The campus was bathed in bright sunlight, and the leaves of several late-blooming cherry trees swayed in the wind.

This time, Pei Chuan didn’t keep his back turned writing on the board the whole time. He would write a section, then face the students and lecture for a bit.

Most of the gazes looking up at him from below the podium were very focused. Pei Chuan’s eyes skimmed over immature face after immature face—they all carried the vitality and energy of people who hadn’t yet entered society.

Youthful eyes full of hope for the future.

Pei Chuan didn’t particularly like these kinds of eyes. During those years in prison, most of the eyes he’d seen were obscure and difficult to describe, full of life’s bitterness and suffering. So much so that when he occasionally looked in the mirror, he could also see in his own eyes a composure that didn’t match his age.

Having seen so much obscurity, when he suddenly saw countless bright eyes, he sometimes felt he didn’t fit in.

Actually, he wasn’t much older than them, but having experienced too much, the longing had been washed away from his eyes, making them obscure and difficult to read.

His gaze finally settled on Bei Yao.

For the first time in all these years, he walked into a classroom to look at her—just like those summer afternoons in May when they were young. She was just as young and moving as everyone else. The only difference was that when he looked at her, the emotions in his eyes gently unfolded.

Everyone noticed that during this class, Professor Pei’s lecturing voice unconsciously dropped two tones, and his tone was no longer so calm and even.

His handwriting was more beautiful than most teachers’. His shirt sleeves were slightly rolled up, revealing a section of solid forearm.

Qin Dongni loved gossip the most and had come to join the excitement and attend class precisely to see the gossip. However, Pei Chuan’s class was very quiet—no one dared to speak, so Qin Dongni also felt too embarrassed to talk.

When she and Bei Yao came, they had brought medical school books and notebooks.

Qin Dongni thought for a moment, then wrote on paper: Yao Yao, this professor has a really great physique!

After writing, she passed it to Bei Yao. Bei Yao looked at this sentence and froze. Then she also looked toward Pei Chuan.

In her eyes, she had never thought about physique or anything like that. She liked the feeling of being with Pei Chuan. However, seeing Qin Dongni’s words, she suddenly remembered the feeling from that night when Pei Chuan unbuttoned his collar and placed her hand on his chest.

Bei Yao looked at Pei Chuan.

His shirt was very thin, and she could faintly make out his solid muscle definition—broad shoulders, narrow waist. Because he used to practice boxing, every inch of muscle was very powerful.

She stared blankly, as if understanding for the first time that mixed into love and desire was also this kind of physical aesthetic appreciation. She inexplicably felt somewhat flushed.

Qin Dongni saw the rosy color on her roommate’s cheeks and continued gossiping with her with a grin: Right? Right? Very masculine. From my experience, he definitely has pecs and abs!

Bei Yao felt ashamed watching this. When would Qin Dongni’s habit of critiquing physiques ever change! When she first came to university and changed into pajamas, Qin Dongni had seen the exquisite curves rising from her chest and her eyes went straight: “You look so thin, but you’re a C-cup!”

At that time, the whole dorm had looked over. Bei Yao had frozen, her face turning red all at once. Qin Dongni’s eyes were viciously sharp!

Now Bei Yao simply wanted to cover her roommate’s eyes looking at Pei Chuan. She quickly wrote back on the paper: Stop it, don’t look at him, read your book!

Qin Dongni wrote: Don’t be shy, just looking.

The two of them were making these small movements, and Pei Chuan standing above could naturally see them.

He lowered his eyes slightly. Was he lecturing too dryly? However, he simply wasn’t the smooth and tactful type of personality and could only continue teaching.

The male student in gray clothes sitting next to them who had given up his seat earlier couldn’t help but turn his head to secretly look at Bei Yao.

He was sitting right next to her. The girl beside him smelled fragrant—not the kind of perfume scent, but a lighter, subtler fragrance.

The male student immediately saw Bei Yao’s slightly flushed face. He had also heard rumors about Bei Yao before—supposedly she had a boyfriend who had been in prison, but no one had ever seen him! Maybe they’d broken up long ago!

The male student also saw them passing notes. His heart stirred, thinking it was rare to be this close to the campus beauty, so he also quickly wrote: “Bei Yao, can you give me your phone number?”

After writing, he pushed it in front of Bei Yao.

Bei Yao looked at the computer science textbook that had appeared before her, turning her head in surprise to look at the male student beside her.

Pei Chuan pressed his lips together.

He said: “The male student in gray in the third row, what are the principles and procedures for ColjureDSL automatic parsing configuration?”

The whole class looked over at once.

Everyone was somewhat shocked. Honestly, Professor Pei’s teaching had always been in cold, standalone mode. When he lectured, he just lectured—he didn’t care whether you were listening or whether you understood at all. He didn’t interact with students and didn’t ask questions. This was his first time asking a question.

The male student who was still waiting for Bei Yao’s answer was dumbfounded, discovering that the entire grade was looking at him.

He stood up, and that panic of being called on by a teacher suddenly surged up.

He vaguely heard the question, but what kind of ghost question was Professor Pei asking! Who the hell knew this!

Pei Chuan spoke coldly: “Don’t pass notes during class.” After saying this, he turned around to write on the board.

The male student stood there awkwardly, his face turning completely red all at once. If he’d been caught in any other teacher’s class, it absolutely wouldn’t be this embarrassing. However, this professor’s class on the podium was very rare, and he’d been caught slacking off—it was especially embarrassing! Plus, Pei Chuan’s class was linked to grades. He was done for—he’d definitely fail this course.

The male student sat down dejectedly. He still couldn’t help but look at Bei Yao and Qin Dongni with a bit of grievance.

Why were they so indulged by the professor when they passed notes? He’d only written one sentence and was called out!

Qin Dongni had been scared into a cold sweat by that “don’t pass notes” statement.

When this professor got serious, his temper really didn’t seem very good!

She knew that just now Professor Pei must have seen her and Bei Yao passing the notebook. She somewhat awkwardly lowered her head to stare at her book, not daring to pass notes anymore.

Bei Yao half-covered her face, also feeling very ashamed.

Attending her own man’s class, she had actually gotten distracted because of Qin Dongni’s comment about his physique, and had been seen doing it.

When the dismissal bell rang, no one rushed to leave.

Pei Chuan said: “Class dismissed.”

Only then did everyone stand up and leave one after another.

Outside the window, the slanting rays of the setting sun shone in. Bei Yao wore a light cherry-blossom-colored short-sleeved shirt, her half-exposed arms tender and white.

The second half of class had been extremely difficult for Qin Dongni to endure—she studied medicine! She couldn’t understand it!

Now that class was finally over, Qin Dongni quickly said: “Yao Yao, let’s go, let’s go.”

Her words had barely fallen when Professor Pei walked over.

Looking closer, Qin Dongni felt even more that this man was young. His features were rugged with a kind of cold aloofness that seemed inhuman. As he walked over, the people still in the classroom all froze and didn’t leave, secretly watching.

Qin Dongni thought: We’re done for! This professor isn’t so petty that he’d only pursue the matter of them writing notes in class after school, is he?

Professor Pei pressed his lips together. Qin Dongni heard him ask Bei Yao: “Didn’t you understand?”

Bei Yao lifted her face, looking at the man’s dark eyes. She honestly nodded.

Professor Pei’s class—even professionals couldn’t understand it. Having never studied this at all, naturally she understood even less.

His tone lowered: “Which part didn’t you understand? I can explain.”

Bei Yao looked at him blankly. If she said she didn’t understand any of it, would that disappoint him? This was his first time teaching, wasn’t it?

Bei Yao searched hard through her memory: “What is GPL?”

The man said: “An abbreviation for general-purpose language.” He supplemented with the simplest explanation: “C, Java, Python—these all belong to GPL.”

Bei Yao understood C and Java. She nodded and smiled sweetly, tilting her head: “Thank you, Professor Pei.”

He didn’t speak, only looked at her.

At that time, there were still quite a few students scattered throughout the classroom, including the Computer Science department’s beauty, a girl named Duan You.

Everyone’s gazes at Duan You held some sympathy, but also quite a bit of schadenfreude. So the professor wasn’t averse to women after all—he just preferred the prettiest ones.

If anyone else had dared to ask the simple question Bei Yao asked, they would have been shot down long ago.

Duan You’s expression had turned ugly!

During class, she’d also seen Qin Dongni pass notes to Bei Yao! This man actually didn’t care! It was a completely indulgent attitude.

Bei Yao stood up: “Class is over. Do you want to go eat with me?”

Her voice was very soft and sweet. Those who hadn’t left looked toward Professor Pei.

The man seemed to have been waiting for these words. He said: “Mm.”

The classroom was quiet.

Never mind the others—even Qin Dongni’s eyeballs were about to pop out!

Pei Chuan walked out of the classroom first to wait for Bei Yao.

In early May summer, looking down from the teaching building, the university bathed in the setting sun was exceptionally gentle.

His young and handsome face silently looked toward the more distant athletic field.

Some people were running, some were freely kicking soccer balls. The entire university, besides its deep cultural foundation, also had the vitality of youth being freely expressed.

Bei Yao said goodbye to Qin Dongni and walked to Pei Chuan’s side. She followed his gaze and suddenly remembered that winter in their senior year of high school when Pei Chuan had told her to have a good time at university.

At that time, he had already been prepared to turn himself in.

She felt somewhat heartbroken.

She grasped the man’s slender fingers: “Let me take you to eat in the cafeteria, okay?”

Pei Chuan said: “Mm.”

The Computer Science College had a cafeteria not far from this teaching building, nestled behind lush trees.

Bei Yao took two trays and led him to get food.

The cafeteria food was very ordinary, but the atmosphere was lively.

She knew Pei Chuan wasn’t picky about food. She got him several different types of meat and vegetables, then pulled him to sit by the window.

Students came and went. Pei Chuan rarely ate in such a lively environment.

Bei Yao was a picky eater. Pei Chuan sat quietly, picking out the celery used for seasoning from her tray and putting it on his own tray, then putting the eggplant from his tray onto hers.

Apart from those in Computer Science, few knew this was that professor.

Bei Yao didn’t finish her meal. Her appetite wasn’t large, and the cafeteria aunties gave generous portions. Girls with small appetites usually couldn’t finish.

Pei Chuan silently continued eating the food she couldn’t finish.

Bei Yao felt somewhat embarrassed. She said: “Don’t eat it, I’ve already eaten from it.”

He finished it in a few bites, then gently wiped the corner of her lips with a napkin, hidden laughter in his eyes.

As she watched, her heart suddenly felt very sweet too.

Pei Chuan held her hand and they strolled through the campus. The setting sun shone warmly on their bodies. Bei Yao said: “You came to teach at B University—why didn’t you tell me?”

Pei Chuan said: “You were taking exams.”

“I finished my exams last night.”

Pei Chuan was silent for a moment, then asked her: “So when are you coming home?”

She froze for several full seconds, then suddenly circled around to his front. Her almond eyes curved into crescents. Bei Yao looked up at him, her voice sweet: “Pei Chuan, did you miss me?”

At that moment, the campus breeze was gentle, the tree shadows danced, and several swallows flew lightly across the sky.

The emotions he used to bury deep were no longer difficult to speak of now. He said: “Mm, I missed you.”

Her cheeks were stained with a light pink, but her eyes shone even brighter: “How much did you miss me?”

He raised his hand and gently stroked the girl’s cheek.

So soft and tender, so precious she made him want to cherish her in the very center of his heart.

He didn’t know how to say sweet words and could only tell her calmly: “I had some insomnia.”

Marrying her was too unreal. Sometimes he was afraid that after falling asleep at night, when morning came she wouldn’t be in his arms, and then he’d discover that all of this was just a dream—that he was actually still lying on that cold, hard bed in prison. He was also afraid that Huo Xu would make some move and he wouldn’t be able to protect her in time.

Bei Yao held his fingers, her cheek gently nuzzling against them, unable to tell whether there was more joy or more shyness. Someone missing her to the point of insomnia was perhaps the most simple yet moving sweet words she’d ever heard in this lifetime.

The sun gradually set and the sky darkened somewhat. Bei Yao had earlier watched Pei Chuan gazing at the athletic field.

She said: “Let’s go walk around the athletic field.”

Many people were running on the field.

Bei Yao said softly: “I also missed you very much, from freshman year until now. At first when I couldn’t find you, I was somewhat angry. I thought, if I still can’t find you tomorrow, I won’t look anymore.”

His Adam’s apple moved.

Bei Yao continued: “But one tomorrow after another passed, and I thought, persist a little longer—what if I find you the next tomorrow? You left me twice. I definitely have to beat you up for it. But when I saw you during New Year’s, all my anger was gone, leaving only joy.”

He tightened his grip on her hand.

Bei Yao suddenly leaned close to his ear and said in a small voice: “How about we don’t go home tonight? Let’s go stay there!”

He followed where her finger was pointing. Flickering neon lights outlined several large characters.

Taicang Hotel.

He fell silent for a moment.

Bei Yao felt somewhat embarrassed. Actually, as soon as she said it, she regretted it. Fortunately it was dark and the athletic field lights weren’t bright. She lowered her head to look at her toes.

The next second, her back was against the athletic field’s protective railing.

The man’s kiss fell down.

The night was very quiet. Occasionally you could hear a few sounds of summer insects.

He braced his arms on either side of her, feeling that he’d missed too much during those four years without her.

When he left, she was still the little girl who smiled and waved at him from the bus, seemingly not understanding anything.

A Computer Science classmate jogging past doubled back after a while, utterly shocked!

Heavens! She wasn’t seeing things, was she!

The early summer night was gentle, and the lamplight was gentle too.

That Professor Pei who was supposedly sexually frigid! One hand braced against the railing, one hand clasping the back of the long-haired girl’s head in his arms, bowing his head to kiss her. The moon hid behind the clouds. The passing female student covered her face and ran away quickly.