No? Can I read the mind of my mortal enemy?

He arrived just in time, sent the long message he was holding, and then turned off the screen.

He reached out and took Shi Qiao's hand, looking somewhat tired. Just as he was about to say something, his phone buzzed.

The screen displayed "Lauren," which Shi Qiao had occasionally heard Pei Jingnian mention in the past two days; she was a member of the same experimental group.

He didn't answer the phone immediately. He glanced at Shi Qiao and asked for her permission before connecting the call.

As soon as the call connected, a string of English came out.

The girl spoke quite quickly, and Shi Qiao only caught a few words that were hard to hear clearly, such as plasmids, primers, and redoing.

Pei Jingnian nodded, somewhat annoyed.

"I told him to rest a long time ago, but he insisted on pushing himself."

"They actually forgot to check if the refrigerator was turned on before they left, and they even hid it from me."

"No wonder the actual data differs so much from the theoretical estimate."

"Okay, I understand. I'll come check tomorrow morning."

"Now? No, not now..."

My hand was suddenly clenched tightly. I turned my head and met Shi Qiao's serious little face.

She whispered in Pei Jingnian's ear, "The experiment is more important, you should go quickly. I'm not a child anymore, I can eat dinner by myself."

Pei Jingnian gripped Shi Qiao's hand even tighter, finished dealing with the call, and hung up.

His face showed obvious disappointment, and he listlessly wrapped his arms around Shi Qiao.

"The experiment is not as important as you."

"Having dinner with my wife is the only thing I'm looking forward to living these days."

"It's not that exaggerated!" Shi Qiao patted his back.

"Yes, I do." He wrapped his arms around Shi Qiao's waist, compressing the space between them. "I know, my wife can manage on her own."

He read the latter part of his sentence with such aggrieved tone that he almost swallowed it back down his throat.

"But I can't."

Pei Jingnian's bangs brushed against Shi Qiao's ears, making them tingle. "I want to stay with you forever."

She would avoid any overly intimate behavior from Pei Jingnian in public, but for some reason, she wanted to stay with him a little longer today.

It turns out that Pei Jingnian's "nian" means clingy.

"But we can't delay other people's progress." Shi Qiao noticed that a few more people were paying attention to them, and pinched Pei Jingnian's cheek.

"Okay, I'll go with you to buy some sandwiches or something, just consider it me having dinner with you."

Pei Jingnian reluctantly hummed in agreement, but at this moment he didn't seem to be two years older than her at all.

*

After seeing Pei Jingnian off to the laboratory building, Shi Qiao returned home alone.

The security guard downstairs handed her two letters, which were selected prints and film plates sent to her by the four female classmates not long ago.

Shi Qiao originally planned to eat out, but seeing that there were at least two people per table inside, she decided to buy takeout and take it home instead.

She transferred the steaming hot egg noodles to a ceramic bowl, set up her TV show, sat on a stool, hugged one knee, and began to eat.

Tasteless and bland.

Unappetizing.

Shi Qiao rested her chin on her knee and pushed her face away a little.

Since I'm just killing time anyway, I might as well look at some photos.

Hey.

The phone rang twice. Shi Qiao was startled and hurriedly picked up the phone. She saw that the person whose contact name was "a shameless large canine who thinks he is a teacup dog" did not send her a message.

The message was sent by that photography group.

It feels a bit empty.

A seed planted deep in my heart at some unknown time has sprouted into a sour, tender shoot.

Mingming, I promised to spend time with her tonight.

No, no!

Shi Qiao patted her listless face.

Everyone is an independent individual, and everyone has their own things to do.

Today's events happened suddenly, and it wasn't Pei Jingnian who deliberately broke his promise.

How could you think like that!

She roused herself and opened the photography group.

[Mu Zili: Shi Qiao, thanks to you all, our assignment received unanimous praise from the teachers!]

[It's Mengmeng, not Mengmeng: Yeah! Our group came in first place!!]

[Shi Qiao: I'm glad I could help you!]

[Meatball: Thank you so much, Shi Qiao! If it weren't for you and your boyfriend, we would have failed this assignment.]

[Shi Qiao: Not at all, I should be thanking you all, hehe. I don't have many photos of me and him together, this is the first time I've received a photo of me and Pei Jingnian taken by someone else!]

[It's Mengmeng, not Mengmeng: Oh right, Shi Qiao, we also wanted to ask you something. Our teacher didn't really like the photos this time.]

[It's Mengmeng, not Mengmeng: So they made an exception and reserved a booth for us at this year's Beloved Theme Exhibition in Paris, and even covered the food, accommodation, and airfare for the four of us.]

[Shi Qiao: Really?! Congratulations!!]

[Dudu: But... Shi Qiao, we promised you this wouldn't be exhibited, so we wanted to ask you.]

[Dudu: This photography exhibition involves charitable donations; our teacher will donate all proceeds from the exhibition to charitable organizations.]

[Dudu: If you agree, we'll show you the donation certificate and all the details later! It's absolutely not for profit!]

Shi Qiao thought about it for a moment, since it was in Paris anyway.

It's far away.

Where in the world are there so many spectators?

[Shi Qiao: Of course, no problem, hehe!]

The group chatted for a while longer before the other person said they had some major assignments to complete and logged off.

Shi Qiao put down her phone and turned her attention back to the two letters.

She then noticed that the four of them had named these works—

Mirare (to gaze; to stare)

Curious, she opened the photos and discovered that she was the subject of almost all of them, always placed in the foreground or center.

Pei Jingnian serves as a background figure and a supporting character in the photos.

But in Shi Qiao's eyes, it was even more conspicuous.

Because of the line of sight.

That perfectly matches the title of their work this time.

She stared at the ceramic piece in her hands, while Pei Jingnian propped his head up with one hand and watched her.

Her hands were covered in clay. When she leaned over to drink the water Pei Jingnian handed her, Pei Jingnian's eyes fell on her with a smile that he made no attempt to hide.

So much so that when he came across the photo of the two of them holding the pottery jar at the same time, he didn't hold the pottery jar seriously.

Instead, he reached over to her waist and embraced her through the pottery jar.

The nagging that had been driven away through the group chat had surged back up again.

Was it really that obvious to outsiders?

She tucked her legs into the chair and wrapped one arm tightly around them.

It's a strange feeling.

This is the first time.

My eyes feel sore.

I feel like crying.

Shi Qiao took a deep breath, trying to keep herself busy. She tidied the table, washed up, took a shower, put her dirty clothes in the washing machine, and finally left a light on in the entryway.

She stood between the two bedrooms, hesitating, and sent a message to Pei Jingnian.

[Shi Qiao: Are you coming back tonight, Pei Jingnian?]

There was no reply for several minutes.

They must be swamped with work.

I don't even have time to look at my phone.

Her body involuntarily leaned towards Pei Jingnian's room.

She pushed open the door and plunged into the bed, burying her head in the soft blankets.

Sniffing out the lingering scent.

Perhaps because Pei Jingnian has been sleeping less at home lately, the woody scent has become much fainter.

Shi Qiao opened the bedside table, took out the Darjeeling tea that Pei Jingnian said he often sprayed on himself, and sprayed some on her wrists.

The faint aroma of tea, carried by body heat, permeated the nasal cavity.

wrong.

It's still not right, this taste...

Shi Qiao reluctantly put it down, her gaze falling on Pei Jingnian's wardrobe.

Just... a little while.

With her ears burning red, she opened the wardrobe, grabbed a few clothes, and collapsed onto the bed.

The oversized clothes completely enveloped her, and she gently clutched the blanket tightly around herself, burying her nose in the collar.

It smelled of the same laundry detergent as her, along with a faint citrus scent.

It smells so good.

But it wasn't hot enough. Pei Jingnian was always accompanied by intense heat, completely enveloping her, so intense that she willingly surrendered herself to it.

Perhaps Pei Jingnian was wrong in what he said.

It's like she's lost him...

It's not quite working either.

She put Pei Jingnian's shirt on backwards, and instead of rolling up the overly long sleeves, she placed them directly over her nose, as if he were hugging her.

She feels that she is particularly abnormal right now.

Click, the door was suddenly opened.