In the dorm room.
Yan Sui, wearing her lab gloves, took the cup out of the bag.
After closing the curtains, she pulled out a UV light and stared at the adorable cat mug.
The ceramic cup was adorned with cute patterns.
She licked her lips, her pupils slightly contracting—a mix of excitement and nervousness.
Click.
The small UV light turned on, casting invisible rays onto the cup—
Fluorescent purple fingerprints instantly appeared.
The young woman could hear her own heartbeat quickening.
Got you.
Last night, she had applied invisible fluorescent paint to the stems of the roses on her windowsill.
Colorless and odorless, once it got on someone’s hands, it couldn’t be washed off—it could only fade slowly through metabolism.
And now, the paint had transferred Jiang Yuan’s fingerprints onto the cup.
It was hard to imagine—the formidable Mr. Jiang, whom everyone treated with deference, would climb over the wall in the middle of the night just to replace the roses in her room.
Was he insane?
She then retrieved the fingerprints she had previously lifted from her own cup from her notebook.
Under a magnifying glass, she carefully compared them with the fluorescent fingerprints on the mug.
A perfect match.
The young woman pulled open the curtains, squinting her eyes.
It was him who had come to her dorm.
Surprising, yet not entirely unexpected.
Why?
Following her like a ghost, taking her cup, replacing her roses?
What else had he seen? What did he want?
And what else? Had he done anything more?
What else did he know?
How intrusive.
A smile played on her lips, but her eyes were cold.
Even if there was no ill intent, it was truly unsettling.
He was like the Sword of Damocles hanging over her head, making her deeply uncomfortable.
She had to deal with him.
Pulling out her phone, she stared at Jiang Yuan’s number, tapping the screen with her fingernail before marking it as a favorite.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Her thoughts were interrupted, and Yan Sui answered impatiently,
“Dad, what is it?”
“Yan Sui, tomorrow is the weekend. Come home. I have something to discuss with you.”
On the other end of the line, besides Lin Jian’s voice, He Wan’s voice seemed to be audible as well.
But Lin Jian hung up right after speaking.
Before the call ended, Yan Sui only heard He Wan’s voice, hoarse and strained, as if venting something.
It seemed the gift she had sent her was working.
She stood up and walked out the door.
Of course, things had to be dealt with one at a time, but right now, the most important thing was that she was hungry.
However, after only a few steps, she heard a commotion nearby.
A crowd had gathered, seemingly arguing about something.
Yan Sui hadn’t intended to get involved, but then she heard someone shout, “Lin Qi, calm down!”
Instantly intrigued, she moved closer.
The young man’s handsome face was bruised at the corner of his eyebrow. He had just been pulled back, but his eyes glared fiercely at the other person like a young wolf:
“You dare say something like that again, and I’ll make sure you regret it!”
The other person was also badly injured, clutching his face and cursing:
“Lin Qi, are you insane? Can’t you take a joke?”
“Screw your joke!” Lin Qi roared, trying to charge forward again but was forcefully held back by several friends.
“Let it go, let it go.”
“Yu Yang, just drop it.”
“Enough, getting a disciplinary record won’t look good for anyone.”
Yu Yang was escorted out by the crowd, cursing about going to the hospital.
As he passed by, his gaze met Yan Sui’s, who was standing on the outskirts, looking on curiously.
He visibly paused, his expression complicated as he scanned her face before turning and striding away.
Yan Sui then realized the other person was also an acquaintance—a brief encounter at the bar, and quite a handsome one at that.
As the crowd dispersed, Lin Qi panted heavily, the anger in his heart still simmering.
Yu Yang actually dared to make lewd remarks about Yan Sui, that bastard…
When he looked up, he met Yan Sui’s worried gaze.
He froze, not yet able to process his surprise, when the girl ran over:
“Why did you get into a fight? Is it serious? Does it hurt?”
Lin Qi instinctively straightened up and shook his head. “It’s nothing, just a minor issue.”
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” Yan Sui reached out and gently touched the wound on his temple.
The boy hissed softly, shifting his gaze uncomfortably. “Really, it’s fine.”
“If you won’t go to the hospital, at least let me treat your wound a little.”
She actually kept band-aids and iodine in her pocket—a habit she’d picked up from her time with the Godfather.
The two found a bench, and Yan Sui disinfected his wound, leaning in close.
The boy clenched his teeth, his breaths gradually filling with her scent.
It was faint, a bit like laundry detergent, with a hint of refreshing sweetness—completely different from the various perfumes other girls wore.
It smelled wonderful.
After carefully disinfecting the wound, Yan Sui applied a band-aid.
“There,” she said, smiling with her eyes crinkling. “Luckily, it’s just a superficial injury. Don’t be so impulsive next time.”
Lin Qi frowned. “I wasn’t impulsive. It was him…”
His voice trailed off as he noticed Yan Sui’s wrist. “What happened to your hand?”
Only then did the girl realize how ghastly the skin near her wrist looked from a previous injury.
“It’s nothing, just an accidental scratch.”
It looked painful, but she smiled as if it didn’t matter at all.
An unfamiliar ache welled up in Lin Qi’s heart. “Was it from working?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Why are you working at a coffee shop? What did Mom do to you again? It’s too much. With our family’s situation, why do you have to suffer like this?”
Lin Qi truly felt distressed, an indescribable kind of pain.
He completely forgot his initial attitude toward Yan Sui—back when she was humiliated and mocked by He Wan for not knowing how to use a knife and fork.
With so many empty rooms in the house, she was only given the smallest storage room as her bedroom.
At the time, he hadn’t even seen her face clearly, finding the whole thing boring.
“I’m really fine,” the girl said, her eyes sparkling without a trace of resentment.
“I don’t feel like I’m suffering at all, so don’t worry about me.
“Tomorrow’s the weekend, and Dad and Auntie asked me to come home. Maybe it’s just to check in on me properly. Don’t worry.”
Hearing that Yan Sui was going home, Lin Qi immediately said:
“I’ll go back with you. I’ll have the driver pick us up tomorrow.”
The girl smiled. “That would be really great.”
Lin Qi couldn’t understand how someone in the world could be so pure, kind, and gentle.
When Yu Yang told him he’d seen Yan Sui working at a coffee shop, he hadn’t believed it at first.
But then Yu Yang added, “She’s really beautiful and seems easy to pursue. I bet I could get her into bed in less than a week.”
Instantly, blood rushed to his head. Before his mind could even react, his fist had already swung.
He couldn’t help but say, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t let anyone bully you.”
“Mm, I’m not afraid.” The little girl smiled until her eyes curved into crescents, her fair, delicate face adorned with charming dimples that were utterly captivating. “I know you’re the best to me.”
Lin Qi felt the blood rush to his head again, but this time it was completely different from before.
His face flushed, and he couldn’t find the words to speak. After a long pause, he tugged at his hair in frustration:
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken you to the bar back then. It’s caused so much trouble.”
“It’s fine,” the little girl comforted him sincerely. “I was really, really happy you took me to see the world. I didn’t understand anything, so I’m lucky to have you.”
Her words were genuine—without Lin Qi, she wouldn’t have had so many opportunities.
The more she spoke, the closer she leaned toward him, her smile growing even sweeter.
But soon, the smile on her face froze for a moment.