My Queen, My Rules - 90

Jiang Chun had never been an enthusiastic student. Her father, Jiang Hongtao, showed foresight by moving their household registration to the capital; otherwise, she would have barely scraped past the cutoff for lower-tier universities in the college entrance exam.

Later, Jiang Hongtao wanted to ship her abroad for some prestigious “gold-plating” diploma, but she and the English language were mortal enemies. After a period of grueling one-on-one IELTS classes, she absolutely refused to continue. Left with no choice, Jiang Hongtao let her happily coast through four years at a no-name college.

Now, years after graduation, stepping onto Tang Zhizhou’s campus made Jiang Chun feel a little nervous.

You had to understand—C University, where Tang Zhizhou taught, was a top-ten national university. The kind of place she wouldn't have dared to even think about back during her own exam days.

Fortunately, last night she’d urgently consulted Ji Mingshu on age-defying outfits and also booked a stylist. She’d gotten up at six to meticulously craft a fluffy, ‘effortless’ messy bun and a fresh, natural ‘student’ makeup look. Standing on campus, comparing herself to the genuinely plain-dressing college girls around her, she felt a spark of confidence.

About fifteen minutes before the public lecture was due to start, Tang Zhizhou had finished setting up the equipment. Scanning the classroom, he suddenly remembered something, then walked out while sending Jiang Chun a WeChat message.

Tang Zhizhou: [Are you here yet?]

After sending it, he stood by the corridor railing and glanced down. As luck would have it, he spotted a girl in a pale yellow T-shirt and jeans standing by a flower bed downstairs. She had a loosely tied bun and a small Louis Vuitton monogram backpack, and was currently absorbed in her phone.

A few seconds later, his phone vibrated.

Jiang Chun: [Almost! Just got out of the car, maybe another fifteen minutes TvT]

Tang Zhizhou looked down again, a question mark slowly forming in his mind.

Oblivious, Jiang Chun lingered downstairs, killing time until only five minutes remained before she started her way up the stairs.

She’d been thoroughly indoctrinated, in the best way, by Ji Mingshu recently. Ji Mingshu claimed that since high school, whenever she went on dates, she always made the guy wait at least an hour. Her now-husband had stood out from the pack of arranged marriage candidates by being willing to wait for a full two hours.

It sounded exaggerated and the truth of it was dubious, but for someone with Ji Mingshu’s advantages, making men wait seemed like a birthright. Lacking such capital herself, Jiang Chun figured showing up right on time was good enough.

When Jiang Chun reached the upper floor, the one-and-a-half-minute warning bell was just ringing. She followed other students through the back door into the lecture hall.

Whether it was a testament to the elite students’ innate love of learning or to Tang Zhizhou's particular brand of charisma, the massive tiered classroom was packed. And everyone was scrambling for seats from the front rows back, a world away from the grudging, last-row drag of her own university's optional lectures back in the day.

Jiang Chun had just settled into a seat in the second-to-last row when she heard the girls beside her whispering.

“I told you to save us seats earlier! Now we’re stuck way back here.”

“I got the wrong building, okay! So annoying, I had to climb six floors twice!”

“You can’t even see Professor Tang’s face from here, it’s so far.”

“Well, work hard and get into his grad program then. You can see his face every day if you make him your advisor.”

Was Tang Zhizhou really that popular?

Jiang Chun squinted forward.

Tang Zhizhou was wearing a white T-shirt with a dark button-down shirt thrown over it, standard issue for a straight-laced STEM guy. But he had the looks, the presence, and the long legs to pull it off. Even dressed simply, he stood out on the podium.

To be fair, if she’d had a professor like this back in her student days, given her inner boy-crazy tendencies, she probably would’ve crashed his lectures for the view too.

Lost in this thought, someone suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to find two girls.

The one in front, holding a stack of textbooks, addressed her directly: “Excuse me, you're not from the School of Information and Engineering, are you? The university issued a notice recently prohibiting non-majors from disrupting regular classes. Didn't you see it?”

The girl's tone was decidedly sharp. Jiang Chun paused for a full three seconds. “What? You talked too fast, I didn't catch that.”

The girl rolled her eyes with palpable annoyance, and rudely repeated herself word for word.

Murmurs rose from behind her. “Probably from the dance department. They’re always the most eager to crash Professor Tang’s lectures. Like they understand any of it.”

Before Jiang Chun could respond, a hand gently intervened, followed by a calm male voice. “My apologies. She's my guest, not a student here. It was an oversight on my part. I hope it hasn't disturbed the class.”

The girl who had spoken immediately flushed bright red, waving her hands hurriedly. “Oh! It's no problem at all, Pro… Professor Tang.”

Tang Zhizhou gave a slight nod, then turned to Jiang Chun, offering his hand. “Come with me.”

Jiang Chun was slow on the uptake. She pointed at herself. “Me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Under the gaze of the entire class, she took his hand and let him lead her forward. When they reached the front, Tang Zhizhou had a quick word with the students there, who then squeezed to one side, somehow managing to free up a seat for her.

Only after she sat down did the belated realization hit her; she let go of Tang Zhizhou’s hand like it was a hot potato.

The entire lecture lasted ninety minutes. Jiang Chun didn’t understand a single word of the technical content, but that didn’t stop her from staring at Tang Zhizhou for the full ninety minutes, hearts in her eyes.

Oooo, brainy men are so hot! The way he gestures! That bearing! If the students hadn’t been so well-behaved and she wasn’t a guest, she’d have been sorely tempted to whip out her phone for a nine-shot burst to dump in the group chat, so Ji Mingshu and Gu Kaiyang could appreciate just how top-tier her blind date was!

After class, Tang Zhizhou spent ten minutes answering students’ questions.

Once the ten minutes were up, he politely declined further queries, asking everyone to email him instead, and promising to reply to each one.

“Sorry about earlier. I forgot to arrange a seat for you in advance.” Over lunch, Tang Zhizhou politely apologized for the incident.

“It’s fine. I was actually pretty happy when someone said I looked like I was from the dance department.” Jiang Chun scooped tiramisu while eyeing the matcha mousse not far away. “You have no idea. My best friend says I’ve gotten as plump as a little piglet and that I’m hopelessly unfashionable. She’s on my case every day about a fitness and style overhaul.”

Tang Zhizhou smiled, pushing the mousse toward her with understanding. “I think girls are cuter with a little extra weight.”

Jiang Chun froze mid-scoop, looking up. “So you do think I’m fat?”

Faced with this sudden minefield, Tang Zhizhou paused for a beat. “That's not what I meant.”

“It is what you meant,” Jiang Chun said, looking down to continue attacking her tiramisu, her tone now one of world-weary resignation. “Professor Tang, let’s be honest. Do you have too many admirers on campus? Is that why you asked me to your lecture today? To, like, create a buffer?”

Before he could answer, she launched into her grand theory. “Your family’s well-off, you’re handsome, you’re incredibly accomplished yourself… From any angle, you just don't seem like a man who needs to be on blind dates.”

“I don’t have many virtues, but I do have plenty of self-awareness. So you really don’t need to feel obligated. Our families just thought it was a good idea to push us together, but I know perfectly well that you and I… we’re just not a good match—”

“I think we’re a very good match,” Tang Zhizhou interrupted suddenly.

Jiang Chun's head snapped up. “...?”

Tang Zhizhou met her gaze directly and repeated, “I think we’re a very good match. If you’re willing, I'd like for us to try dating.”

---

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