Don't Call Me Teacher While We're Kissing

[Reunion after a long separation + mutual pursuit + sweet romance with a hidden dark side] Ning Zhaozhao is a newly graduated, easygoing concept artist who spends every day revising drafts until her hands ache, while her mother keeps pushing her to go on blind dates. On a stormy night at the Tingyuxuan teahouse, she steps in a puddle and hops into the lobby on one foot, looking utterly bedraggled. A hand with long, distinct knuckles and the faint scent of pinewood and ink offers her a clean white towel. Behind a pair of glasses, brown eyes brim with amusement. Ning Zhaozhao immediately snaps to attention like a soldier. “M-Mr. Pei, hello!” Going on a blind date with her high school homeroom teacher is the ultimate social death sentence. She expects an awkward “reviewing the error notebook” session, but the once-cool and self-controlled Mr. Pei has changed. “Does your wrist hurt? Don’t move. Let me massage it.” His warm fingertips settle on her wrist, kneading it with just the right pressure, sending a burning flutter through her heart. Folk music drifts through the cramped car. He turns toward her and gently ruffles the top of her head with his large hand. Pei Zhili removes his gold-rimmed glasses and backs her into a corner, his voice low and husky. “Zhaozhao, you’ve been out of school for ages. Why are you still so afraid of me?” Ning Zhaozhao blushes and shrinks into her seat, her mind’s running commentary completely frozen. Pei Zhili lays his long fingers over the payment code on her phone and tilts his head, his lips brushing her ear ever so lightly. “In front of your teacher, you’re not allowed to rush to pay, and you’re not allowed to call me Teacher.”