Capítulo 14: 13. Is she flirting with me?

The black eyes that had deeply impressed him were now lightly closed.

The delicate little face lost its sharpness, appearing extra tranquil in sleep.

Jing Yu had never thought that a person's eyes could bring such a stark contrast to others.

Perhaps he had been staring for too long, for in the next instant those closed eyes suddenly opened, and he once again saw that familiar hint of cool indifference within.

The woman leaning back in her seat seemed momentarily stunned as she met his gaze, then slowly lifted her head.

"We... met a few days ago."

It was not a question, but a certainty.

For Tang Shu, who never forgot a face, this memory was still fresh. What's more, the man before her had extraordinarily handsome features, making him the most memorable person she had ever encountered.

The movie was still playing, and the male lead character was performing a soothing piano piece, which suddenly became the background music.

Jing Yu found himself observed by those pair of eyes, and his throat made an imperceptible movement.

The spilled drink, the sleeping, the alert eyes...

If he hadn't had precision in his judgment, he might have really thought this woman was flirting with him.

"You... your cola spilled on my sneakers."

Jing Yu said.

Tang Shu looked toward her left hand and saw the black drink dripping drop by drop onto her black sneakers; due to the similar colors, she couldn't tell how much had actually spilled.

She weighed the drink, which seemed much lighter than before.

The moment was awkward for a spare second, and Tang Shu cleared her throat lightly as she met Jing Yu's deep gaze, feeling unreasonably guilty under his scrutiny.

"Sorry, are your shoes okay?"

"They're fine."

Jing Yu withdrew his gaze and looked towards the movie screen, where the story had entered its final phase, and the female painter finally met the pianist, embracing him by the lake.

As the end credits began to play, the lighting technician turned on the main lights of the cinema, and the audience gradually started to get up and leave.

Jing Yu's mother finally showed a smile, "This movie is so wonderful! It has beautiful artistic conception, and the piano pieces are very pleasant to listen to, plus it has a happy ending with everyone reunited!"

"Have you had enough fun?"

"No! I want to see more!"

"..."

Jing Yu, who hardly watched the film, twitched the corner of his mouth, wanting to retort something, but ended up sighing and said nothing.

Tang Shu, who still wanted to apologize, saw that the two were "chatting happily," hesitated for a moment, and then followed the crowd out of the auditorium.

The other party hadn't mentioned compensation, so that seemed to suggest the incident wasn't... too serious?

***

Fifteen minutes later.

Tang Shu once again bought a ticket, took a pair of 3D glasses from the staff member at the checkpoint, and entered the auditorium for the second time.

After she sat down, someone else took the seat next to her.

She glanced sideways unintentionally, and once again met those deep eyes.

Tang Shu: "..."

Jing Yu: "..."

The two nodded in acknowledgment, settled down, and watched the movie.

This time they chose an international science fiction action blockbuster. The 3D effects and the protagonist's thrilling abilities kept Tang Shu completely engrossed.

She munched on popcorn throughout, without a hint of sleepiness.

Finally finding a story she liked, Tang Shu thought.

After two movies, it was already noon, and after a casual meal in the mall, she was convinced that stories of this world were more interesting than Damo's storybooks, so she dived back into the cinema.

Until... three in the afternoon when she encountered Jing Yu for the fourth time.

By coincidence, they were seated next to each other again, and this time, the man didn't have the woman who claimed to be his "mother" with him.

Even Jing Yu was somewhat surprised. After watching three movies with his mother, he was finally picked up by his father. Figuring he had nothing else to do, he planned to watch another movie to pass the time, unexpectedly bumping into the same person for the fourth time.

Before Tang Shu could nod and greet him again, he spoke up.

"My shoes are a bit sticky."

"... Shall I compensate you with new shoes?"

Jing Yu's eyes fell on the popcorn in the seat next to him, and he pondered, "If you want to express your apology, you could buy me a drink when we leave."

Tang Shu was somewhat slow to react. In the morning, her "invited" shoes had a drink, and she was doing it again in the afternoon—what kind of logic was that?

However, she was still willing to apologize in such a way.

"Alright."

She agreed readily.

The movies being shown that October were lively, perhaps due to the big National Day release, and even mid-month, the screenings were still packed.

Art films, foreign blockbusters, domestic comedy films—one after another, enough to entertain someone bored from midnight till the next midnight.

By the time this comedy film ended, it was already five-thirty in the afternoon.

The two of them went to the cinema's lounge area side by side, and Tang Shu looked straight at the counter where the popcorn was sold, asking the person beside her.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Coke," Jing Yu blurted out without thinking.

Then he added two words, "Large one."

Tang Shu nodded and soon bought two Cokes from the counter, one large and one medium.

"Dear customer, please help yourself to a straw."

Following the cashier's suggestion, she laid her eyes on the colorful assortment of straws before her, with a look of curiosity.

With a mind to try everything once, she took one straw from each of the two different containers and left.

As she turned to leave, the cashier watched her back with a teasing and meaningful look.

The waiting area.

Jing Yu had finished a phone call, and now had a Coke and a straw in front of him.

"Thank you."

He took the drink, and unintentionally looking up, he noticed Tang Shu inserting the couple's double straw into the medium-sized Coke in front of her.

"..."

Normally composed, Jing Yu found his composure shaken by the sight before him.

Tang Shu, who was examining the purpose of the straws, caught a glimpse of his unusual gaze, "What's wrong?"

Her large eyes, clear with confusion, maybe because he had interrupted her train of thought, also seemed to hold a trace of bewilderment.

Three words unexpectedly popped into Jing Yu's head—kind of cute.

He confirmed her action was indeed out of curiosity and couldn't help but find it amusing, then he diverted the topic.

"Nothing, how are the medical herbs I bought for you last time?"

"Not bad. While they can't compare with the effectiveness of fresh herbs, the Processing Techniques were professional enough to ensure minimal loss of potency," she replied.

Tang Shu stopped focusing on experimenting with the two-headed straw and became eloquent when it came to the Poison Physician Technique.

While Jing Yu was not an expert in medical arts, he was well-informed. By the time they had finished their drinks, their conversation about the efficacy of medical herbs gradually came to an end.

As they were about to part, his deep eyes once again fell upon the couple's straw, and he let out a laugh.

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Capítulo 15: 14. Is the student council president very impressive?

Medical University, campus forum.

After fermenting for an entire day, Tang Shu's high school exam score surpassing 700 points successfully topped the like-ranking chart.

[Tsk tsk, who was it that said our little junior's grades were poor and got in through the back door? Come out, let's have a good chat.]

[I have to say, this score is peerless, even among this year's crowd of academic prodigies, she's outstanding.]

[Holy moly! With these scores, sister's chased by all the schools in the country, and you're saying she needed to use the back door? Is your family's back door that hard to get through?!]

[I bet the original poster's back door is made of iron, hhhhh~~~]

When the transcript was first posted, almost everyone immediately focused on the high score.

However, as time passed, people gradually started to smell something fishy.

[Brothers and sisters, why do I smell something called a conspiracy?]

[Big brother, your nose isn't working well, it's clearly the sour stench of heavy jealousy!]

[Case solved! The original poster's trending post was definitely malicious slander, misleading public opinion with half-truths, this guy's good at writing for public accounts——]

[The original poster must be a full-score achiever in reading comprehension, absolutely!]

[Original poster, come out and look, does such a score need hype? Still stepping on Meng Yunyun for publicity? Are you posting because your goddess was overshadowed and you're holding a grudge?]

If someone knew the origin of the post, they would undoubtedly give this fellow student a thumbs up.

So clever!

The forum thread originally marked with "hot" remained blazing, and the number of clicks was about to break ten thousand, with even the graduated seniors unable to resist chiming in.

However, the popularity this time was entirely different from the previous day. As many people agreed with the original poster then, now as many condemned her for her malintent.

At this moment, Lin Yue, the person behind it all, sat in the classroom, holding her phone and trembling.

On one hand, she was indignant about the accusations and insults directed at her on the forum, and on the other hand, she was worried someone would discover she was the one who posted.

"Alright, students, that's it for this class, you're dismissed."

Following the conclusion from the third-year specialty course professor, the students in the lecture theater rose and left in groups of two or three.

Meng Yunyun got up and was the first to head toward the podium, completely unaware of her roommate's distracted state.

"Professor Chen, I don't quite understand this part..."

The professor at the podium was not even thirty years old, a Medical University master's graduate who chose to stay at his alma mater, and was very patient with his students.

Especially since Meng Yunyun herself was an eager student favored by the teachers, her confusion was clarified in a few words.

After five minutes, the mobile phone on the podium rang.

"Hello, Professor Yu, you were looking for me?"

Upon hearing the address, Meng Yunyun silently stood aside and stopped talking.

"Okay, I understand, you're asking for Tang Shu, right? Okay... Then you go ahead with your work."

Professor Chen hung up the phone with a slight frown, and Meng Yunyun, hearing the name again, furrowed her brow too.

She knew that the person in front of her was not only a specialty course teacher but also the advisor for the freshmen of the Traditional Chinese Medicine department.

"Professor Chen, what's wrong?"

"Professor Yu called to ask for a student's leave for an entire week... Since when does Professor Yu handle such things?"

Even Professor Chen herself couldn't figure out what was going on, speculating in her mind, could that Tang Shu student possibly be a relative of Professor Yu?

No matter who it was, asking for leave through someone else was a sheer lack of respect for her.

Besides, Professor Yu made it clear over the phone that the student was going off to record some variety show.

"Students these days are becoming more audacious, not taking academics seriously and instead chasing fame through all sorts of nonsense, it's utterly absurd."

Professor Chen was somewhat displeased but didn't forget the matter at hand, "Right, did you understand the earlier question?"

"I got it, thank you, Professor."

Meng Yunyun lowered her eyes, understanding the ins and outs of the situation.

So it was her, the junior who was dubbed the new "campus belle" on the school forum.

"It's fine, if you have any problems you can email me, and I'll answer them when I see it."

"Okay, take care."

Watching the lecturer leave, Meng Yunyun turned to see her roommate's face somewhat pale.

"Lin Yue, are you feeling unwell? Why are you so pale?"

"Yunyun, about that Tang Shu..."

"What about her again? Why bother with someone inconsequential? You'd be better off spending more time in the lab. Everyone has their own path to follow, and we're not walking the same road as her."

Perhaps her name was being mentioned too frequently, but Meng Yunyun intuitively didn't want to hear any more. "You go back and rest first. I'll go to the canteen and get you some food."

A freshman who needed to take leave to attend a program recording as soon as school started was bound to be on a path increasingly divergent from hers, and there was absolutely no need to discuss it.

"Oh—okay."

In the end, Lin Yue swallowed back the matter of her high school exam results certificate.

Forget it, Yunyun was right. What did it matter if it was a high score?

In school, top students were a dime a dozen, but not all students could catch the eye of a mentor like Professor Lin. The position Yunyun had reached was entirely due to her own efforts.

It wasn't as if just anyone with high scores could earn Professor Lin's favor.

***

At that time, Tang Shu was utterly unaware of the buzz on the campus forum, having taken her boarding pass and met up with Sister Luo.

"Tang Shu, did you get your leave approved at school? Are you sure I shouldn't call your teachers for you?"

On the plane, Sister Luo was very concerned and double-checked.

In her eyes, a key university like Imperial Capital Medical University had very strict management, and since her artist had just started as a freshman, taking a one-week leave of absence was definitely a difficult task.

Since their last phone call, she had been waiting for the other party to ask for help, as at least with the company's name she could speak to the teachers and the chances of getting leave approved would be better.

But she waited and waited, all the way until now.

Tang Shu looked at her boarding pass for her assigned seat, edged past Sister Luo to the window seat, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Don't worry, it's taken care of."

"Then... how did you explain it to the counselor?"

That question was purely out of curiosity!

After all, Tang Shu's popularity hadn't risen yet, and the little fame she had was more of the notorious sort; she couldn't even muster a recognizable face.

"I had someone ask for leave on my behalf."

Five simple words from the main character herself, mundane, yet they managed to completely stun Sister Luo.

"...You managed to get someone to ask for a week's leave on your behalf? May I ask, was it the student council president?"

At these words, a hint of confusion appeared in Tang Shu's eyes.

The student council president, is that a big deal?

"It was an elder who does research with me; he said he knew the counselor. He asked for leave for me, and in exchange, I'll bring him some medicinal herbs from Yun Province."

Now Sister Luo believed it, so it was a fair trade?

What Tang Shu didn't say was that a few days earlier, when she left the lab, she had intended to inform Professor Yu that she wouldn't be able to come the following week and that she was going to ask the counselor for leave herself.

But as soon as Professor Yu learned of the situation, he took it upon himself to do it.

In thanks, Tang Shu had asked for the location of the Snow Soul Grass that had been transplanted in Yun Province, intending to bring a few back with her.

As the plane was about to take off, she opened the Weibo app and shared the latest post from the host, Pan Yang, then turned off her phone and began her first flying experience.

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