Xia Baobei had always thought of herself as a calm person.

However, whenever she met Lecturer Jiang in school coincidentally, be it if he was talking to someone or alone, she would always turn and walk away. She avoided him like the plague. [1] Embodying the spirit of “It’s luck if I obtain it, and it’s fate if I lose it” [2], Baobei expressed to perfection the pride of a woman...

Would Lecturer Jiang not feel anything about this?

Of course he did! Whenever the girl turned away, he would never run after her, but people would always see the indulging expression he had when looking at Baobei.

But Lecturer Jiang was not in a hurry. He had already waited for her for so many years, why would a little more time matter? Instead, it was Baobei who was anxious.

In his mind, since he was already going to pursue her, he wouldn’t rush it. He truly cherished this girl, and wanted to give her an unforgettable dating experience. He hoped that when they were old, she could still reminisce about the sweet, fuzzy feelings she had as a young girl.

Simply put, the confession had been done. Lecturer Jiang decided that the next step was to let their relationship simmer.

The first step was to establish facts for the public.

As a lecturer who only taught an elective for a night, he did not require a personal office, nor did he need to appear in the university in the morning. The people whom he met were neither the Head of the Department, the Dean, nor any Professors, but the students of the Business School. Publicly, the only one who shared a brotherly relationship with him was Xia Tian.

Many would see Lecturer Jiang and Xia Tian together, and Xia Tian would freely sling his arm over Lecturer Jiang’s shoulders. At this sight, the fujoshis’ thoughts would rush towards a particular direction...

It was only when Xia Tian was overheard calling Lecturer Jiang his brother-in-law that Xia Baobei was thrown to the forefront of attention.

Someone had posted a picture of the dashing men Jiang Moxiu and Xia Tian on the school forum, and even shared with conviction that he had overheard Handsome Xia calling Handsome Jiang “brother-in-law”! When Handsome Jiang heard those words, he looked over the moon!

A few other replies to the post confirmed this incident.

Xia Tian was a legendary figure in school; even the security guards knew of his name. But Baobei was very low profile. Under Xia Tian’s deliberate protection, even though she was second in the school belle voting, none of the males who wanted to pursue her could get past Xia Tian. Hence, after one semester, most people lost their interest in Baobei.

They finally understood why! It turned out that she was already taken, hence Handsome Xia was only trying to help his brother-in-law fend off love rivals!

People started furiously digging up information about Baobei.

There were all sorts of candid photos of Baobei.

Xia Baobei’s family background was exposed.

There were people who claimed to be Baobei’s good friends, her roommates, acquaintances, and even the boss of the cafe that Baobei frequented. In any case, there were many who jumped out and shared about the Xia Baobei they knew.

Even Baobei’s results for the previous semester were posted onto the forum.

In any case, interest in Baobei shot up as a result of Lecturer Jiang’s popularity. In a few days, any posts relating to Baobei had massive click-through rates and replies.

Yet, no matter how much their relationship was discussed, the couple did not appear to have any intention to clarify the issue. Even the source of the rumour, Xia Tian, ignored the discussions.

Looking at how Baobei acted as if nothing else in the world mattered but her education, the sisterhood in the dorm was going mad with anxiety.

They, too, were curious! Did they not ask? Of course they did, but they were either ignored, or given a totally irrelevant answer. She even threw a tantrum once. How would they dare to ask again?

“Shi Xiaoxi, I think that you’re quickly becoming moldy in that dark corner of yours!” Jiahui looked at the preoccupied Shi Xiaoxi. Xiaoxi had only attended two lessons of Lecturer Jiang, but she had already conferred him the title of the ultimate idol in her life. How could she not be concerned about the relationship status of her idol! Hence, Shi Xiaoxi would linger around Baobei all the time, and would sometimes even throw Baobei some pitiful looks. However, Baobei continued ignoring her.

Fang Jie was still scrolling through the school’s forum. Given the amount of limelight Baobei had been given, there would surely be voices of dissent, envy and jealousy.

There were those who praised Baobei, but there were also those who defamed her, such as accusations that Baobei had tripped someone over in the cafeteria, and instead of apologizing, had glared at the other party. Issues that were of similar nature. These competing voices continued.

“From major events in the world, to the most miniscule thing in daily life, Chinese netizens have the ability to take issue with any piece of news”. Fang Jie lamented.

“Well, there are also exceptions”, Xiaoxi hopped over to Fang Jie. “The quality of the netizens in Chinese porn forums are rather high. No one ever gets scolded. All of them will only thank the originator for his hard work, and wish the originator good fortune.”

“Shi Xiaoxi must be speaking from experience”, Jiahui continued.

“Hmph! I love watching porn flicks, especially GV!”

“I must say, Lecturer Jiang is too popular”. Jiahui also squeezed over to Fang Jie’s seat. Ever since Lecturer Jiang had joined the school, there were many candid photos of him in the forum, pictures of when he was giving his lectures, pictures of him opening the door of his car, and even pictures of him walking …

“That’s for sure!” Shi Xiaoxi said proudly, as if she shared his pride. “How many men out there are like Lecturer Jiang, who’s gentle and caring, yet rich and handsome as well? How many can you find?”

“I’d agree to the rich and handsome, but gentle and caring? How did you know?” Fang Jie asked.

“Someone does, but she’s not letting on”. Xiaoxi looked grumpily at Baobei.

“There’s no perfect man out there, even Lecturer Jiang would have his flaws. He could be a smoker, a player, or even have an athlete's foot or something!” Jiahui logically deduced.  

Shi Xiaoxi was upset at Jiahui’s words, and refuted her sternly.

“Nonsense! How could Lecturer Jiang have any flaws?” She looked grievously at Baobei once again, “Someone knows his flaws, but is not letting on!”

Baobei was speechless.

“Shi Xiaoxi, this is blind worship! At the very least, your Lecturer Jiang would have to shit or fart right?”

“What bullshit! Hunks don’t shit or fart!” Shi Xiaoxi screamed at Jiahui, mimicking Steve Ma. .

“Pfft!” Fang Jie spat out her water. “Shi Xiaoxi, you are mad!”  

“Let me switch the question then”, Jiahui said. “Do you desire a man like Lecturer Jiang? You probably would pounce onto him like a hungry wolf right?”

Shi Xiaoxi nodded immediately. “Of course!”

“Then why is it that your Lecturer Jiang is still single? Every single piece of news about Lecturer Jiang’s life in the United States had already been dug up, and only his love life came up empty. If he’s truly flawless, how could it be possible that he has not dated before? Wouldn’t there be women throwing themselves at him?”

“That’s because he’s self-disciplined!”

“This is a twenty seven year old man. Assuming that he doesn’t smoke, drink, gamble, or flirt; he’s filial, ambitious, mature, and gentlemanly; he’s also handsome, and is taller than 1.8m in height. What’s more, he’s also humble and compassionate. Now, tell me the reason why he wouldn’t have dated before?”

Shi Xiaoxi was at a loss for words.

“He’s probably broke then”, Baobei said icily from her desk.

“Pfft!” Fang Jie spat out her water again.

Jiahui frowned. “Another moment of revelation from her”.

“But Lecturer Jiang is rich”, Shi Xiaoxi said foolishly.

“Which is why I said that he must have some undiscovered flaws”, Fang Jie concluded.

Baobei was fascinated by the book that she got from Xia Tian, titled Silent Opera. She placed a large bowl of cherry tomatoes in front of her. This young lady had developed a good habit of eating fruits.

“Reading, reading again! We’re at the peak of our youth, how boring life is if we only read books everyday! If we are free, we should use the time to play a few more rounds of games, or steal more looks at more hunks!” What Shi Xiaoxi hated most about Baobei was that she was always reading. When Baobei did well in her exams, Xiaoxi would be depressed over why she hated reading.

“If you don’t have a habit of reading, then you’ll probably be as clueless when you grow older”. Baobei was in a good mood. Silent Opera was a good read; the contents were simple and lively, and contained loads of humour.

“Huang Zhong served under Liu Bei at the age of sixty; Tokugawa Ieyasu conquered the world at the age of seventy; Jiang Ziya became Prime Minister at the age of eighty; “Dowager” She Saihua took command of the army at the age of hundred. I’m not even twenty yet, why should I be anxious? I’ve got a lifetime ahead of me.” With her level of procrastination towards her studies, the others in the dorm were sceptical of how Shi Xiaoxi had managed to enter Qinghua in the first place.

Bill Gates become the world’s richest man at the age of thirty nine; Chen Tianqiao became China’s richest man at the age of thirtly one; Sun Quan conquered Jiangdong at the age of nineteen; Ding Junhui became a world champion at the age of fiteen; Kangxi took over the throne at the age of six; Beethoven composed songs at the age of four. You’re almost twenty, but you’re still not worried about your future? You can see your future by closing your eyes now, how bright can that be?” Xia Baobei kept to herself normally, but if she chose to debate with someone, she would always win.  

“Boo … Xia Baobei, you are so annoying!”

“You’re too kind.”

Xia Baobei was still reading when the phone rang.

The moment she saw her phone, the cherry tomato in her hand fell to the floor.

The screen was blinking with the words, “Brother Moxiu”.

The phone rang for some time, and Baobei only snapped out of her daze when it stopped.

She had barely recovered when the phone rang again.

Shi Xiaoxi stretched to look at Baobei’s phone, and involuntarily shuddered. She reached out to snatch the phone away, but was stopped by Baobei. The silly girl squinted her eyes as she said, “Xia Baobei, could it be … that you don’t dare to pick up his call?”

“...” Checkmate! Baobei lost this round.

“Says who?” Baobei said in desperation.

And then she picked up the phone.

Shi Xiaoxi was proven wrong.

“Come down now.” There was no greeting whatsoever, just one sentence.

Baobei was furious. “Who do you think you are? Why would I want to go down!”

Shi Xiaoxi was stunned.

The caller paused for a moment, and then said in a cheerful tone, “Baobei ~ [2], who made you angry?”

[1] 嘎杂子别扭了 - 嘎杂子 (ga za zi) Dialect, referring to someone suspicious - 别扭了 (bie niu le). 2 ways of thinking about this: (i) uncomfortable, awkward. I’m guessing the author is saying that she was making things awkward by acting so suspiciously?

[2] Used italics here, because he was calling her “My dear”, but it’s a homonym to her name, Baobei.