Jiang Xiaosi shivered slightly, feeling a chill in the air. She tilted her head, checking the office windows for signs of frost. Shen Mo was radiating an aura so intense, it felt like everything within a hundred feet was withering away.
Yet, the old man with the yin-yang patterned white coat and gray hair sat there, smiling and puffing on his pipe as if nothing was wrong. It was hard to tell if he had developed immunity over time or was just too senile to notice.
“Explain this to me! Do you think I’m a kindergarten teacher?” Shen Mo slammed his hand on the table, causing the entire building to shake.
Jiang Xiaosi puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
What? Kindergarten? You and thirty other Shen Mo’s combined might not even be as old as me! I’m older than your ancestors from eight generations ago!
The principal slowly slid his chair over to the large window, basking lazily in the sunlight. His wrinkled face and beard radiated an air of kindness and warmth.
“Don’t scare the new student, Shen. You need to maintain a good teacher image. Little Xiaosi chose our school because of her admiration for your expertise and academic achievements. She even turned down offers from universities abroad just to study here.”
Jiang Xiaosi kept smiling and nodded repeatedly.
“She can study wherever she wants and take whichever classes she likes, but I refuse to be her mentor! Don’t think for a second that I’ll clean up your mess and babysit a kid at the same time!”
Jiang Xiaosi rubbed her eyes. Did she see that correctly? The principal, who had been smiling just moments ago, was now teary-eyed, his face filled with sorrow. Even the once-bright sunlight shining on him now seemed tainted with a melancholic hue.
“Shen, you know how much I value talent. This is about contributing to the future of archaeology in our country, training the next generation. Xiaosi is a promising student. Although she has great talent, she lacks formal archaeological knowledge and theoretical education. Without proper guidance, she might end up as just a top-tier artifact dealer, not an archaeologist. Spending her life in Tuo Gu Xiang would be such a waste. I entrusted her to you because I hope you can guide her well. And besides, Xiaosi is clever and quick-witted. She can help you, both in life and in academics.”
Shen Mo snorted coldly. She was already an artifact dealer. Help him? He would be grateful if she didn’t cause him more trouble.
Still, his attitude softened slightly. He knew arguing with this sly old fox would get him nowhere.
“Replace the equipment in the lab with new ones before the end of next month.” he said, then turned and left.
Jiang Xiaosi looked at the principal, who was smiling victoriously, and apologized, “Sorry, Mr. Duan, for causing you trouble.”
The principal chuckled and waved his hand repeatedly. “No trouble at all, no trouble. Just make sure your dad gives me a bigger discount next time.”
“Of course, you’re one of our long-time customers! I just didn’t expect Professor Shen to get so angry. Why does he dislike me so much?”
“Shen Mo has always been like this, tough on the outside but soft on the inside. He doesn’t like getting too involved with anyone, which is why he’s reacting this way. If he’s this resistant and defensive, it means your presence has already had an impact on his life and emotions, which has triggered his wariness. It doesn’t mean he dislikes you.”
“Wariness?” Jiang Xiaosi nodded in sudden realization.
After dinner, Jiang Liu took Jiang Xiaosi for ice cream at a dessert shop.
“So, how’s the new school?”
“It’s great! College is way more fun than middle school and much more freeing. I should’ve skipped grades sooner.”
Jiang Liu shook his head. No one understood Xiaosi better than he did. Deep down, she was someone who held onto the past tightly, making it difficult for her to move on to new experiences. Leaving behind her current teachers and classmates, along with the rare good friends she’d made like Li Yueyi, and adapting to everything from scratch, was hard for her. Every time they moved in the past, she would secretly cry under her blankets.
As Xiaosi once put it, her biggest dream was to have a huge castle where she could gather all her loved ones, friends, and even neighbors and passersby she liked over the centuries, so they’d never have to part.
“I’m glad you chose a new environment on your own, Xiaosi, but did you forget what I told you? Stay away from Shen Mo.”
“Dad, don’t you find him interesting? Besides, you hang out with Shen Koudan. Why can’t I interact with Professor Shen?”
“It’s different. Shen Mo has a deep prejudice against non-humans. I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t worry! I’ve never done anything bad. Even if Professor Shen finds out I’m not human, he won’t harm me. He’s actually a really good person. You’re so busy with work that you don’t have time to spend with me. Every day I go to school, come home, and sit around the shop all alone. It’s so boring! I finally found someone fun to hang out with and some interesting things to do…”
Jiang Xiaosi wrapped her arms around his neck, using her best pleading tactic.
Jiang Liu nodded. He knew his reasoning wasn’t entirely convincing, which is why he hadn’t forbidden her. But deep down, he still had an inexplicable sense of dread toward Shen Mo. It was something he hadn’t felt in a thousand years, and he trusted his instincts.
“Xiaosi, if you don’t like it, I can quit my job and stay home with you like before. How about that?”
“No need, Dad. Even though I’m growing up slowly, I’m still growing up. I can’t always cling to you. And it’s not just about Professor Shen that I transferred schools. After everything with Ye Miao and Li Yueyi, I suddenly feel an urge to fall in love. I’ve lived for a thousand years, and if I were to die suddenly without ever having been in love, wouldn’t that be a shame? College boys are more mature and handsome. Hehe, maybe I’ll find someone.”
Jiang Liu chuckled helplessly, stroking her head. Sometimes he wondered if Xiaosi truly fell in love with someone, would he go to any lengths to turn that person into a zombie as well? Because no matter what, he would never let her suffer.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Jiang Xiaosi grabbed her books and tried to slip out unnoticed in the crowd.
“Jiang Xiaosi, come to my office after class.” Shen Mo’s cold voice echoed from the podium, leaving Jiang Xiaosi feeling like crying as she noticed the jealous, envious, and sympathetic stares around her.
She didn’t know whether to feel fortunate or miserable. She had assumed that Shen Mo’s dislike for her meant he would ignore her and leave her alone. But instead, the opposite happened. Maybe he actually listened to the principal’s words, because now he was determined to “cultivate” her rigorously.
In addition to the courses she had chosen out of personal interest, Shen Mo had taken the liberty of enrolling her in twice as many classes. Some days, she had to attend up to eleven classes, and the fewest was still seven. He also handed her a little notebook, in which every professor or teacher had to sign after each class, leaving comments on her performance. If she skipped class, arrived late, left early, or even dozed off during a lecture, her workload would be doubled.
Come on, she had just entered university, but why was she being managed like a primary schooler?
And that wasn’t all. Every day after school, she had to report to Shen Mo’s office to discuss her academic progress and insights. He would then bombard her with a bunch of questions, sending her off to research them. On top of that, he assigned endless papers with strict deadlines and word counts. He also provided a long list of reference books she had to read and take notes on.
The Devil Professor! No wonder his students called him that behind his back! Jiang Xiaosi finally understood why. His strictness and meticulousness were borderline obsessive. Honestly, he should be teaching kindergarten instead—it would be a better fit!
Over the past two weeks, Jiang Xiaosi had been enduring inhuman torture. If it weren’t for the fact that Shen Mo took her papers seriously and gave her earnest guidance, she might have thought he was deliberately making her life difficult to drive her away.
Now she realized what it meant to have a path to heaven and not take it, only to charge straight into hell. She had brought this upon herself, diving headfirst into the fire.
Feeling utterly defeated, Jiang Xiaosi dragged herself into Shen Mo’s office. As soon as she entered, Chen Anyuan and Hu Hui gave her sympathetic looks.
Shen Mo tossed two thick books on bronzeware and lacquerware at her. “Copy both of these books by next Monday.”
Jiang Xiaosi’s eyes flared with frustration. She came here to study archaeology, not to become an art major!
“Any objections?” Shen Mo asked coldly, folding his arms and giving her a sharp look as she stood frozen.
Jiang Xiaosi deflated like a punctured balloon. “No, Mentor.”
“Good. And don’t forget, the report I asked for is due tomorrow.”
Jiang Xiaosi felt like tearing her hair out. Before she lost control and went into a zombie rage, ripping Shen Mo in half, she stormed out of the office in a huff.
“Junior Sister, wait!” Chen Anyuan called out, carrying a stack of books as he followed her outside.
“Senior Brother, what’s up?”
“Professor Shen asked you to return these books to the library, and here’s a list of books to check out. This is the booklist and the library card.”
Jiang Xiaosi wanted to cry.
Seeing her small, pouting face, Chen Anyuan couldn’t help but pat her head. “Don’t worry. Professor Shen isn’t trying to make things difficult for you. You’ve missed a lot of classes and haven’t even studied high school history. Even though you’re talented in some areas, archaeology is a broad field, and diving straight into graduate-level courses is going to be tough. Professor Shen is helping you build a solid foundation. It might be intense, but you’ve got to stick with it.”
Jiang Xiaosi felt a little more at ease after hearing that. Chen Anyuan was right. Just look at history. Jiang Xiaosi was knowledgeable about everything after the Song dynasty, but when it came to earlier periods, aside from some pre-Qin knowledge she had researched, she wasn’t all that familiar. Much of what she knew was either out of personal interest or for the shop’s business, without any formal study.
“Did you all go through this too?”
“Yeah, Professor Shen is very strict. If you want to be his student, you need to be mentally prepared. He’s extremely dedicated. Even if you don’t want to move forward, he’ll whip you into shape.”
“I’ve noticed.” Jiang Xiaosi’s face twisted with regret. She had wanted a carefree college life, checking out handsome guys and charming professors. Instead, she was stuck spending most of her time in classrooms and the library.
Late that night, Jiang Liu returned home from work to find Jiang Xiaosi still sitting in front of her computer.
“Xiaosi, still playing games? Don’t you have class tomorrow?”
“I do, but I’m working on a paper. Ugh, in middle school, essays only had to be 800 words. Now, every paper has to be three to four thousand words. It’s killing me!”
Jiang Liu couldn’t help but laugh. “Are the courses really that hard?”
“Some are easy, like artifact identification, restoration, and imitation. But others are tough, like Neolithic archaeology, zooarchaeology, archaeological drawing, and surveying. They’re driving me crazy. I hate memorizing stuff.”
Jiang Liu walked over, pulling her into his arms as she sat down. “Don’t force yourself. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t have to study it. It’s not like Shen Mo can do anything to you.”
Jiang Xiaosi wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her face against his stomach, just like Little Pudding would.
“I don’t dislike it, Dad. This is the first time in my life that I’ve really set my mind to learning something. In the past, I always felt like I had all the time in the world, so I never rushed to learn anything. That’s why my abilities aren’t great, and I’m only half-good at most things. I’m a bit frustrated with myself because I’m not really a genius. In fact, I’m probably slower than most kids. What others can memorize in two or three tries, I need seven or eight tries to remember.
My only advantage is that I have plenty of time. While others spend a week memorizing something, I can spend a whole year. While others might reach the peak of their studies after decades, I can research for a thousand years. If I still don’t do better than others, I might as well run into a wall.
Another reason I’m working so hard is that Shen Mo is genuinely serious about teaching me. I don’t want to disappoint him or make him look down on me. He reviews my assignments and papers, knows what I’m good at and what I need to work on, and tailors my training accordingly. Even during his lectures, he’ll unconsciously focus more on topics that I’m struggling with. If I don’t understand something, or if I frown in confusion, he’ll explain it again. And if I have questions and challenge him, he doesn’t dismiss me outright but instead guides me step by step, giving me reading lists so I can dig deeper and find the answers myself.”
Jiang Liu was taken aback, hearing her speak so passionately. He wanted to smile and offer his usual encouragement, but for some reason, he couldn’t quite bring himself to smile this time.
“Sounds like he’s truly a good teacher.”
“Yeah, even though he’s difficult to get along with, he’s actually very meticulous deep down.” Xiaosi couldn’t help but smile as she thought of Shen Mo’s cold eyes and the way his face would often contort in frustration when she irritated him. She realized she was starting to like him more and more.
“And your other classmates? How’s that going?”
“It’s great. Since I’m the youngest, everyone was curious about me at first, but I’m clever and charming, so of course all the ‘big brothers and sisters’ like me. Whenever Professor Shen gives me a hard time, they always help out. If it weren’t for not wanting to miss seeing you every day, I’d actually consider moving into the dorms to experience dorm life.”
Jiang Liu sat on the couch, and Jiang Xiaosi curled up in his arms, excitedly sharing all her experiences at T University. She told him how she had joined the anime club, the rollerblading club, and the cheerleading team. She even mentioned that next month, the anime club was performing, and she would be cosplaying as Haruhi Suzumiya and Rukia Kuchiki.
As she talked, she eventually fell asleep in Jiang Liu’s arms. Jiang Liu didn’t carry her back to her room. Instead, he stayed on the couch, holding her all night without moving. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Xiaosi was slowly drifting further and further away from him.
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