Jiang Fuyue indeed didn’t go to eat breakfast, nor did she go to the laboratory.
Because—
She couldn’t go.
She had a fever.
Exactly the same as last time when she flew to Europe to attend the IMO and passed through Tunisia.
High fever that wouldn’t subside, weakness in her hands and feet, a heavy, muddled mind.
All the symptoms were highly similar to a Schenkwo virus infection.
She lay on the bed, eyes tightly closed, but her consciousness was still clear.
She could clearly hear the morning bell and also knew her current condition.
She wanted to move, wanted to sit up, but didn’t have the strength to complete even these simple actions.
She couldn’t even open her mouth to call for someone.
One minute passed……
Ten minutes passed……
An hour passed……
Jiang Fuyue’s cheeks were flushed, her back soaked through, sweat sliding from her forehead onto the pillow.
Her brows knitted restlessly; you could see her eyeballs moving, yet she couldn’t force her eyelids open.
Xie Dingyuan……
Will you still come this time?
……
Clang!
A piece of glassware that had just been cleaned and disinfected fell to the ground, instantly shattering into pieces.
“Professor Xie?”
“Professor—”
“Are you okay?”
A group of people quickly crowded around.
Xie Dingyuan’s hand holding the tweezers was still frozen in midair, maintaining the posture from before the glassware fell, as he stared blankly at the shards all over the floor.
Until—
“Professor? Professor Xie?!” someone shouted loudly.
The man suddenly came back to his senses: “……What did you just say?”
“Are you all right?”
Xie Dingyuan waved his hand, but his eyelid twitched abnormally twice, accompanied by a sudden bout of palpitations, and an inexplicable sense of unease began to spread.
“Where are the three teams that arrived yesterday?” he suddenly asked.
“Dan Pinghua and Bai Chuanhao’s teams?”
Xie Dingyuan was about to shake his head. Jiang Fuyue was a team of her own, not assigned under those two but on second thought, they all came in the same batch, so there probably wasn’t much difference. He gave a light “mm” and nodded.
That person raised his wrist to check the time: “At this hour, they should already be next door.”
Next door was another experimental area, which had only been tidied up a few days ago, specifically provided for them.
The next second, the usually composed Professor Xie suddenly took off toward the next door, nearly stepping on the glass shards on the floor.
“What’s going on?”
“Why is the Professor going next door?”
“Maybe to say hello? After all, they’ll be neighbors in the future.”
“If anyone should go say hello, it should be Dan Pinghua and Bai Chuanhao coming over. How could they let Professor Xie go instead?”
“Exactly! No manners at all!”
“Dan Pinghua, fine, everyone knows what he’s like. But Bai Chuanhao shouldn’t be like this, right? I heard that kid is especially good at dealing with people, how come he doesn’t understand etiquette when it comes to Professor Xie?”
“Who knows?”
“Oh right, I heard that among the thirteen people who came in this batch, there’s a girl? And she’s especially pretty!”
“For real? In our line of work, are women ever associated with being pretty?”
“Whoever lies is whoever’s grandson! Yesterday when Liu Ye went to the cafeteria to eat, he saw her, young and good-looking, with an amazing figure, like a fairy, nearly made him feed his food into his nostrils.”
“Hiss… is it really that exaggerated? I don’t dare compliment Old Liu’s aesthetic taste.”
“No exaggeration, because I saw her too. She really is stunning!”
“You two have successfully piqued my curiosity!”
“Say, could it be that Professor Xie went next door to look at a beauty?”
“Don’t kid around. The old man is single-minded about work, doesn’t date, hasn’t even come into contact with a female mosquito. How could he rush over to see a beauty?”
“Exactly! Even if a fairy landed right in front of Professor Xie, he could still look straight ahead, unmoved.”
“Maybe this time he just happened to fall for it?”
“Absolutely impossible!”
“Unless the sun rises in the west.”
“……”
Over there, Xie Dingyuan had already arrived next door.
The moment everyone saw him, they immediately felt like they were facing a formidable enemy, so nervous they kept swallowing hard.
“P-Professor Xie!”
Dan Pinghua was also startled and hurried forward: “Xie—”
Who knew that just as he spoke a single word, he was cut off by Xie Dingyuan: “Where is Jiang Fuyue?”
Dan Pinghua froze.
The others were also dumbfounded, eyes full of confusion.
The three words “Jiang Fuyue” coming out of Professor Xie’s mouth, why did it sound so… strange?
Xie Dingyuan scanned the surroundings. Not finding the person he wanted to see, he repeated it again.
Xu Kuan reacted first: “Jiang Fuyue isn’t here.”
“Why isn’t she here? Where did she go?”
“Don’t know. We didn’t see her this morning, and we can’t reach her on the walkie-talkie either.”
The man’s brow suddenly tightened.
“Professor Xie, you… are you looking for her for something?”
Xie Dingyuan didn’t answer. He turned and strode away, his retreating figure revealing a hint of panic.
Xu Kuan: “?”
“Professor Xie actually came over to look for Jiang Fuyue? Did they know each other before?”
“No way, right? Jiang Fuyue is just a college student, what kind of connection could she have with Professor Xie?”
“I guess the thing from yesterday, when she was called away, isn’t over yet.”
“Hiss—could Jiang Fuyue still be getting scolded?”
“Absent without reason, another count added.”
“She’s really unlucky.”
“Um… am I the only one who thinks Professor Xie seemed very anxious? His brows were tightly knit the whole time, and there was even a little bit of worry in his expression.”
“Worry? Don’t kid around. Who is Jiang Fuyue to Professor Xie? Why would he worry about her?”
“That mouth is too vicious, accumulate some virtue with your words.”
“How am I vicious? It’s just the truth. She didn’t come to the lab, and in the end the professor still has to worry about her. Does she really think Jiang Fuyue is the female lead of a romance novel?”
“……”
Xie Dingyuan found Kaza.
At that moment, he had just finished arranging today’s training tasks and had only just returned to his office. His butt had barely touched the chair when Xie Dingyuan, rushing in urgently, yanked him up.
Kaza: “?” Help! I’m kind of panicking.
“B-brother, if you’ve got something to say, say it nicely, don’t get physical!”
Xie Dingyuan froze for a moment, seemingly also surprised by his own rough action. He released his grip and asked directly: “Where does the newly arrived Huaxia research team live?”
“P-Ping Building. What’s wrong?”
“The specific room number.”
“Wait a moment… I’ll check.”
Kaza turned on the computer. “Are you asking about everyone? Or a specific person?”
“Jiang Fuyue.”
“What?” Kaza paused.
“Which room does Jiang Fuyue live in?” Afraid he wouldn’t understand the pronunciation, Xie Dingyuan emphasized each word, “Jiang—Fu—Yue—”
“Found it! 1142!”
Xie Dingyuan turned and left. After taking two steps, he came back again: “Her walkie-talkie frequency?”
“28.6HZ.”
……
Jiang Fuyue slept again and then woke up, but still couldn’t open her eyes.
The room temperature had clearly risen, probably noon or afternoon.
Her body felt like a furnace burning; her head grew heavier and heavier. The consciousness that had still been relatively clear was also crumbling bit by bit.
In her haze, she seemed to hear the sound of someone pounding on the door.
Then the door opened.
Then, a familiar voice sounded by her ear, gentle yet anxious, heartbroken and guilty—
“Yueyue? Can you hear me? Yueyue?!”
“…I’m sorry, I came late.”
In the second before completely sinking into darkness, Jiang Fuyue thought: He still came after all.
Xie Dingyuan couldn’t wake her.
No matter what, he couldn’t wake her.
The moment he rushed in and saw the girl lying unconscious on the bed, his heart nearly stopped beating.
After checking her breathing and pulse, he finally let out a breath of relief.
But Jiang Fuyue’s abnormal body temperature made him frown again.
The next second, he bent down and lifted the girl into his arms. Regardless of whether anyone would see, and what kind of criticism and suspicion it might stir up if they did, he headed firmly outward.
When passing through the training ground, as expected, he drew numerous curious gazes.
“Oh! Is that Professor Xie?”
“He’s holding a girl!”
“That’s so surprising. He looks extremely anxious, this is completely unlike him!”
“Yes, he’s a resolute man. We’ve all seen him before, haven’t we?”
“Maybe that’s his girlfriend?”
“My God! I never thought Professor Xie liked women!”
“Oh, this is really astonishing.”
“……”
On the other side, Kaza saw that Xie Dingyuan had actually come specifically to find him for a girl, grabbed his collar, checked her residence and was utterly shocked.
After the man left, he still couldn’t react for a long while.
He knew that Xie Dingyuan had a girl he liked very much. Whenever evening leisure time came, when they sat on the fortress wall watching the sunset, he would always take out that girl’s photo, examining it, gazing at it, and caressing it again and again.
That gentle, deeply affectionate look, if placed in the past was simply unimaginable.
At least, Kaza had never seen it.
Once, he had even foolishly taken that girl for a cover model and asked Xie Dingyuan to share the photo.
After all, one person looking is looking; two people looking is livelier. Maybe they could even discuss a bit about that sort of thing between men and women and gain some experience.
The result—
Xie Dingyuan changed his expression on the spot and even issued a harsh warning, saying that if he dared bring up such a request again, he’d beat him every single time he saw him.
At that time, Kaza still hadn’t realized that it was a girl Xie Dingyuan liked, and asked with a baffled, foolish expression—
“She’s not your girlfriend anyway, so why do you care?”
But Xie Dingyuan answered, “She is!”
For the next few days, Kaza was thoroughly given the cold shoulder by him. Messages went unanswered, greetings ignored. When they ran into each other in the cafeteria, his hand was already raised, ready to greet him, yet Xie Dingyuan looked straight ahead and walked past without a glance.
Kaza: “……” My name isn’t “Kaza,” my name is “Heartbroken.”
After that, he never again dared mention the girl Xie Dingyuan kept hidden in his heart in a casual, flirtatious tone.
Bring her up once, and he’d flip out!
In Huaxia terms, this is called that thing—“white moonlight,” right?
But just now, that lovestruck Old Xie had actually come to ask him about another girl’s information?
And was even planning to go to her room to find her?!
Oh! This is simply insane!
Who would’ve thought you were this kind of Professor Xie!
Kaza decided to follow and see what was really going on, whether he’d truly had a change of heart.
Just as he was about to enter Ping Building, Xie Dingyuan suddenly rushed out holding a girl in his arms, his face full of urgency, faintly revealing signs of collapse.
Like a bow drawn to its absolute limit, ready to snap at any moment.
Kaza had known him for so many years and had never seen Xie Dingyuan in such a disheveled state.
He immediately froze like a block of wood, dumbstruck and unable to move.
“What are you standing there for?! Get over here and help!”
Kaza got yelled at.
“Huh? Oh!” He reacted at once and stepped forward to lend a hand.
Who knew Xie Dingyuan wouldn’t let him touch the girl in his arms at all. He drew his hand back, taking half a step with it: “I didn’t tell you to lay hands on her! Hurry and lead the way to the medical room! Take the fastest route!”
And so, Kaza, who had originally come to watch the gossip, ended up becoming a human GPS.
On the way to the medical room, the three of them happened to run into Old Huang from Dan Pinghua’s team, who had come out for a smoke. He was so startled by the sight that the cigarette in his hand fell to the ground.
Then he dashed back to the experimental area and shouted loudly—
“I—I saw Professor Xie holding Jiang Fuyue!”
Everyone: “!”
“Old Huang, it’s broad daylight, what kind of nonsense are you dreaming up?”
“Is it that you’re expressing yourself badly, or that my ears are malfunctioning?”
“Professor Xie holding Jiang Fuyue? You must be seeing things.”
“So vague, if you’ve got the guts, say it properly. For example, Jiang Fuyue fell and Professor Xie just helped her up? Or Jiang Fuyue lost her footing and Professor Xie stepped in to help?”
Old Huang: “None of those! I really saw Professor Xie holding Jiang Fuyue! The kind of princess carry you see in TV dramas!”
“…Are you sure you saw clearly? Didn’t mistake the person?”
Old Huang’s face scrunched up like a bitter melon: “My unaided eyesight is 5.0. Why won’t you all believe what I’m saying?”
“It’s not that we don’t believe you, it’s just that what you’re saying is too unbelievable for everyone to dare believe.”
“Professor Xie holding a woman? Don’t kid around.”
“The legendary Xie Dingyuan whom even a female mosquito can’t get close to?”
After hearing this, Dan Pinghua, like everyone else, was first stunned, then grew thoughtful.
He pulled Old Huang who was still trying hard to explain under everyone’s questioning to the side: “Was it really Professor Xie himself?”
“How could I possibly get that wrong? Absolutely certain!”
“What exactly happened? Tell me in detail.”
Old Huang: “It was like this. I went out for a smoke. I’d just lit it and hadn’t even taken a few puffs yet…”
Seeing the two old men whispering in the corner while everyone else murmured among themselves, Xu Kuan couldn’t help curling his lip: “People these days, old men are even more gossipy than young folks. Truly something else! How could Professor Xie possibly be holding Jiang Fuyue? Even such outrageous rumors can spread…”
Bai Chuanhao: “Maybe it’s not a rumor.”
“You—” Xu Kuan paused, eyes filled with suspicion. “What do you mean?”
Bai Chuanhao didn’t speak.
Xu Kuan let out an exaggerated dry laugh: “You don’t actually think it’s true, do you? Jiang Fuyue and Professor Xie? What does that have to do with what?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“That’s exactly what you mean!”
Bai Chuanhao clenched his fist and coughed lightly: “It’s not entirely impossible either.”
“I think you’re overthinking it,” Xu Kuan said seriously. “You always like to overthink, taking something simple and insisting on making it complicated.”
At this moment, someone suggested: “Whether it’s true or not, why don’t we just go take a look?”
“Right! Old Huang, do you remember which direction Professor Xie went?”
Old Huang pondered for a moment: “It seemed like he was heading to the medical room?”
“Alright! Then let’s go have a look!”
“Agreed!”
Xu Kuan: “Are you going?”
Bai Chuanhao lifted his eyes, sweeping over the eager crowd: “Yeah. I also want to know if it’s true.”
“Tsk, didn’t realize you were this gossipy.”
Bai Chuanhao: “……”
Just as the group put down their work and started streaming out, Kaza suddenly appeared.
“Yo! What’s going on? Is everyone heading out on a group assignment?”
They hadn’t seen him before, but seeing his military uniform and the insignia on his shoulder, they knew he wasn’t an ordinary soldier.
Kaza: “Forgot to introduce myself. I’m one of the persons in charge of the Suweitan base. You can call me Officer Kaza, or Sir.”
“Kaza… uh! Officer, we want to head out for a bit.”
“Oh? Go out to do what? Group outings require submitting an application, this point should have been explained to you yesterday.”
“We’re not leaving the base! We’re just leaving the lab to take a look.”
“Outside there are no experimental instruments or observation subjects, only a group of big-headed soldiers drilling. What do you want to see? Hmm? Su-side military secrets?”
Everyone was startled—
“No, no, no, we absolutely have no intention of peeking at secrets. We just want to…”
Kaza smiled, putting on a listening posture.
Xin Hongcheng took over: “We just want to find Professor Xie to consult him about some questions.”
“Yes, we’re going to look for Professor Xie!”
Kaza: “Then I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Professor Xie has matters to attend to right now and likely doesn’t have time to receive everyone.”
Someone still wanted to say something, but Kaza cut in directly: “Everyone should stay here, focus on research, and tackle the problems at hand. As for anything else, none of it is more important than this. What do you all think?”
Who would dare argue?
Kaza smiled in satisfaction and turned to leave.
Once outside, the smile vanished instantly. He summoned a group of soldiers to watch over the experimental area. “Don’t let anyone run around.”
“Yes!”
……
When Jiang Fuyue woke up again, what met her eyes was a snow-white ceiling, and the lights were a harsh white as well.
Outside the window it was already dusk, the sun setting, yellow sand stretching across the desert.
Her hand seemed to be held by someone. She craned her neck and followed the grip with her gaze, only to see a man’s large hand tightly holding hers, his eyes closed as he rested by the bedside.
The light fell on his handsome profile, and the afterglow of the setting sun streamed in through the window, casting a small shadow from the high bridge of his nose onto the other side.
Their fingers were interlaced. The man held on with such force, as if desperately trying to grasp something.
The palms pressed together were slick with each other’s sweat, yet he showed no sign of letting go.
Even in his sleep, he unconsciously exerted strength.
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