Shadow

“Out for dessert today! Even got lucky enough to pull the Hidden Edition! [Image] [Image] [Image] — From Ning Rou, one minute ago.”

Xiao Yuehua stared at her best friend’s post sharing her happiness. She glanced at it casually, intending to close the screen, but her expression suddenly froze.

She remained silent for a long moment before tapping on one of the photos.

In the corner of that dessert photo, a familiar hand was visible. It was the Professor’s hand—broad and cold.

Crr-ack!

A crisp fracturing sound rang out. The once-smooth phone screen was instantly covered in a spiderweb of cracks.

“How cruel of you, Professor,” Xiao Yuehua murmured in a low voice, her face terrifyingly dark.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“You don’t like drinking this?”

Ning Rou, who had been carefully and blissfully savoring the hidden-edition 【Gimidass】, was suddenly jolted back to reality by the Professor’s voice. She opened her eyes only to find him pushing that cup of emerald-green vegetable juice—a drink capable of making anyone lose their appetite instantly—toward her.

“Blegh~”

She immediately stuck out her tongue in disgust. “Of course. This kind of drink is only liked by old-fashioned fossils or fitness-crazed monks…”

“I actually think it’s quite good.”

“That’s because you’re as stiff as an old man yourself, Professor!”

Ning Rou pouted and waved her hand in mock disdain, but a faint smile played on her lips. It had to be said—this simple, bright smile alone was enough to make one’s entire soul relax.

Jiang Li didn’t argue with the girl. Instead, with a hint of mischief, he pushed the vegetable juice a little closer to her.

“Drink it.”

“I won’t! You’re trying to bully me again.”

Ning Rou lowered her head, choosing to rebel with a firm refusal. However, in the next moment…

“Is there anywhere else Student Ning Rou would like to go and play?”

“Eh?”

His words made her movements stall. Following the sound of his voice, Ning Rou turned her gaze toward him in disbelief. She had assumed their meeting would end here, but now it seemed there was more?

No, no, no—this didn’t sound like the rigid Professor Nangong at all. Had she misheard?

However, the matter-of-fact expression on his face proved that it wasn’t a hallucination.

“What? If you want to go back to the academy after finishing your dessert, that’s also fine…”

“Wait!”

The girl’s eyes sparkled, and the corners of her mouth turned upward uncontrollably. “Of course there is! I know all the best spots near the academy!”

“Mhm…”

Hearing this, Jiang Li gave a thoughtful nod, then naturally pushed the vegetable juice toward her once more.

“Then drink it up.”

“…”

The girl’s face instantly turned sour as her gaze drifted back and forth between the juice and Jiang Li’s face. “Professor… can I skip it?”

Jiang Li shrugged. “Absolutely not.”

“You’re so despicable!”

Ning Rou wailed in a mock-cry, but under Jiang Li’s “coercion and temptation,” she finally compromised. She picked up the cup with the solemn air of someone marching to their execution.

The scent of fresh leaves and raw fruit was unmistakable, and she immediately knit her brows.

【It’s that “healthy” scent… it’s going to taste so weird!】

Thinking this, she shot him a fierce glare.

Under the sunlight, the Professor’s profile was cast in a sharp silhouette. Inexplicably, even that icy expression of his seemed to carry a trace of warmth. Ning Rou’s heart suddenly fluttered, and she gulped down the vegetable juice in one go.

【Wait?】

The girl smacked her lips in disbelief. For some reason, the healthy juice she had always detested actually tasted strangely sweet this time.

“Tastes good, doesn’t it?”

“Hmph!”

Ning Rou stood up, feigning anger, her voice carrying a touch of bossy charm. “For the rest of the trip, you have to listen to me!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“So this is the ‘good place’ you mentioned?”

In a narrow street swarming with crowds, Jiang Li carefully navigated through the people while trying his best to keep up with Ning Rou’s pace. “It seems a bit crowded.”

“Oh, good places always attract crowds! This is the most famous snack street around here—there’s so much good food!”

Ning Rou, walking ahead, was full of excitement and talking a mile a minute. However, judging by the way she kept glancing around with wide-eyed curiosity, it was clear this was her first time here too.

As they spoke, a mischievous thought seemed to cross her mind. She turned back with a teasing look.

“I knew it. You’ve never been to a place like this, have you, Professor? Are you afraid of getting lost?”

She giggled and held out a hand, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. “If you’re scared, just hold Teacher Ning Rou’s hand. I’ll protect you.”

“…Alright.”

Jiang Li thought about it for only a second before decisively reaching out and taking her hand. The flow of people was indeed too heavy; without holding hands, there was a real risk of being separated. For safety’s sake, there was no need for him to be pedantic.

However, it was Ning Rou who froze in place.

“Pro… Professor…”

“What is it?”

Using the physical connection to squeeze through the crowd, Jiang Li stood in front of her and looked back in confusion. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“Your hand… your hand…”

As the girl’s face turned redder and redder, Jiang Li finally began to catch on.

【Is she… shy?】

But then again, a young girl’s emotions were always flighty. Jiang Li couldn’t be sure if his guess was correct, so he asked tentatively, “Should I let go?”

“Eh? Ah? No… no, it’s fine.”

Heaven knows what was going through her head. She stared at him with wide eyes, her blush deepening even further as she began to stutter. After a long silence, she finally muttered under her breath with zero conviction:

“This is better. That way I won’t lose you.”

“Do you take me for a child, Student Ning Rou?”

“Hmph!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Most of the day passed quickly. On the way back to the academy, the sunlight began to wane. It was late autumn, nearly winter, so even though it wasn’t dark yet, the temperature had dropped significantly.

Perhaps because of this, Ning Rou’s hand remained tightly clasped in Jiang Li’s, unwilling to let go. Unlike the walk there, however, the girl was now unusually quiet.

Feeling curious, Jiang Li turned to look at her. He saw her walking with her head down, her gaze fixed intently on their two shadows cast by the setting sun. Her eyes were so bright they seemed to hold the stars.

“Is there something special… about the shadows?”

Driven by curiosity, Jiang Li asked the ill-timed question.

The girl jumped as if she had been startled. She shot him a flickering look, and in the next second, she suddenly accelerated, clatter-clatter-clatter, running through the academy gates.