It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me - Chapter 81

During that period, Pei Suye was practically going insane with her experiments.

Her formula required twelve different reagents. She replaced every single one with newly purchased, freshly opened bottles, and for every round she repeated the experiment three times. In total, she ran the experiment thirty-six times.

No.

No.

Still no.

Every day she worked until past midnight, often returning home only at two in the morning. Yet, she would still wake up at six sharp the next day and insist on making breakfast for Ye Wanjia.

Ye Wanjia, distressed by this, would secretly switch off her alarm, prepare breakfast herself, and only then wake her.

At night, she would call at midnight sharp, urging her to come home. If Pei Suye hesitated and said she still had experiments arranged, then half an hour later, right outside the lab doors, Pei Suye would see Ye Wanjia standing there holding a cat.

“Meow-meow, your beloved little kitten is here to call you home!”

She would wear a fisherman’s hat, while the kitten wore a little pumpkin hat hand-knitted by her. A master-and-pet pair, perfectly matched in cuteness.

This trick worked every time. Each time, Pei Suye would tilt her head with a helpless smile—sweetened by the warmth of being in love—and obediently follow her home.

The accident happened on the last day of September.

In China, the time had already turned to October 1st. Wei Xiaoxiao was excitedly celebrating the start of the long National Day holiday and kept chatting with Ye Wanjia.

At midnight, Ye Wanjia had Wei Xiaoxiao on video call on her tablet, while dialing Pei Suye with her phone.

“Not heading home yet, big scientist? Tomorrow’s National Day—you can rest!”

“Hehe…”

Through the phone came a light laugh, followed by the beeping sound of an instrument shutting down.

“I’m shutting down the equipment now, coming home soon.”

“Really?”

Ye Wanjia was skeptical. There were times when she had waited to walk home together, yet Pei Suye still went back by herself.

One night, Pei Suye said she was leaving right away, but half an hour later when she called again, she was still filling in her lab records. That had seriously damaged her credibility. Ever since then, if she wasn’t home by 12:20, Ye Wanjia would call again.

“Really.”

Pei Suye put the phone to the machine’s speaker.

“Are you sure to turn off?”

A mechanical female voice rang out.

Ye Wanjia answered “Mm.” She recognized it—the newest imaging instrument they had purchased.

Satisfied, she nodded.

“Okay, be safe on the way.”

“Alright.”

“Then I’ll stop bothering you, I’m video chatting with Xiaoxiao.”

She hung up and went back to chatting with Wei Xiaoxiao about the whole process of her reconciliation with Pei Suye. She held her phone in one hand and walked toward the living room, turning on every light from the living room to the entryway—

That way, when Pei Suye pushed open the door, she would see the whole house brightly lit, waiting for her.

“Hey, but seriously,” Ye Wanjia couldn’t resist her gossipy urge, “I keep seeing a little girl leaving comments under your Weibo posts?”

Wei Xiaoxiao glared at her. “What little girl? She’s just one of the staff in our shop. We’re not like you—good grades and all. We can only go work.”

By “work,” she meant her family had opened a pet shop for her to run as manager.

Ye Wanjia sighed. “If I had your family background, I wouldn’t be doing grad school either. I’d happily be a shop owner, write a novel when I felt like it, and have pretty girls cheering me up every day.”

“Hey, hey, stop it!” Wei Xiaoxiao frantically clarified, “Don’t you go pushing that ‘little girl’ nonsense on me. I’ll say this first: I have no intention of dating my employees. And anyway, I definitely don’t want to date anyone.”

Ye Wanjia gazed at her on the screen, her eyes fixed and unblinking, her playful smile slowly fading. Her lips lowered into a faintly serious curve.

“Xiaoxiao, it’s been so long now… If you meet someone you like, maybe you should give it a try.”

By “so long,” she wasn’t talking about graduation, but about the day after her girlfriend Jiang Shiyu received an offer from the Royal Veterinary College in London—when Jiang had broken up with her.

Though no name was spoken, both knew exactly what the other meant.

At those words, the once lively and energetic girl seemed to lose all her bones, her energy drained. Her eyes sank, lips twitched, and she gave a bitter smile.

“Like… it’s not that easy to find.”

Both fell into silence. A long, long silence. Then Ye Wanjia tried to break it.

“National Day is here soon… Do you want to… come visit me in America?”

Wei Xiaoxiao froze, not trusting her own ears. “What did you just say?”

“I said,” Ye Wanjia slowed her voice, making sure each word was clear, “do you want to come visit me in America? You already have a visa anyway. Come, let’s hang out together.”

Wei Xiaoxiao’s eyes stung, reddening fast. “Ye Wanjia, I’m warning you—what you’re saying right now, I’m taking seriously! If I come, you’re not allowed to complain about ruining your couple’s world! Even if you try to kick me out, I won’t leave!”

And just like that, the atmosphere lightened again.

They chatted on and on, until Ye Wanjia glanced at the clock in the living room—it was already 12:30. Why wasn’t Pei Suye home yet?

“Hold on a sec, I’ll call my senior.”

That call sent her mood crashing.

Pei Suye didn’t pick up.

To stay connected, Pei Suye would wear one earbud when cycling. When Ye Wanjia called, she could just tap to answer.

What’s going on?

She dialed again, unwilling to give up. This time, not only was it unanswered—it was hung up.

Not good.

Ye Wanjia’s heart thumped wildly. Nights in America weren’t like back home—no fireworks, not even many streetlamps. When Pei Suye worked late in the lab, Ye Wanjia would always wait up. To coax her into resting, Pei Suye had said her ride home was like a late-night snack—so Ye Wanjia should wait at home instead.

Still, Ye Wanjia worried about her safety, so they had agreed on a signal.

“No matter when it is—if you hang up on me, that means you’re in danger.”

Buzz—

Her mind roared, palms went numb, and her phone slipped straight from her hand to the floor. Panicked, she scrambled to change shoes, slung her backpack over one shoulder, and on her way out grabbed a baseball bat.

On the video, Wei Xiaoxiao immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

“Wanjia, don’t panic. Lock the doors and windows, keep the video on. Send me your location. If anything happens, I’ll call the police for you.”

So Ye Wanjia shoved the tablet into her backpack and set off at once.

Lemon Road was their favorite route home. It wasn’t a main street, but there were plenty of houses along the way—at night, at least they could borrow some light.

But now it was close to one in the morning. House by house, the lights had gone out, snuffing out the small hope in her heart.

She pedaled ten minutes down the road without spotting anyone. But beneath a street sign, she found Pei Suye’s bicycle, lying on its side.

The bike was here. Where was she? Where was she?!

Her mind pounded with questions, her head blank. No matter how much Wei Xiaoxiao’s voice tried to comfort her through the video, she couldn’t take in a single word. She braked hard, pulled out her phone, and dialed Pei Suye again.

Two seconds later, the line connected. Though no one answered, from the greenery to the right side of the path came a man’s harsh, grating laugh:

“That’s your girlfriend again! Ha-ha!”

Crack!

Ye Wanjia’s neck stiffened with a sharp snap, her head turning instantly toward the sound. Sure enough, deep in the dense greenery, she caught the faint glow of a phone screen flickering.

In an instant, countless terrible scenarios of disaster flashed through her mind. The night was like a monstrous claw, tearing open her skull and ripping at her brain again and again.

Her breath froze. Her eyes emptied. Yet under the pale moonlight, they reflected a deathly calm that had burned away all fear.

Her icy fingers tightened around the baseball bat. Step by step, she walked toward that shadowed path in the greenery.

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