Day: November 12, 2023

       Song Jun held Xia Hongshen’s arm tightly, his face looking a little pale due to fright.

       After Xia Hongshen asked ‘What’s wrong?’, his eyes turned to Song Jun’s open door.

       At this time, Cheng Ruijing appeared in front of the door and said with a smile. “Senior Brother Xia, are you back?”

       Song Jun turned around to look at Cheng Ruijing and saw that her expression was normal, and she had returned to her previous lively and playful temperament. She didn’t look strange at all.

       But what was all that about just now?

       Song Jun’s breathing was still slightly rapid, and he didn’t realise that he was holding Xia Hongshen’s arm tightly.

       Xia Hongshen glanced at the hand held by Song Jun and then asked Cheng Ruijing, “When did you come here?”

       Cheng Ruijing said, “I’ve been here for a while. I was waiting for Bu Hui, and Junior Brother asked me to sit in his room.”

       Xia Hongshen glanced at Song Jun again and saw that he was still holding on to him tightly with a frightened expression on his face, so he walked towards Song Jun’s room.

       When he moved, Song Jun came to his senses and quickly let go of his hand.

       When he saw Xia Hongshen go to his room, Song Jun suddenly felt less scared. He followed in and invited Xia Hongshen, “Senior Brother Xia, please sit here for a while, and I will pour you some water.”

       Xia Hongshen still held Song Jun’s water kettle in his hand. He casually placed it on the water bottle holder for him and said, “Okay.”

       Xia Hongshen sat in front of Song Jun’s small desk.

       Cheng Ruijing did not sit back on the bed. She stepped on high heels and walked back and forth in Song Jun’s room. She walked briskly and hummed from time to time as if she was very happy.

       Song Jun put the boiling water on, feeling that the atmosphere was a bit awkward and didn’t know what to say.

       Xia Hongshen had been looking at Cheng Ruijing, his dark eyes following Cheng Ruijing’s figure.

       Cheng Ruijing suddenly stopped and said to Song Jun, “Am I beautiful?”

       Song Jun was stunned for a moment and then replied, “Of course you are beautiful.”

       He saw the corners of Cheng Ruijing’s mouth suddenly twitching into a ferocious sneer, and then Cheng Ruijing asked Xia Hongshen, “What do you think?”

       Xia Hongshen replied flatly, “Ordinary.”

       If this had come from someone else, the atmosphere would definitely be extremely awkward. However, Xia Hongshen said it so naturally that Song Jun felt a little embarrassed for his deliberate flattery.

       The person who asked the question wasn’t angry either. Instead, she laughed and continued humming an off-key song again.

       After half an hour, Bu Hui finally came back.

       Cheng Ruijing smiled and held Bu Hui’s hand, waved to Song Jun and Xia Hongshen, and said, “Let’s go!”

       Bu Hui also waved his hand in agreement and said, “I’m leaving too; don’t miss me too much.”

       Song Jun reluctantly smiled at Bu Hui and watched the two of them leave. When he heard their footsteps going down the stairs, he immediately turned around and said to Xia Hongshen, “There seems to be something wrong with Senior Sister Cheng.”

       Xia Hongshen just said, “Oh?”

       Song Jun couldn’t help but tell Xia Hongshen everything he saw in the pharmacy school building last night. He said, “I don’t understand what’s going on, but those red high heels and red fingernails, no matter how I think about it, it’s not normal!”

       Xia Hongshen looked towards him, suddenly put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Don’t be nervous.” Then he withdrew his hand and walked outside.

       Song Jun was stunned for a moment, then when he came to his senses, Xia Hongshen had already opened the door to his room and went in. He couldn’t chase after him anymore, so he had to hold back his uncertainty and let go of the matter for the time being.

       At night, when Song Jun was reading an English document distressedly, the little black cat came in again.

       Song Jun stopped what he was doing, poured the cat food specially bought for the kitten into a small porcelain bowl, and placed it in front of it.

       The kitten sniffed it for a long time with its nose raised. After tasting one bite and apparently finding the flavour agreeable, it buried its head and started eating.

       Song Jun felt very happy.

       After the kitten finished eating a bowl of cat food, he gave it a bowl of milk and watched it drink it cleanly.

       Song Jun squatted aside, smoothing the fur of the little black cat with his hands, and asked, “Do you live near here? Why do you run to me every day?”

       The kitten’s ears twitched and naturally ignored him.

       Song Jun said to himself again, “What’s your name? How about I give you a name? Mimi?”

       The little black cat opened its mouth and yawned, no longer paying attention to Song Jun. He turned around and swept his tail over Song Jun’s arm, and then he jumped out of the window.

       Starting from the next day, Song Jun officially reported to the lab.

       Now that he was just getting started, he needed to gradually become familiar with the process. He didn’t want to appear clumsy, although, in fact, he was inevitably a little clumsy. At this time, he began to feel that it was a very happy thing to be guided by a senior brother or sister who had the same mentor. At least when asking for advice, he did not need to be so cautious.

       At noon, Song Jun went back to the dormitory to take a nap. After getting up, he walked to the front of Xia Hongshen’s room, took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to knock on his door.

       However, there was no response.

       He knew Xia Hongshen was there. When he was lying in bed at noon, he clearly heard Xia Hongshen’s footsteps coming back, but Xia Hongshen did not open the door for him.

       Song Jun felt frustrated and a little embarrassed. He dragged his steps toward the lab listlessly.

       In the afternoon, the fluorescence quantitative PCR instrument seemed to encounter an issue, and it wasn’t clear at which step of the procedure Song Jun had made a mistake. When he set it up, there was no response for half a day.

       Suddenly, a hand came over his shoulder. His long fingers held the mouse and clicked a few buttons on the computer.

       The system finally started to move again.

       Song Jun turned around and saw Xia Hongshen wearing a white coat and glasses.

       Xia Hongshen crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, “Continue.”

       Song Jun quickly said, ‘Oh’ and turned around to continue the procedure.

       That day, Xia Hongshen stayed in Song Jun’s laboratory all afternoon to accompany him in conducting his experiments. Although Xia Hongshen didn’t talk much, he basically taught Song Jun step by step. Moreover, regardless of how clumsy Song Jun might seem, Xia Hongshen showed no signs of impatience.

       Song Jun was very grateful to Xia Hongshen. After thinking about it for a few days, he decided to treat Xia Hongshen to a meal. At the same time, in order to thank Bu Hui, who had helped him find papers a few days ago, Song Jun also invited him.

       It was still a small restaurant outside the school. Song Jun and Xia Hongshen arrived first that day. Song Jun asked the boss to take the menu and order. Xia Hongshen sat opposite him, rinsing the utensils with the tea¹It’s a Cantonese tradition (as well as a few other sporadic parts of China) to rinse your utensils and bowls with hot water or tea in the restaurant.

       When Bu Hui arrived, two dishes had already been served.

       These past few days, Bu Hui seemed to be quite busy. Song Jun had hardly run into him, and now, when he saw him, Bu Hui looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes.

       Xia Hongshen handed him a pair of chopsticks while studying his expression.

       Bu Hui took it, thanked him, and then opened his mouth and yawned.

       “Tired?” Song Jun asked.

       Bu Hui nodded, then shook his head and said, “It’s nothing, it’s okay.”

       Although he said he was fine, Song Jun felt that he actually looked very bad. Bu Hui was a cheerful and sunny young man who was always smiling. When he saw Song Jun, he liked to call him junior brother. But tonight, he barely smiled when he showed up, and the rest of the time, he seemed to be just forcing himself to have this meal with them.

       Xia Hongshen sat opposite them and asked a few questions about Bu Hui’s current situation.

       Bu Hui complained that there were too many patients in the hospital, and those patients with various mental illnesses were almost driving him insane as well.

       Being an intern in a hospital was a very tiring thing. Although Song Jun had never experienced it, he felt that he could completely understand it.

       However, it wasn’t Bu Hui’s first day at the hospital, so it was a bit unusual for him to be tortured and emaciated like this.

       After dinner, Bu Hui answered the phone and said he had to leave first.

       Song Jun saw his hurried look and said to Xia Hongshen, “What do you think happened to Senior Brother Bu?”

       Xia Hongshen shook his head.

       Song Jun asked the boss to collect the money, and after paying the bill, he went back to the campus with Xia Hongshen. The two of them had just walked into the campus gate and stopped in unison because they both saw Bu Hui and Cheng Ruijing standing together not far in front.

       Cheng Ruijing still wore a white skirt today, which seemed slightly different from that day, but it was still a long skirt, and she wore a pair of bright red stiletto heels.

       Bu Hui and Cheng Ruijing were standing together talking, looking no different from the countless couples on campus.

       However, Song Jun couldn’t suppress the surprise in his heart and stared hard at Cheng Ruijing.

       Cheng Ruijing suddenly hooked her fingers on the collar of Bu Hui’s T-shirt, stood up slightly on her tiptoes, and kissed her lips.

       Next, Bu Hui took Cheng Ruijing’s hand, and the two of them walked forward together.

       Song Jun felt his heart beating hard as he turned his head to Xia Hongshen, “Let’s go take a look.”

       “Look at what?” Xia Hongshen asked.

       Song Jun couldn’t help but worry, “I always feel that something is wrong with Senior Sister Cheng, and something seems wrong with Senior Brother Bu. I’m a little scared.”

       Xia Hongshen was silent for a moment and said, “If you are really worried, then let’s go and have a look.”

       Song Jun immediately smiled and said, “Thank you, senior brother.”

       Xia Hongshen said nothing.

       The two of them kept a distance and followed Cheng Ruijing and Bu Hui. Seeing them holding hands and walking forward, Cheng Ruijing seemed to be in a good mood and jumped up and down as she walked. It was the same as that day inside Song Jun’s dormitory.

       Bu Hui and Cheng Ruijing walked all the way to the Faculty of Pharmacy building.

       Song Jun stood at the door of the building, hesitating a little. He didn’t want to enter the building again.

       Xia Hongshen did not rush him but just asked, “Do you want to go in?”

       Song Jun turned back to look at Xia Hongshen, thinking that it wouldn’t be scary if he were with him, so he nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

       Bu Hui and Cheng Ruijing took the elevator up to the seventh floor, presumably to Cheng Ruijing’s lab.

       Song Jun always felt that this building was eerie. He didn’t know whether it was the psychological effect of encountering too many weird things here or whether there was something really weird about this building.

       When the elevator came down, Song Jun and Xia Hongshen got in.

       In the narrow elevator room, Song Jun couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother Xia, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”

       Xia Hongshen looked at him, “What do you think?”

       Song Jun wanted to say he didn’t know, but then he thought of the pair of red high heels he saw that night and suddenly felt a chill on his back. He shook his head and decided not to think about these terrible things anymore.

       The elevator came to a stop on the seventh floor. As soon as the elevator door opened, Song Jun heard a series of laughter from Cheng Ruijing. It seemed to be a very happy voice, but when it echoed in the empty corridor, it was unexpectedly overwhelming.

       The security doors in the corridors were not closed today, but except for the left corridor where Cheng Ruijing’s lab was located, the corridor on the right side of the corner did not even have a light on, and every door was tightly closed, so it must be all empty.

       Song Jun and Xia Hongshen walked a few steps in the direction of Cheng Ruijing and the others. Suddenly, they heard Cheng Ruijing humming a song. It was still the same off-key tune she had hummed before. The thin and slightly sharp female voice sounded in the corridor. It echoed with an inexplicable sense of sadness.

       Song Jun took a few steps, felt suddenly nervous, and subconsciously grabbed Xia Hongshen’s wrist next to him.

       Xia Hongshen didn’t say anything and just let him grab him.

       The door of Cheng Ruijing’s lab was ajar. When Song Jun approached, he couldn’t help but move his steps. He pressed his body against the wall and poked his head to look inside the door. His heart was beating so hard because he was afraid of seeing something terrible.

       Although he was mentally prepared, when he saw the scene in the room, he was still stunned.

       There was nothing scary in the room, but on the computer table in the room, Cheng Ruijing was sitting on it, Bu Hui was standing in front of her, and the two were making out.

       Song Jun looked around and saw Bu Hui.

       While kissing Cheng Ruijing’s neck, one hand reached under her skirt while Cheng Ruijing tilted her head, smiling and humming.

       Seeing that scene, Song Jun quickly retracted his head, his face flushed.

       Looking back, Song Jun saw Xia Hongshen looking at him. He didn’t know what to say for a while, and he couldn’t ask Xia Hongshen if he saw the scene inside, so he had to say, “Let’s go.”

       Xia Hongshen didn’t ask anything. When he heard him say he was leaving, he nodded and followed him towards the elevator.

       As Song Jun walked forward, he couldn’t help but look back. Cheng Ruijing was still humming. She didn’t look like she was immersed in intimacy with her boyfriend at all. Moreover, the expression he saw on Cheng Ruijing just now—how to describe it? Her gaze was somewhat vacant, with a slight upward curve at the corners of her mouth—a somewhat chilling smile.

       This sense of incongruity tormented Song Jun, but he didn’t know how to express it to others, so he had to stay silent.

       The elevator reached the first floor. As he stepped out of the elevator, Xia Hongshen’s cell phone suddenly rang.

       Xia Hongshen answered the phone, and the tone sounded like it was from his mentor. He slowly walked a few steps forward, stopped and talked on the phone seriously.

       Song Jun couldn’t disturb him, so he had to wait for him where he was.

       Suddenly, Song Jun saw a mirror placed not far to the right of the door. He walked over and saw that his face was a little pale in the mirror, and strangely, he found that there were two scratches on his face at some point, as if he had been scratched by someone with sharp nails.

       When were you scratched? Song Jun had no memory of the scratches, and his face hadn’t been injured before he left the house today. Song Jun raised his hand to touch his face, but it was smooth, and he couldn’t feel any scratches at all.

       At this time, Xia Hongshen suddenly appeared behind him, startling him.

       He turned around and said to Xia Hongshen, “Did you see any injuries on my face?”

       Xia Hongshen looked at his face, neither admitting nor denying.

       Song Jun was too embarrassed to look in the mirror again and said to Xia Hongshen, “Let’s go.”

       As soon as the two people walked out of the Faculty of Pharmacy building door, Song Jun suddenly realised that there was a mirror inside. He had been in and out of the Faculty of Pharmacy frequently in the past few days, and it seemed that this was the first time he saw a mirror. He didn’t seem to have seen it before he went up just now.

       Song Jun couldn’t help but want to turn back to confirm, but his attention was attracted by another person.

       He saw a boy standing in front of the Faculty of Pharmacy building, looking up. After seeing the two of them come out, his gaze fell on the two of them.

       The boy was wearing a complete set of white short-sleeved sweatshirts. He had a slender figure, fair skin, and slightly long hair that covered his ears. His appearance was very handsome. At first glance, he had a sunny and handsome image that was very popular with girls.

       But the boy looked very serious and kept staring at the two of them.

       Song Jun looked at him, feeling a little weird in his heart. He turned to look at Xia Hongshen, only to see that Xia Hongshen was also looking at the boy, his dark eyes showing no emotion.

       Song Jun opened his mouth and wanted to ask the boy if something was wrong, but he heard someone shouting “Feng Junyuan!” from a distance.

       The boy standing in front turned his head when he heard this. It was probably his classmates calling him. He glanced at Song Jun and Xia Hongshen again, turned and left.

       Next to Song Jun, Xia Hongshen kept watching the boy named Feng Junyuan walk away and then turned back to look at the Faculty of Pharmacy building behind him.

       Song Jun’s head was in chaos, and he heard Xia Hongshen say to him, “Let’s go.”

       He nodded and left with Xia Hongshen.

---

The author has something to say:
Height information of the main characters:
Xia Hongshen is 182cm, Song Jun is 176cm, and Feng Junyuan is 178cm.

---

Notes:
I feel happy to see those familiar names~

---

Support the author by buying the author’s other works and/or giving some jades here~
P.S: the price is cheaper if you buy from the app ><

We now finally have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here

Check out bean’s new ABO novel here!
and her original novel about a sly cute dragon here~
Check out the other hoeni’s work here~
Check out the angst novel I co-tl with my friend here~

And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~

Also leave some ratings if you like this series ~