The young man suddenly composed himself, his face returning to its usual expression, lazy yet radiating a confident light.

No matter how many times she thought back, Ding Xian would always remember that stifling afternoon coming out of the cinema, when the young man shed his usual laxity and nonchalance, and understatedly told her a fact—

This society will change.

As for how it would change, he didn't say.

"Will it change the status of men and women?"

Zhou Siyue looked at her in surprise. The young girl lowered her head, suddenly remembering her younger brother at home. He understood, and said faintly: "It will be much better, at least, much better than now."

"You..."

Ding Xian opened her mouth, wanting to ask him why he was so certain, but also afraid of receiving an uncertain reply.

"Anything else you want to ask?"

The young man lowered his eyes and looked at her. Seeing her shake her head, he curved his lips, grabbed the hood on her back, and pulled her outward: "Let's go, silly!"

The two walked back along the road, and wafts of steaming, fragrant roast duck emanated from the roadside restaurant.

Ding Xian noticeably slowed her pace when she passed the roast duck shop.

A soft chuckle came to her ears: "Hungry?"

Ding Xian quickly shook her head: "Not hungry."

Zhou Siyue chuckled, "What are you pretending for? I already treated you to a movie, why wouldn't I let you eat a roast duck?"

After speaking, he went to grab her hood again, directly dragging her into the shop.

'How could I be so imposing!'

Zhou Siyue ordered a roast duck from the owner, found a table, pulled out a chair, and sat down boldly. Ding Xian slowly followed, sat opposite him, put down her backpack, and whispered: "Let me treat you to this meal."

Zhou Siyue leaned back in his chair like a big shot, leaned forward to pick up the teapot on the table, slowly poured tea, and in the rising steam of the tea, glanced at her: "You have money?"

'Are you looking down on me?'

'Although it's not much, even a fly's leg is meat. Can't I afford to treat you to a roast duck?'

"My mom gives me pocket money."

Ye Wanxian gave her a little pocket money every week. Although it wasn't much, Ding Xian hardly spent any of it, saving it coin by coin, and after several years, she had accumulated quite a bit.

Young Master Zhou picked up his tea and drank, glancing to the side: "Forget it, I don't have the habit of letting girls pay."

Ding Xian immediately caught the key point: "You often go out with girls?"

Zhou Siyue chuckled and put the teacup back on the table: "Is that even possible?"

'True.'

'No one would want to go out with your deadpan face either.'

But then she suddenly thought of the pair of best friends at the cinema; perhaps there really were quite a few.

She subtly changed the topic: "Are there any fun places in Beijing? I've been here so long and haven't visited anywhere."

Zhou Siyue took another sip of tea and said casually: "There's a Gongzhufen nearby, want to go see it?"

...

Ding Xian was startled: "Is there anything else?"

"There's also a Bawangfen."

"..."

"Forget it."

Ding Xian waved her hand dejectedly.

Zhou Siyue took a sip of tea: "What's wrong, looking down on Gongzhufen and Bawangfen?"

Ding Xian was startled; she didn't mean that. How could an ordinary person dare to desecrate ancestors?

Zhou Siyue suddenly laughed: "Just kidding. It depends on what you like."

"Money."

Zhou Siyue froze, then his smile deepened. He put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and said: "If you like money, go to Shichahai."

"Why?"

"Shichahai was originally called Shijiaohai, meaning 'Ten Cellar Sea.' Legend has it that after Zhu Di settled in Beijing, he wanted to build a city. He sought out Shen Wansan, who was then known as the living God of Wealth among the people. Shen Wansan led his men to dig for silver, and they unearthed ten cellars of silver in Shichahai. Each cellar contained 480,000 taels of silver, making a total of ten cellars. After digging it all out, they didn't fill the holes back, leaving a large pit that collected rainwater and became a sea, thus named Shijiaohai."

Ding Xian felt that his mind contained too much information; he could casually recall even such a small story.

"If it's all been dug out, what would I go there for?"

"To experience the gold-panning techniques of our ancestors."

"Are there any other unique stories?"

"There are tons of stories." Zhou Siyue maintained his usual posture, glancing out the window: "Beijing has many old people. Wherever you go, if you chat with someone for a bit, you'll gain a lot."

"Are you interested in history?"

Zhou Siyue smiled: "Living in a city, if you don't understand its history, what do you understand?"

His neither humble nor arrogant, yet nonchalant attitude made Ding Xian feel ashamed. She had never thought of understanding the profound culture of a city; ultimately, she was too narrow-minded.

"It's not only called studying when you're sitting in a classroom."

"But you don't study even when you're sitting in the classroom." Ding Xian said with feigned lightness: "Still, I really admire you. You can get good grades without studying, unlike me, who studies desperately but only gets these mediocre results."

Zhou Siyue leaned against the chair back, and nodded, quite immodestly: "Compared to you, it's more than enough."

"..."

Ding Xian glared at him.

Zhou Siyue suddenly laughed: "Actually, when you're not so stubborn, you're quite..."

'Quite what?'

"Normal."

He originally wanted to say 'quite cute,' but he had never praised a girl for being cute in all his life, so he couldn't say it and instead used his standard Zhou Siyue way of complimenting people.

'This girl is actually quite amusing.'

'Being deskmates with her was easier than ever before. Just writing a few math problems could make her completely stumped, seeing stars. When tired of doing problems, he would tease her to relieve stress.'

'Her surprised, confused reactions were always funny.'

'She never gave anyone a sense of urgency. When pushed, she would even want to bite, and when she held back a surge of defiance to go against you, you could never guess her next reaction.'

'Yet, it was always funny, especially when she couldn't solve a problem; looking at her foolish expression, inspiration would immediately strike.'

"You're the one who's not normal!"

The young girl, fuming, huffed and puffed. She had thought she might hear something nice from him, but it turned out she was overthinking.

He gave an indifferent smile: "Next time you want to go somewhere, tell me in advance. I'll take you when I'm free."

'Next... next time?'

Seeing her astonished expression, Zhou Siyue rubbed his nose, gave a light cough, and said: "Didn't I say I'd take you out when you came to Beijing? But I'll have to wait until I'm free; I've been busy lately."