Chapter 0033 Return
Midway through, Chen Yan stood in front of the mirror and dried Ruyi's half-wet hair.
The two were naked, his penis still arrogantly inside her. She leaned against the marble countertop, not daring to look at the two of them in the mirror, their posture so lewd.
Lying on his side on the bed, Chen Yan gently inhaled the fragrance of Ruyi's hair, placed his hand lightly on her waist, and measured her waist. He could easily wrap his arm around half of her waist with one hand. She was so thin. He hugged her tightly with affection, snuggled close to her face, and discussed the various matters of returning to Lancheng in a tender voice.
"I'll help you contact a tutor..."
"Do you have a lot of stuff? Just bring the essentials. Throw away clothes and skincare products and buy new ones..."
"Tell me when you're ready, and I'll come pick you up."
...
Ruyi was lazy and didn't want to respond, letting him talk to himself behind her back.
She sadly discovered her incurable nature; no matter how unwilling she was, her body had completely surrendered to him. If her mind were controlled by her body, it would be fine, but once she came to her senses and reason regained control, she felt remorse, and an uncontrollable sense of self-loathing overwhelmed her like a rising tide.
Seeing that she remained silent, Chen Yan turned her face and said seriously, "You still have time to contact your advisor in Lancheng. Don't force me to take action at the last minute, or you might end up failing in both graduate programs."
Who else but Chen Yan could utter such threatening words so solemnly?
Ruyi smiled bitterly to herself, lowered her eyelashes, and said softly, "...I want to contact my mentor myself, don't interfere."
Chen Yan smiled. This was Xu Ruyi for you. She always had her own clumsy little insistences. But it didn't matter. As long as it was within the rules he had set, he let her do whatever she wanted.
*
In early May, Lancheng University released its graduate student admissions list, and Xu Ruyi was accepted by Dai Yunhua, an outstanding doctoral supervisor in the School of Computer Science and Technology. Professor Dai is highly regarded in the field of computer research and has a heavy daily research workload. Unless a student is exceptionally qualified, she usually only supervises doctoral students. Ruyi was fortunate to become one of only two graduate students she accepted this year.
In June, graduation season, Chen Yan took a special leave to go to Jingzhou to accompany Ruyi to take graduation photos. His roommates were incredibly excited, some even too shy to look him in the eye. Ruyi noticed their eagerness and took the initiative to take photos of him and his roommates. Chen Yan was in a good mood and readily cooperated with her.
After having a farewell dinner with Ruyi and her roommates, Ruyi packed two suitcases and a backpack that evening. She carried the backpack, while Chen Yan carried one suitcase in each hand. They threw them into the trunk, and that was it—all done in one trip.
The two stayed in Jingzhou for one night and took the bullet train back to Lancheng the next morning. They arrived at Guanlan No. 1 before 4 p.m. Ruyi stood in the center of the familiar yet unfamiliar living room. The four years in Jingzhou felt like a short dream.
He Caiyu was quite puzzled. "What about your boyfriend from Jingzhou?"
Ruyi said they had broken up.
He Caiyu gave an "Oh," her expression showing disapproval. However, she could understand; young people today don't treat relationships as casually as they did in her generation.
“Okay, we can find someone after we split up. We can find someone from Lancheng.” This wasn’t what confused He Caiyu the most. The key was that she thought Ruyi applying to Peking University meant she planned to study and work in Jingzhou and settle down there in the future. Although she herself hadn’t read many books, she danced in the square in her spare time and had made some connections with retired university teachers. They told her that it was much easier to get a direct admission to graduate school from her own university than to go to another university.
After all that trouble, I ended up coming back to pursue a master's degree. If I had known this would happen, I would have preferred to do my undergraduate studies in Lancheng...
Ruyi said she was just curious about the capital's scenery. After four years, she'd had enough and still felt Lancheng was better—economically developed, with a pleasant climate, and most importantly, her aunt was there… This swayed He Caiyu, who then went to brag to the old folks, saying that Ruyi had only come back because she was worried about her. This reminded the old folks of their own unfilial descendants who had immigrated overseas and couldn't even come back once a year, and they said sourly, "How filial you are! We're not as good as you…"
When Ruyi returned to Lancheng, besides Chen Yan and He Caiyu, the happiest person was none other than Hao Jing. When she was admitted to the five-year clinical program at Lancheng Medical University, her schedule was packed from Monday to Friday, and she also had classes on weekends. The textbooks were as thick as dictionaries, and the worst part was that the professors for her major courses never gave her any key points before the exams. She even dreamed about memorizing knowledge points... It was incredibly miserable. She used to complain to Ruyi in various creative ways through the screen. Although her words were witty, she never felt satisfied. Now she could finally vent her frustrations in person.
She's been busy with graduate school applications and her thesis lately, and her hair is falling out in clumps. But no matter how tough it is, it's the path she chose, and she'll see it through, even if she has to crawl on her knees. She's heard from her seniors who are doing residency training at top-tier hospitals that compared to rotating through different hospitals, the days spent memorizing things at school are like heaven...
Ruyi laughed when she heard this and comforted her: "Study hard. Being a doctor is one of the few professions in the country that doesn't have an age crisis. The older you get, the more sought-after you become. When you try to get an appointment with a specialist, don't forget to pull some strings for me..."
Hao Jing smiled and clasped her hands in a fist salute: "Thank you for your kind words!"
"By the way, how are things between you and Zheng Zelin?"
Hao Jing rolled her eyes. "What else could it be? I'm so busy right now, and he keeps talking about going on dates, which is ruining my progress. Last time we had a fight and I broke up with him, do you know what he did? He actually bought a ring, knelt down on one knee, and proposed to me! Damn, that scared the hell out of me. Did he think he was acting in a TV drama?"
Ruyi's heart stirred slightly. "You don't want to get married?"
Hao Jing took a sip of watermelon juice and said, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't want to do it so soon. I haven't even finished my studies yet. To study clinical medicine, I need at least a master's degree, and I was even planning to pursue a doctorate."
"Although my mom thinks it's best to settle on this major while I'm still studying, otherwise I won't have time for it later when I'm working, I don't want to. My brain chip doesn't support dual-track operation; I can only focus on doing one thing well at a time. Marriage? Let's postpone that for now. Once I become a big shot, men will just be my playthings, hahaha!"
"Unless this guy is exceptionally outstanding, like someone on Chen Yan's level, then I might reluctantly consider it... I'm not having any improper thoughts about Chen Yan, I still want to keep my life. I just want to know, you and Chen Yan have been dating for six or seven years, right?... Don't you have any plans?"
The implication was that she was asking Chen Yan if he and she had any plans to get married.
Ruyi shook her head: "I didn't plan to get married so early."
"That's true, but that's Chen Yan. Putting aside his family background, just his looks alone would make countless women want to pay to sleep with him. The world is full of temptations, don't you want to settle down with him sooner?"
"Besides, there's a saying that couples experience a seven-year itch, and it's pretty much the same for couples. The longer it drags on, the more dangerous it becomes. I've heard of many couples who had long-term relationships but couldn't make it to the end. A woman's time is worth a million times more than a man's! If he doesn't have that intention, you should take advantage of your youth and dump him while you still have plenty of time left, and play around with other high-quality men."
Ruyi couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "Aren't you afraid he'll beat you up if he finds out?"
Hao Jing immediately feigned a quail-like expression: "I'm scared, so please don't pass on this message, sister. I'm afraid my life will be in danger."
As they chatted, the topics ranged from academics and relationships to healthcare reform and everyday gossip... Somehow, the conversation veered towards the topic of ugly men in period dramas in the Chinese entertainment industry. Hao Jing complained, "They're truly an eyesore! What's wrong with the entertainment industry? Is there some kind of collective 'ugliness' complex? Men who look so ordinary can get roles in period dramas, but they're so harsh on beautiful women. If you're even slightly overweight on camera, you get relentlessly criticized..."
Hao Jing was filled with righteous indignation, and finally looked up to the sky and sighed: "The world is just one giant Edinburgh!"
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