Chapter 295: You Okay?

Zu An immediately jumped up. "You might not mind, but I certainly do! Am I the kind of person who sells out my good looks?"

Chu Chuyan's face flushed slightly. She also felt she was asking too much of her husband. "I'm sorry," she said. "The Chu family's troubles have simply overwhelmed me, and I spoke without thinking in a moment of desperation. Please don't take it to heart."

Zu An waved his hand. "Since you're in such a difficult position, as your husband, it's my duty to share your burden. I'll do my best to check with Zheng Dan and see if she has any information about the private salt trade."

"Wait, on second thought, let's not," Chu Chuyan suddenly said. She recalled the last time she'd asked him to get close to Qiu Honglei, only for Qiu Honglei to be practically begging to marry him within days. She wondered if the same outcome would repeat itself.

Zu An, however, took her small hand and said earnestly, "As long as it helps you, what does my personal reputation matter?"

Chu Chuyan felt a warmth in her heart, and her tone became exceptionally gentle. "Ah Zu," she said, "I'm sorry to put you through this."

It wasn't until they returned home that Chu Chuyan finally realized why she had a lingering feeling that something wasn't quite right.

By then, however, Zu An had already been pulled along to school by Chu Huanzhao.

"What exactly is going on between you and that Qiu Honglei?" Chu Huanzhao asked, leaning close to Zu An on the way to school and poking him with her whip.

Zu An's gaze fell upon the Wailing Whip. "Put that whip away first," he said.

"Oh~" Chu Huanzhao pouted, put the whip away, and then looked at Zu An.

Only then did Zu An speak. "She and I are completely innocent; there's nothing going on."

"Don't kid yourself!" Chu Huanzhao sneered. "She even came knocking on your door! I asked around, and apparently, she's determined to marry no one but you."

"Is that so? Well, it's quite normal," Zu An said nonchalantly. "What can I say? My charm is simply irresistible. In the future, you might even see other women crying and begging to marry me. You'll just have to get used to it."

Cheng Shoubing, who was following behind, listened with wide ears, utterly amazed. The young master-in-law was truly incredible!

From now on, I'm sticking with this 'big brother,' even if he's no longer the Chu family's son-in-law.

With that thought, his bruised and swollen injuries seemed to hurt no more.

Chu Huanzhao's small face flushed. "You shameless brother-in-law!" she exclaimed.

The rest of the journey was filled with Zu An's hearty laughter and Chu Huanzhao's light scolding, until they soon arrived at school.

After attending a few classes at school, Zu An returned to his classroom dormitory to rest.

Given his current cultivation and knowledge, many of the classes in the Yellow Class were indeed pointless.

Since he was also a substitute teacher at the school, his colleagues generally turned a blind eye to his frequent absences from class.

"Should I find a chance to ask the beautiful principal to transfer me to the Heaven Class?" Zu An mused, feeling hesitant. For one, it would be too attention-grabbing. Everyone knew how low his aptitude was, and a transfer to the Heaven Class would likely not be accepted by his peers.

Even if Jiang Luofu used her authority as principal, she'd still have to re-test his aptitude, wouldn't she? That would surely expose his super-grade aptitude.

His experience treating Chu Chuyan had already made it clear what a super-grade aptitude truly implied: once exposed, he would undoubtedly attract a lot of unwanted attention.

If beautiful young ladies showed up, that would be one thing, but if it were big, burly men, the thought alone made him feel like dying.

Furthermore, Old Man Mi had inexplicably insisted that he monitor the Wei family's situation. If he were to leave Wei Suo's side, Old Man Mi would certainly grow suspicious.

Sigh, it seems a class transfer is out of the question.

But remaining in the Yellow Class was also a waste of time.

As he wrestled with this dilemma, a sudden knock came from outside his door.

"Huh?" Zu An checked the time. Shouldn't classes be in session right now? Who could possibly be looking for him?

Could it be Shang Liuyu?

A wave of joy surged through him, and he eagerly leaped up, hurrying towards the door.

"Too bad I forgot to get the conch back from Qiu Honglei," Zu An suddenly remembered. Every time he was with that woman, he always forgot about it.

Just as he was wondering how he would explain himself later, he opened the door and froze. Standing there was a bright-eyed woman whose beauty was no less than Shang Liuyu's.

"What, am I not welcome?" the young woman opposite him asked with a slight smile.

"Of course you're welcome, but shouldn't you be in class right now?" Zu An asked, a little confused. The woman standing before him was Zheng Dan, whom he had just seen that morning.

Zheng Dan simply walked into the room. "Shouldn't you be in class too?" she countered.

"But I'm a teacher..." Zu An said, casually closing the door, his voice softening slightly.

"If teachers can skip class, why can't students?" Zheng Dan asked, blinking playfully, looking very cute.

"Of course you can, but from what I recall, you've always been the perfect good girl, even from childhood. I'm surprised you'd do something like skip class." Zu An had heard from many classmates that, in almost everyone's eyes, Zheng Dan was the embodiment of a lady and a well-bred young woman, every movement exquisitely graceful, without a single flaw.

"Being a 'good girl' for too long can get quite boring. One always craves a little excitement, and you, Ah Zu, should know that better than anyone," Zheng Dan said, looking at him meaningfully, a strange smile playing on her rosy lips.

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. He remembered that it was in this very room that Zheng Dan had once tried to tempt him, and they had nearly given in to their passions.

"What is this woman really after?" Zu An wondered. "She can't possibly just be in a lustful mood, can she?"

"If that's the case, then let's do something exciting," Zu An said with a smile, leaning closer to her.

Hmph, who's afraid of whom? I've got nothing to lose!

Besides, I even have my wife's explicit permission!

"Alright~" Zheng Dan replied with a charming smile, as if making a silent invitation.

Just as Zu An was about to embrace her, Zheng Dan spoke again. "Teacher Zu," she said, "I've recently learned a new palm technique, but I haven't quite mastered it yet. I was hoping you could spar with me."

Zu An shivered at her calling him "Teacher." *Surely, this woman hasn't been watching those movies from Nippon, has she?* he thought. "I'm not a cultivation teacher," he said. "Why don't you go find Teacher Bai?"

Zheng Dan snorted. "That person is neither male nor female; I certainly don't want them as my teacher."

"But the Zheng family must have hired many renowned masters," Zu An couldn't help but say. "Why don't you ask them?"

"They see me as the eldest young lady; how would they dare truly spar with me? Besides, they're all men, and it would ultimately be inconvenient to fight with them," Zheng Dan said, a hint of shyness on her face.

Zu An looked exasperated. "Aren't I also a man?"

Zheng Dan's red lips parted slightly, and after a long pause, she finally said, "You're different."

*My goodness,* Zu An thought, *if I hadn't seen all sorts of tricks in various TV shows and movies from my previous life, this woman would truly have me wrapped around her finger.*

"But you know I'm just a student from the Yellow Class," Zu An said, deliberately putting on a troubled expression. "How could I possibly be a worthy opponent for a Heaven Class genius like you?"

"Hmph, you might fool others, but you can't fool me!" Zheng Dan stomped her foot, looking playfully annoyed. "You defeated Yuan Wendong in the family competition and Shi Kun in the secret realm. How many people possess such cultivation? Are you simply unwilling to teach me?"

Zu An sighed. "I genuinely don't know how to teach others."

All of his abilities were essentially gained through extraordinary means, so many things simply couldn't be taught.

Zheng Dan, however, was unfazed. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Just go all out and spar with me."

"Oh, how could I possibly do that? Don't cry if I accidentally hurt you later, alright~" Zu An chuckled, cracking his knuckles.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, the world seemed to spin, and he found himself unceremoniously thrown onto the ground.

Zheng Dan bent down, her face a picture of innocence. "Oh dear," she said, "I accidentally used too much force. Ah Zu, are you alright?"