Shen An claimed he was meditating, and sure enough, he threw himself fully into it, his focus absolute.
He held perfectly still, eyes wide open but fixed dead on one spot, looking for all the world like he’d been frozen in place by acupressure.
If not for the occasional blink of his eyelids, Wang Yuqiong might have mistaken him for a statue.
Even so, a flicker of bewilderment danced in her eyes. What was so captivating?
Her gaze shifted to follow his stare. It landed on the podium—nothing out of the ordinary there.
Hmm…
Wang Yuqiong pondered for a moment before sneaking her little hand across the desk and giving his thigh a gentle poke.
Shen An didn’t budge.
Ignoring me, huh?
Wang Yuqiong wrinkled her dainty nose, a flash of displeasure crossing her face. She upgraded the poke to a pinch!
Her fingers clamped down like iron vise, twisting the flesh on his thigh a full three hundred sixty degrees. Shen An’s defenses shattered instantly.
He sucked in a sharp breath and clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle any cry.
Then he seized Wang Yuqiong’s arm and whipped his head around, grinding his teeth as he hissed, “What stunt are you pulling now?”
Wang Yuqiong withdrew her hand leisurely. “Oh, so you do react. I thought you’d fallen asleep.”
“I was this close.”
Shen An felt both regret and irritation.
Wang Yuqiong’s brows shot up. “You can sleep with your eyes open?”
“There’s more to it than you know.” Shen An boasted, “This is a secret skill I’ve honed over years—sleeping with my eyes open. Ordinary folks can’t even fathom it.”
Wang Yuqiong rolled her eyes in disdain. “Yeah, no normal person sleeps with their eyes open.”
“I’m begging you, granny—stop harassing me.”
Shen An just wanted to catch a nap. Why was it so damn hard?
Wang Yuqiong pursed her lips righteously. “You think I want to? If Senior Sister hadn’t told me to keep an eye on you, I wouldn’t bother with you at all.”
“No sleeping. Sit properly and pay attention in class.”
Damn it.
Shen An knew full well Wang Yuqiong was wielding authority on a flimsy excuse, but he had no real way to counter her.
The girl had a knack for getting chummy fast. Even before they’d really interacted, she could spark conversations like old friends. Once familiar, she turned utterly brazen.
“Don’t glare at me like that. Blame the right person—if you’re settling scores, go find Senior Sister.”
Wang Yuqiong met Shen An’s resentful stare with a cheeky grin. “I’m just following orders. Don’t hold it against me.”
“Can’t you cut me some slack?”
Shen An tried compromising, his voice soft.
“No way!” Wang Yuqiong’s smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression. “Even without Senior Sister’s instructions, I’m the Class President. It’s my duty to make sure you pay attention in class.”
$%#&@!#…
Shen An kept a smile plastered on his face while cursing up a storm inside.
One day, he’d give this willful brat a proper lesson.
As the two bantered, the class bell rang softly, and the teacher ambled in.
It was an old man with a goatee.
Shen An eyed him and murmured, “This teacher’s no ordinary guy.”
Wang Yuqiong glanced over and leaned in. “You know him?”
“Nope.”
“Then how do you know he’s special?”
“Easy. Just look at his hairstyle—pure powerhouse vibes.” Shen An shrugged with the air of an expert.
Wang Yuqiong puzzled over it inwardly, taking another look at the man’s hair…
How was that a powerhouse hairstyle?
Shen An smugly tapped her forehead. “You clearly don’t get it. That Mediterranean bald spot? Only the strong can pull it off.”
“Like your open-eyed sleeping?” Wang Yuqiong’s mouth twitched.
“Eh, pretty much.”
Shen An nodded slightly.
“Pfft, quit bullshitting. Pay attention!” Wang Yuqiong shot him a glare and sat up straight and proper.
But after his comment, her eyes kept drifting to the old man’s hair.
Mediterranean bald…
Pfft.
It was kinda spot-on.
Wang Yuqiong couldn’t help giggling to herself. She ducked her head, hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Song Rui, beside her, shot a puzzled look. What was so funny… that she’s laughing this hard?
Shen An snuck a sideways glance, thinking her sense of humor was rock-bottom. She finds that hilarious?
“Good morning, everyone. I’m your teacher for this class.”
The man on the podium had no idea he’d been roasted and was diligently introducing himself.
Classes were always dull and monotonous.
Even in university, it was no different.
The odds of getting an engaging teacher were about the same as winning the lottery.
University professors, compared to high school ones, lacked the same sense of responsibility.
As long as the students didn’t cause a ruckus disrupting the lecture, they rarely intervened.
Homework? Hand something in, and quality didn’t matter much.
University emphasized form over substance in every way.
Now Shen An was under triple surveillance—no chance to slack off.
He could only hope this teacher might liven things up, making the class less stifling.
But his hopes dashed quickly.
The old man cut straight to it: plugged in a USB drive, fired up the PowerPoint in seconds. Shen An shook his head in disappointment.
Sure enough, no chit-chat or warm-up. Not even roll call.
He just lectured straight from the slides—no highlights worth noting; it was all there for anyone to read.
Worse, Shen An hadn’t brought paper or pen. Besides his phone, he had nothing to work with—and doodling on that wasn’t feasible.
He glanced at his neighbors: all diligently taking notes from the slides, no one sneaking phone time.
That killed any thought of scrolling.
In this studious atmosphere, slouching around would look totally out of place.
This was ridiculous…
Shen An had never liked classes from childhood on; this chant-like droning was pure torture for him.
Yet his grades had always been top-notch, thanks to his freakish learning ability.
The problem? This was an English major class.
With the old man’s heavily accented English booming like some arcane scripture, Shen An was utterly lost.
He propped his cheek on his hand, forcing a look of rapt attention.
Mm-hmm, yeah, uh-huh.
When others nodded, he nodded; whatever they murmured, he echoed.
And then… he dozed off.
No surprise—he face-planted right onto the desk with a thud.
Wang Yuqiong glanced over, a sly glint in her eye. Her little hand crept under the desk again, channeling the Nine Yin White Bone Claw to viciously pinch his thigh.
Hiss!
“Urk!”
Shen An couldn’t hold back this time. He yelped out loud.
The cry shattered the old man’s rhythm, leaving him utterly baffled.
The whole class turned to stare at Shen An, curiosity piqued.
Wang Yuqiong, knowing she’d caused trouble, yanked her hand back and played innocent.
“Young man, do you have a question?”
The old man regarded Shen An with a “kindly” smile that dripped with menace.
Shen An cleared his throat and brazened it out. “Teacher, you explain so brilliantly—I couldn’t help cheering you on.”
Pfft.
Wang Yuqiong buried her face, shoulders quaking again.
The old man grinned. “Is that so? Then repeat what I just said.”
Like hell I can.
But Shen An stayed cool and sincere. “Forgive my stupidity, Teacher—I didn’t catch it clearly.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll go over it again—listen closely this time.”
The old man knew it was bullshit but gave him an out. First day of class and all.
Shen An nodded with a smile as his own hand snaked under the desk, clamping down hard on Wang Yuqiong’s thigh!
Note that Wang Yuqiong wasn’t in jeans today—his grab met smooth, soft skin directly.
She froze solid.
Lightning-fast, she pinned his hand, whipped her head around, eyes blazing murderously at him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Shen An blinked innocently, replying with a look: What do you think?
“No physical contact between unrelated men and women!”
Wang Yuqiong’s eyes bulged.
Shen An smirked disdainfully and, utterly shameless, began rubbing up and down.
Mmm…
This bold pervert!!! You don’t just grope there!
Wang Yuqiong nearly squeaked. She clamped her mouth shut, twisted sideways, and swatted his hand away with her other palm.
Shen An wouldn’t relent, gripping like a vice—unyielding to the end.
Just then, the old man turned to the blackboard to write.
Their localized skirmish escalated to full war, movements growing wilder.
“Ahem…”
Shen Lianyao, seated behind Shen An, couldn’t stand it anymore. This was class! Were they fighting like elementary schoolers?
As Discipline Committee Member, she had to uphold order. She coughed pointedly several times.
Under the dual pressure of the teacher about to turn and Shen Lianyao’s frantic reminders, Shen An and Wang Yuqiong both backed off—he withdrew his hand, and she pulled hers back too.
The two glared at each other. “Hmph.”
This was destined to be a battle that wouldn’t end anytime soon.
When the old teacher turned back to the blackboard to write some more, Wang Yuqiong struck first. Taking advantage of Shen An’s momentary daze, she clamped down on him again with her Nine Yin White Bone Claw.
Annoyance flashed across Shen An’s face. Sneak attacks, huh?
He wasn’t one to back down. Their hands tangled in a tussle.
This time, though, their movements were far more subdued. The podium created a convenient blind spot, and given the teacher’s age, he didn’t notice a thing for the moment.
The teacher might have missed it, but someone else caught every bit of the action.
Chen Nannan stood just outside the window, silently watching Shen An and Wang Yuqiong’s little flirtatious scuffle.
As the assistant class supervisor, she had a duty to keep an eye on how the students were behaving in class.
Of course, she’d been swamped lately and could easily have skipped it.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about that heartless Shen An. Sure, she wasn’t about to go out of her way to talk to him—but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t let him come chasing after her.
So during a break in the middle of her meeting, she’d slipped away to check on things.
She was starting to regret it now!
Chen Nannan watched the scene unfold, her anger bubbling up inside her.
What was wrong with these two? No respect for classroom rules? Did they think they were little kids or something?
Shen Lianyao let out another light cough, which served as a trumpet for ceasefire. Shen An and Wang Yuqiong stepped back from each other once more.
Just then, Shen An happened to glance outside and spot Chen Nannan standing at the window.
A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as he flashed her a brilliant smile and waved in greeting.
Chen Nannan stared back at him stone-faced, offering no response whatsoever.
Uh…
Shen An’s smile faded. He settled down and paid attention to the lesson.
Wang Yuqiong had spotted Chen Nannan outside the window too. Any plans she’d had for another attack went straight out the window.
But she’d also caught the look in Chen Nannan’s eyes.
The way she was staring at Shen An.
Tsk.
Wang Yuqiong chuckled to herself.
Of all the times to show up.
How dull.
