Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“You’re almost graduating and so busy, why are you only attending day school?” He Zhichu looked at Gu Nianzhi. “Or are you planning some scheme here?”
Gu Nianzhi turned around to look at the scenery outside the car window as she replied calmly, “How could I be? Professor He is overthinking it.”
He Zhichu snickered. He quickly got on the highway heading to the Hepingli District as he replied languidly, “Nianzhi, your ears involuntarily move whenever you feel nervous.”
“That’s not true!” Gu Nianzhi instinctively touched her ears.
“Still denying it, but you’ve already ratted yourself out. If you weren’t feeling guilty, why would you touch your ears?” He Zhichu pierced right through Gu Nianzhi’s deception.
Gu Nianzhi giggled. “I was only trying to prove that my ears didn’t move in order to refute Professor He’s statement. What are you implying?”
He Zhichu glanced at her, his shimmery sultry eyes sparkling slightly. “It’s good you’re not scheming.”
Then he continued to urge her, “No matter what you’re dealing with, wait until after you’ve graduated. You only have three weeks left. You wouldn’t want to waste all the previous effort.”
Gu Nianzhi quickly nodded. “I understand. Don’t worry, Professor He. I am staying at my own apartment for the convenience of studying.”
“Stop making excuses.” He Zhichu refused to believe her lame reason. “If it’s for the convenience of studying, then the campus dorm would be the most convenient. If you say that you you’re worried about your roommate bothering you, you live in your own room, so that issue doesn’t exist.”
Gu Nianzhi sighed. “The older the ginger, the spicier. I can’t win against you, so I’ll go back to campus.”
“That sounds about right.” He Zhichu turned his steering wheel to exit off the highway and headed towards B University.
After driving for a while, He Zhichu asked coolly, “The older ginger, the spicier? Am I very old?”
She didn’t think He Zhichu would be sensitive about his age! Gu Nianzhi blinked and quickly said, “You’re not ginger. I wasn’t talking about you…”
He Zhichu squeezed the steering wheel tightly and pointed out on purpose, “I’m the same age as Huo Shao.”
Gu Nianzhi was very uncomfortable, so she nervously played around with the infotainment system in the car and changed the subject. “What’s a good radio station to listen to right now?”
He Zhichu stopped speaking and allowed her to change stations herself.
Soon afterwards, they arrived at the B University female graduate student dormitory. He Zhichu dropped her off in front of the building and said, “Remember to give me a call whenever you stay late at the library. I’ll come pick you up.”
Gu Nianzhi quickly pressed her hands together. “Thank you, Professor He! Thank you, Professor He!”
He Zhichu waved his hand. “Study hard. There are only three weeks left now.” His expression was nearly a mirror of Huo Shaoheng’s when he said this.
Gu Nianzhi nodded with some embarrassment before watching He Zhichu’s car drive away. Just as she turned around to go inside the dorm building, she saw the young man in black she had seen before. He stood beside the dorm entrance and was talking to a girl. The girl’s fair cheeks glowed with two rosy patches as she looked up at the young man, her eyes revealing a lovesick expression.
Gu Nianzhi was speechless.
She wasn’t interested in a relationship with a younger man, but because that girl was also a law student who she recalled was an older, third year masters student, Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but take a second glance.
As expected, the young man in black looked over. His nose was straight and sculpted, but his face was too pale, so he had a fragile and delicate beauty to him.
He watched Gu Nianzhi with a warm and polite expression, however, there was an indescribable sense of arrogance hidden deep in his eyes.
Gu Nianzhi averted her gaze and purposely acted like she didn’t recognize that person at all. She walked directly into the building.
The young man in black was Ishihara Taro.
Ever since Gu Nianzhi had been taken away in the ambulance, he had mobilized the Ishihara Corporation’s powers to search for Gu Nianzhi’s whereabouts in all the hospitals in the Imperial Capital. The strange thing was, Gu Nianzhi seemed to have disappeared into thin air, so he couldn’t find her at all.
That was very strange.
He remembered how Gu Nianzhi had fallen. That kind of reaction force would typically result in death or paralysis, so he had stubbornly searched everywhere for her all this time.
Later on, his grandfather was concerned about him bringing attention to himself and that it would make things even more difficult if the other party began to defend themselves. He commanded his men to stop acting, and Ishihara Taro finally relented. But only two days had passed, and Gu Nianzhi somehow appeared on her own. She seemed to be totally fine as well.
Ishihara Taro immersed himself in deep thought. Could there still be a problem with his algorithm? Could she not have fallen as hard as he predicted?
Ishihara Taro quickly left campus to rush back and verify his algorithm. When he returned to his apartment in the Imperial Capital, he discovered his grandfather was there.
“Grandfather, you’re not staying in the Mount Yu Villa District?” Ishihara Taro asked with curiosity.
Ishihara Taro’s grandfather was called Ishihara Wakashi. He sat on the lounge chair against the French windows in the living room and replied dryly, “I want to spend more time with you. I’m returning to Japan next month. What about you? Do you want to come back with me?”
Ishihara Taro understood what his grandfather was implying. “Please don’t worry. I will be sure to complete the task before you return to Japan.” Then he recalled seeing Gu Nianzhi. “Grandfather, Gu Nianzhi returned to campus today.”
Ishihara Wakashi slowly opened his eyes. “She returned to campus? How could she return to school with such severe injuries? Who brought her back?!”
Ishihara Taro was somewhat ashamed. He gritted his teeth and said, “I don’t know if there was a problem with the algorithm, but her injuries were not as severe as I had predicted.”
Ishihara Wakashi could hardly conceal his disappointment. “How could this be?”
After some silence, Ishihara Wakashi said with exhaustion, “Then you should prepare well. You must not make mistakes next time.”
“Hai!” Ishihara Taro replied in Japanese as he kneeled on the ice cold marble floor in the living room and bowed his head in Ishihara Wakashi’s direction.
After Ishihara Wakashi left, Ishihara Taro immersed himself in frantic calculations. He didn’t even attend his classes at B University.
…
Ma Qiqi was very happy to see Gu Nianzhi returning. Pulling her over to study carefully, she laughed, “Thank goodness you’re ok. That day, I heard you were taken away in an ambulance. I was so scared, I called Brother Xiong a dozen times. I asked him if he knew where the ambulance took you. Luckily, Brother Xiong told me not to worry.”
Gu Nianzhi patted her shoulder. “It’s ok. I already know how lovey dovey you and Brother Xiong are, so stop showing off. Even though my injury looked especially severe, it was actually not too bad. I only dislocated my ankle, so Professor He was worried for nothing. I was fine after I got an X-ray and had the bones realigned.”
“Dislocated? You’d better be careful, then. It’ll be very painful if it ends up as a chronic dislocation.” Ma Qiqi quickly fussed over her.
Everyone knew Gu Nianzhi had been taken away by an ambulance as soon as she fell down, but no one could say how severe her injury actually was. After all, no one saw her bleed. They only saw her suddenly sit on the ground, so when the ambulance came, there were people taking the opportunity to joke about Gu Nianzhi’s condition and claim she was purposely making a mountain out of a molehill in order to avoid final exams.
“I’ll be careful.” Gu Nianzhi stretched her back lazily, not telling anyone else about her true condition. “I need to go rest for a while. Don’t bother me.”
“I know, I know. Go to bed. I won’t wake you up no matter who comes here.” Ma Qiqi motioned to close the door for her.
Gu Nianzhi hugged her with a smile, then turned back to her room.
After resting all morning, her classes started in the afternoon. The first two days were fine, but on the third day it happened to be Friday. There was a compulsory law class at 2pm. It was also the last important class of the day, so she had to attend. Afterwards, she had an exam.
Final exams at B University lasted a week, so she actually only had two weeks to study. She wanted nothing more but to do two hour’s work in one hour.
Rushing from the library to the large lecture hall, she sat down next to Ma Qiqi. The classroom quieted soon afterwards, and the teacher of the compulsory class stepped inside. Behind him was a handsome young man wearing a short, gray coat. It was none other than Ishihara Taro.
Gu Nianzhi was shocked at the sight. This guy was somehow also a B University student?! She quickly pushed Ma Qiqi. “Who is that person?”
Ma Qiqi looked up quickly. “Oh, that’s our faculty’s transfer student. His name is Ishihara Taro.”
