Before the very last bit of oxygen in their lung cavities was squeezed completely dry, the two people on the verge of drowning on flat ground finally parted.
Nan Zhi’s posture remained unchanged, she merely pulled her jaw back slightly, pressing her forehead against Fu Minglin’s.
Her heartbeat was even more frantic now than it had been just a moment ago.
If Fu Minglin’s fitness tracker had been strapped to her own wrist, it probably would have started beeping and screeching to call the police long ago.
Fortunately, the quietness of this moment was not disturbed by any buzzing vibrations.
The posture of kneeling on one knee from earlier had somehow turned into a standard kneeling stance, and those wandering wrists had already found points of support around Fu Minglin’s waist.
Having done heavy physical labor year-round, her hand strength was quite heavy, so she tried her best to hold her very lightly. Even so, the moment Nan Zhi’s gaze fell upon the back of Fu Minglin’s neck, she still shrank back slightly.
Fingerprints had been left right where she had looped her arms around her neck.
A mottled mix of red and white.
Somewhat glaring.
“Huo…” The apology caught in Nan Zhi’s throat, as she remembered Fu Minglin saying she didn’t like hearing apologies.
The words of timely replacement unsaid, Nan Zhi suddenly felt her embrace grow heavy.
The Fu Minglin who had sat high up the whole time didn’t know when she had already bent forward, her strength draining away.
Just like that, she drifted down lightly, fulfilling that request of hers.
Her scorching breathing fell heavily against Nan Zhi’s neck.
Nan Zhi could feel that Fu Minglin was panting, because her lips kept brushing against her skin unintentionally.
“Huo,”
Fu Minglin answered her.
Nan Zhi suddenly felt as though her heart had been heavily squeezed, and her wrists, which had previously lost their strength, unconsciously tightened back around her.
So obedient.
It made her want to knead her right into her own body.
“Mm,” feeling a twinge of pain, Fu Minglin whimpered, “Too tight.”
Had she known that parting her teeth and letting that tip of her tongue in would lead to this result, Fu Minglin should have clenched her teeth a bit tighter.
She might as well have bitten off that mischievous thing directly.
As someone who worked out year-round, Fu Minglin was quite confident in her own physical stamina—after all, she was an orthopedics surgeon who had to swing hammers and stand at the operating table.
Yet when she was imprisoned just now, she still felt a suffocating sensation that was difficult to struggle against.
Kissing—could it really be this addictive?
No one spoke anymore. Nan Zhi completely lost her strength, raising her palm to gently pat and stroke the back of the person in her arms.
What was happening right now felt just like a dream.
So wonderful that Nan Zhi couldn’t tell reality from illusion.
But the next second, it was shattered anyway.
“What?” It was Shen Zitang’s voice. “Didn’t you find them?”
This familiar tone made Nan Zhi pause her patting motion, and before she even had time to react, she was pushed away abruptly.
Fu Minglin, who had just been leaning softly in her embrace, was already standing up.
The earphones connecting them to each other were dropped,
hanging solitarily in mid-air.
The person who had already stood up pulled out a pack of disinfecting wipes from her pocket and meticulously began to wipe her lips, her fingertips, and her neck.
Cleaning away every single place that Nan Zhi had just touched.
Standing to the side, Fu Minglin was expressionless, erecting indifferent thorns in an instant. Yet the ripples that hadn’t completely faded from her peach-blossom eyes and the red at the corners of her eyes weren’t all that calm.
Nan Zhi couldn’t help it; she let out a soft laugh.
The door to the lounge was knocked on, and then pushed open.
“Aren’t you both here?” Shen Zitang looked bewildered, turning her head to ask, “Then why were you shaking your head the whole time just now?”
Gu Shixu, who was still lingering in place, raised her head to look at the two people who had already separated quite far apart.
Her brain was still in a state of system crash.
That waiter from last night—no, a moment ago when there were only herself and Fu Minglin in the room, what she had clearly said was—
“The person from last night wasn’t a waiter, but my younger sister. She has been raised abroad all along, and Mother hasn’t arranged for her to show her face at banquets yet.”
A younger sister.
The Fu family’s second daughter.
However, between an older sister and a younger sister, how could they kiss?
“Did you guys finish talking?”
Fu Minglin walked over to her side as if nothing had happened, asking considerately, “Then shall we continue training?”
Gu Shixu raised her head, her gaze sharply capturing those slightly swollen lips of hers. She shuddered violently and shook her head: “Thanks, Minglin, I… I have some things to do, so I won’t train today after all.”
Her brain was a chaotic mess, and human ethics and morality were beating Gu Shixu up, leaving her somewhat at a loss as to how to face the scene before her for a moment.
Her betrothed partner had snuck off while accompanying her to kiss her own younger sister!
So utterly tacky!!!
Watching Gu Shixu flee as if running for her life, Fu Minglin didn’t show any expression, only imperceptibly arching a brow.
Shen Zitang, whose curiosity was driving her crazy, pursued her with questions: “What’s wrong with her anyway? What were you two doing in there?”
“Resting,” Nan Zhi raised a hand to take off her earphones, turned them off, coiled them up, and tucked them into her pocket. “What else?”
An answer that didn’t satisfy her, Shen Zitang pressed further: “Then her?”
“Probably not feeling well,” Nan Zhi said thoughtfully. “You can go check on her, just in case something happens.”
Judging by Nan Zhi’s decade-plus understanding of the person before her, the always warm-hearted Shen Zitang could never possibly sit by and do nothing.
Sure enough.
This suggestion moved Shen Zitang, though she was still a bit hesitant.
“It’s fine.”
Nan Zhi, who had her emotions completely figured out, said softly, “Just right, I have exams coming up soon, so I need to go back and review.”
After pondering it several times, Shen Zitang was still worried about her good partner.
So, after giving Nan Zhi a few words of instruction, she also grabbed her bag and chased after her.
The gym grew quiet once more.
Seeing that the person was still standing in place, Nan Zhi immediately lifted her feet and walked over.
“The person who opened the door just now,” Nan Zhi’s voice was very soft, reverting to her obedient demeanor once again, “was Miss Gu?”
Retracting her thoughts, Fu Minglin turned around.
She didn’t make a sound, merely letting a light, drifting glance fall over.
The moment their eyes met, Nan Zhi understood instantly, her mood shifting from a secret sense of elation to a suppressed, low chuckle that she couldn’t hold back.
Taking in all of this unmasked emotion from the person before her,
there was no change within Fu Minglin’s stagnant-water-like eyes.
“What was your original task schedule for today?” Now that it was just the two of them left, Nan Zhi grew a bit bolder. “I remember you were supposed to do an experiment?”
An experiment.
Hearing these two words, Fu Minglin’s pupils trembled instinctively.
Ripples stirred across her expressionless face.
“Mhm,” the tip of her tongue pressing against her teeth, Fu Minglin said indifferently, “Do you want to come with me?”
Nan Zhi, still immersed in her joy, naturally took this as an invitation and nodded without hesitation.
“Alright.”
Fu Minglin turned around, failing to keep the hint of sarcasm at the bottom of her heart from sliding past her eyes.
From Guomao to the laboratory Fu Minglin mentioned took over an hour of driving time.
Coupled with hitting peak traffic when they left, they were stuck in traffic all the way until two o’clock. By the time they arrived, Nan Zhi’s complexion was already as pale as a sheet of paper.
The moment the car door opened, she couldn’t help clutching her school bag and dashing to a roadside flowerbed to retch.
Nan Zhi suffered from severe motion sickness.
Yet strangely enough, she only got motion sickness in electric cars; running into a hybrid vehicle was an even greater disaster.
Fortunately, for her first eighteen years, she had been dirt poor. Any place she could walk to, she wouldn’t bother scanning a shared bike. Taking the subway was a luxury, while taking a taxi was the height of extravagance.
She had discovered her motion sickness when she was brought back to the Fu residence by Fu Minglin.
Her churning stomach had twisted to the absolute limit. Fortunately, she hadn’t eaten anything that day to save money; otherwise, she wouldn’t dare imagine how humiliating it would have been to throw up at Fu Minglin’s feet.
Yet usually, she could ride in Shen Zitang’s car without any issues at all.
It was only later that Nan Zhi learned cars were actually divided into gasoline cars and electric cars.
And the Fu family only used electric cars.
“Rinse your mouth.”
An unscrewed bottle of mineral water was handed over from her side. Teary-eyed, Nan Zhi looked up at the expressionless person.
Even though she couldn’t see clearly, and even though Fu Minglin managed to maintain a polite, expressionless facade,
Nan Zhi still read the flash of disgust hidden in those eyes.
“Thank you,” Nan Zhi said, her hands trembling as she took it, her voice somewhat hoarse. “Sorry.”
Making a mess like this and causing trouble.
Fu Minglin didn’t reply again; her expression simply grew thoroughly cold.
Realizing she had done something wrong, Nan Zhi didn’t dare to babble any further.
After finishing a whole bottle of water with continuous rinsing, she breathed in deeply and heavily.
Nan Zhi took a long time to calm down before she finally felt like she had come back to life.
Luckily, enough time had passed since breakfast that she hadn’t thrown up anything other than dry heaves.
Massaging her stomach with one hand, Nan Zhi cautiously peeked over with her eyes.
Slap—
Her line of sight was struck by something flying straight at her.
A soft tissue slid down the bridge of her nose.
Realizing this was meant for her, Nan Zhi hurriedly reached out to catch it. When she looked up again, Fu Minglin had already walked away.
It seemed she was angry.
Not knowing the reason and not daring to delay any further, Nan Zhi immediately lifted her feet and chased after her.
The laboratory was very brand new.
A low-profile yet luxurious black-and-gold color scheme featured full-tech electronic sensors and coded doors that stood out starkly from the surrounding buildings.
Fu Minglin stopped at the doorway to scan her iris and verify her fingerprint, while Nan Zhi clutched her tissue and obediently waited by the side.
She couldn’t bear to throw away the empty water bottle she had just rinsed with; she lowered her head and carefully sniffed it.
An odorless medical tissue.
Yet Nan Zhi greedily tasted a hint of sweetness from it.
[Verification successful.]
[Door opened. Welcome, Experimenter.]
Hearing the mechanical prompt, Nan Zhi prepared to follow along, only to be blocked.
“Stand there,” Fu Minglin operated the panel with one hand. “Look up.”
Nan Zhi was puzzled.
But Nan Zhi was obedient.
She opened her mouth, blinked, and nodded according to the instructions.
Until she heard a beep.
[Entry successful. Welcome, Fu Nan Zhi.]
Hearing these three words abruptly, Nan Zhi felt somewhat dazed. She looked blankly toward Fu Minglin, but the other person was already lowering her head to operate something on the panel.
“Alright,” Fu Minglin waved a hand, and the panel that had been glowing went dark. “From now on, you can scan your face too.”
From now on?
A little burst of joy welled up in the bottom of Nan Zhi’s heart.
Was this about her and her future?
Immersed in her own emotions, Nan Zhi didn’t realize that ever since stepping foot into the laboratory, Fu Minglin hadn’t leaked a single emotion outward.
Fu Minglin’s laboratory looked a lot like her bedroom.
Following closely behind with cautious steps, Nan Zhi didn’t dare to look around randomly, but her field of vision was filled to the brim with walls of data and books.
This place was an existence even more exaggerated than the study at home.
The walls, stretching up so high she couldn’t see the top, were hung full of specimens, code boxes, and trophies.
Nan Zhi glanced at them very cursorily; those certificates of honor seemed different from any she had ever seen, but Fu Minglin was walking very fast, and Nan Zhi, trying hard to keep up, didn’t dare to look closely.
They passed through a long corridor.
Along the way, Fu Minglin scanned her face many times, finally stopping at the doorway of the innermost room.
Looking no different from the outside, Nan Zhi saw many more books inside.
In Fu Minglin’s world,
it seemed there was nothing else besides books.
“Go sit over there,” Fu Minglin very deliberately pointed her finger. It was a desk with many open folders spread across it. “I need to go get something.”
Hearing this arrangement, Nan Zhi didn’t think much of it and nodded immediately.
Clasping her small school bag tightly, she tiptoed over.
There were many reports on the desktop recording a lot of data. Nan Zhi wasn’t someone who liked to pry into excitement, so she kept her eyes down the entire time.
Once Fu Minglin left, this place grew completely empty.
Had she gone off to get busy?
Nan Zhi sat obediently in the chair, hugging her school bag and waiting patiently.
This wait lasted for ten full minutes.
The security camera hanging overhead occasionally flashed with red shadows.
Half an hour later.
The recording equipment beside Fu Minglin captured the sound of page-turning.
With a sarcastic curl of her lips, she raised a hand and pushed the door open.
Nan Zhi, who hadn’t left her seat since entering, was sitting very straight.
Her linen shirt set off her thin back and broad shoulders. Wearing only a single-sided earphone, the index finger of her right hand propped against the desk was spinning a pen.
Her gaze was fixed intently on the open book.
Perhaps she was reading too intently, as Fu Minglin, who had already walked up beside her, did not capture the eye-contact she had hoped for.
Her own gaze lowered as well.
What lay in front of Nan Zhi was a legal codebook.
Recognizing those unfamiliar words, Fu Minglin constricted her pupils in disbelief. She tilted her head—the spread files were still spread open.
And Nan Zhi was sitting in the only spot on the desk that lacked files.
A clean corner.
Had she actually… not moved at all?
“You’re back!” Raising her head from the book, Nan Zhi was still caught up in the mood of studying. Her sharp, fox-like eyes were calm, devoid of emotion.
A faint sense of scrutiny made Fu Minglin feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Nodding, she let out an “Mhm.” Her gaze escaped from that face, accidentally landing on Nan Zhi’s shoulder instead.
The third button of her shirt was undone.
The youth’s budding, green shabbiness was wrapped within that somewhat old fabric.
“Here,” Fu Minglin’s gaze fixed in place. She slowly bent down, her fingertips also rising.
The distance closed in an instant.
The legal articles Nan Zhi had just memorized thoroughly scattered into nothingness in that exact moment.
She was pinned to her chair, her breathing slowing down.
Coming even faster than body heat was the breathing, and the strands of hair.
Fu Minglin’s hand had already plunged past that third button, using a bit of force to peel it back: “Why didn’t you tell me?”