Zhang Man coaxed and cuddled the man for a good while before finally calming him down, though inwardly, she couldn’t help but grumble to herself. That incident from back then really wasn’t her fault.

And honestly, nothing even happened—it was just a hug! Was it really worth holding a grudge about all this time? This man was getting more and more petty.

That year…

That year, Zhang Man was 21 and in her fifth year at Beijing Medical University.

The foundational medicine and clinical medicine programs at Beijing Medical were integrated eight-year courses that combined undergraduate and doctoral studies. Compared to many “5+3+3+X” medical tracks, the eight-year program was much faster, but for her, it still felt way too slow.

It was late winter that year, just after the Chinese New Year, and the two of them had been apart for six months.

Beijing winters were long, and in March, the temperature was still around minus ten degrees Celsius.

Aside from her freshman year spent on the main campus of Beijing University, medical students like her returned to the medical school campus starting their second year, a distance of four to five kilometers from the main campus.

On a Monday evening, Zhang Man left the lab with a textbook in her arms, walking along the path back to her dormitory.

She had been in the lab for two days and nights, and when she passed by the glass doors of the teaching building, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. The sight startled even herself. In her current state, forget about going to a dinner gathering—she might scare someone just walking outside. Shaking her head with a sigh, she decided to go back to her dorm for a hot shower.

Her lab group had a dinner scheduled that night, supposedly with a team from the life sciences lab at Q University, with whom they were collaborating on a project.

Halfway back, she suddenly remembered that she had left two papers from her morning study session in the fifth teaching building. She had already read through most of the papers and written plenty of annotations—reprinting them wasn’t an option.

With no choice but to go back and retrieve them, she sighed and took a detour.

By 6 p.m., the sun had long disappeared, and the smog in the air made the city look hazy. The worst part of Beijing winters wasn’t the subzero temperatures but the bone-chilling winds mixed with fine dust.

Bracing herself against the cold, Zhang Man tightened her down jacket’s collar and quickened her pace toward the fifth teaching building. She happened to run into a group of students coming out of class, all looking exhausted.

A glance at their textbooks told her why. She chuckled with sympathy—it was the second-year students who had just finished their human anatomy class, no doubt fishing bodies out of formaldehyde tanks.

Hurrying into the self-study classroom from that morning, she grabbed her papers and left.

Back in her dorm, her roommate, Liu Mumu, was playing video games. Their lab had been relatively idle recently, so Mumu had spent most of her time lounging around like a salted fish in the dormitory.

“Manman, you’re back?”

Mumu glanced at her briefly before turning her attention back to the game, occasionally barking threats into her headset.

“Mm,” Zhang Man replied, not sure if Mumu even heard her. She grabbed her toiletries and went to take a shower.

When she returned, Mumu was slumped in her chair, looking defeated and staring at her with puppy eyes.

“Manman, I lost again. I want milk tea. Aren’t you going to Wudaokou for dinner tonight? Can you bring me back a cup of Royal Tea?”

“Sure, pay up.”

Zhang Man held out her hand while drying her hair.

Mumu cheerfully fished out twenty yuan from her pocket. “Manman, you’re the best! Add pearls and red beans. You can keep the change as a delivery fee.”

After handing over the money, Mumu hesitated before asking, “Manman, are you and Li Wei still doing okay? You didn’t break up, did you?”

Almost everyone in the department knew her boyfriend was the legendary physics genius from Beijing University. The two had gone viral back in their sophomore year of high school when they were both guaranteed admission to Beijing University. Thanks to Zhang Man, her roommates had even dined with him several times and knew him personally.

But that was before he left for Stanford for his Ph.D.

Mumu immediately regretted asking, as she had clearly noticed how downcast Zhang Man had been for a while after Li Wei left the country.

Zhang Man and Li Wei had applied to Stanford together—he for his Ph.D. and she as an exchange student—but for various reasons, Zhang Man hadn’t been accepted.

“No, we’re fine. Why are you asking that?”

Zhang Man was a little surprised by the question. She glanced at the clock and quickly calculated the time difference. With the U.S. on standard time, it should have been 3 a.m. in San Francisco.

He was probably asleep.

Zhang Man didn’t know what came to mind, but she tilted her head and smiled.

Hearing her answer, Mumu visibly relaxed. “That’s good. Long-distance relationships are tough. So many couples break up because of them. You two haven’t been calling or messaging much lately. Zhouzhou and I were worried you’d split up. Also, Manman, you’ve seemed really down recently.”

“Try spending all day in the lab and see how cheery you feel.”

Zhang Man tucked the twenty yuan into her pocket with a huff. “Let me dry my hair, and then I’ll head out.”

Even she couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.

Her roommates had always misunderstood her, as did some classmates. Last year, when she applied for the exchange program, she hadn’t been overly optimistic—after all, it was Stanford. It’s not the kind of place you just get into easily.

When she was rejected, her roommates tiptoed around her for days, acting like she was on the verge of being abandoned by her boyfriend in a foreign country.

Zhang Man dried her hair and left the dormitory.

Sigh, they truly didn’t understand Li Wei. Then again, who could blame them? He always had that same stoic expression around others, making everyone think she was the weaker one in their relationship.

Who would ever guess that this young man, after receiving his Stanford offer, had tried every possible way to secretly reject it so he could stay at Beijing University for his master’s program to be with her?

Of course, she saw through him every single time.

It had taken her an entire month to convince him to go to Stanford first, promising she’d join him a year later. She’d been working hard ever since—diving into research, publishing papers, and seizing every opportunity to strengthen her resume.

That young man, though—he had been even more reluctant than her to part ways.

She still remembered the day a few months ago when he left.

She went to the airport to see him off. Normally calm and composed, he clung to her at the terminal, refusing to let go. The look in his eyes was so sorrowful, it was as if she were the one leaving instead of him.

Thinking about it now, it was true—they hadn’t video-called much over the past week.

Her research was nearing completion, and for the first time in a while, she could see the finish line. She’d been practically living in the lab, working day and night, barely finding time to eat or sleep.

As the cab pulled up to the university gate, she smiled to herself. It reminded her of when she had been focused on competition prep years ago and had unintentionally distanced herself from him for a while.

If he were here now, he’d probably be clinging to her every day, demanding hugs and kisses.

Arriving near Wudaokou, Zhang Man confidently made her way into a familiar barbecue restaurant.

Her lab seniors and classmates were notoriously unoriginal when it came to group dinners. They almost always picked spots around Wudaokou, with this barbecue place being a regular haunt.

She wasn’t early—most of her group had already arrived, as had the five or six people from Q University’s life sciences lab involved in their collaborative project.

“Zhang Man’s here? Come sit over here. There’s an open spot next to Zimo,” called her professor, a native Beijinger who loved playing host. He greeted her warmly as she entered.

She obediently took the seat and greeted the person next to her. “Senior Brother Cheng, long time no see.”

Cheng Zimo, a Ph.D. student from Q University’s life sciences department, was two or three years older than her. He was handsome, humorous, and reportedly quite popular among the girls in his department. Since they had collaborated on projects before, they were fairly familiar with each other.

As he grilled the meat, he chatted with her. “Junior Sister Zhang, I heard your research is almost wrapped up. How’s your paper coming along? I know some students from the foreign languages department. I could help you connect with someone to polish it up for you.”

She was briefly stunned but felt a bit relieved. She had been worrying about how dry and clunky her paper sounded and hadn’t found anyone to help refine it.

“Sure, thanks, Senior Brother.”

“No problem. It’s nothing, really. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s knowing people from every department. You’re really missing out, though.”

Zhang Man was puzzled and looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Why aren’t you a guy? That way, I could introduce you to loads of girls, haha.”

Zhang Man sighed inwardly. This senior was great in many ways, but he was a bit of a player. Rumor had it that he changed girlfriends as often as the seasons.

Lab group dinners were always dull affairs, filled with discussions about projects, research, and the future plans of soon-to-graduate seniors.

Of course, with a Beijing-born professor hosting, a couple of shots of liquor at the table were inevitable.

Senior Zhou, in her eighth year of study, raised her glass. “I’m planning to take the USMLE and head abroad. Here’s to all of you! The journey of studying medicine is a long one. Let’s encourage each other to keep going.”

Zhang Man took a sip of baijiu, feeling a bit sentimental.

When she had chosen this path, she had been too naive. Studying medicine turned out to be far harder than she had imagined.

Eight whole years—it was an exhausting journey, leaving no room for doubt, requiring sheer determination to endure until the very end.

Fortunately, after five years, she had grown to love the field more and more.

“What about you, Junior Sister? Are you still planning to… go to the US afterward?”

At that moment, Cheng Zimo suddenly asked her.

“Yes, once my paper is submitted. Regardless of whether it’s accepted, I plan to apply for an exchange program next year.”

He wasn’t ready to let it go. “Where to? Stanford?”

Zhang Man nodded.

She knew it wouldn’t be easy.

Last year, she had passed up other exchange opportunities—several in Europe, as well as Australia and Canada. Her roommates said she was stubborn, refusing to turn back even when faced with a dead end.

But she had been single-minded for so many years. One more attempt wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it wasn’t entirely hopeless. Recently, a Stanford professor had visited Beijing University for a lecture, and she had seized the opportunity to network. The professor seemed impressed with her, and once her paper was published, applying again shouldn’t be an issue.

Cheng Zimo fell silent, downing an entire glass of liquor in one go.

After the dinner ended, everyone left. Zhang Man, exhausted from days of sleeplessness and slightly tipsy from the alcohol, felt dazed.

She rested her head on the table for a while before standing up.

When she stepped out of the restaurant, she realized her inconsiderate seniors had already left. Standing on the bustling street in Wudaokou, surrounded by neon-lit storefronts and a sea of people, she suddenly felt lost.

She missed him so much.

She missed him in quiet moments and even during her busiest days. But with their 16-hour time difference, it was hard. She was busy, and so was he.

By the time she was free, it was often late night or early morning for him.

They hadn’t called each other in over a week.

Zhang Man pouted as she pulled out her phone to check his location, only to find it missing. His phone must have died or been turned off.

With a sigh, she began walking back toward campus. Along the way, she spotted Cheng Zimo.

“Senior Brother Cheng, aren’t you heading back to your university?”

She pointed in the direction of Q University.

“No, I have something to do at Beihang. It’s on the way; let’s walk together.”

Zhang Man’s muddled brain processed his words. Beihang was indeed close to her campus. That made sense.

All she wanted now was to grab something and head back to sleep, so she didn’t bother asking him why he was going there. She nodded dully. “Alright, but I need to get some milk tea first.”

They stopped by a nearby milk tea shop. Despite her foggy mind, Zhang Man still remembered Liu Mumu’s request. “One Hong Kong-style milk tea with pearls and red beans, please. And… one plain, half-sugar, no ice.”

Not wasting the delivery fee, she ordered a cup for herself too.

They continued walking toward campus. The distance from Wudaokou wasn’t too far.

The night wind was biting, and Zhang Man shivered as she sipped her milk tea. The cold drink cleared her head a bit.

“Senior Brother, is your team’s project nearing completion?”

She wasn’t used to walking with a guy, even someone as familiar as Cheng Zimo. The silence felt awkward, so she forced herself to start a conversation.

Otherwise, if she didn’t keep talking, she feared she might faint right there on the street.

“Hm? Oh, you mean the project with Professor Liu? It’s already wrapped up…”

Cheng Zimo’s reply was distracted.

They chatted intermittently until they reached the gates of Beiyi.

As they walked, Zhang Man grew more and more disoriented. It wasn’t until they arrived at the gate that she suddenly realized, “Wait, this isn’t right. We already passed Beihang!”

Cheng Zimo smiled helplessly. “Yeah, I forgot too. No worries, I ended up walking you all the way to your gate.”

She didn’t think much of it and waved him goodbye. “Alright then, Senior Brother, see you later. Go handle your business, I’m heading back to my dorm.”

At that moment, a young man on a bicycle came speeding toward her, unable to stop in time.

Luckily, Cheng Zimo reacted quickly, pulling her aside. By the time the cyclist had ridden off into the distance, Zhang Man realized, to her surprise, that Cheng Zimo’s arm was wrapped around her waist.

They were standing very close, her nose barely a fist away from the collar of his shirt.

Even in her hazy state, the situation felt awkward. She quickly pushed him away and steadied herself.

“Junior Sister, do you really have to go to the US? I think Europe is great too. A few schools even have exchange programs with yours. I’m graduating next year and heading to Europe for a three-year postdoc.”

All Zhang Man wanted at that moment was to go back and sleep. Her mind felt unbearably sluggish.

He’s going to Europe? Fine, then go to Europe. Why is he telling me this?

Oh, he must be saying he’s going to do a postdoc.

“Congratulations, congratulations,” she mumbled.

Cheng Zimo stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, almost embracing her.

“If you’re willing to be with me, I can stay at Q University or join the Chinese Academy of Sciences, right here in Beijing. If I were him, I wouldn’t have left. Look at what you’ve turned into these past two years, all for Stanford.”

Zhang Man felt dizzy, but even in her foggy state, it was clear what was happening. If she still didn’t understand, something would be seriously wrong.

She couldn’t believe it—Cheng Zimo, of all people? Didn’t he always have a crowd of girls around him?

She broke free forcefully, just about to firmly refuse him, when a familiar, cool voice sounded from behind her.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’re not me.”

Startled, she spun around.

The boy who was supposed to be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean was standing right behind her, gently pulling her into his arms.

His dark, deep eyes carried an unreadable expression.