CEG Chapter 4

Jiang Muping had been going back to his parents’ house quite frequently these past two days, which resulted in him being questioned by his cousin Li Sizhi as soon as he entered the courtyard.

 

“Why do you come home so often these days?”

 

Li Sizhi was sitting at the stone chair in the yard. On the table was a bottle of sake and an exquisite wine glass, with wine filling half the glass cup.

 

 

Jiang Muping went into the house first to put his bag down, and heard Li Sizhi calling him outside to have a drink with her.

 

The weather in September was still a bit hot at night. Mother Jiang cut a plate of watermelon and asked Jiang Muping to bring it to the yard to eat with Li Sizhi.

 

Jiang Muping placed the fruit plate on the stone table. He had loosened his tie, one button on his collar had been undone, and his sleeves were loosely rolled up above his wrists.

 

 

“Are you coming back to live here?” Li Sizhi took a bite of the watermelon. “How come you’re free to come back here every day lately?”

 

Jiang Muping also took a bite, “I’ve been supervising a doctoral student this semester, and he’s been asking me questions every few days. So, I came here to get some peace and quiet.”

 

Li Sizhi bit the watermelon and gossiped, “What do you mean? Why do I pick up something suspicious?”

 

 

Jiang Muping didn’t say anything.

 

“Is that student interested in you?”

 

Jiang Muping didn’t care, “I don’t know.”

 

“Boy or girl? How does he know where you live?”

 

“A boy.” Jiang Muping took a bite of watermelon. “I guess he asked his dad.”

 

 

“Who is his father?”

 

“The dean of our institute.”

 

“…” Li Sizhi laughed, with a hint of gloating in her laughter she said, “How can you avoid seeing a student who comes to you to ask questions? This is unethical of a teacher, Professor Jiang.”

 

Jiang Muping’s smile was faint, and he looked helpless, “Who can tolerate this everyday?”

 

 

Li Sizhi picked up the wine glass and suddenly stopped, “Oh, I remember, did you go to see Cheng Yan?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Li Sizhi put down her wine glass, “How was it?”

 

“That’s that” Jiang Muping gave a vague answer.

 

“What do you mean by that? Was there a connection between you two? Did you feel anything?”

 

 

Jiang Muping threw the watermelon rind into the trash can at his feet. There was juice on his fingers. He took a tissue and slowly wiped it. “Jie, were you his teacher?”

 

“Oh, we’re talking about this now.” Li Sizhi smiled, “I taught him to paint. He was still young at that time, in his early twenties.”

 

“Wasn’t he in school at that time?” Jiang Muping looked up at Li Sizhi.

 

 

“No, he didn’t even graduate from high school.” Li Sizhi seemed to have noticed something, “MuPing, why are you asking these questions?”

 

Li Sizhi knows Jiang Muping very well. He is a very generous person and does not care about his partner’s educational level.

 

“He was my high school classmate.”

 

Li Sizhi was surprised, “Really? Is it fate?”

 

 

“I find it incredible, too,” Jiang Muping said. “I haven’t seen him in almost 20 years.”

 

“What do you think of this fate that brought you back together, Professor Jiang? What do you think?”

 

Jiang Muping glanced at her. He couldn’t help but laugh at Li Sizhi’s eagerness to match him up with Cheng Yan. He didn’t comment, so Li Sizhi pressed him to ask how he felt about Cheng Yan.

 

Jiang Muping replied, “We’ve only met once, how can there be any feelings? Your question is unrealistic.”

 

“Don’t you know there’s a saying called ‘love at first sight’?”

 

“That’s ‘lust at first sight’.” Jiang Muping rested his forearm on the stone table, holding a watermelon in his other hand, biting it slowly.

 

“Then I’ll ask you a question, and you answer me honestly.”

 

Jiang Muping nodded.

 

“I told you that he has the look you like. Was I right or wrong?”

 

Jiang Muping thought about it, and nodded openly without any embarrassment.

 

Although Cheng Yan’s appearance is probably what most people would like.

 

The reason why Jiang Muping is still single is not only because he missed the best time to fall in love in his early years or was too busy with work or was too lazy to find a partner afterwards, but the main reason is that he is too picky.

 

Li Sizhi vaguely remembered that when she was young, she asked Jiang Muping what kind of wife he wanted to find in the future. Jiang Muping told her in that very childish voice, “Look for a very beautiful one.”

 

What she once thought was a child’s joke was actually true, and Jiang Muping has adhered to this standard of “finding a wife” for more than 30 years.

 

Cheng Yan is indeed highly in line with Jiang Muping’s aesthetic.

 

He is beautiful without gaudiness, and seems approachable, but he actually has a gentle but cold feeling.

 

“See, l told you.” Li Sizhi revealed a childishly proud expression, “So, what do you think?”

 

“I don’t have any ideas. I don’t really want to disrupt my current pace of life.”

 

Li Sizhi could understand that whether two people had a spark or not really depended on their feelings , not looks.

 

Jiang Muping added, “And I feel like dating a high school classmate is a little… I can’t put it into words, it feels a little awkward.”

 

“That is called a childhood sweetheart.” Li Sizhi didn’t know where he learned this word from.

 

Jiang Muping was much more up to date than her and knew more, “Childhood sweethearts are ones which have known each other since they were wearing diapers. If you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense.”

 

Li Sizhi laughed out loud, poured a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp, her face flushed as if she was drunk, “If the chance to be childhood sweethearts has been lost, there is still a chance to have a twilight romance.”

 

Since that blind date, Jiang Muping and Cheng Yan have not been in touch again. Cheng Yan had thrown Jiang Muping’s contact information into the trash a long time ago and never had any thoughts of taking things further with Jiang Muping. Jiang Muping, on the other hand, was too busy with a backlog of things to do, big and small, as school had just started and he had no time to take care of anything other than work.

 

Jiang Muping had been busy and had no free time until today, so he was in a good mood. When he was in a good mood, he liked to call out the names of students.

 

Jiang Muping’s classes were always full, and he would only call the roll occasionally, but when he called out students he would always pick specific names.

 

Since he was in a good mood today, he even made a few jokes unrelated to the class when he entered the classroom. There were two empty seats in the second-to-last row, and a bunch of bright red roses were placed on one seat. Jiang Muping saw it, put the lesson plan on the podium, opened it, and said nonchalantly, “Today is not Valentine’s Day, is it?”

 

The students understood what he meant and turned to look at the bouquet of flowers. Laughter could be heard from under the podium.

 

When the students’ laughter died down, Jiang Muping said briefly, “I’ll call out the rolls.”

 

Jiang Muping pulled out the list of names that was kept under the teaching plan, “As usual, let’s skip unnecessary talk. Those who want to take leave should hand me their leave application first.”

 

Jiang Muping’s classes usually didn’t have anyone asking for leave, and many students would even arrive early to grab a front-row seat. Without receiving any leave requests, Jiang Muping immediately began taking roll calls.

 

“Bao Minghui.”

 

“Here.”

 

“Cao Xue.”

 

“Here.”

 

“Fang Yuyan.”

 

“Here.”

 

“Kang Ming.”

 

No one answered.

 

Jiang Muping raised his hea, “Kang Ming.”

 

Still no response, Jiang Muping lowered his head and made a line on the list, then continued to call out names, “Lin Weijing.”

 

The classroom was silent, with students whispering to each other. Two students skipped classes in a row. Jiang Muping didn’t even bother to call them a second time this time, and just wrote down their names on the list.

 

“Professor!” A student in the front row raised his hand and stood up. “Lin Weijing went to the infirmary. Kang Ming took him there.”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m not sure…” The student pointed to the two empty seats and the flowers on the table. “That bouquet was given to Lin Weijing. He seemed to be allergic to pollen. He started hyperventilating after a while. I came early and saw Kang Ming taking him to the infirmary.”

 

Jiang Muping frowned slightly, “Hyperventilating?”

 

“That’s right.” The student nodded.

 

Jiang Muping closed the lesson plan and said, “Everyone, study on your own first. I’ll be back soon.”

 

 

 

 

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The masseur’s hands were very strong, and every press hit the acupuncture points. Cheng Yan lay on the therapy bed, feeling so comfortable that he fell asleep.

 

The sudden ringing of the cell phone woke Cheng Yan up. He opened his eyes in a daze and took the phone impatiently, and the masseur’s movements also became lighter.

 

Cheng Yan glanced at the screen and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

 

“Hello.”

 

“Excuse me, is this Mr. Cheng Yan?”

 

“Who?”

 

“I’m a school doctor at North City University. Are you Lin Weijing’s brother?”

 

Cheng Yan raised his hand to signal the masseur to stop. He straightened his upper body and sat up. “I am, what happened to Lin Weijing?”

 

“His asthma is acting up. Is it convenient for you to come to school now?”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

Cheng Yan stood up and said, “Lao Cao, I won’t be doing the full massage today.”

 

“Okay, I’ll make it up to you next time.” The massage master asked with concern, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

 

“My brother,” Cheng Yan hurriedly changed his clothes, “is not feeling well. He had a seizure at school.”

 

“Oh, you need to go quickly.”

 

Fortunately for Cheng Yan, Beicheng University was not far from the massage place, and he arrived there quickly.

 

Lin Weijing’s asthma was a condition he had developed in his childhood. It was not an acute disease and he rarely had a serious attack. This was the first time he had an attack at school. The school doctor even called him specifically. Cheng Yan was worried the whole way.

 

The University’s infirmary was well-equipped and comparable in size to a small town’s clinic. Cheng Yan was led by the school doctor to the ward where Lin Weijing was resting.

 

It was a false alarm.

 

Seeing Lin Weijing lying safely on the hospital bed, Cheng Yan’s heart finally settled down.

 

Lin Weijing’s condition did not seem as bad as Cheng Yan had imagined, except that his lips were a little pale. To Cheng Yan, who had been accustomed to seeing his brother fall ill since childhood, the call from the school doctor seemed particularly exaggerated, and he probably was the person Lin Weijing insisted that the school doctor contacted.

 

Lin Weijing was originally talking to a classmate when he suddenly raised his head and glanced out the door. He smiled with his eyes curved, “Ge.”

 

Cheng Yan frowned, “What’s going on?”

 

“I had a seizure.” Lin Weijing looked as pitiful as a puppy, and he almost had a tail sticking out from his butt.

 

“How did it happen?”

 

Kang Ming said, “Someone sent Lin Weijing flowers. He seems to be allergic to pollen.”

 

Cheng Yan hummed, “He has asthma, and the smell of pollen will cause him to have an attack.”

 

“Brother.” Lin Weijing called out to Cheng Yan.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Were you working just now? Did this delay your work?”

 

“No.”

 

Lin Weijing is very good at pretending to be pitiful, and he succeeds every time.

 

Cheng Yan knew that Lin Weijing must have told the school doctor his phone number. It was logical for Lin Weijing to choose his primary guardian, but he chose Cheng Yan, his brother who had no legal relationship with him.

 

It must have been intentional. He and Lin Weijing hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

 

Cheng Yan maintained a lukewarm expression, walked over, covered Lin Weijing’s heart with his hand, and asked, “Do you still feel your chest tightening?”

 

Lin Weijing shook his head meekly.

 

“Didn’t you have your medicine?”

 

“I had it.”

 

Kang Ming said, “He did have it. But I was a little worried that something else might happen, so I brought him to the infirmary.”

 

Cheng Yan turned to look at Kang Ming, “Thank you.”

 

“Hey, what are you thanking me for? It’s my duty.”

 

 

 

 

___________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Professor Jiang, why are you here?”

 

“Oh, Lin Weijing? He’s fine, just resting inside.”

 

The school doctor’s voice came from outside the room. Kang Ming turned his head and saw the person coming. He greeted him respectfully, “Professor Jiang.”

 

Jiang Muping nodded and glanced at Lin Weijing lying on the infirmary bed.

 

Cheng Yan’s hand left Lin Weijing’s heart and he slowly turned around. He looked at the door in surprise.

 

Jiang Muping turned his gaze from Lin Weijing to Cheng Yan and exchanged a glance with Cheng Yan.

 

Cheng Yan licked his dry lips unconsciously and couldn’t call out Jiang Muping’s name for a moment.

 

Jiang Muping was wearing a black shirt and a grayish-blue tie. He

was formally dressed, his demeanor refined, yet his expression betrayed a certain indolence. Cheng Yan admitted that his heart raced a bit, because Jiang Muping’s temperament and aura was a bit intense.

 

He was stunned for a long time until Jiang Muping said, “We meet again.”

 

 

 

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Hello everyone!! Finally updates are gonna be consistent, even though my exams are close lol.

What are your thoughts on todays chapter! Haha it seems fate is hell bent on bringing the Xiaoping and Yanyan together :DDD