Tao Shuran never imagined that one day she would reunite with Liang Yuanjing in the vast northern region.
This scene she had never envisioned played out like a dream.
He had not changed much from five years ago.
His superior bone structure, unchanging tall and straight figure, and that lazy, casual aura remained the same. When his gaze fell upon her, it was still cold and distant.
For a moment, Tao Shuran’s memories shuttled back to their campus days.
Back then, she was still a little girl, tiptoeing to get close to him, content as long as a hint of a smile bloomed in those indifferent eyes of his.
She felt like the happiest person in the world.
Those pure feelings eventually faded with youth.
It turned out that he had been in North City all these years.
They had been one in the south, one in the north, as if it were fate’s final twist.
Tao Shuran smiled in relief. “Long time no see, Liang Yuanjing.”
“Not that long.”
Liang Yuanjing looked into her eyes and said, “It’s been one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven days. We haven’t seen each other in five years.”
So much time had passed since they last met.
Tao Shuran’s expression blurred for a moment as familiar memories surfaced. During the days she secretly loved him, all those tiny moments had been etched in her heart.
She remembered the day they first met, the first time he looked at her, the first time she fell in love.
Why did these memories, so precious only when she liked him, start being remembered by Liang Yuanjing after they parted?
Tao Shuran no longer had the energy to dwell on these details.
She supported herself on his arm and stood up. The piercing pain in her ankle made her face tighten.
Liang Yuanjing quickly took off his jacket and draped it over her. He looked at her with an uncompromising tone.
“Put on the jacket. I’ll carry you on my back.”
Tao Shuran was stunned for a moment. “That’s not appropriate.”
“I think I can walk back myself.”
“And then what? Lie in bed for ten days or half a month?”
Liang Yuanjing scooped her up in his arms without hesitation, his tone blunt as he lifted her horizontally.
“We’ve even dated. What’s inappropriate about it?”
Tao Shuran let out a startled cry. Her uneasy hands pushed and pounded against his chest.
Liang Yuanjing’s strength was overwhelming. After lifting her with one arm, he even freed up a hand to grab her wrist.
He easily gathered both her wrists together, leaving her no room to struggle.
Leaning against his chest, it felt as if just a slight press would let her hear his powerful heartbeat.
Tao Shuran stiffened completely. She no longer craved the erratic rhythm of his heartbeat like before. From start to finish, she simply waited quietly for this dreamlike reunion to end.
“These years, have you been well?”
For some reason, hearing this made Tao Shuran suddenly lose control of her emotions a little.
She turned her head away, her nose brushing inadvertently against the fabric of his shirt. She tried her best to speak calmly. “Yeah.”
“As good as it gets.”
In the days without him, she studied and lived as usual. At first, the feeling of losing her drive to strive was hard to bear.
But later, she got through it bit by bit. Without his gaze, she created new goals.
Life had to move forward, after all.
In truth, Liang Yuanjing had been right about one thing.
She couldn’t always rely on him or follow his life’s path. That burdened not only her but him as well.
Liang Yuanjing adjusted his hold on her, lifting her arms a bit. After a moment, his gaze lowered, stating it plainly as he looked at her slowly.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
He had noticed after all.
In truth, Tao Shuran had not had it easy these years.
The competition for Qing University recommendation spots was fierce. The year they broke up, she was in poor form and failed several competitions in a row.
Back then, she doubted herself deeply, feeling that without Liang Yuanjing’s brilliance, she was nothing.
Later, she got into graduate school and became the only girl in the research group.
That wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Their field required fieldwork in harsh environments.
The most memorable time was when Tao Shuran spent an entire night alone guarding a newly excavated tomb.
Was she afraid?
Of course she was, but it was the path she chose, and she had to see it through.
Seeing a path through to the end—Liang Yuanjing had finally brought her back.
He knocked on the door. Then, finding the loose lock an eyesore, he yanked it off with one hand.
He dangled it casually in front of her, as if mocking the pointless lock.
Tao Shuran pursed her lips, wondering how Fang Qingyi had survived here these years.
Startled by the commotion, Fang Qingyi woke up and shuffled out of her room in slippers.
She rubbed her eyes vigorously, almost thinking she was dreaming.
“Ranran… you’re hugging Liang Yuanjing?”
Tao Shuran smacked Liang Yuanjing’s arm hard, signaling him to put her down.
She quickly explained, “I ran into a little accident on my way out and bumped into him. By the way, do you have any red flower oil in your room? I think I twisted my ankle.”
“Yeah, yeah, I do.”
Fang Qingyi went inside to fetch the first aid kit. Now more awake, she glanced back as she walked out.
This time, there was no doubt—it really was Liang Yuanjing.
As she stepped out, she saw him pull over a chair and sit in her courtyard. The young master sat with his legs spread wide, fiddling with a lighter in his hand. His brows were indifferent, his every gesture exuding natural nobility.
Even in her rundown little courtyard, the aura of a Heaven’s Proud Son like Liang Yuanjing could not be concealed.
Fang Qingyi pursed her lips and quickened her steps to slip away, but Liang Yuanjing’s displeased tone stopped her.
“This place is so remote, and you let her go out alone in the middle of the night?”
“Sorry, Captain Liang. I was just too tired.”
Having heard the rough sequence of events from Tao Shuran, Fang Qingyi patted her chest with a feeling of surviving a disaster.
“This place still isn’t safe. Right, when did you arrive in North City?”
“Just this year.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Not sure.” Liang Yuanjing lifted his eyes to ask her, “Why?”
Fang Qingyi said “oh.” “Nothing, just that Ranran might be staying here for a year or so.”
He gave a low “mm.” “Got it.”
Fang Qingyi widened her eyes. “What do you get, Liang Yuanjing? I didn’t say anything.”
“Do you know how much pain Ranran went through when she broke up with you? She nearly lost half her life.”
She chattered on behind Liang Yuanjing until she saw him walk up to Tao Shuran. All sound stopped abruptly.
Fang Qingyi wisely shut her mouth and stood by, yawning as she watched their interaction.
Liang Yuanjing half-squatted down, poured some medicated oil into his palm, rubbed it warm, and directly pulled over her ankle.
Tao Shuran instinctively pulled back. Before she could voice her refusal, his movements were faster than her words.
“Stay off your feet for the next few days. Leave that guy to me.”
“You have nothing to fear.”
She let out a “mm,” and politely said, “Thank you.”
Liang Yuanjing fell silent.
He pressed his palm to her ankle, overlapping his hands to fully envelop it.
Gradually, Tao Shuran felt the area wrapped by his hands growing hot. She lifted her head and quietly watched his lowered, focused expression.
She counted his long, drooping eyelashes—some habits etched in her memory had not changed.
Whenever his gaze fully concentrated on something, she would sneak a glance at him.
After years apart, he was no longer the slender youth from before. With the effort, the muscles on his forearms bulged. Under the flashlight beam Fang Qingyi shone over, his lean muscles looked even more taut and defined.
“Add a contact?”
When finished, Liang Yuanjing twisted open the faucet to rinse his hands clean. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, turned his head casually, and said to her,
“Running into each other is fate, right?”
Tao Shuran pointed to her cracked-screen phone on the table. “It’s broken. Can’t use it.”
He smiled indifferently.
“Then give me your number. I’ll save it.”
Tao Shuran said calmly, “Phone’s suspended too. Haven’t gotten a new SIM yet.”
Liang Yuanjing’s movements halted.
He pocketed his phone, hands in his pockets, and stared at her with keen interest.
After a moment, he let out a scoff.
“Avoiding me?”
Tao Shuran pursed her lips. “No.”
Under his gaze, she felt utterly uneasy.
Finally, Tao Shuran couldn’t take it. Her trembling eyelashes betrayed endless thoughts.
She lifted her eyes to him, a flicker of emotion in her gaze.
“We weren’t supposed to meet again, were we? Liang Yuanjing.”
Liang Yuanjing lifted his chin. Arrogance filled his face, disdainful of fate as always.
He looked at her and said, “But we did.”
Tossing and turning all night without sleep, Tao Shuran took the day off from her group the next morning to handle the matter.
Lin Tingzhou reported it upward immediately, requesting separate, safe dorms for the female students.
By the time Tao Shuran returned from the police station that morning, she heard the dorms had been arranged at the aviation training base.
She was stunned. “Teacher, isn’t that a restricted area?”
“It’s just two rooms cleared from the outer dorm base.” Lin Tingzhou looked at her. “What’s wrong? Can’t live there?”
“No.”
Tao Shuran lowered her eyes. “I’ll follow the arrangements.”
That afternoon, Jin Boyu came specifically to help her move, along with some lab equipment to transport.
They planned to set up a small restoration room there, so severely damaged artifacts could get maximum restoration right after excavation.
“So few things?”
Jin Boyu hefted her 20-inch suitcase and took it, walking side by side with her slowly.
“Used to it.”
Tao Shuran smiled nonchalantly. “These two years running around everywhere, I’ve streamlined my stuff more and more. Just the essentials.”
Jin Boyu turned his head. “Weren’t scared last night?”
“Songnian and I plan to set up a cot next to the restoration room. If we work late, we won’t go back. That way, you can call for us if anything happens.”
“That’s too much trouble, Senior Brother.” Tao Shuran said, “Folding beds are too hard; no one can sleep on them properly. You guys work hard enough during the day.”
“Sleep is sleep anywhere. Seriously, I even dreamed last night that a painting I was halfway through restoring cracked again. Better to sleep next to it and keep watch.”
Jin Boyu joked. He lightly patted her shoulder, polite and restrained.
Full of indulgence, he said, “Besides, isn’t it natural for a senior brother to take care of his junior sister?”