Her parents failing to keep their promise to her grandmother was a betrayal.
And her failing to fulfill her promise to protect her parents was likewise a betrayal.
Only science... will not betray.
As Yu Qintu listened to Ruan Mei's words, her slender brows unknowingly furrowed slightly.
She found it difficult to judge this kind of love—wanting to use one's own methods to resurrect deceased parents.
"What did Qi Zhimu say and do at the time?"
Not even calling him the Little Fellow and using his full name instead showed just how serious Yu Qintu was currently being.
"He deleted my research data without authorization and tried to dissuade me from continuing my research four times."
Ruan Mei lowered her eyes, her tone so steady it was as if she were narrating a trivial matter.
She raised her fair hand and swiped it in front of her, pulling a screen out of thin air.
"Teacher, this is a taboo research that profanes life and, moreover, profanes your parents!"
"Even if you eventually succeed, it will be easy for you to lose your true heart and lose many things because of it!"
"Some Pandora's boxes... must never be opened."
Ruan Mei's slender finger lightly tapped the screen, and the image froze on Qi Zhimu's deeply furrowed expression.
She looked at Yu Qintu and merely blinked indifferently, her meaning self-evident.
"ARuan, the way of thinking for Short-Lived Species and Long-Lived Species is different." Yu Qintu could somewhat understand why Qi Zhimu would do such a thing.
She also admitted that his words of advice were not without merit.
As a genius, no one knew a certain truth better than she—
When you obtain something, you will likewise lose something important.
"What is your understanding of love for your family?" Without waiting for Ruan Mei to speak, Yu Qintu quickly threw out another question.
Ruan Mei gazed at the frozen face on the screen, her thoughts drifting far away.
When she was very young, she could perceive the subtle differences and various scents of love.
Her grandmother had a head full of silver hair and loved listening to those chirping operatic songs.
Her father loved wearing fuzzy leather boots.
Her mother and father loved each other, even though they often argued.
And she herself loved the delicious pastries her mother rewarded her with every time she returned home from a scientific expedition.
Aunt Aris was closer to her than a typical elder and would buy her extra snacks to eat; her aunt's love was the best.
Therefore, everyone's love was different and existed in hierarchies.
For her, keeping a promise and doing what was said was the kind of love that would least fail someone.
But her parents broke their promise, and her grandmother's whereabouts were unknown.
She had also broken her promise, failing to protect her parents well.
Her parents had fallen into a desperate situation during a scientific expedition and never returned.
She could only watch helplessly as everything she loved slipped through her fingers, powerless to do anything.
Reaching out to grab, she could catch nothing.
Seeing Ruan Mei remain silent, Yu Qintu sighed inwardly and did not press for more details.
A person's experiences will profoundly affect every aspect of who they are.
Without having experienced it personally, one has no right to judge.
Qi Zhimu's starting point was good, but he had committed exactly such a taboo.
The love in his perception and the love in Ruan Mei's perception were fundamentally different.
"Pretend I never asked. It's just, is the punishment for him too severe?"
Yu Qintu changed the subject.
"With your mind, even if there was no backup of the data, it should have been deeply engraved in your Remembrance; his act of deletion had no actual impact at all."
"Letting him leave was not a punishment."
Ruan Mei's tone still had no fluctuations, remaining very calm.
"AMu's illness was cured long ago. As his teacher, I have taught him everything I should; I owe him nothing."
"Before his illness was cured, he had no complaints about being my test subject. After he recovered, he looked after my daily life for decades; he owes me nothing either."
"Our philosophies differ, so separating is good for both of us. It's not as if we can't live without each other; from now on, we are square."
"Square? Then what is that thing?"
Yu Qintu straightened her hand and pointed toward the... thing walking over with pastries.
It looked very familiar, possessing Qi Zhimu's build, clothing, and even his face.
But no matter how lifelike it was, it was a soulless substitute.
Yu Qintu had already realized why a certain sentence Ruan Mei said when she first arrived was confusing.
Fresh pastries coming out of the oven in ten minutes?
She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but only now did she realize. No wonder Ruan Mei could leisurely accompany her in the hot spring; it turned out she had created a 'fake' to handle everything.
If she wasn't mistaken, this fake possessed the same skills as the real Qi Zhimu; otherwise, with Ruan Mei's fastidiousness, she wouldn't have created it.
"You drove the Little Fellow away, but then turned around and made a double based on him. Is this what you meant by not needing each other?"
"I need to complete my research sooner, and this can save a lot of unnecessary time."
Ruan Mei explained softly, but she did not deny Qi Zhimu.
"I admit that AMu is a very good student, but I only need him to be obedient and follow the rules."
"You... never mind."
Intuition told Yu Qintu that Ruan Mei was being stubborn.
If she only needed to save time, why bother making the 'tool' responsible for her daily life look like Qi Zhimu?
It was clearly her subconscious prompting her to do so.
But on second thought, Ruan Mei had such a personality that it was possible she didn't realize her true feelings for Qi Zhimu at all.
—If those feelings truly existed.
"Since letting the Little Fellow go wasn't the punishment, then what was? You said earlier that you had punished him, so there must be a reason."
...Hm?
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Qintu keenly noticed that Ruan Mei's emotions fluctuated for the first time.
It was very slight, easily ignored if one wasn't paying attention.
It was truly not easy to make this person, who often kept a stiff face, show such an expression. It seemed this matter was more serious than him stopping her from conducting that research.
The duration of Ruan Mei's silence reached a historical high.
"Is it inconvenient to tell me?" Yu Qintu didn't want to let her off the hook this time.
Sensing her friend's determination to get to the bottom of it, Ruan Mei spoke expressionlessly.
"AMu was too presumptuous."
"In what way was he presumptuous?"
"In the year AMu turned eighteen, on my birthday, he touched my feet."
At the time, she hadn't expected Qi Zhimu to suddenly act like that, and her consciousness briefly stalled.
Her first reaction upon coming to her senses wasn't anger, but rather a feeling that it was improper.
"...Just touching your feet... wait—"
Yu Qintu didn't think much of it at first, but her eyes soon widened.
"You aren't rigidly following some archaic and outdated feudal idea that a woman's lotus feet can only be touched by her partner, are you?"
"No."
Ruan Mei flatly denied it.
"There are rewards for doing things well, and naturally, one must accept punishment for doing things wrong."
"I am AMu's teacher. His behavior overstepped the teacher-student relationship; it was a mistake and needed correction."
"Considering I hadn't taught him knowledge related to male and female physiology or the correct etiquette for teacher-student interactions, after the punishment, the matter was settled."
"How did you punish him?" Yu Qintu pressed.
"Five days of solitary confinement, during which his medicine supply was cut off."
"I see..." Yu Qintu fell into deep thought.
But she still felt something was strange.
In matters of gender, most men can figure things out without a teacher, not to mention there are so many ways to acquire such knowledge.
Even if Ruan Mei didn't teach him, understanding the difference between men and women wouldn't be difficult.
Furthermore, given that Little Fellow's personality, he really didn't seem like the type of person who would have the audacity to offend his superior out of lust.