Font Size:
Read advanced chapters at Shanghaifantasy.com
After a long dinner, the night had grown late. A chilly wind nipped at their skin as Jiang Cha and her newly acquainted friends stepped outside, walking alongside the doctor she had just met.
The doctor’s name was Jiang Han.
She explained that she had majored in mathematics as an undergraduate before taking the MCAT and attending Yale Medical School. After her postdoctoral studies, she passed the local licensing exam and now worked in the obstetrics and gynecology department of a renowned private hospital in New York. Doctors held a high status in the United States, and both doctors and lawyers were known for their high salaries. Because of this, medical school was extremely competitive, with students vying for admission. Often, only those with top undergraduate grades could get an offer. Additionally, medical school tuition was expensive, and the program was long, meaning that only the wealthy could afford the initial time and financial investment.
Jiang Cha didn’t think much of it. She had hated math in college and was immediately filled with respect upon hearing that Jiang Han had majored in it.
“People who study math are all very smart,” Jiang Cha complimented sincerely.
“And actors are all very beautiful,” Jiang Han returned the compliment just as sincerely.
Jiang Cha smiled softly.
In the night, Jiang Cha’s skin had a cold, white tone, but her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, creating a striking contrast that gave her a delicate and fragile appearance. As she smiled slightly, the streetlight illuminated her, making her seem to glow.
Jiang Han’s heart skipped a beat.
She discreetly glanced at the scarf around Jiang Cha’s shoulders and smiled slightly. “That scarf doesn’t match your dress. Red and green? Who came up with that?”
Jiang Cha felt a bit embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “My… my partner.”
“Did you date in college?” Jiang Han asked, looking at her curiously. “I didn’t hear you had a boyfriend back then.”
Jiang Cha shook her head. “I did, but we didn’t make it public.”
“Is she from our school?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s her name?” She smiled slightly, her expression filled with curiosity.
Jiang Cha lowered her head, smiled, and shook her head gently. “I can’t say.”
Jiang Han raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
As they reached the parking lot, everyone began to disperse. Jiang Cha kept looking back, searching for Ji Fan.
Then her eyes lit up.
Ji Fan was just a few steps behind her, deep in conversation with someone else, her gaze lowered coldly.
Jiang Cha felt a pang of disappointment and turned away.
She had been hoping that Ji Fan would be jealous to see her talking to someone else, but it seemed like Ji Fan hadn’t even noticed her.
With this thought, she felt a sudden chill and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a bit sad.
A dark gold Range Rover honked its horn. Jiang Cha turned to see her agent and her usual car.
The driver rolled down the window and looked at Jiang Cha.
Jiang Cha turned back to Jiang Han and smiled. “My driver’s here. I have to go.”
“Wait,” Jiang Han said, reaching into her bag.
“Here’s my business card,” the woman said, holding out a card with her slender, white fingers. She smiled gently at Jiang Cha. “I hope we won’t meet at the hospital, but if you need anything, feel free to contact me.”
Jiang Cha smiled immediately. “No, I won’t. You’re an obstetrician, and I’m not…”
She paused, then continued, “I’m not planning on having kids.”
“Oh,” the doctor smiled, her eyes filled with a subtle meaning.
She patted Jiang Cha on the shoulder. “Well, let’s keep in touch. I hope we can meet again.”
Just then, Jiang Han’s shoulder was lightly bumped. The doctor looked up to see a pair of dark, penetrating eyes staring at her. It was a woman.
The woman tilted her head slightly, looking at the doctor’s hand on Jiang Cha’s shoulder. A smile played on her lips as she raised an eyebrow, her gaze carrying an unspoken warning.
For no apparent reason, the doctor felt threatened by those eyes.
Who was this woman?
She was a very young woman, with a calm demeanor, a tall figure, and long, wavy hair pulled back. She was carrying a gray-gold platinum bag with a crocodile skin pattern. She was wearing a black shirt tucked into a light brown pencil skirt, highlighting her slender waist and long legs.
The top two buttons of her black shirt were undone, and a silver necklace with a teardrop-shaped Tanzanite pendant hung around her neck. The cold blue light refracted, making her collarbones look white and beautiful.
Jiang Han met her gaze for a moment, feeling that the gaze was too oppressive, making her a little breathless, and finally looked away.
When Jiang Cha saw Ji Fan coming, her eyes lit up. She was hesitating about whether to say something, but Ji Fan had already turned around and left without looking at her, indifferent as ever.
••••
Jiang Cha and Ji Fan didn’t ride in the same car.
Despite the cool night air, Jiang Cha felt a bit stuffy, so she asked the driver to roll down the window. The cold wind rushed in, giving her a shiver. As she watched the streetlights blur into a white streak, she felt a little dazed.
Then she tightened the scarf Ji Fan had given her.
She still remembered the first time she met Ji Fan in college.
Ji Fan had been someone she had admired throughout high school. Whenever she felt tired of studying, she would think of her senior’s name, Ji Fan. She would secretly write the name on scrap paper, over and over again, before tearing it up and throwing it in the trash, afraid of being discovered.
A crush during one’s student years was simple. Even a momentary heartflutter could grow into a lifelong affection over the long, monotonous years.
From then on, Jiang Cha studied extra hard. Luckily, after countless prayers, she was admitted to that prestigious university. As she stepped onto campus, her first thought was:
Where is Senior Ji? Will I be able to meet her?
Perhaps it was her good fortune, or perhaps it was fate, but during their freshman orientation, she actually ran into Ji Fan.
During orientation, there were always many activities, one of which was singing military songs.
That was when Ji Fan appeared.
She was wearing a long coat and carrying an economics journal under her arm. She was just passing by the training ground when she was suddenly stopped by the conductor of their choir.
“Senior!”
Ji Fan turned around, questioning.
“Can you help us out?” the senior rubbed his hands together.
The conductor was a sophomore in their management department and was in charge of training their class to sing for a school-wide competition. However, it seemed like the entire class had gathered all the tone-deaf students in the entire college, and their singing was more like wailing. The senior conductor was exhausted and asked Ji Fan for help.
Ji Fan was a senior and was already very busy. She wanted to refuse but glanced at the row of standing freshmen and suddenly stopped.
Jiang Cha knew very well that that casual glance was directed at her.
Her heart raced, and her face turned red. She thought to herself, did Senior Ji recognize me? Does she remember me?
Jiang Cha looked at her, her heart pounding.
Ji Fan looked at her, her lips curved into a slight smile, and she agreed.
Ji Fan had learned many instruments, including piano, violin, viola, and flute. She had been a conductor in the school’s orchestra for a while and was known for her excellent musical sense. Therefore, the senior was convinced that Ji Fan could pull them back from their increasingly off-key singing.
The senior stood aside, took a drink of water, and rested, letting Ji Fan take over.
As soon as she stood in front of the formation, whispers broke out among the students.
“Who is that senior?”
“Ahhhhh, she’s so beautiful! She has such a great body!”
“Someone should check the group chat and see if they have her QQ number.”
“She’s probably not in the group chat. Besides, she doesn’t seem to be in charge, she just happened to pass by.”
For a moment, the suddenly appearing Ji Fan seemed to be universally admired, and everyone started gossiping. Jiang Cha had never experienced such a dramatic scene before. She secretly smiled to herself, thinking, of course she’s amazing, she’s the person I admire.
Ji Fan gestured for them to be quiet.
Then, with the background music playing, Ji Fan led them through a few practice sessions, and gradually, they improved. She didn’t say much, her expression was cold, but her gestures were very precise. The senior standing aside was almost satisfied and asked them to sit down and rest. As people went to get water or to the bathroom, the crowd gradually dispersed.
In northern China, September’s weather was already quite cold. Under the bright morning sun, a cold wind blew, and the cypress trees by the roadside had lost their branches, while the dense evergreen trees in the distance rustled their leaves.
Jiang Cha curled her fingers slightly and quietly glanced at Ji Fan, her heart pounding loudly.
It had been a long time since they’d last seen each other, and Ji Fan seemed to have grown taller. She was wearing a beige trench coat over a pure black turtleneck sweater, tucked into a pair of light-washed blue jeans. As she stood there drinking water, her expression was calm and composed.
She was tall and fair-skinned, with exceptionally straight and long legs. She looked like a cold beauty model straight out of a European magazine.
Jiang Cha remained seated, quietly watching Ji Fan.
Jiang Cha was only seventeen at the time, her youthful face still quite immature. She wasn’t particularly tall and wore a loose-fitting military uniform. Her skin was so fair it seemed it could be pinched and water would come out, and even the sun couldn’t tan her, only leaving a faint blush on her cheeks when she sweated.
Although young, she was clearly a beauty in the making.
She had a medium-length ponytail with soft hair and slightly inward-curling ends. Her temples were damp with sweat, and her lips were a tender pink. Her eyelashes were long and curled, and when she blinked, she looked like a lotus flower that had just emerged from the mud, beautiful and otherworldly.
Ji Fan turned her head and looked at her quietly, her eyes filled with a faint smile.
Then she walked over step by step, squatted down, looked straight at Jiang Cha, and curled her lips into a smile.
She said:
“I remember you.”
Jiang Cha’s heart pounded like a drum, and countless thoughts raced through her mind. She stared fixedly at Ji Fan. A gentle breeze blew, and a faint cold fragrance filled her nostrils. Jiang Cha’s fair ears turned a slight shade of pink, and her mind went blank, forgetting even how to speak.
“You went to the same high school as me, right? I think your last name is Jiang,” Ji Fan said softly.
Jiang Cha nodded vigorously.
“Do you prefer WeChat or QQ?”
“Huh?”
Ji Fan took out her phone, “Since we’re alumnus, let’s add each other.”
Jiang Cha immediately reported a string of numbers, “This is my QQ number.”
Ji Fan smiled, sent a friend request, then stood up, glanced down at her lightly, and left.
Jiang Cha stared blankly at her back for a long time before finally unable to hold back, her red lips curved into a sweet smile.
She took out her phone, and Ji Fan’s friend request was hanging there, plain and simple: “Hello, junior, I’m Ji Fan.”
Junior.
Junior.
Jiang Cha pursed her lips, tasting a hint of charming ambiguity from these two simple words.
••••
It was only a few months later that snow began to fall.
The tiny snowflakes hadn’t fully formed. They melted as soon as they hit the ground, but after a night, the cold air rose, and the roads iced over.
From time to time, students riding bicycles would fall to the ground, clutching their knees and screaming.
Autumn’s tail was cut off, and the north suddenly ushered in winter.
The temperature plummeted.
After adding Ji Fan as a friend, Jiang Cha would occasionally chat with her.
Jiang Cha was very good at finding topics, and those who chatted with her almost never had to worry about awkward silences, but Ji Fan seemed reluctant to pick up on her words, and the two would always interrupt their conversations.
Most of the time, it was Jiang Cha who took the initiative, and Ji Fan replied to her in a lukewarm manner.
Ji Fan was always slow to reply to messages. Even the fastest reply between them was after a five-minute interval.
Jiang Cha tentatively asked her if she was busy because she was about to graduate, and Ji Fan replied that she didn’t check her phone often. It seemed that adding her actively that time was just a whim. Ji Fan didn’t have any other thoughts about Jiang Cha.
Jiang Cha thought to herself that she might be overthinking it. After all, people who like the same sex were in the minority, maybe Ji Fan wasn’t one.
Unable to resist, Jiang Cha began to ask her some personal questions indirectly.
Jiang Cha: Are you busy, senior?
Ji Fan: What’s wrong?
Jiang Cha: Where is the physics
textbook on the library’s floor?
Ji Fan: Fourth floor.
Jiang Cha: By the way, I saw you in the library just now, is the guy next to you your boyfriend?
This time, Ji Fan replied almost instantly.
Ji Fan: No.
Ji Fan: I don’t have a boyfriend.
Jiang Cha held her phone and smiled secretly.
That’s good.
After a while, Ji Fan sent her a message.
Ji Fan: What about you?
This was the first time Ji Fan had taken the initiative to ask her a question after chatting for so long.
Jiang Cha replied happily: I don’t have one either.
From then on, it seemed that Ji Fan had started to pay special attention to her, and even took the initiative to ask Jiang Cha for a copy of her class schedule.
So in the following days, Jiang Cha would frequently “coincidentally” encounter Ji Fan in the cafeteria and library. The two smiled and greeted each other, passing by. However, these occasional encounters were just ordinary passing by. Their true chance encounter that broke the relationship was in the school’s bathhouse.
North and south are different. The south has independent bathrooms, while the north has big public bathhouses.
That Saturday, she carried a basket to the bathhouse. There were few people on the winter streets, and the road was icy. She almost slipped as she walked.
The bathhouse was a distance from the dormitory. Jiang Cha rubbed her hands together to keep warm in the cold winter night, and suddenly saw a familiar figure ahead.
It was Ji Fan.
She was wearing a white long down jacket, her long hair was tied up, and she was also carrying a basket, looking like she was going to take a bath.
Jiang Cha hesitated.
Emotionally, she really wanted to go over and say hello, but then what?
Change clothes and take a bath with her?
No.
Too shameful.
As she hesitated, she slipped and almost fell.
The person in front heard the noise and turned around, just in time to see her in a mess.
“Jiang Cha?” Ji Fan smiled.
“What a coincidence,” Jiang Cha jogged to catch up.
In this way, there was no way to escape, and the two of them carried their baskets upstairs to the storage room.
Jiang Cha chose a room in the back, and Ji Fan stood beside her generously.
From the looks of it, she was going to wash with her.
In cold weather, metabolism is fast. Jiang Cha had long hair that reached her waist. Her hair was fine and soft, and when it was spread out, it was like a waterfall, as smooth as silk. At her age, girls were just at the right age for youth. Jiang Cha often ate fruits and vegetables, and her skin was very delicate.
She turned her back to Ji Fan, using the open cabinet door to cover her upper body, and began to nervously take off her clothes. Her long black hair hung down to her waist, white and soft. Jiang Cha was very beautiful, and she had plenty of meat where she should, but her legs and waist were slender and soft, pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at it.
Jiang Cha hooked the edge with her fingers and slowly pulled it down.
Ji Fan was right beside her.
I don’t know if she was watching.
She dared not look at Ji Fan, but only whispered, “Senior, I’ll go first.”
“Okay.” A soft reply.
It was only a few steps, and the warm mist came over her face, making her cheeks feel a little hot.
She put the basket on the front shelf, turned on the hot water, and Jiang Cha calmed down a little. Before she started washing, she saw Ji Fan also carrying a basket and standing beside her.
Jiang Cha blushed instantly.
“Why are you still shy?”
Ji Fan looked at her and smiled softly. “You’re still covering yourself, not letting me see?”
Jiang Cha shook her head.
Ji Fan said, “I was like that too when I was a freshman. As a southerner, just arriving here, I wasn’t used to it.”
Hearing this, Jiang Cha felt a little embarrassed but relaxed a bit and started washing. However, she always felt like Ji Fan was quietly examining her, her gaze lingering on her inch by inch, as if devouring her. Under Ji Fan’s gaze, Jiang Cha felt a bit awkward and tense.
That night, when Jiang Cha went back, she mentioned to Ji Fan that she planned to stay up late to prepare for her midterm exams.
Ji Fan then suggested they rent a hotel room and offered to help her with anything she didn’t understand.
Jiang Cha found it a little strange, but since Ji Fan was the one who invited her, and it was for tutoring, Jiang Cha immediately agreed. Excited, she hurried back to her dorm to pack her books and went downstairs to meet Ji Fan, who was waiting for her.
The tutoring was real, but Jiang Cha got tired and couldn’t stay awake any longer.
When she checked the time, it was already 1 a.m.
They had planned to stay up all night, but Jiang Cha felt embarrassed for getting sleepy so quickly. She mentioned wanting to return to the dorm, but Ji Fan told her the dorms were already locked, and she wouldn’t be able to get in.
So, they ended up sharing a bed.
That night, as they lay together, Ji Fan turned her head in the dark room and asked, “Are you?”
Jiang Cha nodded.
Ji Fan’s hand then gently rested on her waist, sliding down two inches. Jiang Cha didn’t resist, only turning her head to look at her with a docile expression.
And so, things just happened.
Ji Fan wasn’t experienced either, but she learned quickly. By the second round, she had Jiang Cha gasping for breath, barely able to keep quiet.
However, there was a sense of shame mixed in. With one more move from Ji Fan’s hand, Jiang Cha couldn’t hold back and let out a cry.
“Don’t make a sound,”
Ji Fan said, “I don’t like it.”
Jiang Cha thought it was just a personal preference and obediently held back.
After that, Ji Fan started giving her expensive gifts regularly—clothes, watches, bags, all kinds of things. She even seriously mentioned buying Jiang Cha a house.
Jiang Cha didn’t know what Ji Fan’s family did to be so generous, and she was surprised, but she wasn’t comfortable accepting such overly lavish things.
“In a relationship, both people should give equally. You’ve given me so much, what can I give you in return?”
Jiang Cha asked.
Ji Fan looked at her in confusion:
“Who gave you the idea that we’re in a relationship?”
“We’re not in a relationship?”
Jiang Cha thought she was joking and smiled as she asked back.
In a relationship?
Ji Fan looked at her as if she’d heard something ridiculous, eyeing her incredulously before asking, word by word:
“Did I ever confess to you?”
Jiang Cha froze, then shook her head.
“Did I ever chase after you? Did I ever say you should be my girlfriend?”
Jiang Cha widened her eyes in confusion, as if she didn’t understand what was being said.
Her lips moved silently for a moment before she replied, “No.”
“So, we’re not in a relationship.” Ji Fan glanced at her with pity, saying, “This, isn’t called love.”
She leaned close to Jiang Cha’s ear, breathing warmly as she said, “This is called being kept.”