Hearing someone call his name, Lin Jiang looked diagonally ahead.
He saw a woman in a skirt and blouse. Her long hair was slightly curled, and she had the charm of a mature woman.
He took a closer look. She seemed a bit familiar.
"Wang Jia?"
"It really is you."
The woman Lin Jiang called Wang Jia was his old university classmate.
Although she wasn’t quite on He Siyao’s level in terms of looks, she wasn’t bad by any means. Plus, her grades were better; after graduation, she had even gotten into a Master’s program at a prestigious "Project 211" university.
Among their classmates, she was considered to be doing quite well.
He seemed to recall she’d pursued him back then, but he thought she was a bit of a green tea, so he never paid her any mind.
Now, seeing her here of all places, Lin Jiang was a little surprised.
After confirming it was Lin Jiang, Wang Jia walked over quickly.
"What are you doing here?"
’He was the campus heartthrob back in the day, but look at him now. Life really is unpredictable.’
Lin Jiang had no intention of chatting, planning to just exchange a few pleasantries and leave.
But Wang Jia’s inner thoughts were just her putting on pointless airs.
"I had some business nearby and thought I’d drop by."
Lin Jiang didn’t elaborate, just giving a vague reply.
"Do you need any help? I’m a teacher at Jiaoda now."
"A teacher?"
’A master’s graduate from a Project 211 university can become a teacher at Jiaoda?’
’Even if you don’t have to be on Shen Qingqiu’s level, surely someone of her caliber wouldn’t make the cut.’
"Mhm, I’m a teacher here," Wang Jia said, puffing out her chest confidently.
’Good thing he didn’t say yes when I pursued him back then. The gap between us is so huge now, it probably wouldn’t have worked out even if we did get together.’
’I heard he even got divorced. His wife probably couldn’t stand that he just ran a small noodle shop and couldn’t support the family.’
’Goes to show you really can’t judge a man by his looks. You have to see if he’s actually capable.’
Hearing this stream of inner thoughts from Wang Jia, Lin Jiang frowned.
’Isn’t her inner drama a bit much?’
"Well, that’s great. I have something to do, so I’ll be going."
"Okay, bye-bye."
The two passed each other and headed for the stairwell.
’Now that he knows I’m a teacher here, he doesn’t even have the courage to talk to me anymore.’
’It’s true. When a man has no money, he can’t even hold his head high in front of a woman.’
’But what is he doing here? Don’t tell me he’s planning to open a noodle shop at Jiaoda? This isn’t a place someone like him can just waltz into!’
Lin Jiang: ...
He walked up the stairs to the fourth floor.
The first three floors were open-plan, with one large table after another. The fourth floor, however, was configured into classrooms.
Finding Room 401, Lin Jiang stood at the back door and peeked inside.
He immediately spotted Xu Yingjun, but Li Yueting was nowhere in sight. She was all alone.
Xu Yingjun was wearing a gray skirt, leaning back in her chair with her head tilted up, a book covering her face.
She was probably just tired and resting like this for a bit.
Or maybe, like Li Yueting, she’d had a breakdown from studying and was trying to pull herself together.
’This is so hard! I don’t want to study anymore!’
’A top-tier Project 985 university is so unfriendly to us slackers!’
’Please let me relax a little!’
’Brother Jiang said he’d buy me underwear... I wonder if that offer still stands.’
He knocked on the back door. Xu Yingjun lowered her head, and the book slid off her face as she looked toward the back of the room.
Her drowsy eyes instantly lit up.
She sat up from her chair and jogged out of the classroom.
"Brother Jiang, you’re here!"
Lin Jiang handed Xu Yingjun her iced Americano.
"Where’s Tongtong?"
"She went to the restroom. She should be back in a bit."
’Always finding an excuse when it’s time to work.’ That definitely fit Li Yueting’s personality.
The two of them leaned against a window in the hallway. Lin Jiang asked:
"You two have spoken with Teacher Shen. How is it? Are you able to keep up?"
"I can’t say I don’t understand a single thing... it’s more like I don’t understand anything at all," Xu Yingjun said helplessly.
"I feel like if I keep studying like this, I’m going to turn into an idiot."
’I don’t wanna study anymore. I just want to go out and have fun with Brother Jiang!’
"Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay chopping wood. So stop studying and go relax for a bit."
Xu Yingjun’s eyes lit up. Brother Jiang had said exactly what was on her mind.
"Should we wait for Tongtong and ask if she wants to go?"
"Let’s not bring her. Let her stay here and study. The slow bird has to start flying early."
’Are we... going on a private date with Brother Jiang?’
"Huh? Is that really okay?"
"What’s not okay about it? The only question is whether you want to go or not."
"So... we’re leaving right now?"
"Let’s go!"
"Okay, okay, I’ll go pack my things."
"Just let her pack for you when she gets back."
"Hehe, okay."
Delighted, Xu Yingjun followed Lin Jiang out.
When they got down to the first floor, as luck would have it, Lin Jiang ran into Wang Jia again. But her back was to him, so she didn’t see him.
"Brother Jiang, you know Teacher Wang?" Xu Yingjun asked.
"You know her?"
"Not really. She’s the school’s librarian. We just say hi when we see each other."
Lin Jiang understood immediately.
’So after all that, she’s just a librarian.’
It was the kind of job that no graduate from a top university would want, because the pay was much lower than one might think, and most positions were contract-based.
For a master’s graduate from a Project 211 university to come here and work as a librarian... aside from the prestigious-sounding location, there didn’t seem to be any other benefits.
’But damn it, she works as a librarian here and has the gall to call herself a Jiaoda teacher?’
The two of them casually strolled off campus and back to Lin Jiang’s car.
"Brother Jiang, this outfit is too casual. I want to go back and change."
Since she was just coming to study, she had thrown on a simple skirt. Now that she had the chance to go on a date with Lin Jiang, she wanted to dress up and look prettier.
"Don’t worry about it. Didn’t we say we were going to buy clothes last time? We can just go buy a new outfit."
"Okay," Xu Yingjun said softly.
’So Brother Jiang remembered.’
’He also mentioned buying underwear that day. He’s not just going to buy clothes, is he?’
’What if he doesn’t buy any? I can’t just bring it up myself.’
’Aaaah—why am I even thinking about this stuff? It’s so embarrassing!’
Listening to Xu Yingjun’s inner thoughts, Lin Jiang realized she had quite a bit of drama going on in her head, too.
There was definitely a surprising contrast to her personality.
RING RING RING—
Lin Jiang’s phone rang.
"Oh no! Tongtong’s calling."
"It’s fine."
Lin Jiang answered the phone.
"Brother Jiang, what happened to my iced Americano? I’m waiting for it to revive me."
Xu Yingjun looked nervous. After all, Brother Jiang had left with her.
"I can’t make it today. Something came up at the company, I have to go to a meeting."
"Well, that’s a shame. You’ve missed your chance for a feast for the eyes."
"What feast for the eyes?"
"Junjun, of course!" Li Yueting said.
"She’s wearing a skirt today that really shows off her figure. It’s amazing. Even I’m jealous just looking at her."
"Is that so..."
Lin Jiang turned his head and glanced at Xu Yingjun in the passenger seat.
’Youth is a wonderful thing. Full and perky, not sagging at all.’
Xu Yingjun’s face burned, but since they were on the phone, she couldn’t say anything. She could only stare out the window to ease her own embarrassment.
’Aaaah—she’s so annoying! This is social death!’
"Too bad you can’t make it. You’re going to miss out on seeing Junjun’s amazing figure," Li Yueting said.
"Alright, I’ll let you go. Junjun’s disappeared. I’m gonna ask her where she went. Studying alone is too boring."
After hanging up, Lin Jiang said:
"She’s probably going to call you next."
"It’s okay, I’ve already thought of an excuse."
As they spoke, Li Yueting’s call came through.
"Junjun, where’d you go?"
"My parents are here, so I went to meet them."
’When a girl wants to go out with you, she’ll come up with her own excuses.’
"Your parents are here? They can stay at our place instead of a hotel. It’ll save money."
"Um..."
Xu Yingjun paused for a moment. "They’re just passing through Zhonghai. I’m just going to see them for a bit and then I’ll be back. What do you want to eat? I’ll bring it back for you tonight."
"An iced Americano. I need it to survive."
"I’ll buy you one when I get back."
"We have class at six tonight. Do you need to ask for leave from Teacher Shen?"
"No, no, I’ll be back in time."
Even though she wanted to spend more time with Lin Jiang, Shen Qingqiu’s class was more important to Xu Yingjun.
"OK, OK. Don’t just buy one for me, get one for Teacher Shen too."
"Mhm."
After hanging up, Xu Yingjun looked at Lin Jiang.
"Brother Jiang, we have to be quick. We have class at six tonight."
He checked the time. It was around 2 PM, so they still had four hours. That was plenty of time.
"No problem."
Lin Jiang drove Xu Yingjun to Henglong Square.
He had originally planned to go to Berkeley, but a boss constantly taking women to buy lingerie could damage his reputation, so he decided against it.
"Are you hungry? Want to get something to eat first?"
"I’m not hungry, Brother Jiang. We can just walk around. Let’s just treat it as a break to relax."
"Alright, sounds good."
The two began to wander aimlessly through the mall.
"Don’t look so down. Whether you can grasp the material is one thing, but at least you need to have a good attitude," Lin Jiang said casually.
"Our attitudes are fine, but it’s probably pretty difficult for Teacher Shen, too."
"What do you mean?"
"The students Teacher Shen usually teaches are all academic superstars. There are some things she doesn’t have to explain in much detail for them to understand. But Tongtong and I aren’t like that. She has to explain everything very meticulously for us to barely grasp it."
Xu Yingjun said, looking troubled and helpless:
"For Teacher Shen, this is probably the biggest challenge of her career."
"I can understand that. But at least you have a good platform. If you can get in, you won’t have to worry about finding a job in the future."
"That’s why I can’t slack off. Tongtong’s foreign language skills are better than mine, so I have to work even harder than her."
Lin Jiang remembered that he still had a Foreign Language Card Item, and a Master Level one at that.
’Given how awesome Tongzi is, my foreign language skills might even surpass Shen Qingqiu’s after I use it.’
"Did you pass CET-6?"
Xu Yingjun pouted. "I passed CET-4, but not CET-6. Jiaoda can set its own admission scores, so my English level definitely isn’t good enough."
"I can tutor you sometime."
Huh?
Xu Yingjun looked at Lin Jiang in surprise.
"Brother Jiang, you’re going to tutor me in a foreign language? Did you pass CET-6?"
She recalled her CET-4 exam in university; what score you got was entirely up to luck, let alone CET-6.
"I may not have passed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t teach you."
"Hehe, okay!"
’Brother Jiang’s foreign language skills aren’t that great, but is he saying this because he wants to create more opportunities to be alone with me?’
’Hehe, that’s awesome!’
"Brother Jiang, let’s check out that store," Xu Yingjun said, stopping in her tracks.
Lin Jiang looked up.
’Isn’t this the store where Qin Yangyang was shopping yesterday?’
’They both like this store. Looks like their tastes are pretty similar.’
"Alright, let’s go have a look."
Having been here once before, Lin Jiang knew the place like the back of his hand. Some of the little things they sold were quite interesting.
"Brother Jiang, which of these two looks better?"
In her left hand, Xu Yingjun held a pair of black shorts, and in her right, a knee-length gray skirt.
"They both look good. Just buy both."
"Isn’t that a little too extravagant?"
"You’ll be wearing them for me when you get back, so it’s not extravagant at all."
"But that means spending extra money. We should be a little more frugal."
"No need to be frugal. You still need tops. Go pick out a few that match."
"Okay."
After that, Xu Yingjun picked out two simple and refreshing-looking blouses.
"Brother Jiang, you like black stockings, right?"
Looking at the stockings in front of them, Xu Yingjun stood on her tiptoes and whispered in Lin Jiang’s ear.
"I think that pair with the letters would look really good on you."
"Then buy two pairs."
"Two pairs is too few. Except for the white ones, buy five pairs of every other style. They’re consumables anyway, so it’s good to stock up."
"Huh? Buy all of them except the white ones?"
"It’s not that much money. Of course you should buy them."
"But one of them is... that kind. Is it really okay for me to buy it?"
’This crotchless style... aside from making *that* more convenient, it doesn’t have any other purpose, does it?’
’But the design is so weird. You still have to wear panties underneath, so even if it’s open in the middle, there’s still a barrier. What’s the point of this design?’
’It doesn’t seem convenient for going to the bathroom either, since you have to take them off anyway...’

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