Qi Xiaoyan looked at them and placed the book in his hand on the lectern: "The question I left yesterday, you two will each explain it to everyone using two different methods." As he spoke, he walked to the side, leaving the lectern to them.
Class monitor and Youth League secretary: "..."
After class, Qi Xiaoyan ran into the head of the mathematics department in the corridor. The head, carrying a stack of books, walked up to him with a serious expression: "The director just informed me that he wants you to go to the principal's office."
Qi Xiaoyan lowered her eyes and said to the team leader, "I understand."
When Song Jin walked out of the teaching building, the "Youthful Days" crew was still filming on campus, but there were even more reporters today than on the day filming started. Song Jin spotted Qi Xiaoyan passing by on a side path, without giving her a second glance.
When the reporters saw Qi Xiaoyan, they tried to intercept him, but Qi Xiaoyan, taking advantage of his familiarity with the terrain, turned left and right and shook them off.
When he reached the principal's office, he straightened his clothes before raising his hand to knock on the door.
"Please come in."
It was the principal's voice. The principal is not usually at school, so he must have come back today specifically to deal with his business.
Qi Xiaoyan pushed open the door and went inside. The principal was sitting behind his desk, and the director was standing next to him.
"Principal Zhao."
Qi Xiaoyan's voice was unassuming yet always had a sobering quality, like a mint candy eaten during the first class in the afternoon.
Principal Zhao nodded to him with a slight smile: "Xiao Qi, I think you know why I called you here, right? I saw the news report. Originally, this was your private matter and I shouldn't have interfered, but attracting so many reporters is not good for you or the students. This is a school after all, and I don't want these things to disrupt the normal order of the school."
"I understand, I will handle this."
"That's good. You are an excellent person, and I believe you can resolve this perfectly."
After leaving the principal's office, Qi Xiaoyan called Yang Wei, but she hung up immediately. He checked the time; she should be taking a break between classes, so it seemed she was deliberately ignoring his calls. He stood there for a moment, then put his phone back in his bag.
After Yang Wei hung up on Qi Xiaoyan, her phone rang again. Thinking it was Qi Xiaoyan calling again, she was about to hang up when she realized the caller was Fang Chengran.
"What's up?"
Fang Chengran on the other end of the phone paused for a moment: "You sound like you're in a bad mood?"
Yang Wei hummed in agreement, and Fang Chengran smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you? When you're in a bad mood, you should eat something delicious, and it will cheer you up. I heard that a new cake shop recently opened, and their cakes are really delicious. How about I treat you to some cake?"
"Um... I'm sorry, I'm really not in the mood today."
Fang Chengran was silent for a moment, then said, "Then I'll bring it to your school at noon. Would you like a chocolate cake, a strawberry cream cake, or a matcha cake?"
Yang Wei's lips twitched, and she said spinelessly, "Can I have both?"
Fang Chengran chuckled a few times and said to her, "See you at noon."
He hung up the phone and went out. At noon, when Yang Wei organized the students to leave the school, she saw his car parked across the street.
The eye-catching Masa naturally attracted a crowd of students. The chubby security guard at the door blinked, realizing that handsome Masa was still in the running.
Liang Minghao naturally saw his car too. He walked over and knocked on the window, grinning mischievously, "Uncle, waiting for me?"
Fang Chengran handed over a beautifully packaged box of fruit cake: "You know what to do."
Liang Minghao took the cake and skipped away, saying, "Ah, I saw Uncle Zeng's car."
After Yang Wei saw all the students off, she came over and knocked on his car window. Fang Chengran opened the door for her, turned around and brought over all the cakes from the back seat: "These three are for you, take this one back to your colleague."
Yang Wei smiled at the cake: "You've thought of everything." She looked up at Fang Chengran, "I still have to go up and keep an eye on the students. How about you come with me for a tour of the school cafeteria?"
Fang Chengran thought for a moment and said, "No need, I'm already very happy to see you. I'll treat you to a meal next time."
Yang Wei held the cake and looked at him for a while before unwrapping the matcha cake. "Let's finish one quickly while we have the chance," she said, handing a spoon to Fang Chengran. She then carefully cut the cake in half with a knife. "This half is yours, and I can have the half with chocolate. I'm not afraid of gaining weight."
Fang Chengran chuckled and picked up his spoon to eat. The cake wasn't big, and he finished it in no time. Fang Chengran looked up at Yang Wei and asked, "Are you in a bad mood because of that report?"
Yang Wei didn't speak. Fang Chengran sighed softly and said, "Sorry, forget I asked."
Yang Wei wiped her mouth with a tissue, smiled at him, and said, "The cake was delicious, thank you." She got out of the car with the cake and waved to him before leaving. Fang Chengran watched her enter the teaching building before starting the car and driving away.
Yang Wei hid her two cakes in the cupboard, and the other cake was quickly devoured by Teacher Yao and the others. Yang Wei checked her phone; there were no missed calls.
She pursed her lips, tossed her phone aside, and went to the cafeteria for lunch.
Before school ended in the afternoon, she couldn't help but check her phone again, but there were still no missed calls. She chuckled to herself, but as she walked out of the school gate, she saw Qi Xiaoyan's car parked outside.
Author's Note: Special thanks to: Xiaoyutang (thrown a landmine at 23:50:46 on 2015-04-17), Charlotte0603 (thrown a landmine at 00:18:57 on 2015-04-18), lestat (thrown a landmine at 00:49:47 on 2015-04-18), and Jerair (thrown a rocket launcher at 02:16:26 on 2015-04-18). Thank you all, my little angels! Love you all, mwah! Also, don't worry, there won't be any angst. :)
35
After a day of reflection, Yang Wei was no longer as agitated as she had been when she first saw the news that morning. She stood at the door for a while before walking towards Qi Xiaoyan's car.
Qi Xiaoyan looked slightly puzzled as she got into the car. Yang Wei closed the car door and turned to look at him: "Why do you look so surprised?"
Qi smiled and said, "I thought you would pretend you didn't see me."
Yang Wei chuckled, showing a good sense of self-awareness: "Didn't you have something to say to me?"
"Hmm...you saw the report?"
"I saw it. The paparazzi's skills are terrible. They distorted your face in the photo."
Qi Xiaoyan paused for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts: "I agreed to the dinner because I had just met Song Jin. You were also at the hotel, and I've already explained that. As for the time we went to her house together, it was to tell her not to come looking for you again."
Yang Wei raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "You actually did something like that?"
"Didn't you say you didn't want to see her again?"
Yang Wei turned her head to look out the window without speaking, and the carriage fell silent for a moment. After a while, Yang Wei asked, "Did any reporters go to the school to ambush you?"
Qi Xiaoyan frowned when this was mentioned: "As soon as I stepped out of the dormitory today, there was a group of reporters. The principal even had a special talk with me."
Yang Wei glanced at him sideways: "Your principal isn't thinking of expelling you, is he?"
"It's not that serious. He told me to resolve this matter as soon as possible."
Yang Wei chuckled. "What can you do to solve this? Do you think those reporters will actually listen to your explanation? All they want is a story." She paused, then asked with some concern, "What did you say to the reporters?"
Qi smiled and said, "I asked them the Sylvester question."
Yang Wei: "..."
She could imagine the reporter's expression at that moment.
She pursed her lips and said, "Well, given the nature of entertainment reporters, no matter what you say, they can translate it into what they want to hear. Things might escalate further. Anyway, that's how the entertainment industry is. After a while, they'll forget about this and move on to other things."
Qi Xiaoyan nodded.
"But Song Jin is really disgusting." If Qi Xiaoyan doesn't know how to deal with reporters, surely those of them who have been in the entertainment industry for a long time know how? She hasn't said anything yet, is she planning to use this opportunity to create hype? Yang Wei frowned and said to Qi Xiaoyan, "Lend me your phone."
"What are you doing?" Qi Xiaoyan's eyebrows twitched slightly. Although puzzled, he still handed over his phone. Yang Wei opened her contacts and glanced at him. "Sure enough, there's Song Jin's number."
Qi Xiaoyan: "..."
It's simply impossible to guard against.
Yang Wei tapped Song Jin's name and dialed the number. The call was quickly answered, and Song Jin's voice came through the receiver: "Senior Qi?"
"Heh, I'm not your Senior Qi, I'm Yang Wei." Yang Wei said with a forced smile, "Ms. Song, I don't know if what happened on Weibo was a deliberate publicity stunt by you, but you should know that this has caused Professor Qi a lot of trouble. Do you know what it means to be a role model for others? Professor Qi is a university professor, and now he's on the front page of entertainment news, having an affair with a popular female celebrity. How is he supposed to face the sacred lecture hall? How is he supposed to face his eager students? How is he supposed to face his gossipy colleagues at school? He's still crying to me, saying that the principal personally talked to him today and might expel him from the school, or even banish him from the mathematics community! How is he supposed to live after all he knows is mathematics? Is he supposed to end up on the streets, destitute and dying?"
Qi Xiaoyan: "..."
Surprisingly, Song Jin listened to her entire explanation, and after a moment of silence, said, "This is the company's decision."
"But you didn't object, did you?"
Song Jin's lips pressed into a straight line, and she did not reply.
Yang Wei said, "If I were you, I definitely wouldn't do that."
As she was about to hang up, Song Jin called out to her from the other end of the line, "Wait a minute, I want to say a few words to Qi Xiaoyan."
Yang Wei frowned and thought for a moment before handing the phone over: "She has something to say to you."
Qi Xiaoyan glanced at her, picked up the phone, and asked, "What is it?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Song Jin's slightly hoarse voice came through: "I'm sorry, we were indeed in the wrong this time, I will handle it as soon as possible."
"Okay." Qi Xiaoyan responded, but did not hang up immediately. "Let's not contact each other anymore, and I will delete your number."
Song Jin was taken aback: "Does it have to be this way?"
"Yes, I don't want any more misunderstandings."
Song Jin seemed to chuckle: "I understand. I'll change my phone number too. Goodbye."
She hung up the phone as soon as she finished speaking. Yang Wei saw Qi Xiaoyan put away his phone and raised an eyebrow at him: "Are you really going to delete your junior sister Song's number?"
Qi Xiaoyan deleted Song Jin's phone number right in front of her. Yang Wei's eyes flickered, and she smiled at Qi Xiaoyan: "With your sensitivity to numbers, you must have memorized her number long ago, right?"
Qi Xiaoyan: "..."
Although he didn't consciously try to remember, he did remember.
“I won’t call her, and she said she’ll change her number.”
Yang Wei chuckled. Only Professor Qi would believe such a thing. "Is that all she said?"
She also said she would resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Yang Wei blinked: "They're much more professional at solving this than you are."
Qi Xiaoyan nodded slightly, then looked at Yang Wei without speaking. Yang Wei frowned slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing, it's just that I haven't seen anyone talk nonsense so seriously in a long time."
Yang Wei said nonchalantly, "I'm just using literary embellishment to say this, otherwise how could I evoke Song Jin's sense of guilt?"
"I see." Qi Xiaoyan started the car and drove towards the intersection. After Yang Wei arrived home, she said to Qi Xiaoyan, "Don't come looking for me until this is over. I don't want this story to become a love triangle in the reporters' hands tomorrow."
Qi Xiaoyan considered it for a moment and nodded: "I understand."
He drove back to school, only to find two reporters still lying in wait outside his dormitory. Seeing him return, they rushed up to him. One of the reporters grinned at him: "I know the answer to that question from this morning. Prove it by contradiction, right?"
Another reporter seized the opportunity to ask, "So, Professor Qi, what is your relationship with Song Jin?"
Qi Xiaoyan glanced at the two of them and said, "Song Jin and I don't have any special relationship, not even ordinary friends. If you really want to go back to school, I can give you a test paper to take."
reporter:"……"
Shortly after, media outlets reported that the male protagonist denied rekindling his old flame with Song Jin. Soon, netizens jumped in, claiming that he must have been unable to withstand societal pressure and cruelly abandoned Song Jin, calling him a complete scumbag. This argument intensified online, leaving Yang Wei feeling helpless upon seeing the news. Hadn't she already told him not to answer reporters' questions…?
"Ms. Yang, don't forget to go to the large classroom for a meeting after school." Ms. Luo reminded Yang Wei as she walked out of the office with a set square. Yang Wei logged out of Weibo, looked up, and nodded to Ms. Luo: "I know, thank you."