He had taken off his school uniform jacket, leaving only the black sweatshirt underneath, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. His face was flushed from exercise and sported his usual, nonchalant smile.
"Wanwan, Qingliu, come quickly! Freshly baked Lao Zhang Ji soup dumplings, and your favorite boat porridge!"
He placed the paper bag on an empty lab table next to him and began to unpack it carelessly. A rich aroma instantly filled the air, diluting the smell of disinfectant in the laboratory.
Ning Xiwan and Ye Qingliu looked at each other and tacitly stopped the previous topic.
"Wash your hands." Ye Qingliu reminded concisely and took the lead to walk to the sink in the corner.
Ning Xiwan also walked over with a smile: "You have a conscience. You still remember that we haven't eaten."
Duan Shuce unpacked the disposable chopsticks and looked at Ning Xiwan with a raised eyebrow. "Of course! My Wanwan has been 'killing all around' in the ocean of knowledge today, so she needs to replenish her energy!"
He glanced at Ye Qingliu who was washing his hands diligently, "And Qingliu, I heard that he made the competition class from the neighboring No. 1 Middle School cry again today? Tsk, he's worthy of being my Qingliu!"
Ye Qingliu shook off the water droplets on his hands, walked back, took the chopsticks handed to him by Duan Shuce with an expressionless face, and said coldly: "Childish."
The three of them gathered around the lab table, enjoying a simple meal. The warm porridge and delicious soup dumplings dispelled the chill of late autumn and the fatigue of the experiments.
Duan Shuce talked about the interesting things about his basketball team's training, and Ning Xiwan occasionally complained about the difficult experimental data.
Ye Qingliu ate in silence most of the time, and only responded coldly with "Shut up" or "Idiot" when Duan Shuce deliberately "provoked" him.
Outside the window, the city lights are bright, and inside the window, there is the steam of food, the lively atmosphere of young people bickering, and the silent flow of tacit understanding and warmth that has settled after going through the storm.
All those conspiracies and rumors were temporarily kept out of the door.
Ning Xiwan sipped her warm porridge and looked at the two people beside her. Duan Shuce was excitedly imitating his shooting moves, while Ye Qingliu frowned and dodged his elbow that almost touched the porridge bowl, with a look of disgust on his face.
The corner of her heart that was shrouded in the haze of the past seemed to be illuminated a little by this ordinary warmth.
As the night deepened, the laboratory building had long since been deserted, leaving only the top floor lab still lit.
After Ning Xiwan finished processing the last batch of samples, she carefully placed the culture dishes into the constant temperature incubator, set the parameters, and then breathed a sigh of relief and took off her white coat.
Duan Shuce leaned back in his chair, his long legs casually draped over his shoulders, playing games on his phone, the light from the screen reflected on his face.
Ye Qingliu sat quietly in a chair by the window, holding a thick book on astrophysics, reading intently. The city's neon lights shone through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, casting shifting shadows on his cold, pale face.
"Let's go." Ning Xiwan picked up her bag.
Duan Shuce immediately quit the game, put away his phone, stood up and stretched: "Let's go! Send my Wanwan back to the dormitory!"
He took Ning Xiwan's bag naturally.
Ye Qingliu also closed the book and silently picked up his school uniform jacket and schoolbag.
The three of them walked out of the silent laboratory building. The late autumn night wind brought a biting chill, instantly sweeping away the warmth in the room. Ning Xiwan wrapped herself tightly in her thin coat.
Duan Shuce naturally put his school uniform jacket on her shoulders. The jacket, with the boy's body temperature and a faint scent of soapberry, blocked out the cold.
"If you're cold, dress warmly and don't try to be stubborn." His tone was casual, but his actions were unquestionable.
Ye Qingliu glanced at him without saying a word. He just walked silently to the other side of Ning Xiwan, slightly behind her by half a step, like a silent shadow.
The tree-lined avenue leading to the dormitory area was very quiet, and the street lights were dim, casting long, sometimes intertwining shadows of three people on the ground.
Stepping on the dry fallen leaves made a crackling sound.
"Ning Yunmeng's suitor, Qin Yuheng," Duan Shuce put his hands in his trouser pockets, kicking the pebbles on the road, his tone a little playful.
"Interesting. He's really willing to spend a fortune for her. If Mr. Qin knew his precious grandson was so desperate for his beloved, I wonder if he would be so angry that he would pass out."
"The Qin family's development rights for that piece of land in the south of the city have been stuck with the Planning Bureau for a long time." Ye Qingliu's cold voice echoed in the night wind, without any emotion. "Qin Yuheng's father has been very 'concerned' about this matter recently."
Ning Xiwan paused slightly and glanced sideways at Ye Qingliu. His gray-blue eyes seemed particularly deep in the night, like a cold pond hiding the stars.
This sentence seems to be stating a fact, but it reveals too much information - Ye Qingliu knows the Qin family's weaknesses very well.
"Oh?" Duan Shuce raised an eyebrow, becoming interested. "Qingliu, your intelligence work is quite good! So, the Qin family needs help now?"
He stroked his chin and smiled like a cunning fox. "How dare Qin Yuheng jump around like this for Ning Yunmeng? Isn't he afraid that his father will break his legs?"
"Qin Yuheng," Ye Qingliu paused, a hint of barely perceptible contempt in his tone, "stupid."
"Pfft." Ning Xiwan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ye Qingliu's curses are always so concise, accurate and powerful.
"It's really stupid." Duan Shuce nodded in agreement, then looked at Ning Xiwan with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Wanwan, are you really planning to just leave the Qin family alone? That brat Qin Zihao is such an eyesore."
Ning Xiwan tightened the coat on her shoulders that held Duan Shuce's body temperature, and looked towards the twinkling lights of the dormitory building in the distance.
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