CH 2

Flirting is an art requiring finesse. Xu Juan was experienced and naturally wouldn’t let the words “you’ve caught my attention, I’m here to hit on you” be plastered all over his face.

One glance at the man’s expression was enough for him to gather that the other had barged in uninvited, and that he had a problem. Problems should be offered solutions, so Xu Juan walked up to him, polite and enthusiastic: “Pleasure meeting you, who might you be looking for?” 

It was evident that the other had a decent upbringing; Despite the disdain on his face, he still accepted the handshake. Then, he pointed at the girl Xu Juan had just been embracing, saying: “Looking for her. She’s my student, Tang Sisi.”

Xu Juan was startled. He didn’t expect that this intellectual was actually an intellectual, he was even a teacher? But he looked to be at most twenty five or twenty six, saying he was a senior would make more sense, to be a teacher seemed too far-fetched.

Sure enough, the girl called Tang Sisi stood up in panic, walking over with her tail between her legs. She lowered her head and called out “Pei laoshi” timidly.

Her shoulders were trembling and she didn’t even dare to look up. Xu Juan understood the situation immediately — Due to vanity or some other reason, this female student tried to take shortcuts by utilizing her looks for shady work, but was caught in the act by her teacher.

This teacher seemed to care a bit too much. These days, most people would turn a blind eye to situations like these, much less barge their way through the door. After all, who didn’t know that the ones who patronized these venues were all influential figures? Could he afford to offend them?

Yet, he still came.

Not only was he upright, he also had guts. He was indeed a person of great strength and character, Xu Juan was liking him more and more.

While others grew more zealous towards a person they fancied, Xu Juan instead became more aloof, and even withdrew his antics slightly.

“Pei laoshi?”

“Pei Yu.” 

“Oh, Mr Pei Yu. Is it the yu from jade?”

“No, it’s the yu from writing brush.”

Xu Juan had yet to figure out which character the yu from writing brush was, but Pei Yu wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter, turning to leave once he got ahold of Tang Sisi. Before Xu Juan got a chance to play his cards, Guo Shao became displeased. He stood abruptly: “Hey, what’s going on here? She belongs to my company, how can you take her away as you wish? This girl, you came here to ruin the occasion, didn’t you!”

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Guo Shao watched, bewildered, as Xu Juan followed them out: “The fuck, if he’s interested, he should’ve just said so. Why is our Director Xu so restrained today? I even thought they knew each other!”

“Knew each other, my ass.” Hou Shijie let out a yawn, long accustomed to such behaviour. “But they’ll know each other soon enough. By my estimation, he’ll succeed by tonight. Just wait and see.”

Hou Shijie didn’t overestimate Xu Juan, but he underestimated Pei Yu. 

Although Pei Yu seemed to have a fair temperament, he wasn’t a fool. The moment Xu Juan followed them out, he received a warning glare from the other.

“Do you need something?”

It was an August afternoon, and the clubhouse was surrounded by alleys in the shade of trees. The car park was quite a distance away on foot. Pei Yu walked in front; Under his oppressive presence, Tang Sisi walked the entire way without daring to lift her head. She only saw his footsteps pause all of a sudden, before turning around to fix Xu Juan with an icy look.

Clearly, as one of the venue’s frequent patrons, Xu Juan didn’t leave a good impression. 

Xu Juan offered a small smile and didn’t mention he came looking for Pei Yu, instead pointing to Tang Sisi: “I have a few things to say to her. Pei laoshi, is that all right with you?”

Pei Yu looked at Tang Sisi, and she hurriedly spoke up: “Th-thank you, Director Xu. I have urgent school matters to attend to, we can always find another day…”

“Are you a high school student? Or a university student?” Xu Juan said, “I have no other intentions, so don’t be nervous.”

His attitude was pleasant, so Tang Sisi breathed a sigh of relief: “University. I’ll be in my second year once the semester starts. My apologies, Director Xu, I…” 

Initially, she had wanted to say I’ve made things awkward for you, but with Pei Yu watching her, how could she dare apologize to Xu Juan? It was her who had been placed in the most awkward spot. The reason she had tried to sell her looks was because her family was in a bad financial position. Yet, it wasn’t completely accurate to say her family background had forced her onto this particular path. She was a willing party and saw no wrong in taking shortcuts. After all, she had every right to capitalize on her own looks. In addition, the financial backer was Xu Juan; He had such good qualifications, she didn’t feel the slightest disadvantaged.

But these thoughts were rather improper. If exposed, she would feel utterly humiliated.

Little did she expect such a coincidence; She just had to come across Pei Yu. Pei Yu was well-known at her school for being cold and unfeeling, keeping his work and private matters strictly separate. Now that she was being brought back, disciplinary action seemed unavoidable. The worst case scenario was expulsion.

Tang Sisi kept her head lowered as the tears fell, unable to resist glancing at Xu Juan. 

She couldn’t understand why Xu Juan followed them out. Does he feel something for her? Does he like her?

As expected, Xu Juan intended to speak up for her: “I can tell you have your struggles. I know Guo Shao well; Many young girls are naive. They assume that signing with a big company like Xing Yun shouldn’t be a problem, then start to regret afterwards. You’re only in your second year of university, how could you possibly have been aware of the twists and turns in society? The company forcing you to be a drinking companion was also not your choice.”

In a few words, he managed to make light of the situation, going from “whoring around” to “drinking companionship”. Though both didn’t sound great, at least it was no longer too vulgar. Pei Yu didn’t catch the both of them engaging in any indecent act, but when he heard this, he still stared blankly, somewhat skeptical.

And it had to be said: Pei Yu was truly very good looking. 

Xu Jian stood a little closer. Beneath the sunlight that had scattered between tree leaves, he could see Pei Yu’s long lashes clearly. When a person looked good, even their lashes had the ability to move one’s heart.

Of course, it wasn’t just his lashes; The bridge of his nose, his lips, jaw – not a single part of him wasn’t perfect.

With a deity like that teaching at school, would his students even be able to focus? No wonder Tang Sisi was led astray; He was hindering her studies too much.

It had been a long time since Xu Juan met a partner he was this interested in. He was a picture of ardence, seemingly enthusiastic about speaking up for Tang Sisi, but in reality, he was merely attempting to redeem Pei Yu’s impression of him. 

He let out a light cough, continuing: “It’s not easy for newbies in the entertainment circle to progress. It’s not just you, I’m the same as well. In circumstances like these, we each have our own hardships; Social niceties are unavoidable. Don’t you agree, Pei laoshi?”

Pei Yu didn’t counter. Xu Juan said: “So why don’t we put this incident behind us? When you get back to school, I hope Pei laoshi won’t––”

“Thank you for the concern you have for my student.” Pei Yu interrupted him coldly, “Other matters have nothing to do with you, so Mr Xu need not trouble yourself.”

Xu Juan: “……” 

This person was so young, but he spoke like his grandfather. Why was he so solemn?

But the serious ones were so his type. Especially when he took them to bed, just imagining their expression sent Xu Juan’s heart into somewhat of a frantic overdrive.

“All right, then.” Xu Juan didn’t press him. After all, haste ruins everything; One has to first set out bait, then await the returns.

Xu Juan took out his phone, opened his Wechat QR code and said to Tang Sisi: “Why don’t you add me? If you have any problems in the future, just hit me up. ––– Don’t worry, I have no other intentions. Actually, I’m not interested in women, I was just playing along out of courtesy.” 

“……”

Tang Sisi gave him a blank stare, even Pei Yu looked over.

Despite how directly Xu Juan had phrased his statement, this was still not explicit enough. An intellectual in the ivory tower who rarely interacted with society, did not understand terms used in the world of debauchery.

Though he could still guess its meaning, a person like Pei Yu wasn’t that shameless. He may have gotten the hint, but he wouldn’t immediately interpret it as “so it isn’t my student that this rich playboy is interested in, it’s me”. To think this way would inevitably arouse suspicions of one-sided attraction. 

As such, Pei Yu only gave Xu Juan a fleeting glance.

Xu Juan was in formal wear. A couple of buttons at the neck were undone, making him seem a little uninhibited. But when he was putting on airs, he had an appearance that could easily deceive others into developing a favourable impression of him.

Pei Yu withdrew his gaze.

Xu Juan’s brow raised slightly, then he reached out to offer his phone: “Pei laoshi, add me too?” 

T/N: I want to share that the comments on this chapter made me laugh, 90% of them were just going 太会了, 太会了.