Chapter 7
Xue Wensong is an extraordinary individual, a rare combination of both practical and academic talents.
Apart from winning awards in various international programming competitions, he obtained a doctoral degree from a world-renowned university at the age of nineteen. Every paper he published was featured in prestigious journals, and his doctoral thesis, with over two hundred thousand words, was immediately recognized as a seminal contribution to the field of computer science in the 21st century upon its publication.
Although in recent years he has shifted his focus to business, in terms of academic achievements alone, there’s no professor in the computer science department at P University who can match him.
Normally, undergraduate students’ theses, which are just a few thousand words, wouldn’t even be considered for supervision by a professor. Yet here was Xue Wensong, about to review Lin Lu’s thesis. Lin Lu felt nothing but apprehension and weakness in the knees.
It was like trying to explain dialectical materialism to Karl Marx himself.
Sure enough, as Xue Wensong read through Lin Lu’s unfinished thesis, he furrowed his brow the entire time. Finally, seeming unable to bear it any longer, he looked up with a stern expression and said, “What have you written here?”
Feeling his legs shaking, Lin Lu replied dryly, “I-I did my best.”
“Did your best?” Xue Wensong frowned discontentedly, muttering a few concepts that left Lin Lu puzzled. Lin Lu was on the verge of tears. He never imagined that someone as formidable in the industry would come to review his thesis. Perhaps his master’s and doctoral seniors were eager for Xue Wensong’s guidance, but he was just a small undergraduate. Why did life have to be so cruel to him?
Lin Lu felt for the first time that this marriage was too terrifying.
Seeing the child trembling, Xue Wensong sighed, rubbing his temples with a headache.
After a while, he got up and went to the living room, taking three books from the shelf and thrusting them into Lin Lu’s hands without mercy, saying, “Finish reading these three books this week, and write a thousand-word book report for each.”
Lin Lu was shocked, then hesitantly said, “S-So many?”
Xue Wensong raised an eyebrow. “This is ‘many’?”
With a pitiful look, Lin Lu stared at Xue Wensong. He couldn’t help but plead, “B-Brother…”
Xue Wensong furrowed his brow. “Being cute won’t work.”
Lin Lu felt the pressure of his studies suddenly increase. The anxiety seemed to take him back to the eve of the college entrance examination. He couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in bed.
And his movements clearly disturbed Xue Wensong beside him. With closed eyes, Xue Wensong pulled Lin Lu into his arms and whispered in his ear with a hoarse voice, “If you don’t sleep, I’ll do something else.”
Lin Lu was immediately scared stiff, not daring to move.
After a while, the even sound of breathing came from behind. Only then did Lin Lu dare to try to pull his arm away from Xue Wensong’s embrace. But as soon as he lifted his arm a little, it was suddenly held tightly, pressing him down. Another warm breath came behind his ear: “Darling, don’t make a fuss.”
D-Darling?
Lin Lu widened his eyes. In the quiet night, he seemed to hear the loud beating of his own heart.
He managed to endure until six o’clock, and the first thing Lin Lu did after getting up was to read.
Not long after, Xue Wensong also got up. He changed into sportswear and asked Lin Lu, “Want to go jogging with me?”
Lin Lu shook his head without looking up. “Don’t disturb me studying.”
Xue Wensong couldn’t help but smile. He went out alone. When he came back an hour later, Lin Lu’s posture hadn’t changed, but breakfast was already set on the table.
Xue Wensong sat down next to Lin Lu with a piece of toast in his mouth. At this moment, the book Lin Lu was holding was the one he assigned.
Xue Wensong asked, “Is there anything you don’t understand?”
Lin Lu raised his head and nodded heavily.
Xue Wensong took a quick shower and then began to explain the points to Lin Lu, who was worried.
However, an hour later, seeing those clearly puzzled eyes, Xue Wensong couldn’t suppress the veins popping on his forehead.
After a moment of silence, he asked, “Did you choose the wrong major?”
A blush of embarrassment rose on Lin Lu’s cheeks. “The major was chosen by the head teacher.”
Xue Wensong massaged his temples with a headache. “Forget it, you don’t need to write the book reports.” He could almost imagine Lin Lu submitting three primary school essays.
“After reading them, just tell me the content of the books and how they relate to your thesis topic.”
“Okay!” The previously dejected Lin Lu immediately became lively, with a sparkle in his eyes.
Xue Wensong sighed helplessly. He hadn’t expected his little one to not only be academically challenged but also dislike studying.
After a simple lunch, Lin Lu packed his bag and prepared to go to school. Although he and Xue Wensong were heading to the same university, P University, he didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention, so he packed his bag and was about to leave.
Xue Wensong held Lin Lu’s bag strap. “Where are you going?”
Lin Lu turned back. “Uh, I’m going to save a seat.”
“Wait for me. I’ll go with you.”
Lin Lu could only stand still as Xue Wensong had already changed into a shirt and trousers, holding a simple yet elegant tie in his hand. He put the tie around his neck, then raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lin Lu. “Do you know how to tie a tie?”
Lin Lu shook his head honestly. “I don’t.”
Lin Lu had worn formal attire before, but students usually wore them casually, and tying a tie was not necessary.
As for the dress worn at the wedding, it wasn’t a tie but a bow tie.
Xue Wensong said lightly, “Come here, I’ll teach you.”
He casually pulled out a tie from the closet and threw it to Lin Lu, then demonstrated step by step. Tying a tie wasn’t difficult to learn, especially since most children had a foundation from tying red scarves, so Lin Lu quickly learned in a few tries.
But looking at Xue Wensong’s neat triangular knot compared to the crooked mess on his own neck, Lin Lu still felt ashamed.
He said with disappointment, “Mine looks so ugly.”
“It’s fine.” Xue Wensong glanced at him. At least he had learned.
Seeing that there was less than half an hour before class, Lin Lu hurriedly took off the tie, rolled it up, and put it back in the closet. However, he noticed that Xue Wensong had also taken off the tie he had already tied.
Xue Wensong handed the tie to Lin Lu, who was a bit puzzled but obediently rolled it up to put back in the closet.
Xue Wensong chuckled, “What are you doing? Not letting me wear a tie when going out?”
“Huh?” Lin Lu was puzzled for a moment. “You took it off yourself.”
“I took it off.” Xue Wensong paused. “I took it off so you could tie it.”
Lin Lu was taken aback, then immediately blushed. “I-I tied it poorly.”
Xue Wensong pulled Lin Lu to his side. “That’s why you need to practice more.”
Lin Lu looked awkwardly at the tall man in front of him, hesitated, bit his lip, and finally tied the tie around Xue Wensong’s neck.
Xue Wensong’s shoulders were broad, and even through the shirt, the beautiful lines of his chest muscles could be seen. Lin Lu’s heart beat faster. He wasn’t skilled to begin with, and now, tying a tie for someone else, his mind was even more of a mess.
Xue Wensong lowered his head, looking at Lin Lu, who always seemed to make mistakes, with a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth. He had originally planned to tease this little deer a bit more, but he knew time was short, so he held Lin Lu’s hand and helped him adjust his tie.
The dazed Lin Lu withdrew his hand from those warm hands and walked towards the door without looking back. “I’ll go put on my shoes first.”
Xue Wensong casually put on his suit jacket and lazily followed behind Lin Lu.
When the two of them arrived at the tiered classroom, it was already quite late. Tang Yi rushed up with quick steps and lowered his voice to Xue Wensong, “Why didn’t you reply to my messages? I thought you weren’t coming.”
By now, the classroom was packed, with even the aisles filled with people.
As soon as Xue Wensong entered, the classroom buzzed with excited chatter, with phrases like “The great god looks so handsome” and “Finally seeing the idol” floating around.
Lin Lu found an empty spot on the steps and sat down. His phone vibrated in his pocket several times, and he took it out to see a WeChat message from Zhang Yihang.
【I originally saved you a seat】
【But then two very cute girls came】
【My intuition tells me, whether I can get a girlfriend depends on today】
【Why are you so late though?】
【But Big God Xue’s aura is really awesome】
…
Lin Lu put away his phone and looked up at Xue Wensong on the platform.
Xue Wensong’s class wasn’t specifically for any grade; he mainly discussed a case study. Lin Lu even saw freshmen and doctoral students in the classroom.
Since he arrived late, most of the back seats were taken, so he sat relatively close to the front.
Xue Wensong calmly changed the slides, speaking with a relaxed and confident tone, effortlessly controlling the rhythm of the class. Although this man had been betrayed and experienced setbacks in his career, those blows seemed to have barely dimmed his radiance. No matter how deep he was buried in the mud, gold was still gold.
Lin Lu suddenly remembered what Xue Wensong had said. He had earned it.
He seemed to have indeed earned it, but it seemed far beyond what he could bear.
The two-hour class quickly ended, and Xue Wensong was surrounded by a crowd of students who still had questions, and some even asked for his autograph while holding his works.
Lin Lu quietly put away the notebook where he hadn’t written any notes and left the noisy tiered classroom with a bit of dejection.
Xue Wensong squinted his eyes, watching Lin Lu’s departing figure. In less than a second, his attention was pulled back by the students in front of him.
“God Xue, I heard you got married, is it true?”
The students surrounding the platform quieted down simultaneously, waiting for Xue Wensong’s response.
“Yeah.” Xue Wensong smiled. “I have to leave now, can’t keep my wife waiting too long.”
