As the end of the month approached, the Union Security Agency released the first batch of names for review, and all graduates who participated in the closed-door training received their assessment results. Of the 25 slots allocated to Langria Federal Academy, the School of Security and Risk accounted for nearly 60%.
When the notification arrived, Liang Qiao was sitting on the sofa reading a book. Seeing the expected result, she showed little reaction—she glanced at it to confirm and moved on, not even bothering to mention it to Chu Hui. It wasn't until he received a call from Sheng Fuzhou that he learned the first batch of names from the Union Security Agency had been released.
"Sheng Fuzhou made it into the next round of review—didn't you get yours?" He wasn't saying this to discount Sheng Fuzhou's abilities—otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted the invitation to join his team back then—but objectively and subjectively speaking, Liang Qiao's overall strength couldn't possibly be below his. There was no reason Sheng Fuzhou got in while she didn't.
Liang Qiao turned a page of her book and answered when he asked: "I got it."
"Didn't make it?" No way.
"I made it."
"Then why didn't you tell me!"
She looked up at him, a hint of confusion in her eyes, and asked: "Didn't you already know?"
Chu Hui was momentarily at a loss for words. "That's because I have faith in you!" There was still a difference between that and her actually making the list, right?
"Mm," she lowered her head back to her book and said: "Just keep having it, then."
That was arrogant—the ease with which she handled it revealed pure audacity. Throughout this entire month, she hadn't participated in any other training sessions, as if she'd known today's outcome all along. Everything proceeded according to her plan, and everything remained under her control.
Chu Hui watched her calm, indifferent expression and suddenly cursed under his breath without rhyme or reason, then launched himself off the foot of the bed onto her.
The half-read book was swept away by an unceremonious hand. Liang Qiao froze for a moment, looking at the person in her arms with confusion, and the next second her face was cupped and she was kissed firmly.
He had to admit he was captivated by this effortlessly composed Liang Qiao. This infatuation made him want to seize her gaze, command her attention, and even wish he could become a book held in her hands—flipped through, studied carefully, read over and over.
…Tsk. He mentally berated himself as he kissed her, thinking: He wasn't some kind of pervert, was he?
But Liang Qiao had no idea about the strange thoughts running through his head. She simply accepted this sudden kiss calmly, lifting the hand that had been holding the book slightly to instead support his waist and hips.
Just as he was getting more and more into it, the wrist pressed against his lower back began to vibrate. He caught his breath and pulled away from her, hearing her say: "It's Pei Qiansu."
Pei Qiansu was also calling to share the good news. Although she'd been highly confident from the start, actually receiving the confirmed news still made her unable to contain her joy—after all, it was the Union Security Agency. All the sitting councilors combined could even determine the direction of the Federation, and for them, it was the highest starting point they could reach.
"Come out tonight to celebrate! Let me see if the rooftop garden still has spots!" In the final second before the call ended, Pei Qiansu was still excited, saying: "I'll go call Wei Ting and the others, and ask Sheng Fuzhou what rank he got!"
Liang Qiao looked at the severed communication line and asked, "…So what place did Sheng Fuzhou get?"
Chu Hui said, "Right one spot behind Pei Qiansu."
"Mm," Liang Qiao said, "You should tell him to take it easy."
Chu Hui had also received an invitation from Sheng Fuzhou, at a place not far from where Pei Qiansu had booked—both in the Tregini Center. In the afternoon, the two of them left together and agreed to part ways at the intersection near the rooftop garden.
"I'll come pick you up tonight." Celebrations naturally called for drinking, and although Liang Qiao had a high tolerance for alcohol, there was no way she'd let Chu Hui drink and then go home alone.
Liang Qiao had no objection to that, but she highly doubted Chu Hui would get drunk before she did, and said, "If you can stay sober, I have no problem with it."
"My tolerance isn't that bad!" Chu Hui reflexively retorted. Seeing that the 0916 had come to a full stop, he immediately leaned over to ask for a kiss, saying, "Give me a kiss."
The car door had already opened, but Liang Qiao didn't respond. She simply raised her hand slightly as she stood up, her index and middle fingers pressed lightly together, and brushed the back of them gently against his lips.
The car door closed again without a sound.
Liang Qiao was the second to arrive. Yu Yue was sitting at a seat near the terrace, and upon seeing her, took the initiative to wave and said, "Over here."
She walked over and sat down beside her.
"Congratulations, I already heard from Qiansu—first place."
Liang Qiao said, "Thank you."
Yu Yue was long accustomed to the other's reticence, and smiled, saying, "We won't be able to train together anymore."
The meaning behind those words went without saying. Liang Qiao glanced at her but said nothing.
Comforting people was definitely difficult for her, so she could only reach out and grip the water glass on the table, making herself look like she had something to do.
"Hey, it's fine," Yu Yue said, noticing Liang Qiao's discomfort. "I'm still a member of Group 1 after all. Even if I can't get into the Union Security Agency, I have plenty of other options."
Liang Qiao squeezed the water glass and said, "Mm."
Graduates of Langria Federal Academy certainly never lacked for prospects—lose one opportunity and countless others would crowd in. If she were willing to leave Landu, she even had a good chance of entering the upper echelons of some region. It's just that…
"It's just that I'll have to part ways with you all," Yu Yue said, voicing what both of them were thinking. She paused, then added in comfort, "It's fine. We can still meet whenever we want in the future."
In truth, it would be difficult.
Both of them knew this well, but neither voiced it. They had known each other since their second year, and had participated in many real rescue operations together with Pei Qiansu. Their significance to each other had long surpassed mere classmates or teammates—they were comrades who would trust each other with their lives. Now facing separation, there were naturally many feelings that were hard to put into words.
Fortunately, someone soon came to break through the lingering melancholy. Pei Qiansu and Shang Xuefan walked in together, and Pei Qiansu excitedly ran over to Liang Qiao, asking, "Guess what place Sheng Fuzhou got!"
With her acting like that, there was hardly anything left to guess, but Liang Qiao still played along: "…What place?"
"Just one spot below me!" She stood up and clapped her hands, feigning regret as she said, "I'll admit he has some ability, but he's still a bit short of me."
Shang Xuefan suppressed a laugh and sat down, saying, "I ran into her at the intersection, and she's been telling me about it the whole way here."
"Shouldn't I say it?" Pei Qiansu said. "I'll keep saying it until the next time I run into him. What a shame—he almost managed to surpass me."
Yu Yue couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth, joking, "If you want to hold your head high, you should bring Liang Qiao along. She's the one who got first place."
"You think I don't want to?" Pei Qiansu's tone carried a hint of frustration at someone who wouldn't rise to the occasion. "If she could just say a few more words, I'd definitely bring her along."
"It's better that she doesn't talk," Yu Yue laughed. "Arguing is no fun—one look is enough."
"That's true," Pei Qiansu said. "Alright, I'll bring her next time."
Liang Qiao: "…" She hadn't agreed to go at all.
After waiting about ten more minutes, Wei Ting arrived late, still wearing a pair of goggles around his neck when he sat down. Only after Pei Qiansu pointed it out did he hurriedly take them off, saying, "Ah… sorry, I just came from the lab."
He was the type to forget food and sleep entirely when running experiments—the fact that he'd shown up at roughly the right time was already impressive. No one said anything about it; they poured drinks and raised their glasses, saying, "Happy graduation!"
Besides celebrating, everyone also shared their plans over the meal. Liang Qiao and Pei Qiansu had entered the Union Security Agency's review process, which meant they were now in the reserve sequence. There would be a period of assessment and training afterward, during which they'd be assigned to grassroots public security offices in different regions.
Shang Xuefan had submitted her application to the Haiti Management General Administration while waiting for the Union Security Agency list, and had already passed the first round of screening. About a week from now, she'd depart for some small island for another three months of training.
Wei Ting and Chu Hui shared the same major, and yesterday they'd submitted their materials to the Federal Shipborne Power Research Institute. They were currently waiting for notification. Yu Yue stated that she most likely wouldn't stay in Landu and might head to the new district.
As each person finished speaking, the emotion that Pei Qiansu had interrupted earlier crept back in. Wei Ting glanced at the others and took the initiative to say, "We'll meet again."
"Yeah, right, we'll definitely meet again," Pei Qiansu echoed. "Cheer up—aren't we out here to celebrate today?"
Perhaps not wanting the atmosphere to sink completely, everyone followed her lead and started joking around again. Liang Qiao raised her glass along with the rest as they lifted theirs, and said seriously, "I hope you all get better and better."
The people who had accompanied her the most during these years in Langria were the ones before her now. They were lively, intelligent, kind, and resilient—possessing many qualities and abilities she had never had—and they had never minded her aloofness or reticence. Without them, she might still be keeping company with her own gloom and melancholy, and would never have experienced warmth and help beyond familial love.
Even if they weren't together in the future, she sincerely hoped they would all get better and better.
"I'm going to cry," Pei Qiansu said, making an exaggerated expression of being deeply moved as she came over to put an arm around Liang Qiao's shoulder. "Our Qiao-jie can talk now too."
Liang Qiao: "…"
Compared to the lively gathering last time, this time they mostly just drank and talked. Near midnight, Pei Qiansu—who had barely managed to stay awake until the end—finally succumbed to the alcohol. Liang Qiao caught her chin with quick reflexes to keep her from face-planting into the dishes.
Setting down her half-finished glass, she noticed Chu Hui had just sent a message, asking: "All done?"
"Yeah," Liang Qiao glanced at the people sprawled every which way, weighing her words before replying, "They're all drunk."
Chu Hui asked, "Should we take them back?"
"We need to send Qiansu and Wei Ting back. Yu Yue and Shang Xuefan have someone coming to pick them up."
"I need to take Sheng Fuzhou back to school anyway. Let's go together."
"Is that okay?"
"They're all pretty much wasted. They won't wake up."
"There's a risk."
"If they find out, they find out. Tomorrow we'll tell them it was a dream. Those two idiots won't suspect a thing."
It was obvious who "those two idiots" referred to. Liang Qiao wanted to argue but didn't know where to start, so she asked instead, "What about Wei Ting?"
"Actually, I never told you this, but Wei Ting seems to have figured it out already."
Liang Qiao slowly typed out a question mark.
"He asked to borrow my paper—the one I told you about yesterday that just got published," Chu Hui explained. "I originally thought that by the time it came out, we'd already graduated, so it wouldn't matter if anyone saw it. I kept the co-authorship and didn't remove it. But I forgot when I sent it to him, and I only realized after he asked me about it."
Liang Qiao asked, "And then?"
"He asked me why your name was on my paper. I said because we wrote it together—you provided me with experimental data for reference. Then he asked why you would provide me with experimental data. I said because we're dating."
"…"
"Then he didn't say anything else."
Liang Qiao was momentarily speechless. Looking at the words Chu Hui had sent, she could even imagine his tone and expression as he said them. She sighed helplessly. "Come over, then."
"Coming, wife."
…
Out of respect for Pei Qiansu and Sheng Fuzhou, Liang Qiao didn't let the two of them sit together. Instead, she placed herself between Pei Qiansu and Wei Ting, and had Sheng Fuzhou and Chu Hui sit in the front row.
The destination was set to Zone North 3, passing by three people's dormitory buildings along the way. Chu Hui confirmed the route, then turned back to look at the car full of drunks, and said with disdain, "Remember to remind me to turn on the cleaning mode when we get back."
Liang Qiao hummed in acknowledgment and asked him, "What about you?"
Chu Hui knew she was asking how much he'd drunk. He grabbed the back of the seat and twisted around to look at her, saying, "Half a bottle. I didn't drink much. Aren't I good?"
He said it like a puppy asking for a pat. A hint of a smile surfaced in Liang Qiao's eyes. She was about to speak when Sheng Fuzhou beside her suddenly opened his eyes, gazing at Chu Hui in a daze, and mumbled, "Chu Hui… who are you talking to?"
Chu Hui shoved his face toward the other side and said, "None of your business. Sleep. I'll take you back to the dorm later."
"Oh." A vague reply came from the front, followed shortly by faint snoring.
…Well, that was obedient.
But not long after, the person beside her also woke up. Compared to Sheng Fuzhou, Pei Qiansu practically bolted upright, hit her head on the ceiling, yelped in pain, and fell back down, shouting, "I think I smell Sheng Fuzhou's pheromone! Where is he? I haven't even made fun of him yet!"
Liang Qiao reached out and pressed her down, saying, "…It's your imagination."
"What imagination!" She spotted Chu Hui in front of her and shouted again, "What are you doing here!"
Chu Hui smiled and said, "I'm here to take you home."
Pei Qiansu didn't catch the sinister undertone in his voice. Hearing this, she immediately crossed her arms in a defensive gesture and said, "You're not secretly in love with me, are you?"
Chu Hui gave her a strange look, puzzled as to why that was the first thought that popped into her head. "…You're not even awake yet, are you?"
Pei Qiansu said, "Then how are you and I in the same car!"
"Why don't you take a look at who else is sitting next to you?"
At his words, Pei Qiansu quickly turned her head to glance at Liang Qiao, then looked back at him, then at Liang Qiao again.
After repeating this a few times, her sluggish brain finally caught up. She pointed at him and said, "You actually seduced Liang Qiao!"
Chu Hui hadn't expected her to figure it out. He raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "When both parties are willing, how can you call it seduction?"
Pei Qiansu frantically scratched at her hair, pointing at Chu Hui and fuming, "I knew you were a shameless little tramp!"
Chu Hui deliberately put on a look of shock and said, "Oh my, but you found out way too late for that."
"Ahhh!" Pei Qiansu turned and grabbed Liang Qiao's hand instead, saying, "Liang Qiao, hurry up and hit him!"
Not to be outdone, Chu Hui said, "Honey, look how she's bullying me!"
Liang Qiao: "…"
She'd said there was risk involved.