Fancy Me, Professor!

[This chapter is dedicated to Q_elleson for leaving nice comments in my story for the month of June! Thank you so much for the support! I hope to see more of your comments soon!]

***

"What's up?"

Zhong Li didn't answer immediately. He rather shoved the food on his hands, making Zhang Ren blink his eyes a few times. Zhong Li then explained the reason of his action.

"Give this to Shu Xian," he rushed, a small blush appearing on his face. "Just put it in her bag or whatever... if she asks, don't tell her who gave it."

"Zhong Li--"

Before Zhang Ren could even react and tease him, Zhong Li already went back to the lounge before Shu Xian could see them both talking. 

As Zhang Ren chuckled, he shook his head, not believing that Zhong Li is warming up to a girl.

'I guess Professor Pan An might have a rival soon!'

As Shu Xian came back to their library section, she saw Zhang Ren laughing by himself, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought what he was happy about.

"What's wrong?" she asked, Zhang Ren, shaking his head as he hid the food and drink behind the thesis before Shu Xian could see it.

"Nothing. I encountered a very strange patron. Don't worry—he's already out."

Zhang Ren pertained to Zhong Li as the person who's strange—not seeing him act this sweetly towards a girl. He even asked Zhang Ren to surprise her and not tell her that he's the one who gave her the food when Shu Xian would notice that it came from him!

With Shu Xian shrugging her shoulders as she came back to the lounge to continue her break, the moment the door closed, Zhang Ren now chuckled and put the food in her bag without him looking into the other contents of her backpack for respect.

The moment Shu Xian skipped back to her seat and sat beside Zhong Li, she smiled at him and asked him a question.

"Are you done finalizing your notes? Shall we continue discussing?"

"Oh!"

Zhong Li nodded, a small smile appearing on his face as he feigned ignorance about his little surprise as a way to thank her.

"Sure."

With that, Shu Xian then discussed the best way she could about the story. With her telling the other concepts simply, it was easy for Zhong Li to take note of it, making sure he'd listen well to her as he jotted down the important stuff needed for his homework.

Shu Xian told Zhong Li about the symbolisms of the story such as the house and the strand of hair and further let him understand with the help of the reference that they have.

Emily's house, like Emily herself, is a monument, the only remaining emblem of a dying world of Southern aristocracy. The outside of the large, square frame house is lavishly decorated.

The cupolas, spires, and scrolled balconies are the hallmarks of a decadent style of architecture that became popular in the 1870s. By the time the story takes place, much has changed.

The street and neighborhood, at one time affluent, pristine, and privileged, have lost their standing as the realm of the elite. The house is in some ways an extension of Emily: it bares its "stubborn and coquettish decay" to the town's residents.

It is a testament to the endurance and preservation of tradition but now seems out of place among the cotton wagons, gasoline pumps, and other industrial trappings that surround it—just as the South's old values are out of place in a changing society.

Emily's house also represents alienation, mental illness, and death. It is a shrine to the living past, and the sealed upstairs bedroom is her macabre trophy room where she preserves the man she would not allow to leave her.

As when the group of men sprinkled lime along the foundation to counteract the stench of rotting flesh, the townspeople skulk along the edges of Emily's life and property. The house, like its owner, is an object of fascination for them.

They project their own lurid fantasies and interpretations onto the crumbling edifice and mysterious figure inside. Emily's death is a chance for them to gain access to this forbidden realm and confirm their wildest notions and most sensationalistic suppositions about what had occurred on the inside

Lastly, the strand of hair as a symbolism.

The strand of hair is a reminder of love lost and the often perverse things people do in their pursuit of happiness.

The strand of hair also reveals the inner life of a woman who, despite her eccentricities, was committed to living life on her own terms and not submitting her behavior, no matter how shocking, to the approval of others.

Emily subscribes to her own moral code and occupies a world of her own invention, where even murder is permissible. The narrator foreshadows the discovery of the long strand of hair on the pillow when he describes the physical transformation that Emily undergoes as she ages.

Her hair grows more and more grizzled until it becomes a "vigorous iron-gray." The strand of hair ultimately stands as the last vestige of a life left to languish and decay, much like the body of Emily's former lover.

With these already succinctly discussed by Shu Xian, Zhong Li took a lot of notes that he could easily summarize later so it would be ready for printing.

"Do you have further questions?" Shu Xian asked, Zhong Li, not answering her for a while.

He stared directly into Shu Xian's eyes. With her cocking her head to the side as her smile had not left her face, she waited expectantly for Zhong Li to answer her.

Little did she know, however… that Zhong Li is actually observing her—appreciating her with the help that she has been giving him despite them not being close.

"Zhong Li?"

With Shu Xian calling for his attention, it snapped the guy out of his thoughts, making him blink his eyes a few times. As he stood up abruptly, the sound of the chair being pushed back surprised Shu Xian, along with the words he told her before he left without bothering to even wait for her reply.

"H-happy birthday, Shu Xian. Thank you."

The moment the door behind him closed, he couldn't help but have a smile on his face, his heart slightly racing in his chest as the thought of Shu Xian still lingered in his thoughts.