Li Qiao stared at those three words—What's wrong?—and Shang Yu's signature all-black profile icon. A ripple stirred in her doe-like eyes, and the corners of her mouth lifted without her realizing it.
After a few seconds of hesitation, she still didn't type anything. Instead, she sent two more [wilted rose] emojis.
This time, the chat went quiet.
Five minutes passed, and Shang Yu didn't reply.
Expressionless, Li Qiao locked her phone and tossed it onto the nearby tea table.
Was she being too flirty?
Or was he just busy with work and couldn't reply?
A tangle of emotions began to ferment in her chest, and her stunning face gradually took on a cold, tense sharpness.
Just then, her phone suddenly vibrated on the table.
Everyone else in the office turned to look.
Li Qiao picked it up and saw only one word on the screen: Yan.
It was the nickname she'd given Shang Yu.
Her tense expression slowly eased. She answered, her voice slightly husky, "Hey~"
As she spoke, she got up and walked toward the door. Before she reached it, Lu Wen craned her neck and called after her, "Hey, we haven't settled things yet! You can't just leave—"
Li Qiao pulled the phone away from her ear, narrowed her eyes, and lowered her voice into something icy and dangerous:
"Wanna fight?"
Lu Wen's eyes flickered and she instantly shut her mouth.
She realized she probably couldn't win against Li Qiao—especially since her wrist, which had been smacked earlier with a stack of thesis papers, was still swelling.
At that moment, Director Duan Yuanhui took a sip from his thermos and rubbed his temples. "Don't talk nonsense. Take your call, but be quick."
Li Qiao glanced at him and curled her lips into a faint smirk, then opened the door and strolled out without a backward glance.
Lu Wen: "??"
Why… why did she hear a hint of resignation and… indulgence in Duan Yuanhui's tone?
What kind of teacher-student relationship is this? So cozy?
—
Outside in the hallway, Li Qiao walked to a quiet spot by the window. She glanced at her still-active phone call, then brought it back to her ear, calling out unhurriedly,
"Yan-ye, are you still there?"
"Mhm."
The man answered with a deep voice, calm and unreadable.
"Who do you want to fight?"
Clearly, he'd heard her earlier remark.
Li Qiao cleared her throat, her fingers idly tracing the windowpane.
"No one important. Just an outsider. Are you busy?"
The line went quiet for a few seconds—soft static sounds faintly audible. Then Shang Yu's rich, magnetic voice came through again,
"Not busy. Did someone at school give you trouble?"
Li Qiao pressed her lips together.
Just imagining him, likely lounging in his executive chair with his legs crossed while talking to her, made her throat itch again with a strange feeling.
She calmed herself and turned her gaze to the foggy sky outside the window. A slow smile crept across her face as she teased with mock pride,
"Me? Bullied? Not a chance. I'm someone who can even beat Yan-ye."
"…That's good."
The conversation fell quiet again, seemingly running out of topics.
Li Qiao hesitated, then spoke with a hint of reluctance,
"Alright then, I'll let you get back to work. Don't want to distract Yan-ye."
But Shang Yu suddenly asked,
"You're doing your thesis defense today?"
Li Qiao arched a brow, now tracing hearts on the window with her fingertip.
"Mhm. How'd Yan-ye know?"
Shang Yu didn't answer that question. Instead, he asked again,
"What time will it end?"
"Not sure yet."
He paused for a moment.
"Alright then. Focus on your defense."
After the call ended, Li Qiao slowly lowered her phone, her doe-like eyes shimmering with a spring-like brightness.
But as she turned around, a few steps away stood Duan Yuanhui, hands clasped behind his back, watching her by the wall.
Her faint smile hadn't even faded yet when Duan Yuanhui gave her a look—part puzzled, part helpless—and glanced toward the window she had been doodling on.
The glass was now covered in all sorts of messy little circles and squiggles.
With a sigh, he asked,
"Who was that? Got yourself a boyfriend?"
Li Qiao casually shoved her phone back into her pocket and countered playfully,
"Uncle, do you know the secret to Grandpa still being so full of life at his age?"
Duan Yuanhui chuckled despite himself and stepped closer, gently ruffling her hair.
"You mean to say I'm being nosy, huh?"