Zhou Jinyuan paused for a moment. “I have to go to the university to give a lecture today.”
Lin Wangxi’s eyes lit up, clearly surprised. “Wow, you’re that impressive? You even get invited to give lectures at universities?”
“Two thousand per session.”
The corner of Lin Wangxi’s mouth twitched. Such a respectable job, yet he described it in such a blunt, practical way.
Zhou Jinyuan said nothing more and walked past her into the living room.
Of the breakfast prepared for two, Lin Wangxi only ate one-third. The rest naturally fell to him.
She deliberately changed into a different outfit—the one Zhou Jinyuan had bought for her last time.
It had to be said, his taste was truly terrible.
It was a dark green long-sleeved dress, with a tongue-sticking-out husky printed on the chest.
The design might have looked passable on a T-shirt, but printed on a long dress—and in dark green at that—it was questionable.
Whoever designed it must have been some kind of genius.
Fortunately, Lin Wangxi had a strong natural beauty. She managed to carry the dress purely with her looks.
She deliberately spun around in front of him. “Well? Does it look good?”
She hoped he would gain some self-awareness and realize how bad his taste was.
Zhou Jinyuan glanced her up and down and nodded. “It looks good.”
Lin Wangxi’s mouth twitched again.
As expected, it was like playing the lute to a cow—he saw no problem at all.
They went downstairs, and Zhou Jinyuan headed toward his old BYD.
Lin Wangxi grabbed him. “You’re going to give a lecture, at least let’s take a taxi.”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at his car. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Of course there’s something wrong. If students see you arrive in that car, won’t they think this major has no future?”
Zhou Jinyuan fell silent.
Lin Wangxi pulled out her phone on her own. “I’ll call a ride.”
But when she opened it, she realized she did not even have a ride-hailing app installed. She had always been picked up by private drivers before.
“Oh no, I forgot—I don’t have a ride-hailing app.”
Zhou Jinyuan sighed and took out his phone. “I’ll do it.”
“Wait, let me do it!”
Afraid he would choose something cheap again, Lin Wangxi snatched the phone from his hand.
Zhou Jinyuan looked at his now-empty hand, then at her, but did not try to take it back.
There was nothing on his phone worth hiding anyway—just debt collection messages.
Lin Wangxi opened the app, confused by the interface.
She had never used it before. Seeing a button labeled “Start Driving,” she tapped it casually.
The next second, a notification sounded: “You have received a real-time ride order. Please proceed to Qingliu Street Dr. Hao Dental Hospital to pick up the passenger before 9:30.”
Lin Wangxi blinked. “Uh… why does that sound a bit strange?”
Zhou Jinyuan: “…”
“You opened the driver’s side.”
“Huh?!” Lin Wangxi suddenly remembered—Zhou Jinyuan was a ride-hailing driver.
“So… I accepted a ride for you?”
“Yes.”
Her face turned red as she stuffed the phone back into his hands. “I—I didn’t mean to! How do you cancel it? Hurry and cancel it!”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at the screen and said calmly, “Canceling costs money and affects acceptance rate.”
“Then what do we do?”
Zhou Jinyuan put away the phone and opened the car door. “Get in first.”
“What about the order?”
“We’ll pick up the passenger, then go to the university.”
Lin Wangxi looked at him apologetically. “Sorry… will it delay you?”
“It’ll be fine. The lecture is still an hour and a half away. It’s on the way, and we can earn some gas money.”
Hearing that, Lin Wangxi felt a bit relieved and nodded, carefully getting into the car.
At that point, she no longer cared about what car they were driving.
Sitting in the passenger seat, she nervously fiddled with her fingers, sneaking glances at him.
His expression remained calm, as if he was not bothered at all by her mistake.
She tried to lighten the mood. “Zhou Jinyuan, what are you going to talk about later?”
“The application prospects of biomaterials in micro medical devices.”
“Did you bring a script?”
“No time to write one.”
“You’re going to speak without notes?”
“Mm.”
Lin Wangxi widened her eyes. Speaking without notes was one thing, but the topic itself sounded so advanced.
Anything she did not understand, she automatically considered profound.
“Y-you… can you really do it?” As soon as she said it, she realized it sounded wrong and quickly added, “I mean, that’s so much content—did you memorize it all?”
Zhou Jinyuan held the steering wheel, his gaze steady on the road ahead. “Just remember the key data. The rest is improvised.”
Lin Wangxi was even more shocked.
She looked at his sharply defined profile. There was not a trace of nervousness. Her surprise gradually turned into a subtle, indescribable feeling.
Soon, Zhou Jinyuan picked up the passenger. The destination happened to be near the university.
Luckily it was on the way—otherwise, if the lecture were delayed, she would have felt even more guilty.
The car stopped at the university gate. Zhou Jinyuan turned to her. “Go in first. Find a place by the roadside and wait for me.”
As he spoke, he took out an invitation letter from his pocket and handed it to her.
Lin Wangxi flipped it open. Only his name was on it.
“What about you?”
“I have a way.”
She looked at him suspiciously, then handed the invitation back. “I’ll just wait outside. You go in.”
“The lecture will take two hours. Go in first—I’ll be there soon.”
At the mention of waiting two hours, Lin Wangxi’s backside already started to ache.
She hesitated. “Are you sure you can get in?”
“Of course.”
Seeing how confident he was, Lin Wangxi decisively accepted the invitation and got out of the car.
At the registration desk, she had worried that the security guard might question her since the name sounded like a man’s, but she was waved through without issue.
She went inside and waited at a crossroads. After more than ten minutes, she finally saw that old BYD slowly drive in and stop in front of her.
After getting back into the car, she asked curiously, “How did you get in?”
Zhou Jinyuan started the car and drove toward the teaching building. “I slipped in.”
“…”
Such a simple and unadorned solution.
Despite the delay, they were not late. They arrived at the classroom at 9:55 sharp.
The seats were almost full. Lin Wangxi found a seat in the last row.
There were very few girls in this major—about eighty percent were male.
With her crutch, she attracted quite a bit of attention.
When Zhou Jinyuan stood on the stage, he also drew many female gazes.
A man worth going to such lengths to pursue—his looks were undeniably authoritative.
“Hello, everyone.”
His deep, magnetic voice echoed through the microphone, gradually quieting the noisy classroom.
Lin Wangxi rested her chin on her hand, staring at him on stage. The more she looked, the more handsome he seemed.
Halfway through the lecture, the microphone suddenly crackled and went silent.
Zhou Jinyuan paused, removed the microphone, and tapped it, but there was no response.
A girl in the front row stood up. “Senior, is the microphone broken? Should I go get you another one?”
“No need, I’ll fix it.”
After speaking, he sat down on a chair. After a quick inspection, under everyone’s astonished gaze, he took out a small toolbox from his backpack.
…
Wait—who brings a toolbox to give a lecture?