A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 54.1

The summer internship, which lasted just over ten days, ended too quickly. Luo Mijin often dreamed of the moment she disembarked from the three-hour flight, her mind and body still floating in a daze.

During the final luggage retrieval, she had hoped to find a chance to exchange a few words with Rong Qingyao. But to her dismay, bodyguards quickly surrounded her, urging her to get into the car without delay.

Left with no choice, Luo Mijin could only steal one last glance at Rong Qingyao from afar. Through the bustling crowd, their eyes met, and in the woman’s deep, unreadable gaze, she found a rare sense of calm.

The dream shattered at that moment. She opened her eyes to the familiar ceiling of her home the muted flax and imperial green wall decor, the antique chandelier hanging solemnly above, all chosen by her grandfather.

Her grandfather always said such decor embodied the dignity befitting the Luo family.

The woman’s soft yet resolute words. “You can’t drive me away” still echoed in her ears, stirring an unprecedented strength within Luo Mijin.

Her life had never known true stability. It always felt as though upheaval chased her relentlessly, and the fear of being abandoned had taken root in her mind, shadowing her every step.

Only Rong Qingyao was different. Only her senior was different.

After returning to school, they often found excuses to study together, staying in the library until midnight before sneaking out to spend the night in an abandoned bar.

The previous evening, they had huddled together on a rooftop, gazing at the stars while sharing fragmented childhood memories.

Rong Qingyao told her about the nights in her small mountain village, how the moonlight could illuminate the sky so brightly that even the wildflowers along the ridges were visible.

She spoke of the refreshing taste of watermelon chilled in well water during summer, and how her mother’s stir-fried fish noodles were exceptionally delicious. But because the dish was so labor-intensive, she had only eaten it twice in her entire life.

Now, she could barely even recall its flavor.

In a moment of childish impulsiveness, Luo Mijin blurted out that she could make the dish for her senior. Only afterward did she realize that what Rong Qingyao missed was the taste of her mother’s cooking, something irreplaceable.

Yet, to her surprise, Rong Qingyao nestled gently into her arms and whispered that she looked forward to tasting Luo Mijin’s version of the fish noodles.

Later, exhausted from days of relentless studying, Rong Qingyao grew drowsy in her embrace and asked Luo Mijin to tell her a story to help her fall asleep.

Scrambling for inspiration, Luo Mijin spun a tale about a fairy and a lamb.

On its way to Fairy Lake for a drink, the lamb stumbled upon an injured fairy.

The fairy was ethereal, her white robes pristine as snow, her sleeves fluttering gracefully. But her injuries had left her encased in a thin layer of frost, deterring anyone from approaching.

This, however, posed no challenge for the lamb. With shearing scissors, it cut away generous portions of its warm wool and wove it into a blanket large enough to wrap around the fairy.

Day by day, the fairy’s wounds healed. In return, she used her magic to gather the freshest, most tender grass from distant fields for the lamb.

But then, invaders came to the peaceful village, intent on capturing the fairy and stealing her powers.

In the story’s final moments, the lamb willingly revealed its demonic form before the crowd, fighting desperately to protect the fairy.

To Luo Mijin, Rong Qingyao was like that gentle, beautiful fairy,someone who, when faced with the lamb’s monstrous side, stood unwaveringly by its side without hesitation.

No, Rong Qingyao was even better than that fairy. Luo Mijin hadn’t protected her at all, yet the woman had unconditionally stood by her side.

Right or wrong didn’t matter, women would always stand by her.

At this moment, Luo Mijin didn’t know that years later, she would still appear before Rong Qingyao in a disheveled and lonely state, and Rong Qingyao, without hesitation, would once again shield her without asking a single question.

She faintly remembered this story from when she was little, held in her mother’s arms as she was taught to read it word by word.

When the story ended, her mother’s eyes were wet, but she didn’t understand why. She only clumsily wiped her mother’s tears.

Now, she thought perhaps her mother had been worried that she, like the little lamb in the story, would one day have her secret discovered by everyone without a fairy coming to her rescue.

During this time, the housekeeper noticed that Luo Mijin’s mood was unusually good something that had never happened before.

In the past, the eldest daughter of the Luo family would only stay in her room after returning home, playing chess, studying chess manuals, or occasionally playing video games.

She barely spoke two words to anyone in a day, like a gloomy little cloud reluctantly descending to the mortal world, drifting uneasily.

At the very least, the young mistress’s difficulty in communication was well-known. Everyone, including Luo Anbang, had struggled to interact with her when she was younger. They eventually figured out that she disliked hearing questions, so whenever they asked her anything, they never got a response.

After corrective therapy, Luo Mijin gradually improved, becoming more like a normal person without so many strange and irritating quirks.

Now, to everyone’s surprise, Luo Mijin spent most of her time studying university-level finance courses and even asked her grandfather to hire a tutor or two for her.

When she wasn’t studying, she would tend to the flowers in the garden, personally adding fresh leaves and pollen to the caterpillars in the terrarium, all while wearing a bright smile.

Normally, even when caring for plants and caterpillars, the young mistress would choose the dead of night, like some nocturnal vampire.

Even attending school had become something she actively pursued, as if she wished she could spend all twenty-four hours of the day studying there.

Luo Anbang was deeply gratified by this, believing that his granddaughter might one day become completely normal.

After all, though he placed high hopes on the second daughter, Luo Zhiwen, he hadn’t entirely given up on Luo Mijin either.

At the very least, she couldn’t keep embarrassing the Luo family.

A month into the new semester, Rong Qingyao became even busier than before, preparing for graduate school recommendations and other matters.

Apart from sharing breakfast and lunch, the two had little time together, forced to attend separate classes and study sessions.

Occasionally, they could only sit together in a quiet corner of the library, stealing a quick handhold when no one was around, sharing an orange or a creamy pudding.

Their visits to the abandoned bar also dwindled significantly.

Not daring to be too conspicuous, they finally managed to squeeze out time one weekend to stroll through the mall and nearby stalls, where they found fox and lamb pendants in a small shop.

They were clay ornaments, costing just a few dozen yuan nothing compared to the jade and gemstones in Luo Mijin’s home.

**

Another Monday packed with classes. Luo Mijin stepped out of the family car and, right at the school gate, ran into several classmates out buying breakfast.

“Luo Mijin,” one of the long-haired students who favored white cotton dresses was the first to spot her. “What a coincidence! Let’s walk to class together. Freshly baked egg tarts, would you like one?”

Luo Mijin pressed her lips together, remembering her promise not to smile casually at others. “No, thank you. I already had breakfast at home.”

“Why did your family agree to let you live off-campus? My family is local too, but they insisted I stay on campus to ‘gain independence’ and stop being so attached to home.”

The girl in the white dress, who had greeted Luo Mijin first, had previously wanted her to teach chess but had given up after failing to meet her during practice sessions.

At the question, Luo Mijin subtly lowered her lashes and shook her head with feigned nonchalance, offering a half-truth:

“They’re afraid I’ll cause trouble if I’m out unsupervised, so they make me come home every day to keep an eye on me.”

The white-dressed girl found her answer amusing and naturally didn’t buy it.

“Luo Mijin, you’re hilarious! I used to think you were hard to approach since you never talked much in class. You should join more group activities.”

“Yeah, this semester we have a debate competition. With your grades, you’d definitely qualify,” another student chimed in between bites of egg tart.

Luo Mijin quickly waved her hands, her expression shy. “I’m no good at that my speaking skills are terrible.”

With over ten minutes left before class, the group deliberately slowed their pace, gossiping under the shade of the trees, their chatter drowning out the larks perched on the branches.

The girl who had polished off six egg tarts in one go mysteriously pulled the other two aside. Luo Mijin frowned as she overheard the girl whisper excitedly:

“Hey, I’ve got some juicy gossip. That ultra-cold, untouchable Rong senior from our department might be dating someone.”

“Which Rong senior? Spill the details, don’t leave us hanging.”

“Come on, who else? Rong Qingyao, the one who tops the confession wall every year and sweeps all the scholarships. This year, she represented our school in the debate competition and won Best Debater. During the livestream, her looks had everyone fawning over her.”

“How would you know if she’s dating? I’ve never heard of her accepting any confessions, and there’s zero rumors. Just a few heartbroken seniors crying over her rejections, some even got warnings from their advisors.”

“My roommate is in the news club with Rong Qingyao’s roommate. That’s how I heard.”

“Did Rong Qingyao admit it herself?”

“Of course not. She’s all about studying. But her roommate noticed she’s been in a good mood lately smiling to herself for no reason, when she never used to. The roommate thinks her partner is younger, super cool, into music, with flashy hair and a motorcycle.”

“No way! So Rong Qingyao has a thing for rebellious musician types? That’s like the ultimate ‘cool, wild artist x icy, disciplined genius’ pairing. I totally thought she’d go for gentle, refined older guys.”

“Does our school even have any standout artsy guys like that? Standing next to Rong Qingyao’s sharp, intellectual aura, any boyfriend would pale in comparison.”

“Who knows? I’m so worried Senior Rong might get tricked by those artsy types who sweet-talk on the surface but actually play around deceived in body, heart, and feelings.”

Hearing her classmates’ concerns, Luo Mijin blinked unnaturally, her expression shifting as she deliberately avoided joining their discussion, pretending to focus on the roadside flowers and plants instead.

But the girl in the white dress loved dragging Luo Mijin into conversations. She smiled and asked, “Luo Mijin, what do you think? Do you approve of Senior Rong dating a musical playboy like that?”

“Me?” Luo Mijin turned her face away guiltily, stammering, “I-I don’t really know. Ask someone else.”

Another classmate, seeing the girl in white actually ask Luo Mijin’s opinion, immediately laughed.

“Mijin spends all her time with her head in the clouds, how would she care who Senior Rong dates? You might as well ask her about the key points for the final exam.”

Hearing this teasing remark about Luo Mijin, everyone burst into laughter, and soon the topic returned to Rong Qingyao.

“Then do any of you know who Senior Rong is dating? Are there any photos we can see?”

“No, even her roommate hasn’t seen any photos. They just pieced it together from little clues and guessed that person might have sent her flowers.”

Hearing this, everyone let out a disappointed sigh and trudged forward dejectedly.

“Wait, I also heard that Senior Rong suddenly has a little clay sheep charm on her backpack maybe it’s a couple’s accessory. She never used to have any extra decorations before. Super suspicious.”

“Oh my god, this is huge! We should keep an eye out to see who else has a matching clay charm. Then we’ll know for sure.”

Luo Mijin, who had deliberately fallen two or three steps behind, frowned. After a brief moment of hesitation, she calmly took the little clay fox charm hanging from her backpack and slowly tucked it inside her bag, finally letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

This was her first time witnessing her classmates’ “Sherlock Holmes” side utterly terrifying.

“Okay, I’ll post this in the group chat and get more people to help.”

The suggestion was met with enthusiastic agreement from the others, leaving Luo Mijin puzzled. Was other people’s business really that entertaining? Worth all this fuss?

Luo Mijin listened half-heartedly as her classmates chattered away, her thoughts drifting far off. Suddenly, she realized the surroundings had fallen silent, sunlight filtering through the lush plane trees, casting a beautiful golden glow.

“It’s Senior Rong! It’s Senior Rong! Stop talking, everyone, be quiet.”

“Speak of the devil. Stay calm, stay calm.”

“Do you think Senior Rong is here to meet her partner?”

“Very likely! Who is it, who is it, who is it?!”

Luo Mijin subtly pushed the little clay fox deeper into her bag.

Not far away, Rong Qingyao appeared under the dappled shade of the trees, dressed simply in a white shirt and jeans. Wherever she stood in the morning mist became a breathtaking scene.

Radiant, almost blinding.

Luo Mijin had thought this was just a chance encounter with Rong Qingyao on their vast campus until her phone buzzed with a message from her.

[Number Two Ranked Nine-tailed Fox: I’ll sit next to you in class later.]

Class? Luo Mijin was stunned. She was a freshman, and Rong Qingyao was a junior, how could they attend the same major class?

[Number One Ranked Electronic Sheep: Sure, I’ll wait for you.]

“Luo Mijin, what happened? You suddenly look so happy?”

Realizing she hadn’t managed to suppress her smile, Luo Mijin quickly furrowed her brows and pursed her lips, putting on a serious expression. “Nothing, just thought of a joke.”

“You’re not excited at all to see Senior Rong? You could actually space out enough to think of jokes?”

Luo Mijin looked straight ahead, hooking her fingers as she took two stiff steps forward, awkwardly muttering, “I’m not close with her.”

“That’s obvious, but didn’t you two often walk together during your internship?”

Luo Mijin glanced at the questioning classmate, her old habit of disliking answering questions acting up again. She just kept a cold face and remained silent.

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