Bringing Jiang Chao inside Guose Tianxiang, the waiter over there heard Huo Sining mention Yan Xuesong’s name and immediately led the two of them toward Lantingxuan.
Huo Sining had eaten at Guose Tianxiang before, but she’d gone to Pearl Glow Pavilion opposite Lantingxuan. Although every private room was decorated differently, Huo Sining was already someone who’d seen her fair share of big scenes, so she didn’t feel anything special about it.
It was actually Jiang Chao, this girl who’d always been simple and down‑to‑earth, who was seeing such interior design for the first time. She’d never even heard that there was such a traditionally styled restaurant with rich Gu Yun near the university, so she was instantly dazzled and couldn’t help looking all around.
Huo Sining didn’t rush her, just slowly followed behind Jiang Chao. The waiter probably also knew these were VIPs personally invited by the boss, so she kept a smile on her face the whole way, showing not the slightest impatience.
By the time they finally entered the private room of Lantingxuan upstairs, Yan Xuesong over there was already so impatient he could barely stay seated:
"Hey, Huo girl, you’re really slow today. I called you ages ago. Your lakeside villa isn’t far from here at all— even if you walked, it wouldn’t take much effort, right? What is this, turtle crawl?"
Huo Sining carried a bit of apology: "Sorry, sorry, Professor, something held me up on the way for a bit, I’m a little late."
Her gaze moved to the other people in the room. Besides Yan Xuesong, there were also Chen Qiankun and Hu Yongyuan.
Hu Yongyuan was a guest lecturer at S University’s School of Biological Sciences. Back at a flower shop in the flower market, Huo Sining had accidentally knocked over his near‑death Petal Lotus Orchid. At the time, with the mentality of picking up a bargain, Huo Sining had taken the orchid home.
It was precisely that pot of Petal Lotus Orchid that made Huo Sining unexpectedly discover that Azure Pearl’s Spiritual Energy not only had healing effects on animal wounds, but worked just as well on plants.
Although Huo Sining hadn’t had many interactions with Hu Yongyuan, they at least knew each other. Besides, the relationship between Hu Yongyuan and Yan Xuesong was both teacher and friend, so it wasn’t strange at all for him to be here.
So Huo Sining didn’t show any surprised expression. The two of them met each other’s eyes, she politely nodded and called out "Mr. Hu," counting as a greeting.
She didn’t see Zhao Guotian in the room. Huo Sining remembered that on the phone earlier, Yan Xuesong had said this dinner was organized by Zhao Guotian. Now that the host wasn’t here, she couldn’t help feeling a bit puzzled. She wanted to ask and was just about to open her mouth, but before she could speak, Hu Yongyuan over there opened his mouth in surprise:
"Jiang Chao, what are you doing here?"
Only then did Huo Sining remember Jiang Chao, who was still trailing behind her and hadn’t come in yet, and hurriedly pulled her inside.
"Mr. Hu." Jiang Chao’s expression was timid. She’d already been feeling a bit nervous; seeing Yan Xuesong and Chen Qiankun was one thing, but with even Hu Yongyuan here, she instantly felt even more ill at ease, so awkward she didn’t know where to put her hands.
Huo Sining was somewhat surprised: "You two know each other?"
Hu Yongyuan nodded: "She’s a student in my class. How did you end up bringing her here— you know each other too?"
Huo Sining didn’t rush to explain her own relationship with Jiang Chao. She just found Hu Yongyuan’s previous words a bit strange: "Aren’t you a guest professor? How come Senior Jiang ended up being a student in your class?"
This actually amused Yan Xuesong beside them: "You haven’t been back to campus for over half a year, so you probably don’t know yet, huh? Yongyuan was officially hired by the university as full‑time staff in July. He just started this semester. Now at S University he not only lectures, he has his own class too. This guy is currently the most popular male teacher in the College of Biology— for any course he teaches, students from other departments flock over to sit in."
The last few sentences were pure teasing.
Huo Sining knew the score. At university, most professors just stick to the script in class; very few are actually interesting, especially courses from the College of Biology, which are basically all stiff theories and experiments, bone‑dry and boring. Having students from other departments come sit in would be bizarre— at least back when Huo Sining was still on campus, she’d never run into anything like that.
For so many students to flock to Hu Yongyuan, eight or nine times out of ten it wasn’t because of his scholarship, but because of that face of his.
Hu Yongyuan was Qin Shaoyou’s classmate, probably about the same age as Gu Xu. Add to that his refined, handsome looks and the gentle, cultivated aura of a gentleman; a teacher like that was naturally a lethal weapon on campus. It was perfectly normal for him to be adored by female students.
Bear in mind, even someone like Qin Shaoyou had female students come to the office to confess their love— something Huo Sining had personally witnessed. On the one hand, she was stunned by how bold and uninhibited girls were these days; on the other, she’d laughed herself bent over at Qin Shaoyou’s embarrassment.
Thinking of those female students blocking Hu Yongyuan to confess their feelings, she found it hilarious and couldn’t help seeing this guy as stupidly cute. The corners of her mouth tugged up as teasing laughter spilled into her eyes.
Even Jiang Chao, who’d been rather at a loss beside her, now wore a slightly odd expression. Her shoulders were twitching; clearly she was forcing down the urge to laugh.
Judging from the look of it, this really wasn’t just something Huo Sining imagined— Jiang Chao had personally witnessed a scene like that.
Hu Yongyuan had originally planned to put on his teacherly airs in front of Jiang Chao, but he hadn’t expected Yan Xuesong to pull the rug out from under him the moment he turned his head. His presence instantly deflated like a punctured ball. He coughed dryly a few times in embarrassment, his expression slightly awkward as he said:
"You still haven’t explained— how did you end up bringing her here?"
Only then did Huo Sining explain what they’d run into on the street earlier. The three people in the room were all old scholars from the College of Biology, especially Yan Xuesong and Chen Qiankun. As soon as they heard the phrase "a first‑generation Xishu Daoguang," their eyes instantly went green, like hungry wolves. Before Huo Sining could even finish laying out the whole story, they directly cut her off:
"Where’s the flower? Did you bring it? Hurry up and get it in here so I can take a look!"
A first‑generation Xishu Daoguang— never mind Hu Yongyuan, even Yan Xuesong and Chen Qiankun had only ever seen it in books and reference materials, never the real thing. Now that they heard Huo Sining say she’d actually come across such a treasure, none of them was thinking about food anymore. Zhao Guotian was tossed straight to the back of their minds; their entire attention was focused on that pot of Xishu Daoguang.
When she came in, Huo Sining had handed the flower to the waiter to hold. The waiter seemed to have expected this reaction from them long ago, so she smiled and signaled to Jiang Chao. Jiang Chao immediately understood, turned and stuck her head out the door, waving toward the waiter standing in the hallway.
The waiter had been waiting the whole time. Seeing Jiang Chao wave at her, she quickly walked over and carried the flower pot into the room.
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