"I apologize, Secretary Liang. It was my lack of consideration. I won't bother you any further. Goodbye!"
*Click.*
Liang Lu hung up the phone in a huff. She knew her father was right, but the matter itself was entirely within regulations—what was the harm in being a little flexible? Was she just supposed to let it drag on forever, leaving her best friend to stand there like a statue waiting for her husband?
"Huifen must be waiting for me to bring her good news. How am I supposed to tell her now?"
She glanced at the sky; it was still early. Liang Lu turned and headed toward the library, needing to think through how to explain things to her friend.
As she stepped inside, her eyes fell on Qi Tongwei in the reading area. She muttered a curse under her breath and turned to leave. But halfway out, she stopped.
*Why should I leave?*
*If anyone is leaving, it should be him. Why should I be the one to go?*
Liang Lu pulled a small mirror from her bag to check her appearance, adjusted her bangs, and walked into the library with her head held high.
Was Lin Daiyu beautiful? The young Teacher Liang was just as beautiful as Lin Daiyu—a beauty recognized by the whole world.
Qi Tongwei sneered inwardly. *Just another cheap woman showing off.*
As a veteran criminal investigator and a frontline anti-narcotics officer, Qi Tongwei’s vigilance was instinctive. Take his current seat, for example: by the window, facing the door, with his back to the wall.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her; Liang Lu had been exposed before she had even entered the library.
But prejudice is a mountain. In '88, she had pursued him, only for her power to whimsically assign him to a township judicial office. By '94, he had recognized the reality and compromised with her, only to be met with disdain. She had even demanded he kneel in public to profess his love before she would deign to give him a chance.
A golden boy, a drug enforcement hero who had taken three bullets and earned a first-class merit medal—to be humiliated like that and forced to live a life of shame...
From that moment on, Qi Tongwei could no longer see Liang Lu’s charms. All he saw was a twisted, ugly, pathological old woman. If she thought she could still turn on her feminine charm in front of Director Qi, Teacher Liang was sorely mistaken.
*Forget it. Not worth my time.*
Having handled his immediate needs, Qi Tongwei decided to make good use of his "hyperthymesia." It was an incredible feeling—truly photographic memory. In the past, he had to rely on rote memorization; now, he could scan a page in a glance, devouring books as if stocking a warehouse.
He couldn't stop.
He was so engrossed that he flipped through the pages with reckless, playful speed.
Liang Lu’s eyes lit up.
*Aha! The little fraud finally slipped up.*
*What a desperate attempt to feign indifference, to play hard-to-get, to mask his burning desire.*
*Who does he think he’s performing for?*
A smile curled on her lips—one that felt she had seen through everything. It was a smile of thirty percent mockery, thirty percent smugness, and forty percent self-righteousness. Recalling the heated gaze from their first meeting, Liang Lu felt she had cracked the case.
*Trying to be clever? A young man’s conceit, wishful thinking, and self-delusion? How childish!*
Liang Lu conveniently ignored all logical inconsistencies, basking in her own honey-sweet confidence. She lifted her chin and cast a contemptuous "regal" glance at the boy before walking deeper into the library. When she reappeared in the reading area, she was carrying *Stray Birds*, humming a light tune, looking perfectly content.
She sat five meters away, facing him, reading her book while casting mocking glances his way.
An hour later, Qi Tongwei stood up to swap his book. Liang Lu hummed softly.
Two hours later, as he continued his rotation, her eyes grew heavy with disdain.
Three hours later, the library was about to close. Qi Tongwei put his book back and walked out. Liang Lu followed close behind.
"Is this fun for you?" Qi Tongwei turned, shooting her a cold, sidelong glare.
*He’s flustered. Look at him, he’s flustered...* Liang Lu pointed to herself, brow slightly furrowed. "Are you talking to me?"
Qi Tongwei found her self-righteousness revolting. In his previous life, Liang Lu had always branded herself the victim, claiming she was loyal to love and that it was Chen Shan who had betrayed her first. Thus, she had decided to take revenge on men, and he, Qi Tongwei, had been her target.
*Bullshit.* It was nothing but self-important, cheap, and laughable "loyalty" that couldn't stand the slightest test.
"Boring!"
He dropped the word and kept walking.
Liang Lu didn't chase him. Having "seen through everything," she lost interest in him. She was busy; most of her energy was currently focused on the pork-and-leek-flavored French kiss and the "soul" sticky notes. An admirer whose name she didn't even know wasn't worth the trouble.
"Oh, right."
Qi Tongwei stopped and turned around. "When a human reaches a certain age, their thinking becomes rigid, unable to accept new things. Toward such people, we need to be tolerant and understanding. Don't you agree... Auntie?"
*Crack.*
A thunderbolt exploded in Liang Lu’s mind, shattering her reality into black and white.
*Aunt... Auntie?*
Liang Lu could not process a term so lethal to a woman. As someone with her credentials, she had turned 27 just as she finished her master’s degree; she had only been working for two years. She was a professional newcomer!
It might have been a minute, or perhaps ten, before the evening breeze bit into her skin and snapped her back to reality.
"You bastard, you explain yourself right now... wait, where—where did he go?"
At the end of the path, Qi Tongwei’s figure had already vanished. He had slipped away.
Liang Lu was stunned.
She had never seen anything like it. Running off after hurling an insult? That was poor form!
"Ah! You bastard, you bastard, you bastard!"
She stomped her feet and clawed at her hair, letting out an incoherent howl. She had completely lost it.
***
In the female teachers' dormitory, Wu Huifen was pacing back and forth in her room. It was 9:00 PM; she usually would have been asleep by now, but with matters weighing on her mind, sleep was impossible.
*Click.*
The door opened. Liang Lu stood there, her hair disheveled, looking like a madwoman.
"Goodness!" Wu Huifen was startled. She looked closer and, confirming it was Liang Lu, rushed over. "Lulu, what’s happened?"
"Huifen!" Liang Lu bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes, looking pitifully at her friend.
"Is it about the house? See, it’s all my fault. I shouldn't have said anything. Given the current climate... it’s alright, it’s fine."
Mentioning the house only made Liang Lu feel worse. Being bullied by outsiders was one thing, but her own father wouldn't even help her? Why was everything so difficult?
The more she thought, the angrier she got; the angrier she got, the more she thought. Liang Lu threw herself into Wu Huifen’s arms. "Huifen, wuwuwu..."
"Oh, it’s not that bad. I shouldn't have brought it up if it was going to cause a fight between you and your father. Don't cry now~"
"It has nothing to do with you... and it has nothing to do with the house... wuwuwu."
"Nothing to do with me? Then who? Chen Shan? Did you and Chen Shan have a fight?"
At the mention of Chen Shan, Liang Lu’s sobbing paused.
*...*
She had felt like she was forgetting something while at the library earlier... she had completely forgotten about Chen Shan.
***
Chen Shan: *Should I leave, then? Say something... am I leaving?*