

What kind of date was this? Skipping every stage and diving straight to the main event. The room wasn't even big, but they'd treated it like a sightseeing tour, leaving marks everywhere. As if she'd traveled a thousand miles just for this.  

At some point, after who-knows-which round, she got hungry and demanded food. He ordered room service, and she thought she’d finally get a break. But then, halfway through the meal, his hands started wandering again. By the time they finished, she was furious and refused to eat another bite. He coaxed her with sweet words, promising to behave, but after a short rest, he…

Sheng Xia finally understood what Xin Xiaohe had meant about men needing to ‘hand in their dues’. If he held back for too long, even if he didn’t burst, she might just collapse from over exertion, it was truly unbearable.    

Exhausted, she didn’t want to speak, but Zhang Shu kept nuzzling her neck, muttering “baby, baby” nonstop.

So noisy!

He’d seemed so calm during the day, like her arrival hadn’t fazed him much. Now it was like he’d just caught up, clinging to her, refusing to let go.

So childish!

He’s the baby here, isn’t he?

She had no choice but to interrupt his rambling. “What exactly did you say to my mom?”  

Zhang Shu lifted his head from her chest. “I thought the questioning was over?"

“Now I feel like questioning.”

“Full and energized, are we?”

“…”

Sheng Xia kicked him, exasperated. “Fine, don’t tell me!”

“Again?” Zhang Shu swiftly caught her leg. “Stop trying to kick me all the time. You’ll regret it if something breaks.”

“Shameless!”

"Mhm. Can’t afford shame if I want a wife.” He dropped the playful grin, slid off her, and hopped out of bed to grab his laptop. "Wanna take a look?”

He was standing there, naked from the waist up, just in his boxers, his broad shoulders and narrow waist on display, Sheng Xia felt her face heat and looked away. “Not getting up.”

Zhang Shu chuckled, didn't press. Settling against the headboard with his laptop propped on his knees, he clicked open a folder and turned the screen toward her.  

A zipped file containing several documents

Yixia Technology Co., Ltd. Business Plan  

Yixia Technology Co., Ltd. Project Prospectus  

Yixia Technology Co., Ltd. Equity Structure Plan  

Prenuptial Agreement  

Yixia Technology—ArcialVision.

She didn’t believe the name was just a play on words. She’d seen his business plan before, but the cover never had the company name. This was the first time she knew he'd registered the company using her name.

She was beginning to understand. He must have sent this file to Wang Lianhua, hadn’t he? Entrepreneurs always held their first company in the highest regard, often naming it after something deeply personal. After all, if it failed, it would become a memory; if it succeeded, that name would be tied to the man for life.  

If that wasn’t telling enough, the Prenuptial Agreement was practically a confession of total surrender.

Clause after clause, many of which referenced the equity structure plan and project prospectus documents, all converged into one unmistakable message: Should they divorce, regardless of fault or who was at fault, Zhang Shu would walk away with nothing. All assets, equity, even patent earnings created before the divorce would belong to Sheng Xia.

When Xin Xiaohe later stumbled upon this agreement by accident, the lawyer's comment was: “Damn, this is straight up simp behavior! He might as well wrote, 'Even if we divorce, I’ll keep working to provide for my ex-wife.'"

Sheng Xia’s mind went blank.

A prenuptial agreement?

They'd never even talked about marriage yet. How long had he had this ready? Other people wrote prenups to protect their assets. What was he doing?

"Is this... a military pledge?" Sheng Xia asked, stunned.

“Ah, the literary genius strikes again with her impeccable word choice,” Zhang Shu said, still wearing that carefree expression. “But yeah, that’s actually not far off.”

Sheng Xia shook her head. “We don’t need this…”

Zhang Shu’s face turned solemn, his gaze earnest. “We don’t. But your mom does. She needs it.”

Sheng Xia’s heart trembled at his words, her gaze fixed on him in a daze. “But this… you’re at such a disadvantage. How can you bear to just hand over everything you’ve built?" 

Zhang Shu took the laptop away, looking at her in horror. “What do you mean? You think we'd get divorced?”

Sheng Xia: …

He flopped onto the bed, lunging forward to nip at her lips. “Don’t even think about it.”

---

The next morning, Zhang Shu was jolted awake by his phone’s ringing. Sheng Xia stirred in his arms, blinking sleepily.

Irritation flashed across his face, he kissed her forehead, and rolled over, stretching across her to grab the phone.

A smirk tugged at his lips when he saw Cheng Zhuoyang's name on the caller ID. He answered.

Lying beneath him, Sheng Xia watched as he ran a hand through his messy hair, a confident smile spreading across his face. The clear boyishness mixed with a strong sense of authority was a disorienting combination.

“My fish is biting,” Zhang Shu said, tapping the speakerphone button.

From the other end of the line, Cheng Zhuoyang’s voice came through, tinged with resignation. “Have you worked things out with Yuan Zhiyi?”

Zhang Shu: “More or less.”

Cheng Zhuoyang: “Oh…”

Zhang Shu: “What’s up?”

“I…” Cheng Zhuoyang hesitated. “I just wanted to ask, if I join after I graduate, is it too late?”

Hearing this, Zhang Shu broke into a silent, triumphant grin. He even winked at Sheng Xia, barely stopping himself from throwing a victory fist in the air.

But his voice stayed composed and steady. “We can draft the contract first. You can continue your studies, get your salary, and when you're ready to formally join the project, we'll sign the tech equity agreement."

“Salary and stuff don't matter, but Yuan Zhiyi’s side…" Cheng Zhuoyang’s voice was thick with worry.

Sheng Xia bit her lower lip, thinking of Cheng Zhuoyang’s sheepish personality. Ah, this genius, getting sold out and still counting the money for his seller!

Zhang Shu: “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

They discussed a few more details. While on the call, Zhang Shu got up, brushed his teeth, and washed his face. By the time he hung up, he was fully refreshed and happily kissed Sheng Xia's cheek over and over.

Sheng Xia stared at him. "I feel like you're Cao Cao, tricking Guan Yu..."

He had the smug look of a man who’d just schemed his way into recruiting top talent. 

Zhang Shu didn’t even deny it. “As long as I’m not Yuan Shao or Liu Biao, we’re good.”

Sheng Xia didn't know why he suddenly brought up those two. What was there to compare?

 

"Cao Cao wasn’t exactly a paragon of virtue, you know?" she pointed out, making it clear this wasn’t entirely a compliment.

Zhang Shu raised an eyebrow. “Relax. I’ve got no interest in ‘other men’s wives.’”

Sheng Xia: … Who’s talking about that?! 

---

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