Qin Hai raved and ranted at the mental hospital. His barbed words were unpleasant to the ears. Qin Shu, as the victim of her fatherâs anger, weathered the storm of his words quietly with her head bowed.
Ye Luo stood silently at one side. He was not comfortable intervening in the private affairs between father and daughter.
Qin Shu: âWhere is Mu Lan? What about her daughter?â
Ye Luo: âIâm looking for them. Weâll discover their whereabouts soon.â
Qin Shu: âLet me know when you find them.â
Ye Luo: âI will.â
A cold glint flashed in Qin Shuâs eyes. She would not let Mu Lan and her daughter off so easily.
Around four in the afternoon, the doorbell rang.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Thinking it was Jun Li who had come calling, Qin Shu opened the door to her apartment without hesitation. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of a slender man wearing a white shirt and a pair of black pants. Standing at 1.75 metres, he was not particularly tall.
The manâs hair was cropped short into a neat cut. He sported a mole in a small corner next to his right eye. His skin was as fair as porcelain which, when combined with his shapely eyes and brows, lent him an air of angelic beauty.
Beside him was someone she knew. It was Qiao Ran.
Just as Qin Shu was sizing up the cherubic young man, so too was he studying her.
Qin Shu had been wearing her black-rimmed spectacles for a day now. She needed to get used to wearing them.
Despite having her glasses on, no one would doubt her beauty. Her skin was as pale as jade, smooth and unblemished. It complimented her exquisite looks perfectly.
âSenior Qiao, who is this?â Qin Shu sent Qiao Ran a questioning look.
âQin Shu, this is Bo Ye, a freshman who will be living in the same apartment as you.â Qiao Ran introduced politely.
Qin Shu greeted Bo Ye with a warm smile. âHello, my name is Qin Shu. Itâs nice to meet you.â
âLikewise. My name is Bo Ye.â
Bo Yeâs voice was cold and indifferent.
Turning to Qin Shu, Qiao Ran said, âYou two should try and get to know each other.â
Qin Shu nodded with a smile, âDonât worry, Senior Qiao. Weâll get ourselves acquainted in no time.â
âIâm glad. Iâll be taking my leave, then. The student council is quite busy at the moment. I should head back to help.â Qiao Ran bade farewell and left.
âCome in, Bo Ye.â Qin Shu made way for him to enter.
Bo Ye walked past her with his password box in hand.
Qin Shu closed the door and followed him in.
âThere are a few rooms here. You may pick whichever one youâd like.â
âThank you.â
Carrying his password box, Bo Ye made for an unoccupied room on the second floor.
Qin Shu followed Bo Yeâs movements with a keen eye. He seemed rather aloof.
Bo Ye rarely ventured out of his room. Though he was not the friendliest person around, he was more than willing to help out whenever he could.
The days passed routinely. Qin Shu noted a certain habit of his. Bo Ye did not eat breakfast.
On a particular day, before leaving the house, Qin Shu gave him a bowl of lean meat porridge and a bottle of soy milk. âYou should have something to eat before going out.â
Bo Ye stared at Qin Shu in disbelief. âIs this for me?â
Qin Shu nodded. âYes, I bought it along the way. It isnât good for your stomach if you donât eat breakfast.â
âThank you.â Bo Ye accepted the food gratefully, parting with a small remonstration. âYou donât have to buy one for me next time.â Bo Ye stepped out of the apartment with the food in hand.
Qin Shu shook her head and followed him out.
It was the start of a new semester.
Entering her lecture hall, Qin Shu looked around in search of a seat. Her eyes landed on a figure hunched in a corner. Although the figureâs hair was draped over her face in a messy curtain, Qin Shu instantly recognized Ye Xue for who she was with her natural blond hair.
She sat alone.
As she had been busy as of late, Qin Shu did not know how Ye Xue was doing.
She took the empty seat beside Ye Xue and sat down. Feeling a presence close by, Ye Xue curled in on herself like an armadillo.
Qin Shu frowned, seeing her classmateâs unusual behaviour. âYe Xue, whatâs wrong?â
Ye Xue raised her head, seeking the source of the familiar voice.
âQin Shu.â Her voice trembled in excitement.
Ye Xue did not sound like herself. Worriedly, Qin Shu asked, âIs something wrong?â
Shaking her head, Ye Xue reassured her, âN-no, I-Iâm fine. I was just worried about you. I havenât seen you in a long time. Iâm glad youâre okay...â
Qin Shu giggled at Ye Xueâs words. âHow have you been?â
âI-Iâve been well, thank you...â Ye Xue gripped her pen tightly. The professor had arrived and was standing on the podium.
Qin Shu bowed her head and conversed with Ye Xue softly. She felt as if she had returned to the past.
Having met with calamity, Qin Shu thought Ye Xue would be changed irreparably by the experience. Thankfully, no lasting harm to her personality was evident.
They went their separate ways after the lecture since they were taking different subjects.
The next class...
Qin Shu walked into the classroom and found an empty seat to sit down.
A while later, a person took the seat beside her. It was a tall man with a straight back. When he sat down, his shadow eclipsed her daintier form.
It was Han Xiao.
Seeing him caused her to think of the photo he had sent her a few nights past.
After putting his things down, Han Xiao turned to face Qin Shu. He saw her wearing a pair of black-rimmed spectacles that covered her delicate eyes and brows. It was a shame she was concealing her looks again. âI thought you would be reluctant to leave home.â
âWhy would I be reluctant? I still have classes to attend. Itâs not like Iâve already graduated from university.â Qin Shu laughed.
Han Xiao switched on his laptop, getting ready for class. Scrolling through his chat logs from that night, he asked, âDonât you think you and Xiao Budian are a lot alike?â
Qin Shu tilted her head in thought but eventually agreed. âYes, I do think we share a few similarities.â
Han Xiao was not sure what to make of Qin Shuâs response. Peering into her limpid eyes, it felt wrong to doubt her. Yet, who else but she could be but his Xiao Budian?
âAre you pretending not to recognize me?â
âIâm not pretending â Iâm really not!â Qin Shu shook her head repeatedly. âWhen I was eleven, my mother did not send me to Qishan. If I had been to Qishan at all, donât you think I would remember?â
âYou went to Qishan two years earlier than we did. You were nine when you arrived at Qishan.â Han Xiao corrected.
âEven if this Xiao Budian was there two years earlier than everyone else, it couldnât have been me.â Qin Shu retorted. She felt lost, not knowing what to say. The reason she always wore makeup was to prevent herself from being mistaken for Xiao Budian. She knew it would be troublesome, otherwise. Albeit, she had underestimated just how much trouble her looks would invite.
âLetâs go to class. Youâve been away for a long time.â Failing to obtain a confession, Han Xiao decided to change the topic. It was enough for him to know that Qin Shu was his Xiao Budian.
Qin Shu shrugged, glad that he had let the matter drop. Han Xiao was right. She had been absent from lectures for far too long.
After school...
On the way back to her apartment, Qin Shu remembered the meeting she had promised Ye Xue she would attend. Spinning on her heel, she headed for the womenâs dormitory.
Elsewhere, dorm room 407 was a hubbub of noise.
A few girls were sitting around discussing which campus hunk was the most handsome and charming.
âI think Fu Tingyan is the most handsome. When I looked into his eyes, it felt like a bolt of lightning hit me!â
âNo, no! Jiang Yu is the most handsome. Have you seen how athletic he is? Heâs the prince of our universityâs basketball team!â Lu Yan cried out dreamily.
Ye Xue, who was doing some practice questions, pursed her lips when she heard Lu Yan mentioning Jiang Yuâs name.
âI think your roommate has the hots for him. Are the two of you rivals in love?â A girl chattered slyly in Lu Yanâs ear.