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Haicheng University
"President, this is the list of students from City No. 1 High School coming to our school for the exchange this year."
The Student Council: an organization that seems glamorous on the outside but is actually staffed by overworked grunts. Its responsibilities include, but are not limited to, organizing activities, getting chewed out by teachers, taking flak from students, ghostwriting speeches for leadership, and serving as the designated scapegoat for anything that goes wrong.
Of course, certain tyrannical dorm inspection committees are a separate beast entirely.
The junior schoolgirl excitedly placed the list in front of a girl with short pink hair.
She was a huge fan of Liu Qingqing. True beauties, after all, appeal to everyone.
Liu Qingqing was not only beautiful but also had excellent grades, raking in scholarships left and right.
Her pink hair gave her a look that was both sweet and alluring, and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye was especially captivating.
The other students in the office looked at the junior with envy.
Damn it!
So jealous!
Staring at Liu Qingqing's sweet, tempting face, the junior felt like crying herself.
Curse it all! Heaven gave me all the skills to charm others, but I'm a girl myself! Otherwise, I would definitely be pursuing President Qingqing!
Unaware of the complex drama unfolding in her junior's mind, Liu Qingqing offered a sweet smile and asked gently,
"Isn't this section Fei Lu's responsibility?"
The beauty smiled.
The junior's heart was celebrating wildly, but on the outside, she was timid and submissive.
"Um, Senior Sister Fei went home today. She left in a hurry and didn't have time to tell you, President."
Went home?
Liu Qingqing immediately put on a worried expression.
"Did something happen?"
The junior blurted it out without thinking.
"Her mom died."
(TL: 她妈死了 (tā mā sǐ le) is grammatically similar to insults like 他妈的 (tā mā de), which means "fucking" or "damn it." so it's like saying "Her fucking mom died" or "That bitch's mom died")
Liu Qingqing: ???
Huh?
Why are you cursing people!
Liu Qingqing's sweet expression almost cracked.
The junior's runaway brain finally returned, and she realized what a foolish thing she had said.
She quickly explained, "No, no, that's not it. I mean, Senior Sister Fei's mother passed away."
"Senior Sister Fei was working with Professor Song's research group. After hearing the news, she didn't even go back to her dorm and just bought a ticket home."
Liu Qingqing nodded. That makes more sense.
However, she looked up and made a mental note of the junior's face.
Mm.
In the future, I absolutely cannot assign this girl any work that involves communicating with teachers.
The others in the office overheard and asked in surprise, "Didn't Professor Song say anything?"
In their minds, Professor Song was beautiful, yes, but she was a thorny rose—the kind that could pierce a person's heart through and through.
In university, you weren't afraid of the professors who taught easy, water-downed courses.
You were afraid of the ones with real substance, the kind who could grill you with questions until your defenses shattered.
Clearly, Professor Song was the latter.
But even so, the course Professor Song had opened on a whim this year still attracted countless students who just wanted to sit in and listen.
There was no helping it.
Professor Song committed violence with her beauty, and they felt it was worth it even if they were metaphorically stabbed to death.
The junior thought for a moment and said, "Senior Sister Fei was scolded by Professor Song until she cried."
The others in the office shrank their necks, a collective look of "I knew it" on their faces.
"Professor Song is too unapproachable..."
The junior continued,
"After Professor Song found out that Senior Sister Fei was afraid to ask her for leave, she got angry and scolded her, which made her cry. Later, Professor Song gave her a sum of money, saying it was a small gesture, and told her to take care. Oh, and it was Professor Song who drove her to the station. The senior sister said Professor Song even got a ticket for speeding."
As she finished, the entire office fell silent.
Everyone looked at each other.
Wait.
Is this really Professor Song?
Professor Song was famous throughout the school for her beauty, but her personality made countless people shrink back.
In their minds, she was an unapproachable, cold demon king.
There were only two kinds of people in this world who would like Professor Song—
Those for whom beauty is a bone-scraping knife, but whose bones are harder than the knife.
Those who want to become an academic Lao Ai. (TL: Lao Ai was a famous fake eunuch who had an affair with the Queen Dowager, implying someone who uses their looks/body to get ahead academically.)
Could there possibly be a third kind?
Liu Qingqing smiled, flipping through the list in her hand.
"Okay, then I'll take care of this matter. Thank you."
The junior was so happy she was about to fly, nodding like a chick pecking at rice. "No problem, no problem!"
Liu Qingqing: ???
It's over.
This junior's brain really doesn't seem to work well.
Maintaining the curve of her smile, Liu Qingqing lowered her head and suddenly saw a familiar name on the list.
Wait.
Liu Qingqing's hand, which was turning the page, froze.
She widened her eyes in shock.
Lu... Xing?
How could it be!
Liu Qingqing's sweet and charming smile suddenly froze. A low voice instantly echoed in her mind.
Two years of muscle memory. She had long since developed a conditioned reflex.
Mm...
Liu Qingqing slowly crossed her left leg over her right, lowered her head, and bit her lip.
Has she reached this point?
How could she subconsciously have a reaction just from seeing his name?
Her body felt a pleasant warmth, but a feeling of nausea suddenly rose in her heart.
So disgusting.
She really is so disgusting.
She hated desire, but she had developed a desire for Lu Xing's voice, sinking into a sea of lust.
The irrepressible feeling of pleasure and the irrepressible feeling of self-loathing appeared at the same time.
Liu Qingqing clenched her fists tightly, gritting her teeth, her nails almost digging into her palms.
She and Lu Xing only knew each other's names, but they didn't know each other's age, job, or family background.
It was normal for the name Lu Xing to be common.
Liu Qingqing didn't believe for a second that the mature-sounding Lu Xing on the other end of the phone was only eighteen.
A common name.
It must be a common name.
Liu Qingqing took a deep breath, suppressed the strange feeling in her body, and continued to throw herself into her work.
Only in this way...
Would she not have time to think about how disgusting she was.
...
School Parking Lot
Song Junzhu received a speeding ticket.
Looking at the notification on her text message...
Song Junzhu suddenly remembered the time she was ticketed while waiting for Lu Xing at the school gate.
At that time, that little bastard Lu Xing seemed to be secretly laughing.
Thinking of Lu Xing's cunning eyes, the corners of Song Junzhu's mouth lifted slightly.
Thinking back now, it feels like a lifetime ago.
Song Junzhu's good mood instantly vanished.
She irritably took off her glasses, stared at the roof of the car, and fell into deep thought.
She had been too impulsive at the theater that day.
At that time, when she saw Chi Yueshan and Lu Xing come out of a room together, a nameless anger rose in her heart.
But later...
After hearing Chi Yueshan's explanation, she didn't know what to do.
She didn't know what she was angry about, what she was sad about, or what she regretted.
These past few days, Song Junzhu often had dreams.
She dreamt of the way Lu Xing bent down to pick up the hairpin in the long corridor that day.
She dreamt of Chi Yueshan's proud and self-satisfied smile as she wrapped her arms around Lu Xing's neck.
And at the end of every dream...
Just like the end of the theater that day, Lu Xing left the long corridor without looking back.
Everyone left.
Leaving her alone in the long corridor, with no light and no way out.
Just like when she was a child.
She had only won a silver medal in a math competition, was beaten by her father until she couldn't get up, and was thrown into a room and confined for three days and three nights.
After the confinement ended...
The first time she came out of the room, she saw the dazzling sunlight.
Beside her, her mother was nagging,
"Baby, Mom and Dad both love you. We're doing this for your own good. No one remembers second place. You're very smart, you deserve first place."
From then on.
Song Junzhu hated all failures.
She thought her father and mother had always been this strict.
But when she saw her parents praising her younger brother and sister for scoring 80 on a test, saying it was a good score...
Song Junzhu's world collapsed.
Her father and mother said again, "Junzhu, don't mind it too much. It was also our first time being a dad and a mom."
Song Junzhu let out a light breath.
By now...
It seemed she hadn't been home for four years.
Song Junzhu was silent for a moment, then took out a thin photo from the armrest box.
On it was a picture Lu Xing had sent her when he was exercising.
Looking at Lu Xing's brilliant smile, Song Junzhu tugged at the corners of her mouth, but couldn't smile at all.
She seemed to be really old.
Recently, she had been having recurring dreams, sometimes of her past self, sometimes of the theater that day.
And at the end of these dreams, when she woke up with a start, one sentence always echoed in her ears.
"Goodbye, Professor Song."
...
...