At 12:23 a.m., after a grueling fifteen hours, Shen Jianqing finally finished revising the project proposal in Lab 312.
She sank back into her chair, feeling light as air, and began poking at Chen Wei, who was still hard at work. “Good thing you’re always working late. Otherwise it’d be so miserable sitting here writing all this up alone.”
Chen Wei turned around with a deadpan expression. “You think I want to work overtime?”
“No.” The reason was that Ke Liangping, the dean of research, was pushing her to hurry up and finish the acceptance testing so the new project Shen Jianqing had applied for could get started.
Ke Liangping led the team on their third floor. With retirement drawing near, he no longer handled day-to-day project implementation. He only offered ideas when they hit technical snags, plus brought in projects and pushed for progress. Chen Wei had recently caught his eye by accident and had been so swamped she’d wanted to jump off a building.
Shen Jianqing packed up her computer and asked, “How much longer do you need?”
Chen Wei said, “About ten minutes. Once this round of tests is done, I’m out. A week and a half straight of overtime and I really can’t take it anymore.”
Shen Jianqing nodded. “Then I’ll wait and we’ll go together. At this hour the hallway’s pitch black, every step echoes, and I’m in high heels. Just thinking about that sound makes my scalp tingle.”
“That’s why I kicked Cai Wen’ge out instead of having him stay and keep working. I sent him to walk Ren Jiawen back to her dorm.” Moved by her own generosity, Chen Wei threw her head back and let out a theatrical howl, then perked up with sudden energy. “I’ll be done in a second!”
Shen Jianqing’s ears throbbed. She rubbed them and got up to get her phone from Ren Jiawen’s desk. She had spent nearly two hours on the phone with Ke Liangping discussing the proposal that evening. The phone had died the moment she hung up, so she’d tossed it to Ren Jiawen to charge for a while.
Leaning against the desk, she held down the power button. The instant the screen lit up, Ren Jiawen, who should have been on her way back to the dorm, came rushing in.
Shen Jianqing looked up. “Why are you back?”
Chen Wei also set down her work, frowning. “Where’s Cai Wen’ge?”
Ren Jiawen leaned against the door, gasping. “S-Senior Brother went to the south gate.”
Chen Wei flared up. “I told him to walk you to your dorm! What’s he doing at the south gate?!”
Ren Jiawen was soft-natured; seeing Chen Wei angry left her too flustered to speak.
Shen Jianqing couldn’t bear it and shot Chen Wei a look. “Give her a moment before you grill her.”
With an unhappy look, Chen Wei went to call Cai Wen’ge. Shen Jianqing smiled and beckoned Ren Jiawen over to sit beside her, soothing her while watching Chen Wei’s expression. After only five or six seconds, Chen Wei’s face turned dead serious.
The moment she hung up, Shen Jianqing asked, “Did something happen?”
“Not exactly.” Chen Wei glanced at Ren Jiawen and said gravely, “Police cars went to the south gate. Apparently a girl was nearly raped by a worker from the construction site at our school’s west gate.”
At the word “rape,” Ren Jiawen’s body shook violently. Shen Jianqing patted her shoulder and let her lean in, then asked with a frown, “A student?”
Chen Wei shook her head. “Someone from Lead Science across the street.”
The hand resting on Ren Jiawen’s shoulder clenched tight, then released at once when she felt the girl trembling. Steadying herself, she thought: Qin Yue said she’s been on morning shifts all month and gets off at three-thirty. It couldn’t possibly be her.
Shen Jianqing steadied her own nerves and asked calmly, “With the police there, what did Cai Wen’ge run to the south gate for?”
Chen Wei said, “His uncle works security at the south gate and got hurt going to help. Worried, Cai Wen’ge had Ren Jiawen come back to the lab first while he went over to check on things himself.”
“I sent him to walk Ren Jiawen back because I was afraid she’d be scared alone. And what does he do? He dumps her halfway! Does he have a brain in that head of his?! Even if he didn’t take her all the way to the dorm, he could’ve brought her along to the south gate instead of leaving her to grope her way back in the dark! The girl’s too scared to walk at night even when nothing’s happened, and today something happens right under her nose and he abandons her! Is Cai Wen’ge a complete idiot?!”
Shen Jianqing shook her head, signaling Chen Wei to drop it. Ren Jiawen was still frightened; the more it was mentioned, the less she could calm down.
After a while, Ren Jiawen managed to compose herself and stood up. “Teacher Shen, I’m alright now. Thank you.”
Shen Jianqing smiled warmly. “I’ll drive you to your dorm later. Sleep easy tonight. I’ll call the security office and ask them to step up patrols.”
Ren Jiawen nodded, her voice a thread. “Thank you, Teacher Shen.”
Shen Jianqing laughed. “You’re welcome.”
Looking up at Chen Wei’s dark expression, she said in a low voice, “Wrap it up. Let’s go together. Even though it happened off campus, people can come and go through the gates freely. We don’t know the details yet, so let’s not get separated.”
“Sure, give me two minutes.”
Chen Wei quickly saved her files and shut down. Shen Jianqing grabbed her bag and fished out her car keys first. Her gaze swept over the phone, now powered on, and she picked it up and lit the screen.
Then her mind buzzed and went blank for several seconds.
Qin Yue had sent her two WeChat messages at 11:48, saying she had just gotten off work and was taking the south gate today.
【Teacher Shen, I covered a mid shift for someone today and left late. I’m about to pass your school’s south gate now.】
【See you tomorrow night?】
Shen Jianqing gripped the phone and licked her dry lips. Looking up at Chen Wei, she asked, “Did Cai Wen’ge say exactly what time the thing at the south gate happened?”
Chen Wei answered without thinking. “A little past eleven, almost twelve.”
The heart she’d been holding suspended plummeted; a sense of weightlessness crashed over her. She clamped down on her breathing and dialed a voice call to Qin Yue. Ten-odd seconds passed with no answer.
Jaw clenched, Shen Jianqing strode out with the phone in hand. “Chen Wei, please see Ren Jiawen out. Something’s come up. I have to go.”
“It’s so late, where are you going?!” Chen Wei asked reflexively.
By the time she looked up, Shen Jianqing had already pulled the door open and strode out; in a blink, the rapid clatter of high heels had vanished down the corridor. The only image she caught was Shen Jianqing’s tightly pressed lips and the dark weight in her eyes.
Shen Jianqing gripped the steering wheel and drove toward the south gate. Her foot, which she had nearly twisted going downstairs, still throbbed dully, but she paid it no mind. Her head was full of Qin Yue not answering. She didn’t dare imagine what connection this had to what happened at the south gate. What if… just what if…
“QIN YUE!!”
Seeing Qin Yue step from the platform onto a bus, Shen Jianqing shouted hoarsely. But Qin Yue simply boarded at her usual unhurried pace and was carried further and further away.
Her grip on the wheel tightened. Though it had been only a glimpse, she had seen it clearly: Qin Yue’s white T-shirt was filthy, the entire back of it nearly black with something she couldn’t identify. But the Qin Yue in her memory was always clean and neat. The most disheveled she had ever seen her was that time in the third-floor corridor, slightly sweaty with strands of hair sticking to her neck. Now her T-shirt was suddenly in that state, and on the back at that. She must have been forced through something. With that body of hers…
Shen Jianqing swallowed hard and floored the accelerator, catching up to the bus in ten-odd seconds. Through the night, she saw Qin Yue sitting quietly by the window, head resting against the glass, eyes closed. Her expression looked calm enough, but the collar of her T-shirt was slightly torn and her hair was a mess.
The heart that had already sunk to the bottom tried to fall again. She gritted her teeth and hauled it back, easing her speed to draw alongside the bus while cranking the window down and shouting at the top of her lungs: “Qin Yue! Tell the driver to stop!”
Qin Yue only leaned against the glass, motionless.
Shen Jianqing’s lips pressed into a flat line, her dark eyes unreadable beneath arched brows.
VROOOM!
The tachometer spiked in an instant. Shen Jianqing overtook, changed lanes, switched on her hazard lights, eased off the gas, and forced the bus to a stop.
The driver leaned out the window and shouted, “ARE YOU CRAZY?! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE?!”
Shen Jianqing walked over briskly. “Sorry. The person I’m looking for is on your bus. I had no choice.”
The driver stared. He had never seen anyone apologize like that: voice low, gaze oppressive, face frozen stiff without a shred of expression. Intimidated, he softened. “You still can’t just do that. What if something happened?”
“I checked there was no one else in the way and that I’d kept a safe distance before I let off the gas,” Shen Jianqing said. “Please open the door.”
He’d been driving over a decade; he could tell as much. He was just exhausted after a long day and couldn’t keep his road rage in check. He reached over and pressed the door release. “Hurry up. I’m trying to get home.”
Shen Jianqing boarded swiftly and reached Qin Yue in two or three seconds, taking in the tear at her collar and the red welts dragged across her neck. The anger she had suppressed the entire way surged straight to her chest. Hearing Qin Yue’s weak cough, she went quiet in an instant.
Shen Jianqing swallowed and, amid the trembling of the engine, reached out to touch the wound on Qin Yue’s neck. Just before her fingers made contact, a cold, crushing grip clamped around her wrist, heavy enough to grind bone.
Her heart lurched and she looked up in a hurry. The instant her eyes met Qin Yue’s, she drew in a sharp breath. Those eyes, always so calm, were now brimming with wariness. The pupils were so black they were almost suffocating, no room for any other color. And the hand clamped on her wrist.
The dean had told her before that Qin Yue’s hands and feet were ice-cold year-round, but she had never really registered it. In her memory, every caress from Qin Yue carried exactly the right warmth. She enjoyed it and never felt the slightest discomfort. But in this second, she suddenly realized that the hand gripping her was nearly freezing the blood in her veins.
Severe shock, a voice in Shen Jianqing’s head said.
Guided by that voice, she kept reaching until her fingers touched Qin Yue’s neck. In that instant, the grip that had loosened tightened around Shen Jianqing again, and a slight tremor ran through Qin Yue’s body.
The sight stabbed at Shen Jianqing’s eyes. Doing her utmost to stay in control, she curled her fingers and asked softly, “Do you want to come to my place and kiss me? I replied to your WeChat late again today, so I probably owe you two minutes. Or, since it’s crossed midnight, twenty-four?”
