Chapter 57

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Just as they reached the school gate, Ning Jiuwei and Su Jinglan were stopped by the security guard. The university had tightened security lately, barring outsiders from entering or leaving at will. Under normal circumstances, they would have simply waved them through for a campus tour.

“Sorry, ladies, but non-students aren’t allowed on campus,” the guard said dutifully. His sharp eyes immediately pegged them as non-students.

Their appointment was for 1:20, and Shi Wanxu was nothing if not punctual. Ning Jiuwei checked her watch and told Su Jinglan, “Someone’s coming to pick me up in five minutes. We can wait here.”

“No need.” Su Jinglan’s lips curved into a smile as she pulled out her Jiangji University alumni card to prove her credentials. “I’m here to borrow some books from the school. Here’s my alumni card.”

“Ah, a Jiangji alum!” The guard’s face lit up with a grin as he handed the card back. “Once a Jiangji student, always one. Come on in. The school’s gearing up for its 125th anniversary celebration—perfect chance to see how things have changed.”

Ning Jiuwei’s gaze flicked to the alumni card. It bore a one-inch photo on a white background: Su Jinglan with her hair tied back, looking young and fresh-faced, far more innocent and green than she did now.

The glance was fleeting. Su Jinglan pocketed the card.

“This is my girlfriend. She can come in too, right?”

Whose girlfriend? Ning Jiuwei’s heart jolted. The young guard blushed furiously, reacting even more than the supposed girlfriend herself, and waved them on. “Of course, go right ahead.”

He could hardly leave her waiting at the gate.

“Just a temporary fix,” Su Jinglan explained once they were inside the campus, her smile as innocent as could be, betraying no hint of ulterior motives.

Ning Jiuwei: “…”

Only a student would fall for that line.

Jiangji University had four gates, the main one being the south gate, which separated the campus from the surrounding neighborhoods. They had entered through the south gate and taken only a few steps when Ning Jiuwei halted. “I need to wait for someone.”

Before they left, Ning Jiuwei had only mentioned sitting in on a psychology class, divulging no other details. Su Jinglan had assumed she was auditing as a continuing education student, but now that didn’t seem right.

“Who’s Designer Ning waiting for?” A strange emotion bubbled up in Su Jinglan’s chest—sour and stifling—dimming her earlier cheer.

Teacher or student, whoever was willing to meet Designer Ning at the gate clearly shared a close bond with her.

“The psychology teacher.” Ning Jiuwei scanned her surroundings and spotted Shi Wanxu emerging from an orange-red building about a hundred meters away.

Their eyes met, and Shi Wanxu’s warm smile bloomed as she fixed her gaze on Ning Jiuwei and walked toward her.

Su Jinglan traced the line of sight to Shi Wanxu, then glanced at Ning Jiuwei’s expression and frowned faintly.

She enjoyed psychology books, and now she was staring so intently at the psychology teacher. Did Ning Jiuwei have feelings for her?

“Ning Jiuwei.” Shi Wanxu approached with poised grace, her eyes sweeping over the woman beside Ning Jiuwei before she smiled and asked, “Is this your friend?”

“She’s my colleague and a former Jiangji student.” Ning Jiuwei still wasn’t used to the shorthand “Jiang University”; her own alma mater, Jianglin University, went by the same nickname. “She wanted to take a look around Jiangji University, so she tagged along.”

“I see.” Shi Wanxu instinctively analyzed her tone and micro-expressions. Ning Jiuwei was telling the truth.

Su Jinglan mulled over their relationship in silence, her own smile gentle and disarming. “Hello, Teacher Shi.”

“Hello.” Turning to Ning Jiuwei, Shi Wanxu added, “Class doesn’t start for another half hour. Come wait in my office.”

The orange-red building was Jiangji University’s Administrative Office Building, home to the faculty offices. They rode the elevator to the third floor, where Shi Wanxu led them to the office at the end of the hall.

“Make yourselves at home.” Shi Wanxu poured them water, straightened the documents on her desk, and secured them with a binder clip. “These are my PPT slides for this semester. I converted them to Word format and printed them all out.”

“Thank you, Teacher Shi.” Ning Jiuwei set her water aside and accepted the documents. Even though she was just auditing, Shi Wanxu had prepared everything thoughtfully to make things easier for her.

There was only one copy. Ning Jiuwei glanced at Su Jinglan, who caught her meaning. She lowered her eyes with a smile, sipping her water to conceal the thrill of being looked after.

Time slipped away, leaving just ten minutes until class. The classroom was in the adjacent building to the Administrative Office Building—a quick walk. Shi Wanxu shouldered her bag and walked alongside Ning Jiuwei, briefing her on the room number, schedule, and break times.

Su Jinglan kept pace at Ning Jiuwei’s side, listening quietly.

Cognitive Psychology was a specialized course, and most of the students in the classroom were psychology majors. Jiangji University followed a credit-based system, so the attendees might be juniors or seniors, or even freshmen and sophomores. Students chose their classes according to their training plans, and occasionally others from different majors signed up for it out of personal interest.

Shi Wanxu walked in through the front door. Ning Jiuwei started to follow, but Su Jinglan pulled her back.

The front entrance was close to the podium. Shi Wanxu set her bag down, pulled out an insulated cup steeped with American ginseng, and placed it on the corner of the desk. She plugged in a USB drive, opened her slides, and prepared to begin the lecture.

Ning Jiuwei and Su Jinglan slipped in through the back door. Their faces were unfamiliar, and their outfits and makeup set them apart from the typical students, drawing eyes almost immediately.

From the podium, Shi Wanxu glanced over at Ning Jiuwei. Her eyes held an unspoken amusement, one that only they could share. The other students, no strangers to psychology courses themselves, promptly put their knowledge to use, dissecting the dynamic between their teacher and these intriguing newcomers.

The bell rang, and Shi Wanxu launched into the lesson.

Ning Jiuwei was a fast reader. She flipped through her materials to today’s content, following along with the screen.

The other students had their textbooks, but she had printed documents—the difference didn’t escape notice. A student seated right behind her tapped Ning Jiuwei lightly with a pen and leaned in to whisper, “Hey, classmate, which major are you from? Here to audit?”

Ning Jiuwei merely smiled, saying nothing.

When she smiled, her peach-blossom eyes turned utterly captivating, while the woody notes of her perfume radiated a cool, forbidding aura. Together, they set hearts pounding like a raging torrent.

The student who’d spoken up lost all focus on the lecture, stealing glances at Ning Jiuwei over and over. After a few moments of hesitation and impulse, she tapped her again—this time with her hand.

Ning Jiuwei turned around, and the motion caught Su Jinglan’s attention. She turned as well.

The student passed over a note—a pink sticky note, folded neatly in half.

Su Jinglan shot out her long arm and snatched it away, her face darkening ominously.

Flirting with Ning Jiuwei right in front of her? Not on her watch.

The note read: Classmate, let’s add WeChat!

It was followed by a phone number and a little doodled smiley face—soft and adorable.

Su Jinglan read it over, then grabbed Ning Jiuwei’s pen and scrawled underneath: Inconvenient.

Ning Jiuwei kept her eyes fixed on the screen ahead, the picture of rapt attention as Teacher Shi unpacked the finer points of the subject. But from the corner of her eye, she watched Su Jinglan closely. That striking, vigorous handwriting leaped into view, and the corners of Ning Jiuwei’s lips curved upward. She smoothed her expression away the moment Su Jinglan set the pen down.

The running script was bold and unrestrained, carrying an aura of sheer intimidation. Even just those few words sparked an inexplicable twinge of fear. The student crumpled the note in silence, contenting herself with furtive glances at Ning Jiuwei now and then.

Su Jinglan leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, her icy demeanor suggesting she was enduring some dull conference presentation. Ning Jiuwei shot her a look and pulled out her phone to send a message.

Ning Jiuwei: President Su doesn’t need to stay here with me. Teacher Shi won’t mind if you leave early.

With a psychology professor right there—and all those psych majors around—Su Jinglan had no intention of going anywhere. She read the text and fired back: I mind.

Those three stark words invited all sorts of wild speculation.

The class lasted forty-five minutes, but Shi Wanxu didn’t stick to dry textbook theory. Drawing from her wealth of experience, she wove in real-world cases with effortless flair. Every concept came alive with wit and insight, holding the students spellbound as the time slipped away.

A ten-minute break fell between the two short sessions. Shi Wanxu unscrewed her insulated cup for a sip of water to soothe her throat. Her smiling gaze settled on Ning Jiuwei.

“Su… I need to step out.” With students all around, Ning Jiuwei caught herself before saying too much, swallowing the “President” part.

They had five seats in a row, with another student on the far side, one seat over. Ning Jiuwei would have to pass Su Jinglan to get out.

Su Jinglan drew her long legs back a touch.

She knew exactly what Ning Jiuwei wanted, but she stayed firmly planted.

Ning Jiuwei got the message. Luckily, her own legs were plenty long. She stepped over lightly, without so much as brushing Su Jinglan.

The back-row students had been scheming ways to chat her up. When she stood to leave her seat, one patted her neighbor urgently, begging them to scoot over and make way.

Ning Jiuwei didn’t leave the room. She headed straight for the podium.

Shi Wanxu set her insulated cup aside and turned to her with a smile. “So, what do you think?”

She had switched off the microphone, keeping her voice to a murmur just for them.

Ning Jiuwei smiled back, warm and serene. “Teacher Shi, your lectures are really engaging. Does the next part cover memory processing and storage?”

She had skimmed the slides and documents, but they held less detail than what Shi Wanxu had already shared. The professor kept the richer examples in her head, and the exact content would depend on her choice.

Shi Wanxu nodded. “There are two cases on memory processing, plus a forgetting experiment.” She turned to Ning Jiuwei. “Can you keep listening?”

“I can.” Ning Jiuwei exuded a reassuring steadiness. “I’ve always been very interested in cognitive psychology.”

She was majoring in Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems. Artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology were closely linked, both revolving around the internal changes triggered by inputs and outputs. Unlike the human brain, a computer’s inputs and outputs stayed largely consistent, without the rich, unpredictable variations of the mind.

Shi Wanxu’s smile brimmed with warmth as she gazed into Ning Jiuwei’s eyes.

The woman before her was even more captivating than she remembered. Beneath that gentle smile lay depths of unfathomable potential, drawing others in to uncover its secrets.

The two shared a silent exchange with their eyes. Ning Jiuwei smiled. “Class is about to start. I’ll head back to my seat, Doctor Shi.”

She preferred “Doctor Shi” over “Teacher Shi.”

The student who had been angling for a chat didn’t get a word in edgewise.

Ning Jiuwei gestured for Su Jinglan to scoot over. This time, Su Jinglan didn’t bother tucking in her long legs. She obediently shifted one seat inward, leaving the aisle spot for Ning Jiuwei.

“What were you and Teacher Shi talking about up there?” Su Jinglan asked, shooting her a sidelong glance.

Ning Jiuwei didn’t tell her. “Nothing.”

“Jiuwei.” Su Jinglan took hold of Ning Jiuwei’s hand and leaned in close, her smile temptingly playful. “Can’t you even tell your girlfriend?”

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