Chapter 037: Are Their Eyes Deceiving Them?

Simply… absurd!

If this isn’t over-interpretation, what is?

In the past two days, Bai Chuwei had gone online and heard that the eunuch novel she’d casually written two hundred years ago, “Chronicles of the Mountain Moon,” had now spawned a full-fledged academic school called “Mountain Moon Studies,” with university professors specializing in its research.

They really were overthinking things.

Perhaps sensing Bai Chuwei’s complicated feelings, Duan Xingye slid his test paper over for her to see his answers.

Though Duan Xingye was a naive and sweet supporting character fated for cannon fodder, he was still good enough academically to make it into Class Nine of Henghua No. 1 High School.

Bai Chuwei glanced at his paper, and her lips twitched.

The question: “‘You can see two trees outside the wall, one is a jujube tree, and the other is also a jujube tree.’ Analyze the author’s intent.” [Note: Quoted from Lu Xun’s prose collection.]

Duan Xingye’s answer: “It expresses the author’s loneliness—a sense of monotony and isolation…”

The question was worth four points, and Duan Xingye had filled three densely packed lines of analysis, securing the full marks.

Bai Chuwei: “…”

Wasn’t this just padding the answer for the word count, like a drunk man trying to meet a quota for his manuscript fee? Where was all this hidden meaning supposed to be?

Catching Bai Chuwei’s perplexed look, Duan Xingye thought she was envious and tried to comfort her: “If you work on your answering techniques, you can do it too. Oh, and here, this is for you.”

Duan Xingye, as if presenting a treasure, took a book from his drawer and handed it to Bai Chuwei: “This is the number one classical masterpiece, ‘Chronicles of the Mountain Moon.’ It’s a must-read for the college entrance Chinese exam. Weiwei, you should study it carefully.”

Bai Chuwei wanted nothing more than to bang her head against the desk. Why on earth did she have to meticulously study a eunuch novel she herself had written?!

*

It was class time. Teacher Li stood at the podium, passionately analyzing the recent Chinese test, occasionally shooting Bai Chuwei a cold, sharp glance.

Other classes were either in session or doing self-study.

In Class Eleven, Deng Man and a few girls wore pained expressions, racking their brains to write a three-thousand-word self-criticism.

Tong Qingyan was distracted, absentmindedly scribbling on her test paper while sneaking glances at the phone hidden in her desk drawer.

Each time she checked, her disappointment grew. Why hadn’t Fourth Master replied yet? Was he busy at work and had no time for his phone? Or had he seen her message and chosen not to respond?

At that moment, Duan Feihan truly hadn’t looked at his phone.

In the conference room, he sat at the head of the table, reclining in a swiveling chair and quietly listening to a report, a fountain pen in hand.

The department manager giving the report was a man in his forties, sweating profusely under Duan Feihan’s gaze, stumbling through his presentation until he finally finished.

Duan Feihan arched an eyebrow, puzzled as to why these employees were always so nervous around him.

A knock sounded at the conference room door. His assistant entered, holding a cup and looking unusually awkward. “President Duan, your coffee.”

Duan Feihan nodded, reaching out to take the cup—a chubby, white hamster-shaped mug that looked utterly cartoonish and adorable.

He took a sip, his expression one of satisfaction.

The conference room staff: “!!!”

Were their eyes playing tricks on them?

Where on earth had President Duan gotten that mug? That cartoonish design was completely at odds with his crisp suit and dignified demeanor!

Duan Feihan looked up at the employees, whose jaws seemed about to hit the floor, and announced, “That’s all for today’s meeting. I have plans tonight.”

He and Bai Chuwei had agreed to go buy medicine together.

Ignoring their stunned expressions, Duan Feihan got up and picked up his silenced phone. Upon unlocking it, he saw a long-pending message from Tong Qingyan on WeChat.

He had no interest in Tong Qingyan’s message and didn’t intend to reply, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the words “classmate Bai Chuwei.” Pausing, he tapped into the message.

The more he read, the deeper his frown grew…