Chapter 12

Shen Jianqing straightened up. Her gaze rested on Qin Yue’s neck and collarbone, still covered in a thick wash of desire, for three or four seconds before moving to her face. In a lazy voice, she said, “Master Qin, this won’t do. Ruining your stomach this bad at such a young age. What are you going to do later?”

Qin Yue swallowed slowly, pressing down a slightly uneven breath. “It’s nothing serious.”

“Nothing serious, and you’ve been in pain all day?”

“Half a day.”

“Fine, half a day it is. My slip of the tongue. I stand corrected.” When Shen Jianqing smiled, a note of indulgence crept into both her expression and her voice. “I’m realizing more and more that you are a hard one to argue with.”

Shen Jianqing glanced down at her watch and was surprised to find it was already past nine-thirty. She thought, a little dazed: it really is true that time flies when you’re having it.

Shen Jianqing couldn’t help but laugh.

Still steeped in residual emotion, the laugh came out alluring. Wrapping itself in the night, it drifted softly into Qin Yue’s ears. Her lips parted without her realizing, releasing the breath she had been holding in her throat.

Shen Jianqing stood in the wind’s path and felt none of it. She raised her hand naturally, ready to button herself up neatly and leave the campus with proper seriousness.

But she forgot that buttoning up in front of someone still sensitive to the romantic would be, in itself, deeply improper. Especially buttoning from a faint glimpse of cleavage all the way up to a long, elegant neck.

Her hand had just touched the button when her wrist tightened sharply. She looked up instinctively and heard Qin Yue call her. “Teacher Shen.”

Qin Yue had only just come down from the peak. The already low voice still held that depth that could scatter anyone’s thoughts.

Shen Jianqing’s mind went blank. Her naturally curled fingers slowly closed into a fist.

She knew this voice of Qin Yue’s all too well.

On those late, silent Friday nights, she had heard it countless times. But she had always been lost in the clouds, too caught up in herself to spare a thought for the expression on Qin Yue’s face at the time.

Now, separated by a distance close enough to touch and fully awake, she suddenly saw it. When those quiet, silent pupils of Qin Yue’s caught fire, there came with them a sound of detonation, so fine it was almost nothing, yet more than enough to steal your soul.

Shen Jianqing forgot to speak. She was drawn step by step closer by Qin Yue, pulled toward her mouth, nose tip to nose tip, lip to lip, passively receiving the question that Qin Yue’s actions had already made non-negotiable: “Teacher Shen, may I kiss you?”

The intimacy in the air reignited in an instant.

Shen Jianqing looked at Qin Yue’s individually distinct lashes and said softly, “Qin Yue…”

The moment the words left her mouth, the one she had called wild to the bone had already made her way inside with practiced ease, like a weary traveler long at sea finally home. Eager and passionate, she went everywhere to explore and lingered everywhere she went.

The grip on her wrist tightened. The back of her neck was held.

Shen Jianqing had nowhere to retreat and couldn’t hold back a soft sound.

The passionate kiss stopped abruptly.

In the gentle night wind, the two held their position, lips and tongues still connected, gazing at each other in silence.

After a long while, Qin Yue touched the tip of Shen Jianqing’s tongue tenderly and withdrew from her mouth. “Teacher Shen, I have a cold.”

“The kissing is already done and now you remember?” Shen Jianqing gave Qin Yue a sidelong look and reminded her, “You nearly crushed my wrist.”

Qin Yue realized belatedly. She gave Shen Jianqing’s wrist one more gentle squeeze before slowly releasing it.

“Tsk. It’s red, all right.” Shen Jianqing lowered her head and rubbed it lightly, lodging a complaint with no trace of real complaint. “You look so fragile, and yet your grip is always this strong.”

Qin Yue moistened her dry lips and went to defend herself.

Before she could speak, the night wind stirring the flowerbed suddenly swept outward in every direction. She caught a mouthful of pollen and coughed violently, the sound tangled with the rasp of her cold. It sounded alarming.

Shen Jianqing paused and frowned deeply at Qin Yue, who looked as though she might cough up every organ she had.

Shen Jianqing had been on the integrated master’s-to-PhD track. At Qin Yue’s age, she had already been taking doctoral courses, with irregular meals, insufficient sleep, and zero exercise. Years of punishing her body had never left her looking like this.

Qin Yue…

Was too fragile.

Fragile to the point that Shen Jianqing couldn’t help wanting to pry into her life.

About ten seconds passed before the coughing finally subsided.

Qin Yue pressed her lips together and straightened up.

“Teacher Shen, it’s getting late. I should head back,” Qin Yue said.

“No rush.” Shen Jianqing’s calm gaze swept over Qin Yue’s face. She bent down, picked up the cigarette butt from the ground, and wrapped it in a tissue. “Let me buy you some congee. Take care of that stomach.”

Qin Yue’s lips parted slightly, but the words of refusal died against the clean, decisive retreating of Shen Jianqing’s back.

The summer campus at nine-thirty was desolate and still. A cicada with a silver gleam on its back buzzed over Qin Yue’s head, crashed into a lamppost ahead, and knocked itself dizzy. It fell stiffly at Qin Yue’s feet.

Qin Yue stopped, bent down, picked it up, and set it on the holly bush along the road.

Shen Jianqing turned back and smiled. “Such a big heart.”

Qin Yue said, “Just being neighborly.”

Shen Jianqing lowered her eyes and saw her pluck a leaf from further off and carefully lay it over the cicada’s belly.

Shen Jianqing’s lips curved, and she kept walking.

The closer they got to the west gate, the stronger the sense of desolation. If a stranger came rushing past from behind at this hour, a timid person would break out in a cold sweat.

Qin Yue had spent nearly six years on rotating shifts at Lead Science and often walked alone at night. She was long used to sudden encounters and did not startle easily.

Shen Jianqing…

Seemed equally unbothered.

“Construction at the west gate?” Qin Yue looked at the work site, growing clearer off to the front left.

Shen Jianqing followed her gaze and explained, “The new campus infrastructure isn’t complete yet. They schedule construction whenever there’s a break.”

“The graduate students and doctoral candidates are all on this campus. Isn’t it unsafe staying over the holidays?”

“The security guards patrol frequently. Nothing has ever happened. But just in case, I still send the girls home over the breaks.”

Shen Jianqing finished and turned to Qin Yue. “Scared?”

Qin Yue shook her head. “I just saw a few girls running past and asked on impulse.”

“Mm.” Shen Jianqing nodded. “There are guards on campus, and the construction crew went through a proper bidding process. But at the end of the day, they’re all strapping adult men, and a bit rough around the edges. Walking fast and rushing about. If a young woman runs into them in the middle of the night, it’s only natural to be a little afraid.”

Qin Yue countered, “What about you? Are you afraid?”

Shen Jianqing swept her long hair back and couldn’t help laughing at herself. “I’m at this age already.”

What age? She was barely past thirty, in the very prime of her life.

Qin Yue followed the shadow that always lagged one step behind. The active chirp of crickets filled her ears, sharp and piercing, steadily eroding her will to untangle her thoughts.

Hands in her pockets, Qin Yue let the corner of her eye graze past Shen Jianqing’s flawless profile and looked at the swaying tree shadows ahead. “You are prettier than any of them.”

“Hm?” Shen Jianqing took a second to process. She quickly replayed their exchange and burst out laughing. “True enough. If I weren’t pretty, no one would follow me all the way here, wanting to sleep with me. Ah, this way.”

Shen Jianqing gave Qin Yue’s shoulder a light push, steering her off the main road where they might cross paths with the workers and onto a side path.

She had nothing against construction workers. Work itself had no high or low station. But with Master Qin’s pallid complexion, chapped lips, and the occasional turn of the head to cough, she looked far too delicate. Shen Jianqing, out of the simple principle that it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble, had to put on her judgmental hat and lead her down the smaller path.

Outside the west gate was a food street. Shen Jianqing led Qin Yue with familiar ease into a hole-in-the-wall shop with an unassuming storefront. Standing at the counter, she asked, “Sweet congee or savory?”

Qin Yue said, “Savory.”

Shen Jianqing smiled. “Sweet it is then. People always want sweet things to pamper them when they’re sick, especially girls like you.”

“Hello, one order of black rice and red bean congee, one order of bitter chrysanthemum salad,” Shen Jianqing said to the cashier.

The cashier was young. She glanced discreetly at the “girl” beside Shen Jianqing, whose faint expression left her features looking coolly angular, and who, even in flat shoes, stood nearly at eye level with her.

Qin Yue felt the gaze and looked up at the cashier.

Their eyes met. The cashier’s face stiffened. She hurriedly turned to Shen Jianqing. “And for you?”

Shen Jianqing was startled by the sudden raise in the girl’s voice and laughed. “I’m not hungry.”

“We have half portions here.”

“Really, I’m fine. I brought her here to nurse her stomach. I have to keep my eyes on her the whole time, or she’ll cheat me with two bites and call it done.” As she spoke, Shen Jianqing glanced at Qin Yue, her tone turning pointed. “Isn’t that right, Master Qin?”

Qin Yue stood ramrod straight. “The juice incident was an accident.” She had eaten too much and couldn’t get any down.

“And tonight?” Shen Jianqing turned her head, her manner unusually earnest.

Qin Yue’s gaze collided with hers, then dropped. Her chin tucked back as if to nuzzle her collar. But the shirt hugged her too closely to manage it. She gave up and raised her head casually, meeting Shen Jianqing’s eyes. “…There might be a bit of an accident.”

She had only just heard the word “eat,” and her stomach, only briefly settled, had already begun its protest.

“Maybe we should skip it,” Qin Yue said.

Shen Jianqing’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Find us a seat.”

Qin Yue was silent for two seconds, then turned and walked toward the window.

Soon the food arrived.

Shen Jianqing was true to her word. She sat perfectly still across from Qin Yue, watching her eat.

Qin Yue took tiny sips, as if counting individual grains of rice. She ate the bitter chrysanthemum one strand at a time. It looked painfully picky.

Shen Jianqing watched for a while, then rapped the table, unable to hold back. “Master Qin, do you eat like this at home too? Does no one in your family say anything?”

Qin Yue’s chopsticks paused on the bitter chrysanthemum for an instant before resuming with unaffected calm. “No one says anything.”

Shen Jianqing laughed. “Bad habits are always spoiled into existence. Eat properly. Keep dawdling and the owner will come over with a mop and chase us out.”

Qin Yue looked up at the owner standing by the kitchen door with a mop, wearing a pained expression. The owner immediately averted her eyes, began mopping the floor, then pretended to talk to someone, every movement frantic and flustered, as if she had been threatened.

Shen Jianqing watched the scene and couldn’t help being amused.

“Master Qin, you’re not even mean. Why are so many people afraid of you?” Shen Jianqing asked sincerely.

Qin Yue seized the chance to set down the heavy spoon. “Who’s afraid of me?”

Shen Jianqing listed them off. “Ren Jiawen, the girl who took our order just now, and the owner, who looks like she’s been around and seen it all.”

Qin Yue asked, “Three counts as many?”

Shen Jianqing thought about it, fingertips tapping the table. “When we see each other, it’s always just us. I don’t get many chances to watch you with other people. Put that way, three is actually a pretty high ratio.”

“Mm.” Qin Yue agreed, then asked, “What about you? Do you think I’m fierce?”

This was a question she already knew the answer to.

The first time she visited Lab 312, Shen Jianqing had already told Ren Jiawen her opinion, plain as day: good temper and very patient.

But for no particular reason, she simply wanted to ask once and hear the answer face to face.

Shen Jianqing’s expression turned enigmatic at the question. “What do you think?”

Qin Yue said, “I don’t know. We barely talk. Even that night two and a half years ago, you clearly knew my intention was the same as that man’s. But you never told me why you refused him and agreed to me.”

“No way.” Shen Jianqing’s tone was surprised, but her expression barely shifted. It was hard to tell what she really felt.

Qin Yue said nothing. She lowered her head and scooped at the still-steaming black rice congee, one spoonful at a time.

Above their heads, the air conditioner hummed heavily.

Cold air poured down without pause, drilling into the gaps between their bones.

Shen Jianqing rubbed her chilled arms and opened with a very classic line. “You look familiar. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.”

Qin Yue slowed her scooping. “Where?”

Shen Jianqing smiled. “Anything that starts with ‘I feel like’ is basically an illusion. That night, I… sorry, I need to step out and take a call. Eat up.” Shen Jianqing stood and spoke quickly.

The abrupt turn of topic took Qin Yue a moment to process. By the time she looked up, Shen Jianqing had already pulled open the shop door and stepped outside.

She stood ramrod straight at the roadside, wrapped in the amber glow of the streetlight. A slight frown, a pressing of the lips. Every detail was the wisdom and composure distilled from a mature woman’s experience. Her presence was imposing yet effortless. Utterly magnetic.

A woman like this shining in a frivolous, indulgent scene was no surprise. But what about her?

That night, she had sat in a corner, untouched by the dazzling lights, dressed plainly enough to look shabby. Her complexion had probably been terrible too. Before they went in, Guan Xiangchen had said with complete honesty that she looked freshly recovered from a major illness and utterly bland.

So how, exactly, had someone like her caught Shen Jianqing’s eye?

Qin Yue watched the woman under the streetlight, resolute and immovable, and her thoughts began to drift. Meanwhile, her stomach, deprived of the warm congee’s nourishment, let the cold air in to attack.

By the time Shen Jianqing finished the call and came back in, more than ten minutes had passed. She didn’t see Qin Yue inside and asked the owner in confusion, “Where’s the person I came with?”

The owner pointed toward the back with a grave expression. “Went to the restroom. Face so pale, sigh.” The owner shook her head. “It was kind of scary to look at.”

Shen Jianqing’s gaze darkened. She gripped her phone and strode toward the back.

Five or six meters from the restroom, she heard the sound of retching, clear and sharp. Even with Qin Yue fighting to hold it back, the pain in it could not be concealed.

Shen Jianqing quickened her pace. Her high heels clattered alongside her heavy breathing as she shouldered the restroom door open with a bang.

Qin Yue, braced against the wall, turned instinctively. Her face was paper-white. Her eyes were red, like a flame burning amid the winter snow. Thin and fine, the merest breeze brushing her hair could have snuffed it out.

Shen Jianqing’s heart lurched. She stepped forward, her voice heavy. “Qin Yue, are you really just suffering from something you ate at lunch?”