Chapter 336

Students instantly erupted in chatter, their whispers drowning out the earlier exclamations.

"My goodness! Director Zhou actually said outright that it's a student-teacher romance?"

"Wasn't the forum post blocked earlier because of this? Now it's been called out publicly?"

"If the school belle You Nianchu really were together with Professor Lin, that'd be too daring..."

You Nianchu's cheeks flushed "swish" red, the heat spreading from her ears down to her neck.

She clenched her pink fist, about to speak in rebuttal, when a shadow suddenly fell before her—

Lin Yuan had somehow stepped in front of her, his back ramrod straight like a solid barrier.

"Director Zhou," Lin Yuan's voice ice-cold, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Minghai's still-waving hand, "if we're discussing academics, let's discuss academics; dragging students' private lives into it and fabricating a 'student-teacher romance' rumor—is this the decorum expected of a department head?"

He shifted sideways, making room, revealing the white mouse in the cage behind him—

In less than five minutes, the wound that had just been red, swollen, and oozing pus now sported a thin pink scab.

The mouse was propped on its hind legs, nibbling feed at the cage corner, its earlier trembling gone.

While you and You Nianchu were arguing, I treated it with huangqi detox and silver-needle meridian therapy. Now the wound has scabbed over and movement is normal—what else do you have to say?

Zhou Minghai's gaze snapped onto the white mouse, his pupils contracting sharply.

He lunged toward the cage, staggering, reaching to grab the mouse for inspection, but Lin Yuan stopped him with a firm hand: "Director Zhou, don't rush—answer my question first. You just said Chinese medicine lacks anatomical basis and can't treat infection; does this mouse not count as a slap in your face?"

The surrounding murmurs grew louder, even students from the School of Medicine began to whisper doubts.

"Five minutes to scab? That's faster than antibiotics…""Director Zhou just said Chinese medicine isn't scientific, but now it hardly makes sense…"

Zhou Minghai's face flushed then blanched, as if he'd been publicly slapped.

He whipped his head around, eyes blazing at Lin Yuan: "Don't change the subject! You haven't even displayed your medical license, yet you're performing acupuncture on campus and even cutting your wrist—this is practicing medicine without a permit! I'm reporting you to the Education Bureau!"

You Nianchu stepped forward again to rebut: "Director Zhou, how are you any different from a street‑side ruffian? Professor Lin's Chinese medicine cured the infection, shutting you up, so you fabricate baseless gossip? Now you're dragging in all sorts of nonsense, trying to frame Professor Lin."

You Nianchu pressed on aggressively: 'Do you think nobody can see through this? Do you think nobody can see through this? What you fear isn't that "Chinese medicine isn't scientific"—it's that if Chinese medicine is revived, the School of Medicine's budget will shrink and your political achievements will go down the drain.'

Zhou Minghai's face turned iron‑blue from being rebuked.

Zhou Minghai snapped:

"You Nianchu! As an economics student, why are you constantly running over to our Medical School? The school rules don't say that 'cross‑major auditing' lets you stick to a teacher like glue—and I'm the Medical School's Director of Instruction, so I count as half a teacher! Why are you shielding Lin Yuan so fiercely? Could the teacher‑student romance rumors on the school forum actually be true?!"

You Nianchu didn't flinch; instead she stepped forward, her gaze locking onto Zhou Minghai's angry stare.

Her voice was clear and forceful:

Director Zhou, first get two things straight: one, the Academic Affairs Office issued the 'Interdisciplinary Auditing Management Measures' last year, so my taking Professor Lin's Chinese medicine class is proper procedure; two, last month I helped the Medical School budget the 'Integrated Chinese‑Western Medicine Research Project' and liaised with Dean Luo three times—if you say I shouldn't be in the Medical School, are you implying Dean Luo picked the wrong person or that the school's interdisciplinary policy is just for show?

She paused, then her tone sharpened: 'Second, "student‑teacher romance"? As Director of Instruction, you don't investigate who's spreading rumors on the forum—instead you wield baseless gossip as a weapon, as if Professor Lin's acupuncture hemostasis had no flaws and the postoperative infection cases couldn't be rebutted, leaving you to resort to rumor‑mongering to divert attention. Just now you forced Professor Lin to cut his wrist with the white mouse, and now you're dragging in rumors to smear him—is this what you call "what a teacher should do"?'

You Nianchu extended her hand to shield Lin Yuan, showing not the slightest fear.

She said solemnly: "I protect Professor Lin because he dares to teach genuine Chinese medicine and dares to cut his own wrist to prove its efficacy; whereas you merely hide behind the banner of \"Western scientific\" to harass people, fearing that if Chinese medicine regains its standing it will steal the Medical School's budget and your political achievements."

She deliberately lowered her voice for the last sentence, yet each word hit like a stab.

Zhou Minghai's face shifted from flushed to iron‑blue; his fingers twitched, wanting to retort but finding no words.

You Nianchu stopped looking at him, turned her head to Lin Yuan, her voice softening a bit but still firm:

Professor Lin, ignore him—let's keep teaching. If he causes trouble again, I'll call the Student Affairs Office right now and have them judge the matter.

The entire classroom erupted in shocked murmurs.

You Nianchu is just too fierce.

An economics student daring to talk back to Zhou Minghai like that?

No wonder she's the first beauty queen of the School of Economics!

Just then, a booming voice came from outside the classroom: 'Director Zhou, have you caused enough trouble?'

All the students turned to see the Medical School's Dean, Luo Renhai, slowly walking into the classroom.

Just as Zhou Minghai was about to defend himself, Dean Luo Renhai glared at him fiercely: 'From coagulation tests to the white‑mouse experiment, you've been obstructing Professor Lin every step of the way, and now you're dragging students into rumor‑mongering—you've dragged the Medical School's reputation through the mud!'

Zhou Minghai wanted to keep his neck stiff, but meeting Dean Luo's icy gaze drained his spirit.

Zhou Minghai moved his lips, managing only a strained: 'I'm just doing it for the rigor of Western medicine…'

"Rigor isn't shown by harassing people!" Dean Luo interrupted, turning to Lin Yuan with a gaze that instantly softened, even hinting at approval: "Professor Lin, I saw your demonstration outside—using acupuncture to stop bleeding and herbs to treat infection—you let the students grasp Chinese medicine pattern diagnosis intuitively while causing no extra harm to the mouse. Well done."

Lin Yuan gave a slight nod: 'Dean Luo, you overpraise me—I just wanted everyone to know that Chinese medicine isn't superstition.'

'Well said!' Dean Luo raised his hand and patted Lin Yuan's shoulder.

Dean Luo turned to face the full classroom, cleared his throat, and his voice rose several notches: 'Now, as I represent the leadership of the Zhijiang Provincial Medical School, I formally announce—our Zhijiang University has suspended its Chinese medicine program for ten years; starting today, it is officially reinstated!'

'Boom!' The words hit like a thunderbolt, and the classroom instantly erupted.

Students leapt from their seats, eyes wide as saucers; some even rubbed their ears, doubting they'd heard right.

'Is the Chinese medicine program really being restored? I thought I'd have to wait until graduation for any chance!'

'Great! I've wanted to take a Chinese medicine course all along—there just wasn't a major to choose!'

Dean Luo raised his hand to press down, waited for the room to quiet a bit, then continued:

'Starting next Monday, the foundational courses of the Chinese medicine major will officially begin, with Professor Lin Yuan as the lead instructor responsible for the two core subjects "Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine Diagnosis" and "Acupuncture Studies"—whether you're from the Chinese Medicine School, the Western Medicine School, or pursuing interdisciplinary studies, anyone may enroll, and the credits count equally with other professional courses.'

His gaze swept over Zhou Minghai, his tone laced with warning:

'Furthermore, the college explicitly stipulates that henceforth anyone who uses "unscientific" as an excuse to obstruct Chinese medicine teaching or suppress its research will be dealt with as academic misconduct, and in serious cases reported directly to the Education Bureau—Director Zhou Minghai, have you heard me clearly?'

Zhou Minghai's face alternated between white and green, his hands clenched on his shirt cuffs, nails almost digging into his flesh, yet he could only lower his head and murmur hoarsely: 'I… I heard you clearly.'

In the front row, You Nianchu gazed at Dean Luo, then at the composed Lin Yuan beside her, and a faint smile curled the corner of her mouth.

No wonder he's the man she chose—Lin Yuan really is impressive.

He could become her pawn, helping her father's company launder its reputation.

As for the surrounding students, beyond excitement they were chiefly curious, whispers rising and falling around them.

"Lin Laoshi is too awesome, huh? At such a young age, to have such powerful TCM medical skills, and even able to let the college restore the TCM major!"

Before, I only heard that Professor Lin's medical skills were good, but I never expected the dean to value him so much—what exactly is his background?

Others also furtively sized up You Nianchu and Lin Yuan, their eyes full of scrutiny:

"Just now You Nianchu, the school belle, protected Professor Lin so much; now the dean values him so highly—what exactly is their relationship?"

"Maybe the rumor on the forum isn't false? But looking at them, it doesn't seem so…"

Amid the discussion, there were also speculations about that past 'Academic God': 'You say, Professor Lin's medical skills are so great—compared to the legendary perfect-score Academic God of our School of Medicine, who's stronger?'

"I heard from an upperclassman that that Academic God scored full marks in anatomy and pharmacology back then, and even knew how to use Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat difficult ailments!"

"That Academic God is surely impressive, but our Professor Lin isn't bad either…" The students chattered.

Finally, Zhou Minghai led the Western medicine students in a frantic withdrawal from the classroom…

Luo Renhai also nodded at Lin Yuan, handed over the class to him, and then left as well.

The little interlude ended, and Lin Yuan continued the class.

In this class, Lin Yuan taught very earnestly.

He lectured while pointing to the herbs on the podium, occasionally picking up the Silver Needle to demonstrate acupoints.

The students below listened especially attentively; even those who had doubted Traditional Chinese Medicine raised their hands to ask questions.

You Nianchu sat in the third row, her notebook filled with dense notes; she occasionally lifted her head to look at Lin Yuan, her beautiful eyes flashing with spirited vigor.

She grew increasingly interested in this Lin Yuan.

Forty minutes later.

When the dismissal bell rang, students surrounded Lin Yuan, unwilling to leave—some asked about acupoint location, some consulted him for TCM reading lists; he patiently answered for over ten minutes before finally making his way out of the crowd.

Lin Yuan finally could take a break; he walked out of the classroom, had just picked up his teaching bag and was heading toward the office when You Nianchu's voice came from behind:

"Professor Lin, wait!"

Lin Yuan halted his steps, turned around, and saw You Nianchu quickly catching up, still holding the water cup he had dropped on the podium earlier:

"You forgot your things—plus, I helped you shut down Zhou Minghai today, and you don't even thank me?"

Lin Yuan took the water cup and replied lightly: "Thanks."

He didn't want to get too close to You Nianchu—

This girl is too good at stirring up trouble; although helping him out in class was well‑intentioned, if another rumor spreads, it'll just give Zhou Minghai ammunition.

So after saying that, he turned and quickened his pace, hoping to get back to the office and find some peace.

But You Nianchu quick‑stepped after him, grabbing his teaching bag:

"Is 'Thanks' all you've got? That's too perfunctory!" She wouldn't let up, following Lin Yuan into the office building and chasing him all the way to the office door.

Lin Yuan pushed the door open and saw that the other teachers had all gone to attend the teaching‑research meeting.

The office was empty except for two desks placed by the window.

He was about to tell You Nianchu to go back, but she stepped in first and shut the door behind her.

You Nianchu walked straight to his desk, lifted a leg, and perched on the edge.

Her light‑white dress set off her snow‑white skin; You Nianchu gazed at Lin Yuan with deep, alluring eyes, her tone tinged with a coquettish note:

"I helped you fend off Zhou Minghai's harassment today and cleared up the rumor—don't you owe me a proper thank‑you?"

Lin Yuan frowned, stepped back half a pace, and asked: "What do you want?"

You Nianchu leaned forward, her fingertips lightly tracing the edge of the lesson plan on the desk, her voice softening: "Be my boyfriend…"

"Professor Lin, I was about to give you the Traditional Chinese Medicine course materials—" At that moment, the voice of the beautiful teacher Shen Zhixia suddenly came from the doorway…

Accompanied by the creak of the door opening, Shen Zhixia stood in the doorway holding a stack of folders.

Shen Zhixia had originally intended to find Lin Yuan and hand him the Traditional Chinese Medicine course materials.

As a result, when Shen Zhixia pushed open the office door, she happened to catch sight of You Nianchu sitting on Lin Yuan's desk…

And she also happened to hear You Nianchu's line: "Be my boyfriend."