Chapter 39

On the first day of June, Du Ruo headed to the lab bright and early, thinking she might be the first one there, but Jing Ming’s crew had already arrived. Not everyone was present; with some teammates in class, little clusters filled the room.
Jing Ming was leaning over the long table at the controls side, holding himself up with one hand on the edge. He watched as He Wang and the others coded, occasionally dropping in low-voiced advice:
“Work with the genetic algorithm…” he said, then seemed to sense someone’s gaze. His eyes flicked up towards Du Ruo, deep brown with a powerful crease to his eyelid, catching hers and holding it for a beat. Her breath snagged. He was already looking away again. “…Acceleration control and state management…”
Du Ruo tiptoed to her desk, dropped her bag, and started helping Li Wei sort materials and set up equipment.
The sensor team had their hands full, but this past year had been incredibly productive.
The whole self-driving car bristled with sensors, ultrasonic radar, LiDAR, cameras, laser emitters to scan roads and spot people, animals, vehicles, recognize signals, signs. Then there were gyros, inertial measurement units, accelerometers, and GPS arrays to pinpoint location and track every twist, turn, and stop. The list just kept going.
Every sensor had to be absolutely top tier, otherwise, in a crisis, it’d put everyone at risk.
Li Wei, as group lead, gave Du Ruo fairly simple tasks at first since she was new: improving the IMU’s performance. It wasn’t too hard for her and she picked it up fast.
She worked with absolute focus, drawing up designs and wiring components, barely registering the world around her. The lab was filling up, but she didn’t even notice.
At some point, as she was bent over, polishing a component, the guy’s hand reached over, long, deft fingers gliding slowly across her notebook.
Out of the corner of her eye, she recognized whose hand it was. Even without looking, the crisp, spotless cuff of his shirt and the milky, jade-smooth cufflink were a dead giveaway.
It was summertime now, and the stiff edge of his shirt brushed against her elbow, rough and distracting.
...So itchy.
She cautiously slid her hand a bit farther away, but as he lingered over her notes, shifting his weight absentmindedly, the edge of his shirt grazed her elbow again.
Du Ruo: "..."
Did he not realize yet that the new kid he was crowding was actually a girl?
She had nowhere left to retreat to, so she just gave up, ignored it, and kept working. His beautiful fingers drifted along the pages of her notebook, almost as if he were stroking something precious.
She snatched her gaze back quickly, but he seemed tired of standing, so tired, in fact, that he bent down, elbow propped on the table.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Du Ruo. The familiar, clean scent of him enveloped her, closing in. His striking profile was right there: defined brows, high nose, those thin lips, Adam’s apple, and the collar of his shirt just open enough to show a flash of collarbone.
Du Ruo panicked. She jerked away, shooting to her feet so fast her chair screeched behind her. Heads turned in the lab, spotting her pink-cheeked and flustered, though maybe they thought it was just from too much focus.
He stayed leaned over the desk and glanced back at her. “What’s wrong?”
“...Uh... no... nothing.” She jabbed a finger at random. “I thought there was a bug. Guess I imagined it.”
“Heh.” He straightened up and, as he walked past her, tossed her a compliment: “Your notes are solid.”
Only after he left did she sit down again, palms already slick with sweat.
This stifling, electric summer.
At ten sharp, they had Public English. As class time approached, everyone packed up and left the lab, heading toward the main teaching building.
The sun was blazing. The second Du Ruo stepped outside, she yanked a hat over her head.
Wan Zi’ang laughed. “You that scared of getting burned?”
“Yeah.” Du Ruo admitted, “Remember how dark I was when I started college last year? Took me forever to lighten up, I can’t go back to being a bean sprout. I’m a girl; a little vanity never hurts.”
Wan Zi’ang looked her up and down. “Were you? You’ve changed so much I barely remember what you looked like.”
“Even better, please erase the old me from your brain!” Du Ruo grinned.
Off to the side, Jing Ming caught her words and gave her a sidelong glance.
He was remembering Beijing West Station, the first time he picked her up: skin burnt, too thin, dirty, and sallow.
Now, summer light made her look almost pale; she smiled, dimpled, eyes arched into cheerful crescents. She glanced up by chance, and their gazes collided. She froze, her smile pausing midair, then quickly looked away.
He chalked it up to her guilty conscience.
As for him, he might’ve still been oblivious, but Li Wei’s words over dinner last night had finally knocked some sense into him.
Isn’t this... exactly what it looks like?
Just the thought brought the faintest, irrepressible smirk to his lips, a subtle, challenge-set gleam.
On the way, they passed a campus shop. Jing Ming ducked in to buy water, accounting for everyone, then handed the last bottle to Du Ruo.
She took it, watched him scan to pay, and couldn’t help asking aloud, he always picked up the tab, back at the team too. “Why do you always end up treating?”
The aisle was narrow. As he twisted the cap and squeezed past her, he dipped his head close and muttered softly, “You trying to keep track of my tab?”
Her heart skipped hard.
Hot breath danced right at the shell of her ear, sunlight slicing in and turning her whole ear cherry red.
She stared after him, startled; but he was already striding out into the sunshine. Green, lush, the trees heavy with summer.
Her mind flashed back to the last time she’d shared this cramped little shop with him, wasn’t it fall then? The leaves beyond the wood door were painted gold, beautiful as a postcard.
Everything’s changed its shade now.
She mulled over his strange new behavior.
He’s just treating her as another team member, right? Just one of the guys, cracking jokes. The only thing that’s changed is she’s part of the friend group now. That’s all it is.
She let herself believe it, and followed them outside.
In the giant lecture hall, her usual team of classmates had snagged her a spot, front row on the aisle. She’d barely sat down when a flash of white darted by, landing directly behind her.
The king of the back row had, for once in recorded history, migrated up to the second row.
Du Ruo opened her book and started reading.
Jing Ming eyed the back of her head for a moment, her ponytail, the wispy baby hairs at her nape.
The seats were stacked, higher in back than in front, so with arms folded and head resting on his hands, he and the back of her head were level.
He called out, “Hey,” exhaling just as he did. The breath sent those fine baby hairs fluttering, tickling along her neck and making her shiver.
She immediately spun around, nose-to-nose with him, their faces so close, only a fist could fit between. His eyes were dark and bright, her tiny reflection in the depths.
Her heart thumped. She jerked back, careful not to alert He Huanhuan on her other side, just glaring daggers at him.
“Hey, classmate.” He stayed propped up, locked eyes with her, “What lesson are we actually on today?”
Du Ruo turned back to face front.
This Jing Ming was nothing like the calm, reliable team captain. He was acting so out of character, she couldn’t puzzle it out.
He was just about to whisper to her again, but as if reading his mind, she whirled back, clutching her textbook: “Unit 11, Passage A.”
“Thanks.” Jing Ming gave her a politely perfect smile.
Du Ruo: “…”
...Was that the first time she’d ever seen him smile?
She turned back to her book, feeling almost numb. Somehow, she was starting to regret ever joining Prime.
Soon, the bell rang and she forced herself to focus.
During class, when the teacher called on her to read, she delivered the passage in crisp, fluent American English.
Afterward, He Huanhuan shot her a surprised look. Du Ruo just shrugged and grinned, delighted.
She stayed put at break, deep in her book, steadfastly ignoring the guy sitting behind her. Halfway through, he hadn’t said a word, but when she looked back by chance, she realized Jing Ming was slumped over, fast asleep on his desk.
And it wasn’t even eleven yet...
Asleep, his face had shed that usual cocky confidence, somehow looking unguarded, almost gentle, almost harmless.
Du Ruo allowed herself two seconds, then forced herself to look away, back to the text, murmuring the words under her breath.
By noon, the lunch bell rang and the classroom erupted, everyone packing up for the cafeteria.
He Huanhuan nudged her, “C’mon, Xiao Ruo, hurry up, they’ve got braised beef strips today!”
Du Ruo replied, “You guys go ahead with Xia Nan. I’m grabbing lunch with my grad brother.”
“Li Qinghe? He’s back from Germany?”
“Yep. Got in this morning.”
“Alright, see you later then.”
“Bye!” Du Ruo slung on her bag, headed for the exit, and promptly got bumped, stumbling back. Glancing over, she saw Jing Ming brush right past her, stony-faced and not meeting her eyes.
No idea what crawled up his sleeve this time. The guy’s mood swings could power a wind farm.
She followed behind, stepping outside the building, and there was Li Qinghe waiting on the opposite curb. She broke into a smile and ran over, “Hey, senior!”
Jing Ming was up ahead, and the moment he heard her call that out, his hackles went up. Still, he just kept walking, stone-faced, refusing to look back.
Du Ruo reached her senior, who immediately started with, “I heard everything. Sorry, Du Ruo.”
“Oh, please, you’ve got nothing to apologize for.” Not wanting any awkwardness, she chirped, “Come on, food first!”
They got their trays and sat down, and Li Qinghe apologized again: “Du Ruo, honestly, Senior Yi wanted you on the team, but Senior Wu wouldn’t agree, so it unraveled like this... I’m sorry you wound up in the middle.”
Du Ruo laughed it off, “It’s fine. Stuff got smashed, it’s even. And just knowing Senior Yi even considered me makes me happy enough.”
“Senior Yi said he owes you for this one.”
She blinked, struggling to imagine the iceberg-faced Yi Kun saying that. “Please let him know, it’s really okay.”
Li Qinghe sighed. “Don’t hold it against anyone. Senior Wu is vice captain, everyone likes him. Orbit is a team, and keeping everyone together is the most important thing. Senior Yi can’t just punish Senior Wu for your sake, it’d mess up everything. Senior Wu’s put in a lot of work.”
“I get it. I don’t want to stir up trouble for anyone,” said Du Ruo. “Let’s all just focus on our own stuff, let this go. The more we talk, the more awkward it gets.”
“Alright.” Li Qinghe didn’t press further. “Oh, by the way. I brought you a gift from Germany. Left it at the dorm, I'll give it to you later.”
“Tonight’s good. I’ve got class all afternoon.”
“Deal.”
After lunch, Du Ruo hurried off to class.
She spent all afternoon in lectures, then hit the library for homework. It was nearly nine when a text flashed on her screen, Jing Ming: “Do you even KNOW what responsibility means?!”
She jolted, his anger practically radiating through the phone. She typed back fast: “I’m on my way to the lab now!”
No reply.
Du Ruo booked it across campus to the lab.
Everyone was there, including Jing Ming, looking thunderous, refusing to so much as glance her way.
She suspected her team lead was annoyed by her lack of "enthusiasm," so she did her best to melt into the background, quiet as air, she drifted to the desk, buried herself in notes and equipment, and only occasionally got up to study her teammates’ diagrams and experiments.
Jing Ming glanced over at the soft rustling from her corner, growing more and more agitated.
She skipped lunch, ran off to eat with Li Qinghe instead.
Missed the afternoon, had class.
And tonight, where was she?!
Ha! As if he, Jing Ming, could lose to Li Qinghe of all people?
He restrained himself, barely, took a deep breath, and forced his attention back to his own work.
Time flew; it was already past ten when Du Ruo’s phone rang. She answered quickly and ducked away to take the call: “Hello? Senior?”
Jing Ming’s gaze snapped up and caught her putting down her phone and hurrying out the door.
About ten minutes later, Du Ruo walked back in, cradling a German puppet doll, her expression glowing with glee. Even after sitting down again, she kept turning the doll over, studying every inch.
Jing Ming stared at her for a long moment.
His ego was under siege. He just couldn’t take it anymore.
He tossed his tools aside and strode over.
Du Ruo noticed him approaching and immediately tossed the doll aside, snatching up her equipment and wires, putting on her very best “Boss, I’m working so hard!” act.
Jing Ming: “I need to talk to you in a bit.”
Du Ruo: “…Oh.”
He walked off.
Her heart skipped a beat. Uh oh, she was totally about to get lectured. And she really, truly wasn’t slacking off!
By 11:30 that night, the others had packed up and left; only a handful remained, and Du Ruo was still working.
Half an hour later, Zhu Tao called out, “Du Ruo, aren't you heading out yet?”
She looked up and realized the lab was empty except for her.
She remembered Jing Ming said he wanted to talk, so she said, “I'll wait for a little longer.”
“Alright, just don’t go back too late.”
“Got it!”
Honestly, she’d rather get scolded when no one else was around anyway.
Du Ruo rubbed her tired eyes, then went back to her notes.
When Jing Ming came back to the lab, the place shone stark white, with only Du Ruo left hunched over her work. Her head was tilted, dark hair tucked behind her ear, the sleek line of her pale neck running down to her chest.
He walked over, leaned on the desk nearby, and watched her in silence for a while, his face unreadable.
She sensed someone, glanced up, and startled so much she almost bounced: “When did you come in? You scared me!”
“A moment ago,” he answered curtly, not even pretending to smile. He didn’t seem in the mood.
She spotted his dark expression and grew anxious. “You... What did you want to talk about?”
Jing Ming didn’t answer, just stared at her, as if weighing, debating something.
Du Ruo’s nerves frayed under the tension. She decided to explain first: “I, I had class all afternoon. Then homework tonight. I was coming to the lab anyway, you just happened to message me. Really. Even if you hadn’t, I’d have shown up. I wasn’t slacking off.”
Still silent. His brows tightened, a faintly bruised anger in his eyes, like he felt utterly disrespected.
She thought for another moment, and her certainty grew, maybe he actually wanted to kick her off the team? Better to run for it and let him cool off. So…
“It’s getting late. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go now.” She started stuffing her notes into her bag, ready to escape.
Jing Ming suddenly spoke: “I like you.”
Du Ruo froze in place.