Huan'er called on a Friday when Jing Qichi was working overtime at the company. Beijing had just been hit by a heavy rainstorm, with dark clouds lingering on one side of the sky while the sun on the other side blazed its last heat before setting. The light filtered through the blinds into the office, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow.
"I'm going for a Ph.D.," Huan'er said. "The notice has come through."
Jing Qichi didn't catch it at first because Qiu Yang and Jiang Sen were asking if he wanted to join them for barbecue.
"I'll be a while longer," he waved at them. "See you Monday."
"Get some rest once you're done."
He heard Jiang Sen's voice closer to him and waved them off again before asking, "What did you say just now?"
He vaguely caught the words "Ph.D." but didn't immediately connect them to Huan'er.
"I've been approved for the combined master-doctoral program, starting next semester," Huan'er repeated more clearly.
There was complete silence on the other end—no speech, no keyboard clicks, not even his breathing.
Huan'er called out, "Qi Chi?"
After two or three seconds of silence, he replied, "I'm listening."
At the far corner of the office sat the new algorithm intern from the search team, wearing headphones and staring at his screen in thought. Jing Qichi said, "Hold on," and left his seat with the phone pressed tightly to his ear. As he passed the intern's row, the young man suddenly called out, "Engineer Jing, could you take a look at—"
Normally, he would have stopped immediately.
But now Jing Qichi just kept walking toward the break room, distractedly replying, "Leave it for now, or we'll look at it later."
"Okay," the new intern nodded, watching him go before adding, "I'll head out first."
The only response was the sound of the break room door closing.
Jing Qichi walked to the window, steadied himself, and said into the phone, "So it's settled then?"
"Yeah. I don't need to change advisors, just finalize the research topic with him later. The process was straightforward." Huan'er paused. "If all goes well, it should take about four years..."
"Why didn't you tell me until now?" From deciding to applying to getting approved, Jing Qichi didn't know exactly how long it took, but he knew it couldn't have been just a couple of days.
Throughout all that time, Huan'er hadn't mentioned a word.
"I actually wanted to tell you last time you visited, but..." Huan'er struggled to articulate her feelings at the time and finally said, "Then I thought I'd wait until the notice came through. If it didn't work out, it wouldn't have mattered."
"As if it wouldn't have worked out," Jing Qichi muttered to himself. Huan'er had always been at the top of her class. Being a current student with a familiar advisor and environment would have given her advantages. The pharmacy school was smaller than others with fewer applicants—if Chen Huan'er applied, there was no way she wouldn't get in.
The reason sounded like... an excuse.
"There's always a chance," Huan'er said.
It was true—even near-certainties had some risk. Hearing the emotion in his voice, Huan'er realized announcing it like this might not have been the best approach. A pang of guilt surfaced as she added, "Don't be mad, okay?""I'm not angry." Jing Qichi clenched his lower lip, then released it. "If you say you want to study, I'll support you unconditionally. Four years or forty years—it makes no difference to me. But Huan'er..." He lowered his head. "Don't you have even this little faith in me?"
Not explaining it right away—to Jing Qichi, this matter was far more important than the impending long-distance separation that lay ahead.
Distance could be changed—maybe not immediately, not right now, but ultimately, it was something within human control. As long as one was determined, it could be overcome. But Huan'er's concerns, the ones she kept to herself and didn't voice openly—he didn’t know what to do about those.
"No," Huan'er's nose stung. "Qi Chi, I really didn’t mean it that way."
She just hadn’t found the right moment, just wanted to wait until everything was settled before telling him, just... She simply couldn’t bear to admit that the long-distance would last even longer.
Long-distance was so hard—not being able to accompany you during overtime, not knowing what the intern who asks you questions looks like, not being able to share your joys and sorrows up close, treasuring every holiday like gold, counting the days until you could visit or waiting eagerly for you to come. It was because it was so, so hard that she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Jing Qichi opened the blinds. The last rays of the setting sun seeped into the small space, the magnificent sunset painting the sky in breathtaking hues.
"I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life with you," he said, gazing at the sky. "A long time ago—so long that I didn’t even realize it would be a lifetime."
Huan'er’s tears welled up instantly.
She couldn’t explain why—maybe because she’d overthought things, maybe because she regretted the time they’d already missed, or maybe because she imagined him alone in the office, working late into the night.
She covered her mouth, afraid her sobs would carry over the phone.
"Are you in the dorm?" Jing Qichi asked.
"Yeah."
"In the hallway?"
"Yes."
"Go back inside."
Now it was Huan'er’s turn to ask, "How much longer will you be?"
"Just fixing some code. Won’t take long."
"What are you having for dinner?"
"Takeout, probably. Or maybe Qiu Yang will bring something back."
"Is it still raining? The forecast said Beijing was supposed to get heavy rain today."
Jing Qichi lifted the blinds in the break room. Outside, the sky was clear—but before he could speak, fat raindrops began pelting the window, streaks of water streaming down the glass.
Plans never kept up with changes, just like no one could predict the weather the next second.
"Still raining, but not too hard," he said, lowering the blinds and leaning against the wall. "Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on graduating early. I’ll wait for you."
"Okay." Huan'er rubbed her damp eyes. "Go back to work. Don’t overdo it."
As he stepped out of the break room, he nearly collided with Gong Naliang, who was on his way home. "Whoa!" Gong exclaimed. "I thought someone left Xiao Dao here for testing—scared me half to death."
Xiao Dao was an Ecosystem chain artificial intelligence currently under development in the lab, often placed in various scenarios for interaction testing.
Jing Qichi chuckled. "You’re leaving this late?"
"Just finished a meeting with colleagues in Europe. Time zones are exhausting." Gong Naliang took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oh, Xiao Jing, about that pharmaceutical company job you asked me to look into—I got a reply. Their R&D department is expanding next year, and master’s graduates from 985 universities meet the entry requirements. You should prepare your resume early—"
"Dr. Gong," Jing Qichi interrupted, "no need for now. Thanks for your trouble."
Gong Naliang put his glasses back on. "What, wasn’t it for your girlfriend?"It seemed nothing could escape the eyes of this laboratory director. His gaze carried no aggression, only the wisdom of one who had seen through the ways of the world. Jing Qichi found it difficult to meet his eyes.
"My girlfriend... won't be coming for a while," he lowered his head. "She got accepted into a direct Ph.D. program at our university."
"I see." Gong Naliang nodded, his tone carrying the understanding of someone who had been there before. "That's good. Your university is excellent. Every field needs dedicated researchers willing to commit to their work."
"Thank you for your trouble."
In Jing Qichi's plans, Huan'er would naturally face employment issues after graduating next year. He wanted her to come to Beijing, so within his means, he hoped to help her—not by paving a path of roses, but by securing some opportunities in advance.
Of course, there was no need to tell her any of this.
"Research is a tough road. As family, you'll need to support her fully." Gong Naliang patted his shoulder, speaking earnestly. "People can be fragile, often crumbling under the slightest pressure. When funding goes in, and experiment after experiment fails, anyone can fall into a vicious cycle of self-doubt—it's terrifying. If it weren’t for my wife taking care of me in life and encouraging me in work back then, I don’t know if I could have made it this far."
"Yeah." Jing Qichi pressed his lips together, his mind in turmoil, unable to find any other words.
"Still not leaving?"
"There’s a bit of work left."
"Finish up and head home. Enjoy the weekend." Gong Naliang guided him toward the lab entrance. "Jiang Sen is my direct junior. He’s decisive, strong-willed, and acts swiftly, but sometimes he can’t help transferring pressure onto you younger ones. Learn to adjust, and if you run into difficulties, speak up. He’ll definitely be able to help—don’t bottle it up and suffer alone."
"Understood." Jing Qichi walked with him all the way to the elevator, his tone tinged with apology. "Dr. Gong, about my situation... I’m sorry."
"Ah, just a few phone calls." Gong Naliang smiled at him. "A stable morale is my good fortune. Looking at you, it’s clear you’ve found your person—I’m happy for you. Go home early."
The elevator doors slowly closed.
Jing Qichi stood in place for a while. The office floor was brightly lit, but he was the only one left.
Qiu Yang was probably still at dinner, so going back to the dorm meant being alone.
Suddenly, he missed Huan'er terribly—her hair whipping wildly in the wind as she pedaled her bike at full speed, her determined gaze under the warm glow of her desk lamp as she scribbled away, always seeming to know exactly why she was doing what she did, the way she smiled in a floral dress as sunlight fell on her fair face, her skin so translucent it looked like a fragile film. He missed her—every scene, every moment, every version of her.
But—Jing Qichi opened the chat window with Huan'er—he didn’t know what to say to her right now.
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