Lu Shijing was the youngest doctoral candidate in the Chemistry Department at S University. Now that he was approaching graduation, the university had already decided to retain him as a lecturer in the department.

During the months leading up to graduation, Lu Shijing had been constantly busy assisting Professor Zhang with supervising the experimental research of several junior students. The moment word spread that Lu Shijing would personally guide them, quite a few female students became so excited they could barely sleep.

After all, everyone knew that Lu Shijing was the famously untouchable “ice prince” of the chemistry department. Normally, he was someone people could only admire from afar, impossible to approach.

Now that they finally had a chance to work beside him up close, who could possibly stay calm?

Su Li secretly watched Lu Shijing as he stood nearby with his head lowered, carefully recording experimental data.

As he bent slightly forward, the collar of his shirt shifted just enough to expose a faint reddish mark near his neck.

Her entire mind froze.

That looked suspiciously like…

A hickey?

Someone had actually kissed Lu Shijing?

Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward his lips.

His lip shape was beautifully defined, carrying a naturally cool and distant elegance. People often said that men with thin lips were cold by nature.

She suddenly found herself wondering…

Would his kisses feel cold too?

And was that mark really left by a girl?

But she had never once heard that Senior Lu had a girlfriend.

“Hey, what are you staring at?” Song Xiao nudged Su Li with her elbow, covering her mouth as she laughed quietly. “Sneaking glances at Senior Lu again?”

Caught immediately, Su Li’s face turned bright red.

“I-I’m not! Stop talking nonsense!” she stammered while hurriedly lowering her head to sort through the papers on the desk.

“Oh please, I’ve known you liked him forever,” Song Xiao whispered teasingly into her ear. “Every time Senior Lu talks to you, your face turns completely red.”

Su Li nearly died from panic after having her secret exposed so directly.

She desperately wanted to cover Song Xiao’s mouth before she said anything even more embarrassing.

Hearing the noise, Lu Shijing looked up from his notes. Since he had not heard their conversation clearly, he assumed something had gone wrong with the data.

“Is something wrong?” he asked calmly.

“N-No! Nothing at all, Senior!” Song Xiao answered immediately, waving her hands frantically.

Su Li’s heart nearly melted.

How could someone’s voice sound that pleasant?

Just hearing him speak made people’s ears tingle.

In truth, Su Li had met Lu Shijing once before, back during her freshman year.

At the time, Lu Shijing had just started his doctoral studies.

Because Su Li occasionally suffered from low blood sugar, one morning she had fainted while rushing to class after skipping breakfast.

She collapsed right at the stairwell entrance.

In her hazy consciousness, she vaguely remembered someone catching her before she hit the ground. Strong arms lifted her up steadily, and she smelled the faint scent of sunlight and freshly washed clothes.

By the time she regained consciousness, she was already lying inside the campus infirmary.

The doctor assured her it was nothing serious, but repeatedly warned her not to skip meals again.

As she prepared to leave, the doctor handed her a textbook.

Su Li looked at it blankly.

“The student who carried you here accidentally left it behind,” the doctor explained.

Only after opening the cover did she finally learn his name for the first time.

Lu Shijing.

Later, when she went to return the book, she discovered that he was actually a senior from her own department.

That afternoon, the sunlight had been dazzlingly bright.

Standing beneath the golden glow, dressed in a clean white shirt, Lu Shijing seemed so radiant that it felt as though he naturally drew everyone’s attention without even trying.

“T-Thank you,” Su Li had murmured stiffly, so nervous she barely knew what to say.

“You’re welcome.”

His response had been polite but distant.

His gaze carried no extra warmth, as though they were simply strangers who happened to cross paths briefly.

When she nervously offered to treat him to a meal as thanks, he declined courteously.

“I still have class,” he said after glancing at the time. “I’ll be leaving first.”

And just like that, he walked away without giving her another chance to continue the conversation.

From that day onward, Su Li’s eyes unconsciously began following him everywhere.

As the star student of the chemistry department, Lu Shijing’s reputation was impossible to ignore.

Professors constantly praised him, while students endlessly discussed him in private.

“The genius scholar.”

“The cold academic god.”

“The science department heartthrob.”

His name seemed to exist everywhere.

Although Su Li crossed paths with him several times afterward, he never appeared to remember her at all.

So she carefully buried her feelings deep inside her heart.

She thought she was hiding them well.

She only wanted to get a little closer to him, understand him a little more. That was why her gaze instinctively sought him out whenever he appeared nearby.

But she never dared confess those feelings to anyone.

Too many people liked Senior Lu.

Compared to them, she was nothing special.

She was merely another silent admirer hiding in the crowd.

That day’s experiments progressed smoothly, and the results turned out exceptionally well.

After spending so many days trapped inside the laboratory surrounded by the overwhelming smell of chemical reagents, several junior students immediately proposed going out for dinner together to relax.

“Senior Lu, why don’t you come with us?” one of the boys suggested enthusiastically. “I know some students from the Fine Arts Department too, we can turn it into a mixer!”

Lu Shijing removed his white lab coat and neatly hung it on the rack before turning toward them.

“No, thank you. You guys have fun.”

“Come on, Senior Lu! What’s the point of a mixer if you’re not there? Everyone’s going because of you!”

“Exactly! Please come!”

Even if Lu Shijing simply sat there quietly without speaking, his face alone was enough to elevate the entire gathering.

The group surrounded him immediately, clearly determined not to let him leave so easily.

Normally, Lu Shijing was strict and difficult to approach. Since graduation was approaching soon, nobody wanted to miss this rare chance to spend time with him outside the laboratory.

Lu Shijing sighed softly in helplessness.

He pulled out his phone and glanced at the time before explaining calmly,

“Sorry, I already have plans tonight.”

“What plans?” someone immediately asked. “If you don’t explain properly, we’re definitely not letting you go.”

“…A date.”

The entire laboratory exploded instantly.

“What?! Senior Lu has a girlfriend?!”

“No way!”

“Since when?”

“Show us a picture!”

“Oh my god, what kind of goddess managed to win over Lu Shijing? Couldn’t she at least leave some hope for the rest of us?”

Everyone crowded around him excitedly, all desperate to know what kind of girl could possibly become Lu Shijing’s girlfriend.

Lu Shijing merely shook his head lightly.

“It’s a secret.”

“Senior, don’t be so stingy! At least give us a hint!”

“Is she pretty?” one of the boys asked curiously.

Lu Shijing paused for a brief moment before answering softly,

“She’s very beautiful.”

The moment he thought of Gu Nansheng’s spoiled and teasing personality, the warmth in his eyes deepened unconsciously.

To him, no one in the world could compare to her.

Every smile, every expression, every little action of hers could affect his emotions completely.

“How did she even manage to pursue you, Senior?” Song Xiao asked excitedly, secretly asking on Su Li’s behalf as well.

Lu Shijing lowered his gaze slightly, concealing the tenderness hidden in his eyes.

When he spoke again, his usually cold voice carried a faint trace of indulgence.

“She was very persistent.”

Honestly, he felt that description suited her perfectly.

Su Li stared blankly at him.

It was the first time she had ever seen such warmth appear in Lu Shijing’s expression.

His eyes had softened completely.

At that moment, a suffocating ache spread slowly through her chest like thorny vines tightening around her heart.

Breathing suddenly became difficult.

So that mark on his neck…

Really had been left by his girlfriend.