novelraw Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Chapter 79 The next morning, Qin Qing packed her things and left the bedroom with a light carry-on suitcase.
Grandma Qin had already prepared a breakfast in the living room, full of color, aroma, and taste. As soon as she saw Qin Qing coming out of the bedroom, she quickly waved her over. “Sweetie, come, come, have breakfast before you leave.”
Qin Qing helplessly replied, “Grandma, it’s okay. I’m not hungry right now.”
“That’s not acceptable!”
Grandma Qin firmly rejected, “You’ll be on the plane for almost two hours today, and the trip to the airport will take another hour—of course you’ll get hungry. Besides, skipping breakfast is bad for your stomach. You young people these days…”
Seeing that Grandma Qin was about to start a lengthy lecture, Qin Qing quickly put down the handle of her suitcase and sat down to wait for breakfast, putting on a look of obedience.
Grandma Qin, amused by her granddaughter’s quick response, pretended to scold her, “What, do you think Grandma is nagging too much?”
Qin Qing smiled with her eyes squinted, “How could I think that? Normally, I wouldn’t mind listening to you nag all day—except today. My flight is in less than three hours, and if I’m delayed, I might not be able to get a return ticket, and then I’d have to walk back to school.”
“Well, you certainly know how to talk.”
Grandma Qin handed Qin Qing a bowl of porridge with a smile. “Eat well.”
“Mm!”
Qin Qing took a sip of porridge and then looked around. “Where’s Mom?”
“She went downstairs to exercise; she should be back soon—”
Before Grandma Qin could finish, the security door was opened.
Li Jinghe walked in after changing her shoes.
“Already packed?”
“Yes.”
“Your cousin’s car will be downstairs soon, so eat quickly and don’t keep him waiting too long.”
Qin Qing was startled. “Second Brother is taking me?”
“Who else? It’s always been your second brother who took you, hasn’t it?”
Li Jinghe stopped and frowned at Qin Qing.
Qin Qing quickly avoided her gaze and took a bite of the radish cake Grandma Qin made, which she was particularly good at.
“It’s nothing; I just thought he might be busy today.”
“…”
Li Jinghe didn’t say anything more and turned back to her room.
Once the door was closed, Grandma Qin came out of the kitchen and gave Qin Qing a disapproving look. “Feeling grumpy, huh?”
Qin Qing laughed at her grandmother’s teasing and nodded seriously.
“Mm.”
Grandma Qin set down the plate she was holding.
“Women go through menopause too. You’ll understand when you’re as old as your mother—those mood swings, they come out of nowhere and are impossible to stop.”
Qin Qing blinked and smiled warmly. “I understand.”
She picked up the bowl of porridge and took another sip.
“Did you call Xiao Yu to pick you up?”
“Cough cough cough—”
Qin Qing put down the bowl, patting her chest to soothe the sudden sensation, and after she managed to calm down, she looked at Grandma Qin with a bit of resentment.
“Grandma, don’t guess randomly.”
Grandma Qin made a skeptical face and went back to the kitchen.
Qin Qing quickly took out her phone and messaged someone:
—Today it’s my second brother picking me up for the airport.
“Tell him someone has already booked a driver and a car for you.”
The reply came instantly.
“… My mom asked him to come.”
“…………”
“Can I apply for a tailing?”
Qin Qing chuckled at the reply and quickly covered her mouth. She glanced nervously at Li Jinghe’s closed door and then at Grandma Qin in the kitchen, who was waiting for the oven to beep, and sighed in relief.
“Approved √”
……
Upon returning to school, Qin Qing was immediately welcomed back by a flood of heavy campus affairs that had accumulated over the two-month absence.
Among these overwhelming tasks, she suddenly remembered she hadn’t received any phone calls or messages from Wen Yufeng, which was already two days after returning to school.
…Could it be that he was upset because she left in a hurry?
Just as Qin Qing was about to call Wen Yufeng, her phone vibrated.
Seeing the caller ID, she was surprised and answered, “Head of the dorm?”
—The head of the dorm was the oldest member of their dormitory from university, whom they affectionately called “Big Sister,” but after a few awkward stares in public, everyone agreed to use a different title.
“Yes, it’s me,” the dorm head answered. “Qing Qing, I heard you’re back at school?”
“Yes, I just got back the day before yesterday.”
“I asked the others in the dorm, and everyone who’s studying in T City is available. Even Xiao Er said he would take leave to come—how about we have a gathering tonight?”
This invitation surprised Qin Qing. She glanced at the pile of materials she needed to prepare for her defense, flipped through them, and agreed.
“Sure, you set the time and place, and I’ll be there on time.”
“I’ll send you the location on your phone. See you tonight!”
“Mm, see you tonight.”
After hanging up, her phone vibrated again before she could even take it away from her ear.
She pressed the side button to answer. “Head of the dorm, is there anything else?”
“…”
There was a two-second silence on the other end.
Qin Qing paused in her task of flipping through the materials.
She had a vague sense of what was coming, and just as she was about to check the caller ID, she heard the familiar magnetic voice, tinged with a hint of helplessness, speaking—
“‘Head of the dorm’? … Tsk, it looks like you haven’t remembered my existence at all these past few days.”
Qin Qing felt a pang of guilt.
—
After four years of undergraduate studies and three years of graduate studies, she had indeed become accustomed to being immersed in study materials and oblivious to the outside world.
As for her boyfriend… If it wasn’t written in the dissertation, she hadn’t thought of it.
From this guilty silence, Wen Yufeng sighed deeply before speaking, “Tian Tian—consider yourself lucky that you’re not in front of me right now.”
Qin Qing: “Actually, two minutes ago, I was going to call you… Believe me…”
“Oh.”
“So that’s why you were on the line for two minutes, and I could only get through just now?”
Qin Qing: “…………”
She was at a loss for words.
As Qin Qing desperately tried to think of a way to “save” what seemed to be a struggling long-distance relationship after less than a week, she heard Wen Yufeng’s deep voice soften—
“I miss you, Tian Tian.”
“…”
The sudden confession took Qin Qing by surprise, but as she regained her composure, her heart felt enveloped in warm, tender emotions.
Her gaze softened. “I miss you too, Wen Yufeng.”
“Mm. —Since we’re in agreement, come downstairs.”
Qin Qing: “??”
Wen Yufeng: “I’m downstairs at your dorm building right now.”
Qin Qing: “!!”
After processing this news for a few seconds, Qin Qing almost immediately threw the materials she was holding, jumped off the chair, and ran to the window, peering down from the third floor.
However, she couldn’t find the figure she was looking for.
Panic set in—if he was lying, she would…
“I guess you ran in the opposite direction.”
The low, teasing voice came from the loudspeaker.
Qin Qing’s face turned red.
—
Indeed, she had run in the opposite direction from the building’s exit.
“You—wait for me!”
Without waiting for Wen Yufeng to respond, Qin Qing quickly hung up the phone and rushed back to her dorm to change her shoes.
Her roommates, who had been startled by her sudden actions, managed to compose themselves.
“Qing Qing, what’s going on…?”
—
They had never seen their roommate, who was admired by many male graduate students, so flustered before.
Meanwhile, Qin Qing, now in her shoes, had already reached the door. All that was left was her voice, full of undisguised joy, coming back.
“My boyfriend is here to see me.”
One of her roommates dropped the apple she was holding, too stunned to pick it up. She quickly grabbed her phone and opened the graduate student group chat to share the shocking news.
【Heaven have mercy, the goddess suspected of being single for seven years actually has a boyfriend!】
【Do we need to call an ambulance for the goddess’s male fans?!】
As Qin Qing ran out of the dorm to find Wen Yufeng, many male students in the graduate school were already sharpening their knives, eager to witness this “rival in love.”