Chapter 344: The Turbulent Sea of Jealousy

Zu'an squinted and glanced sideways. "Whose little dog is barking so wildly?"

Wu Qing erupted in fury, slamming her hand on the table as she stood up. "Who are you calling a dog?"

Anger value from Wu Qing +335!

Pan Long and Fu Feng, who were standing nearby, also jumped in to support her.

"Zu, how dare you compare Miss Wu to a little dog! You've got some nerve!"

"Exactly! Your words are so vulgar and unrefined. You truly are a commoner from the market; even if you're now associated with the Chu family, you can't transform into a phoenix."

Anger value from Pan Long +233!Anger value from Fu Feng +233!

Zu'an snorted. "I didn't say who the 'little dog' was, yet you two jumped out to claim the title. Especially you two, linking Miss Wu directly to a little dog. Is it because you've long harbored resentment from her arbitrary beatings and scoldings, and now you're taking the opportunity to insult her and get some satisfaction?"

Wu Qing's attention was indeed diverted. She eyed her two followers with suspicion.

Seeing this unfold, Zu'an smiled. As a top player who, in his previous life, had debated countless internet trolls on forums, dealing with such weak opponents was utterly trivial.

"Of course not! How could we possibly disrespect Miss Wu?" Pan Long and Fu Feng immediately panicked and hastened to defend themselves.

Zu'an ignored them, turning directly to Zheng Dan. "Student Zheng, I've noticed your considerable talent in arithmetic. I intend to focus on nurturing that talent and appointing you as my arithmetic assistant. Please come to my office so we can discuss this further."

Zheng Dan smiled faintly. "Thank you, Teacher Zu."

With a perfectly legitimate reason, she no longer hesitated. She rose and followed him out of the office, leaving Wu Qing and her two companions to continue their argument.

In the classroom, other students began to chatter amongst themselves:

"An assistant teacher? This is the first time they've ever chosen a student for that role, isn't it?"

"Zheng Dan is truly fortunate."

"Pfft, arithmetic isn't exactly a prestigious subject. I wouldn't take the position even if offered."

"Exactly."

"I can't help but feel that Zu'an fellow is just interested in Zheng Dan's looks."

"That can't be, his own wife is already so stunning."

The group then thought of Chu Chuyan, the most beautiful and radiant flower of Bright Moon Academy, having been sullied by Zu'an, that pig. In unison, they couldn't help but curse: "Damn him!"

Seeing a stream of anger values pop up in his system, Zu'an immediately chuckled. These people were truly amusing; every encounter provided him with a significant boost in anger value.

Zheng Dan consistently followed several feet behind Zu'an, maintaining a discreet and proper distance between a man and a woman.

Passing students who witnessed this secretly praised her. Miss Zheng was truly a paragon of gentleness and virtue; not a single lapse in her etiquette could ever be found.

Once they reached a secluded spot, away from prying eyes, Zheng Dan instantly shed her dignified and elegant demeanor. Carried by a wisp of her fragrance, she practically launched herself into Zu'an's embrace, rising on her tiptoes to passionately kiss him.

Zu'an gave her a playful squeeze. "You intentionally made me lose face just now."

Zheng Dan winced slightly, her eyes welling up as she looked at him. "But we were in public just now. It wouldn't have been appropriate for me to act too intimately with you, would it?"

"Well, then you'll have to compensate my wounded heart, won't you?" Zu'an said.

"What kind of compensation do you have in mind?" Zheng Dan asked, lightly tracing her red lips with the tip of her tongue as she gazed at him enticingly.

Zu'an felt his desire ignited by her teasing and immediately reached for the hem of her skirt.

Zheng Dan quickly placed her hand on his, and seeing his puzzled expression, she said, blushing, "Today... it's my time of the month."

Zu'an looked frustrated. "Then why did you tempt me? That's irresponsible of you."

Zheng Dan pressed her lips together, her eyes dancing, and then, under his surprised gaze, slowly crouched down.

Zu'an swallowed, his breathing instantly becoming ragged.

This woman was truly a temptress; she seemed to be a natural at many things. What was truly astonishing was the stark contrast between this side of her and her usual image as the very definition of a noble lady.

...

After a moment, footsteps suddenly approached, and the two quickly, somewhat flustered, separated.

"Oh, Zu'an, Zheng Dan, what are you two doing here?" Director Lu De looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"Haha, nothing, nothing at all. We were just discussing matters concerning the arithmetic assistant," Zu'an chuckled evasively.

Lu De glanced at Zheng Dan suspiciously. "Zheng Dan, did he bully you?"

Zheng Dan quickly wiped the corner of her mouth, shaking her head, her face flushed.

Lu De secretly sighed in admiration. Miss Zheng of the Zheng family was truly a lady among ladies; her every word and action was so elegant, she didn't even dare to speak loudly.

Thinking of his own boorish son, he felt a surge of anger. Look how well-behaved someone else's daughter was!

Since he had a rather good impression of Zheng Dan, Lu De pulled Zu'an aside. "Teacher Zu, I know there's a feud between your Chu family and the Zheng family, but you cannot use your position as a teacher to bully Miss Zheng."

"I wasn't bullying her," Zu'an replied, feeling a bit guilty. He wondered if what just happened truly constituted bullying.

"But I just saw her appearing to kneel before you," Lu De said, glaring at him fiercely. Anyone would be filled with righteous indignation seeing a well-behaved girl seemingly bullied by a scoundrel.

Anger value from Lu De +138!

Zu'an offered an awkward smile. "She just stumbled over something accidentally, and I was helping her up."

Lu De didn't bother with his flimsy excuse and looked directly at Zheng Dan. "Is that what happened?"

Zheng Dan nodded repeatedly, uttering an indistinct "mm-hmm."

Only then did Lu De turn back to Zu'an. "She has such a good nature, you've bullied her so much she can barely speak! Anyway, you'd better behave yourself. The Zheng family is not to be trifled with, and her fiancé is Young Master Sang. If they were to find out about this, it would surely tarnish the academy's reputation."

"You're right, Director," Zu'an replied, secretly winking at Zheng Dan.

Zheng Dan's face flushed even deeper.

Seeing his impish grin, Lu De grew irritated. However, the other man was now a teacher and seemed to have Principal Jiang's backing, leaving Lu De with little recourse. He could only snort in annoyance and leave.

Once he had left, Zheng Dan playfully chided, "It's all your fault! We nearly got caught!"

"How is it only my fault?" Zu'an said, looking disgruntled. Then, a thought struck him, and he looked at her lips. "You can speak now, so..."

Zheng Dan's blush deepened considerably. "Director Lu kept trying to talk to me just now, and I was worried that if I didn't say anything, it would give us away, so I had to... I had to..."

By the end of her explanation, her face was completely crimson.

Zu'an couldn't help but burst out laughing, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.

Zheng Dan gently hugged him back. "Ah Zu, was there something specific you wanted to talk about this time?"

"I wanted to ask where those salt permits are, from the last transaction Chen Xuan made with your family," Zu'an said.

The most crucial aspect of the Chu family's recent misfortune was the theft of that batch of salt permits. If those permits still existed, many subsequent actions would be greatly simplified, and they wouldn't have to pay over ten million taels.

As far as he knew, when Chen Xuan had traded with the Giant Whale Gang, the salt permits were never delivered, and then the two parties clashed.

Zheng Dan's expression hardened, and she pushed him away. "Hmph, so you only came to me because of that woman from the Chu family!"

Anger value from Zheng Dan +567!

With that, she turned and walked away.