Su Qing's instructor was a gentle and elegant woman, affectionately addressed as Ms. Rong.
When Su Qing received her acceptance letter, her face showed no trace of joy.
"What's wrong, Su Qing? Are you unhappy?" Ms. Rong closed her textbook and looked at the beautiful girl with a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Su Qing pursed her lips and shook her head.
"No, Ms. Rong, I just can't believe I was actually accepted."
Su Qing, still a bit dazed at the sight of such a prestigious institution, was still a bit lost in thought.
"You're excellent, Su Qing! You're the most academically pure, talented, and hardworking child I've ever met."
Ms. Rong patted Su Qing's shoulder, her gentle gaze filled with boundless strength.
Su Qing blushed slightly at the compliment, holding the acceptance letter.
She strolled aimlessly through the campus.
The Peking University campuses were remarkably beautiful.
Su Qing rarely wandered around campus; she was always buried in her lab and rarely wandered outside.
Su Qing remembered that the first time she went out, Jiang Sui had insisted on dragging her along, saying she'd become a fool if she continued studying.
At the time, she was working on a research project that hadn't made any breakthroughs. She was anxious, annoyed, and a bit impatient.
But when she saw the young man, she couldn't help but sneak out with him.
Su Qing realized that the school actually had five cafeterias. She had always assumed there was only one because it was closer to her own building, so she'd always gone to the one closest to her.
The road to the cafeteria was quite pleasant, with a small forest and a beautiful setting, tinged with a touch of art.
Perhaps because of this rich artistic atmosphere, people often held up roses and made confessions along this road. Such a beautiful setting often led to various confessions.
The cafeteria road and the dormitory building were two major confession sites.
It was said that the success rate of confessions in the cafeteria was as high as 70%.
Before she knew it, she had already walked back and forth along this road she and Jiang Sui had often walked together. And then there was the library. Su Qing, feeling relieved, retraced all the paths they had walked together.
Suddenly, she thought she heard her own name.
"Su Qing, Su Qing!"
When Su Qing turned around, she saw a classmate from the same lab.
She was staring at her anxiously. "Su Qing, why are you here? Jiang Sui's been looking for you."
Su Qing's eyelashes fluttered, and she pursed her lips. The look in her eyes was dim and unclear.
"Is he downstairs at the lab?"
"Yes."
Su Qing pursed her lips. She knew he would come looking for her. The boy usually had a class at this time, an hour later than hers. Normally, she would wait a little longer in the lab, waiting for Jiang Sui to come find her, and then go home together.
Today was the only time she didn't wait for him.
When Su Qing reached the bottom of the lab, the boy was standing by the tree. He was tall and handsome, and even his cold demeanor couldn't stop the girls from gawking at him.
Some voices were heard.
"Is this Jiang Sui from the Law Department? He's so handsome."
"I heard he got a straight PhD, but then suddenly dropped out."
"Why?"
"Shhh, his girlfriend coming here."
Su Qing listened to the chatter, a pang of sadness welling up in her heart. She felt utterly miserable.
Jiang Sui was in a bad mood, his face sullen. He leaned against a tree branch, his eyes half-lidded. When he saw her, he strode towards her.
He came over and took her hand.
"Let's go eat."
His words were soft, drifting on the wind into Su Qing's ears.
Su Qing pursed her lips, trying to break free from Jiang Sui's fingers, but ultimately failed.
"Why didn't you ask me that I didn't wait for you?"
Su Qing bit her lip, hiding the emotion behind her eyes.
The young man seemed to sense her displeasure and squeezed her palm. "Qing Qing, why didn't you wait for me?"
He always gave in to her every need, but even so,
Su Qing felt a surge of irritation threatening to overwhelm her.
Was she ungrateful, or what?
There was always something inexplicably different about Su Qing.
She'd just been annoyed that he hadn't asked her, but now that he did, she felt it wasn't the right tone. She was annoyed, a look of annoyance and displeasure flashing across her eyes.
Unbeknownst to Su Qing, Jiang Sui, standing beside her, had taken in all her emotions.
Inch by inch, the boy's eyes darkened.
They rarely ate in the cafeteria; when he had time, Jiang Sui would cook for Su Qing in the apartment.
Su Qing was very supportive.
But today, after they returned to the apartment, Su Qing silently held Jiang Sui, her soft body tightly embracing him.
After Jiang Sui closed the door, his spine stiffened. His back was to the girl, his eyes filled with heat and madness. He pursed his lips, his throat pounding, trying his best to suppress his emotions.
"What's wrong, Qing Qing? Let's eat first."
He reached out to untie the girl's fingers, but she buried her head in his back.
"I don't want to eat."
The sullen voice made the boy pause, and he stopped trying to untie hers.
"So, do you want to watch TV first, or read a book?"
Su Qing rarely watched TV, but occasionally, when bored, she'd have a little fun. The girl who read books loved it.
"I don't want to read, and I don't want to watch TV."
She refused decisively, her voice a little hurried.
Jiang Sui's voice was low, his voice heavy with suppressed discomfort.
"Then, Qing Qing, let go. It's a little hot."
He rarely refused her, but since when did these rejections become more frequent?
Su Qing pursed her lips, reminiscing. It seemed that since they started living together and got engaged, he had become more restrained, like a gentleman.
Even kisses were cautious, fleeting touches, and the occasional hugs were brief.
They mostly held hands.
But the boy in her memory wasn't like that.
She vaguely remembered Jiang Sui during his adolescence, still in high school, when a kiss was uncontrollable.
They had both been adults for so long, even reaching the legal age for marriage.
Was she like a bodhisattva he had consigned to his lap?
Or perhaps a deity? His manners made Su Qing uncomfortable.
She could clearly hear her female classmates occasionally discussing how impulsive men this age were.
Doesn't he love her?
Su Qing was sullen, but she never let go.
She could even feel Jiang Sui's body stiffen.
That stiffness was like the stiffness she'd felt when he'd cornered her in that alley.
Su Qing was all too familiar with this feeling.
Is he afraid of her?