Chapter 38

Meeting Song Chu at school was pure coincidence. That day, the class monitor begged Yu Min to go with her to the counselor’s office to hand in some documents. Yu Min had a soft heart and agreed. When they arrived, there were already other faculty members in the counselor’s office, including Professor Song, who had taught their class Basic Principles of Marxism last semester. He was Song Chu’s father.

As for Song Chu, Yu Min only saw her in the corridor outside the office. She had come to pick up Professor Song and arrived more than ten minutes early. Like Yu Min, she didn’t go in; she waited outside.

Song Chu had a bright, lovely face, with delicate features sharp enough to seem carved. She was dressed in a winter suit, her long hair pinned up in an elaborate style, and she carried a designer handbag. While she waited, she kept fiddling with her phone, her eyes never leaving the screen, as though she were talking to someone.

A beauty with that kind of face was impossible to overlook. Almost every student or staff member who passed by was drawn to her, one way or another.

Yu Min had no intention of prying into anyone else’s business. At first, she barely paid Song Chu any attention at all; she only glanced over casually and looked away. It wasn’t until the class monitor came out after submitting the documents, and the counselor and Professor Song followed a moment later, that the counselor greeted Song Chu and said warmly, “Oh, Xiao Chu, why are you here? How long have you been waiting? Why stay out here the whole time? You could have come in.”

Professor Song, standing between them, introduced her and said Song Chu had come back to the country more than a week ago.

It happened to be around the same time Lin Qi had asked Yu Min to pass on a message.

Yu Min overheard the three of them by accident. By then, the class monitor had hooked her arm through Yu Min’s, and they had already reached the stairwell, but Yu Min still couldn’t help glancing back. At that moment, Song Chu looked up, and their eyes met.

Catching herself being stared at, Song Chu didn’t look away. Her expression only flickered briefly; she seemed clearly displeased, probably having noticed Yu Min long ago and taking offense at her furtive scrutiny.

The class monitor tugged at Yu Min, puzzled by why she had stopped.

“Come on, let’s go. Hurry to the cafeteria, or we won’t get anything if we’re late.”

Yu Min quietly looked away and kept going down the stairs.

“Coming.”

Only when they reached the first floor, far from the counselor and the others, did the class monitor dare to ask, “Did you see that woman in the beige dress just now? She was so pretty she looked like a celebrity. Is she an alumna?”

Yu Min already knew the answer; Lin Qi had told her.

“No.”

“How do you know? You know her?”

“No.”

“You sounded so sure. I thought you did.”

In the afternoon, Yu Min had classes straight through, and at night she still had a long lab session. She left campus at nine. Originally, Lin Baixin had planned to drive to school to pick her up, but Yu Min refused and insisted she not come.

Lin Baixin said, “I’m passing by anyway. Are you sure you don’t want me to come? You can just take a taxi home.”

Passing by... Yu Min tightened her grip on the phone and walked alone. After a long silence, she asked, “You came to our school?”

“No.” Lin Baixin denied it immediately. “I just had something to do nearby. I didn’t go into the school. I’m about to head back now, and I thought I could pick you up on the way.”

Yu Min’s voice carried a tension even she could barely hear. She didn’t want her to come, and yet she did. After struggling for a moment, she awkwardly changed course: “Then wait for me at the back gate. Don’t come into the school. I’ll go find you.”

Lin Baixin agreed at once. “Okay. I’m heading over now.”

At the start of the year, with business dropping sharply, the shop was no longer busy. Recently, whenever Lin Baixin had time, she would go to X University to pick Yu Min up. When she was free in the mornings, she still drove her there. Lin Baixin didn’t mind the trouble; it didn’t take much time, and one extra trip meant nothing. But this time, after she got home, Yu Min took the initiative and said there was no need for Lin Baixin to keep picking her up and dropping her off. Classes weren’t as tight as they were during exam weeks; her first class didn’t start until 8:30 in the morning, so even if she left for school slowly after seven, she still wouldn’t be late. There was no rush.

Lin Baixin was taken aback. Usually, Yu Min had been quite willing to let her pick her up and drop her off; sometimes she even got up earlier just so they could ride together. Now she suddenly didn’t want to sit in her car anymore and was acting so hesitant and evasive. Clearly, she was hiding something.

“What is it? Am I not supposed to go? What happened?” Lin Baixin asked bluntly. “You don’t want me picking you up?”

Yu Min denied it, but she couldn’t give a more specific reason. Lin Baixin was the one going out of her way to drive around, and she didn’t even mind; yet Yu Min kept refusing. That was bound to hurt and make people suspicious.

No matter what, she couldn’t tell the truth. Yu Min played dead and thought for a long time before finally coming up with a plausible excuse: she wanted to sleep a little longer in the morning and didn’t want to get to school so early.

Medical students being short on sleep was common knowledge; being able to sleep ten extra minutes was already a luxury. That reason was acceptable to Lin Baixin, though she could tell it wasn’t the real one and didn’t press further.

Fine. No more rides, then. She would respect Yu Min’s choice. Young people at this stage of life valued freedom in every sense and almost all disliked being controlled by adults.

“Then if you need me to pick you up any day, call me ahead of time,” Lin Baixin said kindly.

Yu Min began to regret it after a while, but once words were out, they were out. Taking it back would only make things seem even stranger.

If Lin Baixin didn’t drive her anymore, then they would have even less time together. Especially on weekdays, they would only see each other after school or after work when they got home. And if Yu Min had evening classes, or Lin Baixin worked overtime, then there would be even less time.

It was no different from hurting the enemy by a thousand and losing eight hundred yourself; for the “enemy,” it hardly counted at all.

After all, whether Lin Baixin drove her or not, Yu Min couldn’t stop her from seeing other people. They would always have to be apart sometimes; during the day, they each had their own things to do, and Yu Min couldn’t follow Lin Baixin every minute of the day or know everything she did.

The more she thought about it, the worse it seemed. She had picked up a stone only to smash her own foot. Yu Min sighed, feeling that she had really been muddleheaded and couldn’t see straight.

She had truly stunned herself with her own stupidity. Yu Min had no experience; she was just a reckless, hotheaded fool. Because of that, she spent the next three days regretting it, wishing time could run backward so she could do it all over again and absolutely not act like that.

Luckily, this time heaven was on her side. Whether Yu Min was unlucky or lucky, she caught another chill. It wasn’t serious; she didn’t have a fever, just felt sleepy and had a dry throat. She usually wasn’t the type to make a fuss, but this time was an exception. She bought medicine herself and took it after getting home. After that, she looked listless, like an eggplant hit by frost; she wrapped herself tightly in a thick blanket and curled up on the sofa, sniffing now and then. Her nose was blocked, so she kept sniffing to help herself breathe.

Lin Baixin quickly noticed something was wrong. Seeing the medicine on the coffee table, she knew at a glance that Yu Min was sick.

This time it was purely from being out in the wind and cold, a chill brought on by catching a cold.

Yu Min took the bus every day. She had to walk a long way from school to the bus stop, then wait ten or twenty minutes for the bus, sometimes even longer. With cold wind blowing hard from morning to night, it would have been strange if she hadn’t caught a cold.

Leaning against the sofa, Yu Min’s eyelids felt heavy, and she didn’t want to move at all. Lin Baixin came over to ask how she was feeling, and Yu Min was still stubborn; she forced herself to say, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Where did you get the medicine?” Lin Baixin asked. “The hospital?”

“The school clinic.” Yu Min said, tugging at Lin Baixin’s wrist. She couldn’t pull her closer, so she could only hold on to her. “It’s okay. I already took the medicine. I should feel better later.”

She was sick too often, always like this. It was hard not to worry.

Lin Baixin was taking care of her, so how could she not be concerned? She set aside the work she hadn’t finished and handed it over to Lin Qi. That night, she did nothing else and stayed by Yu Min’s side, afraid she might develop a fever.

Probably because she had taken the medicine in time, Yu Min ultimately didn’t run a fever; or maybe the medicine was working, and she only grew more dizzy. Lin Baixin sent her back to the bedroom, but by then she was so dazed she couldn’t even tell where she was, and she still refused to lie down and rest properly.

“It’s only past eight. It’s still early. I’ll sleep later. I haven’t written my lab report yet, and it has to be turned in tomorrow.”

Lin Baixin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Even now, she was still thinking about schoolwork. She pressed Yu Min down and said, “Write it tomorrow morning. Sleep first. I’ll wake you in the morning, or I’ll take you to school. If that doesn’t work, I’ll call your teacher and explain the situation to see whether you can hand it in half a day late.”

Hearing that she would take her to school, Yu Min finally stopped struggling and settled down, obediently lying on the bed.

“Homework isn’t more important than your health. Don’t be so rigid,” Lin Baixin said again. “All right, just rest. If you need anything, call me. I’m not busy tonight; I’ll be home the whole time and won’t go anywhere.”

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The next day, everything went back to normal. Lin Baixin still insisted on picking Yu Min up and dropping her off. Before, she hadn’t been able to get into X University, so she always waited by the road outside the school; now it was the same. Yu Min ran to the school gate as soon as classes ended, not lingering for even a second. She kept behaving well after that. Every time Lin Baixin went to the school, she never ran into any acquaintances, and after picking Yu Min up each time, she went straight home.

At the end of the month, Yu Min finally learned Song Chu’s true identity from Lin Qi. The other woman was the youngest daughter of Lin Baixin’s graduate advisor, and they had once been in the same class, with Song Chu one year above them. Back when Lin Baixin was in graduate school, her advisor—Teacher Shi, Song Chu’s mother—had taken very good care of her, and Lin Baixin had also had plenty of contact with Song Chu. In Lin Qi’s words, no one had ever treated Lin Baixin better than Song Chu had. Unfortunately, Lin Baixin was a stone that couldn’t be warmed, and she never appreciated it. That once angered Song Chu, which led to the two sides cutting off contact and still not making up now.

Lin Qi didn’t mention the deeper details. Those things weren’t suitable to drag out in front of Yu Min, and besides, they were all in the past. There was no need to bring them up now and make everyone unhappy.

Yu Min had an epiphany. She understood immediately, and a faint suspicion began to rise in her mind. After thinking for a moment, she asked directly, “She’s Sister Baixin’s ex-girlfriend?”

Lin Qi, who had just taken a sip of coffee, nearly sprayed it out. Shocked by the question, she swallowed it back down with great difficulty, then flicked Yu Min on the forehead. Lowering her voice, she warned, “What are you saying? You little brat, your imagination is wild for someone so young. Although you’re only half right... no, not even half. Anyway, you didn’t get it right. Don’t go saying nonsense like that in front of your sister, or she’ll skin you alive. I won’t be able to save you then.”

“Then who is she?” Yu Min tilted her head, earnestly and sincerely seeking an answer.

Lin Qi couldn’t keep a secret. Though she dodged around and refused to say it outright, Yu Min could still piece together some useful information from her halting words.

Song Chu liked Lin Baixin and had even formally pursued her. However, that pursuit ultimately came to nothing. First, Professor Shi stepped in and firmly refused to agree; second... although Lin Baixin had never dated anyone, she was straight. Her orientation was absolutely straight; she didn’t like Song Chu, and she didn’t like girls.