Li Na felt tired and stressed out when the alarm woke her up on Sunday morning than she'd felt from any hangover she ever had on any morning. Her father's health, her mother not picking up her phone, and the humiliation she received from Li Jun was going to give her massive migraines; She's pissed and frustrated. Trusting him was a mistake on her part.
She yawned and stretched, and after making a very sad bowl of instant Ramen and barely being able to eat the veggies that garnish it, she decided to check her phone for any updates from the school.
Seeing that her battery was low she connected the charger to it, it was with a heavy heart that she checked her messages, scrolling through to listen to the oldest ones first, frowning when she realized that her screen was popping up with notifications. Li Na never received notifications this much in her life, for the only people who ever called her were her parents when their mood was good, Xiu, and the departmental group for Lecturers and professors, and their messages were always short and straight to the point.
"Nǐ hǎo! Li Na, it's me. It's Saturday night and I've been calling your phone but it's not going through, remember it's a girls' night out. Call me later, so we can set a time we will paint the town red. Hmm. See you."
Li Na sighed and wondered how Xiu still had the time and energy for girls' night out was beyond her. She quickly texted her, saying she'd been a little tired after drafting her lesson plan and was catching up on her sleep. She'd call her when she was feeling better, and she hoped she'd prepared for her seminar this week. She then went on to tell her that she missed her.
"Hello, Ms. Xu Li Na. This is the doctor from the hospital. Your father's health is improving steadily but we hope he will soon wake up from his coma. For more inquiries contact this number or send an email. Thank you."
Li Na sighed as she deleted the hospital progress report on her father's health and prayed for her father quick recovery
The next voice message was from a strange number that she didn't recognize and she realized it was from Li Jun, for she had blacklisted his number that was with her.
"Li Na…um, Professor Xu Li Na. It's Li Jun. I…Please don't hang up. I know I'm the last person you want to hear from, but I'm calling to apologize. In fact, I was standing outside your building around 9 Pm, yesterday. I was worried about you, and I wanted to be sure you got home safely.
"I wish we could go back to this morning, and that I'm incredibly thankful that you brought me back home and stayed with me all night. I'm an idiot and a stupid fool, and I don't deserve your kindness. At all. I know I hurt you, Li Na, and I'm sorry.
(A Deep breath was taken.) "I should never have let you go this morning—not like that. I should have run after you and begged you to stay. I made a mistake, Li Na. I fucked up.
"I shouldn't have done shouted at you, what I'm trying to do now is ask for your pardon. Here is my cell number. Please don't blacklist this number.…"
"Li Na, you're angry and hurt—I understand that. Please, we need to talk. I know I messed up but give me the chance to talk to you about the reason for my behavior. I need to explain a few things. More than a few things, all right? Just call me back. All I'm asking for is one conversation. I think you owe me that."
The tone of Li Jun's voice in his messages had grown increasingly desperate. Li Na turned off her phone, deliberately suppressing her own innate empathy. Li Na scowled and deleted his message, not even bothering to save his new number. She had no intention of listening to Li Jun. Still wearing her silky pajamas, she heard a knock on her apartment door, walking towards it she opened her apartment door and looked through the peephole. she hoped it was not Li Jun ringing up her door early in the morning.
Seeing that no one was there, She opened the door and felt that maybe she had been pranked.
Before she turned to go, she noticed a large bouquet of pink Tulips leaning up against the walls of her apartment. It had a large, Po character stuffed toy attached to it and something that looked like a glossy card resting in the middle of it. The card read I am so sorry Li Na, Please forgive me. Li Jun.
.........…
Early in the morning on Monday, Li Na decided to transfer the student she was supervising, especially Li Jun to another lecturer. She sent an email to professor Feng Delun the Senior lecturer who was her colleague and also was a forty-five-year-old, Stanford-educated horticulture specialist who had taught at the University of California Berkeley and Purdue University, US before he was lured to the National University of Taiwan by an Influential personality in plant science. He was known to be severe, demanding, and brilliant, and his knowledge rivaled that of Luther Burbank.
A lengthy email was sent to him under the pretense that she wants to transfer some of her students to him because she wants to apply for her long-overdue leave from the Head of the department for this semester.
Li Na decided that she would continue the horticultural seminar which she decided to teach early this semester, just in case she had trouble finding a substitute teacher. She will just have to reduce any contact with Li Jun till the academic session ends.
Indeed, if Professor Feng Delun became Li Jun's thesis advisor, Li Na was confident she could allow him to be in her seminar for the next five remaining weeks of the semester.
So that afternoon, she wandered into the office of the department in order to check her mailbox before she left for the seminar hall.
Looking around the office she was relieved that the secretary, Ms. Haichi that was groping Li Jun last Saturday night was not around.
Opening her mailbox, She was somewhat curious to find a large, padded envelope in her box. Removing it, she noticed that there wasn't a name on it. It was not addressed to her, nor was there a return address or any marking of any kind on the envelope.
She immediately slipped her finger through the tape and opened it. She was flabbergasted by what she saw on the inside. A black satin bra was tucked inside the enclosed envelope, it was folded like a well-packaged shirt. Unfortunately, she'd left her black cotton bra on top of Li Jun's washing machine. Li Jun's packing and delivery of it to her mailbox made her feel mortified and angry.
Ha! That shithead.
Li Na was so angry her body began to shake. How dare he put it in her mailbox? Anyone, anyone, could have been standing next to her when she opened it. Is he trying to embarrass me? He could have left it at her apartment? Feeling peeved, Li Na didn't notice that someone was coming along the corridor she was standing in.
"Hi, Professor Xu."
She gasped and leaped nearly a foot off the ground.
"Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
She looked up into Professor Feng Delun's kind, dark eyes and saw him staring down at her with a puzzled expression.
"You seem twitchy today. What are you holding? " He raised his hands and pointed to her brown envelope.
"Oh, This, it's nothing." She quickly stuffed the envelope into her bag, forcing a smile at Professor Feng.
"Professor Feng, I would like to ask you for a favour. It's about the content of the email I sent you yesterday "
"Ha, Yes, I saw your email. I don't believe it's possible to transfer some of the students you are supervising to me without providing a valid reason to the departmental board." Professor Feng Delun's face took on a very serious expression. "But Li Na, what caused your sudden decision ?"
'I have been feeling down recently and I need some rest. I think a long overdue vacation is what I needed right now,' Li Na said as she looked up to a serious-looking Professor Feng Delun, who was looking intently at her.
"Ha! You need it, You've been looking a little pale lately. Look, Let me think about it, Send me your students' names and I will go through their names and send you feedback, okay.'
Li Na's eyebrows shot up and she grinned. 'Thank you so much. Professor'
"Don't worry. I'm so glad that I can help." Professor Feng reached out to take her hand in his and squeezed it gently. Li Na withdrew her hand and uncurled her fingers.
Li Na felt happy that some things worked her way, for once. She stepped closer to him and hesitantly put her arms around his barrel chest and hugged him.
"Thank you," she sighed.
Professor Feng, feeling shocked at Professor Xu's sudden hug, cautiously patted her back. "You're welcome, Professor Xu."
Unknown to them, a certain prickly brown-eyed student had just walked through the departmental hall, anxious to discover if a certain item he dropped had been received by its owner. He froze as he witnessed Li Na hugging a man in front of him, whispering to each other and as Professor Feng waved goodbye to Li Na, she smiled and waved back.
Walking towards her, Li Jun furiously stared at Professor Feng's head and coughed, calling Li Na's attention to him.
"Good Morning, Professor Xu, I need to speak with you, please." Li Jun bared his teeth in what looked like a smile in her direction and Li Na flinched as she heard his voice and she regarded him with a certain amount of angry intensity.