A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 10

Luo Mijin was tall and slender, with striking silver hair and an innocent smile on her face. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Thank you for keeping my ice cream secret. And I also wanted to give you this,” Luo Mijin handed over a beautifully crafted terrarium. “It will soon turn into a butterfly.”

“There was nothing worth reporting anyway,” Rong Qingyao replied. After the initial surprise, her expression gradually returned to its usual indifference.

She was unaccustomed to receiving gifts, whether flowers, chocolates, or anything else. On occasions like Valentine’s Day or May 20th, she inevitably received public or anonymous presents.

She always responded with cold detachment, and this time was no exception.

Besides, in her opinion, flowers were among the most useless gifts plucked without permission, destined to wither early, evoking nothing but pity.

Romance, to her, was an unaffordable luxury.

“I also grow a lot of flowers. The creamy sunflowers are bright my sister and I love them. They’re practical too, since you can eat the seeds. And the double-layered peonies are blooming right now.”

Luo Mijin remembered the day Rong Qingyao had walked through the flower-filled garden on her way out.

The older girl, as pure and beautiful as snow, passing through layers of white petals, it made her wish time could stand still.

“Thank you, but I have to go now,” Rong Qingyao said, lowering her gaze to the vibrant green roses, her profile pale and delicate.

Luo Mijin twisted her fingers together, regret gnawing at her. She had disturbed Rong Qingyao after all.

She had secretly looked Rong Qingyao up online. Posts about her at S University were endless, aside from academic papers and scholarship honors, the rest were all confessions of love.

Truthfully, Rong Qingyao had rejected her multiple times already. But this morning, after much hesitation, she still wanted to thank her.

Thank her for not reporting her to her grandfather. Since childhood, her grandfather had offered hefty rewards to anyone around her who reported any “abnormal” behavior.

So, she had never known privacy.

Thank you, Rong Qingyao, for becoming an accomplice to her secret.

“Senior Qingyao, let me help you too, just once,” Luo Mijin said, tilting her head as she noticed the boy who had confessed to Rong Qingyao still lingering nearby, restless.

“What?” Rong Qingyao frowned slightly.

Standing up, Luo Mijin said earnestly, “Thank you. I’ll be going now too. Goodbye.”

Rong Qingyao silently watched her, as if memorizing her features with her gaze.

During that month of tutoring Luo Mijin, her grandfather had indeed called to ask about her.

But Rong Qingyao had never thought there was anything unusual about her, so there was nothing to report.

The sports field was close to the university’s second gate. On impulse, Rong Qingyao glanced back and saw Luo Mijin remove her baseball cap, dashing like a bird toward a car parked outside the gate.

The flowing silver hair flashed past the eyes of bystanders, and suddenly, someone on the field screamed.

“Luo Mijin, 7-dan! Quick, get her autograph before she leaves!”

“Oh my god, I thought the rumors about her visiting our school were fake, but she’s really here! Hurry, catch up!”

It was campus open day, and aside from students, there were many visitors. Their enthusiasm for chasing this “star” reached unprecedented heights.

And so, that confession was lost in the crowd, ending without resolution.

Two bodyguards stood by the door, opening the car for their pampered young mistress. With her dazzling silver hair, the young lady slipped into the car and rolled down the window, gazing distantly at the sky.

One of the bodyguards took the front passenger seat, tasked with keeping an eye on Luo Mijin. The young miss had a habit of suddenly demanding the car stop and running off, so no one could afford to be careless.

Luo Mijin had no objections to the bodyguards’ overbearing supervision. To her, it was no different from humans monitoring a malfunctioning robot.

“Young Miss, you shouldn’t have taken off your hat and made such a conspicuous dash here.”

“I know.”

Old Zheng, the driver, relayed a message from Luo Mijin’s grandfather as he drove.

“Young Miss, the master reminds you not to forget to visit the ancestral hall tonight to offer incense for the young master and madam. Today is their death anniversary.”

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“The master hasn’t been in good health lately.”

“I’ll behave and not disappoint Grandfather.” Luo Mijin lowered her eyes before suddenly asking, “Will my sister come back?”

“Miss Zhiwen just started high school, it’s a crucial time for her studies.”

Luo Mijin nodded understandingly. Her sister had been sent abroad for schooling since middle school.

Even though the two of them desperately tried to stay in touch, their calls dwindled from daily to weekly, and eventually, not even once a month.

Grandfather claimed it was due to her sister’s busy studies, but Luo Mijin knew the truth, he was afraid that prolonged exposure to someone as abnormal as her would make her sister abnormal too.

It seemed her fate was never meant to intertwine with others.

Thanks to the commotion Luo Mijin deliberately caused, the boy’s confession was cut short, and his plan to stop Rong Qingyao for a second attempt was thwarted by the crowd.

Thus, when Rong Qingyao returned to the dorm, it was still empty. She had intended to throw away the flowers while no one was around, but the flowers were innocent.

Unable to find a proper vase, she dug out an old cardboard box and fashioned a makeshift one.

The vibrant blossoms sat awkwardly in the shabby container beautiful, yet mismatched.

Just like her and Luo Mijin.

Yet the delicate, pure hue of the flowers brought a breath of fresh air into her heavy life.

A moment of respite.

Then there was the caterpillar in the terrarium, plump and motionless.

She placed the flowers and the caterpillar on her desk and opened her English textbook to study. Hours later, when her roommates returned, they immediately erupted in excitement.

“Oh my god, getting flowers outside of Valentine’s Day? Our campus belle is truly special. A candlelit confession and flowers in one day!”

“Such unique green roses, must’ve cost at least four figures. Which wealthy prince charming sent these? So romantic, so mysterious, leaving no name.” One roommate noticed the small handkerchief wrapped around the stems and gasped. “This isn’t just expensive, it’s a limited edition. Ordinary people can’t even get their hands on it!”

Rong Qingyao stayed silent. The green roses on her desk bloomed like Gesha coffee, exquisite.

“Qingyao, that guy who confessed to you today is the genius from the computer science department. You really weren’t interested at all?”

The more gossip-loving roommate leaned in. “First time seeing someone confess with a caterpillar. So bizarre.”

“What an unusual gift. That caterpillar looks quite terrifying. Hey, who gave you this caterpillar? What do they look like?”

A roommate noticed a string of numbers resembling a phone number on the ecological box and, while Rong Qingyao wasn’t paying attention, immediately dialed it, laughing that they’d soon find out just who this mysterious admirer was.

But when the call connected, all they heard was a lengthy and overly detailed scientific explanation about caterpillar care, leaving the roommates utterly dumbfounded.

“Qingyao, your admirer is… certainly unique.”

“Yes, very unique,” Rong Qingyao replied calmly, closing her book.

**

A month later, Rong Qingyao saw Luo Mijin again in the library. Luo had behaved well over the past month, finally earning her grandfather’s permission to attend university classes.

Taking advantage of the sparse evening crowd, she kept a low profile her hair tucked under a hat as she hid behind a bookshelf at a small table, reading.

She was three shelves away from Rong Qingyao, at an angle where the other girl seemed completely unaware of her presence.

Yet with just a glance, she could see the cool, pale profile of her senior, like a traveler admiring distant snowfall.

A summer thunderstorm blew open the windows on their floor, forcing Luo Mijin to get up and close them.

The commotion drew the attention of nearly everyone including Rong Qingyao.

When their eyes met, Luo Mijin offered only a distant, polite smile, the effortless grace of someone raised in privilege radiating from her.

Pretending not to know someone had always been Rong Qingyao’s specialty. Now, Luo Mijin had learned it too.

Almost immediately, a few fashionably dressed female students swarmed Luo Mijin’s direction.

Fortunately, they weren’t as frenzied as last time, sparing her another “frantic escape.”

The silver-haired beauty navigated the crowd with ease. When the others noticed the chess manual in her hands, they eagerly asked her to teach them, their eyes sparkling with admiration.

And so, three or four girls settled around Luo Mijin, hanging onto her every word.

At an inopportune moment, Rong Qingyao recalled the rumors her roommates had shared about Luo Mijin and then, the husky, breathless whispers between them that night in the hotel.

In the restored quiet, Rong Qingyao focused on her studies, listening to English exercises, deliberately ignoring Luo Mijin’s presence.

She was preparing for graduate school applications abroad, needing to ace the IELTS and TOEFL exams in one go.

Beyond that, managing relationships and repaying debts consumed the rest of her time.

Minutes ticked by, the library emptying steadily. Throughout it all, Luo Mijin never once glanced back.

After hours of studying, Rong Qingyao was nearly asleep at her desk. When she lifted her head again, Luo Mijin’s seat was empty.

The relentless demands of part-time jobs, classes, and lab work had drained her completely. The moment she let her guard down, exhaustion overwhelmed her.

The storm rattled the windows open again. Wearily, Rong Qingyao dragged herself over but the moment her jade-like fingers touched the window frame, they suddenly clenched tight.

In the pale blue rain, Luo Mijin stood with her silver hair half-damp, holding a transparent umbrella over a girl who had slipped. In her other hand was an adorable bear-patterned bandage.

Through the silver-rimmed glasses, Rong Qingyao could see the natural warmth in Luo Mijin’s smile, the unmistakable mark of someone who had grown up cherished.

Outside the library, Luo Mijin gripped the walnut handle of her umbrella, remembering that the fallen girl was actually a classmate of hers.

“Remember not to get the wound wet. Apply this ointment after it scabs to prevent scarring,” Luo Mijin said as she took out medicine from her backpack. “Here’s an umbrella for you.”

“Thank you. Should we walk back to the dorm together?”

Luo Mijin shook her head seriously, her soaked lashes clumping together in strands, the dimple at the corner of her lips making her look incredibly gentle.

“I’ve moved off-campus and live at home now.”

“Could we come to the library together next time?” The girl who had fallen blushed slightly. “That way, I can return your umbrella.”

“It’s fine.”

Watching the girl walk away, Luo Mijin stood alone in the rain, her expression blank until she suddenly heard a cold female voice behind her. Turning around, she met a face that was both aloof and somber.

“Junior Luo, are you always this kind to everyone?”

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