"Brother Lan is already in control of the Shen Family now," Shen Kuo said slowly. "He’s also secured his position at the Imperial Government Institute. He doesn’t need to care about what that old hag thinks at all."
"Brother Lan has never cared about what that old hag thinks. She told him to behave himself, but he just had to be rebellious and create this persona of a passionate stud," Xu Chuan immediately added.
"Everyone has a rebellious phase. Look at my cousin. As the Imperial Prince, he’s been constrained since he was a kid. The more they restrain him, the more rebellious he gets. He went street racing again last night," Long Xu chimed in. "But that doesn’t stop him from inheriting the Empire in the future."
...
Inside a luxury car parked outside the women’s dormitory.
Jiang You’s flushed fingers pressed against the leather seat behind her. Her back was against the car door and window, her slender waist held high by a man’s hand. She tilted her neck back, unable to withstand his kiss.
She was trapped between the car door and Shen Lan, pinned and kissed.
"No more kissing..." Jiang You tried to push him away, but he grabbed her hands with his large, well-defined ones, lacing their fingers together and pressing them against the windowpane.
"Baby, a boyfriend needs to practice his kissing skills so he can serve you better in the future," Shen Lan said before kissing her again.
Jiang You felt lightheaded from lack of oxygen, her lips tingling and numb.
’I’m just supposed to be a placeholder girlfriend. How did I not only get held, but also kissed, and even clung to so passionately?’
"Haven’t you had a lot of girlfriends?" Jiang You pressed her hand against his neck to push him away, her trembling lips pressing into a thin line. "You still need practice?"
"Baby, I’ve never touched any of my previous girlfriends." Shen Lan’s Adam’s apple bobbed sharply, lightly grazing the soft palm Jiang You had pressed against his throat. His blue eyes were scarlet, stained with desire. "My whole playboy act was fake. Now, I only like you, baby."
His palm covered the back of Jiang You’s hand, his long fingers sinking into her palm as he took her hand, slowly pressed it to his cheek, and then, unable to resist, kissed it.
Jiang You saw the flash of a silver stud on the tip of his crimson tongue. The tip of his tongue, damp and slightly rough, licked her palm.
Her eyelashes fluttered, her heart raced, and her fingers went numb.
Jiang You lost track of how long she was pinned in the car, being kissed.
When she couldn’t breathe, they would rest for a moment.
Before long, they would start kissing again.
This repeated over and over until the flesh of her lips was bitten crimson and swollen.
When Jiang You returned to her dorm, she saw her own reflection in the mirror—a picture of debauched bloom. Her dress was a mess of ravaged wrinkles, her cheeks were bright red, and her clothes were completely rumpled.
She averted her eyes.
’This breakup... will I even be able to go through with it at the end of the month?’
’And it has to be Shen Lan who dumps me, not the other way around.’
’Would Shen Lan dump me of his own accord?’
Jiang You touched her swollen lips, feeling uncertain.
She decided not to overthink it. After washing up, she contacted Teacher Zhou.
After today’s lesson, her online courses would be finished.
Teacher Zhou was as responsible as ever in teaching her lesson.
This lesson was really just a review, as she had pretty much learned all the main content.
"Thank you, Teacher Zhou." Jiang You transferred a large sum of money to him. "You’ve worked hard these past few days. I’ve already left you a good review. You’re very responsible, and I’ll recommend you to my friends."
"Thank you," Teacher Zhou said, his voice very soft.
For many nights, Jiang You had connected to the voice call late to study, only to fall asleep partway through.
And every night, Zhou Yu would fall asleep listening to the sound of her breathing.
Now that the online course was over, Jiang You actually felt a strange sense of reluctance to let it go.
’Teacher Zhou’s voice is so nice to listen to, and he’s so gentle and responsible when he teaches.’
The voice, filtered through her headset, made Jiang You imagine Teacher Zhou as a very gentle Beastman with glasses, who even seemed rather docile at times.
Because no matter what she asked of him, he accepted it, always emotionally stable.
’A gentle and responsible male teacher!’
"Teacher Zhou, do you have a girlfriend?" Jiang You asked suddenly.
After asking, she felt a little awkward for some reason.
"No," came Teacher Zhou’s voice.
"Ah, oh, okay. I was just asking," Jiang You said hurriedly. "That’s all."
’I’m still burdened with a system task. Am I really thinking about finding someone sincere to fall in love with?’
The other end was silent for a moment, then came a single word: "Okay."
Teacher Zhou was as taciturn as ever, but he responded to every word.
In the end, with a bit of selfish intent, Jiang You added Teacher Zhou’s contact information.
His name was Zhou Yu.
’The name is so common. He’s obviously not a character from the book.’
In reality, while their names were written differently, they sounded almost identical.
But Jiang You didn’t think along those lines at all.
Naturally, she had no idea her fantasies had gotten the better of her, and that the person on the other end was not some gentle, considerate, and virtuous teacher, but a dark, paranoid creep.
And so, she added Teacher Zhou as a friend, seeing him through this rose-colored filter, and would occasionally share bits of her life with him.
This was probably the only friend she’d made without having to follow her persona, so it always felt a little different.
’He might be an online friend, but he’s still a friend!’
Jiang You took a picture of her pink Healing Soul Beast cat and her red-eyed Combat Department cat and sent it to Teacher Zhou.
Jiang You: [Image][Image] Guess which one is the Combat Department cat?
Teacher Zhou: The one with red eyes.
Jiang You: You’re too fast! But I guess it was an easy one to figure out.
Jiang You: Look, my pink cat is so chubby!
Teacher Zhou: Cute.
Jiang You: I think so too! Hehe!
Teacher Zhou: [Image] Mine.
Jiang You: What an adorable little snake! And it has blue eyes!
Teacher Zhou: Mmm, he’s an ice-attribute snake.
Jiang You: So cute, so cute!
In a house in the slums, a dim light flickered.
Zhou Yu looked at their chat window, the corners of his lips hooking into a smile. His dark eyes, soft and cloying, rested on the words.
’She said it’s cute. She likes it.’
’So happy~’
The soul body of the snake in the photo had a pair of coolly sinister and gloomy eyes. It was clearly not cute at all.
But Jiang You’s filter for Teacher Zhou was a bit thick, so she insisted on finding it cute.
Jiang You: I cleared 10 Secret Realms today! I discovered a bug with Healing Soul Beasts! You can actually heal-bomb enemies to death, so Healing Soul Beasts can be used for attack too!
Teacher Zhou: Very impressive.
Jiang You: Right? Heal-bombing is really hard to do. If you’re not careful, you might actually heal the enemy. So I’m still a little bit amazing.
Teacher Zhou: Cute.
Jiang You: Who’s cute?
Teacher Zhou: You.
Jiang You’s cheeks flushed. It felt like things were gradually getting ambiguous.
Jiang You: Ahem, thanks~
For the next few days, Jiang You kept sending these kinds of nonsensical messages, and the other person responded to every word. It was just like having an online friend.
During this time, Shen Lan was also constantly sticking to her, accompanying her to and from class, eating with her, going out with her, and then kissing her at every opportunity.
He was so clingy that even Jiang You was starting to find it unbearable.
In the short time it took Jiang You to type a few sentences to Teacher Zhou, Shen Lan had already sent a barrage of messages.
Shen Lan: Girlfriend, what are you doing?
Shen Lan: Girlfriend, can I come to your dorm and sleep with you?
Shen Lan: [Abs pic] Baby, look quick, abs.
Shen Lan: Baby, I miss you so much.
Shen Lan: Baby, why aren’t you replying?
Shen Lan: Baby, baby, baby...
...
Shen Lan: Are you out there with some other dog?