Where the Moon Sets, My Heart Finds Peace - Chapter 6

Outside the window, the sky had long since turned pitch black.

He Zian stood up, preparing to head back to her dorm. Before leaving, she stood by the door and gave a serious, careful warning: “Remember to lock the doors and windows tonight. If anything happens, call or text me immediately. We don’t live far apart, I can make it over in no time. You hear me, Jiang Jingyue?”

Her tone was natural, her expression earnest it was pure, heartfelt concern.

Caught completely off guard by this sudden wave of warmth, Jiang Jingyue felt her footing slip. For a moment, she didn’t even know how to respond and could only nod blankly.

On the way back to the dormitory, He Zian’s steps were light, her mood so bright she felt like she was floating.

When she had first crossed paths with Jiang Jingyue at the Fifth Canteen, she had simply thought the female teacher was stunningly beautiful, possessing a cold, standout elegance. She hadn’t harbored any hidden motives back then.

The genuine desire to actively pull closer had taken root and grown during their time together at Jingtu Temple.

The moment Jiang Jingyue had walked toward her at the entrance of the Fifth Canteen, bathed in perfect sunlight, the scene had been so clean and ethereal that He Zian’s heart had uncontrollably skipped a beat.

Later, standing beneath the thousand-year-old tree, she had watched Jiang Jingyue’s profile. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, dappling the other woman in a scene of serene, breathtaking gentleness.

In that exact moment, He Zian admitted it to herself with absolute clarity she was falling.

The other woman was her teacher. And she was a woman.

He Zian had never fallen for anyone before, let alone imagined she would ever like a girl. Her rationality constantly hammered at her to exercise restraint, to stop this emotion from festering any further.

Yet the very next day in class, when Jiang Jingyue deliberately ignored her, a suffocating wave of unwilling frustration and gloomy dejection almost swallowed her whole.

She was no longer satisfied with just being teacher and student. She wanted to get closer, wanted to understand her, wanted to become someone special to her.

Tonight, she had gathered the courage to ask those blunt, daring questions. Not only did she get the answers she wanted, but their relationship had also officially crossed over from teacher and student to friends.

He Zian had never been one to beat around the bush.

She was twenty-one years old, candid and passionate. She had never liked a guy, and the girls who had confessed to her in the past had never managed to sway her in the slightest.

As it turned out, it had nothing to do with gender. It was simply because none of those people were Jiang Jingyue.

She faced her feelings honestly, while still fully prepared to give Jiang Jingyue the respect she deserved.

Right now, she just wanted to figure out one thing: could Jiang Jingyue ever like women?

If the other woman was strictly into men, He Zian would never take a step forward. She refused to bring even a fraction of distress into Jiang Jingyue’s life.

After He Zian left, Jiang Jingyue stood at the door for a long time.

An indescribable emotion slowly unfurled in the depths of her heart.

She had always disliked people prying into her private life. Highly guarded, she was never the type to strike up a friendship with someone she had only known for a few days.

But tonight, facing He Zian’s barrage of intrusive questions, not only did she feel no resentment, she had actually answered every single one of them seriously.

He Zian was breaking all of her rules.

Especially those parting words of blunt, sincere care before she walked out the door they were tangible, warming her to the core.

Over the years, pressured by her family, she had gone on countless blind dates, yet her romantic life remained a blank sheet of paper.

She carried a natural, chilly aura of detachment. People looking at her instantly felt she was unapproachable, and the truth wasn’t far off she genuinely detested getting tangled up with people she wasn’t close to.

Yet, she made an exception for He Zian.

When He Zian returned to the dorm, Bai Zhenzhen wasn’t back from her date yet, and Liu Dongwang was still at the library. Only Li Xin was packing her things, getting ready to take a shower.

Seeing her walk through the door, Li Xin looked up in surprise. “Didn’t you have plans? Back so early?”

He Zian’s cheeks flushed slightly, her demeanor turning a bit unnatural. “We just grabbed a bite together and chatted a little.”

Li Xin immediately leaned in, her eyes gleaming with gossip. “Guy or girl? Is someone pursuing you again?”

He Zian reached out and pushed Li Xin’s invading head away. “A girl. And she doesn’t have those kinds of thoughts at all.”

“Oh?” Li Xin smiled, her expression dripping with hidden meaning. “Then do you have those kinds of thoughts?”

He Zian’s heart gave a violent thud.

Good grief, is a queer girl’s intuition always this terrifyingly accurate?

She stammered through her cover-up, “What… what absolute nonsense are you talking about! Wait for me, I’m going to take a shower too!”

The next morning, the final session of the day was Budgeting class.

Jiang Jingyue wore a black dress. Her posture was straight, her aura elegant and cool, making it impossible for anyone to tear their eyes away.

Ever since accepting her own feelings, He Zian’s gaze had become increasingly direct and candid. Her eyes were locked onto Jiang Jingyue, entirely unhidden.

Ironically, it was Jiang Jingyue who felt flustered under the scrutiny, frequently averting her eyes.

The class flew by.

As Jiang Jingyue packed her textbooks to leave, He Zian immediately chased after her. “Professor Jiang, want to head to the canteen for lunch together?”

Jiang Jingyue startled slightly, then declined softly, “No, thank you. I’m going back to my apartment to eat.”

A flash of disappointment instantly crossed He Zian’s eyes, but she nodded obediently. “Alright then. Goodbye, Professor Jiang.”

With that, she turned to leave alongside Li Xin and Liu Dongwang.

Watching her slightly dejected retreating figure, Jiang Jingyue fell into deep thought.

He Zian’s warmth toward her seemed a bit too intense.

Especially that direct, burning gaze in class… surely, friends were like this too, right? Du Qiaoxi cared about her and was enthusiastic, too, but she had never looked at her with that kind of gaze.

Unable to make sense of it, she stopped trying. Jiang Jingyue retracted her gaze, turned around, and walked back to her apartment.

With no classes in the afternoon, He Zian slept soundly until past three o’clock.

When she finally got out of bed, Li Xin was sitting at her desk flipping through a budgeting manual, her brows furrowed in a tight knot.

He Zian leaned over. “Checking the quotas?”

“Yeah.” Li Xin looked miserable. “The material Professor Jiang covered today was so tedious. I listened but ended up completely muddled. I’ll have to ask Dongwang tonight.”

He Zian’s eyes lit up. She whipped out her phone and shot Jiang Jingyue a text: “Jiang Jingyue, I didn’t understand today’s lecture. Can I come find you to ask some questions?”

At that moment, Jiang Jingyue was in her office preparing her lesson plans.

Hearing the notification chime, she tapped open the message. Looking at the line of text, she couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, her fingers dancing across the screen: “I’m in the faculty office. Can you find your way here?”

He Zian replied almost instantly: “Yes, yes, yes!”

She quickly washed up and got ready. Right before stepping out the door, she suddenly turned to look at Li Xin, her face entirely serious. “Li Xin, do you and your girlfriend ever fight?”

Li Xin looked up, confused. “Hardly ever. We both yield to each other, so we rarely clash. Why do you ask?”

He Zian beamed with absolute sincerity. “Just thinking that you guys have such a great relationship. I’m so envious, and I genuinely wish you the best! I have to go out for a bit!”

Before the words could even finish echoing, she had already dashed out like a gust of wind.

Standing outside the faculty office door, He Zian’s fingers hovered over the wood. Her heart hammered in a erratic, delicate rhythm. Taking a deep breath, she knocked gently.

“Come in.”

It was Jiang Jingyue’s voice clear and light, like jade dipped in cool water, sounding so good it made one’s ears tingle.

Pushing the door open, the vast office was completely empty except for Jiang Jingyue sitting at her desk. The other teachers had likely gone to teach their classes.

Seeing He Zian walk in clutching her textbooks, Jiang Jingyue lifted her eyes slightly, gesturing for her to pull up a chair and sit beside her.

Fireworks practically exploded in He Zian’s heart. Her movements were incredibly swift; she practically jogged over to drag a chair and sit right next to Jiang Jingyue.

The distance between them was even closer than it had been on the sofa the other night.

Jiang Jingyue lowered her eyes to the quotas and textbooks on the desk, her pen gliding gently across the paper, her voice calm and gentle. “The unit costs for labor, materials, and machinery shifts vary across different regions, so you can’t generalize them…”

He Zian actually knew this material inside out.

Asking questions was merely a pretext.

She didn’t look at the desk at all. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, her gaze dropping directly onto Jiang Jingyue’s face.

She was close enough to see the fine length of her eyelashes, close enough to catch the faint, clean, soft fragrance radiating from her wrapping around her breath like vegetation after a rainstorm.

The afternoon sun sliced at an angle through the window cracks, landing on Jiang Jingyue’s cast-down eyelashes and throwing a tiny, delicate shadow that made He Zian’s heart tremble with its stillness.

He Zian’s gaze slowly drifted downward, stopping on the lips that parted and closed as she explained the problem.

The shape of her mouth was exceptionally beautiful the cupid’s bow soft yet defined, the lower lip full without being heavy, flushed with a healthy, faint pink. The light makeup made her lip color appear sheer and tender, making it impossible not to wonder what it would feel like to press against them.

They must be incredibly soft, and very sweet.

The moment the thought sprouted, He Zian uncontrollably leaned forward a fraction, her shoulder nearly brushing against the other woman’s arm.

Jiang Jingyue’s pen paused. She lifted her eyes to look at her, the corners of her eyes pressing down slightly. “Pay attention.”

“I am paying attention.” He Zian’s voice was pitched light and soft, carrying a deliberate, clingy sweetness. “I’ve been listening very seriously.”

The tips of Jiang Jingyue’s ears quietly turned red. She instinctively looked away, attempting to continue the explanation, but her wrist was suddenly touched gently by He Zian.

It wasn’t an accident. It was entirely deliberate.

“Professor Jiang, I still don’t get this part.” He Zian leaned in a few inches closer, her breath lightly brushing past Jiang Jingyue’s cheek. “Could you explain it one more time, please?”

The proximity was borderline excessive.

Jiang Jingyue could smell the clean, refreshing scent coming off the girl, and she could clearly feel that gaze glued to her face direct, burning, candid, and utterly impossible to hide.

Forcing herself to maintain composure, her voice turned slightly raspy. “Sit up straight. I’ll explain it one more time.”

Right at that moment, a stray lock of hair slid out from behind Jiang Jingyue’s ear, lightly draping across her cheek.

Almost on pure instinct, He Zian reached up. Her fingertips lightly brushed against the cool curve of Jiang Jingyue’s ear as she slowly tucked that soft strand back into place.

It was a simple gesture, yet the air felt as if it had been put into slow motion, making even their breathing distinctly audible.

Jiang Jingyue snapped her eyes up, crashing straight into He Zian’s smiling eyes.

That gaze was too bright, too direct, clearly spelling out I just want to be close to you.

Jiang Jingyue’s heartbeat instantly lost its rhythm. She hurriedly looked away, her voice dropping so low it was barely audible. “…Don’t mess around.”

Yet, there wasn’t a shred of actual rejection in her tone.

Ambiguity quietly fermented in the air, like water slowly coming to a boil.

Just then, the office door was pushed open.

Walking in was Liu Yang, the budgeting teacher for the landscape architecture class. He was in his thirties, around 175 centimeters tall, with a constant smile plastered across his face. He looked amiable enough, yet he always carried a subtle, greasy undertone that made people uncomfortable.

Ever since Jiang Jingyue had transferred to this office, Liu Yang had been exceptionally attentive, showing favor both openly and covertly. Jiang Jingyue had always maintained a cold, distant demeanor to avoid a scene for the sake of working relations, but his enthusiasm remained undeterred.

The moment Liu Yang stepped inside, he smiled and greeted, “Professor Jiang, explaining problems to a student?”

Jiang Jingyue didn’t even lift her head, her expression entirely freezing over.

The smile on Liu Yang’s face stiffened for a second. Awkwardly rubbing his hands together, he turned around to pour water at the dispenser.

Jiang Jingyue snapped her textbook shut and looked at He Zian. “That’s all for today. If there’s anything else you don’t understand, come ask again. Go on back first.”

Left with no choice, He Zian stood up reluctantly, looking back three times with every step as she left the office.

In her heart, she had a faint inkling that Jiang Jingyue didn’t seem to actively push away her advances. But whether that touch of intimacy was simply a teacher’s warmth toward a student or something more, she couldn’t dare to be certain.

After all, she was now completely certain that she liked Jiang Jingyue. But as for Jiang Jingyue… she still didn’t know.

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