Chapter 31

Du Ruo made her way slowly back to the dorm, head full of tangled thoughts.
She’d eaten so well at dinner, probably because she was footing the bill, but when she went to pay, the cashier told her the guy had already covered everything.
Honestly, what was Jing Ming playing at?
Totally baffled.
After thinking it over, there was only one explanation: Ming Yi had nagged him so much that she’d driven him crazy, and he’d finally caved and decided to “look after her” now and then out of sheer self-preservation.
With that thought, her heart finally settled.
Aunt Ming Yi is really the best, she mused, practically skipping into the elevator.
She opened the door to the dorm. Qiu Yuchen had left her evening study early and was now sitting at the desk, sipping bubble tea and watching anime. Spotting Du Ruo, she paused her show and asked, “Did you find everyone for the debate team yet?”
“Not yet. Still one short.” She tossed her bag aside and flopped dramatically into her chair, groaning, “Just finding the two I have now almost killed me. I tried every trick in the book, short of offering them a full-on service package.”
Qiu Yuchen said, “Count me in.”
Du Ruo’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious?!”
“Yeah.” She’d watched her run around all week and just couldn’t stand it anymore. “The debate’s this weekend, right? Time’s tight. If you can’t even get a team together, when are you gonna prep?”
Du Ruo felt a rush of warmth. “Yuchen, you’re a lifesaver. Thank you.”
“Verbal thanks don’t cut it. You owe me dinner. Lao Gan Ma beef brisket rice!”
“Done!”
Just then, Xia Nan and He Huanhuan returned from the library. The moment Huanhuan stepped in, she fixed Du Ruo with a wicked, teasing grin.
Du Ruo shivered under her look. “What, did you overdose on something?”
He Huanhuan: “Out with it! Where’d you sneak off to tonight?”
Du Ruo blinked, clueless. “Huh?”
With great ceremony, Huanhuan dragged a chair to the center of the room, sat ramrod-straight with legs crossed and arms folded, and declared in full-on prosecutor mode, “Miss Du the Rascal! What are you hiding from your sisters here? Confess!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
Xia Nan: “Wang Huaiyu said he saw you out on a date with Jing Ming.”
Du Ruo: “…”
Qiu Yuchen’s eyes went wide, yanking off her headphones. “No way, you sly dog! Usually you’re quiet as a mouse, then suddenly you’re headline news? You seriously pulled a guy like Jing Ming?”
He Huanhuan pouted. “Exactly! And didn’t even tell us!”
Xia Nan: “No wonder she turned down that guy from next door chasing her.”
The three grilled her, one after another, full-on dorm tribunal.
Du Ruo was this close to face-planting. Only when they finally ran out of steam did she drag out the whole story, completely deadpan, swearing up and down that she and Jing Ming were absolutely, positively not a thing.
He Huanhuan’s gossipy fire died in an instant. She sighed, “I thought you two were about to start dating...”
Du Ruo whipped around as if her tail had been stepped on. “Me? Date him? Please, as if!”
She couldn’t distance herself from him quickly enough.
“Not a chance.” she said.
Xia Nan looked unmoved. “He actually bothered to treat you to dinner. That’s a first.”
Du Ruo bristled, goosebumps racing over her skin. She kept quiet, a bit hard to admit it was his mom’s idea.
“Probably just had a temporary brain malfunction,” she said.
Hey, it sounded plausible enough.
He Huanhuan pressed on. “So what’d you talk about? Are you friends now? Did our little Rascal just score school heartthrob status?”
Du Ruo wanted no part of this river-crossing drama. “Nope. Just talked through debate topics, strictly business. He barely said a word. Nothing special.”
Huanhuan pouted harder, her excitement deflating for good. No one else pushed further, either.
Du Ruo refused to entertain the Jing Ming issue any longer. She grabbed her towel and toothbrush and made a run for the bathroom.
She’d barely reached the door when Huanhuan turned and called, “Hey, about that guy from the other department, did you really turn him down? …He found you after seeing your post on BBS. That’s, like, peak rom-com stuff.”
“Rom-com my ass,” Du Ruo snorted. “My only love is studying right now. Even Daniel Wu couldn’t tempt me.”
Huanhuan gave her a mock-respectful thumbs-up. “You’re hardcore, girl!”
Du Ruo burst out laughing and slipped out the door.
…
The debate was coming up fast, but there was still the University AI Entrepreneurship Expo at the end of the month. Du Ruo spent most of her days holed up in the lab, helping prep everything. Besides, she had her own pet project, tinkering with habit-testing modules, that she refused to fall behind on.
Meanwhile, Yi Kun hit a snag: the Expo ran on the 28th, but he had to be in Germany for a factory tour the very next day.
Honestly, the Expo wasn’t a huge deal. He could’ve just handed it to Wu Zhengbo, no problem. But as the Orbit team lead, and with this being their first time showing off in public, missing it felt like a real waste.
Du Ruo found out about it in the elevator with Li Qinghe. She’d spent the whole day in the lab and was about to get dinner. When Li Qinghe mentioned the Expo, he let slip that he’d be joining Yi Kun in Germany, too.
Du Ruo suggested, “Isn’t there a time difference? You could book a flight for the afternoon of the 28th, land in Germany early on the 29th. Really, the Expo’s only busy in the morning. By afternoon, it’s a ghost town. You guys could leave right after lunch and still make your flight.”
Li Qinghe smacked his forehead. “You’re right! I’ll run that by Yi Kun.”
He asked, “Been especially busy lately?”
“Yeah, way too much on my plate. And there’s the debate this weekend, too.” She let out a soft sigh. “Stressed.”
Li Qinghe pondered for a second, then offered, “Need any help?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I’m no debate star, but I do know a thing or two. I can help your team get the basics down.”
“Not a star? You’re way too modest,” Du Ruo said. “If you’re willing to help, that’d be amazing. I have no idea how to train the other three newbies.”
“It’s a deal. Just tell me when, and I’ll join you all.”
“Deal!”
The debate was set for the weekend, so two nights early, Du Ruo booked a classroom and called Li Wei to come discuss the topics.
At the end, she added, almost as an afterthought, “Oh, and if you’re with Jing Ming, could you ask him along? Saves me the trouble of calling him separately.”
“No problem,” Li Wei replied cheerfully.
At the moment, he was buried in lab work, their team was also prepping a booth for the Expo, so things were hectic all around.
Li Wei set down his phone and told Jing Ming, “Du Ruo says she wants to go over debate topics, she’s waiting for us in the classroom.”
Jing Ming glanced at his own phone, silent as a stone on the desk. He said, “You go ahead. I need to finish up here first.”
“Alright.” Li Wei didn’t think twice, he just told him the room number and left.
Jing Ming stayed in the lab, fine-tuning the micro-models for their Expo display. Fifteen, thirty, almost fifty minutes ticked by, his phone never budged.
He kept working, utterly focused, until, ping, a text ringtone broke the silence.
A message had arrived.
He arched a brow, set down his steel-wire framework, and picked up his phone, lips curved in a vague, unreadable smile. The message was from, Li Wei.
He swallowed hard, heat caught in his throat.
The text read: “What the hell are you doing? Get over here!”
He sucked in his cheeks, stuffed his phone in his pocket, gave a few brief instructions to his teammates, and left the lab.
Jing Ming exited the building and crossed campus under the night sky. At one point, he glanced up, as if on instinct, and saw the streetlights shining ghost-pale, turning every new leaf on the branches translucent. That shade of green looked heartbreakingly fresh and bright.
For no reason at all, his mood soured a little.
He entered the academic building, climbed five flights, and stopped outside a classroom, where laughter and voices drifted through the door. Du Ruo’s voice, clear as a bell:
“Whoa, you thought of that too? You’re awesome, Senior!”
Senior?
He pushed open the door. There was Du Ruo, beaming at Li Qinghe, sometimes dropping her gaze to scribble in her notebook.
Li Wei and Qiu Yuchen were huddled nearby, busily jotting on their own papers.
The four of them were deep in discussion, working together with the kind of easy, focused cheer he rarely saw.
He closed the door with a just-loud-enough bang, “thud.”
The chatter inside stopped cold, and all four turned his way at once.
Li Wei grinned. “Hey, you made it!”
“Yeah.” Jing Ming took a seat, glanced around, and asked evenly, “A debate team needs five people?”
“Four,” said Du Ruo, barely sparing him a glance as she kept jotting notes. “But senior Li’s a professional debater, he’s coaching us.”
Li Qinghe chuckled. “Come on, Du Ruo, don’t oversell me. I’m really just average.”
Du Ruo looked up at that, giving Li Qinghe a small, polite smile.
Li Wei chimed in, “Li-senior’s the real deal,” tapping his pages full of notes. He said to Jing Ming, “I’ll share all his insights with you later, don’t worry.”
Jing Ming shot him an indifferent look, unreadable as ever.
Li Qinghe, always gracious, greeted Jing Ming with a smile when he noticed him join; Jing Ming, for his part, slouched nonchalantly in his chair, barely nodding in acknowledgment.
Du Ruo, tucking her hair behind her ear, caught that exchange out of the corner of her eye. His radiating arrogance was hard to miss, and truthfully a bit awkward to witness.
She eyed him up and down, unable to fathom why he had such a terrible attitude, had anyone actually done anything to him?
Jing Ming tilted his head back lazily in the seat. Sensing her stare, he barely shifted his eyes to meet hers, looking down at her. “What?” he drawled.
Du Ruo’s brows pinched together, but her reply was still gentle enough: “Are you okay? You look like you want to kill someone.”
Jing Ming forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “Lab’s been a disaster today. Not in the best mood. You all go on, don’t mind me.”
“…Alright.” Du Ruo didn’t bother pushing. She turned straight back to Li Qinghe, “Senior, let’s continue.”
“….” Jing Ming clenched his jaw so hard his molars ached, but said nothing.
But instead of picking up the discussion, Li Qinghe paused, taking on his senior tone as he checked in on Jing Ming: “Is your lab running into any trouble?”
“It’s a long story.”
About as concise as it gets.
Li Qinghe didn’t push for more.
Li Wei was baffled, nothing’s going wrong in the lab these days, everything’s been running smoothly. He glanced at Jing Ming, about to bring it up, but Jing Ming gave a tiny shake of his head: drop it.
Li Qinghe got back to the topic. “After you’ve nailed down those three core arguments, you need to keep refining them, and be ready to counter the opposing team’s…”
Jing Ming stared at Li Qinghe for a moment, utterly bored.
He swept an impatient glance at his teammates, all diligently taking notes, his gaze finally landing on Du Ruo.
She had her head bowed, scribbling furiously, a few wisps of hair falling over her cheek.
It was night again, and the fluorescent light gave her skin an otherworldly glow, her neck slender and white.
Not unpleasant to look at, but if you asked whether she was stunning, unforgettable, anything like that… absolutely not.
Just average.
He smirked coldly to himself and looked away. He stared at the blackboard a bit, but his eyes quickly drifted back to her.
He let his gaze travel up and down, confirming: she was as unremarkable as a person could get.
Tch.
Maybe he’d finally had enough of this, something about the whole scene grated on him. He grabbed his backpack to leave, but just then, caught a glimpse of Du Ruo’s notebook off to the side, packed full of neat, elegant handwriting.
He froze.
Settling back into his chair, he suddenly remembered the note he’d carelessly shoved into his bag and hadn’t bothered to throw out. Quietly, he unzipped the backpack’s side pocket and slowly pulled out one of the political science notes inside.
He moved carefully, revealing only a sliver.
Lowering his eyes, he compared the handwriting on the paper, then flicked another glance at Du Ruo’s notebook, his face immediately darkening.
Just then, for some unknowable reason, his mind filled with images he’d never once given a second thought.
That night, in the dead of darkness, she sat beside him in the passenger seat of his sports car, head turned away, lips trembling, lashes wet with tears;
Another night, she was perched on the steps of the admin building, eyes alight, glowing as she waited for him;
And then again, one evening, her tiny hand held out a dried leaf: “Here, it’s for you.”
His breath caught.
All minor, useless memories, and yet, called up now, why did they sting?
Under the unforgiving white classroom lights, an odd discomfort pressed tight in his chest. He squinted, unsettled, unable to name the feeling.
He risked another look at Du Ruo, but all her focus was on Li Qinghe. She didn’t spare Jing Ming a single glance.
Tch,
They went back and forth like this for hours. Jing Ming said nothing, never once joining in, but he didn’t leave early either. He just sat there, silent, staring at nothing, clearly lost in some world of his own.
When they finally reached the order-of-battle discussion, Qiu Yuchen, seriously doubting her own debating skills and terrified of facing the opposition in a free-for-all, insisted on being the opening speaker.
Li Wei, for the same reasons, volunteered for last.
That left the two key middle spots for Du Ruo and Jing Ming.
As soon as Du Ruo realized she was paired with Jing Ming and his infamously lackadaisical attitude, her heart dropped.
Just from looking at him, laid-back, obviously care-free, she could tell he had zero intention of taking this seriously. No way was he going to prep.
Plus, he had that ego of his. She really didn’t want to mess with him.
After giving everyone their roles, Li Qinghe wrapped up with a few parting tips.
At last, meeting adjourned.
Du Ruo thanked Li Qinghe over and over for making time to help. Li Qinghe just kept saying, “No need, really.”
Jing Ming couldn’t take another second, he was up and out the door, like if he stayed he’d suffocate on the spot.
Li Wei hurriedly packed up, said a quick goodbye, and followed after him.
Du Ruo blinked, dumbfounded. He hadn’t taken a single note, but man, did he know how to make a quick getaway.
She was torn, torn between letting him go and biting back, but in the end, she couldn’t resist yelling something after him, she had to at least try. She asked Qiu Yuchen to wait, then dashed out the door herself.
She rushed to the stairwell, only to see Jing Ming’s figure already disappearing down to the second floor.
Too late. She leaned over the railing, hoping to catch a glimpse, but the view was nothing but spiral handrails and empty stairs. She waited, and the second she caught a flash of his jacket at the stairwell’s bend, she called out, “Hey!”
The sound-activated light flickered on instantly.
He lifted his head, bathed in a soft, milky glow.
The stair railings drew a narrow line between them, one looking up, the other leaning down, eyes meeting across the gap.
Jing Ming: “What do you want?”
“You…” She searched for words.
It was deep into the night, the hallway silent and still.
He stared at her, waiting.
She tried hard to hide the mix of frustration, reluctance, and worry behind her voice, negotiating, “Could you… actually prep for the debate? Please?”
He said nothing, just cast her a cold, sharp look, and walked away.
He was gone in a beat, leaving nothing but the echo of quick footsteps and the swish of his sleeve now and then flickering behind the rails.
But Du Ruo was certain, she’d seen the glint in his eyes, icy and dismissive, as clear as day.
Du Ruo: “…”
God above,
What crime did she commit to anger this ancestral demon?