Peer Relationship

Qin Yue grew up in an orphanage.

The moment she graduated from high school, she took a job as a soldering worker at a nearby factory. She worked over fourteen hours a day and still earned next to nothing. Most of her wages went back to the orphanage, and what little was left barely covered a shoebox-sized room and just enough food to keep her alive.

As her coworkers liked to say, people like her lived worse than the boss’s two dogs.

But the woman who lived worse than dogs had a secret: Shen Jianqing, who taught at a prestigious university, published countless papers, and boasted a stellar research record, was her lover.

The day Qin Yue was promoted to team leader, she treated a few coworkers to a meal. She picked a commercial street near the university where Shen Jianqing taught, right across from the imposing campus gate. Her coworkers gazed up at it enviously. “Only extraordinary people get into a place like that, right?”

“Definitely not our kind of people, though. Who cares if they’re extraordinary or not? Right, Team Leader?” Another elbowed Qin Yue’s shoulder.

Qin Yue said nothing. Her calm gaze drifted past the dappled tree shadows toward the brightly lit glass windows on the south side of No. 3 Teaching Building, and she sipped her cheap beer, one mouthful at a time.

After the meal, her coworkers headed off together. Qin Yue leaned against a lamppost, lingering.

Only when the woman behind the glass finally stepped down from the lectern and disappeared from view did Qin Yue take out her phone and send a message: 【I’m at your school’s south gate. Come out.】

Later, I stepped into the light and stood beside you as your equal.