“…”

Jiang Ling hid behind her phone and mentally rolled her eyes at He Nan as her fingers quickly tapped on the screen.

*Get lost, we just have a pure teacher-student relationship.*

*Yeah, right, after rolling in bed together, how pure could it be? Can’t you see Professor Xu has a human face but a beast’s heart?*

*I’m pure on my side. Professor Xu says he wants to pursue me [grinning] [grinning]*

Jiang Ling typed out the messages rapidly and tapped send.

He Nan: ????

He Nan: You’re amazing, friend. From now on, I’ll have to call you “big sister.”

He Nan: But pursuing is one thing—don’t tell me you’re sitting across from Professor Xu right now, hugging your phone and smiling like a lovesick fool?

“…”

After reading the message, Jiang Ling’s stretched smile gradually faded. Her face had become stiff from smiling so much.

She lowered her phone slightly to reveal her eyes and saw Xu Zhilin sitting across from her, leaning casually against the chair back and watching her with an amused expression.

Noticing her gaze, Xu Zhilin asked in a calm voice, “Who are you chatting with that makes you so happy?”

Jiang Ling had no choice but to make up an excuse: “…My roommate was telling me a joke.”

“Oh, I thought it might be that young man from last time,” he said placidly.

It took Jiang Ling a moment to understand which young man he meant, and she hurriedly said, “No, that guy and I…” Halfway through, she realized something was off.

Xu Zhilin was now pursuing her, so why was she rushing to explain?

Besides, Xu Zhilin and that woman at the airport also had an ambiguous relationship.

Jiang Ling snorted, “Anyway, it’s not him.”

In the following days, Jiang Ling had an event to attend at her university department.

On Friday, she got up early to help set up the venue with everyone else. He Nan had no morning classes and had nothing better to do, so she tagged along.

The venue setup required balloons. The two of them chatted while stepping on air pumps, with many colorful balloons of various shapes scattered on the ground.

During this time, two young men came over to chat with He Nan and ask for her phone number, but she turned them both down.

The two guys who approached them were from the same department as Jiang Ling, and she recognized them. “You’re incredible. One of those you rejected is supposedly the department heartthrob.”

He Nan smiled indifferently, “Oh.”

While they were chatting, a group of girls suddenly let out excited cries. Jiang Ling turned toward the sound and saw a familiar figure.

The man stood outside the venue in the corridor, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, his gaze calmly looking in.

“That man outside is so handsome!!! Is he from our department?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him before. If our department had such a handsome guy, how could we not know his name?”

“I think he’s a math professor from the neighboring school. He’s very famous. I heard many girls attend his math classes just for him!”

“Yes, yes, that’s him! Professor Xu!! I saw him a few days ago when I went to the neighboring school to visit my boyfriend!!”

“But why is he at our department? Is he looking for someone?”

“There are only students in the venue now, and most of them study literature, which has no connection to the math department.”

Amidst the surrounding discussions, He Nan nudged Jiang Ling with her elbow, grinning.

Xu Zhilin’s gaze fell on Jiang Ling. He raised his hand, lowered his wrist, and waved at her.

Jiang Ling quickly ran outside.

“Are you looking for me?” Seeing him suddenly at her school made Jiang Ling unusually shy.

“Yes.” Xu Zhilin looked down at her, then glanced at the venue beside them. He casually stepped forward, blocking the searching gazes from inside, and said calmly, “I had some business at your school and thought I’d come see you.”

“How did you know I was here?” Jiang Ling asked.

Xu Zhilin waved his phone. “I saw your Moments.”

After initially hiding her Moments from Xu Zhilin, Jiang Ling had unhidden them not long after, though she had deleted all her previous ramblings.

Xu Zhilin was at the school for a research project. Dropping by to see Jiang Ling was a spontaneous decision while he was in the area. Seeing that she was busy, he didn’t suggest having a meal together.

He smiled and nodded toward the venue, saying, “You can continue with your work. Should I pick you up tonight?”

Jiang Ling nodded with a smile. “Sure.”

Somehow, news about the math department’s ascetic Professor Xu coming to the literature department to find a girl spread quickly. Jiang Ling felt that when it came to gossip, the whole world shared one mind, all very enthusiastic.

Gossip was the universal spiritual food of people worldwide.

Since the start of the semester, Jiang Ling had already met quite a few people. When a photo of the two of them talking in the corridor surfaced, her WeChat was bombarded with messages, almost causing her phone to crash. Jiang Ling could only happily respond: “Yes, that’s me.”

After the event ended, Jiang Ling quite obviously abandoned her friend, waving goodbye to He Nan.

He Nan clicked her tongue and flicked Jiang Ling’s forehead with her finger. “Little one, you better be careful. Don’t be happily wagging your tail when the wolf eats you.”

Professor Xu had always been labeled as ascetic, yet now he was openly coming to find Jiang Ling at a crowded venue, and they had talked for quite a while. This was staking his claim in advance. Whether Jiang Ling accepted his pursuit or not, he was first blocking other potential suitors.

He Nan clicked her tongue again. She would never believe there was no selfishness in Professor Xu’s actions.

Only a fool like Jiang Ling would add fuel to the fire by proudly confirming to others that yes, it was her.

Such a hopeless fool.

Jiang Ling ignored her and happily walked out of the department building on tiptoe. Xu Zhilin had already parked his car outside and was leaning against it, looking down at his phone, his long legs eye-catching.

Since Xu Zhilin had seen that she enjoyed Chinese food last time, he drove to a Chinese restaurant quite far away, run by Chinese people.

While Jiang Ling was replying to messages, she asked, “Everyone now knows you came to my school to find me. Will that affect you?”

“It won’t have any impact,” Xu Zhilin said with a faint smile. “I’m almost 30. What’s wrong with pursuing a girl?”

“…”

Jiang Ling had no idea how he could say such a thing so casually.

She finally nodded and said seriously, “Okay.”

After dinner, Xu Zhilin drove her home. At the entrance to the apartment, it was still early, and the daylight hours were longer here, so it was still bright. Jiang Ling recalled He Nan’s teasing and said to Xu Zhilin:

“I’ll go up by myself. It’s still light outside.”

Xu Zhilin didn’t insist, responding with an “Mm” and a nod. But as Jiang Ling opened the door, he pulled her back.

He leaned over and took out a box from behind, handing it to her. “Here.”

Jiang Ling froze. “What’s this?”

Xu Zhilin: “A gift.”

Jiang Ling was quite delighted to accept it, but didn’t dare to open it in front of him. With a flushed face, she said “Thank you” and ran back to her apartment, only opening it after closing her bedroom door.

Inside the small black box was a pair of earrings, very similar in style to those Jiang Ling had left at his home before. They were extremely simple, but the ones Xu Zhilin gave her were small pink diamonds, exquisitely beautiful.

Jiang Ling went to the mirror, removed the earrings she was wearing, and held the pink diamond ones next to her earlobes to see how they looked.

Not ready to wear them yet, Jiang Ling carefully placed them back in the small box.

After showering, she lay on her bed and carefully composed a message to Xu Zhilin.

*The earrings are very pretty. Thank you.*

Not long after, Xu Zhilin directly called her via video.

Jiang Ling had already removed her makeup while showering. A meticulous girl would never allow herself to appear completely bare-faced on camera. She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn’t bear to hang up. She turned off the light and answered.

Xu Zhilin’s face appeared on the screen. He had probably just finished showering, too, as his hair was still half-wet.

His jawline was smooth and beautiful. He wore a loose silk pajama shirt. Water droplets fell from his hair tips onto his cheeks, then slid down along his contours, streaming into his collarbone and creating a damp patch.

Jiang Ling blinked and swallowed unconsciously.

This was a bit too sexy.

Xu Zhilin looked at the screen and frowned. “Why is it so dark?”

“I’m not wearing makeup now,” Jiang Ling said softly. “You can’t see.”

He laughed, leaning back slightly. “I’ve seen you with smudged makeup before.”

“When did—” Jiang Ling started to ask, then remembered. That day in the hotel, her makeup had been heavy. They had done it several times, and later, after showering, her makeup had mostly been ruined by the steamy heat.

She quietly accused him, “But you still didn’t recognize me.”

Xu Zhilin sighed. “I had drunk too much that day, and your makeup was heavy. Later at the pharmacy, I recognized you at first glance.”

After this simple explanation, he didn’t continue the topic. “Are you wearing the earrings?”

“I tried them on.” For some reason, Jiang Ling felt her cheeks burning when discussing this in the current atmosphere. She pressed her palm against her face. “I’m not wearing them now. It’s almost bedtime.”

“Then you should sleep,” Xu Zhilin curled his lips. “Good night.”