CH 56

The weather was getting warmer. In early June, a well-known Chinese paper magazine published a thesis written by Mo Lingqiu after passing through many obstacles. At the same time, the magazine cooperated with some academic websites and made the thesis available to Chinese Language Departments in major universities so that students could use it to learn. 

As a result, Mo Lingqiu could add one more achievement to his work experience that was worth speaking about. 

In order to encourage more teachers to improve their research spirit and anticipate their creations of more excellent work, University A held a commendation ceremony for Mo Lingqiu and promoted the implementation of a series of reward mechanisms within the university. 

The news had even reached Jiang Chenming’s ears in his own college, and it just so happened that his graduate tutor was also part of the commendation list. 

Another student who had the same teacher shouted in surprise, “So, Teacher, you were hiding your ability, huh!”

“Don’t you see? I’m very intellectual.” The tutor ran her hand through her hair and a perfume scent instantly wafted out. Since she was a Beta and couldn’t emit pheromones, the smell wasn’t unpleasant. 

“Teacher, you’re exaggerating,” the student said, joking around with her with a cheeky smile. 

“What about Jiang Chenming? Come and evaluate me,” his tutor said, throwing him the opportunity to be a judge. 

Jiang Chenming didn’t really want to answer such a difficult question, but he still knew he needed to cooperate. “Teacher, you’re indeed very outstanding. You really were hiding it all along.” 

Repeating the words the other student had said was very simple—Jiang Chenming’s answer was impeccable. 

At his boring answer, his instructor couldn’t help but say, “Why do I get the feeling that your mouth isn’t as sweet as it was before? The Jiang Chenming I knew in the past knew how to praise people so well.” 

The other student chimed in. “It’s true. He hasn’t said as many nice things recently.” 

Jiang Chenming didn’t say what he was thinking, which was that he, of course, wanted to say all his nice words only to Mo Lingqiu. 

“Love is really great.” His tutor sighed. As a Beta, she hadn’t gotten married in thirty-five years, and she didn’t want to just make do with that. Who wouldn’t be envious of someone else finding true love? 

Jiang Chenming smiled. “Thank you, Teacher, for your blessing. I’ll head out.”

He’d originally come to find his tutor today to talk about the thesis at the end of his graduate course’s second term. After he handed in what was necessary, there would be nothing left to do for him. He was eager to find Mo Lingqiu for dinner. 

“Go, go, go.” His instructor waved his hand, driving him away with a smile. 

Permission received, Jiang Chenming quickly grabbed his things and left his tutor’s office. 

He flew all the way to the Chinese Language Department teaching building in a very good mood. One he reached the front door of a classroom on the second floor, he stopped, waiting for Mo Lingqiu to finish invigilating the exam inside. 

The final exams of the various University A colleges were arranged according to major. The undergraduate students from the Chinese Language Department always started their exams early. Because of the large number of students with only a few teachers, Mo Lingqiu was arranged to invigilate the exam. 

More than ten minutes passed before, one after another, students handed in their papers and came out of the examination room. 

As the students filed out of the classroom, they smelled the bewitching scent of an Alpha’s pheromones. As soon as they turned their heads, they saw the already taken Jiang Chenming, and immediately took back all their thoughts, aggrieved. 

One of the students who had dealt with Jiang Chenming on the basketball team before saw him and smiled, greeting him by calling out, “Senior.” 

Jiang Chenming wasn’t stingy with his smile. With a grin, he greeted him back. 

Since the exam was still taking place, the corridor was very quiet, but, even if their voices were deliberately quiet, it was a little noticeable. In order to not disturb the students on that floor who were still taking exams, those juniors walked away after their greeting, bags in hand. 

Jiang Chenming continued waiting for Mo Lingqiu with his back against the wall. He looked like a statue, but his fingers were in fact quickly tapping on his mobile phone’s keyboard. 

In the examination room, Mo Lingqiu sat silently beside the podium. In order to read Jiang Chenming’s messages with little hassle, he’d placed his mobile phone against the chalk box. 

As the messages popped up from the WeChat interface, Mo Lingqiu couldn’t help feeling charmed. 

Xiao Jiang tongxue: Teacher Mo, where are we going to eat later?

Xiao Jiang tongxue: I’ve selected a few stores, choose one~

Xiao Jiang tongxue: [link] This is a Japanese cuisine restaurant, just opened, with an anime theme. Looks pretty good, but it’ll take a while to queue.

Xiao Jiang tongxue: [link] This is Shanghai cuisine. We’ve been there before and we’re familiar with the recipes.

Xiao Jiang tongxue: [link] This is a spicy hot pot place. I think you’ll like it, but, Teacher Mo, your body’s been a little sensitive recently.

After that, Jiang Chenming sporadically sent four other restaurants, each evaluated as good or bad, but Mo Lingqiu’s eyes were glued to the hot pot restaurant. 

After a moment’s hesitation, Mo Lingqiu was about to stretch his hand out to type, but a student approached the podium, placing his completed exam together with those that had already been handed in. 

Mo Lingqiu nervously glanced at the student, feeling embarrassed, like he’d been discovered secretly doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. 

The student was a little bewildered. He’d just handed in the test paper early, but Mo Lingqiu’s eyes were sweeping over him. Nervously, he wondered if Teacher Mo was unhappy because he hadn’t answered the last question.

He walked out of the classroom, full of fear, and was once again stunned at the sight of Jiang Chenming. He realised that Mo Lingqiu taught Chinese—how could he know how to solve the last linear algebra problem if it was totally unrelated to his area of study? 

After failing to receive a reply, Jiang Chenming thought that Mo Lingqiu must be really busy. He dared not disturb him anymore, so he tapped open a movie and started watching it. 

Sitting on the edge of the podium, Mo Lingqiu hesitated before finally, carefully, long tapping on the hotpot message. He selected the word hotpot, copy-pasted it, and sent it out. 

When the new message popped up, Jiang Chenming’s eyes lit up. He made a reservation at the hot pot restaurant on his phone. Everything was ready; once Mo Lingqiu was finished with his job here, they could happily go eat some hot pot. 

Another ten minutes passed before the exam was officially over. Mo Lingqiu and the invigilator at the back of the classroom collected the remaining test papers one after the other. 

The students rushed out of the classroom in a swarm, excited after finishing another exam. Jiang Chenming stepped backwards to give way. He didn’t enter the room until fewer people were coming out. 

Mo Lingqiu packed up the test papers. Before he could put them in the sealed bag, the other invigilator touched his arm. “Your little boyfriend is here.” 

Mo Lingqiu raised his head and saw Jiang Chenming staring at him with a smile, ears slightly red. 

The other teacher was very sensible and snatched the sealed test papers from Mo Lingqiu. “Teacher Mo, hurry up and go on your date. I’ll deliver these for you.” 

“Thank…thank you,” Mo Lingqiu said gratefully before following Jiang Chenming out.

Since their relationship was already completely out in the open, Jiang Chenming didn’t shy away from other people’s eyes. He took Mo Lingqiu’s hand and indulgently walked him outside the school. 

“I made a reservation. We should be able to enter and eat right when we get there.” 

“Okay.” Mo Lingqiu couldn’t help nodding. Obviously he became hungry when he knew there was spicy food ready for him. 

When they arrived at the restaurant, they didn’t have to wait. They could order as soon as they sat down, but the hotpot seasoning was a little slow to come out because it was cooked fresh. It took almost twenty minutes for the fragrant, spicy hotpot seasoning to be served. 

Mo Lingqiu liked spicy food very much, but he would sweat when he ate it. It wasn’t the profuse kind of sweating, but the tip of his nose would become a little moist. 

The sight was cute to Jiang Chenming’s eyes. Mo Lingqiu’s lips were red and very attractive, but with spicy food they became doubly so. 

When they finished their meal, they went for a walk to digest the food where they used to go for night jogs. Then they drove home. 

The next morning, Mo Lingqiu woke up early. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt a little at a loss. 

When Jiang Chenming opened his eyes, the area beside him was empty. He put on his slippers and walked to the bathroom, where he saw Mo Lingqiu looking at the mirror, mouth open. He didn’t know what he was looking at. 

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Chenming asked, voice full of concern as he walked over.

“Ulcer.” Mo Lingqiu gasped a breath of cold air. His body was already close enough to inflammation. After eating too much spicy food, it had become even worse. After just a night, he was having a reaction. 

“Let me take a look.” Jiang Chenming turned Mo Lingqiu’s face so he could have a direct view. He asked him to open his mouth so he could take a closer look. Inside, on his lower lip and on the inside of his cheek, he could see the ulcers. “Does it hurt?” 

“..En,” Mo Lingqiu grunted, tone nasal because he’d just woken up. He sounded pitiful. 

“I’ll go get you watermelon frost.” Jiang Chenming couldn’t think of any other way to cool him down. He could only apply some watermelon frost to deal with it for the moment. 

Mo Lingqiu pulled him. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

He also had to attend the commendation ceremony today that had been arranged for him by University A. Although it was still early, Mo Lingqiu needed to give an acceptance speech, so he’d prepared a manuscript. 

For the commendation ceremony in the afternoon, Mo Lingqiu endured the pain and finished brushing his teeth. Then Jiang Chenming pulled him into the living room to sit down.

“Open your mouth.” Jiang Chenming took a cotton swab and dipped it in a little watermelon frost before applying it in Mo Lingqiu’s mouth.

Mo Lingqiu opened his mouth wide, trying his best to show where the two ulcers were. 

“It may be a little painful, so just bear with it,” Jiang Chenming said, applying the medicine.

The watermelon frost was very cold when it first touched Mo Lingqiu’s skin. For a moment, the pain was inescapable. Mo Lingqiu gasped a breath of cold air, but half of the powdered watermelon frost fell into the depths of his mouth. He frowned at the sweet and strange taste. 

Jiang Chenming smiled helplessly. “Teacher Mo, I’m punishing you. You can’t eat spicy food for a month.” 

The indifference in Mo Lingqiu’s expression was replaced by shock. “No way.” 

“You still wanna eat when you’re like this?” Jiang Chenming pinched his nose. “Be obedient. You can eat whatever you want after you recover—you can even eat me.” 

Mo Lingqiu’s ears turned red and he didn’t say anything more. 

Jiang Chenming applied the medicine on the ulcer on the inside of his lower lip before stuffing the watermelon frost into his hand. “If you swallow it all, just apply a little more yourself in front of a mirror.” 

“…En.”

“I’ll send you some kiwis at noon. Eat two or three to supplement your vitamin C and you’ll recover soon.”

“…En.”

Because of Mo Lingqiu’s obedience, Jiang Chenming suddenly had the urge to do something. He leaned down to hold the back of his head and exchanged a lingering kiss with him. 

Soon, the taste of watermelon frost filled their mouths.

Mo Lingqiu’s face flushed and his beautiful eyes stared at him. “The medicine you applied is wasted now.”

Jiang Chenming laughed. “Saliva has a healing effect.”