Forcibly Taken by My Student’s Mother - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Black! Lace! Backless! Thin Straps…

The study door clicked shut, sealing out the faint noises from downstairs.

Tao Yao stood obediently in front of the massive solid wood desk, feeling more nervous than she had during her thesis defense in front of the department head.

Lu Xuelan had already taken her seat behind the desk, her posture elegant yet carrying an unspoken pressure. Those cold eyes landed on her, devoid of warmth, as if evaluating something.

Tao Yao stole a glance at her.

She had to admit, even under these circumstances, she couldn’t deny that Lu Xuelan was truly beautiful. Her features were carved with exquisite precision: a high bridge of the nose, and beautifully shaped lips habitually pursed with an air of aloofness and rigor. Her skin was fair, almost untouched by time; her cold and elegant temperament made her look nothing like a mother of an eighteen-year-old, but rather like a powerful, sexy yujie.

Her long hair was meticulously pinned back, revealing a smooth forehead and a graceful, swan-like neckline.

Too bad the exterior is gold and jade, but the interior is toxic and tongued, Tao Yao grumbled internally.

She silently added another note to the “Iceberg CEO” character card in her mind: Mean, hypocritical, two-faced. A total fake! An old cow trying to eat tender grass! On the surface, she lectures her daughter not to mess around, but behind her back, she goes online to post about how to chase her daughter’s teacher? Tsk, filthy mind, nasty words—what a waste of that face and body.

If this were written into a novel, the readers would definitely flame her.

“Teacher Tao,” Lu Xuelan spoke, her voice steady and emotionless. “Have a seat.”

“I want to understand in detail Xiaowan’s specific learning progress over the past week, as well as your follow-up teaching plan.”

Tao Yao sat in the chair opposite the desk as instructed, her back as straight as a serious elementary student. She took a deep breath, trying to organize her words. “President Lu, Xiaowan… she’s actually very smart. Her learning ability isn’t bad.”

She paused, unable to praise the girl’s Chinese level against her conscience, so she could only say vaguely: “It’s just… her Chinese foundation is indeed very weak, almost starting from scratch. And her interest in learning Chinese… well, it’s not particularly strong. Her attention is easily drawn to other things.”

“I will adjust the teaching methods according to her situation, adding more fun and practicality. I will definitely do my best.”

“Do your best?” Lu Xuelan repeated the phrase.

Her fingertip tapped lightly on the smooth desktop. Her fingers were long and pale, her nails trimmed round and clean.

“Teacher Tao, I am a businesswoman. I am accustomed to looking at the input-output ratio. Xiaowan needs to meet basic reading and writing requirements before enrollment, especially in reading. I don’t want her to be unable to even understand her textbooks.” Her tone wasn’t harsh—it was actually quite calm. “Regardless of what method you use, what I ultimately want to see are results.”

But that business-like, indisputable tone made Tao Yao feel the pressure double.

“I understand, President Lu.” Tao Yao nodded quickly, racking her brain for something to say. “I’m already adjusting. I’ve combined some Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL) methods, starting from topics she’s interested in to drive the learning of vocabulary and sentence structures. I guarantee that if you give me… another half month, there will definitely be noticeable progress.”

As she spoke, her heart was thumping a bit. Given Su Xiaowan’s learning state and attention span, it was honestly a bit of a gamble.

Lu Xuelan watched her silently for a few seconds. That gaze seemed to penetrate the surface to see the truth, making Tao Yao feel like her little bit of guilt had nowhere to hide.

Just as Tao Yao was becoming more and more uncomfortable under the stare and trying to find a way to break the silence, the woman suddenly gave a soft “mm.” Without warning, she raised her hand and casually unfastened the top two buttons of her trench coat, as if she were a bit warm or uncomfortable from sitting too long.

Tao Yao didn’t pay it any mind.

She was about to elaborate on the specific teaching arrangements when, in the next second, her eyes suddenly went wide.

She watched as Lu Xuelan naturally let the off-white silk trench coat slide off her shoulders and hung it on the vertical coat rack nearby. What was revealed underneath was not the suit shirt Tao Yao had expected.

It was…

Black.

Lace.

Thin straps.

And most importantly…

The back was almost entirely exposed, with only a few slender black lace straps crossing over it, a concealing-to-reveal design that only added to the temptation. The sides of the waist featured cutouts, exposing a strip of fair, tight skin.

As she turned slightly to hang the coat, the lines of her skin and back were laid bare, inviting infinite imagination.

Tao Yao’s brain went vroom—instantly becoming a blank slate. All her talking points flew out the window.

Holy! Crap! D*mn!!!

Wasn’t that… wasn’t that one of the trending items she had carefully selected and sent over maliciously that night?

The texture looked countless times better than the pictures she’d sent—like high-end couture—but the style was almost identical.

She—she—she actually wore it?!

It wasn’t an illusion!

Lu Xuelan—the cold-spoken, ten-foot-tall aura CEO who was just beating her with talk of “input-output ratios” was currently sitting in front of her wearing a slip dress so sexy it was practically a provocation, creating a nuclear-level contrast with her usual persona, looking at her with those same cold eyes.

And from the looks of it, it seemed like she… wasn’t wearing anything else underneath?

Tao Yao felt her blood rush to her face in a “boom,” the tips of her ears burning hot. She stared fixedly at that large expanse of snowy back muscle and that alluring waistline.

Only one thought was frantically scrolling through her mind: You repressed flirt, you really went all out!

This figure… how could it still be this perfect after having a child? There wasn’t a hint of flab; the lines were tight and smooth, better than many young girls she’d seen at the gym… Stop!

Tao Yao, what are you looking at? You are straight! Purely straight!

No matter how she tried to build a mental defense, Tao Yao was still stunned into forgetting to breathe by this sudden visual impact that exceeded any novel plot. She forgot what she was supposed to say next. She was frozen there, her gaze fixed like it was caught by a magnet.

As a web novelist, her usually rich vocabulary couldn’t find a suitable adjective at this moment.

Meanwhile, Lu Xuelan seemed completely oblivious to her loss of composure—or rather, she deliberately ignored it. She finished hanging the coat, sat back behind the desk, and even tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear with calm elegance.

“Teacher Tao, please describe Xiaowan’s follow-up teaching plan in detail.” Lu Xuelan’s voice dragged Tao Yao’s soul back.

But for a moment, she was stuck, completely unprepared to respond.

“Teacher Tao?” Seeing no response, Lu Xuelan turned slightly to look at her.

From this angle, Tao Yao could even see a faint, looming curve of her chest, lightly supported by the edge of the black lace.

“Huh? Oh! De-details!” Tao Yao snapped back to reality, quickly lowering her head to pretend to think, stammering: “The details are… well… we can start with English songs she likes, find Chinese covers, or read stories she’s interested in…”

She was incoherent, her mind a mess. All the “educational and fun” plans she’d prepared were forgotten, replaced only by the swaying black lace and snowy skin before her eyes.

Lu Xuelan, however, seemed not to notice her panic. She began to pace slowly through the study, as if thinking—or perhaps… demonstrating?

She walked to the bookshelf, her fingertips gliding over a row of spines. The curve of her side made the waist cutout even more obvious; that segment of her waist was supple and powerful.

“By the way, Teacher Tao is from the Chinese Department of A University, right?” she suddenly changed the subject.

Her voice remained flat, yet it carried a casualness like small talk—except the setting for this “small talk” was far too bizarre.

“Graduating soon?”

“Ye-yes, this June.” Tao Yao struggled to make her voice sound normal.

“Any career plans?” Lu Xuelan turned around to face Tao Yao directly.

The deep V-neck of the slip wasn’t particularly exaggerated, but combined with her cold beauty, the current setting, and the attire that was so out of place in an office, it held a different kind of temptation. Yet her expression remained serious, as if discussing a legitimate employment issue.

Tao Yao couldn’t quite handle it and answered vaguely: “For now… I haven’t fully decided. Maybe try for grad school, or enter a publishing house or cultural company, or perhaps…” She almost blurted out “perhaps continue writing my niche novels,” but luckily she braked in time.

Lu Xuelan stopped a few steps away from her, leaning slightly against the edge of the desk. This posture made her long leg lines stand out even more, and the hem of the dress rode up slightly due to the movement.

“It’s good for young people to try many things.” She nodded, then shifted the topic abruptly again. “Xiaowan is young, has a jumpy personality, and grew up abroad with more open and direct views. As a teacher, it’s important to grasp the appropriate boundaries and limits.”

“Teacher Tao, what do you think?”

Tao Yao instantly understood the underlying meaning. This was a “warning” to watch her step and draw a clear line.

Here it comes, finally getting to the point?

Tao Yao’s spirits lifted, and she also felt a sigh of relief. Finally, a topic she could handle and one where she had to state her position! It was also the perfect chance to strike back against this weird atmosphere.

She immediately sat up straight, adopting an extremely serious attitude. “President Lu, you are absolutely right. I completely understand. Student Su just has a childish temperament; having stayed abroad for so long, she’s more extroverted and direct. Sometimes she might not realize the boundaries when joking, but I’ve never taken it seriously.”

“I have professional ethics. I would never confuse the teacher-student relationship, nor would I ever have any transgressive thoughts!”

To strengthen her persuasion, she even emphasized her tone, trying her best to look at Lu Xuelan with an open and honest gaze, adding word by word: “Besides, I am straight. I don’t like girls. You can absolutely rest assured!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Tao Yao clearly saw the expression on Lu Xuelan’s face stiffen almost imperceptibly. Deep within those eyes that were always calm and waveless, some emotion flashed by rapidly—like surprise, or perhaps… a faint, hard-to-detect trace of gloom and disappointment?

Though she quickly returned to normal—so fast that Tao Yao wondered if she’d hallucinated it, Tao Yao was certain she hadn’t misseen that moment of freezing and the subtle shift in her eyes.

Ha!

Tao Yao felt a secret surge of satisfaction.

Stunned by my status as a straight girl, aren’t you?

That’s what you get for secretly posting online, and for dressing like this to hit on me.

Bet you didn’t expect that your “ideal type” isn’t interested in women at all. Let’s see how you keep acting now!