Chapter 334: Before and After

After Old Mi had left, Zu An wondered to himself how he was going to deal with all of this.

Suddenly, an elegant fragrance wafted over. He turned around and saw Chu Chuyan was standing there, a cold expression on her face.

“What are you doing here, dear wife?” This was a happy surprise! It was rare for her to come looking for him.

Chu Chuyan was just too gorgeous. Just looking at her once a day would be enough to keep his bad mood away.

“I heard that you didn’t come home last night.” Chu Chuyan swept her eyes over him, her gaze landing on his clothes. She seemed to be looking for something.

Zu An nodded. “Wang Yuanlong invited me out yesterday. Wei Suo drank too much during the party and needed someone to send him home. When we got there, he vomited all over me, so I washed up there. By the time I was done, it was already very late, soo I spent the night there.”

“Oh.” Chu Chuyan said no more, and turned around to leave.

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for 233 Rage points!

Zu An was completely baffled. Why the heck are you getting angry at me?

He rarely got any Rage points from her. Even when he did, it would be two digits at most. Her temper seemed to be getting worse recently, for whatever reason.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. He laughed and said, “Wife, did you wait up for me all night last night?”

Chu Chuyan’s body went rigid. A trace of red spread across her neck. However, she scoffed and replied straight away, “Pui! You wish.”

She quickened her steps and ran off.

Zu An’s smile grew even bigger, but it was quickly replaced by a frown. He’d given up a night with his lovely wife just because of Old Mi’s stupid mission. Oh the sacrifices that had been made!

After breakfast, Cheng Shouping urged Zu An to go to the academy. This was his responsibility as a study companion.

Zu An was in a gloomy mood. Having to attend school everyday really was a bother.

The amount of stuff he could learn from the academy was limited. After all, he hadn’t learned any of his best techniques at the academy. Whether he went or not didn’t make much of a difference to him in terms of knowledge.

Unfortunately, he was a teacher at the academy. It didn’t matter if a student skipped classes once in a while, but a teacher was held to a very different standard.

He’d already stayed away from the academy for many days earlier on. If not for his relationship with Jiang Luofu, he would’ve long been stripped of his status as a teacher.

I need to find a chance to ask that gorgeous principal if I can keep the privileges of a teacher without needing to fulfill a teacher’s responsibilities. Zu An’s mind was obsessed over this matter. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable request to him. After all, most of the advancements in society only came about because people were lazy.

Chu Huanzhao was already waiting by the entrance of the estate. She flew into a rage when she saw him. “Stinky brother-in-law! You went out and had fun without me again!” 

You have successfully trolled Chu Huanzhao for 23… 23… 23…

Zu An laughed in embarrassment. “I was invited out for drinks. You can’t even drink! Wouldn’t your mom and your sister kill me if I’d brought you with me?”

“But… you can’t just go off without saying anything!” Chu Huanzhao was still upset. She’d waited happily for him after class the day before, but the only one who appeared was Cheng Shouping with his dumb face.

“Okay, okay, I won’t do it again,” Zu An replied immediately.

Chu Huanzhao looked at him doubtfully. “Did you leave me behind on purpose because I ruined your relationship with Ji Xiaoxi?”

Zu An put his hand over her mouth at once. He looked all around, and then exhaled in relief when he saw that no one was paying attention. “Lower your voice! You’re a woman, so you need to learn to behave more gracefully! You can’t go around gossiping so loudly…”

Chu Huanzhao snorted. “Yeah, yeah, I’m not as graceful as your Ji Xiaoxi.”

This kid really is cute… The way she puffed her cheeks greatly amused him. He couldn’t help but give them a pinch.

Chu Huanzhao was just about to say something, but the sudden pinch made all the air leak out of her. Her harsh criticism was reduced to an indecipherable mumbling.

Chu Huanzhao smacked his hand away and glared at him. “Smelly brother-in-law!”

Zu An grew depressed. You can get angry all you want, but where are my Rage points?!

It seems like being too close to her isn’t a good thing either. Should I turn her upside down and spank her to earn Rage points?

Jiao Shanhe, Feng Daniu, Zhou Lujin and the other guards whispered discreetly among themselves.

“The young master is always together with the second miss, and they are always touching each other as well. This isn’t good… right?”

“What the heck do you know? Our second young miss didn’t say anything herself, so why are you getting all worked up?”

“Obviously because I don’t want to be punished by the Madam for not stepping in to do something about this!”

A collective chill ran down their spines when Qin Wanru’s fierce and imposing figure appeared in their minds.

Cheng Shouping nudged his way over too. “Hehe, this is where all of you are wrong. Honestly, I feel like the second miss will belong to the young master sooner or later. If that happens, the Madam wouldn’t be able to lay blame on us anymore.”

The light of truth suddenly dawned on them.

“You make so much sense!”

“The young master is truly a model for all men!”

“I really need to find a chance to seek some proper guidance from him… I can’t even handle my woman at home.”

…

When they arrived at the academy, Chu Huanzhao suddenly cried out in surprise. She ran over to the uptight discipline master Lu De, who was standing by the entrance. “Huh? What happened to your eyes, Discipline Master?” she asked.

Lu De, who always emphasized the importance of appearance, actually had a black eye, as if someone had punched him.

However, his cultivation was at a high level, and he was normally a fierce character. Who would dare hit this man?

Lu De covered his left eye in embarrassment. “I bumped into the wall by accident when I got up from bed last night.”

“Oh my! Just how tough was that wall for our Discipline Master Lu to end up like this?” A mocking voice drifted over. Bai Susu was clearly delighted at Lu De’s misfortune.

“Is that any of your business? Can’t a man slip up once in a while?” Lu De fired back. He never got along with Bai Susu.

Bai Susu laughed mock-flirtatiously. “I’m obviously worried about your body. My dear discipline master, you have to take something to nourish yourself. Not only was your eye hurt, but getting up in the middle of the night might signal some kidney problems!”

He giggled and strutted off after saying this.

“How can a sissy like you have the nerve to say that someone else has kidney problems? Pui!” Lu De spat at his departing figure in disgust.

He became even more furious when he saw the students huddling around him. “What are all of you staring at? Get inside!” He had no idea where the nutjob who attacked him the night before had come from.

That fellow’s cultivation had clearly been much higher than his, yet he didn’t go for a killing blow, but toyed with him like a cat with a mouse. It was almost as if that person was trying to figure out his martial skill.

If he wasn’t already familiar with Bai Susu’s character, he would’ve thought that that fellow had sent someone to deliberately embarrass him.

Chu Huanzhao stuck out her tongue at the fuming discipline master, then quickly dragged Zu An with her into the academy.

They went to their respective classrooms when they arrived inside. Wei Suo expressed his thanks to Zu An when he saw him. He had gotten so drunk the night before, and he was grateful that Zu An had taken the trouble to send him home.

Zu An clearly told him not to worry about it, and took the chance to indirectly ask Wei Suo about the mysterious expert in his clan.

However, even though Wei Suo was an expert gossip, he didn’t seem to know anything about his own family’s affairs.

Not wanting to make himself too obvious, Zu An stopped probing.

The next class was his arithmetic class. This was a class not even Sky class students were that interested in.

However, Xie Daoyun and Zheng Dan took the initiative to attend his class, which drew a flock of male students.

Zu An sought out the two girls after class and said with a bitter smile, “Young ladies, please do not attend my class again in the future.”

“Why not?” Xie Daoyun asked, puzzled. Zheng Dan’s confused expression mirrored her own.

Zu An sighed. “I planned to slack off during my classes, but you two brought your army of admirers with you, which left me with no choice but to teach seriously! It’s tiring, you know?”

Xie Daoyun and Zheng Dan were both speechless for a moment, before Xie Daoyun burst out laughing. “You really are too different from an ordinary person.”

“But of course! How could any ordinary person be so handsome?” Zu An replied.

Xie Daoyun had a blank look on her face. Clearly, she couldn’t keep up with his pace.

Zheng Dan grabbed her hand and turned around to leave. “There’s something wrong with that fellow’s head,” she said quietly. “We’d better not let him lead us astray.”

“Is that so? I think there’s something special about him, though.” Xie Daoyun smiled. First, it was that remarkable song, then came the outstanding literary skills that he had displayed the night before. She couldn’t resist turning to look at him again, but for some reason, he was waving right at her! She jumped in fright and turned around at once. Her heart was pounding ferociously.

Zheng Dan rolled her eyes and whispered something to her. 

Xie Daoyun nodded. “I’ll leave you to it, then. I’m going back to class.”

Zheng Dan pretended to go to the bathroom. When Xie Daoyun’s figure disappeared around a corner, she changed directions at once and returned to Zu An.

Zu An had an awkward expression on his face. “I wonder what this student needs from me?” he asked.

Zheng Dan’s expression was reserved. “Teacher, I have a question about something in class that I didn’t understand. Could you explain it to me, please?”

The students nearby all sighed in admiration. Miss Zheng really was studious! No wonder she was such an outstanding individual.

The Zheng clan had many business dealings, so it wasn’t all that strange for her to have an interest in arithmetic.

The two of them chatted as they walked. For all appearances, it looked exactly like a teacher instructing an obedient student.

When the two of them reached a fork in the road, they surreptitiously turned into a remote corner. Without restraint, Zheng Dan threw herself right into his embrace and began to kiss him frantically.

Neither of them noticed the old man standing under the shade of a tree a distance away. He had a strange look on his face. “The Chu clan’s young master really is…”

He tried his best, but couldn’t find a fitting adjective. He wasn’t all that interested in such things, and even found himself feeling slightly disgusted by it.

He shook his head and went off in a different direction, further into the academy. “Who should I test out next?” he muttered to himself.