Fancy Me, Professor!

[This chapter is dedicated to Joy_Selena 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!]

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Shu Xian then finished having her break. The moment she came back to the workstation, Zhang Ren looked at her with a big smile on his face.

Shu Xian wondered why her friend is looking at her like that. She then sat beside Zhang Ren and asked him what's up.

"You keep grinning even before I finished my break. What's up?"

Zhang Ren turned his swivel chair to look at her. With a big grin on his face, he answered her question and immediately made the birthday girl curious.

"Check your bag."

Shu Xian couldn't help but narrow her eyes at Zhang Ren. With her hesitantly getting her bag as if it's not hers, Zhang Ren rolled his eyes at her and justified for himself because the girl looked at her with judging eyes.

"I didn't do anything to your bag. How rude—do you see me that way?"

Shu Xian didn't say a word. With her opening her bag, she then saw a sandwich and a bottle of chocolate drink. The moment she got it from her bag, she then looked at the small paper on it which said:

"Happy Birthday. Thank you."

Shu Xian arched a brow at Zhang Ren. With his smile not leaving his face, she then thought it was from him, thanking him instead.

"You don't have to put it in my bag and surprise me this way, Zhang Ren. Thank you!"

With Shu Xian now opening the chocolate drink and taking a sip from it, Zhang Ren blinked his eyes a few times, feeling slightly bad for Zhong Li since it came from him and Shu Xian mistook it as the food being given by Zhang Ren.

"No! It didn't come from me," Zhang Ren said, Shu Xian furrowing her brows in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Ren remembered that Zhong Li asked him not to tell Shu Xian that it came from him. With his lips turning into a tight line for a while, Shu Xian urged him again, now curious as to who it came from since he isn't saying a word.

"Come on, Zhang Ren! Tell me!"

Zhang Ren didn't want to lie—he hates lying! With him letting out a sigh, he instead gave her a clue about the guy who gave the gift to him in order for him to put it in her bag.

"Remember the weird patron I described you earlier?" he asked, Shu Xian nodding when she recalled.

"Yes… and what about it?"

"Well…" Zhang Ren trailed off, a big smile on his face. "He's the one who gave to me your surprise gift."

Shu Xian didn't know what to say. With her receiving a gift from a stranger, she then put the drink down and knitted her brows together once more, suspicious.

"I can't eat and drink this! If it's from a stranger, what if it's drugged or—"

"No, no!"

Zhang Ren immediately interrupted, feeling wronged for Zhong Li.

"He has no intentions to do that!"

"Oh! So you know this person?"

Zhang Ren can't take hiding the information anymore. With him letting out a sigh, he then honestly told Shu Xian who gave it to her, also telling her more about what Zhong Li had requested from him.

"Those came from Zhong Li. He heard that it's your birthday and he probably felt bad that he was asking a favor from you…"

Shu Xian widened her eyes in surprise. With her looking at the food and the drink, she cocked her head to the side and did notice that the handwriting is familiar—so pretty and written well—really from Zhong Li even though she has read his penmanship only recently.

"He gave this to me?"

"Yes," Zhang Ren confirmed. "He asked me not to tell you. I don't know why… maybe because he's shy because he doesn't seem like the type to surprise you and finds it awkward to give it to you and thanked you and greeted you in this way instead."

Hearing this, Shu Xian couldn't help but snicker on her seat. With them being in the library, both of them couldn't talk aloud or even laugh so that they won't distract the students using the library for their school work.

"Now that you told me, it does seem like Zhong Li," she commented, further saying about it. "Before he left, he stammered on his words as he greeted me a happy birthday and then thanked me for helping him. It sounds the same with how monotonous he wrote his note."

Zhang Ren nodded slowly. With his head cocking to the side, he then asked a question that slightly surprised Shu Xian, catching her off guard.

"Then… what do you think of Zhong Li? Do you like him?"

"What?"

Shu Xian let out a small scoff, wondering where this question came from.

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

Shu Xian didn't give him a definite answer. With Zhang Ren just shrugging his shoulders, he told her what he thought, making Shu Xian widen her eyes as she didn't see it this way.

"I think that Zhong Li is slightly interested in you. Yes, he isn't close with a lot of girls other than Yan Yan, but look at him giving you food recently when he could just normally thank you!"

Shu Xian rolled her eyes at Zhang Ren. She then shook her head, disagreeing with what he said.

"You're thinking too much. This isn't something that you could deduce immediately. What if he's just really acting kind because I'm helping him? You can't just assume that a person is interested in another just by these simple gestures."

Zhang Ren let out a small smile. With a shrug coming from him afterwards, he just nodded at what she said, no longer explaining as he also thought that she does have a point.

"Well, just saying my point of view about this. We'll see more as you both continue to communicate with each other."