Nobody said that teachers at elite academies have to be heartthrobs.

"Jealous?!" Jiang Yu sprang up from the sofa like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her voice rising involuntarily. "What a joke! What am I jealous of? Why would I be so jealous?"

A flash of annoyance crossed his face, as if his secret had been exposed, but he stubbornly refused to admit it, his expression quite awkward.

Wen Qiaoan didn't reply, but leaned back slightly against the sofa, quietly watching his almost exasperated expression.

After Jiang Yu caught his breath, he spoke slowly, his tone even carrying a hint of distant reminiscence: "Back in the infirmary, who was it that said it was just for fun?"

Jiang Yu choked, then turned her face away, clicked her tongue, and muttered with obvious lack of confidence, "...Well, we haven't even had a chance to play yet."

"Instead of keeping a close eye on me here," Wen Qiaoan stopped dwelling on the question, picked up his tablet again, his gaze returning to the screen, his voice softening, but he uttered a sentence that was enough to make Jiang Yu prick up his ears instantly, "You should pay more attention to Lin Xun."

He raised his eyes, looked at Jiang Yu who had frozen in place, and added quietly, "As far as I know, a large part of the reason why Teacher Yu is so insistent on starting the student council is because of him."

"Lin Xun?" Jiang Yu frowned, carefully searching his memory, his tone undisguisedly indifferent, "Who? I don't remember."

Wen Qiaoan didn't speak, but quickly swiped her finger across the tablet a few times, bringing up a student file and turning the screen towards him.

Jiang Yu glanced at the photo casually, and the first thing that caught his eye was a school admission photo. The boy in the photo had a clean face, calm eyes, and even a hint of youthful naiveté. Jiang Yu stared at it for two seconds, then let out a sneer that was anything but polite:

"That's it?" He raised his eyes, his eyebrows arched, his criticism undisguised. "Like a blank sheet of paper, not even half as good-looking as me."

Wen Qiaoan glanced at him silently, then put the tablet away without a word.

"You're good-looking, but Teacher Yu only likes his type."

These words, though spoken lightly, were a fatal blow.

Jiang Yu choked and his breath hitched; his face immediately turned pale.

He looked away, his jaw tightening, and forced out the harsh words through clenched teeth: "...He's just a poor guy who crawled out of the city. If he's really in the way, we can just get rid of him with some tricks."

Upon hearing this, Wen Qiaoan finally looked up and stared intently at Jiang Yu for two seconds. Her gaze was devoid of emotion, yet it made Jiang Yu inexplicably feel uneasy.

He finally understood why this young master had been chasing after Teacher Yu openly and secretly for so long, but hadn't even gotten close to her.

This brain of mine is truly wasted.

After being stared at like that for a few seconds, Jiang Yu suddenly turned around and walked towards the door without saying a word. The force with which he slammed the door made the door frame vibrate.

Wen Qiaoan didn't even look up, only letting out a soft sigh. Jiang Yu's reaction was exactly what he expected. This young master had always had everything go smoothly, and he could get almost anything he wanted, except for Yu Fuli, whom he had run into a wall with, and in a way that left him completely bewildered.

Now that the seemingly least threatening obstacle has been discovered to be the very reason why Teacher Yu is truly concerned, it would be strange if that anger didn't erupt.

But... Wen Qiaoan's fingers paused as she swiped the screen.

Jiang Yu has always acted in a straightforward and even somewhat reckless manner. If he truly sees Lin Xun as a thorn in his side, what methods would he use?

Is Lin Xun, the boy who shows dependence in front of Teacher Yu, really as harmless as he seems?

He recalled Lin Xun's excessively clean resume and the calmness and decisiveness he displayed beyond his years when working together; no matter how he looked at it, Lin Xun didn't seem like someone to be trifled with.

However, Wen Qiaoan did not intend to remind Jiang Yu.

After all, a true hunter doesn't need to get involved to reap the benefits.

Wen Qiaoan picked up the now-cold water from the table, took a sip, and the icy liquid slid down his throat, suppressing the inexplicable premonition in his heart. He completely put aside the brief distraction brought by Jiang Yu and immersed himself once again in weighing the ministerial candidates.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu, who slammed the door and left, did not go far.

He leaned against the cold wall of the corridor, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his eyes staring menacingly into the void.

He doesn't really like smoking, but this time it was just too annoying.

Lin Xun.

He kept pondering the name, the unremarkable ID photo lingering in his mind. Not exactly stunningly beautiful, not particularly imposing—so what made him stand out?

Just because Yu Fuli eats this one?

absurd!

Jiang Yu has never given up the people or things he wants. There are plenty of ways to make a top student from the lower district, with a weak foundation, give up easily.

However, Wen Qiaoan's words still stuck in my throat like a thorn.

"Teacher Yu only eats his kind."

Jiang Yu irritably crumpled the cigarette and threw it into the nearby trash can. He needed to see for himself what was so special about this Lin Xun.

……………………Divider……………………

The author says:

If you notice that one chapter has an unusually short word count, then without a doubt, it's because the first two chapters exceeded the word limit, forcing the reduction of this chapter's word count.

My original plan was to update 6000 words a day this month, but I always have trouble controlling the word count when I'm writing. I exceeded the word count a little too much in the first few days of the month. When I checked the word count, I found that if I didn't control it, I would exceed 300,000 words by the end of the month.

The result of exceeding 300,000 is that I will not receive any of Tomato's current awards, and I will lose at least one or two thousand. What's even more frustrating is that I found out a bit too late. In order to ensure my full attendance, I can't write less, so I can only limit my daily word count to around 6000 and then take a day off, barely managing to reach the word count required for the bonus.

It's not that I wanted to do this, I really had no choice. Traffic has been very low these past few days, and my income has been cut from over a hundred to a few dozen, down to one-fifth of what it was originally. I can only rely on the few hundred from the bonus to make ends meet.