Chapter 7

The light gradually slanted westward.

The last piece of ice in her mouth finally melted, turning into a cool sweetness that spread across Shang Mingbao’s tongue.

She closed the student ID and sat silently, her feelings of embarrassment and grievance rising to her throat, only to be swallowed back. Finally, she asked, “Why did you lie to me?”

He had deliberately deceived her for so long. How she had believed he was just well-preserved, calling him “uncle” so earnestly.

Xiang Feiran threw his backpack onto the floor and crouched down in front of her. Due to the height difference, his gaze was slightly downward, his voice tinged with helplessness: “I told you not to call me uncle.”

He was too close, his features magnified—his eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, and Adam’s apple—all undeniably belonging to a young man, displaying the untamed and cold traits of youth.

“What about this?” Shang Mingbao unconsciously wrinkled her nose, her chest rumbling like thunder, “And when I first called you ‘uncle,’ you didn’t correct me.”

Xiang Feiran raised an eyebrow, “Should I have told you then to call me ‘brother’?”

“It would have been too forward since we weren’t familiar.”

It was clearly a shifting of the argument, but his nonchalant demeanor made her question whether it was her fault after all.

A long hand appeared in front of her.

Xiang Feiran held his palm up: “Verify my identity. Should I get it back now? Or do you want to keep it and check if it’s fake?”

Shang Mingbao, coming to her senses, handed the student ID back like a hot potato, accusing, “You could have told me last night.”

“Last night the moon was so bright, I thought you had seen clearly and that there would be no misunderstanding.”

What? What kind of reasoning was that?

Shang Mingbao hesitated, “I was a bit suspicious… but what if you’re just exceptionally well-preserved?”

Xiang Feiran flattened his lips: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Shang Mingbao instinctively clenched her ankle, adding a hint of sulkiness to her tone: “You clearly had the chance to say something in the morning.”

Fang Suining had been eavesdropping behind the sofa for a while. From anxiety to glee and now to confusion, she was tangled up in her thoughts. Her damn brother, her dear friend! How many times had they met secretly?! How had she been kept in the dark about everything?!

Xiang Feiran was completely unembellished in his laziness: “I was too tired to talk about it.”

Shang Mingbao was silent.

“Really.”

Shang Mingbao continued to be silent.

“I swear.”

“How do you swear?”

“If I’m lying, all my submitted papers will be flagged.”

Fang Suining’s pupils dilated again. What??? Such a severe oath? Is this guy crazy?

Shang Mingbao: “I don’t understand.”

“Fine, if you think I’m lying, then I’m a dog.”

Pretending to be middle-aged in front of a young girl is hardly satisfying. At first, he didn’t speak because he was too lazy to say anything, confident that they wouldn’t meet again. When the second meeting came, he still didn’t say anything, still confident that they wouldn’t have a third meeting. When the third meeting came…

In short, he didn’t expect that despite his conscious avoidance, they would keep meeting endlessly, up to the fourth and fifth time.

Not only did they keep meeting, but they also entered his specimen room and ate longan ice there.

This kind of lack of boundaries was clearly the work of Fang Suining, who could be imagined as having been led by the head. After he finished his instructions, he cast a discreet glance around, fixed his gaze behind the sofa for a moment, and then subtly withdrew it.

“Who brought you here?”

With the roles of host and guest exchanged, he began his interrogation, like a cat playing with a mouse, calm and composed.

Fang Suining, hiding behind the sofa, shivered in fear…

Shang Mingbao, who valued righteousness, though feeling guilty, was resolute: “I came here on my own.”

“The key?”

“The door wasn’t locked.” Shang Mingbao tried to argue.

“Then why was it locked when I came in just now?”

“Hmm…” Shang Mingbao seriously hummed for a while, “Aunt Lan thought I had left, so she locked it. Aunt Lan respects you a lot.”

Outside, Fang Suining had her head in her hands.

Xiang Feiran barely managed to suppress a smile, as if suddenly enlightened, nodding: “So, you’re here alone, drinking two bowls of ice?”

There was one bowl left on the coffee table, and another had spilled on the floor, with the ice water half-dried by the air conditioning, leaving transparent stains, looking somewhat disheveled.

Shang Mingbao quickly thought on her feet: “The other bowl is for you.”

Xiang Feiran’s face showed a half-smile: “Since it’s for me, who drank it?”

After a pause, his gaze fell on Shang Mingbao’s flushed face: “You?”

It turned out that making up lies was so difficult.

Shang Mingbao felt a wave of heat rise, struggling to keep her expression from breaking: “Y-yeah, is that a problem…”

Fang Suining felt hopeless. Between being caught by Xiang Feiran and confessing, it seemed the latter would have a slightly lighter consequence. She took a deep breath, ready to crawl out and face justice, when she heard Xiang Feiran say, “Alright, then you owe me a bowl.”

Fang Suining was stunned, her gaze wandering uncontrollably. The faint golden light filled the room, and Xiang Feiran’s side profile was slightly bowed, his expression blurred in the backlight.

The cicadas chirped one after another, and Fang Suining, still sweating, sat back down with wide eyes. What? Did he actually let it go? Her cousin with eight hundred shrewd ideas?

Xiang Feiran didn’t say anything more, standing up and holding the bowl of fresh green maidenhair fern half in his arms: “Don’t eat here next time.”

“Oh…” Shang Mingbao responded with a low voice, thinking to herself that she didn’t want another chance. Not unless you invite me. Even if you invite me, I won’t come.

Her legs, which had been kneeling for a long time, were already stiff. When she moved, she felt a jolt of sourness and numbness, letting out a small muffled groan from her nostrils.

Xiang Feiran pretended not to notice, focusing on the maidenhair fern, though his lips slightly curved up.

Her phone vibrated—Fang Suining had asked her to come up with an excuse to lure Xiang Feiran away.

Shang Mingbao: How do I lure him away?

Fang Suining: Ask him out!

Shang Mingbao: Me?

Fang Suining didn’t reply, indicating that the matter was settled and should not be debated further.

Though it was absurd, Shang Mingbao felt she had to stand up for her friend. She gritted her teeth: “Um…”

Fang Suining sent more instructions: What ‘um’! It’s Brother Feiran!

After hearing her difficult “Brother Feiran,” Xiang Feiran turned his face slightly back: “What’s the matter?”

Shang Mingbao closed her eyes and gritted her teeth: “Do you have time? I’d like to go out for a walk with you.”

Xiang Feiran, who had just taken a sip from his silver stainless steel cup, was suddenly choked.

Clearly, this was Fang Suining’s bad trick to lure him away. He turned around, leaning against the workbench, and asked nonchalantly, “Now?”

Shang Mingbao nodded eagerly: “Now.”

“Why don’t you let Fang Suining go with you?” He asked knowingly, his face reflected in the silver cup, giving off a high-intelligence and aloof feeling.

Shang Mingbao: “…”

Xiang Feiran raised an eyebrow: “She’s not available?”

Shang Mingbao racked her brains: “She’s not feeling well this afternoon and is sleeping.”

A terrible excuse, but she tried her best.

Xiang Feiran took another sip of water, appearing indifferent.

Shang Mingbao didn’t know how to beg and softened her tone: “If you’re really busy…”

Not sure if this tactic of retreating to advance worked, or if Xiang Feiran decided to be merciful and let his cousin off the hook, he finally put down his cup and straightened up: “I’m free. Where do you want to go?”

In the area within ten kilometers, this was the only house, with free-range chickens more numerous than people. Any path was deserted. Shang Mingbao didn’t know north from south, just blindly walking as if going to the execution ground.

She was usually very bright and lively, but didn’t know how to act mute in front of him.

It was still Xiang Feiran who stopped her, glancing at his watch: “If you’re trying to distract me from Fang Suining, it’s enough now.”

Shang Mingbao felt a sudden panic: “Y-you knew?”

“How, did you think you two were very clever?”

Caught off guard by the sudden exposure, Shang Mingbao felt embarrassed, her face burning. If it were her own brother, she might have pouted and rolled around, but this was someone else’s brother.

The girl’s face, which had not even managed to catch the sunlight, turned red with her own shyness.

Xiang Feiran looked away, hands in his sports pants pockets: “I’m not blaming you.” He then tilted his chin to the side: “Alright, let’s go back.”

“Ah? We’ve only been out for a few minutes.” Shang Mingbao said instinctively.

Xiang Feiran frowned slightly, with a half-smile on his face: “Why, do you really want to go with me?”

Accompanying a young girl who has left her hometown to cheer her up isn’t a big deal, but this week he has been overwhelmed with tasks, accumulating a lot of documents to review, and he’s very tired—four hours of traveling back and forth, plus having to outwit his advisor really strains his brain cells.

“Let’s do it another day,” he thought for a moment, speaking with a serious tone, “I need to sleep now.”

Using that face and tone to say such things was a well-practiced form of evasion, quite underhanded. Shang Mingbao thought to herself that he was very skilled at evading girls.

—

Fang Suining’s relief at narrowly escaping a disaster hadn’t lasted five minutes before she was informed that Xiang Feiran had already seen through everything. Just as she was about to confess, Shang Mingbao pulled her back: “Don’t go, he’s asleep right now.”

Fang Suining asked, “You know this?”

“He said so himself, he wants to catch up on sleep and won’t be accompanying me.”

Fang Suining, more suspicious, asked, “He reports even that to you?”

Shang Mingbao couldn’t stand her wording: “What reporting? He clearly said it to get rid of me.”

“How did he say it?”

Shang Mingbao repeated word for word: “He said ‘let’s do it another day, I need to sleep now.’”

Fang Suining said, “He must want to make plans with you.”

Shang Mingbao’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively denied it: “No.”

“No, you don’t understand him,” Fang Suining said with certainty, “Since he said to do it another day, he will definitely do it.” Without waiting for Shang Mingbao to react, she hugged her tightly: “When he does ask you out, reject him fiercely!”

Shang Mingbao: “……”

—

At around six in the evening, during dinner time, the person who had been elusive for days finally showed up.

Some people have a strong presence by nature; even though they don’t speak, everyone welcomes them, their presence sharply defining the space.

Xiang Lianqiao asked with concern, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t come for dinner until the specimens were done?”

That was just an excuse to avoid meeting Shang Mingbao before. Now that the misunderstanding was resolved, there was no need to avoid her. Xiang Feiran calmly replied while pulling out a chair: “I’m hungry.”

The girl sitting across the round table remained silent. He glanced at her, his fingers tapping lightly in front of Fang Suining on the table: “Aren’t you cold in a dress tonight?”

The temperature difference between day and night in the mountains is large; it’s hot during the day but easy to catch a cold at night.

Fang Suining didn’t appreciate her cousin’s concern, replying bluntly: “No, not everyone is as delicate as you.”

Xiang Feiran didn’t bother arguing with her on that topic, lifting his exclusive stainless steel mug and taking a sip, asking casually: “Where’s the guest?”

The window behind Shang Mingbao was wide open, and the evening breeze flowed in from the valley, bringing the chill of the valley floor. She wanted to be polite and not trouble the workers, but Xiang Feiran seemed to have seen through her and instructed Aunt Lan: “Get a blanket for the little guest.”

“Oh… little~ guest~,” Fang Suining mimicked with a smirk.

Xiang Lianqiao laughed: “How come you still don’t know what to call her after three days?”

Fang Suining was about to complain when she was intercepted by Xiang Feiran’s gaze. As she calmed down, Xiang Feiran continued: “We met the other day, we were on the same car.”

Xiang Lianqiao was hearing this for the first time; it seemed even the driver didn’t think it was necessary to report such minor details to him.

Xiang Feiran, with his fingers pressing the rotating tray, naturally moved the first bowl of clear soup prepared by the housekeeper in front of Shang Mingbao, and then asked: “Your surname is Shang, what’s your full name? I forgot.”

Fang Suining frowned, thinking to herself, you’re a freak who can recite thousands of Latin names…?

“Shang Mingbao, Ming as in bright, Bao…” Shang Mingbao swallowed the word “baby” that almost slipped out, and corrected: “Bao as in treasure.”

Xiang Feiran nodded, his gaze lifting slightly, his demeanor as cool and detached as the wind sweeping over the mountain ridge.

“Shang Mingbao, welcome as a guest.”

It was the first time Shang Mingbao was called by her full name. In Hong Kong, people usually use English names or just call her Mingbao casually. Being addressed fully as “Shang Mingbao” felt unfamiliar and formal, almost like being called out by a teacher.

With Xiang Feiran’s appearance, the pace of dinner slowed significantly. Not only did Fang Suining chatter more, but even Xiang Lianqiao appeared more cheerful, and they had an assistant brew a pot of raw puerh tea, indicating a lively conversation.

Fang Suining had made it a habit to listen to the news daily and discuss international affairs with Xiang Lianqiao during dinner. Their debates were well-reasoned and engaging, but Xiang Feiran never participated. He seemed uninterested in these matters and had no need to express grand theories. He just held his cup, sipping on bagged oolong tea, and seemed slightly distracted.

It wasn’t until Xiang Lianqiao asked him about his academic progress that he offered a few brief responses.

Fang Suining whispered to Shang Mingbao, “He’s really bored. Every day, it’s either going out for fieldwork, doing experiments, or reading papers—never-ending papers.”

What she described was essentially Xiang Feiran’s daily routine. Although biology is considered a challenging major, undergraduates typically don’t face such hardships and still manage to eat, shop, date, and play games. The problem is that Xiang Feiran isn’t a typical undergraduate. It’s not uncommon for freshmen to be personally selected by academicians for research teams, but Xiang Feiran was only the third person to be chosen in the school’s history.

Professor Zhou Yingshu told him on the first day that plant taxonomy is a relatively obscure and ancient field. Most biology students who wish to continue their studies would gravitate toward molecular biology. Taxonomy and evolution are lonely fields. In other words, you don’t have to take this olive branch.

But Xiang Feiran accepted it. According to his senior classmates, he was a “fine person who had abandoned himself.” When they later learned that he had turned down offers from Qingbei in first year in high school, they thought he must be an unusual person.

Spending all day in the mountains, the laboratory, and the specimen hall, Xiang Feiran didn’t see anything wrong with his life. However, when Fang Suining summed it up, it did seem a bit dull.

Rarely speaking, he unexpectedly said, “Botany has its own meaning.”

Fang Suining, with a mischievous glint, replied, “Whatever meaning it has, we’ll never know since you don’t take us along.”

Xiang Feiran crossed his arms and leaned slightly back in his chair, looking at Fang Suining: “It’s simple, just ask me.”

Fang Suining was so upset she could have cried: “Grandpa, look at him!”

Xiang Lianqiao, used to their bickering, said, “I’ve already asked, but it seems my old face lacks enough authority. Asking me isn’t effective. Why not try together while he’s here? Between the two of you, you might have more influence than just an old man like me.”

Fang Suining immediately clasped her hands and said in a firm tone, “Please!”

Xiang Feiran smiled slightly but became a bit more serious: “Don’t take it seriously, I really don’t have the time.”

Professor Zhou kept stressing the need to maintain continuity in research. Having skipped the lab for a month was nearly a cardinal sin. To push him, Zhou Yingshu personally sent him a compressed file of several hundred gigabytes of literature to read and review. He was the first to report in the group meeting after school started. Given this situation, he even had trouble finding time to sleep.

Seeing that he wasn’t budging, Fang Suining immediately pulled Shang Mingbao into the fray: “Little guest! The little guest hasn’t begged yet! Aren’t you going to help someone who looks like an angel?”

Don’t be so stubborn!

Shang Mingbao, thrust into the spotlight, felt a jolt of nervousness and instinctively began to formulate her words. Just then, she heard the sound of a chair scraping across the stone floor.

She looked up to see Xiang Feiran standing up.

It seemed he wasn’t interested in how she would beg and didn’t want to spend another second listening. He simply wanted to leave. Before walking away, he lowered his gaze, glanced across the round table at her, and lightly tapped the surface: “Shang Mingbao, don’t listen to Fang Suining’s coaxing.”

Even though it was a request, being addressed by her full name left her with no room to refuse.