Dou Xiangling heard Zi Yi’s voice before she even entered.

She was wondering who Zi Yi was talking to and specially walked out of her office to take a look outside.

At the sight of the scene in front of her, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.

“Cousin,” Zi Yi called out to her.

Qin Ze, who was following behind her like a tail, also stopped and called out, “Teacher Dou.”

Dou Xiangling looked at Qin Ze and asked, “Which school are you from? How did you meet my cousin, Yiyi?”

This was the first time she had seen a student who could manage to make Zi Yi have a frown on her face. In particular, this student was not following her out of admiration but instead, because he had questions to ask.

She had overheard two sentences just moments ago. Even though she did not quite understand most of the conversation, she still managed to decipher that they were talking about math and physics.

“He’s not from our school.”

Zi Yi looked at Qin Ze who was like a sticky plaster and said, without the slightest hint of politeness, “I have something to do with my cousin. You can leave now.”

Unexpectedly, Qin Ze grinned at her and leaned against the wall as he said, “I’ll wait for you outside. I won’t interrupt your conversation.”

Zi Yi: “…”

“Pft-”

Dou Xiangling could not hold back and burst out laughing.

She then pulled Zi Yi into her office and closed the door at the same time.

After closing the door, they made their way to Dou Xiangling’s desk and she asked, “Cousin Yiyi, I didn’t expect there would be a day where you’d get involved with someone that even you can’t get rid of. Who’s this person?”

“He’s Mr. Qin’s son.”

With what Zi Yi said, Dou Xiangling suddenly paused and turned to look at her.

“It’s that Mr. Qin?”

“Yes. Isn’t it surprising? An amicable man like Mr. Qin had actually given birth to a son with such thick skin.”

“Pft- Yiyi, if Mr. Qin were to hear what you said, I wonder what kind of reaction he would have.”

“Mr. Qin said that after his child turns into an adult, he’s no longer his child and he allowed me to do as I deem fit.”

“…” Dou Xiangling was silent for a few seconds before she said with a sigh, “The way Mr. Qin raises his children is really weird.”

Zi Yi clearly did not wish to continue on this topic and so, she asked, “Cousin, what specialties did you buy for me?”

Dou Xiangling walked over to the cupboard to take out several large bags. There was food, handmade products, and some strange stones inside.

Zi Yi took out a stone and checked it out. “Why did you bring these stones back?”

Dou Xiangling moved her head to look over and said with a smile, “Don’t you find these stones really pretty? I feel that they’ll look nice if you put them on the rim of the pond in your backyard.”

Zi Yi nodded her head. “They’re indeed nice.”

After Dou Xiangling finished taking out all the bags, she came over to Zi Yi’s side and pointed at each of the bags as she explained, “Those over there are candied fruit, this is…”

By the time Dou Xiangling finished introducing everything, Zi Yi had already taken out a can of candied fruit to start eating it.

“Mhmm. It’s indeed not bad. It’s delicious.”

Dou Xiangling grabbed two stools and they sat down. Zi Yi ate the candied fruit while Dou Xiangling looked at her belly. “Yiyi, can I touch your tummy?”

Zi Yi nodded her head.

Dou Xiangling put her hand on her belly and said in surprise, “Your tummy is so big already?”

“That’s right.”

“The weather will turn warm soon and you won’t be able to hide your protruding tummy anymore.” After Dou Xiangling said that, she suddenly recalled the plan Zi Yi had thought of in advance. She was still a little worried and so, she asked, “The babies are already so big; can you really take them out? Will it cause any damage to your body?”

Zi Yi asked instead of answering, “If I were to keep the babies inside me for ten months and give birth to them, in terms of the degree of damage, would taking them out now or ten months later be worse?”

Dou Xiangling did not have anything to say.

Zi Yi smiled at her.

Dou Xiangling could not help but return a smile. Following that, she started telling her about the competition.

“There are a few competitions in the first half of the year for the School of Fine Arts. I may have to lead a team to Country F to participate in the competitions in the near future.”

“Why are you the one leading the team?”

“Because I’m familiar with the place there.”

Dou Xiangling said helplessly, but the corner of her lips was curved up, “I won’t be participating in the competition this time. It’s my students who will be competing. I realized that I am even more nervous when my students are the ones competing compared to when I’m the one who is competing.

Zi Yi raised her hand and patted Dou Xiangling’s shoulder. “You have to have faith in the skills of M.Uni’s students.”

“Mhmm.”

Zi Yi looked at Dou Xiangling and suddenly spoke in a mischievous tone. “But then again, Country X is near Country F. When you arrive at Country F, you can contact Ian.”

Sure enough, Dou Xiangling’s face turned red.

Both of them stayed in the office for forty minutes and they had finished just in time for them to go and eat.

Just then, Dou Xiangling said jokingly, “I wonder if Qin Ze is still outside.”

When they opened the door, Qin Ze was standing right in front of them.

He revealed a grin and said, “I can continue asking you the questions now, right?”

Zi Yi said rudely, “We are going to eat now.”

Unexpectedly, Qin Ze put away the paper in his hand and said, “In that case, I’ll treat you two to a meal. Let’s go to the restaurant in the school. There’s a private room there.”

Zi Yi looked at Qin Ze for a few seconds before she suddenly asked, “Qin Ze, are you Mr. Qin’s biological son?”

“Before I reached the age of eighteen, I was his son. After reaching adulthood, I am now one of his soldiers.” Qin Ze pretended to be sad as he said, “You don’t know how ruthless my father is. The moment I reached eighteen, he left me stranded in the Northwest area for a year. I only managed to come back for university a year later.”

“Why did he throw you there?” Zi Yi did not believe that he had the ability to enter the research laboratory.

“Of course it’s to do odd jobs. At that time, I was doing odd jobs in various departments outside the laboratory for a year.”

Qin Ze looked as though he had suffered miserably, but his tone of voice did not contain the slightest hint of complaint. If one paid attention, they could even discern a slight gratitude toward Mr. Qin.

The three of them made their way to a restaurant inside the school.

When they were eating, none of them conversed with each other.

Qin Ze’s eating speed was very fast. After he finished, he sat there and waited for the other two.

The moment Zi Yi finished eating, he took out a pen and paper from his pocket once again.

“Zi Yi, I believe we can continue the conversation from earlier now, right?”

Zi Yi did not continue making things difficult for him and started discussing it with him.

Dou Xiangling could not get any words in and so, she said to Zi Yi, “Yiyi. You can get someone to collect the bags later. I’ll make a move first.”

Zi Yi said, “Ok.”

By the time Zi Yi and Qin Ze came out of the restaurant, an hour had already passed.

Qin Ze seemed as though he still had unfinished business and asked, “Zi Yi, when’s the next time you will be free?”

“I’m not free at all.”

“…You little brat. You really do love to hold grudges.”

Zi Yi scoffed at him. “So what if I love holding grudges?”

Having said that, she walked away.

Qin Ze followed her and said along the way, “I’m an exchange student in the Physics Department of M.Uni. After the construction of your building is completed, I’ll tag along with you over there. In the meantime, you can order me around anytime you like.”

Zi Yi looked at him and said nothing as she continued walking.

Qin Ze did not take it to heart either. He followed her until he sent her off into the car.

The moment Zi Yi left, Qin Ze took out his phone and dialed a number.

After the other party answered the phone, he grinned and said, “Dad, this idea you suggested is really good. Zi Yi is finally willing to talk to me.”

Mr. Qin said something to him over the phone and Qin Ze scratched his head. “I will never dare to provoke her again in the future. Her professional knowledge is really amazing. It’s something I can’t even compare to.”