Chapter 6 : I like her

Clear Skies

The weather was perfect, the sky a boundless, pristine blue.

The long flight had lulled the professors and seniors in the back to sleep.
Jiang Yule, free for the moment, gazed at the faint sunset glow outside, her mood lifting.

About an hour later, the shuttle reached the conference hotel.

Jiang Yule turned, softly alerting them, “Professor Qiao, seniors, we’re at the hotel.”

The back row stirred awake.

Jiang Yule stepped out, heading to the trunk to grab luggage.
Once everyone disembarked, she collected the empty coffee cups and meal containers.

Holding the trash bag, she started toward the hotel but paused, tapping the driver’s window.
“Excuse me, can I get a receipt?”

She lacked experience with reimbursements—her advisor, Professor Si Qing, always handled them.

“You can generate it in the app.”
“Got it, thanks.”
With the answer, Jiang Yule turned back, seeing Qiao’s group waiting at the entrance.

“Let’s go!”

Stepping into the hotel, Jiang Yule messaged Su Yubai: [Dean Su, we’ve reached the hotel.]

No reply—Su Yubai was likely picking up Professor Stana.

Jiang Yule led Qiao and the seniors to register for the conference and collect materials, slipping away to toss the trash.

After helping them check in, she recalled Su Yubai’s instructions.
“Professor Qiao, want to rest before the banquet?”

“No need, we’ll head over after dropping our bags.”

“Okay.”

She joined them in the elevator.

“Yule, got plans after the banquet?”
Qiao turned, asking warmly.

Jiang Yule shook her head, meeting her gaze.

Qiao continued, “Your seniors are new to Hangsui. If you’re free tonight, could you show them around?”

With meetings tomorrow and a roundtable in the evening, tonight was their only chance.

Ji Zizhen’s eyes lit up.
Jiang Yule agreed, “Sure.”

At the 16th floor, she escorted Qiao to her room, intending to wait outside.

Qiao, seeing her linger at the door, smiled.
“It’s fine, come rest inside.”

Jiang Yule hesitated but entered.

“If you’re hungry, grab some fruit.”

“Okay.”
Following Qiao’s gaze, Jiang Yule saw a small table by the window with an A4-sized signboard for the China Economics Annual Conference.
A card by the fruit platter read, “Special Selection for the China Economics Annual Conference.”

“Your Dean Su’s very thorough.”

Jiang Yule nodded, smiling.
“Yeah, she gave me lots of instructions on the way to pick you up.”

Qiao asked casually, “You and Su Yubai are close, right?”

“She was abroad for years. I was closer to her when I was a kid.”

Qiao chuckled, dropping the topic.

Five minutes later, Qiao emerged from the bathroom.

“Yule, could you check if your seniors are ready?”

Jiang Yule stood, texting as she opened the door.
The seniors were already waiting.
She turned back.
“Professor Qiao, they’re ready.”

The group set off.

The banquet restaurant was on the hotel’s top floor.
Jiang Yule led Qiao’s group to the private room Si Qing had reserved.

Opening the door, she spotted Si Qing on the sofa.
Her eyes slid to the side—Lin Siqiong, looking at her with eager anticipation.

Jiang Yule’s brow twitched.

Her mind urged her to let Lin Siqiong go, but seeing her sent her heart racing.

Just a withdrawal symptom.
Perfectly normal.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke.
“Professor Si, Professor Qiao’s here.”

Lin Siqiong ignored the brush-off, rising with Si Qing to greet Qiao’s group.

Si Qing beamed.
“Dean Qiao, such an honor! Forgive us for not greeting you sooner!”

Si Qing, a postdoc under Qiao’s advisor, was practically her colleague.

“Dean Qiao, I’m Lin Siqiong from C University.”

“Long time no see,” Qiao said, shaking hands.
The social scene kicked off.

Lin Siqiong, unusually, didn’t join the small talk.
She approached Jiang Yule.
“Yueyue.”

Jiang Yule’s expression stayed neutral.
“Hello, Professor Lin.”

“So formal. Doing okay lately?”
Lin Siqiong’s tone dripped with grievance.

“Doing fine, thanks for asking.”
Jiang Yule’s gaze fixed on Qiao’s group.

“Our Yueyue’s still mad, huh?”
Lin Siqiong’s usual cold-war tactic.

Jiang Yule didn’t look or respond.
Soon, she felt her palm pried open, something slipped inside.

Lifting her hand, she saw a coconut candy.

Nausea hit.
She stepped forward, placing it on the coffee table, then joined Qiao and Si Qing, observing their chat and ready for any cues.

She didn’t want to socialize, but a fly kept buzzing in her ear.
Annoying.

Lin Siqiong saw the candy on the table, her face clouding briefly before clearing.

Jiang Yule hadn’t even thrown it away—she was too kind.
Blocking her didn’t matter; Lin Siqiong bet she’d soften eventually.

Lin Siqiong stayed back.
Jiang Yule checked her phone, seeing Su Yubai’s message from five minutes ago: [At the restaurant yet?]

She replied: [Yup.]

After sending, Lin Siqiong called the waiter.
“Start serving.”

“Sorry, everyone, Dean Su just called. She’s coming here.”

The banquet rooms were booked by the college, but neither Si Qing nor Lin Siqiong expected Su Yubai to join this room.

“Dean Su’s… coming here tonight?”
As Lin Siqiong spoke, the door stirred.

Jiang Yule glanced instinctively, seeing Su Yubai enter.

Even leading someone in, Su Yubai’s demeanor remained unruffled, untouched by the room’s energy.
Her calm sweep of the crowd carried an unshaken presence.

Behind her was a white woman.

The professors approached to shake hands.
Si Qing spoke first.
“Dean Su, this is Professor Stana?”

Stana, a rising macroeconomics expert, was Su Yubai’s academic senior.

Su Yubai nodded.

Stana greeted in Chinese, “Hello.”

Her arrival warmed the room’s atmosphere.

Si Qing and Qiao discussed the latest macroeconomics trends with Stana, Su Yubai occasionally clarifying.

Lin Siqiong, rare again, didn’t force her way into the talk.
She sidled up to Jiang Yule.

“Don’t like coconut candy?”
Her whisper grazed Jiang Yule’s ear.

Heat brushed her ear.
Jiang Yule stepped aside, facing away.
“I don’t like candy.”

“No worries, got another surprise for you.”

Lin Siqiong’s cryptic tone made Jiang Yule’s brow twitch.

Su Yubai glanced back, her eyes sweeping over Jiang Yule and Lin Siqiong, landing on the waiter with a flicker of unreadable emotion.
“Serve the food.”

Everyone took their seats.

The waiter opened the door, wheeling in a cart.

“Wow!”
Ji Zizhen gasped.
No dishes—just a cake and flowers.

The cake depicted two women, the bouquet seven white roses and thirteen pink tulips.

Su Yubai’s calm gaze settled on Jiang Yule.

Jiang Yule realized who’d prepared it, her heart sinking as she looked at Lin Siqiong.
Lin Siqiong smiled brightly, rising to take the flowers and approaching her.

Jiang Yule’s heart skipped.
Lin Siqiong spoke.
“Yueyue, I really, really like you.

“I used to hold back because of our roles, afraid to give you an open relationship.

“While you ignored me, I thought a lot. I messed up before.

“I’m apologizing in front of everyone today. I’m sorry.

“From now on, I’ll treat you twice as well, let everyone know you’re the one I’ve loved for so long, my girlfriend. Okay?”

Jiang Yule hadn’t expected this—Lin Siqiong confessing in front of her professors and peers.

She understood: this was Lin Siqiong’s answer to her “I know you wouldn’t.”

Once, meaningful flowers, cakes, shared anniversaries, and being called “girlfriend” were Jiang Yule’s deepest wishes.

But Lin Siqiong had dismissed them as frivolous, insisting real love didn’t need such gestures.

Now she offered them, but Jiang Yule no longer wanted them.

Her silence drew every eye.
Stana looked ready to eat popcorn.

Su Yubai subtly loosened her quartz watch one notch, her gaze drifting outside.

Jiang Yule’s palms tingled.
Her upbringing pushed her to give Lin Siqiong an out in public.
“Sorry, I’ve fallen for someone else.”

Lin Siqiong didn’t buy it, thinking it a tantrum.
“Come on, don’t joke.”

She offered a step; Lin Siqiong didn’t take it.
She’d banked on Jiang Yule’s reluctance to reject her publicly.

She miscalculated.

Jiang Yule scoffed, her eyes brimming with mockery.
Pointing deliberately at the center, she said slowly, “I like her.”

Lin Siqiong followed her finger, her face falling.

It was Su Yubai.