Chapter 5: Professor Ji

At six in the morning, a flamboyant bright-red Ferrari drove through the broad gates of Licheng University.

Under the security guard’s astonished gaze, the Ferrari loudly revved its engine and circled several times, its tires squealing against the pavement. Finally, with a showy drift, it reversed into a parking space marked by yellow lines.

Dust billowed into the air after that ferocious display of driving. The door opened, and a silver high heel covered in sequins emerged first.

Yan Jingyao stepped out of the car. Her ten-centimeter heels made her stocking-clad legs appear even longer. A white, hip-hugging skirt accentuated her curves, her waist slender enough to encircle with one hand, while her burgundy blouse was especially eye-catching.

The Dior letter earrings dangling from her ears couldn’t have been more conspicuous. Everything about her screamed “high-profile luxury,” leaving the middle-aged security guard staring in a daze.

She made an arrogantly dazzling entrance that would have outshone every other beauty. Yet less than a minute later, the chilly morning wind covered Attorney Yan in goosebumps, forcing her to obediently slip on her cropped suit jacket.

It was so cold. Was the cafeteria open at this hour?

Craving a hot bowl of soy milk, Yan Jingyao glanced around and saw no one nearby. She hunched her shoulders and rubbed her arms, recalling the directions from memory before walking toward the teaching building not far ahead.

She had deliberately parked in front of the General Teaching Building. The faculty cafeteria was on Basement Level One of Building A, which was very convenient.

The campus remained beautiful. Although many places had changed from what she remembered, the cafeteria’s location had never changed.

Relying on a foodie’s excellent memory, she found the entrance without difficulty. The interior had also been renovated since her time there, but Stall No. 3 still sold soy milk.

Even the auntie behind the counter was the same one. Yan Jingyao eagerly collected a serving of freshly made soy milk and youtiao, then happily found an empty seat and began enjoying her blissful breakfast.

She had taken only a few sips of the soy milk and was savoring its soothing warmth when her phone suddenly vibrated. The caller ID displayed Yan Su.

“Hello, Uncle?”

“Have you arrived at the university?”

“Mmm, I’m in the cafeteria.”

“Then hurry up. There aren’t any students there yet, so finish eating and get to the classroom immediately. If you arrive late, you won’t be able to squeeze inside at all.”

“Huh?”

With half a youtiao between her teeth, Yan Jingyao chewed while expressing disbelief at his exaggeration. “Isn’t it just one class? Can there really be that many people? How many students does she have?”

“Usually thirty to forty,” Yan Su replied. “But Professor Ji is extremely popular. Many students sit in on her classes, and plenty of them can’t get inside.”

“But isn’t she only substituting for this class?”

“You still need to get there early. Don’t blame me if you can’t squeeze in.”

He hung up after saying that. Yan Jingyao thought for a few seconds. Even the most popular professor in their law department back then hadn’t attracted crowds like this.

They were acting as though they were chasing a celebrity. If she weren’t desperately in need of a psychology professor to save the situation, she never would have come!

Despite grumbling inwardly, she quickened her eating pace and soon finished. Before leaving, she decided to buy another cup of soy milk.

A woman was currently standing in line at the counter. She wore a standard business suit and low-heeled shoes, so she was probably a professor from one of the university’s departments.

Yan Jingyao wasn’t curious. She walked over and ordered a cup of sweetened soy milk. While waiting for it to be sealed, a message happened to arrive on her phone. She lowered her head to read it, failing to notice the woman beside her watching her.

Ji Lan had no idea that this was the person she wanted to find—Yan Rui’s daughter.

What had attracted her attention was the faint perfume fragrance drifting through the air. Its top note was jasmine, fresh and delicately elegant.

The woman herself, however, was utterly incompatible with that fragrance—one might even say they were complete opposites.

She had an excellent figure and was taller than Ji Lan. Everything she wore was from a famous brand. Her letter earrings were conspicuous, while the diamonds embedded in her high heels sparkled brightly enough to blind anyone, as though she were afraid others might overlook them.

She was dressed like an elite professional woman from the upper echelons of the corporate world. Ji Lan was certain she wasn’t a university professor. Wearing ten-centimeter heels to teach a class would be asking for death.

The auntie placed the sealed [Read on BaiLianTales]cup of soy milk beneath the counter. Yan Jingyao thanked her, picked it up, and left.

Ji Lan turned her head and watched her walk away, her thoughts unreadable.

Seven o’clock.

Yan Jingyao claimed the most conspicuous seat in the exact center of the front row. She wanted to see whether this Professor Ji was truly as popular as everyone claimed.

The class wouldn’t officially begin until eight twenty. She took out her laptop and began typing, only to discover that an astonishing number of people really did come.

Students trickled in group by group. The flow hadn’t stopped since she first entered the classroom, and gradually, the room began to show signs of becoming severely overcrowded.

A sea of noisy whispers rose behind her. When she turned around, she saw that more than half the classroom had been crammed with people. Some were seated, while others obediently stood in a tightly packed ring along the walls with their backpacks on.

Yan Jingyao admitted that this exceeded her expectations. From time to time, she sensed people staring at her, apparently envious of her seat.

Well, they were certainly bold. Such was the fearlessness of youth.

However, she felt no obligation to yield to the young. Attorney Yan stretched out her long legs and made herself comfortable, even casting an arrogant glance toward someone standing by the door and glaring at her with envy. She then took out her lipstick and leisurely applied it.

Nonchalant yet extravagantly conspicuous, she looked completely out of place among all the obedient, barefaced students.

By eight o’clock, the classroom couldn’t possibly accommodate anyone else. Every space was packed except for the path leading from the doorway to the lectern. At stolen content last, the legendary Professor Ji made her grand entrance under everyone’s eager gaze.

A white shirt and black jacket—standard university attire. Her long black hair fell neatly behind her shoulders. She wore no heavy makeup and displayed no unnecessary expression. An aloof, otherworldly air surrounded her, as though she were untouched by ordinary mortal concerns.

Holding several books in her arms, she calmly entered the classroom, lowered the projection screen, and switched on the computer inside the lectern.

The previously noisy classroom instantly fell silent. Every student held their breath in excitement, their gazes uniformly fixed on the front.

Licheng University’s most popular aloof beauty of a professor truly lived up to her reputation!

Someone among the students enrolled in the class called out, “Stand!”

The seated students immediately rose. Those who weren’t enrolled in the class also straightened up, and everyone greeted her in unison, “Good morning, Professor!”

Their voices were deafening, demonstrating Professor Ji’s extraordinary popularity.

Only one person remained entirely detached. Ji Lan raised her head and immediately spotted the conspicuously seated woman amid all the standing students.

The woman she had encountered in the cafeteria?

She didn’t appear to be listening at all, nor did she intend to leave. She merely sat there with one elbow resting against the back of the chair, playing idly with her fingers as though no one else existed.

Ji Lan’s eyebrow twitched slightly before she motioned for the students to sit.

Yan Jingyao continued admiring her beautiful fingers. No matter how much commotion surrounded her, she remained as unmoved as a mountain.

A blue computer desktop appeared on the projection screen. After checking that everything was functioning correctly, Ji Lan slowly stepped down from the lectern and stopped before a certain carelessly seated and inattentive young lady.

“Excuse me, are you enrolled in this class?”

Her lips curved into a perfectly measured smile as she looked at Yan Jingyao. Her tone was calm, neither aggressive nor lacking in a professor’s authority. “What is your name?”

“My name?”

Interesting. Yan Jingyao met her gaze, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly as a fleeting trace of provocative amusement flashed through her eyes. “My name is Yan Jingyao. Is there a problem?”

“You aren’t enrolled in this class, are you?”

“Mm-hmm?”

Yan Jingyao deliberately raised an eyebrow in a flirtatious manner. Ji Lan ignored it and lightly tapped the casing of her laptop.

“Did you save it?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you save whatever you were working on?”

“There’s nothing on it.”

“Good.” Smiling, Ji Lan pressed the laptop closed. “Since you aren’t enrolled in this class, priority must be given to the students who are. Please gather your things and find somewhere to stand while listening to the lecture.”

So students who weren’t enrolled had to stand. Yan Jingyao finally understood the envious, resentful looks she had received earlier.

But she refused!

“Professor Ji.” She folded her hands beneath her chin and raised her eyes to look up at Ji Lan, the smile never leaving her face.

Brown pupils, bright eyes, and red lips that made her complexion appear exceptionally fair. Ji Lan studied her carefully and suddenly experienced a sense of déjà vu.

The same flirtatious, provocative tone. The same teasing gaze. The same beautiful, flamboyant woman—Ji Lan had met her before. She was the woman who had flirted with her at a KTV a year ago, then nearly struck her with a Ferrari!

Yan Jingyao? She was Yan Rui’s daughter!

It was actually her!

Her hand was suddenly grasped. Ji Lan froze as Yan Jingyao openly gave her a seductive look and brazenly stroked the back of her hand.

“Professor Ji, how can you be so heartless toward your lover?”