Her parents failed to keep their promise to her Grandmother, that was a betrayal.
And she failed to fulfill her promise to protect her parents, equally a betrayal.
Only science... would never betray.
Hearing Ruan Mei's words, Yu Qingtu's delicate brows furrowed unconsciously.
Wanting to resurrect deceased parents through scientific means, this kind of love, she couldn't evaluate.
"What did Rrakavasha say at the time? What did he do?"
Not even calling him "that fellow" but using his full name directly, this showed how serious Yu Qingtu currently was.
"He deleted my research data without permission and verbally tried to dissuade me from continuing the research four separate times."
Ruan Mei lowered her eyes slightly, her tone so steady it seemed she was narrating some trivial matter.
She raised her bare hand and swept it before her, pulling up a holographic screen from thin air.
"Teacher, this is forbidden research that blasphemes life itself, more than that, it blasphemes your parents!"
"Even if you ultimately succeed, you'll easily lose yourself in the process and lose many things!"
"Some things... must never be touched."
Ruan Mei's slender finger lightly tapped the screen, freezing the image on Rrakavasha's deeply furrowed expression.
She looked toward Yu Qingtu, merely blinking once with her usual impassiveness. The meaning was self-evident.
"Aruan, short-lived and long-lived species don't think the same way." Yu Qingtu could somewhat understand why Rrakavasha would do this.
She also had to admit his advice wasn't without merit.
As a genius, no one knew better than her the one truth; When obtaining something, you always lose something.
"What you understand as love for family, what does that look like?" Before Ruan Mei could speak, Yu Qingtu quickly posed another question.
Ruan Mei stared at the frozen face on the screen, her thoughts drifting far away.
From a very young age, she could perceive subtle differences in love, as well as its varying scents.
Her grandmother had a full head of silver hair and loved listening to melodic opera singing.
Her father loved wearing those fuzzy large leather boots.
Her mother and father loved each other, though they often quarreled.
As for herself, she cherished the delicious pastries her mother would reward her with each time she returned home from academic competitions.
Aunt Alice treated her more intimately than other elders, buying her extra snacks. Auntie's love was the best.
Therefore, everyone's love was different, existing in hierarchies.
For herself, keeping promises and following through was the love that would never betray.
But her parents broke their promise, and Grandmother's whereabouts became unknown.
She also broke her promise, failing to protect her parents.
Her parents fell into dire straits during a scientific expedition and never returned.
She could only watch helplessly as everything she loved slipped through her fingers, powerless to stop it.
Reaching out to grasp them, unable to catch anything.
Seeing Ruan Mei fall into silence, Yu Qingtu secretly sighed, not pressing to get to the bottom of it.
A person's experiences profoundly influence every aspect of who they become.
Without personally experiencing it, one has no right to judge.
Rrakavasha's starting point was good, but he'd committed exactly this taboo.
His understanding of love and Ruan Mei's understanding of love were fundamentally diferent.
"Pretend I never asked. But still, wasn't the punishment you gave him too severe?"
Yu Qingtu changed the subject.
"With your intellect, even without data backups, it should all be deeply etched in your memory, right?"
"Making him leave wasn't a punishment."
Ruan Mei's tone still held no fluctuation, remaining quite calm.
"Vash's illness was cured long ago. As his teacher, I taught him everything I should have. I owe him nothing."
"Before his illness was cured, he had no complaints about being my test subject. After recovery, he tended to my daily needs for decades without fail. He owes me nothing either."
"Our philosophies differ. Separating was good for us both. Neither of us needs the other now. We're even."
"Even? Then how do you explain that?"
Yu Qingtu straightened her arm, pointing toward the... thing walking this way carrying pastries.
Very familiar, bearing Rrakavasha's build, clothing, even his face.
But no matter how lifelike, it was a soulless substitute.
Yu Qingtu had already figured out why one of Ruan Mei's earlier statements seemed confusing.
Fresh pastries ready in ten minutes?
She hadn't thought much of it then, but now understood, no wonder Ruan Mei could leisurely soak in the hot spring with her. She'd created a 'replica' to handle everything.
If her guess was correct, this replica possessed the same skills as the real Rrakavasha. Otherwise, given Ruan Mei's pickiness, she wouldn't have created it.
"You drove that fellow away, then turned around and made a substitute with him as the template. This is what you call 'Neither needs the other'?"
"I need to complete my research sooner. This saves me unnecessary hassle."
Ruan Mei explained softly, yet didn't deny Rrakavasha's value.
"I admit Vash is a very good student, but I only need the rule-following version of him."
"You... forget it."
Instinct told Yu Qingtu that Ruan Mei was being stubbornly in denial.
If she only needed to save time, why make the 'tool' responsible for daily living look like Rrakavasha?
Clearly her subconscious drove her to do this.
But on second thought, that was just Ruan Mei's nature. She probably genuinely hadn't realized her true feelings toward Rrakavasha.
...If such feelings truly existed.
"Since making that fellow leave wasn't punishment, then what was? You said before you'd punished him, there must be a reason."
...Hmm?
The moment those words fell, Yu Qingtu keenly detected Ruan Mei's emotions showing a fluctuation for the first time.
Very subtle, easy to miss without careful attention.
For this perpetually stone-faced individual to show that kind of expression was no easy feat. Seems this matter was more serious than stopping her forbidden research.
Ruan Mei maintained silence for an unprecedented length of time.
"Not convenient to tell me?" This time Yu Qingtu had no intention of letting her off.
Sensing her friend's determination to get to the bottom of this, Ruan Mei spoke expressionlessly.
"Vash was too presumptuous."
"How so?"
"When Vash was eighteen, on my birthday, he touched my foot."
At the time, she never expected Rrakavasha would suddenly do such a thing. Her consciousness briefly froze.
Her first reaction upon recovering wasn't anger, but feeling it was inappropriate.
"...Touching a foot is... wait-"
Yu Qingtu initially thought nothing of it, but her eyes quickly widened.
"You don't rigidly follow that archaic, outdated feudal notion from tens of thousands of years ago about women's feet only being touchable by their spouses, do you?"
"I don't."
Ruan Mei denied it flatly.
"Good deeds earn rewards; mistakes naturally require accepting punishment."
"I am Vash's teacher. His behavior overstepped the teacher-student relationship. It was wrong and needed correction."
"Considering I'd never taught him knowledge about male-female physiology or proper etiquette for teacher-student interactions, after the punishment, the matter was done."
"How did you punish him?" Yu Qingtu pressed.
"Five days confinement with medication supply suspended during that period."
"I see..." Yu Qingtu fell into silent thought.
Yet she still felt something was strange.
Regarding matters between sexes, most men could figure things out without being taught, plus there were so many ways to acquire related knowledge.
Even if Ruan Mei didn't teach him, understanding gender differences wasn't particularly difficult.
Moreover, with that fellow's personality, he really didn't seem like someone who'd have the audacity to commit such an offense.