Chapter 39: Overstepping

After Lu Jia packed up her tools, she insisted on treating Sheng Shubai to dinner to thank her for that massage that had lasted less than a minute.

The woman smiled but didn’t refuse.

They ate at a newly opened restaurant nearby until nearly seven o’clock. With autumn setting in, night fell early, and the sky was already deep with darkness.

Lu Jia said goodbye to her at the door.

Sheng Shubai hesitated for a moment as she stepped forward but ultimately didn’t call out to her.

They had done it three times in the past few days; they really should hold back a bit.

She had no plans to go to the bar that night.

After taking a shower, Sheng Shubai dried her hair and returned to the living room, where she put on a movie and leisurely savored her vacation with a glass of red wine.

It was Monday tomorrow, but she had no morning classes, nor had she set any check-in requirements for her graduate students, so she still had half a day off.

She finished one movie and then picked a classic romance filled with lingering passion and reluctance.

As it neared the end—when the protagonists resolved their misunderstanding, embraced, and gazed at each other in tearful silence—Sheng Shubai’s brows furrowed slightly. She turned her head toward the entryway.

Had she vaguely heard some noise outside the door?

She had drunk more than a bottle, and the second one had just been opened not long ago.

Sheng Shubai had a decent tolerance for alcohol. She set down her glass and walked steadily toward the entryway.

This floor only had her and Lu Jia living on it.

If it wasn’t her door, then it had to be Lu Jia’s.

Lu Jia usually went to bed early when living alone and never ordered takeout in the middle of the night. So who could be making noise outside her door at this hour?

Before she even reached the entryway, she heard the sound of the other door opening.

As if compelled by some unseen force, Sheng Shubai peered out through the peephole.

She caught sight of a girl about the same height as Lu Jia, leaning drunkenly into Lu Jia’s arms. Lu Jia half-hugged and half-dragged her inside, then shut the door.

The girl was only visible from behind, her hair disheveled.

She wore Lu Jia’s thin trench coat from earlier that day, making it impossible to make out her figure or face.

She seemed somewhat familiar, but most young women had backs like that.

From the way she leaned so intimately against Lu Jia, and Lu Jia’s lack of resistance, Sheng Shubai concluded that the two must be close.

Because she’d been watching the movie, only a few small lamps were left on in the living room, providing scant light to the entryway.

Her lashes lowered slightly, concealing the inscrutable emotion in her eyes under the dimness.

Sheng Shubai stood there for a moment before turning back to her bedroom to rest.

–

The next morning, she woke early.

For once, she didn’t linger in bed after opening her eyes; her movements were brisk as she got up.

She had taken some melatonin before bed, but she had inexplicably suffered insomnia for most of the night and still felt no trace of drowsiness.

There was a breakfast shop in the neighborhood with great food.

Sheng Shubai bought two portions of wontons and added a box of steamed dumplings, timing it to when Lu Jia usually woke up before knocking on her door.

Seeing the girl in pajamas open the door while yawning, Sheng Shubai spoke in her usual tone: “I got some wontons from Lao Liu’s. Want to share?”

As she spoke, she casually glanced at Lu Jia and then into the living room.

The girl’s neck was fair and pristine, as was her collarbone below.

Sheng Shubai paused, feeling a bit guilty toward her for her own petty suspicions.

But she also started pondering that the revised contract from before wasn’t thorough enough.

It only stated that they couldn’t develop feelings for each other or others—it hadn’t specified anything about sleeping with third parties.

Lu Jia let her in and turned to fetch chopsticks from the kitchen; she preferred using her own bowls and utensils.

There were three sets of bowls and chopsticks in total.

Sheng Shubai took them without showing surprise. Instead, Lu Jia explained first: “Senior Sister Shi came over last night and is still sleeping. I was just about to steam something more for her.”

The wontons and steamed dumplings were all bought by Sheng Shubai; she had no right to decide for her.

Besides… she really liked the wontons from this place and had no intention of sharing them with her senior sister.

Usually, Lu Jia bought two portions in the morning. This was the first time Sheng Shubai had bought them and asked if she wanted to eat together—even though they hadn’t slept together the night before.

Lu Jia didn’t think too much of it, but her mood lifted anyway. She asked with concern: “Miss Sheng, why are you up so early today?”

Sheng Shubai brushed it off lightly: “I have something to take care of.”

The woman didn’t want to say more; it was probably something related to the Sheng Family. Lu Jia wisely didn’t press.

The wontons were still hot, with thin skins and fresh broth. She scooped one up and blew on it gently before taking small sips.

Sheng Shubai leisurely unpacked the steamed dumplings. As if just remembering, she looked up and asked: “Did Little Shi sleep here last night?”

Lu Jia nodded. She had originally meant to explain, but the words caught in her throat halfway.

How was she supposed to explain?

Late last night, she had received a call from Shi Mengxi. The other girl didn’t say what was wrong; she just said she felt like she was about to get drunk and asked Lu Jia to come pick her up.

Fortunately, Lu Jia hadn’t gone to bed yet. She rushed to the bar and brought her back, luggage and all.

And so, Shi Mengxi—who usually had a good tolerance—ended up drunk as a boneless shrimp, clinging to her and unable to walk.

Lu Jia had been at a loss with her arms full.

Who would have thought this senior sister, who rarely drank, would throw herself at Lu Jia the moment they met, pressing her full weight against her with heavy alcohol breath, nearly making Lu Jia stumble.

She still had some sense in the bar and the taxi. Lu Jia asked several times what had happened, but Shi Mengxi just mumbled incoherently without saying a word.

It wasn’t until they got home and confirmed they were alone that Shi Mengxi held the honey water Lu Jia brought her. After just two sips, tears started streaming down her cheeks into the cup.

Then she abandoned the cup altogether and clung to Lu Jia, crying even harder.

A huge wet patch from Shi Mengxi’s tears soaked the shoulder of Lu Jia’s new pajamas—who knew if there was anything else mixed in.

The pajamas were very cute; she hadn’t had a chance to wear them for Sheng Shubai yet. She had planned to have the woman praise her improved taste in clothes.

Lu Jia felt a pang of regret for two seconds but first focused on calming her down.

That’s when she heard something she wished she could cover her ears and pretend she hadn’t.

Her senior sister was in love with their mentor.

The fewer words, the bigger the issue. Lu Jia was so startled she nearly prayed for her own graduation certificate.

But first, she had to pray for Advisor Rong’s career.

With her senior sister still sitting there with red-rimmed eyes, Lu Jia gathered her thoughts and asked with concern: “So where do you plan to live from now on?”

Shi Mengxi just shook her head at the time; she didn’t know.

She only knew that Rong Yi was avoiding her.

She had liked her for a very long time.

Living under the same roof and spending every day together, she had hidden it carefully, terrified of being found out by Rong Yi, while cherishing the little bit of special favor the woman showed her.

Even after taking on Lu Jia—a junior with even higher talent—Rong Yi’s care for her was mostly limited to academics.

So Shi Mengxi didn’t mind and even got along well with Lu Jia.

But starting a while ago, Rong Yi had paid extra attention to the newly arrived Shen Zhiwei, and she couldn’t help feeling restless.

There were plenty of reasons to justify it, and Shi Mengxi came up with several herself: an overseas compatriot unfamiliar with the place, a short-term exchange student at C University Academy of Fine Arts who would leave soon.

But she was still jealous.

Jealous of how Rong Yi fussed over Shen Zhiwei in every detail, even asking about where she had gone that day or what she had done with Lu Jia.

Sometimes she asked Shi Mengxi, sometimes the other students.

To the point where she overheard the other students teasing that the teacher was so invested in Shen Zhiwei—maybe she wanted to keep her at C University.

Shi Mengxi had left with a cold face, not listening further.

A few days ago, Rong Yi had taken Lu Jia and Shen Zhiwei to a neighboring city.

She had originally wanted to go too, but when she tentatively asked if they could leave Shen Zhiwei behind, Rong Yi refused.

The pent-up jealousy poured out, and in a fit of anger, Shi Mengxi said that if Shen Zhiwei went, she wouldn’t.

That was their first argument, over Shen Zhiwei.

Then came the second one. Shi Mengxi hadn’t meant to fight with Rong Yi.

But not only did the woman avoid her, after returning from the seminar, she shut herself in her room all day. Only late at night did she open the door, looking weary, and glance at Shi Mengxi, who was listless in the living room.

“Tomorrow, I’ll move out.”

Rong Yi said that to her and turned back to her room, shutting the door again no matter how much she knocked.

Shi Mengxi knew she had been found out.

She didn’t know if Rong Yi had blocked her and didn’t dare send a message directly, afraid of seeing a shocking red exclamation mark.

She stumbled out of the building almost in a daze, sat downstairs for a while, but didn’t know where to go.

She scheduled an email to Rong Yi for eight the next morning, saying she would move out. Then, steeling herself, she called a ride to the bar and got blackout drunk like in some TV drama.

Fortunately, she kept a shred of sense and called Lu Jia to pick her up when she felt she couldn’t hold out any longer.

After hearing the whole emotional journey, Lu Jia fell silent for a long time.

No longer shocked by the sudden revelation, she pursed her lips, feeling an odd discomfort in her heart.

Perhaps for Shi Mengxi’s unrequited love ending like this, or perhaps for something else.

“Lu Jia, what are you thinking about?”

Sheng Shubai’s voice pulled her back.

Lu Jia snapped out of it and realized she had been mindlessly stirring her wontons with the spoon, the shrimp skins and seaweed swirling in the vortex of broth at the bottom of the bowl.

Seeing Sheng Shubai’s puzzled expression, Lu Jia hesitated before saying:

“Senior Sister wasn’t in a good mood yesterday, so she came over to chat with me. I was comforting her.”

It involved Shi Mengxi’s… private matters with their mentor, so Lu Jia didn’t feel right telling anyone else, not even Sheng Shubai.

Sheng Shubai nodded and didn’t press further. She picked up a steamed dumpling with her chopsticks and held it to Lu Jia’s lips: “It’s a new beef and corn filling. Try it?”

Lu Jia set aside her thoughts and bit into it from the woman’s chopsticks.

It tasted great. Freshly steamed and hot, with chewy dough hand-rolled by the owner as always.

Just as she took the whole dumpling, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a figure at the doorway of the side study.

The original second bedroom and study had been knocked together to make a printmaking studio.

The other guest room had a large desk, which Lu Jia used as her study, and that’s where Shi Mengxi had slept last night.

She clearly hadn’t fully woken up yet, her eyes badly swollen, but she had taken in the full scene of the woman and the young girl sharing a table—with the woman directly feeding her.

Shi Mengxi glanced at Lu Jia, then at this colleague of Rong Yi’s whom she didn’t get along with, her expression complicated as if she wanted to say something but held back.

Sheng Shubai, however, arched a brow first, greeting her as if oblivious to Shi Mengxi’s puffy red eyes: “Little Shi, good morning.”

Shi Mengxi forced a stiff smile: “Good morning, Professor Sheng.”

Just then, her phone vibrated. Sheng Shubai glanced down, her expression inscrutable as she shot Lu Jia a look and pushed the screen toward her.

It was a message from Rong Yi.

“Professor Sheng, do you happen to know how to reach Lu Jia?”

Lu Jia blinked. She had just woken up when Sheng Shubai knocked, and her phone was still on the bedside table.

She picked it up and saw Rong Yi had sent her two messages not long ago:

“Little Lu, has Mengxi contacted you?”

“She wasn’t home last night, didn’t come to class this morning, and hasn’t replied to messages.”

Leaning in to glance at Lu Jia’s screen, Sheng Shubai smiled faintly.

She eyed the flustered Shi Mengxi staring at the chat, her tone meaningful: “Student Shi certainly has some nerve.”