Xue Jiao's face flushed as she continued, "What if I can't make up my mind for a long time?"
Lin Zhihua's voice was firm. "Then take all the time you need. I'll keep waiting."
Xue Jiao buried her face against his back, unable to suppress the sweet smile on her lips.
Is this what love is like? Even nonsensical conversations can bring such joy.
Just being with him made her heart feel warm and sweet.
She tightened her grip on the fox plushie, thinking to herself—this guy really gets jealous easily.
That time when he comforted her with the story of the Little Prince, saying the prince should love the fox rather than the rose... he must have already liked her back then, hadn't he?
Her face reddened again as she pinched Lin Zhihua's cheek. "You really are a fox! A cunning fox."
Lin Zhihua licked his lips and chuckled. "Then you're the one who tamed the fox. I'm your tamed fox who only listens to you."
"Really?"
"Really."
One with a flushed face and bright smile clung to his back, while the other looked ahead with lips curled upward.
Under the dim evening light, he carried her all the way to the parking spot before gently setting her down. "Let's go home."
Xue Jiao blinked in surprise, then glared at him.
They lived in separate houses—how could he call it "going home"?
Lin Zhihua simply chuckled, unfazed by her glare. "Jiao Jiao, will you still have work to do when you get back tonight?"
Xue Jiao was always busy, and she never slacked on her responsibilities. After their date, she'd definitely have to catch up on work...
"Yes," she admitted, then added, "But don't worry, it won't take long. There's not much left."
Lin Zhihua nodded and drove her home smoothly, already thinking that future dates should include fewer time-consuming activities like movie nights.
——
Xue Jiao maintained a perfect balance between her relationship and work, living each day with fulfillment and joy.
By early August, all the semester's grades had been released. Though there was no official ranking, the class monitor had a complete score list that students could inquire about privately.
That day, while Xue Jiao was working on her project, her phone kept buzzing with notifications.
By dinnertime, she found her classmates flooding the class group chat with praises directed at her.
"Congratulations, Gu Xue Jiao!"
"You're amazing, genius!"
"How did you get perfect scores in multiple major courses?!"
"In awe!"
...
Mai Jiajia also heard about Xue Jiao's results and immediately messaged her privately—
[My genius! sobbing How are you this incredible when we studied for the same finals?!]
Even Ding Qi sent her congratulations, along with another piece of news—
[Jiao Jiao, I did pretty well this time, so I'll probably study abroad after sophomore year. Let's spend more time together this year. You guys... are my only friends.]
Xue Jiao's smile faded slightly, her eyes dimming.
She felt a little guilty toward Mai Jiajia. Originally, their four-person dorm had one member who... left, another who'd be going abroad after sophomore year, and Xue Jiao herself was always buried in the lab. That left Mai Jiajia alone, having to make new friends again.
Xue Jiao sighed softly and replied: Okay.
Is this how life is? Everyone walks their own path, and no matter how close the bond, no one can walk together forever.The friends she knew in high school gradually drifted away, and now her college friends seemed to be doing the same. It felt like she could only watch helplessly as everyone grew more distant.
Beside her, Lin Zhihua reached out and patted her head. "What's wrong? Why so down all of a sudden?"
Xue Jiao shook her head. "I just feel a little reluctant to part with friends."
Lin Zhihua chuckled lightly and tapped the tip of her nose. "All good things must come to an end. Sooner or later, people part ways for various reasons. Human energy is limited—when you get busy, you forget everything, only to realize later that you've lost touch with old friends. As you keep making new friends, you inevitably grow apart from the old ones. But there will always be those long-standing friendships that endure. Distance is beyond your control, but as long as you keep them close in your heart, reuniting will feel just as warm as before."
Xue Jiao looked up at him. "Did you have any close friends before?"
Lin Zhihua paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No."
As a child, he was too mature to connect with his peers. As an adult, he devoted himself entirely to work and never formed any so-called genuine friendships.
For someone like him, it was hard to give his heart away.
In this lifetime, he had only given it to Xue Jiao.
Xue Jiao held his hand, her eyes filled with concern.
Lin Zhihua smiled at her, squeezed her hand gently, and said softly, "Don't be too afraid of parting. It's just part of life's natural course. As long as everyone moves forward with flowers and applause, each on their own path, safe and sound—that's enough."
Xue Jiao smiled in relief. "Okay."
Lin Zhihua suddenly raised an eyebrow, his eyes brimming with amusement. "But there is one person who can stay with you forever, never leaving your side."
Xue Jiao was taken aback at first, then quickly understood. Her face flushed slightly as she glared at him.
Lin Zhihua leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
——
In the second semester of her freshman year, even though Xue Jiao didn't bury herself in the library like other students, revising textbooks day and night, her grades still proved one thing: "The queen stays the queen."
After the semester began, Mai Jiajia used Xue Jiao's academic performance to thoroughly humiliate the roommate who had mocked her before, leaving the girl red-faced and speechless. Only then did she go find Xue Jiao, satisfied.
"Jiao Jiao, you have no idea how infuriating she is. I used to wonder how she even got into our school—turns out she's a special admit, all brawn and no brain," Mai Jiajia complained, sucking on her favorite strawberry-flavored lollipop.
Xue Jiao, also enjoying the lollipop Mai Jiajia had given her, shook her head. "Don't waste your time on her. Have you decided which professor to work with? You should try getting involved in some projects. Not all knowledge comes from textbooks—you have to know how to apply it. No matter what career you pursue in the future, mastering your field is always important."
Mai Jiajia hugged Xue Jiao. "Alright, alright, I know the genius cares about me. It's settled—I'm going to study under Professor Lu. He's young, open-minded, and not as hard to get into as your Professor Tan's team. Plus, I think Professor Lu has a really fun personality!"
"That's good to hear," Xue Jiao said, relieved.
"By the way, remember those rumors about you coasting on your top-scorer reputation, not studying properly and just buttering up teachers like Zeng Bin and that Ge guy? Well, now they're saying you're clinging to Zhang Han and Yang Zhan's fame by switching to the physics department, disrespecting our math department!" Mai Jiajia recounted the latest gossip she'd heard.She continued with a cold laugh, "How ridiculous. Your own reputation is already solid—what need do you have to ride on someone else's coattails? Joint projects between departments are common. Those two are just jealous of you! I’m telling you this now so you won’t be caught off guard if you hear it later."
Xue Jiao frowned deeply. How could those two be so petty? Most importantly, aside from rejecting them, she hadn’t done anything to offend them, had she?
"Don’t worry, though. Not many people are spreading rumors. Everyone’s too busy to pay attention to such things. I just happen to be well-informed," Mai Jiajia said, patting her chest.
Xue Jiao frowned and couldn’t help but say, "I’ll have to ask them what they mean by this when I get the chance! But thank you, Jiajia, for telling me about it."
"What’s there to thank? We’re such good friends," Mai Jiajia replied, giving Xue Jiao a hug.
Ding Qi was busy with tutoring sessions and exams, leaving Xue Jiao with only Mai Jiajia as her close friend.
After the semester started, Xue Jiao once again found herself squeezing every minute out of each day. The project was progressing quickly, and Chu Sheng had thrown himself into it wholeheartedly. As a team member, she couldn’t afford to lag behind.
But the workload in her sophomore year was even heavier than in her freshman year, and her schedule was packed.
Lately, the four graduate students Teacher Jin had assigned to assist them had been a tremendous help.
Chu Sheng kept cutting into his own rest time, and no matter how many times they urged him to take it easy, he wouldn’t listen. All they could do was remind him occasionally.
——
One day, when Xue Jiao went to Teacher Tan’s office to see him, she noticed several unfamiliar students sitting inside Room 305.
Puzzled, she glanced at them briefly before looking away.
"Teacher Tan?"
"Ah, Gu Xue Jiao, you’re here. Come, have a seat." Professor Tan smiled and went to the water dispenser to pour her a cup of water.
"Thank you," Xue Jiao said with a smile as she accepted it. Then she asked, "Teacher Tan, did you need something from me?"
"Can’t I just want to see you without needing something?" Teacher Tan looked at her with a teasing expression.
Xue Jiao: "...Of course you can."
"Hahaha." Professor Tan laughed and sat down across the desk. "I just wanted to check in on you. How have you been lately?"
"Good, just... busy," Xue Jiao replied obediently.
Teacher Tan set down his cup. "Being busy is good. At your age, you should be busy. If you weren’t, that would be a problem."
He paused, then continued, "How’s your project going? It’s been half a year already. You can’t stay in the physics department forever. With you over there and Zheng Jiakun too, you’ve taken all the people I need for my own work."
The last sentence was dripping with envy, clearly dissatisfied.
Xue Jiao covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, then looked at Professor Tan. "Teacher Tan, you have so many people in Room 305 outside. How can you still complain about not having enough?"
"Exactly because it’s not enough that I’ve called in so many. If you two were here, I wouldn’t be so short-handed!" Professor Tan pouted, still sounding resentful.
"Our project probably won’t take much longer. The next steps are too difficult—once we’ve simulated what we can, it’ll be time to publish. After that, it’ll be up to the physics and mechanical teams. Neither my senior nor I will be involved anymore," Xue Jiao explained. "Don’t worry, Teacher, we won’t run away."
Professor Tan finally seemed somewhat satisfied. He tapped the list on his desk. "One by one, everyone’s leaving. This year, I’ll have to recruit another graduate student."Xue Jiao followed his gaze and saw two familiar names on the list: Ge Donglin and Zeng Bin.
What a coincidence...
"What are you looking at?" Professor Tan asked, noticing where her eyes had lingered.
Xue Jiao shook her head. "Two people I know."
"Oh? You, the ever-busy one, actually have time to know seniors? Come on, tell me—I’d like to hear about it." Teacher Tan picked up the list, brought it closer, and squinted at it.
Xue Jiao hesitated for a moment before looking up and answering truthfully.
"It’s Senior Zeng Bin and Senior Ge Donglin. They previously wanted me to join their project on the application of Fermat’s Last Theorem, but I refused. Later, they applied to join our current project, and we rejected them as well."
She didn’t embellish or exaggerate—just stated the facts plainly. Since Teacher Tan had asked for her opinion, she saw no reason to cover for two people she disliked.
Professor Tan frowned, his expression stern as he remarked, "Opportunistic and ill-intentioned."
After delivering his judgment, he picked up a pen and crossed out both names.
Of course, Xue Jiao hadn’t expected that Teacher Tan wouldn’t just remove their names—he would also go out of his way to inquire about their character.
After discussions among the professors, not a single teacher was willing to take them on as students.
Not just the established senior professors, but even the younger faculty members refused to supervise them.
This was something Xue Jiao hadn’t anticipated.
She was too busy with her project and studies to pay attention to such matters.
That day, after finishing lunch and heading to the lab to help out, she was suddenly stopped.
"Gu Xue Jiao—!"
She turned and saw Zeng Bin and Ge Donglin storming toward her, faces twisted in anger.
"Was it you?!"
Xue Jiao’s expression turned cold.
"Gu Xue Jiao, I never thought you’d stoop this low! Fine, you didn’t let us join your stupid project—but to ruin our reputations and block our grad school recommendations? How could anyone be so shameless!"
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