The matcha cake was inedible, but fortunately, the black tea was nicely brewed. Sitting in the garden gazebo, sipping tea in the breeze, still made for a pleasant afternoon.
Shen Yeqing had somehow found a box of matcha nama chocolate, which made an even better pairing with the tea.
Xie Mi gave Shen Yeqing a meaningful look as he arranged the matcha chocolates on a plate. Without saying anything, she speared a piece with her fork and popped it into her mouth.
"Yummy~"
A smile rippled through Shen Yeqing's eyes. "Is it good?"
"It's good."
Xie Mi forked another piece and, as she ate, brought something up with an air of casual indifference. "I remember there was matcha chocolate among the snacks you treated me to last season, too. We'd only been filming for a few days back then."
"You still remember that, Teacher Xie?"
"Of course I do." Xie Mi smiled casually. "I quite like matcha-flavored things."
Shen Yeqing paused slightly as he lifted his teacup, but gave little else away as he answered naturally.
"That's wonderful, then."
Xie Mi said nothing more, only smiled. With an unspoken understanding, they sipped their black tea and let the silence settle.
Beneath the seemingly relaxed atmosphere ran an undercurrent only the two of them could understand.
What Xie Mi had just meant was obvious.
Shen Yeqing had given her matcha chocolate just days after they met, and the snacks he prepared for her afterward had all been flavors she liked.
Yet those were preferences she had never revealed when she traveled into the past and met the eight-year-old Shen Yeqing.
Only today, when Shen Yeqing set the matcha cake and matcha chocolates before her, had she remembered this detail she had previously overlooked.
She and Shen Yeqing had met in the