Chapter 3: Preposterous
That voice was way too familiar. Even if it lacked the steadiness of later years and carried more of a young man’s crisp clarity, Sui Mi figured it out in the blink of an eye.
She turned her head to look.
Sure enough, it was her soon-to-be ex-husband Xi Jianbai… or rather, his younger skin.
Thick brows, pale eyes, a straight nose, thin lips. Warm sunlight spilled through the glass window, haloing the tips of his long lashes, but it couldn’t light up those clear, distant, pale irises.
He didn’t seem to notice the knife-edge tension in the office at all.
After knocking, his gaze swept past Sui Mi like it was nothing.
Then it moved forward, landing on the counselor who hadn’t had time to wipe the twisted expression off his face.
He asked casually, “Teacher Liu, should I leave it on your desk?”
The counselor’s face twitched. Awkwardly and stiffly, he pulled back the arm he’d stretched out to grab at her. Once he recognized who it was, he completely forgot about the uncooperative Sui Mi.
He stood up straight and squeezed out a friendly smile. “Just put it on the desk.”
He even faked familiarity with a joke: “Did your Teacher Wang change his personality? He actually couldn’t bear to part with you and sent you out to run errands?”
Xi Jianbai stepped inside and placed the few thin sheets of the schedule on the corner of the desk.
He replied flatly, “I happened to be here. It was on my way.”
On his way?
The Biomedical Engineering office was downstairs. How could that possibly be on the way to their Fine Arts Academy?
Probably just kissing up to the teacher.
The counselor felt he’d found his reason and muttered inwardly. Everyone said Xi Jianbai had a cold personality, but wasn’t he pretty good at playing the game?
Even though they weren’t in the same academy, they shared the same admin building. Whenever people bumped into each other and chatted, who hadn’t heard about the genius student from Biomedical Engineering?
Snatched up by a professor and brought into the lab shortly after enrolling as a freshman. Published his first patent in his junior year.
And not some fancy-sounding title either, but something that could genuinely be put into market use.
The counselor couldn’t understand those complicated terms; he just remembered stuff like “cells” and “gene sequencing.”
Supposedly, he improved it into some small technique that achieved near-perfect amplification. Huge market potential, attracted plenty of pharma companies buying usage licenses.
Such a young age, and who knows how much patent money he’d already raked in.
Only a senior, and he was already prepping his own company.
Even at Jingda, where geniuses gathered, Xi Jianbai was absolutely in the top tier.
This was what they called a future so bright you couldn’t open your eyes!
The counselor had spent half his life scheming for connections. Of course he wouldn’t miss a chance to build a relationship and get familiar with a student destined for great things.
He pretended to flip through the basketball tournament schedule, laughing as he forced small talk.
“Your academy’s tournament, you’re not playing?”
“No.”
“Heard you’ve got another patent under application? Truly, heroes emerge young. If only all our Jingda students were as capable as you!”
“Mm.”
“How’s the company prep going, smooth? When you start hiring later, consider our academy’s students too. Keep the good stuff in the family!”
“Oh.”
Sui Mi leaned back in her chair, listening to Xi Jianbai’s completely undisguised perfunctory answers, barely holding back a laugh.
She tilted her head, studying her soon-to-be ex-husband’s profile with interest.
From this angle, the light outlined his long lashes and straight nose bridge, his jawline especially sharp and clean.
Clearly still young, yet he already had a bit of that distant, calm temperament from the future… Huh?
Sui Mi suddenly sat up a little straighter.
Her memories were tugged by the overlapping angle of the scene.
She finally remembered. In her past life, it was exactly like this.
While Counselor Liu Yang was rambling on, Xi Jianbai knocked and came in.
He said he had something to discuss and called Liu Yang away.
Of course Sui Mi wasn’t going to patiently wait for him to come back.
The moment Liu Yang walked out, she got up and left right behind him, immediately calling higher up to report both Liu Yang and Director Sun together.
The next time she heard news about them, both of them—along with everyone else involved in the collusion who benefited—were thrown in jail, and the bullied students received compensation.
Everything was perfect.
Sui Mi was only confused for a second—
When high-level academy staff messed up like this, usually, to protect public image, they’d find every way to suppress it and handle the compensation quietly. How did it blow up to the point of prison?
“…”
While she was thinking, the phone resting on her knee started ringing.
It was the call she’d just made that went unanswered, returning the call.
Sui Mi glanced at the screen.
As the counselor subconsciously looked over, she slowly swiped to answer. Her upturned face broke into a sweet smile.
“Auntie Lin, it’s me, Sui Mi.”
The sudden silence in the room and the short distance were enough for the counselor to see the name lighting up the screen and hear the cheerful female voice on the other end, no longer serious.
Familiar and unbelievable. It was Lin Yuanshan, the Dean of the Painting Academy.
“Why is Xiao Mi calling me? Is there something you need?” Lin Yuanshan, usually strict and unsmiling, sounded warm and full of laughter now.
Meeting the counselor’s horrified expression, Sui Mi curved her lips and spoke lightly.
“There is indeed one thing.”
“Dean Lin, I want to report Department Head Sun Honghai and Class of 2x Counselor Liu Yang for abusing their power and colluding together. They’ve been using their positions for a long time, using threats and bribes to force students to ‘voluntarily’ give up competition spots and award qualifications.”
“I have a half-hour recording on my phone of Liu Yang threatening me. Also, I have a witness beside me who saw Liu Yang try to snatch my phone.”
After finishing, Sui Mi turned her gaze to Xi Jianbai.
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, her tone soft and wronged. “This classmate, would you be willing to testify for me?”
As she spoke, she eagerly held up the phone—still on the call—and offered it right under his eyes.
Her upturned face was softly white, her almond eyes round, the outer corners drooping slightly. Paired with her blinking long lashes and dark, clear irises, no matter what expression she made, she gave off a pure, innocent, obedient vibe.
“…”
Xi Jianbai stayed silent for two seconds, meeting those almond eyes that showed zero grievance, only sheer audacity.
His Adam’s apple rolled slowly.
He looked away and took the phone.
“Mm.”
Xi Jianbai said quietly, “I’m willing.”
-
Lin Yuanshan dumped the Vice Dean at the academic symposium and rushed back herself.
Liu Yang and another admin teacher had already been forcibly pressed into chairs by the security guards Lin Yuanshan called. Knowing disaster had struck, cold sweat kept pouring down his forehead. Looking at Sui Mi, he still tried to argue and beg.
“The teacher was doing it for your own good…”
“Threats and bribes are for my own good?”
Sui Mi chuckled lightly, tilting her chin up slightly toward the window.
“That building? My family donated it.”
“Teacher, giving me a building is what counts as being good to me.”
Liu Yang’s face cycled between green and pale. His mouth opened and closed weakly. It took him ages to spit out a sentence, “Sui, Sui… You’re from the Sui family…”
He stared wide-eyed, unable to figure out why a young lady with such status and background insisted on pretending to be an ordinary student hiding in the crowd. Why didn’t she flaunt her identity the moment she walked in? Why wait until he’d pushed things to the absolute limit before leisurely making that call…
So much so that he kicked a solid iron plate.
Sui Mi had nothing to say to this kind of person.
He didn’t realize he was wrong. He just realized he was finished.
She turned her head and met Xi Jianbai’s gaze by the door.
The young man had his eyes lowered, looking thoughtful. Who knew what he was thinking about.
Sui Mi reached into her pocket and rummaged around, pulling out a few candies.
…If only she’d had a candy in her mouth before she reincarnated.
Thinking about her picture book career and free life that were gone for good, Sui Mi couldn’t help but want to sigh.
She drooped her brows, tore open a wrapper, and popped a peach-flavored gummy into her mouth.
Then she turned and offered one to Xi Jianbai, cheeks puffed out as she asked, “Want candy?”
A few sparkling sugar crystals stained her soft red lips, which Sui Mi licked away, leaving only a faint wetness like petals dipped in water.
Xi Jianbai paused for a moment before withdrawing his gaze and taking one.
Eyes lowered, his fingers long and slender like bamboo. After tearing the wrapper, he meticulously folded it back up, pressing it into a tiny square block before tossing it into the trash can by the desk.
Sui Mi watched with her head tilted, biting the gummy between her teeth, releasing a fresh fruity liquid center.
She sighed silently. The predecessor of a rigid man was indeed still a little rigid.
If she had to name a benefit of reincarnating—
This time, she probably wouldn’t end up marrying and divorcing Xi Jianbai.
Sui Mi didn’t dislike Xi Jianbai.
Aside from their married life, she and Xi Jianbai actually got along pretty well.
…Okay, fine, even when it came to married life, she was satisfied with Xi Jianbai’s equipment.
If possible, being friends would be nice too.
With that thought, Sui Mi simply leaned closer.
Her long lashes fluttered and lifted, revealing bright, smiling eyes.
She waved her phone.
“Let’s add WeChat. Thanks for testifying for me.”
For some reason, on Xi Jianbai’s otherwise flat, cold face, a subtle expression appeared—a slight frown that looked like endurance, or maybe restraint.
His chest rose and fell slightly, his Adam’s apple rolling slowly.
After a difficult swallow.
Only then did he pull out his phone with cold eyes.
A beep as the QR code scanned.
While looking at the profile card popping up on her phone, Sui Mi expertly retreated back to a safe distance.
Didn’t like people getting close, didn’t like physical contact.
She got it.
In her past life as husband and wife, Xi Jianbai could barely tolerate her closeness.
Now they were just unfamiliar alumni. The fact that he didn’t step back directly was already very polite.
Xi Jianbai’s WeChat avatar was a blank white.
Sui Mi tapped to enlarge it, only to realize it was a patch of pristine snow.
In the corner, someone had built a small snowman.
The snowman was palm-sized, decorated with black round pebbles for eyes and two twigs stuck in for arms.
It even had a doll-sized scarf wrapped around its neck quite properly.
The image was blurred, so she could only make out the general shape, not the details.
Sui Mi studied art, so after looking twice, she reflexively filled in the details in her mind.
She didn’t know if it was a stock photo or if Xi Jianbai built and photographed it himself.
Actually, it looked a bit like the little snowman she remembered building while playing in the snow on the sports field.
She’d even posted it to her Moments back then…
“Ding—”
The elevator arrival chime rang crisply.
Lin Yuanshan appeared in the opening elevator doors, striding over quickly with a dark expression.
Sui Mi’s attention was diverted. She put away her phone and walked up to meet Lin Yuanshan.
And so she didn’t see that beside her, Xi Jianbai’s fingers—which had unconsciously tensed up ever since she tapped his avatar—slowly relaxed.
Once the Dean arrived, there was someone in charge.
Sui Mi sent a copy of the audio file on her phone to Lin Yuanshan.
Xi Jianbai testified with clear words.
The rest was left entirely to Lin Yuanshan to handle.
Sui Mi returned to her dorm, vaguely brushed off her roommates’ questions, grabbed her clothes, and headed to the bathroom.
She was used to being lazy, the type who would never sit if she could lie down.
From handing over the divorce papers before her reincarnation to tossing around for most of today, she could hold it together and act effortlessly outside. But once she entered her relatively private territory, she felt her battery instantly drop to one bar, barely having the energy to speak.
Sui Mi took a quick hot shower, then burrowed into her blankets trailing a thin layer of moisture.
The mattress was soft. The quilt must have been sunned recently, fluffy with a faint scent.
Pull the blackout curtain shut, and it was a safe, enclosed little space.
Sui Mi relaxed her whole body, rubbing her soft cheek against the pillow. Holding onto a sliver of wishful thinking—“what if it’s just a dream and I can go back when I wake up”—she closed her eyes.
Going back was probably impossible.
But Sui Mi had a dream.
She knew it was a dream because she was standing in that afternoon’s office, but everyone else had vanished without a trace.
There was only her, and Xi Jianbai, a single step away, looking down at her.
The entire world felt excessively quiet.
Hazy sunlight poured through the glass window, outlining a fuzzy ring of light around her spread-open, slender white fingers.
A pale purple, sugar-coated gummy was rolling in her fair palm.
Sui Mi was still a bit dazed, blinking blankly.
The next second.
Xi Jianbai lowered his head, his thin lips brushing feather-light across her palm, taking the gummy away.
The shallow breath and warm thin lips touched and parted instantly.
Like some newly born, tender down feather brushing lightly past.
Or like a softly falling snowflake, melting away before she could even feel it.
Leaving behind only a sudden, heart-palpitating, sensitive itch.
Sui Mi had always been ticklish.
She subconsciously curled her fingers, her lashes trembling hastily as she stared blankly at Xi Jianbai, so close.
He loosely bit the gummy, his pale lips also stained with a bit of crystal shine.
The posture of leaning down and looking up, his pale eyes fully soaked in sunlight—it should have been warm, but because his gaze was so direct, it inexplicably made her spine tingle, spawning a creepy feeling of being targeted by something.
Sui Mi’s heart pounded. She opened her mouth to call out, “Xi…”
Before the word finished.
Xi Jianbai abruptly turned his head, closing in, his long fingers pinching her cheek as he kissed her heavily.