Chapter 9

Shen Jianqing walked faster and faster. As soon as she got downstairs, she called Qin Yue, who answered quickly.

“Hello, Teacher Shen.”

There was an echo on the line. She was still indoors. Good.

Shen Jianqing’s heart settled. “Don’t rush out yet. I’ll drive over to get you. About fifteen minutes. Head out when I arrive.”

On the other end, Qin Yue held the phone, her mind blank for a few seconds.

Pick her up?

If she remembered correctly, from the earliest memories she had to now, she had never once enjoyed this kind of favor.

Her home had been too big. The people caring for them were already stretched thin just giving every child a fair shake, with no energy left to single anyone out for special treatment.

She had long grown used to being a drop of water living in the ocean.

And yet, in this moment, a person who only knew her name and her job had abruptly said they were coming to pick her up.

Her first reaction was blank confusion. Then, a burning urge to know why.

“Why do you want to pick me up?” Qin Yue asked.

Shen Jianqing let out a soft laugh, her voice turning lazy. “In this heat, what if Master Qin evaporates? Where would I find another quick-handed, good-tempered savior? So far, you’re the only one who can stomach Chen Wei’s mouth.”

…So that was it.

Qin Yue let the corner of her mouth curve. She leaned back against the locker and said, “No need for the trouble. It’s only a few steps.”

“A few steps by your measure?” Shen Jianqing opened the car door and got in, switching to speaker. “If you come drenched in sweat again today, I’m not lending you my hairpin. I’m hot too.”

“Teacher Shen…”

“Be a good girl and wait for me where there’s air conditioning. Hanging up.”

Shen Jianqing didn’t give Qin Yue a second chance to refuse. She ended the call outright.

Qin Yue heard the ding and suddenly felt a sneeze coming on.

She lowered her head and waited quietly, but in the end, only her nose tingled. Her eyes, stung by the pressure of something she couldn’t release, reddened at the edges.

Qin Yue sniffed, turned back to the locker, found a packet of cold medicine, and swallowed it down with warm water.

A cloying sweetness swirled around her mouth. It happened to collide with Qin Yue’s sluggish thoughts. It reached out, grabbed hold, and swung. Gradually, cheerful frolic drowned out those two deeply unfamiliar words in Qin Yue’s ear: be a good girl. Her thoughts settled back into calm.

After taking the medicine, Qin Yue did not wait for Shen Jianqing in the air-conditioned room as instructed. Instead, she slowed her step and walked out into the blazing sun, stretching her limbs.

They spent so long in the constant-temperature workshop that their bodies were forced into cold stiffness. The heat of the midsummer sun was just enough to “thaw” her out.

Passing the full-length mirror by the building entrance, Qin Yue paused and walked over to face her reflection. The generously cut shirt had been sealed inside the anti-static suit for eight hours, and yet it was still as smooth and crisp as it had been that morning.

Such fine quality. It had to be a well-known brand.

If someone had seen it before, they would probably recognize it easily, right?

And what if they had worn it too?

Qin Yue was still mulling this over when her phone rang.

She snapped back and looked.

A WeChat message from Shen Jianqing.

From the end of the call to now, exactly fifteen minutes had passed. Not a second more, not a second less.

Shen Jianqing: 【I’m here】

Qin Yue tapped the keyboard: 【I’ll be right out.】

Shen Jianqing: 【/OK】

Qin Yue looked at herself in the mirror one more time, then turned and headed out.

Shen Jianqing was impatient by nature and rarely waited for anyone with any patience. Today was truly a first, and she had to admit, it felt rather novel.

She parked in the shade along the road, left arm draped over the car door, fingers tapping rhythmically against the frame.

Before long, she grew bored and slid her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. She casually undid another button, revealing the startling white skin of her chest, then propped her index finger against her temple and turned her head with a windblown sort of elegance toward the Lead Science gate.

So hot.

The very air was warping.

Shen Jianqing quickly pulled down the sun visor for some small comfort, then, on second thought, turned the air conditioning up a notch.

About five minutes later, Qin Yue finally appeared at the Lead Science gate, dressed in a smooth-pressed shirt and trousers, no umbrella, no squinting. Completely unhurried, as if Jiangping’s furnace of a summer were beneath her notice.

Shen Jianqing found it baffling.

Still…

Seeing Qin Yue under such blazing sunlight was like watching frost flowers in a heat wave. Stunning, captivating, and inevitably, also carrying a fragility and briefness that clashed with the season.

Shen Jianqing’s brow creased. She was certain Qin Yue was sick.

It could only have come from that rain last night.

Knock, knock. Qin Yue walked over and rapped on Shen Jianqing’s car window.

Shen Jianqing steadied herself, pressed the central lock, and let Qin Yue in, all while discreetly studying her over the rim of her sunglasses.

Not bad. Not much sweating. But her face was paler than any time Shen Jianqing had seen before. The sharp angles of her features were softened by illness, making her look delicate. A few coughs and her face flushed almost completely red.

Guilt overwhelmed Shen Jianqing. She held onto a shred of dignity befitting a teacher and asked, “Got a cold?”

Qin Yue had just gotten in, still carrying the thick heat of summer. She pushed the air vent aimed at her face down as low as it would go before saying, “Not bad.”

“Not bad and it’s not an illness?”

“Not a serious one.”

“It’s still an illness.”

“…”

Qin Yue turned to look at Shen Jianqing. After a few seconds, she said, “Teacher Shen, what is it you want to say?”

Shen Jianqing screamed “ah” inside her head. She suddenly felt needles in her back, sitting on pins and needles.

Master Qin was still Master Qin even when she was sick. Her mind was just as sharp.

But she really rarely admitted fault to anyone!

Kill me!

Shen Jianqing scratched at the hair near her temple and pushed her sunglasses back up. “I’m sorry about last night. I should have known the weather was turning and shouldn’t have taken you back. You got caught in the rain because of me.”

Qin Yue studied the side of Shen Jianqing’s face for a few seconds, then lowered her lashes. “If we had finished when we were supposed to, I wouldn’t have been caught in the rain. I was the one who insisted on going two more rounds after. It wasn’t your fault.”

Shen Jianqing choked.

How was she supposed to respond to that?

It was, well… those last two rounds had been just as good for her.

“Let’s go.” Qin Yue fastened her seatbelt.

Shen Jianqing seized the reprieve, quickly signaled and shifted gears. Before pulling out, she couldn’t resist adding one more thing to change the subject. “This shirt looks nice on you.”

“Does it?” Qin Yue’s eyes flickered. She carefully unfastened her cuffs and rolled her sleeves up to the elbows. “What’s nice about it?”

How would Shen Jianqing know? She had just been making conversation, okay.

Shen Jianqing tapped the steering wheel a few times with her slender, pale fingertips. “Or maybe you just have a beautiful frame. Everything looks good on you.”

Qin Yue blinked and suddenly curved her lips again. “Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Shen.”

Shen Jianqing said, “Don’t mention it.”

In front of Lead Science ran a tree-lined road. In summer, the plane trees were lush and full. Dappled light drifted through the branches like something out of a dream.

Shen Jianqing steered with one hand, the other resting on the car door. Very dashing. Her small talk was just as polished. “I’m really sorry about today, taking up your rest time again.”

Qin Yue was hit by a wave of nausea from the overly cold air conditioning. She pressed her lips together, keeping her voice slightly lowered. “It’s not taking up anything. I’m on early shifts all month. I get off at three-thirty. Nothing to do at home anyway.”

“Still, I can’t just take up your private time for free. Tell me, what kind of compensation do you want?” Shen Jianqing asked.

Qin Yue lowered her head and typed on her phone screen. “Does everything have to be a clear give-and-take?”

“Not exactly. It just feels odd not doing something about it.” Shen Jianqing laughed, looking a little troubled. “This thing between us. You could say we’re strangers, but there’s nothing we haven’t done. Yet if you say we’re close, we’re not really at the point where you casually drag each other into overtime. I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it.”

Qin Yue placed the phone face-down and looked out at the familiar streets.

After a long while, she said, “Mm.”

Shen Jianqing felt a pinch at the dryness of the reply and pressed on. “Have you figured out what compensation you want?”

“No.” Qin Yue flipped the phone over and over in her hands, her voice flat. “Consider it one friend helping another.”

Shen Jianqing froze and quickly glanced at Qin Yue.

Qin Yue set the phone down again and silently kneaded her stomach with the heel of her palm. “Two and a half years isn’t short. Even the most clearly drawn boundary should produce a little overlap by now. Unless, Teacher Shen, you’re wary of having a friend like me who can’t exactly be shown off in polite company?”

“Of course not.” The words rushed out of Shen Jianqing. But friends… that angle had never crossed her mind. Their overlap really was that limited. Every time she thought about them, her mind went straight to the colorful end.

Ridiculous.

Shen Jianqing slowed at the campus gate. Only after clearing the license plate recognition system did she speak again. “You don’t mind? I mean, additional contact.” Beyond going to bed. Plain, ordinary contact. The kind friends have.

Qin Yue said, “I don’t mind.”

“Then pretend I never said anything.” Shen Jianqing tapped the tip of her nose with one finger. Her lashes trembled along with her smile. “I always thought that kind of relationship… the unhealthy kind, like ours, had to be kept secret, like in novels, to be safe.”

Qin Yue’s hand stilled on her stomach. She turned to look at Shen Jianqing. “Does being together like this make you feel unsafe?”

“Not at all. It’s very comfortable.” Shen Jianqing said, “I’m worried about you. You’re still young. There are so many possibilities ahead of you. The fewer people who know about certain things, the better it is for you.”

So that’s why, one second you’re so familiar with me you could entrust me with everything, and the next, you act like nothing happened and rush me to leave before the storm breaks?

Qin Yue said nothing. Her stomach churned so badly she nearly retched for an instant.

Silence spread swiftly. Just as it was about to reach Shen Jianqing, she spoke again. “Qin Yue, don’t belittle yourself just because you work in a factory. You’re exceptional. At least, that’s the fact as I saw it yesterday.”

Qin Yue hadn’t fully recovered. She gave a quiet “Mm” and said, “I know. Many people have praised my skills.”

Shen Jianqing burst out laughing. “Master Qin, have you ever heard of humility?”

Qin Yue said, “If you’re modest before your strengths have been discovered, people might take it at face value.”

Shen Jianqing thought about it. She was right.

Gold was special. Even sitting still, it glowed on its own. People, on the other hand, had been given a mouth. They ought to use it to sell themselves.

“A lesson well learned, Master Qin.” Shen Jianqing smiled.

She parked and reached back for her seatbelt.

She noticed the way Qin Yue’s hand pressed against her stomach and the patience etched on her face. She paused. “Stomach bothering you?”

Qin Yue bent down to pick up the phone that had slipped to the floor and explained offhandedly, “Maybe lunch didn’t agree with me. A bit of nausea.”

“I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No need. Let’s get the real work done first.”

“Qin Yue…”

“It’ll pass in a bit.”

Seeing Qin Yue’s resolve, Shen Jianqing had no choice but to follow her out of the car and head to Lab 312 first.

Chen Wei was already at the end of her rope waiting. The moment Qin Yue appeared, she didn’t even offer her a glass of water before starting on the work.

When Qin Yue was busy, her microexpressions faded, but the frequency with which she kneaded her stomach noticeably increased.

Shen Jianqing propped up her chin and sat quietly for a while before whispering to Ren Jiawen to help unplug Qin Yue’s phone, which had been charging.