Chapter 61: Well, well, if it isn't little Boss Wang

"Are you out of your mind?"

Wang Can silently mouthed the question. Considering that the person opposite him was a girl, he managed to keep his voice down.

"Isn't it exciting?"

Dong Xinyi mouthed back, her eyes shifting with a hint of flirtatious playfulness.

Without a trace of politeness, Wang Can used his knee to push her foot away and gave her a warning glare. Although Dong Xinyi possessed decent looks and a fine figure, he held no favorable impression of this woman; heaven knew how many fish had successfully landed on the shores of her pond.

Far from being upset, Dong Xinyi leaned her body slightly forward instead. Her slender fingers playfully twitched at a lock of her hair, the corners of her eyes lifting upward with a teasing provocation as she mouthed:

"I have things that are even more exciting."

This scene happened to be caught entirely by Shen Mengqing not far away, causing her delicate brows to furrow slightly.

Whether Tang Baizhou noticed the abnormality in Shen Mengqing's expression or simply could no longer bear Qian Yiqian's air of "wealth makes me supreme," he broke the silence.

"The chairman of Senguan is indeed impressive, but after all, he didn't graduate from Finance and Economics, so he doesn't have much to do with you guys. But it's a completely different story for us at Shen Jiao. Leaving aside veterans of the Two Bombs and One Satellite and former top leaders like Elder Qian, just the fact that our school can nurture a 26-year-old young associate professor is enough to prove our strength."

"A 26-year-old associate professor?"

"So young?"

"Male or female? Can we still see?"

"......"

Seeing the astonished expressions of the crowd, Tang Baizhou curved the corner of his mouth upward, a flash of complacency in his eyes. "As it happens, this associate professor is a student of my advanced mathematics professor, and I actually managed to get a photo of her."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and displayed a photo in the center of the dining table.

Everyone's gaze, including Shen Mengqing who had maintained her aloof reserve all along, was irresistibly drawn toward it. Compared to an untouchable heavyweight like Wang Tianming, a young professor whom they might brush past on campus was obviously much more capable of piquing their interest.

In the photograph, the woman wore a black and red doctoral robe, her slender fingers gently clasping a gold-rimmed graduation certificate. Her bright eyes were like limpid pools, her dark brows like painted strokes, and her soft, raven hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. A faint, elusive smile lingered at the corners of her lips, enveloping her in a unique charm that perfectly blended intellectual depth with elegance.

"Oh my god! This is simply too gorgeous."

"Is this really the unedited raw photo?"

"I finally believe that Nüwa played favorites when she created humanity; I look like a randomly generated NPC by comparison."

"......"

Amidst the chorus of gasps, even Chen Xubei, Yang Shuang, and the others, who were socializing at the neighboring table, were drawn over. After taking a clear look at the screen, they were stunned for a moment before blurting out, "Isn't this Professor Jiang who teaches us advanced mathematics?"

***

Hearing this, Wang Can glanced over and saw that it truly was Jiang Yixue. It was just that her hair in the photo was longer than it was now, and her brows carried a bit more youthful vitality.

He cast a suspicious look at Qian Yiqian and Tang Baizhou. Could these two have come here specifically for me today? Why does everyone they mention happen to be connected to me...

"That's right."

Tang Baizhou nodded slightly, a trace of pride flashing in his eyes. "My senior sister does indeed teach at Shenhai University, and that's one of the reasons I specifically came to Shen Da today."

With that, he turned to Shen Mengqing, his voice softening involuntarily:

"Mengqing, later on I'll take you to pay a visit to my senior sister. Coincidentally, she also graduated from your Fudan Youth Class, and she has deep attainments in the field of mathematics. Haven't you always been very interested in this area? You can take this opportunity to ask her for guidance."

The moment those words fell, the air seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. Except for Dong Xinyi's roommate and the three occupants of Dormitory 404, everyone else's gazes simultaneously turned toward Wang Can.

Wang Can and Shen Mengqing's romance back in high school was no secret among their classmates. Although the two had already broken up, inviting an ex-girlfriend right in front of her ex-boyfriend was an awkward scenario anyone could easily imagine.

Many secretly felt a pang of sympathy, yet couldn't suppress their curiosity to observe Wang Can's reaction. Having sympathy and wanting gossip did not conflict with each other.

Qiao Huayang felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. He began calculating whether he could safely leave Shen Da today and whether he should contact an ambulance in advance.

However, Wang Can's performance deeply disappointed those waiting for a good show. He continued to leisurely eat Qiao Huayang's french fries with a completely nonchalant expression, as if Tang Baizhou were merely inviting an ordinary classmate who had nothing to do with him.

Shen Mengqing's gaze lingered between Wang Can and Dong Xinyi for a moment before she finally gave a slight nod. "Alright."

"Class monitor, can we go together too?"

"That's right, I'd also love to meet this legendary figure."

"Count me in."

With no show left to watch, the other classmates chimed in, unwilling to miss this rare opportunity.

"Of course."

Tang Baizhou readily agreed, his tone brimming with absolute confidence. "I'll ask where her office is later, and everyone can come with me to meet my senior sister."

Although he had previously been politely refused when asking his advanced mathematics professor for Jiang Yixue's contact information, that didn't change anything. He figured that as long as Jiang Yixue was on campus, visiting under the banner of fellow disciples and invoking the name of their shared mentor would surely prevent a well-educated person like Jiang Yixue from turning him away. As for the possibility of drawing a blank, that didn't matter either—wasn't it normal to be temporarily away on business?

***

Just as everyone was brimming with anticipation, Chen Xubei, who had been observing all along, wore a teasing smile at the corner of his mouth. Having basically figured out the situation on this side, he raised his voice and shouted:

"You guys don't need to go to all this trouble just to meet Professor Jiang! Just go straight to Old Wang—he's Professor Jiang's designated class representative and runs off to the professor's office every other day."

*Damn it, daring to bully my roommate? Watch me slap your faces red.*

"Huh?"

The people who had just been clampering around Tang Baizhou instantly froze, turning their gazes in unison toward Wang Can with looks of utter astonishment. They distinctly remembered that Wang Can's high school math scores were mediocre at best; otherwise, he wouldn't have only managed to get into Shen Da. How did he suddenly turn into the math class representative in the blink of an eye?

Only Qiao Huayang remained relatively calm. Ever since embarking on the journey to Shenhai, starting with the incident on the train and culminating in the Mercedes-Benz private car upon arrival, he had been subjected to massive shocks. By now, even if Wang Can claimed to be Wang Tianming's son, he would probably believe it three-tenths.

Wang Can glanced sideways at Chen Xubei, thinking that the guy was still quite smart and knew how to flex on his behalf. Excellent—he would take back his previous insults regarding Chen's IQ.

Amidst this subtle atmosphere, a loud and clear voice suddenly rang out from the Hao Dada Chicken Cutlet stall, belonging to the food vendor Liu Xiufang:

"Oh heavens, Little Boss Wang! Come take a look at this—what's going on with this VIP courtesy voucher? I haven't even touched it!"

That booming voice, thick with a strong rural accent, instantly drew the gazes of most people in the cafeteria.

Inside the stall, Liu Xiufang, dressed in a white work uniform, was seen waving vigorously toward their side. Standing before her, an elegant woman with shoulder-length hair held a card, a smile playing at the corners of her lips as she turned around to look over as well.

The crowd was stunned for a moment, then looked unanimously toward the cell phone screen in the center of the table, followed by a collective intake of sharp breaths.

*You've got to be kidding me? That 26-year-old associate professor?*

*For real?*

*Is this the living embodiment of "speak of the devil and she appears"?*

*She's even prettier in person than in the photo.*

Amidst the sea of shocked gazes, only Yang Shuang and Chen Xubei caught Liu Xiufang's call. The two exchanged glances, reading the exact same confusion in each other's eyes—that auntie was clearly shouting toward their direction.

So the question was... who on earth was this "Little Boss Wang"?