My Queen, My Rules - Extra Chapter 2

Extra Chapter - Jiang Chun (2)

Jiang Chun was never a student who was proactive about learning. Jiang Hongtao had the foresight to move her household registration to the Imperial Capital, yet she still only barely scraped past the cutoff line for a second-tier university in the college entrance exam.

Later, Jiang Hongtao wanted to send her abroad to "gild" her resume, but she and the English language were practically sworn enemies. After attending one-on-one IELTS tutoring for a while, she refused to continue. Jiang Hongtao was helpless and had no choice but to let her happily coast through four years at some obscure second-tier university.

In the blink of an eye, several years had passed since graduation. Walking into the university where Tang Zhizhou worked, Jiang Chun felt a little nervous.

One had to know that C University, where Tang Zhizhou taught, was one of the nation’s top ten first-class institutions—the kind of place she wouldn't even have dared to dream of during her college entrance exams back then.

Fortunately, she had consulted Ji Mingchu all night about age-reducing outfits and booked a stylist. She had been up since six in the morning to fuss over a fluffy, "effortless" top knot and a clear, natural student makeup look. Standing on campus and comparing herself to the plain female students, she felt a bit more confident.

Fifteen minutes before the open lecture began, Tang Zhizhou had already finished calibrating the necessary equipment. After scanning the classroom, he remembered something and sent a WeChat message to Jiang Chun while walking out.

Tang Zhizhou: [Are you here yet?]

After sending it, he stood by the railing in the corridor and glanced down. As luck would have it, he caught sight of a girl wearing a goose-yellow T-shirt and jeans standing by a flower bed downstairs. She had a loose top knot and was carrying a small designer logo backpack, busy playing on her phone.

A few seconds later, his phone buzzed.

Jiang Chun: [Almost there, I just got off the car, might take another fifteen minutes TvT]

Tang Zhizhou looked down again, a question mark slowly forming in his mind.

Jiang Chun, having sent the message, remained completely oblivious. She stood downstairs for a while, dragging her feet until only five minutes remained before she finally started climbing the stairs.

She had been completely brainwashed by Ji Mingchu recently. Ji Mingchu claimed that she had been dating boys since high school and always made them wait at least an hour; as for her husband, it was a two-hour minimum before he could stand out among all the candidates for an arranged marriage.

Although it sounded exaggerated and the authenticity was questionable, given Ji Mingchu's conditions, it seemed only natural for men to wait for her. Jiang Chun didn't have that kind of capital, but she figured that arriving just as things were starting was about right.

When Jiang Chun reached the upper floor, the warning bell for class—played a minute and a half early—had just rung. She followed other students through the back door and entered the classroom.

She didn't know if students at top universities were born with a love for learning or if Tang Zhizhou was just particularly popular, but the large tiered classroom was packed. Moreover, everyone was scrambling to sit from the front rows to the back, which was completely different from the reluctant attitude students had toward open lectures back when she was in college.

Just as Jiang Chun sat down in the second-to-last row, she heard the girls next to her whispering:

"I told you to save a seat early, why didn't you come? There are only seats left this far back."

"I went to the wrong building, didn't I? I’m so annoyed, I had to climb six floors twice!"

"I can't even see Professor Tang's face from here, it's so far away."

"Then you better work hard to get a recommendation for graduate school; if you can pick him as your advisor, you'll be able to see his face every day."

Is Tang Zhizhou really that popular?

Jiang Chun narrowed her eyes and looked forward.

Tang Zhizhou was wearing a white T-shirt today, with a dark shirt casually thrown over it—a very typical "STEM major" outfit. But he had good features, a refined temperament, and was tall with long legs; even dressed casually on the podium, he was very eye-catching.

In all honesty, if there had been a professor like this back when she was in school, given her tendency to be a "fangirl," she probably would have crashed the class to watch the excitement too.

Just as she was lost in thought, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see two girls.

The girl standing in front was holding a stack of books and said directly to her, "Classmate, you're not from the School of Information Engineering, are you? The school issued a notice a while ago forbidding auditing students from interfering with the normal classes of the department. Didn't you see it?"

The girl’s tone was quite aggressive. Jiang Chun paused for three seconds. "What? You spoke too fast, I didn't hear clearly."

The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance and very rudely repeated exactly what she had just said.

At the same time, discussions could be heard from behind: "Probably from the dance department. Every time they audit Professor Tang's class, the dance department is the most proactive. As if they’d understand any of it."

Before Jiang Chun could speak, a hand suddenly blocked her path, and immediately after, a gentle male voice sounded, "Apologies, she is my friend and not a student at our school. It was my lack of consideration that disturbed everyone's class."

The girl's face turned red instantly. She hurriedly waved her hand and said shyly, "It's nothing, Pro... Professor Tang."

Tang Zhizhou nodded slightly, turned to look at Jiang Chun, and reached out toward her. "Come with me."

Jiang Chun was a beat slow and pointed to herself. "Me?"

"Yes."

Under the gaze of everyone, she took Tang Zhizhou’s hand and walked slowly toward the front. When they reached the front rows, Tang Zhizhou discussed it with the students sitting there. They squeezed to one side, managing to clear a seat for her.

After she sat down, she realized what she was doing and let go of Tang Zhizhou's hand as if it were a hot potato.

The entire open lecture lasted ninety minutes. Jiang Chun didn't understand a single word, but that didn't stop her from staring at Tang Zhizhou for ninety minutes and fangirling.

Wuwuwu, a man with culture is truly handsome! Every gesture, every move! If it weren't for the fact that the students in the classroom were all very disciplined, she would have really wanted to pull out her phone, snap nine pictures in a row, and throw them into the group chat to let Ji Mingchu and Gu Kaiyang appreciate how high-quality her blind date partner was!

After class, Tang Zhizhou stayed for ten minutes to interact with the students.

Once the ten minutes were up, he politely declined the remaining questions, telling everyone to email him, and he would reply to each one after reading them.

"Sorry, I forgot to arrange a seat for you in advance today." During lunch, Tang Zhizhou politely apologized for the earlier incident.

"It's fine, I heard someone say I was from the dance department and I was actually quite happy about it," Jiang Chun said, scooping up some tiramisu while staring at the matcha mousse not far away. "You have no idea, my bestie says I’m as fat as a little piglet and calls me tacky. She’s been watching me every day, forcing me to lose weight and undergo a makeover."

Tang Zhizhou smiled and, very understandingly, pushed the mousse toward her. "Girls are cuter when they're a little plump."

Jiang Chun paused abruptly and looked up. "So you think I'm fat too?"

Facing a "death-trap" question, Tang Zhizhou paused for a few seconds. "That's not what I meant."

"That is exactly what you meant," Jiang Chun said, lowering her head to continue eating the tiramisu. Her tone was one of someone who had seen through the world and decided to let go of all inhibitions. "Professor Tang, let's be honest. Are you troubled by having too many pursuers in school, which is why you asked me to attend your open lecture today?"

Before Tang Zhizhou could speak, she continued her rambling, voicing her own grand theories. "Your family background is good, you're handsome, and you’re so talented yourself. No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like the kind of man who needs to go on blind dates."

"As for me, I have no other merits except having very good self-awareness. So, you don't need to have any psychological burden. The parents just pushed this; I know we are not a good match at all..."

"I think we're a very good match," Tang Zhizhou suddenly interrupted.

Jiang Chun looked up. "...?"

Tang Zhizhou looked directly at her and repeated it. "I think we are very well-suited. If you are willing, we can try dating.”