Chapter Seven: Did You Hear That?

Fu Yiqing was busy upstairs for reasons unknown, and even after being called several times for dinner, he still hadn’t come down. Qin Liubei didn’t dare go up to fetch him and so urged Shu Ran to do it instead.

Shu Ran looked bewildered. “Didn’t you say you wanted to be a gentleman?”

Qin Liubei nodded with a smile. “Exactly, ladies first is the mark of a true gentleman!”

Having witnessed Qin Liubei’s shamelessness firsthand, Shu Ran had no choice but to head upstairs and knock on the study door. As soon as the back of her hand touched it, the door creaked open a crack—it wasn’t locked.

What did Fu Yiqing do in his study all day, if he neither read books nor watched movies? The thought flashed through her mind, and impulse overtook reason. Quietly, she pushed the door a little wider, just enough to peek her head in and look for him.

Suddenly, someone gripped her by the collar, and cool fingertips brushed against her nape. The chill sent goosebumps down her skin, but it was the unexpectedness of the gesture that made her shudder.

Instinctively, she twisted into the study, her body moving in a turn she’d practiced countless times on dry land, driven purely by a desperate urge to survive. The movement wasn’t graceful, nor was it anticipated.

With a thud, Shu Ran bumped the door fully open and landed hard on the floor. Even with carpeting, the force of her fall left her aching.

She stared in astonishment. “Why is it you?”

“What are you sneaking around the study door for?”

Looking up at him, her heart still racing, she brushed herself off and stood. “It’s time to eat. We’ve called you several times and you didn’t answer, so Qin Liubei asked me to come get you. I thought you were in the study.”

Fu Yiqing’s suspicious gaze softened as he headed downstairs. Shu Ran followed, but he halted again.

“If I remember correctly, last time you said it was a dance teacher who explained ‘Lolita’ to you?”

Shu Ran, uncertain why he was asking, nodded.

He said nothing more, turning to descend the stairs. She was about to lose her mind with his habit of leaving sentences unfinished. She was beginning to agree with Qin Liubei—there was indeed something odd about him.

The three of them sat at the table; Qin Liubei had just lifted his chopsticks when Fu Yiqing spoke again.

“Where is this dance teacher of yours?”

“In City D.”

Fu Yiqing turned to Qin Liubei, who was eating. “Did you hear that?”

“Of course I did, I’m not deaf.”

“Good. I’ll leave this matter to you, then.”

Qin Liubei’s cheerful demeanor froze, his smile fading. “…?”

*

Night fell, and it was time for Shu Ran’s film appreciation session.

The curtains were drawn tight, and faint music drifted through the room. Shu Ran sat very close to her laptop, eager to capture every nuance of the actors’ expressions—almost as if she could press her eyes into the screen.

Lost in concentration, she suddenly felt a hand press down on her head, gently tilting it back. The actors shrank in size as her distance from the screen increased.

She looked up to find Fu Yiqing frowning at her. “If you sit that close, do you not want your eyes anymore?”

Shu Ran blinked, feigning terror, clutching her chest as if she’d just escaped some great danger and saved her vision.

Once she’d adjusted to a proper viewing distance, she called out to Fu Yiqing, who was about to leave. “Coach Fu, are you sure you want him to go find Xu Jingyu?”

He looked back at her. “Do you have anyone else in mind?”

Wasn’t this something she could resolve with a phone call?

“Anything else?”

Shu Ran shook her head. At the doorway, he glanced back at her once more before entering the room opposite.

Shu Ran figured Fu Yiqing must have thought of this, but just in case he hadn’t… She decided not to dwell on it and to follow his arrangements.

She returned her focus to the opera, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door open and a shadow slip inside. Thinking it was Fu Yiqing, she looked up—only to find Qin Liubei.

He seemed a bit flustered, but quickly composed himself. Noticing her surprise, he smiled down at her. “What, are you that shocked to see me?”

“I thought you were Coach Fu.”

Qin Liubei pulled up a chair, glanced at the screen, and pressed pause. “Let’s put artistic cultivation aside for a moment. I’m here to ask about this Xu Jingyu—what kind of person is she?”

“There’s really no need for you to go all the way to City D to find her.”

The words she couldn’t say to Fu Yiqing came easily to Qin Liubei.

He seemed to see through her. “You mean you could simply call and invite her yourself?”

She blinked, remaining silent, her eyes asking—Isn’t that so?

Qin Liubei leaned back, arms crossed, and smiled. “City D is a long way from here. Even if your friend agrees, her parents might not. The fact that Fu Yiqing is sending me means I have to bring Xu Jingyu back. This isn’t something you can settle with a phone call simply because you know her. Do you understand?”

Her unmoving gaze made it clear she still didn’t grasp the biggest challenge.

Qin Liubei shook his head. “If she agrees to help you, she’ll have to stay until you retire. Female figure skaters’ careers are short—most top skaters retire at twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Say you retire at twenty-seven, that’s up to ten years. If you perform well, her career is secured; if not, she’ll have to start over after you retire. This isn’t as simple as you think. I’ll lay out all the pros and cons to her the first time we meet.”

Shu Ran swallowed. She’d thought, since she and Xu Jingyu were close friends, there was a good chance Xu Jingyu would agree—but she’d also considered the possibility she’d refuse, given the distance. She’d never thought about the long-term implications.

“So…” Qin Liubei flicked her nose with a finger, drawing her back to the present, “Little Shu Ran, now can you tell me: what kind of person is Xu Jingyu?”

*

Shu Ran trained on land while listening to music, her mind wandering far away.

She hadn’t seen Qin Liubei all morning; he must have left for City D.

After Qin Liubei’s analysis yesterday, her confidence in Xu Jingyu agreeing had wavered. Now, she had no idea how things were progressing.

“Shu Ran.”

The voice snapped her out of her reverie. She turned toward the source.

Fu Yiqing stood beside her, face expressionless, his tone cold and severe. “Ten extra minutes of training.”

Once again, she was being punished for losing focus.

Ten minutes later, she collapsed on the floor, drenched in sweat. She took the towel Fu Yiqing tossed her and wiped her face, panting. “Coach Fu, do you think my friend will agree?”

“Whether she agrees or not, I don’t know—but Qin Liubei will find a way to bring her.”

He spoke with certainty, yet his expression was as unreadable as ever. Shu Ran wanted to ask more, but his eyes turned cold. “You’d better worry about yourself. Qin Liubei’s affairs are none of your concern.”

Suddenly curious, Shu Ran wondered—since Fu Yiqing was vice-chairman of the council, what role did Qin Liubei play? Was he a negotiator? Otherwise, why did Fu Yiqing trust him so much?

After practicing her basic moves and jumps on the ice, she saw Fu Yiqing beckoning to her from the rink’s edge and skated over.

He seemed a bit troubled. She ventured, “Coach?”

“Have you noticed…”

A bad feeling crept over her—this couldn’t be good.

“When you’re rehearsing new programs, do you often run over the allotted time?”

She thought back and realized it was true; whenever she practiced a new routine, the music would end before her performance did. During competitions, she’d learned to adjust her moves to fit the time limit.

She answered honestly, “Yes, my sense of timing isn’t great.”

“That’s not the issue.”

She looked up, puzzled—if it wasn’t her timing, then what?

Fu Yiqing offered no further explanation. He sent her back onto the ice to skate the full allotted time, then dismissed her to the villa for afternoon training.

After lunch, Mrs. Zhang was cleaning up when the doorbell rang. Shu Ran went to help open the door, only to find a group of strangers outside. A warning flashed in her mind—Never open the door to strangers.

She hesitated for several seconds, about to call for Fu Yiqing, when she heard footsteps behind her. Warmth radiated from his presence, sunlight streaming in through the open door.

The middle-aged strangers glanced between the two of them before smiling at Fu Yiqing. “You must be Mr. Fu?”

Fu Yiqing nodded, opened the door wider, and pulled Shu Ran aside to let them in. “Please, come in.”

The strangers, carrying tools, followed him to the living room and began their work.

Shu Ran thought, Fu Yiqing must be truly wealthy. The house was already nicely decorated—why start again with the living room?

Before he could remind her, Shu Ran went upstairs to complete her daily assignment—watching a film.

Qin Liubei had been in City D for two days without a word. Shu Ran wanted to ask Xu Jingyu for news, but every time she picked up her phone, Qin Liubei’s words echoed in her mind: If you don’t want to lose your friend, don’t put her in a difficult position because of you.

Now, it was indeed a difficult position.

In the end, Shu Ran put her phone back on the bedside table.

Another day passed, her routine unchanged: off-ice training, skating, film appreciation, skating, more films.

The cycle repeated, but Qin Liubei did not reappear.

Feeling the cool breeze brush her cheeks, Shu Ran glided across the ice, starting her footwork with a bracket step. Gathering momentum, she pressed her right toe pick into the ice and launched herself with her left foot.

A beautiful triple toe loop, executed with ease.

A whistle sounded.

Fu Yiqing never whistled—there was only one person who did.

Qin Liubei’s voice rang out, full of pride. “I said she has great jumping ability—her jumps are no problem. With Fu Yiqing handling artistry and me analyzing her training data, the only question is… how’s your dancing?”

The woman rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, her tone mocking. “Don’t worry, my dancing is definitely more reliable than your dead statistics!”

“People make mistakes; data doesn’t,” Qin Liubei retorted with a cold, mocking laugh.

Shu Ran looked up, recognizing the woman arguing with Qin Liubei. Her eyes widened and she slowed, missing a beat. “Jingyu?”