Chapter 38

Bai Wei, with a blank expression: “Oxford University.”

Qiao Min: “Huh? Isn’t Lu Sen a student from France?”

Bai Wei: “Yeah, I was just joking.”

He turned and led Qiao Min into the house. Qiao Min peeked around curiously: “This black ebony display rack in your living room is really nice! Why does it only have your diplomas and trophies? You could display Lu Sen’s too. Oh, by the way, where is Lu Sen? I want to talk to him in person…”

Bai Wei maintained his composure: “He’s in the study on the second floor, enjoying the view.”

The kind of view where he might accidentally fall.

A muffled voice came from outside the window: “I’ll be right there.”

Bai Wei’s vision darkened. It seemed Lu Sen had successfully pulled himself out of the dirt.

Bai Wei was already used to the fact that a fall from the second floor couldn’t take Lu Sen down. He sat elegantly on the sofa until Lu Sen came in, hearing Qiao Min exclaim: “Lu Sen, why is your head covered in dirt?!”

Bai Wei: “Honey, weren’t you just in the study? How did you end up in the garden in the blink of an eye?”

Lu Sen smiled at Qiao Min: “Haha, I was doing some gardening in the garden, took a shortcut.”

… Next time, I’ll take you to visit the Burj Khalifa, Bai Wei thought.

He got up to the kitchen to pour a glass of ice water to calm down, and when he returned, he heard Qiao Min saying: “Okay, I’ll leave the math classes and the art classes for the next two months to you…”

Bai Wei nearly dropped the glass he was holding.

“What did you just say? Math classes and art classes?” he raised his voice.

Qiao Min: “Yes, our art teacher resigned, and we haven’t found a replacement yet. I’ve been teaching the art classes for the past month. The students are complaining; they don’t want two more math classes a week. I just remembered that Lu Sen studied both math and art, isn’t that perfect?”

“… This isn’t very appropriate.” Lu Sen doesn’t know much about art; what’s he going to teach the students, the connections between Monet, Molière, and Mo Yan?

Qiao Min clearly misunderstood Bai Wei: “I’m really sorry to trouble you. Besides the school’s class fees, I’ll also provide extra compensation.”

“Oh, of course not,” Bai Wei didn’t want Qiao Min to think he was shirking responsibility, “I just think maybe…”

Damn Lu Sen!

“Maybe, I can help too?” Bai Wei had no choice but to take on the task himself.

“No, no, no, you still have to write. We can’t trouble you,” Qiao Min firmly refused, and she seemed to have heard some rumors.

A seed of suspicion was planted in Bai Wei’s heart, and it grew stronger as Qiao Min left. She hugged Bai Wei softly and said: “Bai Wei, you don’t need to stress. What you need to do now is relax and enjoy life. Slowly, you’ll find something you want to write.”

After she left, Bai Wei’s expression was darker than ever.

“Did you say something to anyone?” he asked Lu Sen.

Lu Sen: “Uh, what?”

“My work situation.”

Lu Sen looked more confused than anyone: “I didn’t say anything. Darling, aren’t you working in the study every day?”

Could it be that I’m too sensitive?

Bai Wei was uncertain. He returned to his computer, typed his name into the search bar, and then did nothing.

The days when discussions about him were overwhelming were still fresh. And everything that happened a year ago when he went to the southern capital to visit his biological father who worked in publishing…

Bai Wei closed the browser.

The towering bookshelves seemed to press down on him. Bai Wei sat alone in the cushioned wooden chair. He thought, he didn’t need to know anything about the outside world, nor did he need to get close to anyone from the outside world.

The next day, before leaving Xueshan Town, Qiao Min brought the school materials to Lu Sen. Wei Lian followed her, acting as the book carrier.

“You must be careful on your trip,” Wei Lian cautioned her, “Those extraterrestrial visitors are driving the outside world crazy! Black Harbor City is like a powder keg with daily explosions.”

“Oh! I thought you were enjoying the excitement. Don’t you love watching the chaos?” Qiao Min teased him.

“Because it has nothing to do with Xueshan Town… I still hope such dangerous things stay far away from our lives,” Wei Lian said worriedly, “And don’t be careless. They are not just active in Black Harbor City now; they are starting to roam around the world!”

“Huh? Aren’t they only in Black Harbor City?”

“They are causing a ruckus, trying to find the ‘hidden boss’ and ‘number one assassin.’ My brother said the leader of those people declared that their disappearance is not a coincidence. They must be secretly teaming up to create new conspiracies in those prosperous yet dangerous big cities…”

“Okay, you’ve scared me. Our Xueshan Town is still the safest. No bad people here,” Qiao Min murmured, “I’m off!”

The young woman got into the car heading to the airport. Wei Lian stayed behind, nervously wiping his glasses. He turned to Bai Wei and Lu Sen and said: “I’m really nervous… Outside of Xueshan Town, it’s all about those ‘extraterrestrial visitors’ and serial killers. The new theme of the era has become this great battle, and everyone will be drawn into this grand violence and crime… You both look worried too.”

Of course, he was very worried. Bai Wei thought speechlessly. He was worried about what Lu Sen planned to teach these students next week.

As for the grand, bloody things Wei Lian had mentioned that should have excited him, they had completely slipped his mind.

Maybe I should just let Lu Sen embarrass himself in front of everyone—he shouldn’t have boasted so much. Bai Wei kept thinking about it as he returned home. He felt it was time to give Lu Sen a mental lesson.

“Darling,” Lu Sen called from downstairs, “Do you want some mango sago dessert? I just made it.”

Ever since Bai Wei clearly expressed that he didn’t like Lu Sen entering his study, Lu Sen had treated the second-floor study and the basement as Bai Wei’s personal areas and never set foot in them except for cleaning.

Even though Bai Wei hadn’t written anything in the study.

Since the honeymoon trip ended and Bai Wei’s visit to Nandu, where he met his biological father, he hadn’t truly written a single word.

After that, he only submitted two drafts under pressure from his editor—both were so obviously bad that anyone could tell Bai Wei wasn’t intending to cooperate, serving only to prove he was alive and writing poorly/unwilling to collaborate.

He never thought about being a writer again.

Bai Wei slowly went downstairs. Lu Sen had placed a new bouquet of fresh flowers on the table, and a glass bowl filled with glistening sago, milk, and mango. After he sat down, Lu Sen handed him a small spoon with a white cat head.

Bai Wei thought the spoon was childish and felt speechless. But he symbolically took a bite—

Hm, Lu Sen’s cooking was actually quite good, comparable to a Michelin three-star chef. Bai Wei, with a sour expression, took another spoonful.

“Darling, how’s your writing progress?” Lu Sen asked, sitting opposite him, his blue eyes like the sea.

“…In progress.” Bai Wei suddenly lost his appetite.

“Oh, I was thinking, if you don’t have any inspiration, we could go on a few trips, maybe…”

“Didn’t you hear what Wei Lian said? The outside world is in chaos.” Bai Wei, hitting a sore spot, put down his spoon and began questioning Lu Sen, “How’s your lesson preparation going?”

Lu Sen smiled, “I’ve prepared quite well. The topic I’ll cover next week is the Feynman point…”

That’s the Fermat point! Feynman is a physicist!

Bai Wei took three big gulps of mango sago to calm himself. Then he smiled, “Darling, how’s your art class preparation going?”

“I’m planning to talk about Molière…”

“…”

“Oh, I thought Monet was Molière’s nickname, like how Elizabeth is called Liz.” Lu Sen touched his nose.

Bai Wei was in despair. He held the spoon for a long time and sincerely asked Lu Sen, “Do you think you’re fit for this teaching job?”

“I think it’s only for two weeks,” Lu Sen said, “and in learning, confidence is the most important, so…”

So you plan to hypnotize them, making the students firmly “believe” they’ve mastered the knowledge points of these two weeks, right?

Lu Sen: “I’ll cram the knowledge points over the next three days. I learn quickly…”

Soon, there will be hundreds more illiterates firmly believing that Monet is Chinese!

Between stabbing Lu Sen with the spoon and hitting him with the chair, Bai Wei chose to throw the spoon into the bowl. He gloomily stared at Lu Sen for a long time and said, “I’ll teach art.”

“But your writing…”

“I think cramming math would be quicker.” Bai Wei smiled. He didn’t want hundreds of people to think Monet, Mo Yan, Molière, and Maupassant were a family. Just a few days ago, when they ran into Long Dong and Ren Junyao, they were arguing over the best university in France. “Your priority now is to learn math, darling.”

“Alright…” Lu Sen scratched his head. “Do you want more?”

Bai Wei: …

“Yes.” He sulkily handed over the empty bowl.

Lu Sen quietly sighed with relief as he entered the kitchen. He noticed Bai Wei’s mood worsened when he asked about writing, so he deliberately played the fool to make Bai Wei laugh.

Fortunately, Bai Wei’s expression quickly softened after hearing his joke. How could he not know that Molière was French and Monet was Chinese? How could they be the same person?

Luckily, Bai Wei hadn’t seen the new rumors online yet. It seemed like someone was unhappy with him. As Bai Wei and Lu Sen’s reputation improved in the town, becoming the most popular family, someone immediately tried to stir things up online.

During this time after being discharged from the hospital, Bai Wei didn’t cling to Lu Sen as much because he thought less about killing him. After dinner, he mostly used writing as an excuse to stay upstairs. But today, he actively grabbed Lu Sen.

“Make up your classes on the first floor, in your activity room.” He said coldly.

“My activity room is full of crafting tools…” Seeing Bai Wei’s expression, for the first time, Lu Sen felt that his wife’s closeness could spell trouble.

“Then go to my basement.” Bai Wei said coldly.

Bai Wei hadn’t had time to do his crafting in the basement yet. The basement had a large workbench, perfect for study sessions. Following behind him, Lu Sen’s huge body seemed a bit hesitant. He chuckled and joked, “Darling, your expression is scarier than when you heard the bloody story of the Black Harbor serial killer during the day…”

“That kind of thing is far away. What does it have to do with our lives?” Bai Wei said, pushing open the basement door.

Then, he froze.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Sen asked.