Wen Li had gotten off on the wrong foot. Over the next few days, she kept her head down and behaved herself, not daring to show her face around Xiao Jinyu again for fear of losing whatever little goodwill she had left.
But she was a person with boundless energy who simply couldn't sit still. The moment she had free time, she felt restless all over. So she started scheming again about how to get her parents to agree to let her rejoin the team.
At dinner tonight, she decided to drop another hint.
"Mom," Wen Li picked up a piece of spare rib and said casually, as if making small talk, "Do you know who my idol is?"
"Who?"
"Xiang Yu."
"Oh, sweetie, why do you like him?"
"Because he was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu," Wen Li set down her chopsticks and said with great animation, "He was a great hero—'His strength could uproot mountains, his spirit overshadowed the world.' Don't you think he's super cool and impressive?"
"The one who killed himself at the Wu River, right?" Ji Qingti picked up her bowl to ladle some soup, her tone flat and indifferent. "A hero, sure, but his ending wasn't good."
"At least he had his moment of glory." Wen Li protested weakly.
"He lost his life at such a young age. What good is glory?"
That example must have been a bad one. Let her try another: "I also like King Wu of Qin. He had god-given strength, brave and mighty…"
Ji Qingti said, "I know that one. He's the guy who liked showing off by lifting tripods with people, and ended up snapping his waist. Also just a reckless brute. Why would you like him?"
Wen Li: "…"
What was wrong with these people? Why did none of them have good endings!
Wen Tao took a sip of his porridge and glanced at her. "Sweetie, is something on your mind?"
"No."
She lowered her head and ate her meal in silence.
Friday evening.
The editorial office had returned the review comments for the paper Xiao Jinyu had submitted two months prior on limb-salvage treatment for osteosarcoma.
Xiao Jinyu scrolled through them one by one. The first two reviewers' comments were standard—nothing more than suggestions to supplement references and optimize statistical methods. The third reviewer's comments were the longest, a full two pages. This person was clearly a fellow researcher in his field—the questions were sharp, and they pinpointed two potential flaws in his model with surgical precision.
After summarizing the issues, he sent an email to Dean Wu.
It was already past six when he came out of the lab. The window at the end of the corridor was flooded with a swath of orange light. As he passed the hot water room, he heard Ji Cheng's voice.
"This is out of the question. Don't you understand what I'm saying?"
Xiao Jinyu paused mid-step.
The door to the hot water room was half-closed. He saw Wen Li leaning against the wall, with Ji Cheng standing across from her. The girl's voice was muffled, her hands gripping her lunchbox tightly, her face lowered—pitiful.
"Just help me this once, please. I'm begging you."
Wen Li wanted to return to the provincial team. She simply couldn't win over her parents on this one, so she'd turned her attention to Ji Cheng, hoping he'd put in a good word for her with them. But that dog Ji Cheng absolutely refused.
"Go tell them yourself." Ji Cheng was thoroughly annoyed, his voice cold and hard. "Get lost now. Don't come bothering me if it's not important. I'm busy. I don't have time for you."
Wen Li pouted and gripped the lunchbox even tighter.
Xiao Jinyu suddenly felt something sting his eyes.
What was wrong with her? Wasn't she supposed to be incredibly strong? She could pin a grown man to a wall—yet in front of Ji Cheng, she wouldn't even talk back after being scolded.
"Go home now." Ji Cheng said impatiently.
"Oh."
Wen Li handed him the lunchbox and shuffled out slowly.
Xiao Jinyu stepped back, intending to leave before she came out. But he was a beat too slow, and the two of them ran into each other head-on.
Seeing him, Wen Li froze for a moment, then quickly pulled out a smile. "What a coincidence, Xiao Jinyu. You're on duty today?"
That smile again. She'd just been scolded, yet she could still turn around and smile. Xiao Jinyu looked at her eyes—they were a little red, her lashes still damp—but the corners of her mouth were already curved up, pretending nothing had happened.
He didn't know where the impulse came from.
"Ji Cheng."
Inside the hot water room, Ji Cheng turned around.
"She came all the way to bring you dinner, and you can't even say thank you?"
"?" Ji Cheng walked out, utterly baffled, and stood next to Wen Li. "What's it to you?"
"It's none of my business." Xiao Jinyu said. "But she doesn't owe you anything."
Ji Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down. "What are you trying to say?"
Wait, no—what was going on here? Why did these two reek of gunpowder the moment they met? Wen Li quickly tugged at Ji Cheng's sleeve. "Just say less, okay?"
"Shut up." Ji Cheng shook her hand off.
The motion wasn't hard, but Wen Li's hand still swung back and hit the door frame. She didn't make a sound, just quietly pulled her hand back.
"Ji Cheng." Xiao Jinyu heard his own unfamiliar voice, barely suppressing the emotions that were slipping out of control. "Be nicer to her. She's not your punching bag."
Ji Cheng: "?"
Was this guy insane? What right did he have to lecture him!
Ji Cheng's expression twisted into something extremely strange. "What the hell is wrong with you, Xiao Jinyu? Since when is it your place to meddle in my business with her? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Nobody. I just can't stand to watch."
Ji Cheng suddenly laughed. "Can't stand to watch? You can't see anything normally, but now suddenly you can't stand to watch?"
Wen Li grabbed his arm. "Alright, alright. Let's go."
Ji Cheng didn't move. He stared at Xiao Jinyu, speaking slowly and deliberately, each word weighted: "I'm warning you—don't get any ideas about her."
Xiao Jinyu didn't respond.
Ji Cheng pulled Wen Li away, and she stumbled along behind him, glancing back at Xiao Jinyu.
Xiao Jinyu watched her, his gaze suddenly deepening.
For the first time in his life, a thought of wanting to compete for something stirred within him. Even he was surprised—where had this nearly uncontrollable impulse come from?
Wen Li hadn't expected Ji Cheng and Xiao Jinyu's relationship to have reached such a point of mutual hostility. How could they start snapping at each other the moment they met? And it seemed to be because she'd been scolded by Ji Cheng.
That thought made her unable to suppress a surge of happiness.
So he did care about her quite a bit, after all.
Wen Li pulled out her phone and sent Xiao Jinyu a message.
Big Pear: [Ji Cheng's got issues—don't take anything he says to heart /cute]
After sending it, she cradled her phone and waited.
One minute. Two minutes.
The chat stayed quiet.
He's probably busy, she thought, setting the phone face-down on the bed before grabbing her laundry basket and heading to the washroom.
By the time she finished and came back, the screen had finally lit up.
Little Goldfish: [h78j89^hksha hello、pretty8aaaaaaaaaa]
Wen Li stared at the string of characters, her lashes trembling slightly.
What on earth.
Was Xiao Jinyu… complimenting her?
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She stared at the line for a long moment before typing her reply, her fingertips burning.
Big Pear: [Really? You think I'm pretty?]
On the other end, Xiao Jinyu was in a standoff with Nian Gao.
He'd never owned a cat before—let alone one that was at odds with him in every possible way.
Wen Li had named it "Nian Gao" because it was clingy, but it only seemed to cling to her. On normal days, it ignored him completely. Every day when it saw him, it would perk up its ears, leap onto the storage cabinet, and look down at him from above. Only when hungry would it reluctantly come down, brush against his pant leg with a perfunctory rub, and signal for him to put out food.
Xiao Jinyu couldn't be bothered with it either.
Man and cat each did their own thing—water from the well never mixing with water from the river.
His phone was charging on the coffee table. He'd just finished replying to an email when the screen flickered.
Nian Gao had somehow jumped onto the coffee table, crouched down beside his phone, and was tilting its head at him.
Xiao Jinyu glanced at it. "What are you looking at?"
Nian Gao ignored him, lowering its head to lick its paw.
He continued handling his emails, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nian Gao step onto his phone without thinking much of it.
When he looked up again, there was suddenly a newly sent message on the screen.
Little Goldfish: [h78j89^hksha hello、pretty8aaaaaaaaaa]
Xiao Jinyu: "…"
He snatched up the phone in one motion, and Nian Gao, startled by the movement, let out a "meow" and jumped off the coffee table.
He stared at the string of gibberish on the screen, his temple throbbing.
He was about to type an explanation when the other side replied instantly.
Big Pear: [Really? You think I'm pretty?]
He typed three characters into the input box—"The cat did it"—his finger hovering over the send button, yet he hesitated.
He recalled the washroom that evening, how she'd been scolded by Ji Cheng until her eyes turned red.
He felt something prick at him.
He rarely had strong emotions about other people, but he just felt she shouldn't be treated that way. It was just…
He paused for two seconds.
Forget it. No need to upset her further.
He deleted those three characters and typed something new.
Besides, he hadn't lied to her. It wasn't a falsehood.
Little Goldfish: [Mm]
When Wen Li saw that simple "Mm," her whole heart felt like it had been soaked in honey water.
She flipped her phone face-down on the sofa, covered her face, and let out a silent scream for two seconds. How embarrassing—Xiao Jinyu had called her pretty.
After she'd finished grinning, she picked up her phone and took a screenshot. Cropping out his avatar, she posted to her Moments: [Today is a pretty pear], complete with a carefully edited selfie.
She had a lot of friends, and within seconds the comment section exploded.
: [Not bad, Li—spring romance blooming?]
: [Which handsome guy has such good taste?]
: [What does that string of characters mean? You sure it wasn't the keyboard rolling across your face and hitting keys by accident?]
She replied to each one, the heat in her cheeks still lingering, when the "Rogues' Gallery" group chat pinged with a new message.
Sunflower: [What are you doing not training properly day after day? @Big Pear]
Big Pear: [Hunting a man]
Sunflower: [Drowning in romance with no ambition—skipping the base again, I bet you're slacking off]
Big Pear: [Not slacking. It's just that I don't want my parents to find out, so I've been training in secret…]
Sunflower: [Excuses. Go live happily ever after with your dog of a man]
Big Pear: [Thanks for the blessing]
Sunflower: [……]