Surrounded by Wolves
When Jiang Wu came out of the bathroom, she found Huo Qingzhi standing in front of the refrigerator, holding the… thing she had secretly bought and brought home!
Her hand, which had been drying itself, froze.
The air in the room seemed to solidify all at once. Quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Huo Qingzhi heard her coming out and lifted his eyes to look at her.
The colors of his clothes, his whole presence, settled over the room heavy and unreadable, somewhat obscure and shadowy about him, a dim, muted darkness as he silently scrutinized her, searching for the meaning behind her actions.
Across the distance between them, each seemed to catch the other’s faintest shift.
Jiang Wu took a deep breath and calmly looked away, keeping her expression as composed as ever. Then a phone ringing shattered the eerie silence.
Jiang Wu answered it. The voice on the other end greeted her just as it had that morning, informing her that the gift delivery had arrived.
“Okay, I’m home. Come on up.”
As though nothing had happened, she walked to the front door, opened it, and waited. Perhaps the thought of a third person arriving would make her feel a little more at ease.
Apart from the chill creeping down her spine and the weakness in her legs, Jiang Wu felt she was holding up rather well.
The elevator arrived on their floor, and the delivery attendant handed over the package. “Have a pleasant day.” Then they turned and returned to the elevator.
Jiang Wu carried the box containing the tie back inside.
When she returned, Huo Qingzhi was still standing where she’d left him, holding the pink box, and asked, “What’s this?”
“A delivery.”
Huo Qingzhi gestured toward the box in his hand. “I mean this.”
“Candy I bought.” Jiang Wu said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. She put the gift box away in the storage cabinet first, then asked, “Want some?”
She closed the cabinet door and turned around, only to find the tall figure of a man already standing behind her.
Jiang Wu gave a slight start, her back bumping against the cabinet door with a faint rattle.
Huo Qingzhi had taken both boxes from the fridge and studied her steadily. “You like this kind?”
The tips of Jiang Wu’s ears began to burn. “I just grabbed something off the candy shelf. I didn’t look that closely.” She continued playing dumb. “What about it?”
Huo Qingzhi nodded knowingly. “Nothing.”
Jiang Wu pushed past him and walked away. “Then let’s hurry up and eat. I’m starving.”
Huo Qingzhi stuffed the boxes into a cabinet that had not been used in ages, then went to the kitchen to serve dinner.
His steps were slow and measured. As he passed Jiang Wu, he suddenly reached out and tugged at her. The pull drew her one step closer to him.
Huo Qingzhi lowered his head until he could meet her eyes, then informed her, “You just got the size wrong. It’s too small for me.”
Jiang Wu’s cheeks turned scarlet in an instant.
Once he had said his piece, Huo Qingzhi let go of her and went into the kitchen.
Jiang Wu was left standing where she was, her adrenaline surging wildly. Heat rushed through her entire body, her face burning until, within moments, she had turned into a perfectly ripe tomato.
So annoying.
He was so unbelievably annoying.
And he just had to bring up getting the size wrong.
Wrong size. As if she had any idea what his size even was.
Somehow, Jiang Wu suddenly recalled the dull thud from last night, after the sound of a belt cracking, when something had struck her lower abdomen.
A sharp smack.
The tips of Jiang Wu’s ears burned. She had been far too nervous at the time to know that it had been — heavy. Pressing.
Huo Qingzhi ate dinner with a little cherry tomato, while Jiang Wu said nothing, but ate half a basin of salted egg yolk crayfish.
~~
In Beijing springtime, flowering crabapple branches stretched beneath the upturned eaves of traditional houses. Layers of spring blossoms filtered the sunlight onto the vermilion walls, casting an unbroken sea of floral shadows.
Inside the flower-windowed conference hall, Jiang Wu stood as the project lead, holding her presentation materials as she briefed the experts seated below on the progress of the first phase of work. This was essentially a mid-project evaluation, intended to assess the results achieved so far and determine the plans and funding for the next phase.
There were six seats around the long table. The project evaluation experts were technical specialists from major museums, as well as professors and researchers from key research institutes. They were highly accomplished, and the atmosphere was correspondingly more serious. However, their preparations had been thorough enough that they had little reason to worry.
A glance was enough for the experts to recognize the project’s real value — no risk of it failing review, more an exchange of ideas and a chance to offer guidance than anything else.
Halfway through Jiang Wu’s presentation, the back door opened. A spring breeze, carrying the warm scents of grass and trees from outside, swept into the conference hall. Several of the experts turned to look.
The woman who entered wore a black bamboo-patterned qipao with a new Chinese mandarin collar, a perfect complement to the classical patterns carved on the flower windows, like someone stepping out of an ancient painting, with a tranquil, gentle elegance.
One of the experts rose courteously and offered her his seat. “Professor Li, this way, please.”
Li Qing smiled and waved away the offer of special treatment before taking her seat in the observers’ section, her posture composed and dignified.
Yao Peixue hurriedly greeted her in a quiet voice. “Hello, Professor.”
Bu Yu followed suit.
Li Qing acknowledged them with a nod, then turned toward the person onstage and gestured for her to continue.
Jiang Wu collected herself and resumed her report on the progress of the project.
The time for Awakening of Insects had passed, and the insects’ chirping outside was growing more prominent.
Against the ambient hum of spring in full bloom, the evaluation experts listened to the account of the work completed during the current phase before offering an objective assessment.
“The current phase has progressed somewhat faster than we anticipated, and the information chain you’ve established is indeed valuable.”
They began by affirming the value of the work. “This is extremely important material for us. We may therefore apply to have the project upgraded.”
“But Jiang Wu, because we know you, our expectations of you are even higher.”
“We have no doubts about your technical capabilities,” the speaker continued, looking at Jiang Wu. “What concerns us is the security of this project.”
Jiang Wu understood. “Understood.”
“We still don’t know whether reporters might continue to show up at the places you frequent and interfere with the progress of your work, as well as that of the other team members.”
“In any case, the mistake that was made…” The expert softened his wording slightly. “I mean the incident with that photograph. We must make sure it doesn’t happen a second time.”
“That’s all I have to say.”
After finishing, the expert turned politely toward Li Qing at the back of the room. “Dean Li, is there anything you’d like to add?”
Li Qing smiled and shook her head. “I have nothing to add. The experts have covered everything very thoroughly. Security is indeed something the project members need to weigh carefully.”
After making this objective assessment, she turned to the others. “But this isn’t solely their responsibility. It also shows that we need to strengthen the protection provided to the people responsible for safeguarding important ancient texts and archival materials.”
“The mistake we made in the past was also a failure on our part to take security seriously. It wasn’t a problem that rested with her alone.”
“Over the past few years, we’ve strengthened our security measures, arranging for relevant information technology personnel to accompany the team on field assignments to prevent the leakage of important information.”
“Beyond that, we also haven’t done enough to educate the public.”
“If we can raise public awareness about protecting important information and strengthen accountability for infringements, perhaps incidents like this will become much less likely.”
The six people around the table nodded one after another, agreeing with Li Qing’s remarks. They turned to Jiang Wu and said, “Your mentor clearly has your back. Do your best.”
They all rose to their feet. “We look forward to hearing your next progress report.”
Jiang Wu and her two teammates hurried forward to escort the experts out. Several of them stopped Li Qing to discuss work-related matters.
Jiang Wu stood nearby, materials in her arms, waiting — hoping for a chance to speak with her once the others finished. Li Qing hadn’t changed much over the years.
Perhaps time really did spare a beautiful woman. In Jiang Wu’s memory, Li Qing had always looked just as she did now.
As Jiang Wu discreetly observed her, the conference secretary’s voice inside the room pulled her back to the present.
“Jiang Wu, come sign off on this.”
“Oh.” Jiang Wu acknowledged her and went inside to retrieve the meeting minutes, then signed them.
By the time she finished and went back out, Li Qing and the experts had already disappeared from the corridor.
Jiang Wu hurried to the stairwell, but there was no sign of them there either. With no other choice, she returned, disappointed. Yao Peixue and Bu Yu were still sorting through the review comments and presentation materials.
The moment Yao Peixue saw her return, she knew. “Didn’t catch her?”
Jiang Wu went over to help them. “Is Professor Li very busy?”
“She was promoted to dean a few years ago. Between projects, courses, and all the institute’s affairs, she’s got a lot on her plate. You hardly ever see her around.”
“Does she still take students?”
“She does, but not many. She takes only one master’s student and one doctoral student a year. The competition for those spots is fierce.” Yao Peixue lowered her voice. “I have a friend from another university who wants to do her PhD under Professor Li. She’s been waiting for two years.”
Thinking back to the way Li Qing had spoken just now, Bu Yu remarked, “If it were me, I’d wait too.”
“Is she always like that with her students?”
“Pretty much. She’s kind-tempered and devoted to her research.”
“She takes her work seriously and is meticulous. As long as a mistake isn’t an issue of attitude, she doesn’t hold it against you. My friend is still waiting for an opening, no matter what.”
Jiang Wu knew that the number of students each professor could supervise was allocated according to assessments of their research performance. “She shouldn’t have so few places available.”
“It’s because she has so much on her plate now. She doesn’t want to supervise too many students herself.” Yao Peixue recalled something. “There was a period last year when something happened in her family. She didn’t come to the university for quite a while, and she didn’t take on a single student that year.”
Jiang Wu frowned. “Huh? Was it something serious?”
“I don’t know anything about her family matters.” Yao Peixue tugged at her. “Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Now that this presentation is over, we can take two days off.”
“I want to eat at Huoshaoyun.”
“Sounds good. Let me make a reservation.”
For the time being, their work had come to an end.
The atmosphere was lively from the moment the food arrived.
When the three of them reached the restaurant, Jiang Wu was still feeling a little regretful. “Does that mean it’ll be harder for me to see her from now on?”
Yao Peixue laughed. “You really want to see her that badly?”
“I’ve already seen Professor Yuan several times,” Jiang Wu had been closest to these two at school. “Of course I’d still like to see Professor Li again.”
“I wouldn’t mind another look either,” Bu Yu admitted. “When she walked in today, I honestly thought she was some low-key celebrity.”
“She gave me the same impression Jiang Wu did when I first met her. They both have that elegant, understated kind of beauty.”
“There is some resemblance in their looks,” Yao Peixue agreed. “We thought so at first, too.”
Jiang Wu couldn’t see it herself. “Really?”
“But your personalities are so different from Professor Li’s that, over time, people stopped thinking you two were alike.”
Li Qing was quiet and reserved by nature, while Jiang Wu was a little more lively. That contrast gradually made people overlook their similarities.
Jiang Wu secretly studied her reflection on her phone screen. Suddenly, the screen lit up, startling her.
Cherry had just sent Jiang Wu an invitation to a charity foundation reception.
It was an invitation to discuss potential collaborations involving the two cultural heritage preservation funds under Jiang Wu’s name. Cherry had heard she was in the city and had sent her an invitation as well, asking if she was available.
Cherry made a point of adding, “President Liang will be there, too.”
“I’m going, I’m going, I’m definitely going!” The moment Jiang Wu heard that Liang Xiaoyue was coming to Beijing, she immediately agreed.
Receptions of this kind rarely revolved around a single theme. They often brought together influential figures from all walks of life. Mainly for acquaintances and partners to connect with each other. As it happened, their first phase of work had just concluded, so she had some free time.
Jiang Wu realized it had been quite a while since she’d last seen Liang Xiaoyue, and the thought left her a little excited.
On the day of the reception, after waking from her afternoon nap, Jiang Wu began wondering what she should wear that evening. As the person in charge of a foundation, she obviously couldn’t wear the rather daring little dresses she usually liked, but she hadn’t brought any formal evening gowns with her, either.
The rest of her wardrobe consisted of everyday clothes that looked far too student-like, with a heavy dose of office-worker energy. Those wouldn’t be suitable for a reception, either.
Huo Qingzhi came out of the study after finishing a meeting and saw Jiang Wu standing in front of the wardrobe, looking troubled. “What’s wrong?”
Hearing him come out, she asked, “Do you have anything to do this afternoon?”
“I have a class at 3:30. I’m supervising a project.”
Jiang Wu glanced at the time, and it was only two. She casually pulled him over. “Then you’ve still got time.”
“You’re the best at looking respectable while being anything but. Come help me choose an outfit. What should I wear to a reception where I’ll be discussing potential collaborations?”
Huo Qingzhi’s eyelid twitched at her remark about how good he was at looking respectable while being anything but.
He surveyed the row of little dresses in the wardrobe and spoke in an unhurried voice. “If I help you choose, what do I get in return?”
“Only if you pick something good.”
As she spoke, Jiang Wu watched Huo Qingzhi’s fingers slowly move through her clothes. His fingertips skimmed over the necklines, waistlines, and the curve of each hip, passing one by one along the hems of her dresses. Then stopped, settling on one particular dress.
For some reason, Jiang Wu always felt that everything about Huo Qingzhi, from his gestures to his bearing, looked refined and composed on the surface, yet somehow, every little thing he did was… so suggestive.
Huo Qingzhi took the dress out and held it against her for comparison. It was a champagne-colored evening gown slip dress. He then picked out a vintage blue-and-white porcelain-patterned shawl, which concealed the gown’s lack of formality.
His gaze swept over the dress before finally settling on her. “Put it on. Let me see.”
Jiang Wu wasn’t about to put it on for him to see. “You sound like some kind of teacher right now.”
“Then if you’ve picked it, you’re free to go.”
Huo Qingzhi clicked his tongue softly, reminding her, “My reward.”
Jiang Wu tried to wriggle out of it, her voice turning soft and syrupy. “It’s already two-thirty. Brother, don’t you have to go teach your class soon?”
As she spoke, she pushed Huo Qingzhi out of the bedroom. “I can’t possibly hold you up. Hurry along.”
Jiang Wu shut the door in his face, then returned to the mirror. She had to admit that the two pieces he’d chosen worked remarkably well together as an outfit for an occasion like this.
She changed into the gown and fastened the shawl across her chest, transforming it into a beautifully tailored outer layer. She pinned it closed with a brooch — the same silver filigree piece he’d given her earlier.
She straightened the curls at the ends of her hair, giving herself a more polished, dignified appearance.
She fussed over her outfit for quite a while, until Cherry called that Jiang Wu finally made a few last adjustments and prepared to leave. Pulling the door open, she found Huo Qingzhi sitting right there on the sofa across from her.
His clothes were immaculate, his suit trousers crisp and perfectly tailored. He had already changed into what he intended to wear to his class, yet he was sitting there, waiting for her with unhurried ease.
Huo Qingzhi looked at her wearing the dress he’d chosen and took his time admiring it. “Not bad.”
Under his gaze, Jiang Wu felt heat spreading all over her body and turned her face away. “Why haven’t you gone to teach your students yet?”
Huo Qingzhi rose to his feet, his deep gaze lingering over her with undisguised desire. “I wanted to see how my good student at home turned out first.”
He walked toward the doorway. Only then did Jiang Wu notice the necktie wrapped around his palm. She froze for two seconds. Her first thought was that the tie looked familiar.
Then she realized it was the very one she’d hidden away for the time being, intending to give it to him after a little while!
And the way it was wrapped around his hand was exactly the same as the way he’d used a tie to pad his palm that night.
Jiang Wu held her breath. “This…”
Huo Qingzhi answered simply. “Since you wouldn’t give me my reward willingly, I can only go find it myself.”
He just looked at her as he slowly pulled one end of the tie and unwound it from his palm. The veins along his palm and forearm had already stood out distinctly from being cinched by the tie. As he moved, they shifted beneath his skin, giving his arm a subtle, unmistakable sense of strength.
Huo Qingzhi held the tie out to her in invitation. “Help me put it on.”
“I don’t know how.” She genuinely didn’t.
“Tying a bow is fine, too.”
Jiang Wu hesitated for a while before finally reaching out to take the tie from his hand. “You’re not afraid of embarrassing yourself by going out with a bow tied around your neck?”
Huo Qingzhi didn’t answer, just leaned down a little to match her height. Even so, Jiang Wu still had to rise onto her tiptoes to reach around his neck. In a way, it really did look as though she were the one actively leaning in toward him.
Jiang Wu held the end of the tie, her gaze falling on the sharply defined Adam’s apple in front of her. Her voice came out muffled. “How did you know about this?”
“I recognized the gift box.”
It was his usual tie brand — a niche one. So, the moment she’d brought it inside, he’d known she’d secretly bought him a gift. And hid it away. He also knew the reason she’d hidden it.
“Actually, if you’d given it to me then, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.”
Jiang Wu lifted her eyes to look at his face, now so close to hers. “Wouldn’t have thought what?”
“Wouldn’t have thought…” Huo Qingzhi’s gaze drifted from her eyes to the corner of her lips. She was wearing lip gloss today, making her lips look like a glistening little jelly. “That you’d only given it to me because you’d gotten that tie wet when you…”
“Ahhh! Huo Qingzhi, you—you!” Before Jiang Wu could stop him from saying anything more, one hand settled on her waist.
Pulling her toward him!
They were already standing close together as she tied his necktie, making it all too easy for him to find her lips.
To silence her embarrassed cries, he kissed her deeply, without the slightest mercy.