তিপ্পান্ন অধ্যায়: পেরে না উঠলে পালিয়ে যাও

পর the succeeding week, the Kai Tak Science Festival event was in full swing.

Shen Zhuo also participated, giving a speech at one of the forum events to introduce the research progress of the collaboration project between his college and Kai Tak Science and Technology.

The time was Friday afternoon, and he arrived at the venue half an hour early that day.

As soon as he entered, he spotted Pei Tingyue in the crowd, chatting casually with several tech company executives. Shen Zhuo assumed he was just here out of sheer boredom, but couldn't help catching fragments of conversation drifting into his ears from time to time.

"Why is Lawyer Pei wearing a ring on his left ring finger? When did you get married so quietly?"

"Married a while ago, overseas," Pei Tingyue explained calmly.

"Oh? Is that so?" the others asked with keen interest. "We've never seen you bring her out. And you didn't hold a wedding either? That's not fair of you, not even notifying us so we could prepare a generous red envelope for you."

Pei Tingyue smiled. "I appreciate the kindness of all you executives. My wife is used to keeping a low profile and doesn't like making a fuss, so I won't put you to the trouble."

Shen Zhuo checked the time on his phone; he still had a moment before his turn, so he headed to the lounge first.

The lounge was empty. He poured a cup of water, walked over to the window, and stood sideways, relaxing as he looked at the street view beneath the towering buildings outside.

"It'll be your turn soon. Aren't you going to the front to prepare?"

Pei Tingyue's voice sounded from behind. Shen Zhuo didn't turn back, slowly finishing the last sip of water in his cup.

Pei Tingyue walked over and looked him up and down face-to-face.

Because of today's event, Shen Zhuo was wearing a formal suit, and his spirit looked quite good.

"Nervous?" Pei Tingyue asked.

Shen Zhuo said coolly, "Are you that idle? What are you doing here?"

"It's not like I came here on purpose," Pei Tingyue explained, his gaze dropping to the Adam's apple constricted by the shirt collar. "I was entertaining a client for lunch, and he happened to mention coming here to take a look. Since I had nothing else to do, I tagged along."

Figuring he had nothing to say to the man, Shen Zhuo turned his head and cast his gaze back out the window.

"Since you're wearing a suit, why aren't you wearing a tie?"

Before Shen Zhuo could frown, Pei Tingyue continued, "Since you're taking the stage, it's better to look a bit more formal."

Actually, Shen Zhuo had debated this with himself for a long time before leaving home today. He wasn't really used to these things; he neither wanted to seem dismissive nor worried about looking overly grand, so he ended up wearing a suit but intentionally skipped the tie. As a result, upon arriving, he noticed quite a few people dressed rather casually.

"Those big shots can afford to be casual and unconcerned, but you're a young professor after all, so you still need to mind your image," Pei Tingyue's voice held a hint of a smile. Crossing his arms, he looked Shen Zhuo over for a moment and suggested, "Don't wear the suit jacket when you go on stage later, just the shirt with a tie. It won't be overly stern yet formal enough."

Besides, when the tie tightened just beneath his Adam's apple, it looked exceptionally good.

Seeing Shen Zhuo unconsciously press his lips together, Pei Tingyue understood: "No tie?"

Very naturally, he untied his own and handed it over. "Borrow mine."

Seeing Shen Zhuo didn't take it, Pei Tingyue took a step closer and reached out directly. "Don't move."

Shen Zhuo turned his head, wanting to dodge, but then saw someone else enter the lounge and forcibly restrained himself—reacting too strongly would only make things seem abnormal.

Pei Tingyue flipped up the collar of his shirt and meticulously tied the tie for him.

His fingers were nimble, quickly fashioning a handsome knot in no time.

Shen Zhuo's gaze dropped, landing on Pei Tingyue's left ring finger, resting on a plain silver band—the exact same one this man had forcefully shoved onto him that night.

Noticing the direction of his gaze, Pei Tingyue said, "I searched that road for the entire night, and was cursed at as a lunatic and a death-seeker by passing drivers at least twenty times."

After a moment of silence, Shen Zhuo asked, "Did you find it?"

"No," Pei Tingyue replied, looking straight into his eyes. "Bad luck. Couldn't find it."

Shen Zhuo's lowered eyelashes blocked the emotions deep within his eyes without any further reaction. Pei Tingyue pushed the tie knot beneath his Adam's apple and helped him fold down his shirt collar once more.

Shen Zhuo quickly stepped back. "Thanks. I'll return it later."

Pei Tingyue nodded. "You're welcome."

Shen Zhuo felt somewhat tongue-tied. Even though he could have simply pulled off the tie and refused, he kept involuntarily recalling the silhouette of Pei Tingyue leaping over the guardrail and rushing into the heavy traffic that night.

Thus, he had defaulted to the man's actions.

Pulling his thoughts together, he checked the time and prepared to leave. Suddenly, Pei Tingyue asked, "Did you really decide to go abroad for the exchange?"

"Decided," Shen Zhuo said coldly, unwilling to elaborate.

"Very well then," Pei Tingyue said, surprisingly. "Be safe abroad."

Shen Zhuo was momentarily stunned. He had expected the man to try every possible means to stop him, yet Pei Tingyue merely reminded him to be safe.

Perhaps guessing his thoughts, Pei Tingyue remarked, "Although I hold that so-called professor in contempt, if it's truly helpful to your academic career, you certainly should go."

Ignoring him further, Shen Zhuo was greeted by a receptionist who came to fetch him, and he hurried away.

Before taking the stage, he ran into Jiang Yao, who had just come from outside. Shen Zhuo paused to chat with him for a moment.

"I thought you were attending a different event today and wouldn't come here."

"Your speech—I had to come listen," Jiang Yao smiled, noticing the tie at his chest. Taking a closer look, he asked, "This isn't yours, is it?"

Shen Zhuo: "...You can even tell that?"

"It's not your style," Jiang Yao said. "Besides, this tie is Armani. You wouldn't buy one."

Shen Zhuo: "..."

He genuinely hadn't known.

Jiang Yao smiled again with an ambiguous tone. "Still, it looks quite good on you."

Shen Zhuo felt a faint wave of regret; he really should have rejected Pei Tingyue earlier.

"Time to go up," Jiang Yao reminded him. "You're up."

A few minutes later, Pei Tingyue also appeared in the venue.

Standing in the aisle by the back door without drawing closer, his gaze followed the person who had already stepped onto the podium ahead.

After a brief initial nervousness, Shen Zhuo quickly settled into his rhythm. His voice, amplified through the microphone, possessed a particularly captivating quality as he confidently explained the concepts in his research field.

For a long time, Pei Tingyue hadn't witnessed the radiant brilliance on his face.

When the speech concluded, thunderous applause filled the hall.

Pei Tingyue applauded along with the crowd, feeling a slight pang of regret that he wasn't the first person to welcome him down from the stage.

Jiang Yao gave Shen Zhuo a thumbs-up. "Brilliant."

Shen Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

As they talked and walked out of the venue together, Shen Zhuo turned his head and saw Pei Tingyue standing on the other side of the corridor, waiting for him.

When Pei Tingyue approached, Shen Zhuo had already removed the tie and handed it back. "Thank you."

This "thank you" felt somewhat awkward and stiff, perhaps because Jiang Yao was standing nearby watching the spectacle, or perhaps because of his own momentary lapse in judgment earlier, which he now regretted.

Pei Tingyue, however, looked completely at ease. Taking back the tie that still carried his body heat, he looped it back around his own neck, keeping his eyes fixed on Shen Zhuo as he asked, "Going out for dinner later?"

Jiang Yao also asked Shen Zhuo, "Are you free to have dinner together tonight?"

"No, let's make it another couple of days," Shen Zhuo replied to Jiang Yao, which also served as his answer to Pei Tingyue. "I have plans with a friend tonight."

"Ah, well then," Jiang Yao shrugged, expressing mild regret.

As Shen Zhuo prepared to leave, Pei Tingyue asked, "Where are you going? I'll drop you off."

"No need," Shen Zhuo flatly refused. "I'll take the subway myself."

Pei Tingyue looked at him, and before Shen Zhuo could furrow his brow, took a step back to clear the path.

With a final "See you next time" to Jiang Yao, Shen Zhuo left alone.

Jiang Yao folded his arms, watched the receding figure, and suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Pei Tingyue shot him a cold, sidelong glance before turning to leave as well.

Shen Zhuo indeed had plans for the evening with several former graduate school labmates who happened to be in Huai City these past few days, gathering for a dinner get-together.

The location was a rather upscale Chinese restaurant in the middle of the city. Shen Zhuo was the last to arrive; the moment he stepped through the door, he was warmly greeted and ushered to a seat. "Come, sit down quickly, you're the last one."

"Sorry about that," Shen Zhuo apologized. "Got caught up and ended up late."

"No worries at all, we just arrived too," the others said dismissively, calling the waiter to serve the dishes.

"It's been ages since our group gathered this completely," said the person who organized the meetup, pouring drinks for everyone with a sigh. "After all these years, only Shen Zhuo is still in academia. But it's great, much more stable than the rest of us."

The others chimed in agreement and brought up Zhang Ruimin. Having been students under Zhang Ruimin's mentorship, most of them no longer worked in Huai City and rarely had the chance to visit the school, so they naturally inquired about their former teacher's current status.

Shen Zhuo casually updated them, "Teacher is doing quite well, healthy in every aspect, and still doesn't want to retire. You guys can try persuading him when you see him tomorrow."

They had already planned to visit Zhang Ruimin together the next day. Hearing this, they were put at ease, and someone mentioned that Zhang Ruimin would be turning sixty by the end of the year and suggested organizing a birthday banquet for him. Everyone immediately responded enthusiastically, tossing out various ideas.

Though Shen Zhuo figured Zhang Ruimin might not care for extravagance, he knew the teacher would be pleased by his students' sincerity, so he joined in and offered a few suggestions, being the one among them who understood Zhang Ruimin best.

After two rounds of drinks, the conversation flowed more freely as they touched upon their recent updates—careers, marriages, families.

Shen Zhuo had the least to share. When asked if he had found a girlfriend, he only smiled and shook his head in denial.

"No romance, but having a smooth-sailing career isn't bad either—at least you're already an associate professor at such a young age," remarked one senior schoolmate. "Unlike me, still being chased by creditors."

"That shouldn't be," others chimed in. "Didn't people say your company was doing great with an annual profit of twenty or thirty million?"

"A small company, bankruptcy happens overnight," the senior shook his head. "Right now I'm caught in a lawsuit over debt disputes. The other side hired a very formidable senior lawyer; if I lose, my family's entire fortune goes down the drain. Anyway, it's a long story—forget it, let's not talk about this, it's a mood killer."

In the adjacent private dining room, Pei Tingyue listened to his peers chatting idly, occasionally sipping his drink and glancing toward the doorway from time to time.

Noticing this, someone asked with a curious expression, "What are you looking at, Lawyer Pei? Ever since you walked in, you haven't let anyone close the door. Waiting for someone?"

"No," Pei Tingyue replied casually. "Just keeping it open for some fresh air."

He certainly hadn't expected to run into Shen Zhuo here.

He had come to tonight's industry gathering just to pass the time. When he first walked in, the door to the diagonally opposite private room happened to be open for serving dishes, and catching sight of Shen Zhuo inside, he deliberately kept his own door open to keep tabs on the movement across the hall and be ready to move at any moment.

A companion handed him a cigarette; Pei Tingyue took it and pinched it between his fingers without lighting it.

"Has Zhao Zhikun been released?" someone asked him. "Is he going to come after you?"

"Why would he come after me?" Pei Tingyue sneered. "I didn't wrong him."