Chapter 374: The Story of the Fish Pond, A Unique Gift

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Jing Hanchuan’s meal was very unpleasant.

Among the four of them, Fu Sinian was the oldest, so he was the first to be asked by his family when he would get married. But he was focused on computers and was so busy that he didn’t have time to think about finding a partner.

When the four of them got together once, Duan Linbai said happily, “Then, let’s not get married. We’ll be single together.”

Everyone raised their glasses together and agreed to be single and have fun together.

Now, two of them had secretly gotten into relationships. It was indeed a little too much.

After dinner, the three of them went to the pond in the backyard of the Jing residence to fish.

Although it was already October, the sun was still warm in the afternoon. Fu Chen was wearing sunglasses as he narrowed his eyes and sized up the vast pond. The capital had been developed to the point that not a single bit of spare land was left. It had expanded, extended, and developed new districts. But the Jing family occupied a vast golden land just to raise a pond of fish?

It was really extravagant.

Actually, this place wasn’t originally a pond. But when Jing Hanchuan’s father learned that his mother liked lotus flowers, he had specially dug a large pond and planted white lotuses all over it.

Every summer, the fragrant pure white flowers would bloom. It was also a grand scene in the capital.

By the time he managed to woo her, the pond had already been abandoned, leaving behind a pond of rotten lotus roots.

Later, his mother became pregnant and said that fish soup was nourishing. So his father contracted people to dig up the mud and change it into a fish pond. Later, Jing Hanchuan took it over.

Jing Hanchuan was fully equipped and had already sat down to set the bait. Fu Chen was sitting beside him and texting Song Fengwan.

Fu Sinian answered a call and came over a few minutes later.

“Eldest Sister-In-Law’s call?” Fu Chen turned his head and looked at him.

“Yes.” Fu Sinian nodded. “She said that she’ll be back early for Grandpa’s eightieth birthday next month.”

Jing Hanchuan got up and threw the fishing line into the pond, his movements clean and swift. “Your old man is eighty this year?”

“Seventy-nine,” Fu Chen explained. “Don’t they say that older people ‘will exceed nine but not ten’?”

This was the custom in the capital. In ancient times, nine was the extreme and had the same pronunciation as longevity. On the other hand, ten had the same pronunciation as death, so it was taboo for people. Besides, everyone always felt that ‘when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction’. It was definitely taboo for the elderly to celebrate their birthdays when their ages were multiples of ten.

All the elderly in Beijing celebrated their birthdays when their ages ended in nine.

Jing Hanchuan nodded. Previously, when Old Madam Fu celebrated her birthday, because she was unwell, she didn’t hold a grand celebration. Old Master Fu was 80 years old this year, so the Fu family should be inviting many people.

However, the liveliness in the capital never had anything to do with him. If he went there brazenly, people would probably think that he was deliberately causing trouble.

“I can’t go.” Jing Hanchuan lowered his head and rubbed his fishing rod. “Fu Chen, didn’t you say that Miss Song’s birthday is also soon?”

“This Friday.”

“Then help me bring my gift over later.” If he didn’t know that it was her birthday, he wouldn’t have bothered. But since he knew, it was definitely not good not to express his well wishes.

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Fu Chen nodded.

***

At this moment, Song Fengwan was already in the classroom preparing for the first class in the afternoon. Because it was a major class, all the students in the entire art school would attend. There were more than 200 people, and it was also the first class, so everyone naturally rushed to occupy the seats.

Hu Xinyue ran quickly. When Song Fengwan and Miao Yating arrived in the classroom, she was in the fourth row. She stood up and waved them over. In the large classroom, she looked especially eye-catching.

After the farce at the new student assembly, Song Fengwan had already become a celebrity in the school. Many people from other departments came to attend this public class, and most of them came for her.

“Fortunately, I came early. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to sit here.” The classroom was already 60% full. Other than the first row, the front was already full of people.

As soon as Song Fengwan sat down, Miao Yating poked her arm, indicating for her to lean back.

She tilted her head slightly and saw Wu Yuxin.

It had been ten days since they last met. She was already slender to begin with, but now, she looked skinny. She had her head lowered and was playing with her phone while sitting alone in a corner. The girls around her were chatting, but no one spoke to her.

Miao Yating shook her head helplessly. “I heard that if you’re on probation, it will leave a mark in your record. In the future, it’ll follow her when she looks for a job.”

Song Fengwan rummaged through her bag to find the textbook and sent a message to Fu Chen, telling him that it was time for class.

“Wanwan, the teacher is here. She’s so young.” Hu Xinyue seemed very excited.

Song Fengwan looked up and saw a familiar figure.

After all, she was in the arts, so her clothes were simple but beautifully matched. Especially the pin on her chest, it was a finishing touch and looked exceptionally exquisite.

“The classroom is full. Everyone came early. I hope that in the next year, every class will be the same as today’s.” She smiled and picked up the chalk. “I’m your teacher for this class. My name is Gao Xue.”

Song Fengwan gripped her phone tightly.

This person was the female teacher who had been in charge of guiding her during her tutoring class.

She had contributed a lot to her rapid improvement in sketching. But after Xu Jingcheng’s mother caused trouble, her inaction made her feel resentful.

Even though she was smiling, she still had a different feeling in her heart.

“… This is my inbox. In the future, send your homework directly here. Also, you can look for me if you have any questions. You can’t harass me usually.”

Song Fengwan grabbed a pen and wrote her contact number and email on the first page of the textbook.

“Hey, Teacher Gao speaks so gently.” Hu Xinyue lowered her voice and said softly. Most professors in university were old, so everyone was very excited to meet a beautiful and gentle female teacher.

“Yes, but I wonder if her class is strict,” Miao Yating whispered.

“I heard that she won the gold medal in the last Yuming Cup design competition, so she was specially hired by the school to be a lecturer. We’re also her first batch of students.” Hu Xinyue was very well-informed. “She’s the youngest gold medal winner of the Yuming Cup.”

For this competition, part of the name came from Old Master Qiao—Qiao Yuhe. The other name came from one of the Chinese painting masters. It was very prestigious in the industry.

“Is that so?” Song Fengwan copied her contact information. This kind of competition was too far out of reach for them. Unless they already had some achievements in the industry, they wouldn’t even have the qualifications to register.

“I heard that after the award-winning works are photocopied, they will only be given to the industry leaders and masters. If we want to see her work, we’ll have to wait a few years.” Hu Xinyue felt a little regretful.

Song Fengwan smiled without saying anything.

Every year the competition was held, the award-winning works would be given to the Qiao family. But Qiao Wangbei said that there hadn’t been any good works in recent years, so he didn’t even look at them and just let them pile up.

1

Gao Xue stood at the podium and opened the course material. When she saw the first name, her eyes flickered slightly.

“We’ll start roll call now. When I call out your name, please raise your hand and shout. Song Fengwan!”

“Here.” Song Fengwan raised her hand slightly. Their eyes met, and Gao Xue smiled at her.

“Wanwan, do you know each other?” Hu Xinyue had the keen sense of smell of a small animal.

“When I came to the capital to attend a tutoring class before the art exam, she was my instructor.” There was nothing to hide about this relationship.

1

“No wonder your results in your major were so high. The teacher is very impressive.” Hu Xinyue didn’t know that they had an unpleasant episode before, and Song Fengwan naturally didn’t mention it.

However, Gao Xue would always look at her from time to time during the two hours of her major class, so Song Fengwan didn’t have time to message Fu Chen.

As soon as class ended, Gao Xue called out to her…

This made many classmates envious.

Among them, Wu Yuxin was the most jealous. What right does she have to be treated differently by others no matter what she does? Why did I become the target of public criticism?

Gao Xue called her merely to reminisce about the past, and they chatted casually. She had once gone to Yunjin Prime Manor to look for Song Fengwan. She knew that Song Fengwan’s background wasn’t simple, so she spoke to her very politely.

Moreover, the dean had personally told her to pay more attention to Song Fengwan. Because she was a new teacher, the dean didn’t mention the reason. She thought that the dean was taking special care of her because she had suffered a wrong at the new student assembly, and she didn’t link her to the Qiao family at all.

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When this scene fell into the eyes of many students, they felt that Teacher Gao was really too good to her. There were many who were envious.

***

After the last class in the afternoon ended, Song Fengwan ran to the bamboo forest behind the dormitory building and got into Fu Chen’s car.

“You ran here?” Fu Chen took her backpack from her and placed it aside.

“Goldfish?” As soon as Song Fengwan got in the car, she saw a plastic fish box at the side. There were two red-tailed goldfish in it, which looked exceptionally likable.

“Yes, this is the birthday present Hanchuan gave you in advance. There’s also a fish tank and fish food. You can bring them back to your dorm room and raise them.”

Song Fengwan held the fish box and looked at the goldfish. “Thank him for me.”

Fu Chen took out his phone and sent him a voice message on WeChat. [Wanwan asked me to thank you.]

When the message came back, it was also a voice message. [You’re welcome.]

Song Fengwan observed the goldfish. “He specially gave me two. One male and one female? Can they give birth to small fish?”

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This was a normal thought process.

Thus, Fu Chen asked Jing Hanchuan.

In the end, he received a voice message: [Both fish are male. They won’t be able to mate in their lifetime.]

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His tone was ruthless and gloating.

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