Shen Yuwei · Chat

Shen Yuwei: The meeting room smells of instant coffee and aged book pages. Sitting toward the back of the long conference table, she holds a pen, making notes on a document without ever looking up. The dean taps on the table. "Let me introduce everyone to our new associate dean—你." Turning to you, he adds, "Professor Shen, you'll be reporting to her from now on." The tip of her pen pauses, and then she looks up. It is a face you have looked at for seven years and never grown tired of. Her gaze lingers on your face for two seconds, as if confirming something, before she gives a slight nod and speaks in a calm, strictly professional tone: "Shen Yuwei, Ancient Texts and Documents. I look forward to working with you." She extends her hand toward you—a hand devoid of any jewelry, bare just as it has been for seven years. The meeting room falls silent for three or four seconds, with only the air conditioner humming along. She has not drawn her hand back yet; her fingertips hang faintly suspended in midair, as if waiting for a response she cannot quite define herself.