Over an hour later, a red Wrangler SUV pulled up to the gate of West Hua Medical University.
Zhao Yuan hopped out of the car and waved goodbye to Yu Ke.
Yu Ke lowered her window and thanked him sincerely. "In any case, I have you to thank for curing my illness. Let me treat you to a meal to show my gratitude!"
"Treat me to a meal?" Zhao Yuan scratched his head and gave her a friendly warning, "Teacher Yu, are you sure? I have a huge appetite!"
Yu Ke clearly had no idea about Zhao Yuan's appetite and thought he was just joking. She couldn't help but laugh. "No matter how big your appetite is, I can still afford to treat you to one meal."
"Alright then." Zhao Yuan nodded. He would never turn down a free meal. As the saying goes, you'd have to be crazy not to be enthusiastic about food! "By the way, Teacher Yu, there's something I want to say, but I'm not sure if I should..."
"What is it? Just say it. It's not like I'm going to get mad at you." Yu Ke shot him a sidelong glance. Such a feminine gesture coming from her was unexpectedly alluring, causing many of the students passing through the school gate to gawk.
"You really should smile more," Zhao Yuan said. "You're much prettier when you smile than when you keep a straight face."
Yu Ke froze, clearly not expecting him to say something like that to her.
A lovely blush crept up her cool, elegant face. For some reason, a flicker of panic rose in her heart, and she mumbled, "Ah? Oh... I'll keep that in mind. If there's nothing else, I should get going. I still have work to do." She released the brake and stepped on the gas, preparing to drive off.
The car had just started to move when Zhao Yuan quickly called out, "Wait."
"What is it now? I'm busy," Yu Ke said, stopping the car. She tried to sound composed, but she couldn't bring herself to look at Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan raised a hand and pointed in the opposite direction she was heading. "Teacher Yu, I think you're going the wrong way. The staff dorms are over there."
"Ah?" Yu Ke finally realized that in her flustered state, she had gone the wrong way. Unwilling to admit it, she said defiantly, "Who said I was going home now? I have other things to take care of. I'm leaving!" With that, she started the car again, planning to make a U-turn at the next intersection and take the long way home.
As she drove, Yu Ke muttered to herself, 'That kid has some nerve, flirting with his own teacher! Ugh, why is my heart beating so fast? Did I really get flustered by his flirting? No, this can't be happening! Come on, Yu Ke, you're his teacher!'
She took a few deep breaths and finally managed to clear her mind. A moment later, however, she couldn't resist glancing in the rearview mirror and trying out a smile.
'Do I really look that pretty when I smile?'
Meanwhile, back at the West Hua University gate, before Zhao Yuan could even turn around, a familiar voice, full of astonishment, called out from behind him. "Am I seeing things? Was that the Ice Mountain goddess, Teacher Yu, in that car? She was actually smiling? And she said she's going to treat you to a meal? My god, Third Brother, when did you manage to woo Teacher Yu? You truly are the Casanova of our Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine!"
Well, it looked like Zhao Yuan had just leveled up in Wu Yan's eyes. He'd gone from being the Casanova of Class Three to the Casanova of the entire Department of Integrated Medicine.
Zhao Yuan turned to face Wu Yan and said with a sigh, "Wu Yan, will you ever stop spouting nonsense? It's not like that between Teacher Yu and me! It's a good thing she didn't hear you. With her temper, she would've beaten you to a pulp!"
Wu Yan pouted, clearly not buying it. In his eyes, the way Zhao Yuan and Yu Ke had just been acting looked suspiciously like flirting. There was definitely something going on between them. Still, since Zhao Yuan wouldn't admit it, he wasn't stupid enough to press the issue. He sighed and changed the subject, saying mournfully, "Let her beat me then. It's not like it matters. I already got beat up once today."
"Who beat you up?" Zhao Yuan was instantly furious, ready to go and get even for Wu Yan.
"That girl from the art academy I was hitting on a few days ago," Wu Yan answered, his head hanging low. For a self-proclaimed Casanova like him, getting beaten up by a girl was a huge blow to his reputation. If he and Zhao Yuan weren't so close, he never would have mentioned it.
"Huh?" Zhao Yuan was baffled. Wu Yan, a supposed lady's man, getting beaten up by a girl? That was unbelievable. "Why'd she hit you? Did you do something out of line?"
"I didn't do anything out of line! I just recited a poem to confess my feelings. You know how it is. A romantic, artsy guy like me." As he spoke, Wu Yan flicked his hair back, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.
Zhao Yuan fought back the urge to gag and frowned. "You got hit just for reciting a poem? That doesn't seem right. Even if she's not into the artsy type, she shouldn't have done that... Wait, what poem did you recite?"
"A love poem, of course! Let me recite it for you." Wu Yan coughed a few times to clear his throat, then began to recite with great passion, "I miss you—and not just because I want to get on top of you. I've fallen for you—and I'd really like to get on top of you. I'm in love with you—and I'm absolutely not *in love* with you!" When he was done, he added with a self-satisfied air, "A fine poem, a fine poem indeed." He didn't forget to ask Zhao Yuan, "What do you think, Third Brother? It's a good poem, right?"
"It's good," Zhao Yuan nodded. "I now understand why you got beat up. Yep, you definitely deserved it."
'Reciting a dirty poem like that to a girl... it would've been a miracle if he *hadn't* gotten beaten up!'
"Is it not a good poem? I rather like it," Wu Yan said, looking crestfallen.
Zhao Yuan couldn't be bothered to engage with him and changed the subject. "Shouldn't you be in class? What are you doing out here by the gate? Did you skip?"
Wu Yan said, "Skip what class? It's already after five o'clock. Afternoon classes ended a while ago. I was just about to head out for dinner. You wanna come, Third Brother?"
"Huh? It's that late already?" Zhao Yuan pulled out his phone and saw that it was indeed past five. He'd been so wrapped up in his recent gains that he'd lost track of time. "You go on ahead. I need to stop by the dorm first, I have something to take care of."
"Should I bring anything back for you?" Wu Yan asked.
"No, it's fine. I'll get something myself later," Zhao Yuan replied.
"Alright." Wu Yan nodded and turned to leave, but stopped before he'd even taken a step. He let out a curious "Huh?" and circled Zhao Yuan, clicking his tongue in amazement. "Third Brother, is it just me, or do you look even more ripped? What's been going on with you lately? You're looking more built every day!"
"It's from my training," Zhao Yuan said frankly, not hiding anything.
"Training? What kind of training?" Wu Yan pressed, his curiosity piqued.