Chapter 13: The Secret Glance

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“So you’re saying that you ran into his father’s illegitimate son at Lu Zhixi’s villa; the illegitimate son verbally attacked you both, Lu Zhixi drove him away, and then you went downstairs and found the bathtub full of water, along with some of the boy’s fallen hair. Lu Zhixi’s explanation was that the boy had taken a bath there.”

Zhou Anning summarized it over the phone. “The boy’s mother must be British. He’s losing his hair at such a young age.”

Jiang Ying walked along the main road through campus. The midday sun was vicious, making her dizzy, while the headache brought on by several nights of poor sleep throbbed in waves.

She adjusted the wireless earbud that was slipping from her ear and sighed. “Anning, I don’t know how to explain it. So much happened that night. It all felt strange and chaotic.”

The disorderly trails of water in the bathroom, the glaring lights, the overflowing bathtub, and the sharp sound of dripping water had formed a signal that made her heart tremble with unease.

She had had no time to think it through that night. Lu Zhixi had led her out of the bathroom, and when she said she was thirsty, he considerately poured her some warm water. After they returned to the bedroom, he apologized and said that he had been in a poor mood. They could discuss the subject that mattered to Jiang Ying after they had both had some time.

Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Over the next three days, they got along wonderfully. With summer vacation underway, Lu Zhixi seemed to have become completely free. He played games with her, took her to art exhibitions and book fairs in Beijing, and brought her to try all sorts of restaurants.

Then they had intense sex at night.

Jiang Ying had almost forgotten what happened that night. Yet a faint aftershock of apprehension and worry continued to reverberate in the depths of her heart. Once she left Lu Zhixi’s apartment and set foot on the quiet avenue through campus, that strange feeling began to surface again.

“It’s fine. Once you’re done with your group meeting, let’s have dinner together. Your resident strategist will give you a proper analysis.”

“See you tonight.”

After hanging up, Jiang Ying crossed the general teaching area and arrived at a small courtyard with red walls and black-tiled roofs. A dark-brown wooden plaque hung among the morning-glory vines, engraved with the words “Experimental Research Center, Department of Psychology.”

The air conditioner in the small conference room blew cold air with a steady roar. Professor Lin and Senior Sister Zhang had already arrived and were chatting about everything under the sun. After greeting them, Jiang Ying had barely sat down before they pulled her into the conversation.

“Jiang Ying, come on, tell us—have you come up with any ideas for your thesis?”

There were still more than twenty minutes before the group meeting began, and not everyone had arrived. With nothing else to do, Professor Lin took the opportunity to ask about her thesis.

“If you have any ideas, tell us about them. Don’t be nervous. We’re just chatting.”

Her graduation thesis?

Jiang Ying had completely cast the matter from her mind.

Her sluggish brain slowly began to turn. She straightened up and forced herself to say something. Then she caught hold of a phrase floating somewhere in her thoughts.

“...I’m considering a topic related to personality traits and personality disorders, Professor.”

“Personality disorders?”

Professor Lin thought for a moment. “Ah, yes, you mentioned that to me before. You took Professor Han’s abnormal psychology course last semester, didn’t you? I was talking with Professor Han about it yesterday. The name ‘abnormal psychology’ is still more appropriate than ‘pathological psychology.’ But I’m getting off topic. Go on—tell us more about your idea. A thesis needs a specific question. Have you thought any further about it?”

Jiang Ying felt her brain rapidly booting up and running, searching for key terms and piecing them together into sentences.

“I’d like to use statistical data to examine whether the scale of a family’s wealth has a significant relationship with children’s personality traits and personality disorders...”

Professor Lin became quite interested. Setting down his thermos, he asked, “What is your research hypothesis?”

Meeting Professor Lin’s encouraging gaze, Jiang Ying began to find her train of thought.

“Both ecological systems theory and the theory of individual-environment interaction suggest that the family has an important influence on an individual’s psychological development. If we view the family as an economic unit, I think the scale of its wealth affects the relationship between spouses, the parent-child relationship, and patterns within the parent-child relationship, thereby influencing a child’s personality traits... including personality disorders. Perhaps the correlation could be observed statistically.”

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Jiang Ying explained all the ideas she had managed to think of for the moment. Professor Lin then fired off one question after another.

Had scholars at home and abroad conducted research on this topic?

How many existing studies were there, and when had they been published?

Which scales did she plan to use?

Was there any existing database available?

And so on.

For various reasons, Jiang Ying had encountered many different kinds of families over the past two years. The topic had occurred to her in a flash of inspiration, but she had not yet had time to research it carefully. Now, bombarded with questions, she lowered her head and weakly said that she would go back and look into it further.

Professor Lin smiled gently. “It’s all right. There’s still plenty of time. I’m asking all this because I want you to do more research when settling on a topic. Otherwise, it would be troublesome to discover halfway through your thesis that the data is flawed or that there’s no correlation. By the way, you look exhausted today. Did you sleep poorly?”

A little embarrassed, Jiang Ying said, “...I’ve been going to bed rather late these past few days.”

“You’ve only just started summer vacation. It’s perfectly normal to have some fun, but you should still make sure to rest. Don’t wear out your body while you’re young.”

As soon as Professor Lin finished speaking, Senior Brother Qin arrived as well, greeting everyone with laughter and loud banter. The conference room grew lively, and the topic shifted away from Jiang Ying.

It wasn’t as though Jiang Ying had deliberately stayed up late. Ever since she had run into Lu Zhixi’s illegitimate younger brother at the villa in Qingshui Court, she had been suffering from occasional insomnia.

Aside from the strange emotions Lu Zhixi had displayed that night in response to Danny’s provocation, he had remained perfectly calm over the following days, as though nothing had happened. That only deepened her unease.

After the group meeting ended, Jiang Ying hurried to the student residential area. Zhou Anning was standing beneath a tree, looking around for her. The moment she spotted Jiang Ying, she ran toward her under the blazing sun.

“What happened to you? You’ve only stayed with Lu Zhixi for a few days, and you already look as though he’s drained your life force. Could he be some kind of fox spirit?”

Jiang Ying laughed despite herself. “Why don’t you say that I’m the fox spirit and that I drained his life force?”

Zhou Anning put an arm around her and thought for a moment. “On the one hand, he really is devastatingly handsome. On the other, ever since he appeared, he’s taken up most of your free time. Every time I try to ask you out, I run into him calling for you. In my eyes, he’s the fox spirit, and you’re King Zhou of Jiang, blinded by beauty.”

Jiang Ying thought it was a shame Zhou Anning had not gone into the Chinese department with a talent like that.

They went to a small bar outside the east gate of the university, one opened by an alumnus.

Its grilled skewers and signature cocktails were famous throughout Hua University, and it stayed open until four in the morning every day. It was only six in the evening, so they were the first customers.

Zhou Anning opened the drinks menu and read out the names of the specialty cocktails for Jiang Ying.

“Trash-Picking College Student.”

“Leap from the Fifth Teaching Building and End a Thousand Sorrows.”

“Early-Morning Class, No Attendance Taken.”

“Deadline, Love Me One More Time.”

“Hua University Loser’s Special.”

Jiang Ying said, “Those names are pretty good. The owner may have installed a surveillance camera in my life... I don’t drink. Cola is fine.”

Zhou Anning went straight to the counter to order their food, then returned with one specialty cocktail and one cola. “If you ask me, your father’s drinking problem is his own issue. Your self-control is excellent, so there’s no harm in having a little. You don’t need to be so tense.”

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She took a sip of her drink and exclaimed in delighted surprise. “This Academic Clown Special is delicious. It’s fruit-flavored. Want to try it?”

Jiang Ying shook her head. “No thanks. I’m afraid of this stuff. The moment I taste alcohol, I remember my father lying there completely senseless from drinking.”

Zhou Anning knew that Jiang Ying was still troubled by her father’s alcoholism and did not press her.

Skewers fragrant with charcoal smoke were laid across the table. The television mounted on the wall began broadcasting a sports match, and the little bar filled with lively noise.

“So, tell me. What exactly happened between you two?” Zhou Anning picked up a skewer of chicken cartilage and took a bite.

Jiang Ying recounted the events of that night in detail, including her conversation with Lu Zhixi about marriage and what she had seen in the bathroom.

Zhou Anning listened, a conflicted expression appearing on her face.

“It’s all right. You can say whatever you think.” Somewhat dispirited, Jiang Ying took a sip of cola.

“Then I’ll say it.”

Zhou Anning set down her skewer, straightened with great solemnity, and raised two fingers.

“There are two possibilities.

“First, your boyfriend is only eighteen himself. When we were eighteen, we were either stupidly happy or stupidly miserable, so it’s perfectly normal that he hasn’t thought very far ahead about your future together. As for the bathroom, there’s nothing strange about his saying that the boy named Danny had taken a bath there.

“At this point, Zhou Anning suddenly lowered her voice and spoke in a sinister murmur.

“The other possibility is that Lu Zhixi is extraordinarily intelligent, dark-hearted, and coldly ruthless. He’s really only playing around with you, but he doesn’t want things to turn ugly, so he’s trying to placate you. As for that illegitimate son who provoked him—after you went upstairs, Lu Zhixi held him down in the bathtub and gave him a brutal lesson...”

Jiang Ying felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. She instinctively protested, “The second possibility is impossible. I’ve been with him for quite a while. If there were something wrong with him, how could I not have noticed?”

“Whether it’s true or not, he made you unhappy, so he deserves to be scolded. I, Zhou Anning, always take my friends’ side, whether they’re right or wrong!”

Zhou Anning took a drink.

“But honestly, I don’t think the second possibility is likely either. I was only joking just now. Your little boyfriend really is too young. Compared with other people his age, he’s actually quite mature and steady in many respects. Talking about marriage with a boy that age is bound to lead nowhere. But if he were only playing around with you, he wouldn’t normally put so much effort into everything. He’d be more like that idiot Qi Wen...”

“Who are you calling an idiot?”

A voice drifted over from one side, giving both Zhou Anning and Jiang Ying a fright. They turned at the same time and saw two tall young men sitting beside them. Neither of them knew when the pair had arrived.

The one in black stared coldly at Zhou Anning. The young man across from him, wearing a blue T-shirt, smiled and greeted Jiang Ying.

“What a coincidence. Brother Xi didn’t come with you?”

They were the brothers Qi Wen and Qi Zhou.

Zhou Anning’s face immediately fell. She snatched up her glass and sprang to her feet. A look of horror instantly appeared on Qi Wen’s face, and he instinctively dodged to the side.

Seeing his cowardly reaction, Zhou Anning gave a cold laugh. “I’d consider it a waste of my drink to throw it at you.”

Then she said to Jiang Ying, “Come on. We’re changing tables. I’ve lost my appetite sitting here.”

Jiang Ying cast a silent glance at Qi Wen, picked up her bag, and followed Zhou Anning to another corner.

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