The Beauty in the Middle of the Night

Whenever people brought up the rumors about her and Xiao Yiyan, Su Yuan felt deeply annoyed. If she had to name what had troubled her most these past few days, then besides her transformation, getting linked to Xiao Yiyan was another major headache.

No matter how highly people praised Xiao Yiyan or called her a goddess, none of that was a measure of whether someone was worth getting to know, as far as Su Yuan was concerned.

No beauty was more than a skeleton wrapped in flesh. A body of skin and bones might look lovely, but you had to be careful it wasn't poisonous.

After all, a beauty's graceful figure might seem a blessing, but a chance encounter wasn't necessarily a good match. Since ancient times, how many men had chased after pretty faces, only to lose not just their success but their years as well?

Besides, Xiao Yiyan was the sort of "spoiled" princess who'd grown up in a greenhouse. When people like that came down with princess syndrome, they probably thought the whole world should revolve around them. They didn't consider whether any of it was reasonable; they simply thought things ought to be that way.

The frightening thing was that the condition showed no obvious symptoms in everyday life. On the contrary, thanks to her family's advantages, she might excel in every respect and be showered with praise. But if you examined her closely, you'd find that beneath her dazzling aura lurked an excessive sense of self-importance!

Xiao Yiyan had used Su Yuan as a shield without the slightest discomfort. Afterwards, she had only felt a little guilty toward Su Yuan, without seriously considering that Lin Jun might take revenge on her. That showed Xiao Yiyan hadn't recognized the privilege attached to her status. She might even have believed that everyone enjoyed the same treatment she did.

A classic case of high intelligence and low emotional intelligence!

So Su Yuan didn't think much of Xiao Yiyan.

"What is there to say? The truth is, there's nothing between us. The great goddess Xiao used me as a shield. I was so unlucky!"

Gao Jun said, "You can't say it was entirely bad luck. You know, misfortune can be a blessing in disguise. There are so many people she could've used as a shield, so why did Xiao Yiyan choose you? It means you're special to her. And once you're special, today's a shield, tomorrow could be the real thing!"

"I wouldn't be so optimistic."

Ji Yehao didn't completely agree with Gao Jun. He had another take. "It's obvious Xiao Yiyan sees Su Yuan as special, but maybe it's because she thinks Su Yuan is harmless. Perhaps she figures that if she used someone else as a shield, she'd have a side effect to deal with afterward—like a plaster stuck to her that she couldn't shake off. But Su Yuan here would be easier to deal with."

What kind of thing was that to say!

Su Yuan was displeased. She shot him a resentful look and said irritably, "You mean I'm easy to deal with, so you can just toss me aside after using me?"

"Yehao's got a point, too. Su Yuan, if Xiao Yiyan thinks you're easy to get rid of, then be a freeloader and show her what it means to make trouble for yourself!"

Su Yuan shook her head again and again. "I don't want to be a freeloader. My sense of decency won't let me stoop that low."

Gao Jun rubbed his chin and nodded. "That's true. Our Su Su is so innocent—she's just not cut out to be a freeloader."

Su Yuan blinked. When had she given them the impression she was "innocent"? She herself thought she was pretty repressed and secretly horny. On that point, Gao Jun's earlier assessment of her had been quite objective. Still, hearing him call her innocent felt pretty nice, though she couldn't stop her face from burning.

"Hey, Yehao, give the flask a few swirls." She suddenly called out.

They'd been so busy chatting that they'd completely forgotten about the experiment.

Only then did Ji Yehao react, hurrying to swirl the flask.

Seeing Ji Yehao take orders from Su Yuan, Gao Jun smiled knowingly. As he watched the reaction in the flask, a pretty figure somehow flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help saying, "Yehao, Su Yuan, I've got something to tell you."

"What is it?"

Ji Yehao kept swirling the flask carefully, while Su Yuan watched the liquid inside. Neither of them looked up at Gao Jun.

Seeing that he hadn't caught their attention, he didn't mind. He said mysteriously, "Last night, when I went to the bathroom, I think I saw a beautiful woman..."

"Ah!" Su Yuan couldn't help letting out a small cry. Fortunately, it was very quiet, and she cut off the sound quickly, so it came across as only slightly surprised rather than frightened.

Ji Yehao glanced at Su Yuan, then at Gao Jun, and asked in confusion, "We're in a men's dorm. Where did you go to the bathroom that you could see a beautiful woman?"

Gao Jun awkwardly scratched his cheek and gave a sheepish grin. "That's the strange part! It was clearly the dorm bathroom, so how did a beautiful woman suddenly appear there..."

"She was completely naked, too!" He leaned close and whispered to them.

Su Yuan's expression darkened instantly. She was finally sure that Gao Jun had been the one who'd entered the bathroom last night! But she wasn't angry; she was more worried. She didn't know how much he'd seen, or whether he'd recognized the naked woman as her. What would she do if he had?

Su Yuan's face turned pale.

Ji Yehao frowned and shot Gao Jun an annoyed look. "A beautiful woman appeared naked in the men's dorm bathroom? You must've been half asleep. You might as well say you saw Su Yuan with his bare butt hanging out in the toilet!"

"Ah!" Su Yuan's heart leapt. Ji Yehao's words might have been crude, but they were right on the mark.

Gao Jun nodded with a smile. "I think I must've been half asleep, too."

At that, Su Yuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Good—Gao Jun hadn't recognized her! She perked up again and said with a smile, "I'm sure you saw a female ghost."

"A female ghost? I'm a staunch materialist!" Gao Jun's expression shifted. Ghosts and the like frightened him most; he'd been traumatized by them as a child.

Su Yuan couldn't help snickering. "Then why are you shaking?"

"I've been standing here too long. I'm just loosening up!" Gao Jun stubbornly refused to admit it, even if it killed him. He changed the subject. "But now that I think about it, even if she was a female ghost, she was really beautiful. Her chest was just a little small—not my type."

Small chest?

Su Yuan gave an awkward laugh.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Ah, Yehao, now that you mention it, I suddenly realize that ghost really did look a lot like Su Yuan..." As he spoke, he lifted Su Yuan's bangs slightly with one hand, revealing two wide, terrified eyes.

"You..."

Gao Jun froze. At that moment, Su Yuan's eyes suddenly seemed so bright, so... beautiful.

"Hey, are you trying to get yourself killed? Why are you making such a gesture that could so easily be misunderstood?"

Gao Jun glared at him. "What do you mean, misunderstood? You're not a girl. What's wrong with brushing your hair aside?"

"It's because I'm a guy that this gesture can be misunderstood!"

"Uh." Hearing it put that way, Gao Jun thought perhaps he could see the point.

"Ahem!" Ji Yehao coughed. "You two, quit fooling around. Su Yuan, hold the flask steady."

Su Yuan gave a quiet "Mm." Their group was already behind the others in the experiment, so she quickly did as Ji Yehao said, steadying the flask while watching him pour a small cup of ice water into it.

"Gao Jun, don't just stand there. Get the suction filtration funnel ready."

"Got it."

Gao Jun shook his head. He'd just thought Su Yuan's eyes were beautiful; for an instant, they had seemed almost capable of drawing him in! Ah! How could I have had such an illusion? This is completely unacceptable. I really must be lovesick. I need to find a girlfriend!

As he obediently followed Su Yuan's instructions and cut the filter paper, he couldn't help saying, "Yehao, don't you think our Su Su is getting more and more girlish? We need to get him to work out properly one of these days. He doesn't have any manly spirit at all. How will he ever find a girlfriend?"

"The emperor isn't worried, but his eunuchs are..." Su Yuan muttered in annoyance.

When people were focused, time flew by. It was when they were absorbed in their work that they felt most able to express their worth. In the laboratory, the students wore white coats and worked either in orderly fashion or in a frantic rush. Every so often, someone might even break a piece of glassware by accident.

A natural student atmosphere permeated the laboratory. In the years to come, when they looked back on the past, perhaps they'd remember and miss everything about that day.

The bell rang for the end of the first period, but the experiment still had to continue.

"Su Yuan, check the lab manual. What do we do next?" Gao Jun carefully scraped the crude product out of the suction filtration funnel with a spoon. His movements were cautious and meticulous; then, seeing that they'd only obtained a small amount of crude product, Su Yuan smiled knowingly.

She picked up the lab manual and checked. "Next, we put the crude product into another round-bottom flask, add ethyl acetate and boiling chips, set up the reflux apparatus, and heat it under reflux."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw that Ji Yehao had already set up the equipment they needed. She exclaimed in surprise, "Yehao, you're so fast!"

Ji Yehao gave her a confident look and smiled. "Of course. Unlike you, standing around watching."

"Whatever!" Su Yuan scoffed.

Ji Yehao was quite talented. He was not only handsome, but also very logical in the way he worked. Sometimes Su Yuan wondered if Heaven had been unfairly generous. Why give both those qualities to one person?

Compared to him, Su Yuan could see plenty of ways she fell short.

As for looks, she had once been somewhat handsome, at least in her own opinion. Other people, though, always said she looked "fair" or "cute." Compared to Ji Yehao's sunny good looks, she came up short, though she wasn't the worst either.

And as for logic... ahem. The old Su Yuan had six of the seven apertures open and one still blocked. But that was all in the past. Now Su Yuan felt she'd finally come into her own and had plenty to show off.

She might not surpass Ji Yehao, but surely she was at least his equal.

She put the lab manual back on the bench, stuck both hands in the pockets of her white coat, and watched Gao Jun transfer the crude product from the weighing paper into a round-bottom flask like a supervisor.

Every so often, she even pointed out what he should do: "Careful," and "Don't spill any." In the end, Ji Yehao gave her a look from those deep-set eyes, and she clammed up. Then she went over to the lectern, picked up a few boiling chips, and hurried back, only to find that Ji Yehao had already poured a hundred milliliters of ethyl acetate into the round-bottom flask.

She then solemnly and seriously dropped a few boiling chips into the flask.

"Whew! Job done!" Su Yuan nodded with satisfaction.

At that moment, she felt like a master designer, proud of her achievement.

But she'd only dropped in a few boiling chips. That amount of work hardly justified the title of master designer. So she picked up the lab manual and skimmed through it. The next step was hot filtration; the key was the word "hot."

What did hot mean? Su Yuan was absolutely an expert on the subject. Hot meant you had to be quick!

And if you wanted to be quick, you had to prepare ahead of time!

Very pleased with herself, she took a piece of filter paper, folded it, and fitted it into a glass funnel.

"Here you go!" Seeing the "admiring" looks from Ji Yehao and Gao Jun, she lifted the corners of her mouth slightly.

After filtration, the solution was cooled to room temperature, vacuum-filtered, washed with a little ethyl acetate, and dried. The colorless, crystalline acetylsalicylic acid was then weighed and the yield calculated. The remaining steps went smoothly from beginning to end.

Su Yuan's lab report was soon filled with data.

Her report was cleaner than any of the other boys' reports. Her handwriting was delicate and graceful. Though hurried, it looked like a dragon dancing across the page, and the overall effect was pleasing to the eye. There wasn't a single doodle; the page was spotless, and the writing flowed with striking confidence.

What Su Yuan was proudest of was her beautiful handwriting.

Then the three of them put the lab equipment back in order, took off their white coats and folded them, cleaned the laboratory, and walked out carrying their lab manuals and white coats, heading toward the dorms.