Chapter 3: Peeking

Jiang Ying went to the university’s psychological counseling center.

Upon entering the office on the second floor, she greeted the administrative staff and sat down at the desk reserved for student assistants to begin her work report.

The semester was coming to a close, and with it, her time at the counseling center.

This assistant position did not require much; her main duty was to help the center’s faculty carry out psychological health education for the student body. As it happened, she had met Lu Zhixi a year ago while participating in the psychological health assessment for incoming freshmen.

While student psychological evaluations might sound like a routine procedure, they were actually a vital component of the management at Huada University.

Put simply, although Huada was home to the brightest students in the country, the competitive pressure was intense. Every year, there were students who committed suicide—some jumping from buildings, others into lakes. Consequently, joint assessments conducted by the academic affairs office, student management departments, and the psychological counseling center were of paramount importance. Students who failed to complete the questionnaires or whose scores were anomalous became the primary focus of follow-ups. Lu Zhixi just happened to be on the list of those who had not completed the survey on time.

Because this task was so critical, Jiang Ying had followed the contact information provided by her supervisor, emailing and calling Lu Zhixi every day. After three days of silence, she had a flash of inspiration: she went to the School of Finance, obtained his course schedule from a classmate, and finally cornered him in a classroom.

When Jiang Ying first approached Lu Zhixi, his demeanor was distant and guarded; he had likely mistaken her for an intrusive admirer.

She had heard of similar situations. When Lu Zhixi first lived in the dorms, the boys' dormitory was frequently filled with screams of "Lu Zhixi, I like you!" until he eventually moved off-campus.

Beautiful people have their own troubles, and his was being too popular. Sometimes, Jiang Ying thought it was truly remarkable that Lu Zhixi maintained such a good temperament.

Fortunately, Lu Zhixi was polite. After hearing her out, he sincerely apologized, explaining that he had just returned from abroad and was still adapting to life at Huada and in China, asking her to forgive the oversight.

She added him on WeChat, and by the next day, she had received the completed questionnaire. The results showed he was in a very healthy state of mind, with a personality inclined toward helping others and integrating into new environments.

After that, Lu Zhixi insisted on treating her to a meal, and through a few more interactions, they gradually grew closer.

Lu Zhixi was younger than most freshmen, only seventeen when he entered Huada, and he had just turned eighteen last Christmas. Yet, he was composed and thoughtful, often taking such good care of her that Jiang Ying sometimes felt like the younger one. With a boy like that before you, anyone would be moved.

It was Valentine's Day when Jiang Ying confessed her feelings to Lu Zhixi by the school lake—a bit cliché, perhaps, but it carried a sense of ceremony. She saw surprise and unexpectedness in his eyes, but nothing else.

That caught her off guard, and she felt a sudden, deep sense of discouragement.

Just as she thought he was about to reject her, she heard him say, "I'm sorry. I've never been in a relationship, and I don't know what it means to be in love. But I am very happy when I am with you."

He took the initiative and kissed her.

And so, they were together.

At five in the afternoon, Jiang Ying officially finished her work and even received a commemorative notebook from her supervisor.

As soon as she stepped out of the counseling center building, she opened WeChat, intending to invite her friend Zhou Anning to dinner at the cafeteria, but she received an unexpected phone call instead.

"Yingying, are you free tonight? Our Qingqing was supposed to have a violin lesson, but the teacher had an emergency and couldn't make it. Could you come over and keep her company while she reads?"

*

Qingshui Court was a famous neighborhood for the wealthy. The landscaping was exquisite, and as one approached, one could see rows of luxurious villas surrounded by lush greenery.

Jiang Ying rang the doorbell, and a nanny soon opened the door. As she walked through a hallway filled with oil paintings, she heard the joyful voice of the little girl, Wei Qing.

"Big Sister Jiang Ying, look, I have a new dress!"

Jiang Ying looked over to see a pinkish-orange embroidered tulle dress hanging on a wall rack, adorned with many sparkling, fine diamonds.

She exclaimed sincerely, "It's beautiful!"

Tutoring Qingqing in reading was an extracurricular job Jiang Ying had taken on this semester. Normally, the sessions were on Thursdays and Fridays, but since Lu Zhixi had a party today, she hadn't hesitated to come over.

Landing this tutoring job was a stroke of luck. Qingqing’s mother, Wu Xi, was an alumna more than a decade her senior. She was very wealthy, owning two public companies, and after giving birth to a second child, she wanted someone reliable to read with her daughter. The Huada alumni network was always well-connected; Wu Xi found Jiang Ying through a referral and, after a brief chat, offered a generous rate.

Four hundred yuan an hour, two days a week, with a minimum of four hours per session—it was a job with very little effort and high pay. Recently, Jiang Ying had been buried in her studies and research, occasionally considering quitting this part-time job, but every time she thought of the paycheck, she gritted her teeth and kept going.

There was no help for it; many of her seniors who had already graduated from the psychology department couldn't find a monthly salary that high.

Wu Xi looked at her youngest daughter, Wei Qing, with eyes full of affection, as if looking at her own perfect masterpiece. "This is Qingqing's first haute couture piece in her life. It's worth commemorating."

The gap between people is always beyond imagination. At six years old, Qingqing owned her first piece of haute couture, which cost the equivalent of what twenty-year-old Jiang Ying could save in a whole year of working if she didn't eat or drink.

A sorrowful sigh echoed in Jiang Ying's heart as she took Qingqing's small hand and went upstairs to her room, which was piled high with various dolls.

Just the Disney plushies on one wall made it look like a real fairy tale world, yet the princess living in the fairy tale didn't like to study.

Jiang Ying placed the reading booklet on the table and set a light purple, curly-haired cotton rabbit beside it. "StellaLou is ready. Is Qingqing ready?"

Qingqing sat at the desk immediately, but she quickly wilted.

"Why does Juliet have to elope with Romeo? After she leaves home, she won't have any pretty dresses to wear."

Qingqing was too young to understand concepts like love, liberation, or freedom. But Wu Xi insisted that children abroad started reading at this level, and since Qingqing was going to study overseas later, she had to prepare in advance.

Jiang Ying had once tried to discuss Piaget and Vygotsky with Wu Xi, who was also a psychology graduate, hinting that perhaps Qingqing's current curriculum was a bit like "pulling up seedlings to help them grow."

In the end, Wu Xi laughed and told her she hadn't been a mother yet.

Sigh. Jiang Ying indeed hadn't been a mother, nor did she want to be one. She wanted to be a father.

She felt that not only was Qingqing tired, but Wu Xi was even more exhausted from being a mother.

Two hours later, during the break, Qingqing hugged StellaLou and cheered, pulling Jiang Ying downstairs for dinner.

"I’m planning to enroll Qingqing in a squash class. I heard that many children at private schools in New York play squash. If Qingqing has talent, she might even have a chance to get into an Ivy League school as a student athlete."

At the dinner table, Wu Xi chatted with Jiang Ying about Qingqing’s summer course plan.

Jiang Ying didn't know much about these things, so she just asked, "Isn't Qingqing already learning equestrianism? Can she handle the schedule?"

"If you squeeze the time, there’s always room."

Qingqing didn't want to hear about this topic. She interrupted Wu Xi and asked, "Is Big Brother not coming home for dinner tonight?"

Wu Xi said, "Your brother is at a party next door. Baby, tonight you should criticize him for me; he plays all day and doesn't know how to study."

"But my brother is great at playing basketball," Qingqing said.

"He's not a professional athlete; he's just playing around."

The little girl was at the age where she worshipped her brother. Hearing her mother say this, she felt defensive and put down her chopsticks, refusing to eat. "Mom, you can't say that about Big Brother."

Wu Xi doted on Qingqing and immediately changed her tune. "I'm sorry, baby. Big Brother is also very excellent, but Mom just expects him to be even better."

But she couldn't coax her out of it; Qingqing started making a scene, wanting to find her brother. Wu Xi hurriedly sent a WeChat message to her son, but he was likely having too much fun at the party to reply.

The little girl's face began to stream with tears as soon as she started crying. At first, she wailed fakingly, but hearing that her brother hadn't replied, the tears poured down like rain.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Wu Xi looked distressed. Jiang Ying suggested, "Isn't Wei Zhen next door? Why don't I take Qingqing over to take a look?"

"Oh, that's fine, that's fine," Wu Xi agreed immediately. "Yingying, while you're at it, call Wei Zhen back. Tell him off for me too; both of them listen to you... and see if he's getting close to any little girl."

Wei Zhen was sixteen this year, right at the rebellious age. When Jiang Ying tutored Qingqing, she would chat with him, and they had become familiar. Wu Xi had always wanted to develop Jiang Ying into a spy to probe into Wei Zhen's private life, but every time she heard such hints, Jiang Ying played dumb.

She took Qingqing to the villa door under the guidance of the nanny. After ringing the doorbell, a middle-aged man in a dress shirt and trousers walked out.

She explained her purpose, and the man nodded knowingly. "I'm not the owner, just the butler. Please come in; Young Master Wei should be by the pool."

This villa was the largest in the area, with beautiful landscaping and a small rose garden that reminded Jiang Ying of the bouquet she had bought for Lu Zhixi.

The front yard