My Queen, My Rules - 90
Extra: Jiang Chun (2)
Jiang Chun had never been an enthusiastic student. Her father, Jiang Hongtao, had shown remarkable foresight in moving her household registration to the capital, yet even then, she'd barely scraped past the cutoff for lower-tier universities in the college entrance exam.
Later, Jiang Hongtao wanted to send her abroad to add some polish to her résumé, but she and English were practically sworn enemies. After a period of grueling one-on-one IELTS classes, she absolutely refused to continue. Left with no choice, Jiang Hongtao just let her happily coast through four years at some obscure second-tier university.
Several years has passed. Now, stepping onto Tang Zhizhou's campus, Jiang Chun felt a little nervous.
C University, where Tang Zhizhou taught, was one of the country's top ten universities, the kind of elite institution she wouldn't even have dared dream of attending back when she took the college entrance examination.
Fortunately, last night she’d urgently consulted Ji Mingshu on age-defying outfits and also booked a stylist. She’d gotten up at six that morning to meticulously craft a fluffy, ‘effortless’ messy bun and a fresh, natural ‘student’ makeup look. Standing among the plain-dressed female students on campus now, she felt she still had a fighting chance.
Fifteen minutes before the public lecture began, Tang Zhizhou had already finished setting up all the equipment he needed. Sweeping his gaze around the classroom, he suddenly remembered something, then sent Jiang Chun a WeChat message as he walked out.
Tang Zhizhou: [Are you here yet?]
After sending it, he stood by the corridor railing and glanced down. By sheer coincidence, he spotted a girl in a pale yellow T-shirt and jeans standing beside the flower bed below. Her hair was tied into a loose bun, and she carried a small monogrammed backpack. At that moment, she was absorbed in her phone.
A few seconds later, his phone vibrated.
Jiang Chun: [Almost! Just got out of the car, I might need another fifteen minutes TvT]
Tang Zhizhou looked down again, a slow, puzzled question mark forming in his mind.
Oblivious, Jiang Chun lingered around downstairs for a while, deliberately dawdling until there were only five minutes left before finally starting up the stairs.
Lately, Ji Mingshu had thoroughly brainwashed her. She claimed that ever since high school, she’d made every guy she dated wait at least an hour. Her now-husband had routinely waited two hours or more before distinguishing himself from the crowd of potential arranged-marriage candidates.
It sounded rather exaggerated, and its credibility was highly questionable, but with Ji Mingshu's looks and status, making men wait seemed like a birthright. Jiang Chun didn't have that kind of advantage, she figured that arriving just on time should be good enough.
When Jiang Chun reached the upper floor, the preparatory bell rang exactly a minute and a half before class. She followed the other students into the classroom through the back door.
Whether it was a testament to the elite students’ innate love of learning or to Tang Zhizhou's charisma, the massive tiered lecture hall was packed. Everyone was fighting to sit as far forward as possible, a world away from the reluctant attitude students had shown when Jiang Chun was in college and had to attend public lectures.
Jiang Chun had barely taken a seat in the second-to-last row when she heard the girl beside her whispering, "I told you to come save a seat earlier! Look at where we're stuck now."
"I went to the wrong building, okay? So annoying, I had to climb six floors twice!”
"You can't even see Professor Tang's face from here. We're so far away."
"Then work hard and get into the graduate program. If you can get him as your supervisor, you'll get to look at his face every day."
Tang Zhizhou was actually that popular?
Jiang Chun narrowed her eyes slightly and looked toward the front.
Tang Zhizhou was wearing a white T-shirt with a dark shirt casually thrown over it, the quintessential outfit of a straight-laced STEM guy. But with his good looks, polished bearing, long legs, and tall frame, he stood out effortlessly even in such ordinary clothes.
To be fair, if Jiang Chun had encountered a professor like this back in her student days, given how hopelessly boy-crazy she was, she probably would have attended his lectures just to admire him too.
She was still lost in thought when someone suddenly tapped her shoulder from behind. She turned to find two girls.
The girl in front was holding a stack of books. She addressed Jiang Chun directly. "Excuse me. You're not from the School of Information Engineering, are you? The university recently issued a notice stating that visiting students from outside the department aren't allowed to disrupt regular classes. Didn't you see it?”
The girl sounded rather aggressive. Jiang Chun paused for three seconds. "What? You spoke too fast. I didn't catch that."
The girl rolled her eyes impatiently and repeated herself, even less politely this time.
At the same moment, someone behind them began discussing the matter in a low voice. "She's probably from the dance department. They're always the most enthusiastic about sitting in on Professor Tang's lectures. Do they even understand what he's saying?"
Before Jiang Chun could say anything, a hand suddenly came between them. Then a warm male voice sounded. "My apologies. She's my friend, not a student here. It was an oversight on my part. I hope it hasn't disturbed the class.”
The girl's face immediately flushed red. She hurriedly waved her hands and said shyly, "Oh! It's no problem at all, Prof… Professor Tang.”
Tang Zhizhou gave a slight nod, then turned to Jiang Chun and held out his hand. "Come with me."
Jiang Chun reacted a beat too slowly and pointed at herself. "Me?"
"Mm."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, she took his hand and let him lead her forward. When they reached the front rows, Tang Zhizhou had a quick word with the students there, who then squeezed to one side, and somehow managing to make room for her.
Only after sitting down did Jiang Chun belatedly release Tang Zhizhou's hand like it was a hot potato.
The entire public lecture lasted ninety minutes. Jiang Chun didn't understand a single word of it, but that didn't stop her from spending all ninety minutes staring at Tang Zhizhou like a lovestruck idiot.
Waaah, educated men are so hot! The way he gestures! That bearing! If the students in the classroom hadn't been so well-behaved, she’d have been sorely tempted to pull out her phone, snap a rapid-fire nine-photo collage, and toss it into the group chat so Ji Mingshu and Gu Kaiyang could appreciate just how outstanding her blind-date prospect was!
After class, Tang Zhizhou stayed behind for ten minutes to speak with the students.
As soon as the ten minutes were up, he politely declined to answer any remaining questions and asked everyone to email him instead, promising he would reply to each one after seeing it.
"I'm sorry. I forgot to arrange a seat for you in advance." Over lunch, Tang Zhizhou politely apologized for what had happened earlier.
"It's fine. I was actually pretty happy when I heard someone say I was from the dance department." Jiang Chun spooned up her tiramisu while staring at the matcha mousse a short distance away. "You have no idea. My best friend says I’ve gotten as plump as a little piglet and that I dress like a country bumpkin. She’s on my case every day about losing weight and getting a complete style makeover.”
Tang Zhizhou smiled and, with thoroug consideration, pushed the mousse toward her. "Girls are cuter with a little extra weight."
Jiang Chun froze mid-scoop. She looked up. "So you think I'm fat too?"
Faced with this sudden minefield, Tang Zhizhou fell silent for several seconds. "That's not what I meant."
"That's exactly what you meant." Jiang Chun lowered her head and continued attacking her tiramisu, her tone radiating the weary resignation of someone who had already seen through the ways of the world and decided to stop caring. "Professor Tang, just be honest. You ask me to come to your lecture today because you have too many admirers at school and needed me to be your shield, right?"
Before Tang Zhizhou could answer, she continued her grand analysis. "Your family is well-off, you're handsome, and you're this outstanding yourself. From any angle, you just don't seem like a man who needs blind dates.”
"I don't have many virtues, but I'm very self-aware. So you really don’t need to feel obligated. Our parents just got a little carried away matchmaking us. I know perfectly well that you and I… we’re just not suitable..."
"I think we're very suitable." Tang Zhizhou suddenly interrupted her.
Jiang Chun looked up. "...?"
Tang Zhizhou looked straight at her and repeated himself. "I think we're very suitable. If you're willing, I'd like for us to try dating.”
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