Tacit Understanding

Wei Yin sniffled and didn’t move for a long moment.

Hua Yu didn’t rush her. She just looked down at her in silence, her expression clearly saying, Let’s see what else you can come up with.

“Want another slap?” Hua Yu asked first, amusement obvious in her voice. “Yang Cha will be coming to my office later.”

Wei Yin tilted her head a little toward the door, then stopped and went back to staring at Hua Yu.

Hua Yu was an associate director; when outsiders came to her office, they would definitely knock.

“She’s the kind who’ll give a polite, symbolic knock and then push the door open before I’ve even said anything,” Hua Yu said lightly, seeing through her thoughts. Smiling, she added, “And plenty of patients just walk straight in to see me.”

It was just past one-thirty, and the afternoon shift would start soon. If anyone walked in now, they’d see their cool and composed associate director sitting on the edge of the bed with a half-paralyzed little girl clinging to her waist, refusing to let go. Shameless didn’t even begin to cover it.

Following Wei Yin’s posture, Hua Yu kneaded her shoulders, then her waist, and finally rested her hand on the side of her thigh, patting lightly. “Not bad. You’ve put on a little flesh.”

Probably because of three months of regular meals, Wei Yin no longer felt like a bundle of bones every time she was hugged; her figure was much like it had been in university.

“Quality pig-fattening,” Wei Yin said at last, letting go of Hua Yu and sitting up properly. “I’m leaving.”

That was how their time together always was; they had to squeeze it in wherever they could. Being able to eat together, spend a little time together, and share a simple embrace was already enough to feel good.

“Sleep for a bit before you go; half an hour,” Hua Yu said, getting up to hang the “Out” sign on the door and lock it.

Wei Yin glanced at the time; half an hour was exactly when the afternoon shift would start.

Hua Yu went back to her desk, intending to sort through the patients she had seen that morning.

As she passed Wei Yin, Wei Yin caught the hem of her coat.

Pinching that little scrap of fabric, Wei Yin made a righteous demand. “Dr. Hua, sleep with me.”

Hua Yu lifted a brow. “Are you a child? You need someone to keep you company when you sleep?”

Wei Yin ignored her, still holding on and refusing to let go. She patted the bed beside her. “Together.”

After five seconds of stalemate, Hua Yu lay down fully clothed, taking the outer side, while Wei Yin lay closest to the wall inside, holding the corner of Hua Yu’s shirt as she fell asleep.

-

That afternoon, after her examination, Wei Yin returned to the studio. She planned to clear the haters from her account so they wouldn’t be an eyesore.

As soon as she got out of the car, she saw someone standing at the entrance to the courtyard, only the hem of a skirt visible.

Wei Yin walked over without changing her expression. After meeting her several times, she could more or less recognize some people’s style of dress.

For example, Hua Yu favored well-tailored clothes and good fabric; she wore whatever was given to her and wasn’t picky.

Xu Ya Qing mostly wore sporty, casual styles and liked fresh, youthful colors.

As for Yu Tiantian, she preferred a glamorous, affluent lady-of-the-house style. Wei Yin wasn’t the sort to meddle, but whenever she saw her clothes, she couldn’t help thinking that this woman probably dressed like this at the office too.

What kind of boss dresses like a rich socialite?

Yu Tiantian had clearly been waiting for Wei Yin. With a meaningful look, she said, “Old classmate, aren’t you going to invite me in for a sit?”

Wei Yin stood two steps away from her and waved a hand. “Move aside. I’m opening the door.”

It was an old-fashioned cross-lock. Wei Yin slowly took a key out of her bag, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it open.

Then she pushed the door and turned her head to look at Yu Tiantian.

The woman stood there like an uninvited guest, as if she were certain Wei Yin wanted to see her.

Yu Tiantian’s expression didn’t change at all. She kept up a perfectly measured smile. “With Hua Yu’s temper, she probably wouldn’t tell you anything. You must have a lot of questions; I can answer all of them.”

Wei Yin kept that posture for more than ten seconds before saying flatly, “No need.”

“Be honest,” Yu Tiantian said, her smile widening. “If you weren’t curious, you wouldn’t be checking my Weibo every day or asking around about university back then.”

Wei Yin said expressionlessly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You visited my Weibo twenty-seven times last night,” Yu Tiantian said at an unhurried pace. “And our university class monitor—he was taken away by the police last month for spreading obscene material. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Wei Yin said nothing.

“The class monitor really did spread rumors about you. After the reunion, someone started gathering evidence from back then; I’m guessing that was Hua Yu’s doing,” Yu Tiantian said, as if she could see through Wei Yin’s thoughts. “But you’re sharper than Hua Yu. You don’t care what form it takes; as long as you can get revenge, that’s enough.”

“You’re right. You’re so smart, so amazing,” Wei Yin said under Yu Tiantian’s relentless pressure, suddenly curving her lips in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Finished? Then don’t linger.”

Yu Tiantian reached out to block the door and leaned in, lowering her voice. “Hua Yu isn’t in good shape. All show and no substance; sooner or later, she’ll wear herself out. How long do you think she can keep giving you such a comfortable life? Why not come back to me instead? My family is powerful, and I keep myself clean. I haven’t looked for anyone else all these years except you. Want to consider it?”

“Your family is powerful?” Wei Yin asked.

Yu Tiantian laughed brightly. “Rich now; richer later.”

“Hua Yu is all show and no substance, and you keep yourself clean?” Wei Yin’s tone was unreadable.

Yu Tiantian didn’t explain further. She only gave Wei Yin a mysterious smile and handed her a business card. “If you want to know the answer, remember to contact me. This is my contact information; make sure you don’t delete it this time.”

After Yu Tiantian left, Wei Yin stood at the door, trying to sort out her thoughts.

Probably because they had grown up in different environments, people like Yu Tiantian carried an air of looking down on everything, of being untouchable. That self-centered certainty that everyone ought to serve her was deeply ingrained in her values, never wavering even slightly.

If Wei Yin’s personality really were as weak as she looked, her ending would probably be much like Li Leran’s; she’d be swept up by Yu Tiantian’s aura and end up following her train of thought without realizing it.

Wei Yin lowered her head and found Yu Tiantian’s WeChat ID on the card, then added her as a friend.

She did, in fact, have something she needed to contact Yu Tiantian about.

-

That evening, in the Hua family villa.

Hua Yu’s father and mother sat across from her in reading glasses, going through a document.

“This research goes completely against the direction you’ve been pursuing,” Hua Yu’s mother said worriedly. “If it gets published, everything you’ve achieved over the years will be overturned.”

Hua Yu nodded. “That’s why I need you and Dad to publish it.”

The two of them said in unison, “No!”

Hua Yu said, “Next month, I’ll publish an article in a core journal. At the same time, I’ll sell off all the shares I’m holding.”

Her parents couldn’t even be shocked a second time. “You’re going to sell your shares?”

“There’s something I have to do,” Hua Yu said earnestly, looking at them with determination and a hint of pleading. “Mom, Dad, please help me.”

-

A week later, Xu Ya Qing and Pedro returned to the country and came straight to the small courtyard with their bags in hand.

The day before, Hua Yu had been up all night for surgery and hadn’t come home, so Wei Yin simply slept in the courtyard as well. When she heard the courtyard gate open, she had just washed her hair and was at work.

“Wei Xiao Yin, I, Xu Han San, have returned in glory!” Xu Ya Qing burst in with a springing step. Wei Yin, who was using a blowtorch to shape a ceramic flower, jumped in surprise and nearly burned her hand.

“Glorious how?” she said coolly.

Xu Ya Qing took it for granted. “I’m glorious, of course.”

Wei Yin applauded. “Oh, congratulations.”

It took Xu Ya Qing three seconds to react before she pounced. “Hey, you’re making fun of me!”

“Don’t joke around,” Pedro said as she walked in with her hands behind her back. “You can’t use ‘glorious’ so casually.”

Xu Ya Qing immediately straightened up sheepishly. “Yes!”

Wei Yin set down her tools as well. “Okay.”

Pedro was carrying a mesh bag. She handed it to Wei Yin. “A gift for you.”

“Thank you.” Wei Yin wiped her hands and took it, immediately pulling out the contents to have a look. Inside was a palm-sized spherical box. She opened it, and her pupils suddenly widened. “This is... a miniature ocean world?”

Inside was a miniature ocean globe made of ceramics, with coral and starfish, covered in sand grains of different shapes. The rocks even had holes worn into them to mimic water erosion, while the jellyfish and little fish looked vivid and lifelike. Just the blues alone came in more than a dozen shades.

For a modern craft piece, it was unquestionably exquisitely made and conceptually advanced; the sort of thing you could put on display anywhere.

“Where did you buy this? It must have been expensive, right?” Wei Yin stroked the base of the ceramic sphere with complete reluctance to let go, careful not to break any of the delicate fittings inside.

Pedro didn’t answer the question. Instead, she asked, “Where do you think it should have been bought?”

“A master’s studio? A private gallery?” Wei Yin thought of several places. “Or maybe some museum.”

After listening to her, Pedro gave a faint smile. “I bought this casually from a roadside stall.”

Wei Yin looked up in disbelief. “Roadside?”

“At a market stall. The owner isn’t a professional, much less a master. She runs a farm and uses the most primitive wood-firing method; she never received any systematic training.”

The more Wei Yin listened, the more shocked she became.

“Pottery has lovers all over the world, and masters often hide among ordinary people,” Pedro said, looking out the door. In the sunlight, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth formed soft lines. In her forties, she carried a weight of age that young people did not have. “Every place has its own customs and character; artistic charm blooms everywhere.”

Wei Yin had only heard Xu Ya Qing talk about such things before. Now, holding the piece in her own hands, she truly understood what it meant that there is always someone better, and beyond the sky there is another sky.

“The depth of traditional Chinese culture is naturally vast and profound,” Pedro said, looking at Wei Yin with kind, expectant, proud eyes. “But you’re still young. You need to go out and see the wider world, meet more like-minded people, and broaden the breadth of your life.”

Pedro had kept these words in her heart for quite some time, but because their first meeting had been unpleasant, she had held them back until now.

She was old, and she knew there would be a generation gap when she spoke to them; she couldn’t help taking on a lecturing tone. If it were Xu Ya Qing, who treated everything she said as gospel, that would be fine, but Wei Yin wasn’t close with her and didn’t really count as familiar, so it was harder to judge the proper distance.

Seeing that Wei Yin had taken it in, Pedro cleared her throat. “The weather’s nice today. Do you have plans for lunch? Let’s eat together.”

Wei Yin looked thoughtful, cradling the ceramic sphere. Without thinking too much, she agreed. “Okay.”

At lunch, Xu Ya Qing and Wei Yin chatted enthusiastically, while Pedro had no rule about not speaking while eating. She brewed herself a pot of tea and listened with great interest.

But when Xu Ya Qing mentioned Hua Yu, Pedro seemed to think of something and suddenly said to Wei Yin, “Yu Tiantian is a very complicated person. Keep your distance from her.”

Wei Yin was in the middle of putting a sweet-and-sour meatball into her mouth. Hearing this, she silently set down her chopsticks.

She asked humbly, “For example?”

What was complicated? How deep?

Hua Yu had mentioned once that behind Yu Tiantian was a filthy, dark industrial chain.

Wei Yin remembered everything Hua Yu said. Some things she would keep to herself; some things she would turn over and over in her heart.

She wasn’t the type to dwell on things, and she didn’t like worrying something over and over; but since it involved Hua Yu, she simply couldn’t relax.

“I’m investigating it too,” Pedro said without hiding anything, nor did she think there was any need to. “It should be related to gland trafficking. I’d previously come into conflict with a human-trafficking organization; that was more than ten years ago. Back then, there were already signs of gland trafficking, but because the technology wasn’t mature enough, I never encountered anyone actually doing it.”

Wei Yin and Xu Ya Qing exchanged a look. Xu Ya Qing swallowed a mouthful of tea. “Teacher, you never told me any of this.”

“You didn’t ask,” Pedro said, puzzled. “You only said that Yu Tiantian kept making trouble for Wei Yin and Hua Yu, so I thought I’d look into it. That’s how I found all this.”

Wei Yin abruptly looked at Xu Ya Qing, not knowing whether she should give her a thumbs-up first or a punch before giving her a thumbs-up.

She had completely forgotten that there were people around her like Pedro.

If she wanted to investigate anything, she should just ask her!

The way Wei Yin looked at Pedro instantly turned burning hot.