The story goes like this: In the summer of 2012 AD, Xia Yinuo, a twenty-four-year-old female doctoral candidate in medicine, met Liang Juejun, a twenty-seven-year-old specially appointed researcher who had just returned to China, at C University. Xia Yinuo successfully approached Liang Juejun as a teaching assistant, trading a broken arm for a month of breakfast deliveries from Teacher Liang. In August of the following year, Xia Yinuo confessed her feelings to Liang Juejun at a badminton court, capturing the beauty's heart with a sappy love letter hidden inside a strange book. After the two officially became a couple, they lived in perfect harmony, their love as deep as that of inseparable birds.
But the good times did not last. During an experiment, Liang Juejun was infected by an unknown super-virus and vanished into thin air. To find her lover, Xia Yinuo spent two years in the laboratory, forgetting to eat or sleep, working day and night until she finally developed a specific cure for the super-virus. Afterward, Xia Yinuo voluntarily injected herself with the virus to travel through time and space. Upon waking, she found herself in an inn called "Yuelai," and the innkeeper was none other than Liang Juejun, known in the martial arts world as the Cold-Faced Bodhisattva.
The desert smoke rose straight, and the long river reflected the round setting sun. The Yuelai Inn was situated in a desert at the border. Liang Juejun came from a family of loyalists; she possessed peerless martial arts and a heart of righteous courage, but unfortunately, her father had been framed by treacherous officials, and her entire family had been executed. Liang Juejun had changed her name and led her surviving confidants to live in seclusion here, accompanied by the biting wind and frost, waiting for the day she could avenge her father.
*Lest too much passion turns to tangled silk, for whom does the exquisite heart toil?* Boss Liang, do you still remember Xia Yuhe from the shores of Daming Lake—oh, wait, no—do you remember Xia Xiaobao? Unfortunately, even though she had taken the anti-virus cure, it could not change the fact that Liang Juejun had forgotten the past. In a world of chaos, one should not speak of romance, yet in such a world, romance only runs deeper. Xia Yinuo, with the heart of a scholar and the soul of a warrior, remained devoted and entangled with Boss Liang. The story would necessarily be interspersed with the grievances and feuds of several generations and the flash of sword light. In the end, Xia Yinuo would see the clouds part to reveal the moon and win the beauty's heart once more. From then on, their love would remain ever-new, a perfect pair cutting through thorns and brambles, punishing evil, helping the poor, and wandering to the ends of the earth together as the wind and the sand...
That was the novel's synopsis. Now, back to the actual text.
That night, after Xia Yinuo returned home, she received a text message from Liang Juejun. It contained only one sentence: "Absolutely, I do." Xia Yinuo clutched her phone all night, nearly laughing out loud in her dreams.
So, what does romance taste like?
The next day was Friday. At noon, Liang Juejun said she had to work overtime that evening and wouldn't be going for a run or playing badminton, telling Xia Xiaobao to suit herself. Xia Yinuo thought Teacher Liang was truly adorable for knowing to report her whereabouts.
At nine in the evening, when Liang Juejun returned to the apartment complex, she immediately spotted Xia Yinuo squatting on the ground with a young girl of about ten, tinkering with something. As she drew closer, she saw that the chain on the girl's small bicycle had fallen off, and Xia Yinuo was focused on trying to put it back on.
Liang Juejun stood behind the pair, arms crossed, watching with interest without making a sound.
Xia Yinuo flipped the bike over and focused on the chain. The streetlights were a bit dim, making it hard to see clearly. After about two minutes, Xia Xiaobao whispered a "Yes!" then looked up at the girl and said excitedly, "Give me five!" Just as they were about to high-five, Xia Yinuo suddenly realized her hands were covered in grease and jerked her hand back. The little girl didn't mind; she gave a thumbs-up and said, "Sister Xiaobao, you're amazing!"
Xia Yinuo clapped her hands and prepared to stand up. Having squatted for so long, she stumbled slightly. Liang Juejun hurried forward to steady her, chiding, "This is why people with anemia should exercise more."
When Xia Yinuo saw it was Liang Juejun, she immediately broke into a sweet, wide grin. Liang Juejun pulled a tissue from her bag and gestured for Xia Yinuo to wipe her hands first.
The little girl's grandmother came running over, scolding the child for wandering off without a word. When she saw Xia Yinuo, she said happily, "Oh, it's Xiaobao! I haven't seen you in a while!"
Xia Yinuo greeted her politely, "Hello, Grandma Li."
Grandma Li grabbed her granddaughter while asking Xiaobao, "How is your grandmother's health?"
Xia Yinuo lowered her head and replied, "She's very well, thank you for asking."
Grandma Li said, "I'm here to take Huahua back for a bath and bed. Even if tomorrow is Saturday, she can't play this wildly. We'll head out now; come visit us when you have time."
Xia Yinuo gave a sincere smile. "Okay. Goodbye, Grandma Li. Goodbye, Huahua."
The little girl waved at Xia Yinuo, broke free from her grandmother's grip, and pedaled away on her little bike.
Liang Juejun asked, "Why were you standing down here?"
Xia Xiaobao replied, "Oh, I was going to the supermarket up ahead to buy some soy sauce, but then I ran into Huahua—the girl just now—so I decided to exercise my spirit of helping others."
Liang Juejun smiled. "Going to the supermarket for soy sauce at nine at night? Where is it then?"
Xia Xiaobao blinked. "I forgot to bring money."
Liang Juejun nodded. "Oh, forgot your money."
Xia Xiaobao added, "But I have iced mung bean soup at home. I cooked it tonight. Want to come have some?"
The fox's tail was showing.
At the door, Liang Juejun waited for Xia Yinuo to open it. Xia Yinuo waved her grease-stained hands helplessly. "The keys are in my pocket. Help me open it."
Xia Yinuo was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. Liang Juejun reached out to feel the pockets of her jeans. Left side—nothing. Right side—nothing.
Xia Yinuo held her hands up in front of her chest, looking a bit embarrassed. "Uh, maybe they're in the back pocket?"
Liang Juejun glanced at her, then reached into the back pocket of Xia Xiaobao's jeans. Sure enough, they were there. As she reached in to pull out the keys, Xia Yinuo shifted uncomfortably.
Liang Juejun asked, "Why is your face red?"
Xia Xiaobao countered, "It's not!"
Liang Juejun teased, "Oh? Your ears are red too."
Xia Xiaobao: "..."
Once inside, Xia Yinuo told Liang Juejun to make herself at home while she ran to wash her hands. The grease from the chain was hard to remove; she washed several times but still felt they weren't clean. Xia Yinuo poked her head out of the bathroom. "The soup is in the fridge, help yourself. I'm still not clean."
Liang Juejun had been standing by the sofa watching LoVo, but she followed her into the bathroom. Xia Yinuo was still scrubbing her hands vigorously and then started looking for nail clippers to trim her nails.
Liang Juejun grabbed Xia Xiaobao's hand and looked at it. "Obsessive-compulsive."
"Look, there was black gunk under my nails just now."
"How long do you plan on washing?"
"Three more times!"
"Clean freak plus obsessive-compulsive."
The mung bean soup was made by Xia Yinuo herself, and it was sweet to the core. Xia Xiaobao was being incredibly well-behaved, making Liang Juejun beam with joy.
"Senior, how do you usually spend your weekends?"
"Overtime on Saturday. Cleaning, shopping, and the gym on Sunday."
"Has it always been like that?"
"Always."
"Wow."
"And you?"
"I'm usually working in the lab on Saturdays. On Sundays, I either stay home or, if my parents are free, they call me home for dinner."
"Oh. What about tomorrow?"
"At your service."
"Go home and eat properly, then I'll treat you to a late-night snack."
"Really?!"
"Do I sound like I'm lying?"
"Then I'll eat less for dinner!"
Xia Xiaobao, if you think the point is really the snack, you are far too young, too simple.
Before the official start of the semester, the undergraduates gradually returned to campus, and the freshmen for both bachelor's and master's programs arrived to register. Xia Yinuo lamented that kids these days looked so mature, each one eager and ready for action, lacking that "junior" greenness.
Ke Dinghao cupped his hands together, his eyes sparkling. "Yeah, none of them have that shy, first-love feeling anymore. Sometimes when you walk on campus, you can't even tell who's a junior and who's a third-year grad student."
Xia Yinuo shot him a look. Ke Dinghao quickly added, "Heh, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to say one thing to the 'little fresh meat' on behalf of all the upperclassmen: If you have military training, may it be a sunny day."
Xia Yinuo's student ID received another red stamp for registration at C University, announcing that this was the final year of her five-year doctoral journey. As a fifth-year student, she naturally became the "Great Senior Sister."
Several new students had joined the lab. One of them, a junior sister named Liu Yan, was assigned to learn experimental techniques from Xia Yinuo. When the girl heard she would be mentored by the Great Senior Sister, she seemed a bit nervous. Xia Yinuo chuckled inwardly; she had been the same way back then. Senior Sister Yuan, who had mentored her, had long since graduated and was now a wife and mother. And Ke Dinghao, whom she had mentored, was now a senior to others.
Ke Dinghao whispered in Xia Yinuo's ear, "Why do I get a junior brother while you get a junior sister? As they say, 'men and women working together don't get tired.' How about we swap?"
"If your skin is feeling itchy for a beating, I can ask Diandian to scratch it for you."
"Don't. I was just joking."
"Your Diandian is about to get a junior brother, though." Xia Yinuo had asked Liang Juejun earlier if she was taking new students this year. Teacher Liang replied that a male student had been finalized during the graduate entrance re-examinations in March.
"How do you know?"
"I heard it from their Teacher Liang."
"You're quite close with Teacher Liang. You even managed to get her to go to Dongzhuang last time."
"She's not the type to put on airs. Look at how Diandian gets along with her like sisters. Then look at you—every time you see Teacher Tang, you're like a mouse seeing a cat. Can't you show some backbone?"
"Can you go one day without insulting me?"
"Good medicine tastes bitter but cures the illness; honest advice grates on the ear but benefits the conduct."
As per routine, Xia Yinuo asked Liu Yan about her undergraduate major and what experiments she had done before. Liu Yan had good hands-on ability and caught on quickly, which Xia Yinuo liked.
China's exam-oriented education was deeply rooted. Though "quality-oriented education" had been promoted for years, some students still tended to get stuck in dead ends. At the graduate level, if one still hoped to just attend classes and wait for exams, it was a joke. It might be okay for the humanities, but in science and engineering, everything depended on using your hands to do experiments and produce data and papers. In the first year, you might have some theoretical classes, but most of your time needed to be spent in the lab doing research. Research is exploration, not verification. The fear is that some people can never transition into the role of an explorer, clinging desperately to the known facts in textbooks. If so, why do research at all?
Liu Yan would sometimes share these "freshman experiences" in her dorm to encourage her roommates. Her roommates laughed, saying she had so many grand theories. Liu Yan said seriously, "My senior sister told me. She reminded me to focus on the key points during graduate school. I think she's right."
"So you're saying it's fine if we just scrape by in our classes?" Roommate A asked.
"To put it bluntly, yes. My senior brother also said the key is how your research and papers are going," Roommate B added.
"Your senior sister is great for telling you all this," Roommate C said.
"Yes, she really is," Liu Yan agreed.
"If you met a difficult one, you'd be doing chores and serving tea all day, and you'd really suffer," Roommate B noted.
"Senior Sister Xia would never do that. She doesn't put on airs, and she's very beautiful," Liu Yan said proudly.
The roommates chimed in, "The key is that she's beautiful, right? Sigh, this world and its obsession with looks..."
On Saturday, Xia Yinuo was doing experiments at a frantic pace, startling Ke Dinghao into asking what the rush was. Xia Yinuo replied, "I have a date with a beauty." Ke Dinghao scoffed, "Isn't it just your mom calling you home for dinner?"
She ate dinner distractedly. After chatting with her grandmother for a bit, Xia Yinuo found an excuse to leave early. It was past nine when she arrived at the Liang residence. Liang Juejun was in the study reading.
Liang Juejun asked seriously, "What do you want to eat?"
Xia Yinuo replied just as seriously, "Actually, I rarely eat late-night snacks. Yesterday's mung bean soup is my limit."
Liang Juejun: "Me too."
Not knowing what to do for a moment, the two sat side-by-side on the sofa watching TV. Xia Yinuo felt a bit thirsty and went to the kitchen to find a drink, only to discover a five-pack of Yakult in the fridge.
Xia Xiaobao asked Teacher Liang, "Have you started drinking this too?"
Liang Juejun: "Oh, I saw it at the supermarket today and got it while I was at it."
Xia Xiaobao raised an eyebrow. "Oh, 'while you were at it'?"
Liang Juejun remained expressionless. "Since someone likes drinking it."
Xia Xiaobao winked. "I see, 'someone' likes it."
Liang Juejun: "Careful with those expressions, or your face might freeze that way."
"..."
The TV was playing a mess of commercials—Sunflower Brand Weikangning, "If everyone is good, then it's truly good," "Bounce, bounce, bounce away the crow's feet," "You were beautiful to begin with." When Xia Yinuo reached for the remote, she "accidentally" grabbed Liang Juejun's hand.
Liang Juejun didn't react, letting Xia Xiaobao hold it. Xia Yinuo's hands were long and dry—the hands of a surgeon. Liang Juejun's hands were much softer and warmer, her nails shiny and slender, cleaner than ivory. Xia Yinuo interlaced their fingers, giggling inwardly with joy.
Actually, modern TV commercials were quite interesting; for example, you could research which brand was the authentic "red can" herbal tea.
After a while, Xia Yinuo pointed to the fruit basket on the coffee table. "Have an apple!"
"Okay."
Xia Yinuo let go of her hand, stood up, and picked out a bright red apple. She held it up and asked Liang Juejun, "Do you know the ancient legend about apples?"
Liang Juejun blurted out, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
Xia Xiaobao smiled slyly. "That won't do. I haven't even gotten my doctor's degree yet. How can you 'keep me away'?"
Liang Juejun made a move to snatch the apple. "Then don't eat it."
Xia Xiaobao said subserviently, "So, sit down, and I'll peel it for you."
Xia Yinuo began to peel the apple with focus. Her knife skills were impressive; in no time, a single, continuous strip of apple peel was removed, forming a cute coil on the coffee table. Liang Juejun suddenly wanted to see what Xia Yinuo looked like when she was doing experiments.
Xia Yinuo set the apple on the table but held the peel up in front of Liang Juejun. "In the ancient East, the legend of the apple goes like this: If you make a wish upon a complete coil of apple peel, that wish will come true. I'm giving this chance to you. Quick, close your eyes and make a wish."
Liang Juejun looked skeptical. "Really? I've never heard of that."
Xia Yinuo's eyes were bright as stars. "It's true! Hurry up."
Liang Juejun closed her eyes half-doubtingly, wondering what Xia Xiaobao was up to.
While she was still thinking about that unreliable ancient legend, she felt Xia Yinuo's scent draw near. Immediately after, a soft, moist warmth pressed against her lips.
Liang Juejun reflexively leaned back slightly but didn't open her eyes. That warmth followed her unhurriedly. A few seconds later, it pulled away, a gentle taste and nothing more.
"Okay, open your eyes. Your wish has come true." Xia Yinuo's voice was slightly husky and low. She smiled at Liang Juejun with a look that was both serious and innocent.
Liang Juejun said nothing. She turned her head to look at the TV, unable to hide the blossoming smile at the corners of her mouth.
Xia Yinuo sat back down obediently on the sofa.
The TV started playing a home shopping program. "Gold phone! A prestige money can't buy! There's real gold on the surface! Look at that! Real diamonds, real gold, and today it's only 399!! Pick up the phone and order now!"
"Hey, give me some reaction. That was my first kiss," Xia Yinuo said, shaking Liang Juejun's hand.
Liang Juejun: "Oh. Mine too."
*When the Golden Wind and Jade Dew meet, they surpass all the countless encounters in the mortal world.*
***
