"Hello, Jiangg! Oh, we got back to school early and were planning a barbecue on the back mountain. That's not against the rules, is it?"

It wasn't that they were afraid of Jiangg Ning, exactly.

It was mainly respect.

After all, she was an associate professor at the university, and a well-known one at that.

'But why is she on the back mountain?'

The friends didn't give it much thought.

Their instinctive respect for the university's faculty kept them from saying anything more. They all held their breath, afraid they'd be reprimanded.

"It's not against the rules. I'm here for a barbecue, too."

This was unexpected.

When Jiangg Ning's magnetic, gentle voice rang out, the friends were all stunned.

Then they let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, so you're here for a barbecue too, Ma'am. You gave us a scare! Just goes to show what a great day it is to be outside."

"Yeah, yeah, haha."

Wei Zhen and Liu Nan chuckled awkwardly. It couldn't have sounded more fake.

They noticed that the usually calm and composed Jiangg Ning actually seemed a little nervous. Her hands were clasped behind her back, under her loose-fitting knit sweater, and she was fidgeting slightly.

"What's taking so long to set up?"

Chen Yuan walked over from behind. He seemed to have just finished a call and was putting his phone into his pocket.

He walked up to his three friends, who were standing frozen like statues.

He casually rested his hand on Jiangg Ning's shoulder.

In Huaxia culture, the principle of respecting one's teachers is practically ingrained in one's bones. You could see it in how these roommates, who were usually goofing off and never serious, instantly straightened up the moment they saw Jiangg Ning.

Many of the university's professors held multiple positions. For some of these students, these professors might be the highest-ranking people they would ever meet in their entire lives, even after graduating and entering the workforce.

Although Jiangg Ning didn't hold any particularly high-ranking administrative position, her dual master's degrees from Yale University still made her an elite graduate, the kind you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a few of in the entire city.

On top of that, she was approachable and a dedicated teacher.

Her reputation was excellent.

Countless students saw her as their "white moonlight"—an unattainable goddess to be admired from a distance, never to be profaned.

Some of the female students might get close enough to exchange a few words with Jiangg Ning. The male students, however, generally kept their distance, not daring to approach.

The moment they heard Chen Yuan speak and saw him walking over, Liu Nan started blinking furiously as if he'd gotten sand in his eyes, desperately trying to send him a signal.

'They usually joked around so freely. Chen Yuan just got here and doesn't know Jiangg is here. What if he runs his mouth and says something stupid?'

'Wouldn't they all get yelled at!?'

But Chen Yuan completely missed their signals, making Liu Nan frantic. When he reached Jiangg Ning's side, everyone held their breath as his hand casually landed on her shoulder.

For a second, the three of them were petrified on the spot.

The very air seemed to solidify, and the atmosphere became utterly silent.

A gust of wind blew past, and Liu Nan shivered violently.

"Y-y-you! What are you doing with your hand!?"

Wei Zhen's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He stared nervously at Jiangg Ning's expression, terrified that she would start shouting at any second.

And yet, Chen Yuan was acting as if nothing was wrong, grinning from ear to ear.

'Does he not realize what he's doing!?'

Li Bing's brow was already furrowed.

"I'm not doing anything. Why is everyone so tense?" Chen Yuan said with a grin, looking at their expressions, inwardly savoring their reactions.

His relaxed state was a stark contrast to Jiangg Ning's.

Although Jiangg Ning had repeatedly told herself not to be nervous, a blush still rapidly colored her cheeks the moment Chen Yuan's hand touched her.

'Honestly, Chen Yuan must be doing this on purpose. Even when they went out shopping, they rarely acted this intimately. And now he dares to put his arm around her in front of his friends? Is he proudly showing off? He must be.'

"Alright, stop teasing them."

What made the three of them stare in utter disbelief was that Jiangg Ning's expression didn't instantly darken. She didn't even pull away. Instead, she spoke in a soft, slightly reproachful tone.

She gave Chen Yuan a little nudge at his waist.

Seeing this, Liu Nan and Wei Zhen's minds went completely blank. Their brains had just crashed.

"Hahaha, alright then..." Chen Yuan snapped his fingers, looking incredibly punchable. "Allow me to introduce you. This is my girlfriend."

Wei Zhen: "..."

Liu Nan: "..."

Li Bing: "?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The three had different reactions, but Chen Yuan had, without a doubt, left them utterly shell-shocked.

"Zhen, hit me," Liu Nan said, grabbing Wei Zhen's hand. His eyes were wide. "I'm not... This isn't a hallucination, is it?"

Wei Zhen promptly obliged with a slap.

A loud "OWWW—!" rang out.

It wasn't just Liu Nan; now everyone was certain. This was no hallucination!

The gentle, beautiful Jiangg Ning standing before them was actually Chen Yuan's mysterious, never-before-seen girlfriend he'd been talking about for ages!

This bombshell, on par with a planet colliding with Earth, left everyone completely thunderstruck.

Liu Nan hadn't even swallowed when footsteps sounded from behind. Quan Yafeng came trotting out of the woods, his voice practically begging for praise. "Give me a hand! I can barely hold all this firewood I gathered, and there's still a huge—a huuuge~~ Jiangg!"

The firewood in Quan Yafeng's hands scattered across the ground as he scrambled to stand up straight.

"Hello."

Jiangg Ning did her best to sound friendly, afraid of intimidating the students she had taught in her classes.

"Let me introduce you. That's Quan Yafeng, these are Wei Zhen and Liu Nan, and that's Li Tongxue."

"I remember her. Li Tongxue's homework is always very thorough. She even got a perfect score once on an essay about the history of English philosophy."

Jiangg Ning took the initiative to walk over, shake Li Bing's hand, and stand beside her.

Having another girl there was a huge relief for Ningning, making the situation far less awkward.

"Alright, introductions are over. Stop standing around in a daze and let's get to work."

"Right, right, right. To work."

"In that case, Chen Yuan, come help me set up the grill," Liu Nan said, taking a deep breath and waving him over.

Only Quan Yafeng was still completely out of the loop, standing as stiff as a board.

"Sure. Ningning, why don't you take Li Bing and go gather some more firewood," Chen Yuan ordered with his hands on his hips, firmly establishing his domestic authority.

Jiangg Ning nodded in agreement. She needed some fresh air to cool her burning face anyway.

The name "Ningning," like a sharp arrow, instantly pierced the hearts of the three guys. A complex mix of feelings flooded their minds.

The way they looked at Chen Yuan turned hostile.

「The moment the girls were gone.」

Barely two seconds passed.

With perfect coordination, Liu Nan and Wei Zhen pounced, tackling the unsuspecting Chen Yuan to the ground. Before he could even cry out, they had him in a headlock with a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Damn it, you animal! You better fess up right now! Tell us what the hell is going on, or we're stripping you naked and tying you to a tree!"

"You really kept this under wraps, Yuan! That's Jiangg! When did you and Jiangg get together?!"

Chen Yuan, struggling for breath, tapped Liu Nan's arm in surrender. "I'll talk, I'll talk! Not so hard!"

"What!? You're saying Yuan and Jiangg are a thing!? My Defa!?"

Quan Yafeng's jaw hit the floor.

Facing the threat of serious bodily harm, Chen Yuan had no choice but to confess.

In the woods, birds chirped endlessly. But in this small, clean clearing, the faces of his three brothers shifted through every shade of shock and disbelief.

The transformation was a sight to behold.

Of course, as he and Ningning had agreed beforehand, Chen Yuan omitted many details in his retelling, only saying that they had met by chance, gotten to know each other, and then started dating.