A few days later, when school officially started, Jiang Ling adjusted her mindset and put that wild night completely behind her. Initially, she had worried that Xu Zhilin was a professor in the Mathematics Department at their university, which could cause problems. Later, she heard from He Nan that he was indeed a Mathematics professor, but not at their school.

It was just that with his looks, he had gathered a group of fangirls at their university.

Appreciation for handsome men truly knows no national boundaries, Jiang Ling thought.

After finishing her morning classes, Jiang Ling was walking out while searching for nearby food on her phone when she received a call from He Nan.

During her first few days here, she had been so disoriented by that so-called “spring night” that she hadn’t been in the mood to make new friends. Only recently had she discovered that He Nan was incredibly cool.

Great figure, great personality, and attitude—Jiang Ling had never met such a cool girl before.

“Hello?” Jiang Ling answered the phone. “I just finished class. Where are you?”

He Nan gave her an address.

He Nan was studying dance, and the two colleges weren’t far apart. Jiang Ling took a parasol from her backpack and walked over. From a distance, she saw He Nan in tight practice clothes, showing off her slim waist and long legs, with a guy trying to chat her up beside her.

As soon as Jiang Ling approached, she heard He Nan say, “Sorry, I already have a boyfriend.”

The guy had no choice but to leave sheepishly.

Jiang Ling watched his retreating figure, clicked her tongue twice, and tilted her head toward He Nan: “When did you get a boyfriend? How come I don’t know about it?”

He Nan put her arm around Jiang Ling’s neck and leaned on her: “I don’t have one. I’m happily single. How could I get into a relationship so quickly during this precious study abroad experience?”

Jiang Ling snickered: “Then what are you planning to do? Study hard?”

He Nan laughed, spat playfully, and leaned in with a suggestive wink: “Learn from you.”

“…” Jiang Ling got goosebumps from those whispered words.

He Nan continued: “Sleep with a few handsome guys first.”

“…”

The next few days passed peacefully. Jiang Ling wasn’t busy with coursework. One day, she woke up at noon to find the apartment empty.

She only got up when she was too hungry to bear it anymore and went to the kitchen.

In the refrigerator were some frozen steaks that their apartment’s cooking goddess, Chris, had bought previously.

Jiang Ling pan-fried one for herself. It didn’t taste great, just barely edible.

After filling her stomach and studying for a while, in the afternoon, she received an invitation from He Nan for a gathering. She said it was organized by one of her seniors, and everyone attending was a Chinese student studying abroad.

“I don’t know anyone there. Why should I go?” Jiang Ling said.

He Nan earnestly replied: “Baby, you can’t reject these kinds of gatherings because of one mistake. It’s just about meeting more people.”

For the next five minutes, He Nan demonstrated her excellent persuasive skills, analyzing the pros and cons, and successfully convinced Jiang Ling to attend the gathering.

Jiang Ling didn’t dislike such gatherings. She had always been the type who enjoyed lively events. If she hadn’t encountered Xu Zhilin earlier, she would probably have been out having fun with He Nan by now.

The gathering was at a proper club. Jiang Ling pulled out a dress from her closet.

Being in a foreign country and hearing so many people gathered together speaking Chinese was incredibly comforting.

As soon as He Nan arrived, she displayed her talent as a social butterfly and quickly forgot all about Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling wasn’t particularly shy, so she got some food and found a seat, occasionally chatting with the people around her.

Suddenly, the crowd became lively, and everyone’s voices grew louder.

Jiang Ling heard the girls sitting next to her discussing animatedly.

“Isn’t that the Mathematics Department’s heartthrob professor? I didn’t hear he was coming.”

“Is it him? Wasn’t it said that he rarely attends these kinds of social gatherings?”

“Could he be looking for his girlfriend? Didn’t someone say they saw kiss marks on his neck before?”

Jiang Ling was startled.

Only now did she realize that Xu Zhilin might already have a girlfriend. After all, considering his age, it would be perfectly normal for someone like him to have a steady girlfriend.

So that night… had she slept with a married man??

“…” Jiang Ling felt like she could die from shame on moral grounds.

Jiang Ling sneakily looked toward the crowd. Now seeing Xu Zhilin while sober and relatively calm, he appeared almost unchanged from her high school memories, showing no signs of aging whatsoever. Jiang Ling didn’t know how she had found the courage to approach him that night.

She covered her face with one hand and asked the girl next to her: “Does this professor have a girlfriend?”

“Nobody knows for sure. It’s a mystery,” the girl replied, also covering her face and speaking softly as if exchanging intelligence. “About half a month ago, someone saw kiss marks on the professor’s neck. There were supposedly several of them. Tsk, tsk, quite passionate.”

Jiang Ling counted the days on her fingers.

“…”

Oh, I see.

Jiang Ling figured out who this mysterious girlfriend they were talking about was.

Despite the embarrassment, she felt relieved. At least she hadn’t complicated things by actually sleeping with a married man.

Jiang Ling couldn’t quite describe her current feelings toward Xu Zhilin. Their reunion had started with such a dramatic event that now, whenever she saw Xu Zhilin, her first reactions were embarrassment and shame, followed by only a tiny bit of heart fluttering and butterflies in her stomach.

Jiang Ling carefully examined her feelings and confirmed that the heart fluttering and butterflies were indeed just a tiny bit.

After all, his good looks were undeniable.

This is completely normal, Jiang Ling told herself.

She was lost in her thoughts when suddenly, the girl sitting next to her tapped her hand twice.

“Ah!” Jiang Ling jumped in her seat.

“Hey, that Mathematics professor seems to have been looking at you for quite a while,” the girl said with a gossipy expression. “Do you know him? Are you also from the Mathematics Department?”

“How could that be possible!” Jiang Ling instinctively denied quickly, then realized her reaction might have been excessive and forcibly added, “I’m studying literature.”

Her voice had suddenly risen, causing several people nearby to look at her.

Jiang Ling felt like her cover was about to be blown by their inquisitive gazes. She gave an awkward smile and slid off her chair: “Um, I need to use the restroom…”

Rapid water flow created a layer of fine bubbles on the back of her hand. Jiang Ling slowly finished washing, grabbed a paper towel to dry her hands, and stared blankly at herself in the mirror.

After mentally preparing herself for quite some time, she finally walked back out.

The corridor lights in the club weren’t very bright. As soon as Jiang Ling stepped out, she saw Xu Zhilin coming around the corner.

Had she fallen into a game of cat and mouse?

Just as she had slipped out of the room, turning a corner, she encountered the big cat Xu Zhilin again.

Jiang Ling quickly lowered her head, her heart pounding. With her not completely dry hands, she adjusted her hair, bringing her long locks from behind her back to the front to cover the sides of her face.

He can’t see me.

He can’t see me.

He can’t see me.

…

While mentally chanting this, Jiang Ling quickened her pace and even closed her eyes as she sidled past Xu Zhilin.

Then her arm was encircled by a slightly cool touch.

Xu Zhilin gripped her wrist and pulled her to the side of the corridor.

Actually…

Jiang Ling silently hung her head with wide eyes.

Bro, don’t you feel awkward at all???

From above her head came Xu Zhilin’s light chuckle, lazily saying: “Avoiding me, huh?”

“…”

Shameless Xu Zhilin! After such an embarrassing incident, he could still be so casual! Jiang Ling felt certain that her previous impression of him must have been wrong somewhere.

Hearing no response from her, Xu Zhilin raised an eyebrow: “Afraid of me?”

Jiang Ling was provoked into raising her head: “Afraid of you? As if!”

Xu Zhilin looked at her for a moment. The girl was tilting her head up, face and ears flushed as she retorted, looking like a small tiger with its fur standing on end. He lowered his gaze, and after a moment, leaned against the wall and smiled.

“Alright, not afraid then.”

Jiang Ling was contemplating how to find an excuse to slip away when she heard Xu Zhilin suddenly ask: “Have you been feeling well recently?”

She looked up: “Huh?”

Someone suddenly passed by. Xu Zhilin didn’t speak but pulled Jiang Ling’s arm to move a bit further inward. After the person had passed, he said in a low voice: “Did you feel unwell after that night?”

“…” Jiang Ling’s heart thumped a couple of times. Discussing this topic in such an environment gave her a strange yet intimate feeling. She said softly, “I’m not pregnant, don’t worry.”

She hadn’t taken the morning-after pill later, but still wasn’t at ease. After all, using protection wasn’t 100% effective for preventing pregnancy. So a few days ago, she had bought a pregnancy test kit and confirmed she wasn’t pregnant.

Her words treated Xu Zhilin as a scoundrel who would be afraid of taking responsibility after sleeping with her. The man frowned slightly but didn’t continue the topic. Instead, he took out his phone and handed it to her.

“Let’s exchange WeChat. If you encounter any problems here and need help, you can find me,” Xu Zhilin said.

Xu Zhilin had a certain quality in his speech, the same quality that emanated from him—gentlemanly and refined—making people unconsciously follow his suggestions without suspecting any hidden agenda in his words.

Despite feeling awkward, Jiang Ling didn’t refuse. She said “Oh” and took out her phone from her pocket.

They added each other as friends.

Xu Zhilin’s WeChat was simple. His profile picture was a cat, and his WeChat name was simply the three characters “Xu Zhilin.”

Jiang Ling realized her WeChat name the moment she saw his: “Dream of 800 Million Young Men.”

“…” How could she have forgotten about that?

She looked up. Xu Zhilin had a smile at the corner of his mouth, his gaze on his phone. Then his slender, bony fingers tapped the screen twice, presumably changing her contact name to “Jiang Ling.”

After finishing, Xu Zhilin put his phone back in his pocket and looked at her, saying gently, “Feel free to contact me if you need anything. I’ve been here for quite a few years and am familiar with the city. After all, I was once your mathematics teacher. No need to be so formal.”

At that, Jiang Ling gave him a 90-degree bow, accompanied by: “Thank you, Teacher Xu.”

Xu Zhilin: “…”