I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

The curly-haired boy next to him glanced at him, somewhat surprised: "You don't know?"

The buzz-cut guy asked, puzzled, "Know what?"

Seeing that he genuinely didn't know, the curly-haired boy leaned closer and said mysteriously, "You must know about Abbess Miejue, right?"

The boy with the buzz cut nodded and whispered, "Of course I know."

The so-called "Extinction Master" refers to a female teacher at Zhijiang University whose classes are known for their high failure rate.

Every year at the start of the new semester, some students post on the C98 forum at Zhijiang University, lamenting that they failed their courses under the tutelage of the "Extinction Master" (a derogatory term for a strict, unruly teacher), and that the "Extinction Master" lived up to her reputation.

Year after year, the name of Abbess Miejue became even more renowned.

Even in everyday life, there are posts discussing Abbess Miejue and speculating why she is so ruthless.

Some say she's suffering from a deep emotional wound and has become psychologically disturbed; others say it's a conspiracy of professional specialization, deliberately weeding out slackers to maintain the quality of the major; the most outrageous claim is that a student posted online saying that the "Extinction Master" might possess a system whose task for her is to maintain a certain failure rate each year, otherwise she will be eliminated! ...

All of these things made Abbess Miejue very well-known among the students of Zhijiang University. Even those who had never taken Abbess Miejue's classes had heard of her reputation.

"Someone at C98 revealed that the reason Abbess Miejue was so ruthless was because she was abused by a scumbag in the past, so she focused on abusing others ever since!"

The curly-haired guy dropped a bombshell.

The guy with the buzz cut was shocked. "Really? I thought she really had a 'failing system'... Wait a minute!"

The boy with the buzz cut suddenly realized something, and looked sharply at Du Ruowei, who was giving a speech on the stage. Then, he looked away. "Could it be..."

The curly-haired guy nodded silently. "Yeah. The whistleblower said that this CEO Du Ruowei is the same scumbag from back then. I reckon all these people are here to see the scumbag."

"Wow! No wonder this lecture was so popular today, now I know!"

The man with the buzz cut was very upset. "So he's the one who made me fail!"

The curly-haired boy chuckled, "What, you were also hanged by Abbess Miejue?"

The boy with the buzz cut nodded. "I failed her last semester. The 'Extinction Master' lives up to her name." He then sighed. "But even the 'Extinction Master' had a tough time. I only just realized that she really was psychologically disturbed by a scumbag, so I don't hate her as much anymore..."

As the two were talking, a girl sitting behind them couldn't help but lean forward and say, "Senior Brother Du isn't a scumbag; it's just her wishful thinking and a distortion of the truth!"

Both the boy with the buzz cut and the boy with the curly hair looked back upon hearing this. "Wishful thinking? Dude, do you know what's going on here?"

Since the girl had spoken, she leaned closer and continued, "Well, my aunt was in the same year as them..."

According to the girl's account, back then at Zhijiang University, her aunt, Du Ruowei, and Abbess Miejue were classmates.

Du Ruowei was the most handsome boy in the class at the time, and he was also very enthusiastic, so he was quite popular in the class.

The girl's aunt is also very beautiful; she's the prettiest girl in the class.

Du Ruowei and the girl's aunt had mutual feelings for each other, and logically, they should have naturally gotten together. However, one of Du Ruowei's good friends also liked the girl's aunt and was pursuing her relentlessly. Du Ruowei probably didn't want to steal her away, so he suppressed his feelings, getting caught up in a complicated love triangle with the girl's aunt and his friend.

It was around this time that a rumor began to circulate that Abbess Miejue and Du Ruowei were in a relationship.

Upon hearing this news, the girl's aunt could no longer hold back. She stopped trying to stop him and went straight to Du Ruowei, making things clear and asking him if he was dating Abbess Miejue.

Du Ruowei firmly denied it, saying he didn't know what happened either.

Since things had come to this point, the two sides stopped arguing and made everything clear. They decided to be together bravely and even went to Du Ruowei's brother to tell him what had happened.

That guy is a real man; I wish them happiness.

Then came Abbess Miejue.

Abbess Miejue insisted that Du Ruowei was a scumbag who dumped her and got together with the girl's aunt.

Du Ruowei has consistently denied it, but many people don't believe her—would a young woman risk her innocence to frame you?

Only Du Ruowei's brothers and the girl's aunt believed that Du Ruowei had never been with Abbess Miejue.

……

"So this Mr. Du is your aunt's husband?"

After hearing the story, the man with the buzz cut couldn't help but ask.

The girl shook her head. "My aunt married someone else, and the two didn't end up together."

The curly-haired guy said, "It's a Rashomon-like situation. So you don't actually know whether President Du or not she ever dated Abbess Miejue?"

The girl was certain: "Definitely not. Although my aunt didn't end up with him, she never spoke ill of him after the breakup. She even said he was a very responsible man. If she really had been with Abbess Miejue, she definitely wouldn't deny it. I guess it's just Abbess Miejue's wishful thinking, fantasizing that she dated him."

Both women had "dated" Du Ruowei, and both eventually broke up with him. The one who explicitly dated him spoke highly of his character. The other, whose relationship status was uncertain, called Du Ruowei a scumbag…

Neither the boy with the buzz cut nor the boy with the curly hair knew the truth.

However, they knew one thing—they could post this on the C98 forum later, which would be quite sensational and definitely go viral!

The curly-haired guy even came up with a title: "Extinction Master and Yang Xiao - A Psychological Distortion of Unrequited Love"...

On stage, Du Ruowei was unaware that people in the audience were gossiping about him, and he continued his speech.

Suddenly, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

Since he was giving a speech, Du Ruowei didn't pay any attention and continued speaking.

"...The beauty industry requires T-shaped skills: in-depth expertise in a specific vertical field, and broad aesthetic judgment. If you're in chemistry, you need to be proficient in formulation and safety assessment. If you're in design, you need to master AB and CMF design... The depth of your skills determines the quality of your work..."

Du Ruowei's speech lasted quite a while before it finally ended.

The students below were very accommodating and burst into enthusiastic applause.

Du Ruowei stood on the stage, looking at the sea of ​​people below, his heart surging with emotion.

This is his alma mater. When he entered this school, he was just a poor boy from the countryside. When he left, he was still a poor boy, and as a result, he missed out on a beautiful marriage, and could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved married someone else.

However, that incident also spurred him on.

His original wish was simply to "become a respectable resident of Yunchuan City." Since then, it has become "to become a superior person."

Now, I've pretty much achieved my dream.

Now, returning to my alma mater and seeing those outstanding students looking up to me, it feels like I've put an exclamation mark on this part of my life's journey.

After the lecture, there was a Q&A session with the students.

Du Ruowei sat on the stage and answered the questions one by one.

One of the female students asked him about his relationship with Abbess Miejue, which greatly excited the students present, and they all started making a fuss.

Unfortunately, the host skipped over this question, saying it was "irrelevant to this lecture," and Du Ruowei was not required to answer it, which disappointed the students.

Du Ruowei, on the other hand, could only laugh silently.

This question really brought back memories of his youth, when he was quite troubled and helpless about it. But now, looking back, he feels quite calm.

With all the segments completed, today's lecture has come to an end.

The students began to leave.

Du Ruowei, also arranged by the school, was led by a female counselor to leave through a side passage and head towards the parking lot at the back.

As he walked, Du Ruowei took out his phone to see who was calling.

His phone has already vibrated three times during the lecture.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that all three missed calls were from the same person—Lan Qin.

This surprised Du Ruowei greatly.

He thought it was some business associate contacting him, but it turned out to be this young lady. What could she possibly want with him? And why did she call him three times?

Du Ruowei was about to call back to ask when a voice came from the other end.

"Students, the lecture has ended. Please do not disturb the guest speaker as they leave..."

Du Ruowei subconsciously looked up and saw several female college students standing in front of him.

One of them seemed to be coming to find him, while the female counselor who accompanied him out stepped forward to stop and persuade him.

"Teacher, I know him..." The female college student who was about to come over was talking to the female counselor. When she saw Du Ruowei looking over, she quickly called out, "Brother Du!"

"Excuse me, teacher, this is my friend," Du Ruowei stepped forward and explained to the female counselor.

Upon hearing this, the female counselor stopped trying to stop them.

Du Ruowei also looked at the female college student, smiled, somewhat surprised and somewhat emotional: "Sasha, it's been so many years since I last saw you, you've grown into a beautiful young woman."

The girl called "Sasa" is the same girl that the buzz-cut guy and the curly-haired guy mentioned before, saying that her aunt was Du Ruowei's former college girlfriend.

The girls over there were quite excited when they saw this: they thought Sasha was bragging, but they didn't expect that Sasha really knew this handsome CEO uncle!

Sasha turned around, gave them a knowing smile, then turned to Du Ruowei, looking somewhat shy and bashful, "Yes, Brother Du, it's been so long..."

Sasha and Du Ruowei started chatting, and while they were talking, Sasha was also secretly glancing at Du Ruowei in front of her.

Her impression of Brother Du was from many years ago. Now, seeing him again after so many years, she found that his face hadn't changed much, only he had gained a more mature and charming appeal. In addition, she still vividly remembered his dazzling presence on stage; under that spotlight, he was even more charming, and his smile seemed radiant, making her heart flutter.

Sasha's excitement and admiration were also evident in her words: "...I was sitting downstairs just now, and I heard many classmates saying that you, Senior Brother Du, are really amazing. You've become the general manager of such a big company at such a young age. Some people are also very interested in the philosophy of your Ya Yun Beauty and want to join and give it a try."

Du Ruowei laughed and said, "That's great. Our company welcomes all junior students from Zhijiang University. We encourage you to come to Yayun for an interview."

Then he raised his hand, glanced at his watch, and said, "Sasha, I have to go now. Here's my phone number; Brother Du will treat you to dinner again next time."

After exchanging phone numbers, Du Ruowei said goodbye and was led to the parking lot by the female counselor.

Sasha stared at Du Ruowei's back for a long time.

She still remembered that her aunt had brought Du Ruowei back home several times back then.

Every time he faced his aunt's family, Du Ruowei would smile obsequiously and be extremely cautious, as if trying to please everyone.

The current Du Ruowei is more self-assured and decisive, not as approachable as before, but that only makes her more attractive.

The girls who had accompanied Sasha finally gathered around, chattering excitedly about Du Ruowei. Their words revealed a great deal of admiration for him.

After all, even among the alumni of Zhijiang University, Du Ruowei is considered an outstanding alumnus.

That one

Du Ruowei had arrived at the parking lot. After saying goodbye to the female counselor, he got into a minivan and slowly drove away from the parking lot, heading out of the school.

The assistant sat to the side, reporting on the remaining procedures for the day.

Du Ruowei waved his hand, "We'll talk about it later." Then he took his phone and called Lan Qin back.

After the call connected, Du Ruowei smiled and apologized, "Qinqin, I'm sorry, I gave a lecture at Zhijiang University today, and I was in the lecture just now, so I didn't answer the phone. Is there something you need?"

Lan Qin's voice came from the other end of the phone, "Giving a lecture at Zhijiang University? Congratulations, Brother Du! You've really returned home in glory. I'll let you show off your power and have a good time!"

Du Ruowei was both amused and exasperated. "It's just a lecture..."

After exchanging a few words, Lan Qin on the other end of the phone got to the point: "...Brother Du, I have a case study on business competition that I'd like you to analyze."

"A case study of business competition? A school assignment?" Du Ruowei asked.

"Um."

"Okay, then just send it to my email, I'll take a look right away."

"it is good."

After finishing the phone call, Du Ruowei took out a handheld computer, pulled out an electronic pen, logged into his email, and saw the email from Lan Qin.

As the general manager of Ya Yun Beauty, he wasn't doing his job; he was helping little kids with their homework. If his competitors knew, they'd laugh their heads off. Du Ruowei thought to himself, finding it somewhat amusing.

Then I started reading this email.