Professor Shen’s Needy Little Lover - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“What are the three of you doing?”

Shen Zaiqing wiped the smile from her face and asked toward the window, feigning anger.

The moment Long Xin realized someone was there, she immediately let go of her hands. Shen Zaiqing also naturally withdrew her hand, placing the empty milk tea cup on the table.

The two parties involved didn’t feel there was anything wrong with the scene just now; if anything was to blame, it was that the milk tea cup and the straw were too uncooperative.

The three people outside the window stood up straight, looks of apology on their faces. They hadn’t come specifically to eavesdrop; they just happened to walk by, saw the scene, and didn’t want to interrupt, so they could only wait by the window for a moment.

“Reporting, Teacher! We need to sign in for the competition. We came over because we wanted to take Long Xin to the classroom across the hall to sign in!” The three of them stood as straight as arrows, looking like clumsy soldiers admitting a mistake in front of a battalion commander.

“We just got here, we didn’t see… didn’t see anything!” Xu Qing had the loudest voice and the most unnatural expression.

The two beside her winked and gestured at her; that last sentence was a blatant cover-up and could have been left unsaid.

Shen Zaiqing didn’t lower herself to their level. She picked up the milk tea cup and the trash on the table, stood up gracefully, walked to the bin to toss the trash, and then tilted her chin toward Long Xin.

“Let’s go, Long Xin. We’re heading over.”

“Okay.” Long Xin lowered her eyes, her left fingers rubbing against her palm, where a trace of warmth that didn’t belong to her still lingered.

Leaving the classroom, Shen Zaiqing and Long Xin walked in front together. Xu Weiyu, Zhou Jiayin, and Xu Qing followed behind like three trembling little quails, not daring to breathe a loud word.

At the entrance of the competition classroom, Shen Zaiqing stopped, and the row of people behind her followed suit.

Shen Zaiqing had come specifically to drop Long Xin off; she still had to go to the elevator to get her camera, so she wouldn’t be going in with them.

“Alright, Teacher is handing Long Xin over to you now. Remember to take good care of her for me.”

“Teacher didn’t take what happened just now to heart, so don’t be afraid.”

Her gaze fell on the three behind her, and a soft smile spread across her lips. She wasn’t truly angry at her students, of course.

The gloom on the three girls’ faces vanished instantly, and they ushered Long Xin into the classroom.

Long Xin turned her head to look back, her gaze clinging tightly to her. Shen Zaiqing mouthed to reassure her: I’ll be there in a bit.

Shen Zaiqing watched until Long Xin finished signing in and saw her being surrounded at the Xu Weiyu group’s competition spot before she left.

The moment Li Baixin stepped out of the elevator, she saw Shen Zaiqing waiting at the door. She was slightly surprised, but it quickly turned into a bright smile as she greeted her warmly: “Teacher, don’t you have no classes today? Why did you come to school?”

As she asked, she handed the camera bag to Shen Zaiqing, her other hand clutching the materials she was about to submit to the Youth League Committee.

Shen Zaiqing took the camera and replied: “I’m filling in as a judge for the floral competition for Teacher Lin; she’s feeling unwell.”

“If I come across any beautiful works during the competition, I’d like to use the DSLR to record them. Thanks, I won’t keep you any longer, go ahead and get busy with your things.”

“Mhm, okay. Goodbye, Teacher.” The Youth League Committee office was just a bit further past the elevator, and Li Baixin turned and went inside.

“Goodbye.”

Shen Zaiqing opened the camera bag, took out the DSLR, checked the remaining battery, and then put it back.

She carried the camera toward the competition classroom and took her seat at the judges’ table.

The competition officially began at 2:30 PM. The participants had to finish their floral works before 4:00 PM, after which the display and judging would begin.

The time was inevitably tight, which put the participants’ manual skills to the test.

Long Xin sat in the furthest corner of the classroom. This was a spot Xu Weiyu had specifically picked for her hidden in the corner so she wouldn’t be too conspicuous, and no curious people would come over to greet her, saving Long Xin a lot of trouble.

The downside was that Xu Weiyu, Zhou Jiayin, and the others sat in front of Long Xin, blocking the view of the judges’ table, which meant Long Xin couldn’t see Shen Zaiqing.

So she nudged herself outward a bit. Just as she settled, she saw Shen Zaiqing’s gaze looking over.

Just as she was about to show a joyful expression, Shen Zaiqing raised the camera and pressed the shutter.

Many judges were using their phones to record the competition process. Before the judging, they were free to move around, usually checking out one group then wandering to another.

Shen Zaiqing stayed in her seat, using her camera to record all of Long Xin’s dazed and blank expressions.

In those few seconds, Long Xin shifted through several expressions, from excitement to reservedness.

Looking at every photo in the camera, Shen Zaiqing found them all adorable and couldn’t bear to delete a single one.

Sitting next to Shen Zaiqing was the freshman counselor, Fang Siyuan. She was a young girl who had graduated not long ago and had chosen to stay at the school for two years as a counselor to secure a recommendation for postgraduate studies.

In the school, Shen Zaiqing was not only popular among students but also well-liked by teachers.

Not only was she beautiful and had a great personality, but she also taught her professional courses exceptionally well. At a young age, she already held several national-level scientific research projects and had many research achievements.

Fang Siyuan often attended Shen Zaiqing’s classes and was something of a “little fangirl” of hers.

Seeing that Shen Zaiqing had brought a camera, Fang Siyuan tugged at her sleeve and said happily: “Teacher Shen brought a camera! Take one of me too.”

She wasn’t bad-looking and had applied elaborate makeup today; it would be a shame not to have a memento of her early-morning efforts.

Moreover, if the photo was taken by Teacher Shen herself, the meaning would be even more special.

Shen Zaiqing, however, gave her an apologetic smile, held the DSLR screen up to her, and said sheepishly: “It’s quite unfortunate, Teacher Fang, but my camera is almost out of battery.”

“I’ll take one for you next time.”

Fang Siyuan glanced at it and indeed saw the low battery warning on Shen Zaiqing’s screen. She could only smile with regret: “Then it’ll have to be next time. The students from the Publicity Department are taking photos over there, I’ll go find them.”

“How terrible, I usually keep it fully charged, and I’ve only taken a few shots…” Shen Zaiqing self-reflected and quickly turned the camera off; she couldn’t waste any more of the precarious battery life.

She usually brought this camera on field trips during winter and summer breaks, but it had been sitting idle in her drawer since the start of the semester.

When left idle, the battery drained quickly. She had thought it could last until the end of the competition, but now it seemed that after two more shutter presses at most, the camera would become unusable.

She had to save these two shutter opportunities for her family’s little dragon.

The reason she specifically asked her student to bring the camera was to record the image of her little dragon participating in activities.

She couldn’t go against her original intention, Shen Zaiqing thought.

The Xu Weiyu group had a complete design plan considered step-by-step, so when it came to the actual operation, they worked very fast. Long Xin didn’t need to do anything; she was surrounded by them, feeling the weight on her head grow heavier and heavier.

She couldn’t see what she looked like, but from time to time, phrases like “so pretty,” “truly beautiful,” and “block her, block her, don’t let anyone see” would erupt in her ears.

She figured the actual effect must be quite good and that she wouldn’t embarrass the Professor.

As the floral production drew to a close, Shen Zaiqing looked at her watch. Seeing that it was almost time, she wanted to see how the three young girls were doing with their busy work. Was her little dragon having any trouble adjusting?

But when she turned around, Shen Zaiqing didn’t see anything she wanted to see.

As if they had already guessed her gaze would wander over, the three girls Xu Weiyu and the others stood in a row in front of Long Xin’s seat, firmly blocking her view.

The three of them smiled helplessly at Shen Zaiqing in unison: Sorry, Teacher Shen, your little dragon is the grand finale, we have to keep her hidden for a few minutes.

“How mysterious,” Shen Zaiqing muttered with a smile, helplessly turning her head back, though her anticipation grew even higher.

The judging officially began. With a host controlling the stage, the competition proceeded steadily according to the agenda.

Each group, according to the order drawn earlier, led their model and work onto the stage for display, taking turns to introduce their design concepts.

The judging panel would score the contestants’ work based on the on-site display effect, consistency with the design drawings, and design innovation.

Shen Zaiqing was busy scoring the previous group’s work. Just as she finished the last item, Teacher Fang beside her lightly nudged her arm with her elbow and said excitedly: “Teacher Shen, look quick! This group’s work is so beautiful!”

Shen Zaiqing looked up and happened to collide with Long Xin’s gaze looking over.

Long Xin smiled at her, her lips moving. Shen Zaiqing knew she was softly calling her name.

Shen Zaiqing felt as if she were seeing the scene of her first meeting with Long Xin.

On Longya Mountain after a heavy rain, the air was unbelievably clear. A shy little dragon, holding a handful of fresh soil with a cluster of beautiful flowers growing on it, walked slowly toward Shen Zaiqing to hand her the little flowers.

Those were the plants Shen Zaiqing had been looking for for a long time to use in her experiments.

At that time, Shen Zaiqing’s attention had been entirely focused on Long Xin; the specimens weren’t important at all.

She thought to herself: This little dragon must be an elf from the depths of the forest. Whenever she came, the sunlight in the woods would dance, swarms of bees and butterflies would cheer, and all the flowers would bloom for her.

Even in human form, Long Xin still carried such an aura. She was an existence that could influence the “breath of the forest,” concretely presenting exactly what Xu Weiyu’s group wanted to express.

The work was too stunning. Other judging teachers picked up their phones one after another to take photos. They wanted Long Xin to turn her gaze toward their lenses, but Long Xin’s eyes were like they were glued to Shen Zaiqing, focusing only on her alone.

Shen Zaiqing turned on her camera and captured Long Xin’s focused gaze on her and the smile at the corners of her eyes.

The competition results were unexpectedly good. Long Xin was the hero of the hour, and the three young girls were thrilled, clamoring to treat Long Xin and Shen Zaiqing to a meal.

Shen Zaiqing told them another day; Long Xin had been out for a while and needed to get back to Building No. 3 quickly.

So the three girls sensibly said their goodbyes.

Time was a bit tight. Shen Zaiqing quickly pulled Long Xin into the car; before returning to Building No. 3, they had to make a trip to the supermarket.

The supermarket they were going to was not far from Building No. 3, so walking home later would be very fast. Furthermore, this supermarket offered delivery services; after they finished picking items, they wouldn’t have to carry them themselves they could have the staff deliver them to their door.

Shen Zaiqing kept checking her watch. She wanted a quick resolution. It was currently 5:30 PM, and the two of them needed to strive to get home by 6:00 PM.

So they only had half an hour for shopping.

“First, we’ll go to the fresh produce section to buy vegetables and ribs for tonight, then to the snack section for snacks and ice cream, and finally to the fruit section to haul a watermelon,” Shen Zaiqing communicated her battle plan to Long Xin.

Long Xin could only nod, obediently following Shen Zaiqing as they traversed the mall.

But Shen Zaiqing never expected the supermarket to be so calculating. They had set up a “roadblock” right at the entrance.

Not far from the entrance, a small mountain piled high with large watermelons appeared before Long Xin, firmly capturing her gaze.

The watermelons here were larger than average—round and bulging, the kind where the leftover rinds from eating a half-cut one could serve as a bathtub for Long Xin.

It was a new variety recently released on the market. The unit price wasn’t low, but placed so far in the front, the sales volume spoke for itself; that’s why the supermarket was said to be calculating.

No little dragon could resist such a temptation.

When Shen Zaiqing saw her own little dragon stop in front of the large watermelons and refuse to move, she knew things were bad. Five minutes had already passed, time was getting tighter, and they had to finish their shopping within twenty-five minutes.

They hadn’t bought a single thing yet, and now they were slowed down by the heavy watermelons.

Shen Zaiqing walked to Long Xin’s side and tried to negotiate: “Long Xin, we’ll buy the watermelon last.”

It wasn’t that they wouldn’t buy it, just that they’d buy it last. These watermelons were big and heavy; even in a shopping cart, they would be a burden.

The checkout counters were right next door. After finishing everything else, they could just grab one and go straight to the checkout. How great would that be?

Long Xin turned her head stiffly and said quite helplessly: “Professor, I support you in my heart, but my legs…”

They were a bit stuck.

“Then it can only be this way,” Shen Zaiqing had a countermeasure.

She let go of the shopping cart, stepped forward, and raised her palms to cover Long Xin’s eyes, blocking the scene in front of her completely. Then, she pulled her by the arm and quickly left the watermelon area.

Long Xin didn’t expect Shen Zaiqing to do such a thing to her; she was surprised, but she liked this version of the Professor very much, thinking she was the most adorable person in the world. As she followed her blindly through the dark, Long Xin’s mouth slowly curled up into a smile.

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