Chapter 37

With a thunderous “BANG!” the IMU exploded into pieces across the floor, fragments scattering in every direction.
Du Ruo hadn’t expected it. She jumped back, shocked, hands flying to cover her mouth.
The entire lab froze. Eyes went wide with collective disbelief.
Three seconds passed in absolute silence,
“What the hell’s your problem?!” a senior brother burst forward, grabbing Jing Ming by the collar. Several guys rushed in to hold him back, and suddenly it was a tense dogpile,
“Calm down! Everybody just calm down!”
The guy fumed, “He broke our stuff first! Don’t stop me!”
Jing Ming kept his hands in his pockets despite the hold on his shirt, swaying with the motion. He looked down at the guy clutching him and uttered, “Let go.”
His icy calm only made the other guy angrier, he drew back a fist, ready to swing,
Jing Ming: “You lay a finger on me, and see what happens.”
The other guys held on tight, “Everyone, chill! This is a lab, not a brawl!”
Du Ruo finally snapped out of it, charging in to claw at the man’s hand holding Jing Ming, her nails raking wildly. “Let him go!”
With everyone tangled up, Jing Ming glanced down to see her desperate hands grabbing at his collar. He pulled her behind him, then clamped a hand on his attacker’s wrist, wrenched the guy's hand off, and gave him a solid shove.
The guy, smaller than Jing Ming to begin with, stumbled back several steps. He started forward again, only to be intercepted by others.
At last, the fight broke up.
Another senior brother barked, furious, “Jing Ming, what the hell was that all about?”
Jing Ming tugged his shirt back into place, surveyed the room with a cold glance, and said,
“A whole roomful of guys, picking on one girl. Real impressive.”
The peacemakers gaped. “Excuse me? Want to clarify that?”
Jing Ming pointed at Wu Zhengbo. “Ask him.”
With that, he couldn’t have cared less about them. He turned to Du Ruo, ordering, “Pick up your stuff. It’s yours, even if it’s in pieces, don’t leave anything for them.”
“Right.” Du Ruo nodded, instantly squatting to stuff every shattered bit into her sweatshirt pocket.
“We’re going.” he said.
“You think you can just leave?!” Wu Zhengbo’s furious voice rang out behind them.
Du Ruo flinched, hurrying to Jing Ming’s side on instinct.
Jing Ming turned back.
Wu Zhengbo was livid. “Jing Ming, you barge into our lab, smash up our equipment, and you think you can just waltz out? You think this is some kind of farmers’ market?!”
Jing Ming shot back, “What exactly did I break?”
“The IMU! Everyone here saw!”
“And did all these witnesses also see you taking her stuff for yourself?” Jing Ming retorted. “What, stealing from a girl and you still think you’re in the right?”
Wu Zhengbo’s face turned an ugly red. “That belonged to our lab! It’s all in black and white, anything she made while working here is property of the lab.”
“Then prove this was made during her work hours. … Take me to court if you want.” Jing Ming tossed back. “I’ve got an entire legal team waiting for you.”
Having said his piece, he looked at Du Ruo. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.” She nodded like her head was on a spring, hustling out behind him, leaving the room full of stunned faces, some seething, some suspicious, some totally lost.
Wu Zhengbo just stood there, fists clenched, glaring at their retreating backs.
In the hallway, Jing Ming stormed ahead, barely containing his anger.
Du Ruo half-jogged to keep pace, catching up at the stairwell. He stopped to open the fire door.
She hesitated, then followed him into the stairwell. He came in after, pulling the door shut behind them.
The stairwell was flooded with sunlight from a huge glass window, every step basked in summer brightness. Outside, the campus shimmered with green.
He hurried down half a flight and paused, bracing an elbow on the railing, face grim and still simmering with anger.
She slowed, stopping on the same landing, back to the wall, head bowed. After a long silence, she whispered, “Thank you.”
That quiet thank you caught him off guard. He turned away a little, awkward, but his expression thawed.
“But… aren’t you going to get in trouble for this?”
“What kind of trouble?” He glanced her way, and in the sunlight his eyes looked almost amber.
“Will they really try to sue you?”
Jing Ming snorted. “You’d have to be a special kind of stupid. Don’t worry, they won’t.”
“But…” She was still anxious, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “What if they report you to the dean or something? Say you broke their equipment and get you punished, what then?”
He gave the faintest hint of a smirk. “I’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Oh.” Head bowed, she cradled her bundle of broken parts.
He looked her over, the flush hadn’t left her face, but her lashes were dry again, no trace of tears.
He let out a slow breath. “Next time something happens, call me. Don’t just run off somewhere to cry alone.”
She looked up at him, eyes clear and puzzled, as if weighing his words.
He frowned, a little impatient. “Didn’t my parents already tell you? If you have problems, you come to me. Don’t make a mess of things and get me in trouble with them again.”
She mumbled an “mm,” meaning she understood. After a few seconds, she asked, “How did you even find out?”
“Li Wei told me.”
“How did he know?”
“How should I know how he knows?”
“…Oh.” She dropped her head again, silent.
A hush settled over the stairwell.
Sunlight poured through the window, painting the steps and their legs in gold.
He leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets; she clutched her broken IMU pieces, back to the wall. The width of the stairs kept them apart, dust motes floating in the light between them.
Trees outside glowed green; little silhouettes of students came and went along the path below.
Both stared at the floor in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
After a while, Jing Ming broke the quiet. “Aside from this mess, everything else going okay?” His tone was brisk, all business.
“Yeah. Everything’s fine,” Du Ruo replied.
“How’d you do on midterms?”
“…” Midterms had been over for a month, but she nodded. “Pretty good, too.”
“Yeah.” He replied, thinking back to last semester’s midterms, that page of her politics notes.
Time had slipped by; it’d already been over half a year.
Suddenly, something occurred to Du Ruo. She gathered up the shards in one hand, took off her backpack with the other, and fished out a card to hand to him. It was the bank card he’d given her on the first day of school.
Jing Ming didn’t take it, just eyed her suspiciously.
“Honestly, I haven’t touched the money in here since winter break.” Du Ruo smiled, an unconscious note of satisfaction in her voice as she added, “And I won’t need to, either. If I keep this up, I’ll have no trouble getting the National Scholarship next year. The national one’s a big deal, ten or twenty grand. No need for Uncle and Auntie to send me living expenses anymore.”
Jing Ming looked at the card, at a loss for words. Several seconds ticked by before he nodded and said, “That’s great.”
But he still didn’t take the card. “It’s not mine. No need to return it to me.”
With that, he stood up straight from the armrest, clearly ready to leave. He didn’t look at her. “I’m out.”
“Thank you.” Du Ruo called after his back, the words genuine and heartfelt.
He ignored her, took the steps two at a time, yanked open the fire door, and disappeared with a bang as the door slammed shut.
The stairwell fell quiet again,
leaving only Du Ruo, frowning slightly, with endless sunlight and green trees behind her.
...
Du Ruo left the academic building, heading toward her dorm.
The summer sun beat down, warm and heavy on her skin.
She took a deep breath, and the more she walked, the lighter her mood became, enough that she broke into a carefree jog for a few steps.
By the time she got back to the dorm, everyone was still in class.
After tossing the shards, she lay on her desk for a while, staring at the sticky notes on the wall, lost in thought.
But within thirty seconds, she regained her calm. Sitting up, she packed her things and headed out to study in the library.
She didn’t get back until dinner, when her three roommates returned as well.
Du Ruo beamed as she told them the issue was sorted out.
To her surprise, they didn’t look shocked. Xia Nan said, “We already heard, Jing Ming helped you out, right?”
Du Ruo froze. “You guys… who told you?”
Qiu Yuchen: “Does anyone need to say it? The forums are blowing up about it, the word is Jing Ming trashed the orbit lab for you.”
Du Ruo’s scalp tingled. “He just helped me out, that’s all!” She dreaded the idea of wild rumors online, her palms already sweating as she scrambled for her phone.
“It was because of you, obviously.” Qiu Yuchen chimed in. “Li Wei said Jing Ming’s trying to poach you for Prime, so he’s got your back.”
Du Ruo blinked, her nerves settling a little. At least it wasn’t some juicy gossip, she’d never survive that kind of campus attention.
But still…
She warily opened the forum. Just as Qiu Yuchen had said, most people assumed Jing Ming smashed up the place to recruit talent, no one seemed to think there was anything special between the campus big shot and an ordinary girl like her.
The student body was split in two camps: some insisted they knew the inside story and claimed orbit had bullied her, so Jing Ming was right. Others insisted Jing Ming had gone too far and shouldn’t have intervened.
The two groups were at each other’s throats.
As Du Ruo scrolled through the comments, something unusual caught her eye: “Maybe he did it for love? That’d be so romantic.”
No one replied; the comment got buried instantly.
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes inwardly. Nosy bystanders really have too much time to kill.
No way, she thought.
Off to the side, Xia Nan said, “Looks like you two are pretty close. He really went to all that trouble for you.”
Du Ruo’s hair stood on end again. “No, no, it’s nothing like that! We were just debate partners once, that’s all. Maybe…” She couldn’t exactly say his parents made him look after her, so she settled for, “…maybe he just can’t stand injustice, you know…”
Xia Nan didn’t buy it. “That’s not the kind of person he is.”
Qiu Yuchen: “Don’t overthink it. He just wants to poach you for Prime, that’s all.”
Honestly, that did sound like the most reasonable explanation.
He Huanhuan looked genuinely thrilled for her. “Our tough Xiao Ruo is all grown up, she’s Prime material now! If you become a formal team member, that’d be amazing.”
Only then did it really hit everyone that, while they lived in the same dorm, each of their paths was starting to diverge.
They’d all seen just how hard Du Ruo had worked this year. Funny how no one really notices your effort until you start racking up results, suddenly everyone looks twice. Without realizing it, their “tough girl” roommate had become someone truly impressive.
Qiu Yuchen, thinking it over, felt a pang of motivation herself. “I can’t slack off so much anymore. In our major, the real stuff is never in the textbook, and I’m falling behind just coasting along. Ruo, if you ever catch me slacking off during self-study, just call me out, go hard!”
“Deal.” Du Ruo grinned, then added, “I’ll share all my reading notes, resources, articles, and the learning sites I’ve found this year. I’ve got loads.”
“Yes! That’s awesome!”
He Huanhuan piped up, “Me too. Let’s all improve together!”
Xia Nan was a bit more cautious. “Hey, Ruo, do you think the orbit team might run to your advisor and try to get you in trouble? Jing Ming wouldn’t care if he got penalized, but you really can’t afford a disciplinary record on yours.”
“Uh… I don’t think they will?” Du Ruo replied, though she wasn’t exactly sure.
But of course, nothing ever goes according to plan.
The next morning, Du Ruo got a call from Zhang Ruohan, summoning her to the office.
Her voice sounded unusually serious, and Du Ruo had a bad feeling.
Peeking into the office, nerves jangling, she spotted Zhang Ruohan seated with Jing Ming’s advisor, Teacher Wang, both of them looked grim.
Across from them, Jing Ming slouched in the chair, tone flippant as ever: “Do what you want. Go ahead and give me a disciplinary mark, I don’t care. But I am not apologizing. Forget it.”
Both teachers looked helpless.
Orbit was a flagship lab. So was Prime, offending either caused headaches. Why couldn’t top students ever just behave?
But in the end, rules were rules. Zhang Ruohan asked, “According to your senior, there were two people smashing things?”
Jing Ming: “Why would it take two people to break something? It’s not exactly bricklaying, you know.”
Zhang Ruohan fell silent, glancing at Teacher Wang.
Teacher Wang added, “I heard Du Ruo was there too. Was she involved?”
“Not at all.” Jing Ming replied. “I want her in Prime, that’s why I went after their IMU. That’s all there is to it.”
Teacher Wang sighed. “Still, it’s not good for labs to be poaching each other’s people like that.”
“I’m the only one trying to recruit her. She’s got nothing to do with it.” He was starting to lose patience.
Du Ruo leaned against the wall, her feelings a tangled mess. After a moment, she stepped forward and knocked. “Excuse me, teachers.”
Jing Ming froze at her voice, glanced back, and his casual mask immediately vanished. He faced the teachers, lowering his voice. “I broke the stuff. Why drag her in?”
Teacher Wang: “She was there too.”
“What was she supposed to have done?”
Du Ruo walked over to stand beside Jing Ming’s chair.
This time, unlike before, she didn’t feel nervous or afraid. She met the teachers’ eyes, calm and direct. “What can I do for you?”
“Smashing up equipment in orbit’s lab is a serious violation. The impact is terrible.”
“Why’s it so serious?” Du Ruo responded calmly. “The equipment was mine. How I handle it should be my choice.”
Jing Ming glanced at her.
“Let’s set aside who owns what for now,” Zhang Ruohan cut in, “the point is you went into another lab and caused a scene. The effects are negative, and you’ll have to apologize to your senior. If this isn’t resolved peacefully, there’ll be consequences.”
No sooner had she finished than another knock came. “Teacher?”
It was Li Wei.
“Yes?”
Li Wei jogged in, handing over a letter with extra ceremony. “This is a petition signed by all twenty-one boys in Automation, addressed to the school leaders.”
“A petition?” The two teachers exchanged puzzled glances as they opened it. “What’s so serious you all have to sign?”
Li Wei smiled politely. “Just saying, if the department disciplines Du Ruo, whether with a formal reprimand or even by making her apologize, none of our class will accept it. We’ll go to the highest level to protest if we have to.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ruohan unfolded the letter. Lines of neatly typed event statements, with twenty-one very different handwritten names and thumbprints underneath.
Zhang Ruohan and Teacher Wang stared at each other, dumbfounded.
...
When Du Ruo entered the classroom, there were just a few minutes left before class. Everyone was already there, some reading, some chatting.
The front row in the center, her usual seat, was still waiting for her.
No one paid much attention as she walked in. Just another normal day, apparently.
But Du Ruo took a moment to look at each and every classmate in the room, quietly thanking them in her heart.
She stayed there, unmoving.
Now the others sensed something unusual and started watching her. She walked up to the podium, smiled at them all, and then bowed deeply.
When she straightened, she flashed a crooked grin. “Thank you, all of you.”
Everyone smiled, a few self-conscious ones quickly pressing their lips together, eyes crinkling to little lines.
Zhu Tao said, “Alright, alright, get off the stage before the teacher comes in and thinks you’re about to give a lecture.”
A burst of laughter echoed.
Du Ruo stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat, her usual spot, as always.
When the class bell rang, Li Wei walked in too, grabbing a chair in the second row.
After class, curiosity got the better of Du Ruo. She turned to Li Wei. “How’d you all come up with the idea for that petition, and right on time, too?”
Li Wei grinned. “Jing Ming, of course.”
Du Ruo’s heart skipped. “Huh?”
“Jing Ming saw it coming, a stunt from Wu Zhengbo. He warned me last night, told me it’d be best to organize a letter from the class. The moment I mentioned it, everyone got riled up. We whipped up that petition on the spot. Some people even wanted to punch Wu Zhengbo in the face, honestly.”
In that instant, something thumped hard in Du Ruo’s chest.