Love
What is love
Time solidifies, and the crowd disappears.
A waist is tightly encircled by a person, with a back closely pressed in her embrace. The spring shirt is light and thin, making it easy to feel the body’s warmth and softness.
A clear, cold fragrance enters the lungs, as Lu Yinxi smells her breath, and their heartbeat gradually accelerates.
She feels real warmth, as if placed in soft cloud-like cotton, leaving her intoxicated, joyful, and floating.
Jian Qing says nothing, and Lu Yinxi also asks nothing.
She doesn’t love talking, but what she gives is more than words—a reassuring action.
With just one hug, the love buried in her heart begins to sprout, breaking through the soil, growing branches, spreading leaves, and blooming clusters of flowers.
At this moment, Lu Yinxi feels that above heaven and below earth, there could never be a better person than Jian Qing.
People come and go around them, and occasionally some amazed, curious glances glance over. Lu Yinxi returns to her senses, suddenly aware that this is a public place. Her face instantly flushes crimson, and she subconsciously pushes Jian Qing’s arm.
After briefly hugging for five seconds, Jian Qing releases her hand, grips the luggage handle beside her, and seriously opens her mouth to say, “Charging complete.”
Without overly literary thoughts, holding her feels like being a charging phone, with the battery level being filled grid by grid.
Lu Yinxi comprehends the meaning behind Jian Qing’s words, and in her heart, fireworks bloom with a “bang bang bang.”
This person is truly adorable to the extreme.
She turns around and asks, “Are you a fast charger?”
Jian Qing nods and replies, “I’m highly efficient.”
Lu Yinxi looks at Jian Qing without speaking, as a smile spreads across her face.
Actually, in this kind of situation, efficiency could be a bit lower, and the hug a bit longer.
With one hand, she takes over Jian Qing’s luggage, and with the other hand, she holds the person as they walk to the opposite side of the road.
After placing the luggage in the trunk, Jian Qing sits in the driver’s seat. Lu Yinxi hesitates for a second before climbing into the passenger seat.
As the car starts, Jian Qing says, “I have a class at six thirty.”
Lu Yinxi lifts her wrist to look at her watch and says, “It’s now five thirty-five. From here to Jiang University, it’s a five-minute car journey.”
Jian Qing replies, “I have a class in room 502 on the 5th floor of building number 3. It takes ten minutes to get from the Jiang University gate to building number 3.”
Lu Yinxi calculates for a moment and says, “Then, to arrive five minutes early to the classroom, it takes a total of twenty minutes.”
They can still be alone together for thirty-five minutes.
Jian Qing turns her head and asks, “Have you eaten?”
Lu Yinxi also turns her head and sighs, “No.”
She thinks that if one day she and Jian Qing fall in love, they might also be like this—carefully calculating every meeting, with their time alone together often including meals.
Being a doctor and an actor, both are occupations so busy that they almost have no time for themselves.
As they enter the campus, outside the car window, students come and go continuously, and the air is filled with the atmosphere of youth.
Lu Yinxi looks at those students and thinks that if they had known each other during their student days, they would certainly have had much more time together. They could have studied together in the evenings, shopped on weekends, and traveled together during winter and summer vacations…
This thought is really too greedy. As she keeps thinking, Lu Yinxi withdraws her gaze and smiles silently.
Jian Qing turns her head to look at her.
Lu Yinxi shakes her head and doesn’t explain anything.
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How could she explain?
She dreams of bringing Jian Qing into her own world, imagines their encounter in the real world, envisions their past student days together, and wants to include Jian Qing in her future plans.
She wants to spend her lifetime with her.
“Why do we ask what love is in this world?
Scientific research on love began in the 1980s. Humans set traps to capture prairie voles and often found them in pairs. Scientists then installed trackers on the prairie voles, tracked their behavior, and discovered that voles are rare ‘monogamous’ mammals[1].
This means that when one male vole meets one female vole, after mating and reproducing, the two voles, like humans, form a family, live together, jointly care for their young, and spend the rest of their lives together.”
In building number 3, room 502, the classroom is brightly lit, with no empty seats.
On the PPT, images of voles and scientific research literature were displayed. Jian Qing followed Lu Yinxi’s suggestion, combining ancient poetry with medical and biological knowledge, while the students listened attentively.
“Of course, like humans, some voles remain faithful until the end, some are fickle, and some form partner relationships but then have relationships with other voles and help raise other voles’ pups.”
As these words landed, the classroom erupted in laughter.
Lu Yinxi also smiled slightly.
After the students stopped laughing, Jian Qing continued, slowly explaining, “Neuroendocrinologist Sue Carter further researched and discovered that the secret of voles’ faithfulness comes from a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland in their brains—oxytocin. It helps establish an attachment and trust relationship, making one loyal[1].”
On the PPT, the molecular structure model of oxytocin was displayed.
“Our human bodies also contain oxytocin. Everyone should have learned about its function; it’s also a commonly used obstetric drug that promotes uterine smooth muscle contraction and facilitates childbirth.”
Students in the elective course come from various medical specialties, including clinical, anesthesia, imaging, and laboratory fields.
Mostly first-year and second-year students, they are enthusiastically learning physiology, biochemistry, and other basic medical knowledge.
“Humans also release oxytocin during the process of falling in love. During hugging and sexual activity, oxytocin levels rise significantly. Therefore, after physical contact and the occurrence of a relationship, the attachment between couples strengthens[2].”
Jian Qing, on stage, seriously explains, while Lu Yinxi sits below, thinking about the hug at the subway station entrance, her ears silently turning red.
“In addition, some studies show that after hugging and sexual activity, the testosterone levels in women’s bodies will immediately increase.
Adrenaline levels in the human body rise, causing physiological reactions such as nervousness and sweating when encountering one’s beloved.
Changes in serotonin cause thoughts about the lover to continuously flood your mind, which is commonly known as ‘missing’ someone.
The increase in dopamine is behaviorally manifested as increased energy, a reduced need for sleep or food, focused attention, and allows individuals in love to find joy in the details of the relationship. In other words, the phrase ‘love makes one feel full’ has some scientific basis[2][3].”
“Ask the world what is love? In the field of biomedical science, love can be seen as a chemical reaction involving the combined effects of hormones and neurotransmitters like oxytocin, testosterone, adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin.”
“Love is the result of a chemical reaction, but the difference between humans and other animals is that humans are social beings who learn, are educated, and are influenced by culture. Love involving humans is not merely a chemical reaction.
Professor Sternberg proposed the triangular theory of love in 1988, suggesting that love consists of three components: passion, intimacy, and commitment.
Passion is a strong desire to unite with the other person, mainly manifested as sexual activity. Self-esteem, care, belonging, dominance, and submission are also sources that awaken the experience of passion.
Intimacy is an experience of feeling close and warm between two people. It includes mutual liking, respect, understanding, sharing, support, helping, communication, and cherishing each other[4].”
Speaking at this point, she paused for a moment and sipped some warm water.
Lu Yinxi listened and couldn’t help but apply every point to herself.
Jian Qing continued, “At your age, liking someone and desiring to touch them is very normal, but only when it’s based on mutual liking—respecting, understanding, and cherishing the other—can an intimate relationship be established. Otherwise, regardless of gender or orientation, one-sided touching that ignores the other’s wishes is indecent, constitutes harassment, and is a crime.”
She was guiding the students’ values.
The students below were laughing again.
In medical school, discussing sex is not shameful. Students from the public health school even conduct surveys on university students’ sexual concepts and behaviors, but the students still show a knowing smile.
Jian Qing quietly waited for the students to finish laughing, then turned her gaze to Lu Yinxi.
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During class, she mostly tends to look at the computer on the podium or at the students in the front row.
Lu Yinxi, sitting in the last row, sensed Jian Qing’s gaze and instantly felt the air become stiflingly warm.
Jian Qing looked at her and calmly said, “Commitment consists of two aspects: short-term and long-term. Short-term involves making the decision whether or not to love a person[4].”
Her eyes are very beautiful, deep and bright, as if containing thousands of stars.
Her voice is also pleasant, cool, and magnetic, reaching the ears and sinking into the heart, irresistibly savoring it repeatedly.
Clearly, it is a narration without emotional color, but when the word “love” enters her ears, Lu Yinxi feels her heart trembling.
She shifted her gaze away, not daring to meet Jian Qing’s eyes again.
Jian Qing also shifted her gaze, looking down at the computer screen: “Long-term involves making the commitment to maintain this love relationship, including loyalty and a sense of responsibility towards love[4].”
“As two people get along, over time, the hormones in the body may return to normal levels, but it does not mean the disappearance of love. The intimate relationship built between them, along with the loyalty and responsibility in the commitment, are the best medicine for maintaining a long-term relationship.”
In a class session with the theme of poetry appreciation, Jian Qing spent nearly half of the time explaining biomedical knowledge.
Discussing poetic metaphors and allusions might not interest the students, but young people around twenty years old, in their prime, are most interested in love and relationships, listening with great enthusiasm.
After class, Lu Yinxi was still pondering the meaningful commitment Jian Qing had mentioned while looking at her:
— Making the decision to love or not love a person.
If, in the real world, it is confirmed that both minds are connected, then making a commitment is not far away.
But…
What stands between the two is not the question of love or not.
The black sedan drives through the campus, with Lu Yinxi sitting in the passenger seat, gazing at the night scene of the campus.
On the campus, there is no busy traffic, no neon lights, only dense shadows of lush forests, and the sounds of insects and birds.
Jian Qing quietly drives the vehicle, while Lu Yinxi gazes at her reflection in the car window.
Very faint.
That silhouette sits upright, spine straight, seemingly even straighter than the pine trees outside the window.
As the car passes through a dimly lit area, the reflection in the window becomes clearer.
Lu Yinxi, unable to resist, reaches out to cover that silhouette.
The person in the driver’s seat suddenly spoke: “You can touch the real thing.”
Saying that, she extended her right hand over.
Lu Yinxi was embarrassed for a second, turned around with red-tipped ears, patted her hand back, and softly scolded her: “Drive safely!”
Jian Qing withdrew her hand, eyes straight ahead, seriously driving.
The car left the campus and entered a residential complex.
It was not a high-end complex, just an ordinary residential area.
From the outside, it looked a bit old.
Lu Yinxi asked: “How do you have so many properties?”
Not involved in any illegal or criminal activities, right?
Jian Qing explained: “When I was studying, I rented a room here. The landlord was an elderly lady living alone. After living for a while, she waived my rent, and I took care of her. After I graduated and returned to the country, she got cancer, and I supported and took care of her. She sold the house to me below market price.”
She entered the hospital through talent recruitment, and according to policy, received a substantial settling-in allowance upon employment, enough to buy a second-hand house in the suburbs below market price.
Lu Yinxi nodded.
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The house is about one hundred square meters, with three rooms and one living room, and two of the rooms were locked.
After showering, Lu Yinxi dried her hair and walked to one of the locked rooms, tugging at the lock but couldn’t open it.
With no other choice, she entered the only unlocked bedroom.
The bedroom was brightly lit. Jian Qing wore a black robe, with her hair tucked behind her ear, half-leaning against the headboard, eyes focused on reading, looking both cool and refined.
While drying her hair, Lu Yinxi told Jian Qing: “Teacher Jian, that room over there is locked, and I can’t get in. Where’s the key?”
Jian Qing raised her eyes, slightly tilted her head, her ear moved a bit, and said: “Lost it.” She lifted the blanket, revealing a large space, and said, “This bed is one meter eighty.”
The author has something to say:
Jian Qing (a little happy): The bed is big enough.
References:
[1] Cui Yuanyuan. “Mate Behavior of Prairie Voles” [J]. Exploration of Nature, 2014(08):34-40.
[2] Fu Yang, Zhou Yuan, Liang Zhuyuan. “The Neurophysiological Mechanism of Love” [J]. Science Bulletin, 2012, 57(35):3376-3383.
[3] van Anders S. M., Hamilton L. D., Schmidt N., et al. “Associations between testosterone secretion and sexual activity in women.” Horm Behav, 2007, 51:477–482.
[4] Sternberg R. J. “The Triangle of Love: Intimacy, Passion, Commitment.” New York: Yale University, 1988.