Qin Ge liked to corner Shi Sheng whenever he had the chance, so rumours gradually circulated that Qin Ge was chasing Shi Sheng.
Shi Sheng felt like she was going insane—she could have a ‘romantic encounter’ with that beast even during her meals.
Shi Sheng silently turned to glare at a certain beast. “Prof, this is the students’ cafeteria. Aren’t you afraid you’ll hurt your waist[1]?”
Qin Ge unceremoniously set his tray down and sat down across from Shi Sheng. “When are you going to attend my class?”
“Why are you so obsessed about whether I attend your classes? Don’t tell me that you really have fallen for me? I’m telling you, teacher-student romances never end up well. I mean, look how old you are compared to me—we won’t be happy together.”Qin Ge’s brows scrunched slightly as he corrected her, “I’m only 24.”
Shi Sheng, “...” ‘That’s not the point. The point is: why the hell are you hounding me all the time?!’
“I don’t want any of my students to fail.” Qin Ge gave her an explanation.
Shi Sheng, “...”
“Why do you not want to attend my classes?”
‘Do I need a reason to not feel like going?’
Shi Sheng’s eyes turned. “There are too many people.”‘I don’t believe that he’ll kick all the other students out!’
As reality proved, he wouldn’t chase his other students out, but he had another trick up his sleeve.
“I can have you 1 on 1[2].”
‘“I can...have you...1 on 1...”
Sorry, I(bbb) was being a bit filthy.
But is this Prof Qin really alright in the head? I(bbb) bet he’s after my(bbb) looks! Scared.’
Qin Ge felt the girl’s gaze when she looked at him was like she was looking at a pervert. “Student Qiao Chu, since you—”
“Prof, how about we have a competition? If I win, you stop harassing me, okay?”
‘All I(bbb) want is to be a quiet beauty and occasionally spectate the leads. Yet this random professor keeps bugging me to study. Study my arse!’
Qin Ge considered it a bit. “Very well. If you lose, you have to attend my classes punctually.”
Shi Sheng raised her chin and spoke arrogantly, “Impossible. I can beat you with a few flicks of my fingers.”
Qin Ge, “...” ‘This woman is really full of herself...’
The two set the time for this weekend. The place was the classroom Chen Xi’s group was using.
......
On the appointed day of the weekend, Shi Sheng arrived early. Qin Ge came half an hour later.
Chen Xi and co. were pretty much cooped up in this classroom all the time now—they even dealt with all their daily necessities here—so they were all present.
These people were very excited to see Qin Ge.
Qin Ge only taught the Year 2 class. Apart from Chen Xi (who entered the team through personal connections), everyone else was in Years 3 & 4, so they had no chance to see this legendary professor.
“Hello, Professor Qin.”
“Hello.” Qin Ge gave a polite greeting.
“Professor Qin, have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“Yes.”
“Professor Qin, have some water...”
“Professor Qin...”
Shi Sheng waited for these passionate fans to calm down before carrying her laptop over to sit across from Qin Ge.
“What’re we competing in?” Since he believed in letting ladies go first, Qin Ge asked Shi Sheng.
“See who can crack the source code of Divine Fantasy faster.” Shi Sheng turned on her laptop and spoke, “Of course, you can pick another game.”
“Chu-Chu...” Chen Xi was surprised. ‘How could it be that easy to crack the source code? And it’s someone else’s game at that...’
There’d be consequences if anything bad happened!
“Okay.” Qin Ge agreed without hesitation.
‘Hey, hey! Prof, are you really going to follow along with her idea?!
No, wait. Chu-Chu doesn’t know how to do this at all. Even if she did, it should just be some beginner-level stuff...’
Thinking thus, Chen Xi calmed down a lot.
But once he saw the string of code that popped up on Shi Sheng’s laptop flashing at an alarming rate, he had a bad feeling.
Remembering the contents of her negotiation with their sponsor, the truth finally dawned on Chen Xi.
It seemed... His bro was pretty familiar with computer science.
Only the sounds of the two typing away at their keyboards remained in the classroom.
Divine Fantasy had been running for nearly 5 years already and was still very popular. How could it be easy to crack the source code of a game like this?
The sun slowly rose to its zenith, and then gradually set in the west.
Shi Sheng’s speed slowed down. She went from typing with both hands to typing with one. She also no longer typed quickly, instead tapping a few keys here and there every so often.
“Senior, is there anything to eat?” Shi Sheng shut her laptop and turned to ask the person who had been staring at the two of them all this while.
The senior who was addressed immediately nodded and turned to get some of the takeaway they’d just ordered. After heating it up, he handed it to Shi Sheng.
Shi Sheng ate as she watched Qin Ge.
He was staring at his monitor with a serious expression, his fingers still flying across the keyboard rapidly.
Just as she was finishing her last few mouthfuls, Qin Ge slowed down. His gaze turned to sweep over her. Seeing her calm manner, Qin Ge instinctively knew. He’d lost.
“It’s a deal, yeah? Don’t bug me to come to your classes anymore.” Shi Sheng let Qin Ge see her laptop before immediately deleting all the code.
Qin Ge followed suit on his. He silently got up and walked to the door, stopping to speak when he got to the doorway, “I’ll keep my word.”
“Bye Professor Qin!” Shi Sheng waved him goodbye with a handkerchief she’d gotten from who-knows-where.
Qin Ge’s figure soon vanished from the doorway.
He gazed off into the distance, feeling rather unhappy.
It seemed like...he didn’t have a reason to see her anymore.
Qin Ge felt like there was something off with him. His thoughts seemed to be breaking free from his control—something that had never happened before.
‘Qiao Chu...
Qiao Chu...’
He silently repeated her name in her mind. It was very foreign. But every time his eyes met hers, he felt an odd sense of familiarity.
......
Shi Sheng didn’t even have time to feel happy about Qin Ge leaving before System’s voice suddenly rang in her head.
[Hidden Quest: Universal Equality.]
Shi Sheng, “...”
‘Hidden Quest = Feng Ci.
Calm down! Calm down!’
Shi Sheng waited for System to continue.
After roughly 30 seconds, System spoke once more.
[Quest Target: Qin Ge. Objective: As it says in the wording. Please comprehend it on your own.]
‘Is it someone else called Qin Ge?’
[......]
‘So the person I offended just now was the quest target this time? And he might be my Feng Ci?’
‘Calm down! Calm down! ...Calm down my arse! I(lz) offended him just now!!!
System, you did that on fucking purpose, didn’t ya?! Where’s my(lz) sword?!’
Her sword was still levelling up...
“Chu-Chu, why is your expression so bad?” Chen Xi felt her forehead in concern. “Are you tired? I’ll send you back to your dorms.”
Shi Sheng despondently walked out. Chen Xi shook his head and grabbed her belongings before catching up.
Shi Sheng still wore an expression of despair even after reaching her dormitory.
“Chu-Chu...” Chen Xi handed the stuff he was carrying to her. “Hurry up and go to bed.”
Chen Xi really wanted to ask her when she’d learned all her skills, but upon thinking that she’d exhausted herself today, he suppressed his curiosity and merely expressed his concern a bit.
“Thanks. You can go back too.” Shi Sheng carried her stuff and slowly made her way upstairs.
Right now, she just wanted to chop System up to vent.
‘For fuck’s sakes! Why didn’t it issue the quest when I first met Qin Ge?!’
Qin Ge had gone completely unmentioned in the plot and wasn’t present in Qiao Chu’s memories either. But such an influential person should have been in Qiao Chu’s memories, if not the plot.
Since he was missing from both, it could only mean that System had wiped out information about him.
How could she have forgotten this?! She’d miscalculated!
‘System actually dares to play me like this!’
Shi Sheng returned to her dorm room to begin cultivation.
Attend class? Shut it, she wasn’t going there to lose face.
[1] I’m pretty sure this is meant to be a poke at his age/seniority.
[2] Raws are “我单独给你上” where the last word “上” can be a colloquial term for “fuck”. I think the wording here conveyed it okay-ish, but this is just to clarify.
