"Professor?" Jiang Shuyi looked at Wen Yao.

Wen Yao set down the spoon in her hand and gazed calmly at Jiang Shuyi, "I don't quite understand what you're saying..."

—I was careless.

Wen Yao was not someone who made mistakes easily. On the contrary, she rarely made errors and often left herself room for error. 

However, she never imagined she would make such a mistake.

"It's just that you just mentioned 'undercooked'," Jiang Shuyi explained after thinking for a moment.

"I've only ever had undercooked congee once..."

The only ones who knew Jiang Shuyi had made undercooked congee were her college self, who had made undercooked rice, and Wen Yao, who had eaten that bowl of congee.

By mentioning the undercooked part, it indicated that she knew Jiang Shuyi wasn't the same Jiang Shuyi anymore.

It also confirmed that she was indeed her professor.

"I don't understand what you're saying."

Wen Yao repeated.

She raised her head with a neutral expression, staring directly into Jiang Shuyi's eyes.

". . ." Jiang Shuyi instinctively shrank back, "Oh."

Wen Yao took a breath and slowly placed the spoon in front of her. "......The rice is getting cold."

"Let's eat."

Jiang Shuyi looked at Wen Yao's cold expression, quietly nodded, and closed her mouth.

The two of them sat in silence, staring at the bowl of egg drop congee and the cold cucumber salad in front of them.

Wen Yao slowly brought a spoonful of rice to her mouth, sensing Jiang Shuyi's fixed gaze. Jiang Shuyi remained motionless, only lifting her head to look at Wen Yao once in a while.

Wen Yao lowered her gaze.

Jiang Shuyi, looking down, took a bite of rice and reached for the cucumber with her chopsticks. When she met Wen Yao's gaze for a moment, her voice stumbled, "I..."

She stuttered on the "I" for a while, unable to continue, then suddenly seemed to come to a realization, shrugging her shoulders.

She looked at Wen Yao with wide eyes, her head hanging lower and lower until her face went pale.

Seeing her expression, Wen Yao's eyes dimmed.

Quietly setting down her bowl, she politely said, "...I'll go back to my room first."

Jiang Shuyi watched Wen Yao's retreating figure and stopped her movements with the congee.

"...Aren't you going to eat? You haven't eaten all day. Won't you feel uncomfortable if you don't eat?" Jiang Shuyi asked, looking at the remaining congee in Wen Yao's bowl.

Wen Yao glanced at her, "No, thank you."

She didn't want to see the change in Jiang Shuyi's expression anymore.

Hearing her response, Jiang Shuyi obediently nodded. "......Okay."

---

In the evening, Jiang Shuyi knocked on Wen Yao's room door, "...I'm done using the bathroom. You can use it now."

—Jiang Shuyi actually knocked.

Wen Yao opened the door with an expressionless face.

Jiang Shuyi watched her come out and instinctively shrank her neck, taking the towel and heading towards her own room door.

Seeing Jiang Shuyi seemingly planning to sleep alone, Wen Yao hesitated and asked, "Aren't we going to sleep together tonight?"

". . ." Jiang Shuyi was surprised and looked up. After a moment, her face flushed, and she lowered her head, her gaze nervously dodging as she stammered, "N-no, it's fine."

Wen Yao felt that her own question had come off as abrupt, but she had initially thought Jiang Shuyi would immediately rush over.

After a moment of silence, she finally said, "Is that so? I see."

Wen Yao quietly took her pajamas and walked to the bathroom.

---

"Wen Yao."

A familiar voice called her name, and Wen Yao turned her head quietly.

Jiang Shuyi was standing behind her.

Jiang Shuyi looked at her with a sense of grievance, "You lied to me."

"I didn't." Wen Yao calmly replied.

". . ." Jiang Shuyi stared at her in silence.

Wen Yao sighed, "I... just didn't explain myself."

—She knew it was all the same.

"Jiang Shuyi, I didn't say it at that time because..."

Wen Yao reached out her hand, trying to speak in a soothing tone to explain.

Jiang Shuyi pushed her hand away.

". . ." Wen Yao's fingers twitched, silently watching Jiang Shuyi, carefully considering how to explain to the person in front of her.

But the next moment, Jiang Shuyi started wiping her eyes with her hands, "Professor, can you give me back my Wen Yao?"

"My Wen Yao?"

Wen Yao quietly repeated this phrase, clearly her own name, but feeling as if she was reading some unfamiliar text.

"Yes, I don't want you, I want my..."

"Give me back my..."

"Give me back my Wen Yao—" Jiang Shuyi cried uncontrollably.

Wen Yao opened her eyes, realizing she was still in Jiang Shuyi's guest room.

"It was just a dream." She quietly sat up.

—Even though it was a dream, no one could guarantee it wasn't real.

After washing up, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Jiang Shuyi's room. She planned to wake Jiang Shuyi as she usually did.

Jiang Shuyi was asleep in bed, her posture as peaceful as ever, hugging the pillow she usually used, looking like a baby.

Things needed to be said early, and actions taken early.

—Now she just had to wake Jiang Shuyi, clarify everything, and then pack her things to return to her own home.

She had already heard enough sweet words from Jiang Shuyi, enjoyed many of her embraces, received countless kisses, and experienced the feeling of happiness.

She clearly felt that nothing was a dream because she deeply understood that dreams couldn't be that happy.

So, no matter what Jiang Shuyi thought, said, or chose to do, she should listen to herself, this was Jiang Shuyi's right.

Although she thought that as long as she was careful enough, she could delay the arrival of this moment a little longer.

Wen Yao crossed her arms and looked at Jiang Shuyi, slowly extending her hand.

"Wen Yao..." Jiang Shuyi seemed to catch a whiff of her pheromones and called her name in a dream.

Wen Yao retracted her hand.

---

Wen Yao glanced at the classroom clock, then at Jiang Shuyi's seat, and lowered her gaze.

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the classroom. She looked at Wen Yao, who was collecting assignments at the podium, and said, "Prof..."

Wen Yao quietly accepted a student's assignment book, her eyes blankly focused on Jiang Shuyi.

"......Wen Yao." Jiang Shuyi called out.

Seeing Wen Yao not responding, she called again, "Wen Yao."

"I can hear you, Jiang Shuyi." Wen Yao quietly raised her head to reply.

Jiang Shuyi pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, "Why won't you..."

"Miss Yi." Zhou Jingtang suddenly put her arm around Jiang Shuyi's shoulder from behind.

"How was your New Year? Did you see the photos I sent you? We were setting off fireworks at Song Jinxi's house..."

"Oh, I saw them... Just wait a moment..." Jiang Shuyi glanced at Zhou Jingtang and replied.

"We brought back some delicious food for you." Zhou Jingtang smiled and pulled Jiang Shuyi over.

"Look at this, I know you love it..."

As Jiang Shuyi dealt with Zhou Jingtang, she kept glancing over at Wen Yao.

Wen Yao was looking down, lost in thought. After a while, she stood up, set her assignments aside, and walked out indifferently.

---

With the spring semester starting, classes began at the usual time.

Since their third-year formal courses had already concluded, each teacher began their class with a class review test.

During exam periods, Jiang Shuyi didn't speak much with Wen Yao. After class, Zhou Jingtang and the others would come and chat with her. Sometimes, when Jiang Shuyi was about to walk over to talk to Wen Yao, she would silently head towards the teacher's office or the academic affairs office.

During the exams, Jiang Shuyi glanced over to Wen Yao's side several times. Wen Yao was also there, expressionless, calmly writing her paper.

". . ."

At first, Jiang Shuyi thought it was just a coincidence that she hadn't spoken to Wen Yao, but later, she realized that Wen Yao was avoiding her.

Wen Yao always got up earlier than Jiang Shuyi to go to school, at some point, she disappeared from the school without a trace, and Jiang Shuyi couldn't seem to find a chance to talk to her.

She realized for the first time that two people could live in the same place without ever encountering each other if they chose to.

After school, Jiang Shuyi returned home and opened the shoe cabinet.

Wen Yao's shoes were neatly placed there, and Jiang Shuyi quietly took out her own slippers and put them on.

Recently, every time she returned home, the first thing she did was check if Wen Yao's shoes were still in the cabinet.

After dinner, Jiang Shuyi quietly walked up the stairs and turned to Wen Yao's door.

There was no light coming from the crack under the door, as if no one were inside, but Jiang Shuyi was sure Wen Yao was there.

She knocked three times on Wen Yao's door.

No reply came from inside.

These past few days, even when Jiang Shuyi knocked on Wen Yao's door, she pretended not to be home.

"Professor."

Jiang Shuyi took a deep breath. "Have you been eating well lately?"

"Where are you having lunch these days? I can't seem to find you..."

"I checked the fridge, it seems like you haven't had dinner either. Your health will deteriorate if you continue like this..."

Leaning against the door frame, Jiang Shuyi slowly continued, "You just got your health back on track recently."

Wen Yao sat in the darkness, looking at the crack of light under the door.

"......Um, Professor," Jiang Shuyi pulled on the doorknob, but the door was securely locked. "I want to talk to you. Can we?"

Wen Yao still didn't respond.

After waiting for a while and not hearing any reply from inside, Jiang Shuyi sighed.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk..."

"But, if you're hungry, just take the food from the fridge and heat it up..." Jiang Shuyi said softly. "I'm a bit worried you might get sick."

Wen Yao leaned against the back of her door, listening to Jiang Shuyi's footsteps fade away, and let out a long sigh.

She had always been someone who dealt with things as they came, so why was she delaying things now? She didn't understand it herself.

In her heart, because she was prepared, parting ways shouldn't be impossible.

But just thinking about it brought up a multitude of questions.

What if she couldn't sleep?

What if she fell asleep and dreamed of Jiang Shuyi?

What if she woke up from the dream?

—What if I start missing Jiang Shuyi... what then?

---

As graduation season approached, the frequency of meetings among the faculty at H University increased.

After the meeting, Professor Wen walked up the stairs, intending to return to the lab to organize some documents before leaving.

To avoid any mistakes, she usually didn't take important documents home.

The lights in the lab were still on, and she could hear voices coming from inside.

She glanced at her watch, planning to drop off the documents and leave. Just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she realized that the voices she had heard earlier were actually cries.

She furrowed her brows slightly, feeling a bit troubled. So, she turned on her heel, planning to descend the stairs with the documents in hand.

But before she could turn around, she heard a familiar voice of distress coming from the research lab.

"Professor Wen, why are you so heartless..."

Wen Yao's steps came to a halt.

The person inside was initially just sobbing, without saying anything, wiping their nose with a tissue, not revealing the reason for their tears.

Wen Yao leaned against the door, feeling somewhat annoyed as she crossed her arms.

The person inside gradually started to hiccup while crying, "Why are you always so mean to me..."

"Why is it just me who has to delay my graduation—"

The person used another tissue to wipe their nose but found they had run out, so they took the white lab coat they were wearing and used that instead.

Wen Yao watched as she wiped her nose with the lab coat and removed her glasses to pinch the corners of her eyes.

After ten minutes, Jiang Shuyi cried herself to exhaustion and fell asleep on the desk in the research lab.

Wen Yao pushed the door open, placed the documents in the drawer, and pulled out a chair to sit in her usual spot, glancing at Jiang Shuyi.

After a while, she slowly got up, grabbed the coat nearby, and draped it over Jiang Shuyi...

Unfortunately, the coat had stuck to the sleeve of Jiang Shuyi's lab coat.

It was ruined.

Wen Yao shook her head and walked out of the lab.

---

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