Women are usually pretty hardcore when it comes to drinking beer.

Plus she’s got that "system insider" buff stacked on top.

The vibe Yang Qinghua was giving off at the table could only be summed up with one phrase.

—Like a tiger poised to swallow ten thousand miles of land.

Maybe it was largely because it was her birthday and she really was in a great mood. She was basically downing a glass in one gulp, so much that Jiang Chen couldn’t help but offer a friendly reminder.

"Qinghua-jie, you should eat more."

"And you still say you don’t know how to coax girls."

The curve of Yang Qinghua’s lips turned playful. "You’re obviously very good at caring about people."

Jiang Chen gave a slight start.

That moved her?

Nothing to be proud of.

If anything, it only showed what kind of lame men she must have had around her, or run into, all this time.

"I’ve already had three bottles. You guys need to pick up the pace."

"I have class tomorrow morning."

Cao Xiugo gave a full demonstration of what it meant to be a role model teacher—same person on and off the podium. Unlike certain beasts—no, certain professors—who go completely wild after class, he stated he couldn’t drink too much.

"You used to be the type who could drink a thousand cups and not get drunk."

Yang Qinghua said.

Even though he’d never seen Cao Xiugo’s high-flying days in person, Jiang Chen could easily picture it.

"In those days, he was a young man in fine clothes astride a spirited horse; in one day he could see all the flowers of Chang’an."

The man was a downright proper Crown Prince.

"Teacher Cao probably just pays attention to health now."

Jiang Chen stepped in to explain, purely out of kindness, nothing else, but his words made Cao Xiugo chuckle and immediately triggered Cao Jinse’s dissatisfaction.

"My brother’s already at the age where he has to worry about health now?"

Jiang Chen instantly realized he’d put his foot in his mouth. Instead of arguing, he simply said, "I’ll punish myself with a drink."

Even though Jiang Chen was cracking jokes, he still couldn’t distract Yang Qinghua. She kept her eyes on Cao Xiugo, her voice soft: "Didn’t you just say earlier that tonight you’d listen to me?"

"I’ll drink for my brother."

Cao Jinse stepped up. "Qinghua-jie, let me toast you."

Helpless, Yang Qinghua had no choice but to back off. After clinking glasses and downing one with Cao Jinse, the sight stirred something in her and she sighed, "If only I had a younger sister." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

At her age, there was no way she could count on her parents to have another kid. If she wanted a little sister, the only option left was to find a husband who already had one.

Of course.

That’s not the kind of suggestion you can just toss out there casually, so Jiang Chen silently focused on picking up food with his chopsticks.

There were only three guests at the dinner, but plenty of people knew it was Yang Qinghua’s birthday. She’d obviously set her phone to silent ahead of time; it was lying face up on the table, the screen lighting up over and over—congratulatory messages pouring in, no doubt.

At first, Yang Qinghua replied to a few here and there. Later she just stopped looking altogether.

A woman like this is very clear on what she wants, and therefore very clear on what matters.

Yang Qinghua’s phone stayed quiet, but in the middle of the meal, Cao Xiugo’s started ringing.

He glanced at it, then said, "You guys eat first."

They watched him walk out with his phone to take the call, and Yang Qinghua let out a sigh. "Didn’t expect being a teacher to be this busy too."

"Teachers are definitely one of the hardest-working professions across all industries." Jiang Chen said objectively, after ten years in the academic trenches himself.

"Oh? Really?"

"Mm. Sometimes he preps for class until very late." Cao Jinse chimed in. She could understand her big brother’s choice—and also not fully understand it.

"True. It’s tiring. But the environment at a university—calm, relaxing, peaceful—and your brother doesn’t chase professional titles, so it’s probably the most carefree place he could be."

As she spoke, Yang Qinghua laughed and added, "Plus he gets to ’exchange academic views’ with female teachers all the time. If it were me, I’d probably love that kind of life too."

Never mind Cao Jinse—even with what Jiang Chen knew about her, he was sure she absolutely wouldn’t enjoy that sort of detached, desireless, "above the fray" lifestyle.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was the subtext.

"Exchange academic views" with female teachers all the time?

A high-ranking civil servant like Yang Qinghua rarely wasted words. Every word out of her mouth generally carried a lot of weight.

Why stress the word "female"?

Aren’t there way more male teachers at Kyoto University?

Hearing the faint note behind her words, Jiang Chen couldn’t help glancing at Princess Cao, and saw that she seemed to have picked up on it too—she even looked over at him.

Yeah.

They could bicker all they wanted.

But they were still on the same wavelength.

After their gazes briefly met, Jiang Chen lightly cleared his throat. "Teacher Cao teaches foreign philosophy. That’s a subject that doesn’t require much...interaction."

"Isn’t philosophy exactly the kind of thing that should be discussed more?"

Yang Qinghua chuckled. "You should know—he might not be a big-name professor, but he’s very popular at Kyoto University."

Jiang Chen was well aware of that. He’d been to Kyoto University several times, and every time he’d felt the students’ respect and fondness for Cao Xiugo. But as for the teachers—or female teachers, to be precise—he really had no idea.

Because he’d never run into any.

"You don’t know, but Jinse should. He doesn’t just teach students; he also occasionally gives talks to young teachers at Kyoto University, especially some female teachers from the foreign language departments. They think very highly of him."

"I don’t know anything about that."

Cao Jinse denied it on the spot.

Jiang Chen almost burst out laughing, but luckily managed to hold it in.

"...It’s normal if you don’t know."

Yang Qinghua said it casually, "Your brother’s the type who likes to keep everything to himself. If he doesn’t say it, outsiders would never be able to tell..."

"Then how does Qinghua-jie know?"

Jiang Chen cut in.

"You don’t believe me?"

Yang Qinghua vowed with complete confidence, "When he comes back, you can ask him if that call just now was from a female teacher with the surname Mu."

In an instant, Jiang Chen’s and Cao Jinse’s gazes crossed again.

So it wasn’t just "female teacher."

She even had the surname down.