How could Xia Xiaolan afford to buy a house?
If Xia Xiaolan was truly buying a house, the source of the money was highly suspicious. Young, beautiful girls always seemed to have shortcuts available to them. Wang Jianhua had his suspicions, but he never wanted to think too badly of Xia Xiaolan. He knew better than anyone how terrible rumors could be. Xia Xiaolan had never acted inappropriately with him, nor had she ever been involved with any of the local idlers. While Xia Xiaolan was famous for her beauty in all the surrounding villages, her standards were naturally very high!
Now that she had been admitted to Huaqing University, her standards were probably even higher.
In the most secret part of Wang Jianhua’s heart, he felt proud that Xia Xiaolan’s persistent pursuit of Ziyu showed she hadn’t forgotten him.
He came to Huaqing to find Xia Xiaolan, believing his words could influence her, wanting to give her some advice—but then he saw Xia Xiaolan chatting and laughing with Ji Jiangyuan at the school gate. Ji Jiangyuan handed her a box, which she put in her bicycle basket.
If Xia Xiaolan showed even slightly conspicuous behavior at school, people would gossip.
But this wasn’t an issue for Ji Jiangyuan. Having returned from America, it would have been strange if he weren’t well-dressed and sophisticated.
Ji Jiangyuan wore athletic wear, with Adidas’s large logo prominently displayed, and matching basketball shoes of the same brand. His entire outfit sent one clear message: I have money!
Yet Xia Xiaolan casually accepted gifts from someone like him.
Wang Jianhua was deeply troubled. Ji Jiangyuan didn’t understand—wasn’t Xiaolan’s boyfriend Instructor Zhou? Where did this new person come from? Wang Jianhua was already several years older, and when he came to Huaqing, for whatever reason, he had removed his Beijing Normal University badge. To Ji Jiangyuan, he looked completely like someone from outside academia.
Wang Jianhua disliked Ji Jiangyuan, while Ji Jiangyuan thought Wang Jianhua was mentally disturbed.
Miraculously, Xia Xiaolan understood Ji Jiangyuan’s puzzled expression and pointed to her head: “Obviously, he has problems up here.”
“Xia Xiaolan, you—”
“What? Am I wrong? If you weren’t mentally disturbed, why would you come to Huaqing to meddle in my business? Although you’re going to be my future cousin-in-law, I’ve completely cut ties with the Xia family, so naturally, I have nothing to do with you. Wang Jianhua, can you still control whether I respect myself or not? Why don’t you become a world police officer? Monitor everything from here to the other side of the Pacific—we’ll entrust you with the important task of maintaining world order! A man should be more broad-minded, do more things beneficial to the country and its people, and not be petty and narrow-minded, always focusing on others’ private affairs!”
Go back to wherever you came from.
If you have the ability, tell your father to issue her an official criticism from the Ministry of Education, stating that Xia Xiaolan is improper and indecent!
No ability?
Then don’t waste breath talking nonsense.
Xia Xiaolan was sick of these presumptuous people. Did they think they could meddle in others’ affairs just because they were brazen?
She hadn’t even settled scores with Wang Jianhua yet, and he had the nerve to appear before her!
Wang Jianhua was rendered speechless by Xia Xiaolan’s sharp words.
Ji Jiangyuan applauded in approval, saying it was well-spoken and that he thought Student Xia would be suitable for debate competitions.
Wang Jianhua took several deep breaths to suppress his anger. Seeing Xia Xiaolan laughing with another man made him very uncomfortable, but he hadn’t come to be jealous—he wanted to have a serious talk with her.
“I don’t want to argue with you, I want to talk—”
“No time.”
Xia Xiaolan got on her bicycle and left. Wang Jianhua instinctively reached for her bike, but Ji Jiangyuan blocked his way.
“I don’t care who you are, but Xia Xiaolan doesn’t want to deal with you. I think a man might lack other abilities, but he should at least be able to understand when someone’s talking to him.”
In Ji Jiangyuan’s education, Wang Jianhua’s behavior was simply inconceivable.
With Ji Jiangyuan’s interruption, Xia Xiaolan had already cycled across the street. She wasn’t trying to avoid Wang Jianhua; she was rushing to meet her boyfriend. Zhou Cheng’s workplace was in the suburbs, and it would take considerable time to cycle there. They needed time to spend together before she had to return… Every minute and second was precious, so why waste any on Wang Jianhua?
Unable to catch up with Xia Xiaolan, Wang Jianhua directed all his anger at Ji Jiangyuan.
“Are you Xiaolan’s boyfriend? Do you know…”
“Don’t know, don’t want to know. You can leave now. Coming to Huaqing to harass female students—I could completely turn you over to campus security!”
Ji Jiangyuan knew about the crime of hooliganism in China, similar to sexual harassment abroad. Would Wang Jianhua’s behavior qualify as harassment?
Wang Jianhua was filled with suppressed anger: “Tell Xia Xiaolan that now that I’m with her sister, I won’t look at anyone else. If she’s still unwilling to accept this, she should come at me directly! If she still tries to make things difficult for her sister, don’t blame me for being unpleasant!”
If Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to talk properly, why should Wang Jianhua thick-skinned try to converse!
If she did such things again in the future, Wang Jianhua wouldn’t be lenient anymore.
Ji Jiangyuan felt there was a lot to unpack here.
What was this about sisters? Xia Xiaolan and her sister fighting over this man?
Who in the world had gone crazy?
From a man’s perspective, Ji Jiangyuan thought Zhou Cheng was far better than this guy. At least Zhou Cheng acted like a real man and had capability!
Even without Zhou Cheng, there were quite a few male students at Huaqing interested in Xia Xiaolan. Why would she fixate on such an ungentlemanly old vegetable?
“…What gives you such confidence?”
Ji Jiangyuan carefully examined Wang Jianhua.
He looked somewhat familiar.
He rummaged through his bicycle basket, where he had placed some newspapers to cushion the chocolate he’d been carrying. Unfolding the crumpled newspaper, there was a photograph of Wang Jianhua.
This guy had some background after all.
Ji Jiangyuan showed his standard eight-tooth smile, “I didn’t realize. My apologies, so you’re a senior from Beijing Normal University.”
So he was a college student.
Wang Jianhua felt his back burning up. Ji Jiangyuan’s deliberate emphasis on “Beijing Normal University” made him very sensitive.
“And which school are you from? I don’t make a habit of recognizing junior schoolmates everywhere!”
Ji Jiangyuan looked like an uneducated privileged youth, as he didn’t wear his school badge outside campus. They only checked for badges inside the school. Ji Jiangyuan took out the badge from his pocket and carefully pinned it to his chest:
“I was just being polite, but you took it seriously.”
The Huaqing University badge stung Wang Jianhua’s eyes.
How could such a frivolous privileged youth get into Huaqing?
While he could only attend an ordinary normal university!
No, he hadn’t lost yet.
The university one attended didn’t completely determine their future. His father had been reinstated at the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education! With proper arrangements, his transfer to Huaqing or Peking University would be certain. Then, he wouldn’t have to endure such mockery!
Wang Jianhua clenched his fists, looking at Ji Jiangyuan as if he were his mortal enemy.
Ji Jiangyuan thought they were about to fight, but this coward just left with a “Just you wait”?
“Whatever, I’ll wait then.”
Ji Jiangyuan shrugged. He didn’t like looking down on people because of their education, but some people lowered the overall quality of university students.