Chapter Twenty-Six

  Situ Xin had been studying hard in the self-study room of the pharmacy school for an entire afternoon. As a senior, she was already looking forward to graduation in her major. Many of her classmates were actively planning their job searches, discussing topics such as who had connections that could get them into one of the top hospitals in the city after graduation, or which pharmaceutical company had better benefits. Those who felt secure about their future prospects were naturally confident and optimistic, while those who felt uncertain about their future began to worry anxiously, with Xiao Gen being a representative figure among the latter group.

  As for work, Situ Xuan is not in a hurry, on the contrary, she hopes that graduation day will be far away. Situ Ji'an has mentioned more than once that he hopes she and Qi Yun can graduate as soon as possible. Although there are talented people in the company, they are not as reliable as their own family members. Moreover, although he doesn't say it out loud, he is proud of these two excellent juniors in his heart. In the future, handing over the company to them will also be a good succession plan.

  For the "high hopes" placed on her by her father, Situ Xuan saw it with her own eyes, but she was really lacking in interest. It's not that she didn't have any sense of responsibility for the family business, it's just that she yearned for a free and easy life, and the cunning and deceitful business world wasn't what she liked. After graduating and entering her family's company, under her parents' guidance and training for several years, she would naturally take over the empire built by her father and become a powerful female leader, step by step making Jusan Hall bigger and stronger. This kind of life was too far away from her expectations.

  Situ Xuan has more than once in conversation with her parents explicitly stated that she is not suitable for the management of enterprises, compared to which she would rather be in a purely technical position, engaged in R&D work. Situ Ji'an listened and said that no matter what she likes to do, it's okay, as long as she serves the family business, and when it comes to management, one day he and his wife Xue Shaoping are old and can't keep up, isn't there still Qiyun? At that time, Situ Xuan and Qiyun can take charge of operations and technology development respectively, anyway, Ji'an Hall will eventually belong to the two of them.

  Every time it comes to this point, Xue Shaoping will smile and interrupt her husband and daughter. She always says to Si Tuyi: "Don't forget, Ji'antang is the surname of the Si family, you are our only daughter, this burden is destined for you to take on. No one is born with a full interest in something, things that can't be done can be learned slowly, while I and your father can still teach you hand in hand, what can't be handled? Yiqun is studying medicine, he has his own interests, if he is willing to assist you, it's naturally the best."

  Xue Shaoping said this, the words "unique" and "auxiliary" were always clearly enunciated. Situ Jiu'an could only awkwardly smoke, while Situ Xuan secretly rolled her eyes, helplessly and amusingly stealing glances at the silent and expressionless Qiyun, as if she was detached from the situation.

  Actually, in Situ Xuan's so-called stance, it has never been just her alone. She always unconsciously puts Yiqun into her own "I". She knows that Yiqun truly likes his profession, and he is different from Wu Jiang who was forced by his parents to study medicine. She has seen Yiqun in the lab and hospital, and the eyes above the mask reveal a focus and satisfaction that makes her deeply feel his happiness in doing his job. This kind of happiness is so precious for Yao Qiyun who is entangled with too many worries. Situ Xuan thinks he will be a good doctor and should become a good doctor.

  When they were together in secret, Situ Xinyue would rest her head on Yao Qiyun's leg, and the two of them would start to indulge in their boundless daydreams, a dream called "Our Future". In this dream, after graduation, Yao Qiyun really took up his scalpel, working at a hospital that didn't have to be in a big city, maybe it was a bit out of the way, or maybe the position wasn't so glamorous, but there also weren't as many shady dealings and gray transactions. He would feel fulfilled with every day's hard work, and every penny he earned would be well-deserved. As for Situ Xinyue, she could work as a pharmacist at his hospital, they would finish their work for the day, if they were exhausted when they returned home, they could still sleep in each other's arms, when the sun shone brightly on their bedhead, opening their eyes to see each other's messy hair... The one who often vividly described this scene was Situ Xinyue, she tirelessly drew out a lot of details, making herself laugh out loud. Yao Qiyun listened with a smile, never interrupting. But even Situ Xinyue understood that he yearned for it, yet always thought it could only be a dream. If Situ Jiu'an hoped to get him to do something for the Situ family, as long as he said one word, Yao Qiyun wouldn't be able to refuse.

  "Otherwise, let's think of a way to go abroad together." Si Tu Jue blinked and said.

  Yao Qiyun heard this and just smiled, saying: "Fool, even if you go to the ends of the earth, aren't you still the daughter of the Situ family? And I am not raised by them?"

  Indeed, no matter how much he said to let Jiu An Tang go to hell, but thinking of his parents, how could he bear to give up. Si Tu Xuan could only sulkily return from the dream world to reality. Fortunately, Qi Yun's professional education system is seven years, and there is still a long way to go before graduation. Si Tu Xuan then devoted himself to thinking about graduate school at his current university, so that he can be with him. Anyway, his parents are still young and strong, and being able to muddle through for a few more years in the school is a few more years.

  After signing up for the graduate exam, Situ Xin still had confidence in herself getting in smoothly. However, her sights were set high - she wanted to get into the top professor's lab in their college. If she could become Professor Zou Jin's graduate student, that would be the best. Although it was said that after Qu Xiaojuan, Professor Zou didn't take on any more master's students, and not a single female student either, Situ Xin didn't think she had anything to envy about Qu Xiaojuan. If Professor Zou still didn't want to take on master's students, then so be it. But if he was willing to accept new students, and her grades were far better than the other male students, then he should consider her carefully too. With this "beautiful idea" in mind, Situ Xin worked even harder to review.

  The phone on the table suddenly vibrated, and Situ Xuan looked at it to find a text message from Qiyun. They had recently been arranged to do short-term internships at the school's affiliated hospital, which was busier than usual class hours. Now that he thought about it, it had already been a whole week since they last "hung out" together.

  "Wait for me after self-study tonight." His texts had never exceeded fifteen words.

  "Okay, let's go have a midnight snack together. What do you want to eat?"

  He quickly turned it over, and on the other side were four simple words: "Braised Pork Ribs."

  Situ Xin couldn't help but feel a slight flush in the crowded self-study classroom, putting away her phone and thinking to herself that he was much worse than she was, indeed people who appear dignified are actually the real rascals.

  This anecdote originated from a certain day not long ago, when Yao Qiyun was flipping through Zhang Ailing brought back by Sutu Xuan from the library. There was a sentence that said: If the beautiful women with deep eyes and sharp cheekbones in the Hunan-Guangdong region are sugar and vinegar ribs, then Shanghai women are steamed buns. At that time, Sutu Xuan asked him which flavor he liked, but he refused to answer. Until that evening, because Yao's aunt was back home visiting relatives for a few days, Xue Shaoping worried that they would have no fixed place for meals on weekends, so she asked them what they had eaten at noon.

  "Red Braised Pork Ribs."

  Xue Shaoping thought he had ordered takeout, but actually that day was rare at home without others. Yao Qiyun and Situ Xuan were messing around in the house after breakfast, and they didn't eat lunch. He did "gnaw" her clean.

  Situ Qiangqiang suppressed his smile, initially wanting to use the old trick of kicking his leg under the table, fortunately didn't put it into action, because Xue Shaoping's next words almost made them so shocked that they couldn't even hold their chopsticks.

  "Hey Qi Yun, don't mind Auntie asking, but is this kid in love?" Xue Shaoping asked with a smile.

  "Really? Why didn't you tell me?" Si Tu Jiu An also looked at him in surprise.

  Yao Qiyun was momentarily stunned, on the verge of denying it. But Situ Jin knew that her mother wasn't a gossiping woman who made baseless accusations; since she had already asked the question, she must have had some basis for it. However, looking at her mother's expression, it didn't seem like she had completely seen through their "illicit relationship", otherwise she would have started by questioning Situ Jin first.

  Then Situ Ke burst out before Yao Qiyun denied: "Mom, you're so cool! Yao Qiyun, don't blame me, it wasn't me who said it."

  She steeled herself and took a gamble. As expected, Xue Shaoping still had a pleasant expression, but curiously turned to her, "You also know?"

  Situ Xuan took a big mouthful of rice and said with a smile, "Hehe, I've bumped into you before."

  "So you don't know?" A hint of disappointment flashed across Jiǔ'ān's face. Jiǔ thought, Mom must be clapping her hands in delight because Dad's last shred of hope for Yún to become his son-in-law seemed to have vanished. "When did this happen? What about that girl?"

  Yao Qiyun forced a smile, and Situ Xuan hastily said: "Of course not as beautiful as me, just an ordinary person. However, mom, how did you know?"

  "Look at you, if others heard this, it's not a joke." Xue Shaoping smiled with pursed lips. "Can this be hidden from people? I've seen Qiyun sitting on the sofa sending text messages non-stop in the evening, the smile at the corner of his mouth, I think he didn't even notice himself. Your mom is also an experienced person, can't she see it? However, at first, I just made a guess and asked casually, I didn't expect it to be true. Qiyun, what's with you, hiding such a big thing from us? When will you bring that girl over for your Uncle Situ and me to meet?"

  Situ Xinyi felt a sense of relief, fortunately as wise as her mother, she saw the "spring sentiment" when that guy sent text messages, but didn't guess that the text message was sent to her precious daughter who was surfing the internet on the second floor. She deliberately said with dissatisfaction: "He can find a girlfriend so generously, why don't I get this treatment?" After speaking, she still asked curiously, making Yao Qiyun's face embarrassed, "Is the red mark on your neck left by your girlfriend?"

  Everyone's attention was focused on the faint red mark on Yao Qiyun's neck, which had not been noticeable before. The person who made the mark was watching the commotion with an air of innocence. Yao Qiyun covered his neck and lowered his head even further, but if one could see his eyes, they would probably be filled with murderous intentions.

  As soon as she thought of this, a smile appeared on her face again. Who made that guy not even good at telling lies? She should be grateful that her mother was not around now, otherwise the smile on her face at this moment would have been no different from Yao Qiyun's "exposure". In fact, sometimes she would secretly wish that one day she would be recognized by her parents and it would be over. After the storm had passed, she still wanted to be with Qiyun, nothing could separate them.

  "Sutou, Sutou!"

  Someone beside her insisted on pulling her out of her melancholy thoughts.

  Situ Xuan raised his head, and it turned out to be Xiao Gen.

  There are also people who can't understand why Xīu Yuè, who is proud and beautiful, would take a boy like Xiǎo Gēn as her good friend. For four years in college, ordinary students have always said that Xiǎo Gēn's Mandarin is not standard, and he still looks timid, showing a few hints of a flattering smile whenever he sees someone. He doesn't look outstanding, his grades are not ideal, perhaps due to poor learning methods, even though he starts reviewing earlier than anyone else, but still can't escape the fate of re-examination and re-study. Moreover, his family background is very poor, and he has been unable to shake off the shadow of being a student from a poor family. Friends like Wú Jiāng and Xīu Yuè have almost become the brightest spot in his life that he can be proud of.

  Xīu Yuè also can't explain why, perhaps she is just someone who never thinks "why" when it comes to emotions and friendship. She believes more in fate, heaven arranged for Xiǎo Gēn to be in the same group as them during the pre-school camping trip, so let's continue the friendship. She doesn't see anything wrong with that. She even never denies her sympathy for Xiǎo Gēn, every time she thinks of his past life, she feels more kindness and understanding towards him. Not to mention, although Xiǎo Gēn is weak, he has no malice towards others at all. Xīu Yuè likes kind-hearted people.

  "Speak your mind, summoning souls." Situ Xuan put down his book and said.

  "I have something on, can you help me submit this scholarship application form to the department office?" Xiaogen said with embarrassment.

  The office was just ten meters away in another building, and the time it took to find someone to help was enough to make a trip there. Although Situ Xuan felt a bit strange, since someone had spoken up, they must have had their own difficulties, and anyway, it wasn't a difficult task, so Situ Xuan didn't ask many questions and readily agreed.

  She didn't dawdle, gathered her things, and took the small form that Xiao Gen had given her to hand in, heading towards the institute's office. As she walked past a small lawn with a fake mountain behind the Pharmaceutical College's office building, a figure lurking behind the fake mountain made Cui Tu slow down. Could it be... She had some idea why Xiao Gen had specifically asked her to run this errand.

  As she passed by the rockery, Situ Xin intentionally quickened her pace, ignoring the person beside her who was watching her with a desire to speak but hesitated.

  "Situ, wait a minute." As expected, Tan Shaocheng's voice came from one side. "Don't go just yet, I have something to discuss with you."

  Situ Xuan turned around, not hiding the slight impatience on her face. She didn't like Tan Shaocheng, from head to toe, inside and out. Just like today's matter, since he had something to ask her, why couldn't he just speak straightforwardly? Why did he have to beat around the bush, using Xiao Gen to bring her here, and put on a mysterious air? The feeling Tan Shaocheng gave Situ Xuan was always like this: too calculating, with many ulterior motives, yet trying to hide them. He had one set of words for her face and another for behind her back. Sometimes it wasn't necessarily malicious, but rather his habituated way of being "cunning". However, this attitude towards people and matters was precisely what made Situ Xuan most disgusted, even his so-called "gentle" demeanor, which was not to her taste.

  Situ Xuan is different from Wu Jiang, who can say "not my type" with a smile on his face. Even when he knows that Tan Shaocheng has feelings for him and is trying to get close to him under the guise of "gratitude", as long as the other person doesn't make it clear, he won't explicitly reject them. This has led to Tan Shaocheng not giving up even now, occasionally sending small gifts to Wu Jiang when he's interning at the affiliated hospital. This "interesting story" is actually known by everyone who is close to Wu Jiang and is often joked about behind his back. As Wu Jiang's confidant, Situ Xuan knows about Qu Xiaojuan and also understands that even without her, Tan Shaocheng's type of girl is completely different from Wu Jiang's. She has advised Wu Jiang to distance himself from Tan Shaocheng, but Wu Jiang just laughs it off, saying he has his own philosophy of "going with the flow" and doesn't want to hurt anyone. He thinks that if someone likes him, that's their business, and he won't waste his time thinking about it. Maybe one day, she'll come around and her feelings will fade away naturally.

  Wu Jiang also analyzed that Situ Xuan's wariness towards Tan Shaocheng was largely due to the fact that Tan Shaocheng and Yao Qiyun had a good relationship, so she treated others as imaginary enemies of love. Therefore, even though Tan Shaocheng was in the class next door, the two often attended large classes together, and despite Tan's repeated attempts to show kindness, and Situ Xuan's good friends Xiao Gen and San Pi were quite familiar with Tan, Situ Xuan remained extremely cold towards Tan Shaocheng.

  Actually, Wu Jiang's guess was not entirely correct. With Si Tu Jue's pride, she never considered Tan Shao Cheng as her opponent, nor did she think that anyone could replace her position in Yao Qi Yun's heart. Her imaginary enemy had always been Yao Qi Yun's concerns, rather than any girl. As for Tan Shao Cheng, it would be more accurate to say that she was wary of him, feeling that he was full of ulterior motives and that if she wasn't careful, she would be swallowed up by them.

  "Anything wrong?" Situ Jin didn't intend to waste time on Tan Shaocheng.

  "Uh, are you free? I...I want to talk to you."

  It's not unreasonable to say that the two people didn't get along. The more tactful Tan Shaochen was, the less patient Situ Xuan became. When there were things to discuss, she would speak directly and bluntly, which made others dislike her even more. She simply didn't think she had anything to talk about with him, so she said straightforwardly: "Sorry, I'm not very free."

  She finished speaking and didn't wait for anyone. Tan Shaochen was anxious, took a few steps forward and grabbed Cui Xue's backpack, "Wait, I really have something to say!"

  Xīng Tuó turned his body to try to shake off her hand, could it be that she was here for the Wu Jiang matter? If she really thought Xīng Tuó would plead on her behalf in this matter, then that's just too ridiculous.

  "Xī Tù Jué, do you really want me to beg you? Even if you're a princess, it's so hard for you to say something?" Tan Shǎo Chéng furrowed his brow, his small and delicate face pale. Xī Tù Jué thought, perhaps in the eyes of boys, this is what they call "loving someone too much".

  She also felt that she had gone a bit too far, but hearing her say a few more words wouldn't hurt.

  "Alright, please let go of my bag first, and just say what you want to say?"

  Tan Shaocheng finally let go, hesitated and looked around, at the afternoon hour, near the end of the semester exams, everyone was busy with their own affairs, the door of the institute office was very quiet, except for them, there was no one else, not even passersby.

  Tan Shaocheng was about to get to the point, unexpectedly, she didn't mention Wu Jiang.

  "I was wondering if you signed up for this year's 'Fu Xuecheng Scholarship'?"

  Situ Xuan was somewhat surprised.

  "The Fu Xuecheng Scholarship" is a scholarship donated by Mr. Fu Xuecheng, an overseas Chinese, in his personal name to their school, mainly used to reward students with excellent academic performance, and it is also one of the most attractive projects outside of national scholarships, with limited quotas, and even fewer for undergraduate students. In a large college like the School of Pharmacy, there are usually only one or two quotas available each year. This is not only an honor but also a small fortune, and the number of applicants is considerable every year, making the competition very fierce. According to the tradition of the School of Pharmacy, this quota for undergraduate students is usually given to graduating seniors in their fourth year.

  It turned out that they were here to gather information about the enemy. Situ Xuan nodded, "That's right, can't anyone who meets the conditions sign up? If I'm not mistaken, you should have filled out an application form too."

  Tan Shaochen nodded and said in a low voice: "Yes, that bonus setting is still very tempting to me."

  "Of course, since that's the case, let's just wait for the results to come out and see who's right. After all, it's fair competition, and neither of us can decide this on our own." Si Tu Jue suspected that she was trying to gauge her chances of winning from her words, so she simply shut down her thoughts with one sentence. To be honest, if the scholarship really did go to a senior student, then looking at the whole school, the strongest competitors would still be the two of them. But since everyone's application forms had already been submitted, this matter wasn't something that either of them could decide on their own, and Tan Shao Cheng's attempts to pry were all in vain.

  But as it turned out, Xiang Shaoyu still had no intention of ending this conversation.

  "Siduo, that scholarship is very important to me." She twisted her hands and muttered.

  Situ Xian smiled, "It's very important for each and every declarant."

  Her father, Situ Jiu'an, was dissatisfied that she had signed up for the graduate exam without consulting with her family, and Situ Yue needed to use this scholarship to persuade her dad, "Look, your daughter is born to be a student, if she doesn't continue studying, it would be a waste of her talent."

  "It's different for you. You lost this scholarship, but you're still the same Situ Xuan, with everything intact. But... if I don't get it, for the remaining half semester, I don't know how to go on, my dad broke his leg, and our family can't even afford a single cent, I..."

  "But this isn't a poverty scholarship!" Ci Tu Xin didn't let her continue, she didn't know why, but those words made her feel very uncomfortable after hearing them.

  "Situ, I know you don't like me. If there was no other way, I wouldn't have come to beg you with a thick face." As she said this, Tan Shaicheng's face turned even paler, and even Situ Yue, who had prejudices against her, could feel the determination with which she suppressed her shame and staked everything on one throw. Can life really drive a person to such desperation?

  Xīng Tuò was somewhat perplexed, "The problem is that you telling me all this doesn't help either, I can't do anything to assist you."

  "You can!" Tan Shaochen took over the conversation without thinking, and a complex emotion that was hard to describe was woven on her face with hopeful excitement and humble pleading.

  "What exactly do you want?" A warning bell rang in Situ Xin's heart, and he began to vaguely feel that something was wrong.

  This time, Tan Shaocheng opened his mouth, but no sound came out. In the suspicious gaze of Situ Xuan, she seemed to grit her teeth. "I want you to withdraw your application."

  Situ Xuan was taken aback, his first reaction was a cold laugh. "Even if I really wanted to do it, I'm afraid it's too late now."

  "Who would have thought that someone had already planned a way out for her. "That... can you, during the final exams... you know, as long as you're willing to do slightly better on just one subject... I need a good ranking, please..."

  Situ Xuan was speechless. Tan Shaocheng's words were incoherent, but she understood them. This time, the scholarship would take into account the ranking of the final exam scores as an important consideration. Perhaps if she surpassed Tan Shaocheng in this ranking, her chances of winning would increase greatly. At this moment, she really wanted to go back a few minutes and shake herself awake when she still had some sympathy for Tan Shaocheng. She never thought that there would be such a person who could make such a request. How much tolerance should one have towards oneself? How low was the moral bottom line? The extreme shock and admiration made her unable to utter a single word for a while.

  Ke Tan thought little of the city, but took such silence as a form of estimation.

  "I know it's unreasonable to ask you this, but if you're willing to help me just this once, I'll do anything for you. You don't like me because I'm friends with Yao Qiyun, right? I can see the way things are between you two... I can promise you that my relationship with him is purely platonic, and if you don't like it, I can keep my distance from now on, so you can rest assured..."

  If what was said earlier about Si Tu Xie left him shocked and with a naked sense of contempt in his heart, then as he listened on, he actually felt a few parts afraid. It was a kind of chill that arose from facing a completely strange creature, where everything could be used as a condition, and everything was just a means to achieve a goal.

  "Sidao, can you say something?"

  "You want to hear what I have to say? I'm ashamed that I've become your competitor." Ci Tu spoke with a trembling body. Before, she didn't think she was particularly noble, but standing in front of Tan Shaocheng, she suddenly felt like a moral giant. "It seems I wasn't wrong, you really are looked down upon. But I also feel sorry for you, really. The exam hasn't even started yet, and you've already given up, thinking you're not as good as others. You don't even have the courage to compete with me fairly and squarely. Someone like you wants to win? Let me tell you, you can't!"

  "No, listen to me." Tan Shaocheng thought he had already anticipated that he would mess things up. Facing Si Tu Jue, perhaps she originally didn't have any confidence in her heart. All she had was the desperation of going all out.

  Situ Xun dodged her entanglement with disgust, and without paying attention, bumped into the rearview mirror of a small car parked by the side of the road, which made his back ache. His anger also rose up, and he scolded mercilessly: "If you keep talking, I'll feel like vomiting."

  "You can vomit, vomit on me, it's okay if it's on my face, just don't leave...". Tan Shaochen's tearful face successfully intercepted Situ Yue. "I also want to have the same backbone as you, but can I? I'm not even full from eating. You talk about fair competition, Situ Yue, there has never been fairness. From a young age, when you were attending English tutoring classes, I was doing farm work at home. Even now, when you're calmly holding your book and reviewing, where am I? I'm riding a half-hour bike to do private tutoring. I have debts that aren't paid off, my family's... My dad's foot is almost rotten, but we can only use herbal medicine to treat it. No money means it will rot away. Some people are born like sweet potatoes that will rot in the ground! But I don't want to be like that, I must struggle upwards from the bottom. I envy you, no, I'm jealous of you, so what? Not everyone is like you, born with everything, but you still want more. I don't have your good fortune, so I can only be the one you look down on. Help me out, even if it's just charity!"

  "I don't want to hear it, whatever you say is useless." Under her repeated pleas, Situ Xuan's head was splitting and his nerves were stretched to the limit, with one hand propping himself up against the car door behind him. Just then, they both heard two consecutive coughs coming from inside the car. The car had been parked by the side of the road for a long time, and through the tinted windows, nothing could be seen inside, so much so that they all mistakenly thought there was no one in the car.

  Tan Shaochen suddenly fell silent, his face losing its last bit of color, and he retreated two steps before turning around and walking away without saying another word.

  Situ Xuan also withdrew her hand in fright. At this time, the car window rolled down a few inches, and the person on the driver's seat smiled slightly at her.

  Tan Shaocheng was more perceptive than her, this is a designated parking space for the hospital, and the person sitting in the car was none other.

  Situ Xuan could only respond with a dry laugh. "That... Professor Zou is well."