Chapter 8

“Oh, I know about this one.” Another Master Wang joined the conversation. “The apartment Little Qin lives in is right across from our compound. I often see her going to the clinic next door, especially in winter. I’ve never once seen her without medicine.”

Master Wu was surprised. “Do you know what she’s sick with?”

“No.” Master Wang turned sideways and said in a low voice, “I take my kid to that clinic all the time, right? We’re all old acquaintances there. During one of our chats, I asked a couple of questions, and the doctor was vague about it. Just said Little Qin has a weak constitution, catches colds easily when the temperature drops even a little, respiratory infections and whatnot. Oh, and there was one time her friend dragged her hiking on that wild mountain to the east. Kids three or four years old run all over it. But guess what happened to Little Qin?”

“What happened?” Master Cao asked.

Master Wang clicked his tongue and curled his lip. “Little Qin needed a week of injections before she recovered.”

“That’s serious!”

“The doctor said she’s been like that since she was little. She’s actually better now than she used to be.”

Master Wu’s expression turned grave. “No wonder Little Qin is slow about everything except work. I used to joke that she walks slower than an old lady. Who would have thought… Still, kids are fragile but easy to raise. If her parents had paid a bit more attention, things would never have gotten this bad. I wonder what her family was thinking.”

“Oh, Little Qin must never hear this!” Master Cao suddenly tensed up.

Master Wu looked puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Master Cao glanced around and whispered, “Little Qin doesn’t have a family. She grew up at the Chengnan Welfare Institute.”

Master Wu was stunned, and everyone nearby quickly turned their attention over. Only Master Wang looked like he’d figured it out. “That makes sense. Her parents must have known she was sickly and didn’t want to raise her, so they dumped her at the welfare institute. Otherwise, who would give up a girl this pretty, this sweet-tempered, and this capable?”

Master Cao snapped back to reality and sighed. “Poor Little Qin has such a long road ahead of her.”

Master Cao’s words were gentle, but the sadness was plain. The spacious maintenance department fell silent. Everyone who had heard couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for Qin Yue.

After a while, Master Wu looked up at Qin Yue’s workstation and said with feeling, “At least Little Qin has made something of herself through her own hard work. Look around the factory, who else can out-weld her?”

Master Cao agreed. “She can read technical drawings too. Dean Wei goes to her for everything, big and small. She knows so much. Even if she left Lead Science someday, she’d have no trouble finding work. Not like us. We know there’s no future here, but we still have to stay put and behave ourselves. One day, robotic welding might completely replace manual welding, and we’ll all be out of a job overnight.”

Once the topic of “the future” was opened up, many people joined the conversation.

The discussion circled around and soon came back to the Qin Yue of a few years ago, that blank sheet of paper, and how she had clawed her way to where she was today.

Qin Yue knew none of this. She was sitting at Wei Xincheng’s desk, listening to him spin his sales pitch.

“Little Qin, nobody knows better than me how much you make in a month. Don’t think I’m trying to take advantage of you. If you can actually build this thing, I’ll give you five thousand yuan extra. My word.”

Wei Xincheng thumped his chest to seal the promise.

Qin Yue said nothing and kept her head down, flipping quickly through the requirements document Wei Xincheng had given her.

He wanted her to build a temperature and humidity monitoring system for the central kitchen of a chain coffee shop, with alarms, a display screen, and integration with the air conditioning for automatic temperature control.

None of these features were complicated for Qin Yue. But at market rates, a project of this scale would cost at least a hundred thousand yuan in development fees. Wei Xincheng was offering her five thousand. He really thought she was a fool he could string along.

“Ten thousand,” Qin Yue said. Push any harder and she was afraid Wei Xincheng would blow up.

Wei Xincheng’s eyes lit up. He put on a show: “Oh, Little Qin, just one word from you and the price doubles? Let me at least keep something in my own pocket.”

Qin Yue let it slide. She closed the document and said, “New Year’s is just a few months away. My family is big and money is tight this time of year. You understand.”

That gave Wei Xincheng an easy out, and the price was within his acceptable range. He naturally took the graceful way down. “All right then. Get me a proposal as soon as possible so I can negotiate the advance payment with them.”

Qin Yue nodded. “Mm.”

She came out of Wei Xincheng’s office just in time for lunch.

Qin Yue grabbed a quick meal at the cafeteria. Unlike the others, who hurried off to hide in the locker room and scroll on their phones, she went out to the production floor and asked some acquaintances for scrap boards and leftover materials to modify for Gu Tao’s practice.

This factory measured output. It didn’t carry dead weight.

The words were harsh, but they were true. Once Gu Tao’s six-month probation was up, if she still hadn’t improved, HR would notify her to clear out her desk without Wei Xincheng having to say a word.

Gu Tao, like Qin Yue, had only a high school diploma and no degree. Without this place, finding another job would be nearly impossible.

Qin Yue was busy and had no energy for bleeding hearts. But Gu Tao had always called her “Master.” If Qin Yue didn’t pull her up, no one else would.

Qin Yue threw her entire lunch break into the work. She had no time to even peek at her phone in the locker room cabinet, let alone notice that someone had sent her a rare text on WeChat and even placed a voice call.

Lab 312. Shen Jianqing, who had planned to work on her thesis at home, was now sitting beside Chen Wei, on the verge of losing her mind.

“Just contact Master Qin for me one more time. I need her. I desperately need her!” Chen Wei sat next to Shen Jianqing, who was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, pestering her. “Teacher Shen, Teacher Shen…”

Shen Jianqing was cracking. “Why don’t you just call her yourself?”

Chen Wei said, “I don’t have her number.”

“She called you yesterday. Check your call log.”

“She called the office landline. There’s no record.”

Shen Jianqing fumed.

After forcing herself to calm down for a moment, she opened her eyes and told the truth: “I don’t have her number either.”

“Impossible!” Chen Wei slammed the table in frustration. “You two are so close, how could you not have her number!”

“We’re not close.”

“Not close? You pinned your hairpin in her hair? That’s an antique! Worth over twenty thousand yuan!”

“Does putting a hairpin in someone’s hair prove we’re close? With logic like that, do your students even know?”

“Teacher Shen, I’m begging you…”

Chen Wei saw that the hard approach wasn’t working and immediately switched to the soft one. As it happened, Shen Jianqing was the type who melted at gentleness but resisted force.

Shen Jianqing let out a breath and relented. “I have her on WeChat. I’ll send her a message in a bit.”

Chen Wei said, “Send it now.”

“??”

“If she doesn’t reply on WeChat, call her voice. Then video.”

Shen Jianqing stared at Chen Wei in disbelief, so angry she forgot to breathe for a solid while.

With an attitude like this, it was a miracle she was still alive begging favors.

Or did Chen Wei just count on the fact that the experiment was important and relied on her not being able to refuse?

Shen Jianqing wanted to strangle Chen Wei.

Her relationship with Qin Yue was neither close nor distant. Helping out when the situation happened to arise was one thing, but going out of her way to reach out? That was different. And yet, she had no choice.

This project was a three-way collaboration between the Sixth Institute, 071, and their university. If the delivery was delayed because of a hiccup on Chen Wei’s end, there was no need to wait for year-end reviews. The dean would drag out every grasshopper on their third-floor rope and bury them all.

After weighing it over and over, Shen Jianqing scratched her brow in defeat, pulled out her phone, and sent Qin Yue a WeChat message: 【Do you have time today?】

Chen Wei gripped the armrest and craned her neck to look. “Did she reply? Did she reply?”

Shen Jianqing rolled her eyes. “Even if she replied instantly, it takes a second.”

Five minutes later, Chen Wei cautiously poked Shen Jianqing’s arm and said, “Should we try calling now?”

Shen Jianqing, who had been slouching, sat up and tossed her long hair over one shoulder. “She didn’t even reply to the message. Do you think she’ll pick up a call?”

Chen Wei said, “Just try. Nothing to lose.”

Shen Jianqing had nowhere to vent and could only comply.

The result was entirely predictable. After one minute of ringing, the call automatically disconnected.

In that instant, Shen Jianqing’s heart lurched violently. She viscerally felt what it was like for someone to call or message her and get no response.

It was way too easy to get worked up. She wanted to curse someone out.

From now on, it was absolutely necessary to set her ringtone to some grand, earth-shaking old-school style to keep herself in check.

She also needed to find a chance to properly apologize to the people she had already offended.

Shen Jianqing silently berated herself.

The next second, the screen in her vision vibrated, and she thought: No need to wait until later.

Shen Jianqing scrolled up through her WeChat chat with Qin Yue.

Nearly three years, and the words they had exchanged were few and far between.

Every time, it was Qin Yue who initiated, asking whether they would meet on Friday night, or sending a holiday greeting. Shen Jianqing would reply three or four hours later, sometimes an entire day.

With that attitude, anyone else would have blocked her ages ago.

But Qin Yue. She always got the punctuation exactly right, and the timing was always fixed around seven in the morning. For nearly three years, without a single exception.

Shen Jianqing held her phone, breathing soft and still.

Nearly three years, without a single exception.

That was scarier than a habit.

Just how much did this girl like sleeping with her? Or did she simply like the act itself?

If it hadn’t been her who got the drinks that night, would Qin Yue still have walked over to remind her? Would she have gone home with that person? Would she have maintained this kind of relationship with them for nearly three years?

Shen Jianqing frowned and thought for a long time without arriving at an answer.

She gave up struggling and twisted open a bottle of ice-cold mineral water, taking small sips.

Soon her throat was soothed, and the clogged-up thoughts in Shen Jianqing’s head seemed to clear with the cool water. She thought, smoothly now: since fate had brought them together, she might as well enjoy what fate had to offer. The more she worried, the more the experience suffered.

Still, she should be a little nicer to the girl from now on. At the very least, reply to WeChat messages promptly. After all, beyond diligently honoring their arrangement, the girl had been exceptionally “attentive” to her. Every time, she waited until Shen Jianqing had released every last drop of emotion, then draped herself over Shen Jianqing’s shoulder, tilted her head, and nuzzled against her sweat-dampened neck, saying, “Teacher Shen, kiss me.”

When she said that, she would always brush the hair aside from her own neck first, never making Shen Jianqing exert an extra bit of effort.

“Teacher Shen, what do we do now?” Chen Wei asked. “Do any of your students know how to solder?”

Shen Jianqing snapped back and said after a two-second delay, “There’s a girl, but staying on campus over the break isn’t safe. I sent her home.”

Chen Wei looked like she was about to cry. “We’re really doomed this time.”

Shen Jianqing set down the water and said with focus, “Let me think of something.”

Shen Jianqing quickly ran through the possibilities in her head. There were plenty of people she could call, but they were all big names in the industry. Getting them to take orders from Chen Wei would be a tall order.

When Chen Wei got worked up, all sense of boundaries went out the window. She could order you around until you flipped the table.

Ah, what a headache.

Shen Jianqing bit the inside of her lip, wanting nothing more than to wash her hands of the whole thing. But she couldn’t.

Shen Jianqing frowned and asked, “Is today the day for debugging the digital board?”

Chen Wei said, “Yes. The boards Teacher Zhang designed get trickier by the batch. Without Master Qin, I really can’t do it.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Huh? Soldering isn’t exactly your strong suit, is it?”

“Better than yours.”

“…Don’t hit below the belt.”

“Want to do it yourself then?”

“After you, please.”

For a long stretch after that, Shen Jianqing was at Chen Wei’s beck and call. Her expression visibly shifted from composed to on the verge of a storm.

When they finally got a break, Shen Jianqing slumped into her chair, utterly spent. She wondered if she should just spend the money to hire a professional solderer from the electronics market to rescue her, and it absolutely had to be someone like Qin Yue, an ascended immortal with deep cultivation, who could take hours of Chen Wei’s barking and still remain perfectly calm.

Before Shen Jianqing could make up her mind, the phone she had placed face-down on the table buzzed without warning.

Shen Jianqing raked her hair in irritation and reached over to flip it. Almost instantly, the deep furrow between her brows smoothed out completely.

Shen Jianqing answered the voice call quickly. “Qin Yue, it’s me. Shen Jianqing.”

On the other end, Qin Yue had just gotten off work. She was still wearing the light-blue anti-static suit, leaning against her locker with her knees bent, head slightly lowered, index finger tracing lightly against the back of her phone. “I know.”

The moment she had gotten her phone, she had checked it over and over before she could believe that Shen Jianqing had actually called her.

Another unprecedented breakthrough. She was completely at a loss as to why Shen Jianqing had done it. She held the phone in silence for a long while before calling back.

Shen Jianqing picked up almost immediately. The pleasure and anticipation in her bright voice were undisguised.

Qin Yue slowly pulled the hair tie off her wrist and slipped it around her arm. “Did you need something?”

Shen Jianqing’s eyes flicked to the corner for an instant.

Why does Master Qin sound stuffed up?

Sigh, business first!

Shen Jianqing pulled her thoughts together and, in a few quick sentences, explained the situation. Then she asked Qin Yue, “Can you come over right now?”

Qin Yue said, “Sure.”

“Same place as always. Come straight up when you get here.”

“Okay.”

The call ended. Shen Jianqing tossed the phone onto the table, feeling light as air. “Done.”

Chen Wei was overflowing with gratitude. “Once the experiment is done, I’ll treat you and Master Qin to a feast!”

Shen Jianqing said, “Just treat her. It’s been hot lately, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Hiss, hot indeed. Yesterday it had been a hundred and two degrees. Someone had nearly melted just walking over from Lead Science. Today it was a hundred and four. Walk for long out there and you might just evaporate off the face of the earth.

And…

Shen Jianqing recalled Qin Yue’s nasal voice and her breath grew heavy.

Could it have been last night’s rain?

No way. Midsummer rain only watered the flowers and grass. How could anyone get caught in it?

Even so, the sound of Qin Yue sniffling on the phone kept replaying in Shen Jianqing’s head. Gradually, her palms grew warm, as if she were once again standing alone in an empty stairwell, her hand wrapped around Qin Yue’s burning neck.

Shen Jianqing leaned back in her chair and thought helplessly: people were such strange creatures. Sometimes the harder you tried to ignore something, the more insistently it demanded attention.

After a moment’s contemplation, Shen Jianqing turned to Chen Wei and asked, “Is it far from Lead Science to here?”

Chen Wei said, “Of course it’s far. It takes almost twenty minutes just to walk from the school gate. Lead Science is another block beyond that. Wait, what are you doing?!”

Chen Wei jumped at the sight of Shen Jianqing suddenly standing up.

Shen Jianqing hooked her car key and strode quickly toward the door. “Going to Lead Science to pick her up for you.”