Yu Jia was a student in He Yan's class, this girl was always sick, took frequent sick leaves, the longest being just before the summer vacation, she had even missed the final exams. She wanted to take a leave of absence, He Yan was not surprised at all, but He Yan was cautious, "I need to call Yu Jia to confirm."
She went to the drawer and looked up the class contact list, but Fu Shenxing had already dialed a number from his phone, and handed the phone to He Yan across the table, "Ms. He, I have the number, use this."
He Yan hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take the phone, and noticed his hands were very clean, with slender fingers, very much like the hands of a scholar. Her fear and suspicion in her heart decreased a little. She dialed the number on the phone.
The phone rang with a melody, the wait was neither long nor short, Yu Jia answered the call, her response was probably similar to Fu Shenxing's, the girl seemed a bit nervous, her voice sounding tense. Many students have this habit of fearing teachers, developed from a young age, which can even persist into university.
He Yan was used to it, asked about her condition, and comforted her a few words, then hung up the phone. When she looked up, Fu Shenxing was still standing opposite, looking at her with a half-smile, the same face that made her feel afraid. She pursed her lips slightly, and handed the phone back to him, "Mr. Fu, please come with me to the department to get the application form."
She took him to get the application form for leave, and told him what other documents were needed, "...the hospital must provide a diagnosis and the recommendation for leave, and Yu Jia has to sign the application form herself. When you have all these and the application form, bring them back to me, and then I will take you to see the department head."
Fu Shenxing nodded gently and asked her, "Ms. He, may I have your phone number?"
He Yan hesitated, saying, "You can call my office phone."
Fu Shenxing smiled and didn't insist.
Out of politeness, she saw him off from the office, but as they were about to part, he suddenly asked, "May I ask, do I look a lot like someone else?"
She was caught off guard by his question, he continued, "You are afraid of that person, aren't you? Did he hurt you?"
He Yan was outwardly gentle but inwardly tough, and has always had a good temperament. But at this moment, she couldn't help but want to respond harshly, "What's it to you?" But her manners did not allow her to do so, so she simply raised her eyebrows lightly, pretending not to hear him clearly, and asked, "Hmm? What did you say?"
Fu Shenxing smiled, reached out and shook her hand, "I said goodbye, Ms. He."
He Yan still instinctively felt fear towards the man in front of her, she put her hand on his palm, but as soon as it touched, she immediately withdrew it, "Goodbye."
He smiled, but didn't say anything, just turned and left.
She was a little restless all afternoon, Liang Yuanze called several times to ask about her situation, and even drove directly to the school to pick her up when it was almost time to get off work. The feeling of happiness suppressed the nameless fear in He Yan's heart. She went downstairs with her handbag and couldn't help but act coquettish to her husband when getting into the car, "What should I do with my car?"
"Leave it at the school," Liang Yuanze replied.
She asked knowingly, "Then how do I go to work tomorrow?"
Liang Yuanze imitated her emphasis, "I'll take you to work tomorrow."
The couple couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she fell silent for a moment and suddenly said without rhyme or reason, "Yuanze, I want to pursue a PhD. I don't want to be a counselor all the time."
She had just obtained a master's degree, and in order to become a university lecturer, she at least needed to complete a doctoral degree.
Liang Yuanze supported her every choice, and said, "OK, which university do you want to go to? Do you need me to help you contact a supervisor?"
He Yan shook her head, "I'd better go back to my alma mater and continue studying with my old teacher."
When she made up her mind, she called her teacher the next day to seek advice. Her teacher was very happy to hear that she was willing to pursue a PhD, and directly asked her to participate in the spring entrance exams next year. It was already mid-September, the registration time was in October, and suddenly there were a lot of materials to prepare. She felt overwhelmed and had to ask Liang Yuanze for help.
The couple rolled up their sleeves and worked together. When they were sorting through the materials at night, he suddenly said seriously to her, "Yan Yan, let's work hard and have a baby quickly, so that when you take the entrance exam next year, we can bring our child with us. This can also count as prenatal education!"
She was taken aback, but found the idea really good. The couple immediately put down the materials in hand and enthusiastically went to bed to make love.
She received that call a week later, when she was dealing with her doctoral studies at her alma mater. The call came from an unfamiliar number, and she was afraid that something had happened with her students in the class, so she quickly answered it.
"Hello, Teacher He."
It was a deep male voice, with a rare coolness of summer. He Yan's scalp tightened for a moment, and she involuntarily sounded stiff, "Hello, Mr. Fu."
"You remember my voice, Teacher He," Fu Shenxing said.
He Yan had no intention to chat with him. She just said, "Mr. Fu, when can you submit Yu Jia's documents? The school has regulations that applications for suspension of studies need to be submitted within two weeks of the start of the semester."
"I just came out of your office, Teacher He. Your colleague said she didn't know when you would be back, so I had to call your mobile phone," Fu Shenxing said, paused, and then explained, "I got your number from Yu Jia."
According to the school's regulations, counselors should be on duty, but they often run around because of their students, and the school's management was not very strict. So He Yan consulted with him, "I'm sorry, I'm not in the office right now. How about leaving the documents in my office? Is that possible?"
"Not quite good," he refused firmly.
He Yan was taken aback.
He continued, "I will be on a business trip tomorrow. I won't be in Nanzhao for a while, Teacher He. Can you come back now? I'm waiting for you at the school."
What he said was a bit rude, but He Yan was not willing to argue with a student's parent easily, and besides, she was not in the right in this matter. She thought for a moment, and replied, "Wait for me for half an hour, I'll come back now."
She hurried back in her car, and when she parked the car behind the office building, exactly half an hour had passed. As soon as she got out of the car, a man in a black suit came out of a black car parked by the road, he held the door and called out to her, saying, "Mr. Fu is waiting here for you."
The car looked expensive, and with the man who looked like a bodyguard, the whole setting didn't seem like it involved an ordinary person. She hesitated and walked up, and the rear window of the car slowly rolled down, revealing a handsome and unparalleled face. Fu Shenxing nodded slightly to her, "Teacher He, hello, you are very punctual."
He Yan scrutinized him warily. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he didn't look completely like the criminal. His features were more refined, his eyes calm, exuding a sense of good upbringing, devoid of any trace of cruelty or coldness.
"I'm sorry for calling you back. I'm leaving the country tomorrow and won't be back for a short while. I wanted to handle the procedures with Yu Jia today," Fu Shenxing explained, motioning for his assistant to hand He Yan the documents, "Please check if anything is missing."
She checked the materials in the document bag and said, "You need to come with me to get the dean's signature before we can submit it to the academic affairs office."
Fu Shenxing nodded, and his assistant hurried to open the car door for him. She only then noticed that he was dressed very formally today, in a smart suit, exuding an air of grace, much like the financial moguls who could make magazine covers. Perhaps sensing her scrutiny, he casually explained, "Just came from a meeting."
As they walked to the dean's office, he chatted casually, "Miss He looks very young, just graduated from university?"
She was actually twenty-seven years old, having finished her graduate studies over four years ago. But she didn't feel like engaging in conversation with him, so she politely pursed her lips, mustering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and replied, "No."
She walked quickly, even faster than him, despite his tall stature. She almost seemed to be running as they ascended the stairs. When she reached the corner of the staircase, she realized he hadn't followed her and turned back to look at him in surprise.
He was still standing below the stairs, looking up at her with indifference. "Miss He, I'm not in a rush."
Feeling a bit embarrassed and realizing her behavior had been excessive, she couldn't help but feel afraid of him, even though she knew he had nothing to do with the criminal. She exerted considerable effort to control herself from screaming or running away. Her ability to have a normal conversation with him, restraining herself from screaming or fleeing, was the result of her tremendous effort.
She didn't say anything, just stood at the corner waiting for him.
He walked up leisurely and, as he passed her, suddenly asked, "I'm really curious, why are you so afraid of me?"
"You misunderstand." She looked down and explained after a pause, "I have something urgent to take care of."
"Oh, I see." He nodded lightly and added, "I'm sorry, Miss He, for making you put aside your tasks and come back."
She forced a smile, "It's alright, it's my job."
It all went smoothly. The dean happened to be at home, and the documents prepared by Fu Shenxing were complete. The dean signed the papers, and He Yan led Fu Shenxing out of the dean's office. "The application form needs to be submitted to the school’s academic affairs office. We’ll wait for their approval."
As they reached the outside of the building, Fu Shenxing's car was waiting by the roadside. He turned to her politely and asked, "Is the academic affairs office far? Should we take the car to get there faster?"
The academic affairs office was indeed a bit far from the dean's office, but she wasn't willing to walk alongside him, let alone sit in a car with him. She bit her lip, trying to come up with a good plan, "You go ahead and get in the car. Just go straight along this road, then turn left at the second intersection. The academic affairs office building is very conspicuous. Wait for me at the entrance, and I will go use my own car. After submitting the form, I have other things to take care of, so this will save time."
Fu Shenxing didn't object. He got into the car, and He Yan went to get her car. When she arrived at the academic affairs office building, Fu Shenxing was already waiting at the entrance, attracting the attention of many students with his tall and imposing figure. She hurried over and softly greeted him, "Let's go, Mr. Fu."
With her guiding him, everything went smoothly. The young female staff at the academic affairs office couldn't take her eyes off Fu Shenxing. Seizing the opportunity while he was busy with the paperwork, she pulled He Yan aside and whispered, "Who is this man? He's so handsome!"
Fu Shenxing seemed to sense something and glanced in their direction, lightly curling his lips. His charming smile attracted the attention of the nearby female staff, some of whom eagerly asked He Yan for his phone number.
He Yan was somewhat amused. She took Fu Shenxing's phone and naturally had his number. However, it didn't seem appropriate to give the number to a stranger without his permission.
A colleague tugged at her arm, pleading, "He Yan, please! You're a married woman. This kind of opportunity should be left for us singletons!"
"He's a student's cousin, and I don't even know him. Go ask him yourself," she said, then suddenly had an idea to her heart. She suggested to her colleague, "Why don't you use official business as an excuse to get his contact information? You can call him directly when the application is approved. I don't need to teach you the rest, right?"
According to tradition, after approval, the application should be returned to the institute, and then the student would be contacted by the academic advisor. Her colleague seemed a bit hesitant and asked her, "Is it appropriate?"
She smiled and lightly nudged her colleague, "What's inappropriate about it? Just think of it as doing me a favor!"
Over there, Fu Shenxing has completed the relevant procedures, turned around and looked towards He Yan. She earnestly asked her colleague, "Is there anything else?"
The colleague cleared his throat, "Um, please leave the client's contact information."
Fu Shenxing smiled, wrote down the phone number on the paper, and handed it over.