Chapter 3: Volume 1, Chapter 3 – Dangerous Professor Makes My Soul Swoon (3)

Having said that, she hurried away.

She didn't give the young man any chance to speak.

Huo Yin looked at the empty room; the air still held the girl's faint scent from her recent bath, along with clothes and instruments strewn everywhere.

He took off his helmet, his jet-black short hair damp with sweat and sticking to his forehead; his narrow, ink-colored eyes were shadowed as he glanced around the room, then lifted a hand to rub his brow.

He let out a self-mocking soft sigh.

He had thought the girl was deliberately acting so stupid in front of him, but it turned out he had overestimated her.

She is genuinely stupid.

Just like that, she left a stranger in her house while she went out to buy medicine.

As expected, giving her a month to investigate was too much; he could act in just two days.

Recalling the girl's beautiful eyes, like clear glass beads, his long-dormant heart began to beat excitedly again.

When Jiang Zhi hurried back, the delivery person had already left, leaving a note on the table that read:

Thank you, I'm much better. I'm just a stranger; you shouldn't have left me alone in your home. It's unsafe for you, so please be careful next time and don't let strangers in so easily.

—Left by the delivery person.

Not even a name was left.

However, the young man's writing was vigorous and powerful, as if he had deliberately practiced calligraphy, making it quite pleasing to the eye.

Jiang Zhi fondly nodded, tossed the medicine bag onto the table, pinched a corner of the white paper to admire it for a moment, then crumpled it and threw it into the trash.

She walked to the entryway, retrieved the still-warm takeout, and asked the system in her mind: "How many cameras are there?"

777: "Six miniatures—one in the bedroom, two in the living room, one in the study, one in the second bedroom, and one in the bathroom."

Even the bathroom? Jiang Zhi clicked her tongue: "Really perverted."

777: "Installed in the sink mirror, so you can't see the toilet or shower area."

Jiang Zhi nodded: "That's right; otherwise I'd have no privacy while bathing or using the toilet."

After finishing the takeout, she lay down and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Huo Yin, who had already returned home, opened the display screen.

The screen was divided into six panels, showing the situation in Jiang Zhi's home.

Upon seeing the bedroom footage, Huo Yin's brows furrowed slightly.

The girl lay sprawled on the bed in an ungainly pose, the blanket kicked to the floor, the pillow beneath her head also gone, her sleepwear disheveled with wrinkles everywhere.

For Huo Yin, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive tendencies, this was undoubtedly a major blow to his mind.

He pinched his brow, took a deep breath, and turned off the displayed video.

This was probably the first time he felt such a strong urge to kill someone.

The next day.

Jiang Zhi came again to Old Brother School and sent Huo Yin a message.

"【Teacher, are you free? Let's grab a meal together (▽`)】"

The added emoticon at the end had the right flavor.

Two minutes later.

Teacher Huo replied with a message.

"【Okay.】"

Concise and to the point, just one word, clearly expressing his thought.

Jiang Zhi pursed her lips: "So aloof."

After saying that, she smiled again: "I like it."

777: "... Keep shaking/m."

Waiting at the cafeteria entrance for a while, she didn't see Teacher Huo, but instead a peach blossom came her way.

"Um… you… hello, may I ask for your contact information?"

The boy who ran up to her radiated youthful vigor, was handsome and stylish, wore a thin jacket, was fairly tall, and smiled shyly and nervously.

Jiang Zhi showed an envious expression.

She looked at him, then at herself.

She wore thermal underwear, a thick high-neck sweater, and a puffy down jacket on top, with two pairs of autumn pants under her trousers.

Unlike him, who just threw on a simple jacket.

Seeing her hesitate to speak, the boy grew more nervous, pursed his lips, and whispered softly: "Hey, hello?"

Jiang Zhi snapped back, gave a small smile, and replied: "Sure."

She handed over her phone, letting him scan her friend code.

The boy was excited, about to say something, when a voice from behind interrupted.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Jiang Zhi shook her head: "No problem, I haven't been waiting long."

Upon seeing Huo Yin, the boy's body jolted, and he hastily gave a respectful greeting.

"Teacher Huo, hello!"

Huo Yin's pupils were dark and deep, revealing no emotion; he nodded slightly and said, "Hello."

The boy thought they knew each other, wanted to go eat together, but didn't dare linger; after saying goodbye, he ran off.

Huo Yin stared at the boy's back for a moment, then unnoticeably withdrew his gaze and casually asked, "Do you know him?"

Jiang Zhi had been hungry for a while; if she hadn't been waiting for him, she would already have been eating with her tray.

He answered absentmindedly, "I don't know them; your school's students are very enthusiastic, they came over to ask for my contact information."

Huo Yin pushed his gold-rimmed glasses, let out an "hmm," and said, "Your age isn't far from theirs, but would you date someone younger than yourself?"

At that time there were many students, each window had a long line; Jiang Zhi thought for a moment, smiled, and said, "Teacher Huo, you're so concerned about my love life?"

Huo Yin narrowed his eyes, a smile also tugging at the corners of his mouth, "I was just meddling."

The line was a bit crowded; a man stood beside her, tall and slender like bamboo, giving the illusion that he was enveloping her entirely in his embrace.

Jiang Zhi mysteriously winked at him, "Teacher Huo, lean your ear over here for a moment."

Huo Yin paused for an instant, then obediently bent down and leaned in.

Jiang Zhi pressed close to his ear and whispered softly, "Compared to liking someone younger than me, I actually prefer someone like Teacher Huo."

Up close, beneath the girl's long, raven-black lashes lay lustrous dark pupils that reflected his face, creating a strange illusion—as if her whole eye were filled only with him.

Huo Yin's heart gave an uncontrollable twitch—just one—before he quickly dismissed it.

He averted his gaze without a trace, looking elsewhere, not uttering a word.

Jiang Zhi turned around, as if everything just then had been merely an illusion.

Only after he picked up his tray and sat at the window-side table did Huo Yin speak: "I won't be looking for a girlfriend."

Jiang Zhi buried her head in her meal, never lifting her eyelids, and mumbled in response, "Oh, like that."

Huo Yin rubbed the tip of his thumb along the end of the long chopsticks, his deep gaze through the lenses calmly fixed on the girl before him.

Though he could see through her at a glance, it still stirred doubt in his heart.

Huo Yin always had a sense of mysterious vagueness.

It seemed as if he had never truly seen through her, and even her surroundings were shrouded in thick white mist.

"Why aren't you eating?" Jiang Zhi, nearly finished with her meal, noticed him continually staring at her, felt a bit puzzled, rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, and asked, "Is there something on my face?"

Originally there was nothing, but after she brushed it with the back of her hand, the oil from the Orleans chicken leg got smeared onto it.

The more Huo Yin looked, the deeper his brow furrowed, and his obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up again.

The girl's cheek skin was as white as snow; after a speck of oil stained it, it seemed like a beautiful painting marred by a blemish.

Huo Yin pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to her, his voice sinking, "Wipe it off."