Chapter 16: Suspicion

After finishing their coffee and tying up the loose ends of their work, Ning Shuang and a few senior sisters and brothers headed to the school supermarket. They bought some fruit baskets and bouquets before hopping into a taxi bound for the hospital.

The moment they stepped inside, a pervasive chill seeped into every corner. The air was thick with the scent of disinfectant and various medicines.

It wasn’t unpleasant.

Including Ning Shuang, five people had come to visit Ming Qingning.

Gu Ting rose on her tiptoes and peered through the glass panel in the ward door. “The room’s so dim. No lights on, and the curtains are still drawn.”

“Is someone keeping watch over her?” Ning Shuang leaned in for a look as well.

“Let’s knock,” someone suggested.

Ning Shuang raised his hand and rapped on the door.

It wasn’t long before the door swung open. A girl with a high ponytail poked her head out. Her eyes lit up when she saw the group waiting outside. “Ning Shuang? Gu Ting? And everyone else? You’re all here to see Qingning?”

“Yeah, we came to check on Senior Qingning. How’s she doing now?” Ning Shuang nodded, keeping his voice low.

The ponytail girl was Ming Qingning’s roommate, Yang Mengqi—an acquaintance of the group.

“She’s sleeping right now. She woke up twice, ate something, then dozed off again. The doctors say there’s nothing seriously wrong, but she just keeps feeling off.” Yang Mengqi swung the door wide.

“Come on in. We can talk inside.”

Ning Shuang stepped aside to let the others file in ahead of him. He was just lifting his foot to follow when his peripheral vision caught a furtive figure slipping into the elevator.

He whipped around toward the elevator, but the doors slid shut at that exact moment.

Tall people weren’t exactly rare among his acquaintances, but the duckbill cap and baggy clothes obscured the figure’s build. Ning Shuang couldn’t make out who it was.

“Ning Shuang, everything okay?” Yang Mengqi noticed him lingering at the threshold and spoke up.

“Yeah, all good.” Ning Shuang brushed it off and stepped inside.

A chill hung in the room, laced with the sharp tang of disinfectant. But there was something else too—a cloying sweetness, like rotting flower petals, undercut by a faint fishy note.

Definitely an odd smell.

The curtains were drawn tight, leaving only the dim glow of a bedside lamp to illuminate the space. They carefully set their flowers and fruit baskets on the bedside table.

In that faint yellow light, Ning Shuang could just make out the patient on the bed.

Ming Qingning had slimmed down noticeably. Her face had lost its softness, cheekbones jutting out sharply. Her breathing came in erratic bursts—quick one moment, sluggish the next—leaving Ning Shuang with an inexplicable sense of unease.

Gu Ting stood and glanced around, heading for the curtains. Yang Mengqi spotted her intent and called out sharply. “Little Ting! Don’t touch those curtains!”

Gu Ting yanked her hand back as if they’d burned her, not daring to go near.

“What’s the matter?” one of the visiting seniors asked Ming Qingning.

Yang Mengqi let out a sigh. “No idea. Ever since Qingning got admitted, she’s hated bright light. No sunlight from outside. No harsh ceiling bulbs. Heck, even this lamp has to stay dimmed way down.”

“What’s going on with her…” Gu Ting asked, concern lacing her voice. “Is it those weight loss pills?”

“The doctor thinks the light sensitivity might be an allergic reaction to the meds. They’ve run every test, but nothing specific’s turned up.” Yang Mengqi explained.

Ning Shuang listened to the conversation, his gaze thoughtfully fixed on the sleeping figure.

“So what now? She can’t just stay sick forever… Any better these last couple days?” Xue Xue, another senior sister who’d come along, frowned with worry.

“That’s just it,” Yang Mengqi said. “If she doesn’t improve soon, we’ll have to call her parents.”

“Mengqi Senior,” Ning Shuang cut in abruptly, “does Senior Qingning have any of those weight loss pills left?”

Yang Mengqi turned to look up at him and nodded. “Yeah, but not many. I’ve been wondering if this is from taking too much.”

Ning Shuang tapped into his knack for improvisation. “Could I take a look at what’s left? My great-grandpa was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. I picked up a few things from him.”

Yang Mengqi rose, rummaged in a drawer, and fished out a small white pill bottle. She handed it over.

“The doctors asked about these too, so I showed them. They tested it and said the pills seem fine. Probably just her body rejecting them.”

Ning Shuang accepted the bottle with a word of thanks.

He examined the label-less container first—barely the size of his thumb, a classic no-name product. A couple shakes produced a faint rattle, confirming only a few pills remained.

Then he tipped two into his palm and brought them to his nose. His expression froze.

With his back to the lamp’s feeble glow, no one noticed the sudden gravity in his face.

Why did it feel like… something familiar was mixed in? Ning Shuang inhaled deeply.

The pills carried a dominant bitter tang, but woven through it was a honeyed sweetness—the kind from decayed petals. And that bitterness had a unique edge, reminiscent of bitter grass ash after burning. Bitter and sweet entwined, heady and intense.

“What’s up, Ning Shuang? Something wrong?” He stayed quiet too long, drawing everyone’s eyes. Xue Xue broke the silence.

Ning Shuang slipped the pills back into the bottle and forced a casual tone. “Nah, nothing. Pills check out.”

He offered it back. “Probably just her body not taking to them. Follow the doctor’s orders, get some rest, and she should pull through.”

Yang Mengqi nodded as she took the bottle.

She turned to chat with the others about lighter topics.

Meanwhile, Ning Shuang’s mind conjured a frantic little version of himself on his knees, clutching his head. No way? Really? That can’t be right? How’s it smell just like that stuff from back home in the Miao Frontier…

They didn’t linger even half an hour before saying their goodbyes one by one. Ning Shuang was the last out. He turned back to Yang Mengqi and murmured, “Senior, I’ll swing by again tomorrow.”

“Sure thing. See you, Ning Shuang.” Her smile warmed.

Once outside the hospital, Ning Shuang—living off-campus—didn’t join the carpool back. He saw them off first, then called his own cab home.

In the taxi, he patted down his pants pocket and pulled out a single white round pill.

The one he’d palmed from the “weight loss pills” back in the room, unnoticed by the others.

He held it up to the light, scrutinizing it.

To figure out exactly what was mixed in, he’d need to get home, dissolve it, and take a closer look.

He arrived at five-thirty that afternoon.

Yesterday’s downpour and the overcast morning had left puddles everywhere, the yard mud still soggy. The storm had battered the flowers and plants into disarray.

The air hung damp.

Ning Shuang unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The house lay silent. Ning Dundun had already burst from its doghouse in the yard while he was still outside, bounding and leaping to the entrance. The moment he opened up, it circled him ecstatically. “Woof! Woof woof!”

Ning Dundun could hardly contain its excitement.

Ning Shuang crouched to scratch its head. A quick scan of the entryway shoe rack—no shoes meant Ji Huaizhi wasn’t home.

Freshmen didn’t have much coursework yet, clubs were quiet, and military training loomed tomorrow. Ji Huaizhi probably wasn’t at school…

“Dundun, eat okay today?” Ning Shuang straightened and checked the doghouse. The dwindling kibble and water earned a pleased pat on the head. “Good pup. I’ll whip up something tasty for dinner.”

Whether it understood or not, Ning Dundun spun in delighted circles, tongue lolling.

Ning Shuang pulled out his phone and opened Ji Huaizhi’s WeChat. 【Home now, about to start dinner. Where are you? Back for dinner tonight?】

He hadn’t expected a quick response, but the “typing…” indicator appeared right away.

Less than thirty seconds later: 【At the library studying. Home for dinner tonight.】

Ning Shuang pursed his lips. 【When abouts?】

【Ji Huaizhi: Leaving now. Home in twenty.】

【Ning Shuang: Grab me a book on the way? Foreign classics section, any full-English one. Prepping for CET-4!】

Ji Huaizhi, typing from the bridge’s edge, paused. He glanced ahead. University City’s night market sprawled on the far side, just firing up. Students streamed by from nearby campuses, the scene buzzing with energy.

He knew exactly where Ning Shuang had been today, who he’d seen, what he’d done. So why the suspicion after one little outing?

A faint smile tugged at Ji Huaizhi’s lips. Didn’t that mean Ning Shuang was paying attention? Caring?

He typed back first: 【Sure.】

Of course, he couldn’t borrow a book like that. Ji Huaizhi was more than twenty minutes away from school now. Even if he went to borrow one and then came straight home, it would take at least forty minutes round trip.

Besides, Ning Shuang had only brought it up to test him in the first place. Ji Huaizhi didn’t mind if Ning Shuang suspected him. On the contrary, it was best if Ning Shuang kept a constant eye on him—suspecting him, investigating him from the shadows at every turn.

Ji Huaizhi walked over to a street-side bookstall and took a look around before picking out a brand-new copy of Pride and Prejudice.

Library books all had borrowing numbers on them, so Ji Huaizhi naturally had an even better excuse ready to handle any questions.

~~~

Ning Shuang had just plated the stir-fried vegetables and set them on the table when he heard a knock at the door from the entryway.

He wiped the water from his hands on his apron and hurried over to open it.

Ji Huaizhi stood right there on the doorstep. Today, he wore a blue button-up shirt paired with a black knitted vest, slim black loose-fitting trousers hugging his legs below. Static had built up between his long hair and the vest, causing strands to cling stubbornly to the fabric, while the loose locks at his temples swayed gently in the breeze.

Ning Shuang drew in a breath, his heart pounding wildly.

He quickly stepped back half a pace and moved aside to let Ji Huaizhi in. “You’re back?”

Ji Huaizhi nodded. “Mm. Sorry, I didn’t help with dinner.”

Ning Shuang was the picture of understanding. “It’s fine. You were studying, after all!”

With that, he returned to the kitchen to ladle the last dish—ribs soup—into a bowl and carried it out to the table.

Ji Huaizhi fetched the bowls, chopsticks, and soup ladle for their meal from the kitchen.

“Let’s eat first,” Ning Shuang said. He hadn’t eaten much at lunch and had only had a cup of coffee in the afternoon. He was starving by now.

Ji Huaizhi handed the long serving chopsticks to Ning Shuang.

After shoveling down two bites of rice, Ning Shuang suddenly looked up. “So, what book did you borrow for me?”

Ji Huaizhi paused mid-reach for his vegetables. He set his chopsticks down, rose, and went to the coat rack. From the bag hanging there, he pulled out a pristine new book and handed it to Ning Shuang.

Ning Shuang stared at the volume, its plastic wrap still intact. He blinked in surprise.

Ji Huaizhi explained calmly, “You said it was for studying for CET-4. I figured library books aren’t ideal for marking up, so I bought a new one for you. You can use it however you like, and there’s no need to worry about returning it on time.”

Ning Shuang’s eyes gradually widened, delight blooming at Ji Huaizhi’s thoughtfulness and consideration. “You really thought of everything. Thank you, Ji Huaizhi!”

“No need to thank me,” Ji Huaizhi replied, his lips curving in a faint smile. Then he asked, “You weren’t at school this afternoon?”

“Mm, right.” Ning Shuang nodded honestly. “One of my senior classmates got sick, so some friends and I went to the hospital to visit her.”

Ji Huaizhi lowered his lashes and murmured a soft acknowledgment. Sometimes, when Ning Shuang told the truth like this, he wasn’t entirely pleased. Ning Shuang always had so many friends—too many to count, too many…

Ning Shuang set the book on the edge of the table, unlocked his phone for a quick glance, then lifted his gaze to Ji Huaizhi. “I’m going to take Ning Dundun for a walk later. Want to come along?”

“Sure,” Ji Huaizhi said without hesitation.