One night passed without incident.
The next day, as dawn barely broke, Yan Zhen woke up.
Huangfu Wenqing had woken even earlier. She lay on her side with her head pillowed on Yan Zhen’s outstretched arm, quietly gazing at him. Meanwhile, her small hands mischievously played under the covers.
Yan Zhen felt a headache coming on.
Last night, Huangfu Wenqing had seized his weakness, coercing him into agreeing to one demand after another. He’d finally satisfied her, only for her to grip that same weakness again come morning.
Was this good?
No, it wasn’t!
“Good morning, Yan Zhen.” Huangfu Wenqing blinked her beautiful eyes. Her lovely face was flushed pink, betraying that she wasn’t nearly as calm as she pretended. “Is this comfortable?”
Yan Zhen silently turned his head away.
Huangfu Wenqing bit her lip and said resentfully, “I’ll study hard from now on. You have to practice with me, okay~”
“We’ll talk about it later. Can you let go of me now?”
“But you’re still quite spirited down there.”
“It’ll settle down if you ignore it.”
Huangfu Wenqing thought for a moment before saying, “I want a good morning kiss.”
Yan Zhen helplessly gave his fiancée a light kiss.
Afterward, Huangfu Wenqing beamed with joy and pressed her advantage. “I’ll give you a good morning kiss too, so it’s fair~”
With that, she pursed her pink lips and pressed them to his, parting immediately after touching.
As the two rose to wash up, Mentor Yu Xuan knocked on each door in turn, notifying everyone to join her in her room for breakfast.
“I’m not going,” Huangfu Wenqing said. She felt she couldn’t blend into that atmosphere. “Don’t stay too long. If you take forever, I’ll assume you’re off doing naughty things with Mentor Yu Xuan.”
“Cough cough.”
Yan Zhen’s face reddened slightly. He left the room and headed to Room 1, where Mentor Yu Xuan was staying.
Yan Meng’er, Yan Ruyu, Mi Xue’er, and Xiao Xinyan were already there. But the atmosphere differed from the usual lively chatter—it was somewhat quiet.
Lingering resentment still simmered in their hearts.
Yan Zhen glanced at Mentor Yu Xuan. She met his eyes with a reassuring look, then spoke softly. “I’ve called you all here today because I have an important announcement.”
The four girls looked up, their eight eyes fixed on Mentor Yu Xuan. She circled past them to Yan Zhen’s side, proactively took his arm, and smiled. “You’ve probably guessed it already, but the truth is, Yan Zhen and I have been together for a while now. I’m sorry for keeping it from you so long.”
The four girls stared in stunned silence. Yan Zhen was surprised too. He hadn’t expected Mentor Yu Xuan to make such a frank official announcement.
Her openness disarmed them, leaving little room for anger.
“But Mentor, why my cousin…? You’re almost ten years older than him,” Yan Meng’er said.
“Love is love. There’s no ‘why’ to it—just like how you all feel about him.” Mentor Yu Xuan seemed utterly composed; she wasn’t some naive girl anymore, after all. “Sure, Yan Zhen has plenty of great qualities, but those are just bonuses. The real reason… I like him because he’s Yan Zhen. That’s all there is to it.”
Yan Meng’er puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. “That’s such a cop-out!”
Mentor Yu Xuan smiled. “How is it a cop-out? It’s romantic. Love is sensual and ambiguous—hard to explain in words. The key is hearts connecting, like his and mine. You all should aim for that too.”
Mi Xue’er bristled immediately. “I-I have that heart connection with Little Brother Yan Zhen too! It’s not like you’re the only one who truly likes him!”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than everyone shot her strange looks, as if silently asking, “What is this third-wheel otaku girl babbling about?”
Mi Xue’er deflated on the spot. She lowered her head, pouting her plump little lips in grievance while mumbling about “having no choice,” “he was willing too,” and “a girl taking the initiative with her crush doesn’t make her a third-wheel otaku.” The room filled with a heavy air of awkward silence.
Yan Ruyu glanced at her beloved cousin, then at her admired mentor. She sighed inwardly and asked, “So, Mentor, when did you two get together?”
The question made even Mentor Yu Xuan blush. She cleared her throat. “If I had to pinpoint it… it was on the eve of the first monthly exam.”
—Daytime in the office. Midway through, the vice dean had even brought Discipline Instructor Zhang Wei to apologize right outside their door.
“‘First monthly exam?'”
The four girls widened their beautiful eyes in shock.
“No way—that’s too early!”
“You’d only known each other for less than a month back then.”
Mi Xue’er and Xiao Xinyan voiced their skepticism in turn.
Mentor Yu Xuan’s expression grew awkward. After all, she’d resorted to some very unorthodox methods, so she fibbed, “I fell for him at first sight. That’s why I took him as my disciple.”
“What?” Yan Meng’er exclaimed. “Mentor, how could you? You had impure intentions from the start!”
Mentor Yu Xuan from her previous life hadn’t been like this at all!
“Sorry~ Even mentors have selfish desires. Just like you making midnight snacks for Yan Zhen every night to capture his heart through his stomach, Meng’er.”
“Uh…”
Yan Meng’er fell silent once more.
She couldn’t argue back, but she couldn’t get mad either. Aaaah, so frustrating!
Mentor Yu Xuan turned and winked at Yan Zhen.
Across her past and present lives—years of living together—she knew these girls inside and out. Handling them was a breeze~
“I-I have a question too.” Xiao Xinyan raised her hand like a schoolgirl in class and said timidly, “How far have you and Junior Brother Yan Zhen gone?”
“Eh?”
“I mean… have you done it?”
Xiao Xinyan blushed furiously after asking, but her eyes stubbornly locked onto Mentor Yu Xuan and Yan Zhen.
The other three girls snapped their heads up. Tension and curiosity swirled in their beautiful eyes.
Mentor Yu Xuan and Yan Zhen… crossing that forbidden line between teacher and student.
The thought stirred jealousy in their hearts, mingled with a strange, thrilling excitement.
Yan Zhen felt like he was dying of social embarrassment. He desperately wanted to crawl into a hole.
—I shouldn’t have come!
“N-Not yet!” Mentor Yu Xuan waved her hands frantically. “Don’t let your imaginations run wild.”
“Really?” Yan Meng’er wasn’t buying it. “Last night, we clearly heard you say you’d help Cousin with his issue.”
Mi Xue’er chimed in. “Yeah! You got pinned to the bed by Little Brother Yan Zhen, kissing and groping the whole time… and you didn’t resist at all.”
Mentor Yu Xuan froze. “How do you all know? Wait—were you in the room?”
“Yep! We were hiding in the closet!” Yan Meng’er admitted bluntly. “We saw everything you said and did with Cousin, Mentor!”
“!!!”
Mentor Yu Xuan’s soft, beautiful face turned the color of a ripe apple. Shame shattered her composure.
“Th-that… wasn’t what you think.”
“Then what was it?”
“W-we really haven’t gone all the way.”
“So everything except that?”
“Y-yeah, pretty much.”
The four girls gaped in shock.
Yan Meng’er swore she’d only said it to provoke her, but it had actually been true?
Yan Zhen rubbed his forehead in despair. He wished he could fast-forward to the grand finale and ascend right then and there!
