Professor Xue glanced at Cheng Ran, then at Jiang Wanqing, his shrewd eyes seeming to see something, and smiled in agreement.
"Go back now. I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities to meet in the future. You'd better show me your skills then! Hahaha..."
"no problem."
She nodded and walked out on her own. Without thinking, Cheng Ran hurriedly said goodbye to Professor Xue and chased after her.
"Cheng Ran, and me too... wait..."
Seeing him chasing after Jiang Wanqing, Guo Xueyun's face turned green. In order to save face, she immediately followed.
Blood began to fall outside again. Jiang Wanqing walked straight into the snow. Cheng Ran, who had a bigger stride than her, quickly caught up. Without hesitation, he took off his coat and put it over Jiang Wanqing's head, pressing close to her and protecting her as she walked forward, afraid that she might slip.
"Getting caught in the snow can easily cause a cold. You've only recently recovered, so be careful."
He knew about her fall and injury in the family compound and her hospitalization, but he had never shown up. Now he was talking about it. Jiang Wanqing didn't respond, but just gestured behind her.
"There's someone who needs your help to shield them from the snow more than I do."
Guo Xueyun, covering her head with her hands, caught up with them in a disheveled state, looking at Cheng Ran expectantly.
Snowflakes fell softly, slowly covering the footprints. Cheng Ran frowned.
"Why are you following us instead of going to work?"
"I……"
Guo Xueyun choked, because she had only created an opportunity to spend time with Professor Xue by pretending that she was on her way to work, but now she had caused herself trouble.
"We don't need you to see us off, we can walk by ourselves, don't follow us."
The disdain in her tone was undisguised, and Guo Xueyun felt as if her heart had been pierced with several holes. All her resentment turned into sharp glares directed at Jiang Wanqing.
"I really didn't expect that Comrade Wanqing would chase after Cheng Ran all the way from a remote mountain village to this place. It's clear that you're very afraid of losing Cheng Ran as your support. However, I think it's better for women in the new era to be more independent, otherwise they'll easily be looked down upon."
"Look down on? Is what Teacher Guo is trying to say is that he looks down on people?"
Jiang Wanqing deftly deflected the insults, both mocking Guo Xueyun's communication skills and subtly cursing her.
You insulted me!
She was furious and raised her hand to slap Jiang Wanqing's face, but Cheng Ran grabbed her wrist without hesitation and flung her away.
"Get out of here right now, and don't make me say it a second time!"
He had already endured it for a long time in the lab. If he let her escalate her verbal abuse to physical harm when they were out in the open, he would be a useless husband.
"Cheng Ran! Haven't you seen through her true colors yet? She's overestimating herself and coming to the capital to embarrass herself. How can someone like that be worthy of being your wife? She hasn't even met your aunt and uncle, do you think they'll approve of this marriage!"
With red eyes, Guo Xueyun felt no sense of inferiority to Jiang Wanqing from head to toe, yet she couldn't gain Cheng Ran's special treatment. Without belittling Jiang Wanqing, how could she display her superiority?
"Is the performance over?" Jiang Wanqing stared at her coldly: "It's my turn to say a few words. First of all, I came to Beijing at Professor Xue's invitation. Secondly, I don't know if the Cheng family approves of me, but they certainly don't approve of you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been so incompetent and hysterical. You would have been sitting comfortably in the Cheng family long ago, wouldn't you?"
Jiang Wanqing's fighting ability was enough to allow her to escape Cheng Ran's protection.
He was both happy and a little disappointed. He used to think that he was more important to her than she was to him, but now it seemed that this was gradually changing...
Guo Xueyun, who was so angry that she almost fainted, was choked by the retort. Jiang Wanqing glanced at her, turned around and left, not giving her any chance to retort.
Cheng Ran naturally didn't stop, but kept following Jiang Wanqing closely. Seeing that she was determined not to wait for him, it didn't seem like she was angry or jealous, but more like she was cutting ties with him.
He got scared, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into his arms, using his coat to shield her from the snow with one hand.
He lowered his eyes slightly to look at her: "Let me explain."
"You can listen, but not here."
Jiang Wanqing's expression remained calm. She didn't want to discuss her still-undefined feelings in such a sacred place as Huada University.
"Okay, where do you want to go?"
Jiang Wanqing took him back to the guesthouse. After entering, she shook off the snowflakes that had settled on her clothes, poured herself a cup of hot water, and then stared at him intently.
"Let me make this clear first: my trip to Beijing and to Huazhong University of Science and Technology wasn't for you..."
Cheng Ran felt a pang in her heart, and fearing she might say something even more cold, she quickly interrupted her.
“I know, but I went to UW only for you,” he said.
After saying this, Jiang Wanqing paused, her brows slowly furrowing.
"What did you say?"
He slowly moved closer to her, took her arm, and looked at her with no trace of deceit or malice.
“I only arrived in Beijing a week ago. Before that, I was carrying out the tasks assigned by my superiors. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. Later, Hongxing told me that you were recovering very well. With the Lunar New Year approaching, I wanted to give you a surprise and went back to Beijing on the way. I wanted to help you contact Professor Xue to meet him because you said you admired him a lot, and coincidentally, my family has some connections with him… I didn’t expect you to be so amazing and meet the professor before me.”
His eyes were full of pride. Jiang Wanqing opened her mouth, she really hadn't thought of this reason.
"That letter from Guo Xueyun..."
Although she didn't believe the contents of the letter, and Cheng Ran's words proved that her disbelief was correct, she still needed an answer.
Speaking of that letter, Cheng Ran felt a wave of nausea, and his tone unconsciously became disgusted.
“That letter was written by Guo Xueyun on her own initiative. I didn’t know about it beforehand, and I had already warned her.”
"oh."
She gave a faint "oh," showing neither joy nor anger. Of course, she knew that Cheng Ran wouldn't kill Guo Xueyun for a letter; that was unrealistic. The warning was already a punishment.
The atmosphere fell silent. She made the bed, turned around and shooed him away: "I've finished telling you my business. Now tell me yours, and you can leave. I want to rest."
She didn't give him any chance to talk further, and her order to leave slipped out before he could. His Adam's apple bobbed twice as he slowed his breathing.
He frowned slightly, suppressing his urge to hug her, and took a breath: "I'd like to take you home to meet my parents, is that convenient for you?"
Jiang Wanqing paused for a moment, then asked, "Was this something you had planned all along, or did you have no choice but to do it because of my sudden arrival?"
She knew that Cheng Ran was a very responsible person, and given what Guo Xueyun had said today, he would definitely do something to appease her, such as taking her home.
“I originally planned to take you back to Beijing when the weather was good in the spring, so that you would be prepared. It’s good to move the plan forward. Once you meet my parents, Guo Xueyun’s nonsense will fall apart.”
"Are you so confident that your parents will accept me?" Jiang Wanqing raised an eyebrow.
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