Professor Shen’s Needy Little Lover - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When Shen Zaiqing saw her students wearing expressions like they were eating “melon” (gossip) in the front row, she knew something was off.

Reflecting for a moment, she suddenly realized she hadn’t introduced Long Xin to them yet.

From the looks of it, not only had they failed to guess her relationship with Long Xin, but they had also let their imaginations wander and quite significantly so.

Shen Zaiqing needed to correct them promptly.

Shen Zaiqing cleared her throat, gestured toward Long Xin with her palm, and introduced her: “Right, I forgot to introduce you. This is Long Xin, the little dragon I adopted.”

Her voice softened as she leaned her hands on the desk, tilting her eyebrows slightly: “You few should know about me adopting a little dragon, right?”

The three female students sitting in a row looked at Shen Zaiqing and nodded in unison. Of course they knew about Teacher Shen adopting a little dragon; they had even snatched the “red envelopes” Shen Zaiqing had sent in the class group chat.

This news had first leaked from the faculty office. Their class academic secretary had overheard it while submitting materials, and the discussion had exploded in the class group.

Someone had @-ed Shen Zaiqing, and when she saw the messages that evening, she admitted it generously. Watching the long row of congratulations in the chat, she felt happy and sent them a red envelope.

It could be said that as long as someone knew the name Shen Zaiqing, they basically knew she had adopted a little dragon; she never shied away from discussing it.

Moreover, Shen Zaiqing had just been voted Jianghua University’s “Most Popular Teacher” last year. Those who voted for her weren’t just students from her own college, but also students from other colleges who came specifically to vote for her out of admiration; she was highly popular among the students.

Roughly speaking, the entire school knew Shen Zaiqing had a little dragon.

However, they hadn’t expected that once Teacher Shen’s little dragon took human form, she would be this beautiful completely different from what they had imagined.

There was a teacher named Ye in the Architecture College next door who also lived in Building No. 3. He sometimes brought his family’s little dragon to school, drawing large crowds.

They had seen photos; it was a chubby, adorable boy who looked no different from their little nephews or cousins.

It seemed Teacher Shen’s little dragon was not on the same level as his.

When they had glimpsed Long Xin’s appearance through the window earlier, they thought that if they could invite this young lady to be their model, their group would surely win the floral art competition this afternoon.

So they had gathered their courage and come in, charging forward with a determination to win her over. What followed… could be considered a bit of a joke…

But after Shen Zaiqing appeared, things took a turn for the better!

The three of them glanced at each other, seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes; they were on the same page.

Earlier, when Long Xin rejected them, she was like a cat with its fur standing on end. Basic etiquette was there, but her eyes were full of coldness and detachment, making her seem difficult to approach.

Now that Teacher Shen had arrived and fed her a cup of milk tea, all her fur had been smoothed down. She had entered a dazed and cute state, becoming much easier to get along with.

The three of them felt there was hope again.

Xu Weiyu, sitting in the middle, opened her mouth. There were still traces of tears at the corners of her eyes, but her mood had completely stabilized. Two pairs of hands were pushing her waist from behind; the other two had handed the speaking rights to her.

Seeing she had something to say, Shen Zaiqing nodded her gaze toward her.

Xu Weiyu gripped the tabletop with both hands and spoke quite sheepishly: “Teacher Shen, we thought of the methods you mentioned, but time is too tight. There are only thirty minutes left until the competition starts. We also contacted people we know, but they are either busy or have already become our competitors.”

“This year, a particularly large number of people from our major signed up for the flower arrangement competition.”

“Everyone we know is participating, so we really couldn’t find a suitable candidate. We were moping around the teaching area when we saw Long Xin.”

Xu Weiyu’s eyes were sparkling, containing hidden, infinite expectation: “Teacher Shen, can we invite Long Xin to be our model?”

Shen Zaiqing looked at her, then at the innocent-looking Long Xin, and said: “That depends on Long Xin’s own wishes. I can’t make that decision for her.”

Although Shen Zaiqing vaguely felt that as long as she spoke up, Long Xin would definitely help.

But she wouldn’t do that.

The three students turned their small heads back toward Long Xin, all of them opening their sincere, large eyes, with pleading written all over their faces.

Long Xin let go of the straw she was biting and asked earnestly: “What does a model have to do?”

Her two hands were wet. Others might dislike the condensation on the outside of a milk tea cup, but she liked it very much. Her hands slid up and down, brushing the water droplets from the outer wall of the cup onto her own hands.

It was cool and very comfortable. There was still ice melting at the bottom; Shen Zaiqing had asked Zhu Zihe to add extra ice for her.

Xu Weiyu softened her voice and said: “You don’t need to do much, just stand there. The theme for our competition this time is human body floral art, specifically a design focused only on the head. We will use fresh flowers to make a hat to place on your head, and you just need to stand and display it.”

“The creation of the floral art and the introduction during the final display will all be handled by us.”

This was a competition organized by the college-level student union, so it certainly couldn’t be compared to top international floral competitions.

The venue was a classroom where students usually had lessons. There was no runway, and professional models weren’t required. As long as someone was pretty and had a good temperament, simply standing there could add points to their work.

Of course, they had their reasons for being so insistent on finding Long Xin.

Their group’s theme for this design was [Breath of the Forest]. They planned to use a large amount of green and white plants to create a fresh and natural piece of human body floral art.

Because the entry point was so ethereal, a human was the most discordant element in their design.

Before the competition, they had selected many people and finally found an “earthy/forest style” girl from another school to help, but she had stood them up, saying she had things to do at her school.

Long Xin was a hundred times more suitable than that girl.

Originally, their design was all talk with no substance, and the actual effect would surely have been greatly diminished. But Long Xin’s arrival breathed soul into this empty shell.

Just imagining the scene in their minds for a moment made the three of them feel as if they had been injected with adrenaline, regaining their confidence in the competition.

After listening, Long Xin’s eyes instinctively searched for Shen Zaiqing, wanting to seek her opinion.

But Shen Zaiqing, who was standing beside her just a moment ago, had walked out into the corridor at some point.

Long Xin stared at her back for a while and understood Shen Zaiqing’s intention.

On one hand, she wanted Long Xin to make her own decisions. Regarding matters related to herself, Shen Zaiqing would always let her decide.

On the other hand, Shen Zaiqing was a judge; she had to maintain the fairness of the competition. If the content of their conversation involved the production process or design concepts of the competition, it was better for her to stay away.

Long Xin withdrew her gaze, her interlaced fingers tightening around the milk tea cup. She thought carefully and said: “It doesn’t sound very difficult. If it’s to the extent you just described, I can handle it.”

“But, will any accidents happen during the competition? And will it cause trouble for Professor Shen?”

Long Xin was afraid that because of her, Shen Zaiqing might be criticized by others at school.

Xu Weiyu probably knew what Long Xin meant by “trouble.” She smiled and explained: “Because it’s a competition organized by the college, most of the participating students are from the College of Agriculture and Forestry, and the judges invited are also teachers from the college. Everyone inevitably knows each other.”

“It can be said that, including Long Xin, Teacher Shen will know sixty percent of the contestants, and the same goes for the other judges, but they will still make the fairest judgments.”

Long Xin nodded; she understood.

Since her biggest worry wouldn’t happen, she agreed to help them.

Smiles returned to the three faces. They raised their hands and gave each other high-fives, then pulled open the window to share the good news with Shen Zaiqing outside: “Teacher Shen, we’ve settled it with Long Xin. She agreed to be our model!”

Shen Zaiqing was slightly surprised by this result, but not entirely so.

Long Xin was integrating into this society even faster than she had imagined. This was likely the astonishing growth rate of a little dragon.

Yesterday, when Long Xin first arrived at her home, she was still trembling with fear; today, she could already interact gently with others.

Her little dragon was indeed a bit more impressive than other little dragons.

“Alright, the competition is about to start. You go and prepare first. Teacher will bring Long Xin over in a bit.”

“Okay, thank you, Teacher Shen!”

“And thank you, Long Xin!”

The three girls shouted out their thanks, their faces wearing smiles like the sun coming out after the rain.

Watching them run off happily, Long Xin’s eyes curved. She continued to hold the milk tea Shen Zaiqing bought for her and began drinking.

Shen Zaiqing looked at her through the window and suddenly remembered something. She called Li Baixin, a graduate student in her lab: “Baixin, are you coming to the faculty office later? Help me bring the DSLR from my drawer on your way. I’m in the classroom next to the faculty office.”

“The DSLR is in the drawer on the right side of my desk.”

The graduate students Shen Zaiqing supervised also had a small group chat. At noon, she saw Li Baixin say in the group that she was coming to the faculty office at two to submit materials and asked if anyone wanted a drink from the coffee corner—she could help bring them.

The weather wasn’t hot yet, so the others were indifferent and said no.

Shen Zaiqing remembered this, so she called Li Baixin before she left.

“Teacher Shen, I’ve got the DSLR.”

“I’ll wait for you by the elevator at the faculty office later. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. See you later, Teacher!”

“Mhm, see you later.”

After hanging up, Shen Zaiqing returned to the classroom.

Long Xin was still sitting upright in her seat waiting for her, the cup of milk tea in her hand almost finished.

Shen Zaiqing sat down beside Long Xin. Noticing Long Xin’s palms were wet, she pulled out two tissues from her bag and stuffed them into her palms, letting her wipe her little claws clean.

She also snatched away the nearly empty milk tea from in front of her.

“Professor, the milk tea isn’t finished yet.” Long Xin spoke weakly, her eyes following the trajectory of the milk tea in an arc, her tone carrying a hint of grievance.

One must never snatch food from a dragon’s mouth.

This was a sentence Shen Zaiqing had transcribed into her notebook during training.

A dragon like Long Xin, who only dared to whimper softly, was nothing like the hot-tempered dragons in the case studies who might hurt her. Of course, she hadn’t taken the milk tea on purpose.

She thought she was done with it, so she took it.

She forgot that her little dragon didn’t like wasting food; even if the only thing left at the bottom was tasteless ice water, she would drink it all.

“Then take another sip.” Shen Zaiqing shook the cup. Seeing there were only a few mouthfuls left, she held the cup and extended it directly to Long Xin’s lips.

One sip would be quick anyway.

Long Xin wiped her hands clean and lowered her head, taking the straw into her mouth to finish the last of the milk tea.

It went smoothly at first, but when only the last bit remained, the angle of the cup was wrong. Long Xin sucked several times, but only air came up.

She became a bit annoyed, her brow furrowing.

Shen Zaiqing intended to cooperate with her, but the key issue was that the straw in Long Xin’s mouth wasn’t cooperating. When it was supposed to tilt this way, the straw moved that way; when it was supposed to go that way, the straw stayed in this corner.

As a result, that last bit of milk tea just wouldn’t come up.

Long Xin got frustrated. A few strands of her hair stood up on end. Finally, she simply placed her own hands over the outer wall of the milk tea cup, grasping Shen Zaiqing’s hand to adjust the angle to the position she wanted.

“Gulu gulu.”

The milk tea cup was finally empty. The two heads of Long Xin and Shen Zaiqing, which had been close together, lifted.

Their gazes met, and their eyes curved. They were about to smile and share the joy of victory when their peripheral vision caught the silhouettes of three people.

Xu Weiyu, Zhou Jiayin, and Xu Qing appeared outside the window in identical poses. They had curled their palms into the shape of binoculars and pressed them against the glass, their heads leaning against their hands, peering inside.

They were thinking as they watched: Is this something we can watch without paying?

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