“What are you thinking about?” The sudden voice by her ear pulled Jiang Fuyue out of her drifting thoughts.
“Nothing.”
Xie Dingyuan glanced at her. “Have you ever considered going into scientific research?”
Jiang Fuyue answered truthfully, “I’ve thought about it, but I haven’t decided yet.”
The man raised his eyebrows. “So, you have other plans.”
The girl didn’t respond, but her silence at a moment like this was a tacit confirmation.
Having been reborn, Jiang Fuyue had too many things to do. She wasn’t sure whether she could, like Xie Dingyuan, settle down and devote herself wholly to research.
“Fair enough,” the man nodded. “You’re still young, with lots of options.”
“What about you?” Jiang Fuyue suddenly turned to look at him.
“What?”
“Have you always been this resolute?” So committed to research, pressing forward without hesitation?
“No. I only figured out what I wanted to do after university. So you’re still early in the game—there’s no rush…”
Jiang Fuyue curled her lips into a soft smile and hummed in agreement.
She used to think this man was an eternal iceberg. Later, she saw him as a volcano beneath the ice. But now… he seemed more like a bowl of warm chicken soup.
As the evening deepened, the traffic jam finally broke around sunset.
The car stopped in front of the Jiang family villa. Jiang Fuyue grabbed her bag, said thank you, and was about to get out.
Suddenly— “Today, it was my third sister who came,” Xie Dingyuan spoke out of nowhere.
Jiang Fuyue paused: “I know.”
She’d heard him calling someone earlier.
“Ahem… the person with my third sister was her friend.”
“…Oh.” Jiang Fuyue didn’t know why he was telling her this, but an “oh” seemed like a safe response.
“You’re not curious?”
“Didn’t you just explain?” What’s there to be curious about?
“I mean—”
Jiang Fuyue looked at him seriously: “Mean what?”
Xie Dingyuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His eyes held a flash of frustration. “…Forget it.”
Jiang Fuyue looked puzzled: “Then I’m heading in?”
“Mm. I’ll be here at 7:30 tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
…
At the same time, in the northwestern city of Tingzhou, a red sun slowly dipped below the horizon, eventually swallowed by the earth.
Darkness fell swiftly, and night took over.
Lights flickered on at a research institute nestled in the yellow sands, revealing reddish brick walls and tiled eaves.
Inside a third-floor lab—
Assistant Zhong Hao carefully placed a folder on the table and stepped back. His eyes landed on the upright figure in the wheelchair, his expression complicated.
“Professor Ming, the old leader asked me to bring this to you. Can’t you at least take a look?”
“I’ve said before—no students, no mentees.” The man’s features were gentle, but his tone was firm.
“This is the list of this year’s IPhO gold medalists—four golds and one silver from China. One girl even got a special award. The top physics departments at Q and B Universities are fighting over her…”
“No need to explain,” Ming Yu interrupted. “My answer is still no.”
“But the old leader—”
“I’ll explain to him personally.”
“No need. I’m already here to hear it myself.”
An elderly man with silver hair and a resonant voice appeared at the lab door, eyes sharp and spirited.
Zhong Hao quickly lowered his head: “Elder Hong.”
“Mm. Let me speak with him.”
Zhong Hao stepped aside, giving the old man space next to the wheelchair. Elder Hong tapped the folder lightly with a knuckle.
“These are all very gifted kids. If nurtured properly, they could be the next generation to carry on our work.”
Ming Yu: “I know.”
“Then why—”
“Elder Hong, you overestimate me. I don’t have the patience to teach. Let someone else do it.”
“You said that last year. And again this year. Ming Yu, we’re not getting any younger. If we don’t pass on our skills, everything we’ve built dies with us. It’s not just our loss. It’s a loss for the whole country.”
Training a researcher is hard. Finding an exceptional one is even rarer. And someone like Ming Yu—capable of leading national defense-level projects—is one in a million.
But the man in the wheelchair remained unmoved, his eyes fixed forward, grayish pupils clouded with emotional distance.
Elder Hong sighed, his gaze filled with sadness and helpless resignation. “Ah Yu, it’s been twenty years… Why can’t you let it go?”
“Who said I haven’t?” The man’s voice was calm, his face unreadable.
But Elder Hong saw his right hand—clenched on the wheelchair armrest—turn pale from force.
“Fine,” the old man sighed. “Keep the student files. Whether you look at them or not is up to you. But I want an answer tomorrow.”
He didn’t expect Ming Yu to agree. But even a tiny hope was better than none. Maybe, just maybe, he’d change his mind overnight.
With that, the elder left, his back slightly hunched.
“Zhong Hao, put the folder away.”
“…Yes.” Zhong Hao stepped forward to collect it, but a sheet of A4 paper slipped out.
He bent to pick it up, ready to tuck it back in—
Suddenly, a long hand reached out: “Give it to me.”
“Ah?” Zhong Hao was confused. He looked into Ming Yu’s steely gray eyes and swallowed nervously. “You… want to read it?”
The man still had his hand out: “Mm.”
Zhong Hao was about to hand over the entire folder.
Ming Yu shook his head: “Just that one page.”
“O-okay.” He passed it over.
Ming Yu laid it on his lap, pulled open a hidden drawer on his wheelchair, and retrieved his custom-made corrective lenses.
With barely contained urgency, he slid them onto his nose.
From Zhong Hao’s angle, he saw Ming Yu’s hands tremble slightly as he put the glasses on.
Because of that page?
He glanced down—it looked like a student’s exam paper. Every problem had full working steps. The layout was clean, elegant. A pleasure to read.
Ming Yu’s fingers gently traced over the numbers. His body visibly trembled.
And his expression…
How to describe it?
Zhong Hao had followed the professor for years, but he’d never seen him look like this—lost, overwhelmed, vulnerable.
Like a child lost in a forest, suddenly spotting a path… but unsure whether it led to salvation or a cliff.
Zhong Hao panicked: “Professor?! Are you okay?! Please don’t scare me—”
“Whose paper is this?” Ming Yu ground out, struggling to suppress the tremor in his soul. “Tell me. Now.”
Zhong Hao quickly flipped through the files. “Found it! Jiang Fuyue. That’s the student’s name.”
“Give me her full file.”
Zhong Hao handed it over. “Do you want me to help—”
Usually, even with the special lenses, Ming Yu struggled with reading. Zhong Hao would help with paperwork and documents.
Normally, Ming Yu didn’t refuse.
But this time—
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
Jiang Fuyue… 18 years old… Senior student at Linhuai No. 1 High School…
“How can she be only 18? That’s impossible!” Ming Yu shook his head, hope draining from his eyes.
“There’s a photo too! Here—”
“Second page,” Zhong Hao said quickly.
Ming Yu flipped it over in a flash. His pupils shrank. Disappointment surged.
Not the face he remembered. Not her…
But… the handwriting—it was so similar.
No. Not just similar. Identical.
The way she wrote sin and cos… that signature flourish on the trig functions… it was influenced by her early practice with English script.
He used to tease her: “If I were the exam marker, I could recognize your paper instantly. Would that count as cheating?”
She’d huff: “I don’t need your help. I’ll get them all right anyway—believe it or not!”
Of course he believed her.
How could he not?
She was Lou Mingyue. A genius with unmatched intellect. The chosen heir of the Lou family. She could do anything to perfection.
“Professor? Professor?!”
Ming Yu snapped out of it. His eyes lit up with resolve.
“I want everything on this girl!”
Zhong Hao hesitated. “Professor, Elder Hong controls the database. I can’t access it without him…”
“Then go get Elder Hong!”
“But he was really upset just now. I’m afraid…”
“Tell him—” Ming Yu’s voice trembled, “I’m willing to take this girl as my student. But I need more information first.”
“You’re accepting a student?!” Zhong Hao was stunned. The next second, he almost jumped. “I—I’ll go right now! He’ll be over the moon!”
He dashed out of the lab.
In the wheelchair, Ming Yu gently caressed the exam paper, eyes full of tenderness and obsession… like he was touching the love of his life.
“Mingyue… is that you?
You’re finally back…”
In the silence, a tear splashed onto the paper—
Plop.
The stain slowly spread…
