Chapter 58: Becoming More Disobedient – Clear-Headed Stupidity / Private Talk…
“I’ve suddenly remembered I have something to do. Professor, I’ll take my leave first.”
He turned around and shuffled toward the door, wanting to slip away.
His sixth sense was indeed accurate. He hadn’t expected Professor Ariel to be here as well. This scene felt as if a trap had been specifically set for him, just waiting for him to walk right in.
In short, the situation was more than a little awkward.
“Halt.” Professor Ariel’s voice rang out abruptly.
Seeing Jiang Chenyan stop, he continued, reproaching coldly, “You are becoming more and more disobedient.”
Beside him, Professor Mu Si couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked at Ariel and teased, “Why speak to your disciple like that?”
Ariel withdrew his gaze and said flatly, “What kind of disciple is he?”
“Student Jiang, you’re quite something. I’ve never seen Ariel so angry,” Mu Si remarked.
Jiang Chenyan frowned, sighing in his heart. This kind of situation was simply inviting a huge trouble upon himself.
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and turn back, his face already plastered with a bit of a smile. “Professor, you really won’t acknowledge me? I know I was wrong before. I’ve long since regretted it.”
Ariel glanced at him coldly and let out a light huff. “If you truly regretted it, you wouldn’t have appeared here tonight.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to discuss academics with Professor Mu Si? Go on and discuss. I’ll listen from the side.”
Jiang Chenyan opened his mouth, but not a single word came out. “…”
Professor Mu Si really lacked martial integrity. How could he have blabbed their entire chat to Ariel?
“Yes…” Jiang Chenyan’s smile was a bit stiff. His gaze instinctively drifted toward Professor Mu Si. He remembered clearly that Professor Mu Si’s research direction was mecha maintenance and that he sometimes led new mecha development projects; he had specifically investigated this before.
Although he was almost entirely clueless about these fields, luckily, he had saved up some points of confusion from his classes that he hadn’t understood. He would bring those out to ask later, which should be enough to cope.
Under two vastly different stares, Jiang Chenyan braced himself and walked over.
“Sit.” Professor Mu Si’s voice was gentle, like it had been soaked in warm water.
Jiang Chenyan sat down. When he looked up, he happened to meet Professor Mu Si’s eyes. His brows were relaxed, his nose wasn’t overly sharp, and the lines of his lips carried a soft curve. He didn’t look at all like the harsh and strict person the rumors claimed.
Even his appearance was worlds apart from Professor Ariel. Professor Ariel had a cool, pale complexion, prominent brow bones, and narrow eyes. When he wasn’t smiling, he always seemed to carry a certain weight that made one’s heart flutter with inexplicable guilt…
And he always loved to do something with a strong sense of contrast. Despite having no expression on his face, he would suddenly drop a cold joke. Usually, by the time you reacted, he would have already turned back to continue his own work.
A very unique personality. Sometimes Jiang Chenyan didn’t understand him, and sometimes he did.
“If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.” Professor Mu Si smiled and pulled out a pen and paper.
Jiang Chenyan recovered his senses and searched for a few sets of problems on his guangnao, displaying them before Professor Mu Si.
Professor Mu Si’s eyes scanned the problems, and his initially gentle expression gradually became strange. His brow even furrowed slightly.
Jiang Chenyan: “Is there a problem?”
“A load of trash problems like this—is it worth coming specifically to ask me?”
Jiang Chenyan was stunned. “?”
Trash? He clearly thought these problems had some difficulty and had specifically picked them out.
Looking at his reaction, Professor Mu Si sighed helplessly. “You really don’t have a shred of sincerity.”
“You’ve misunderstood me,” Jiang Chenyan frowned in defense. “I came to seek guidance with total sincerity. I truly haven’t grasped these problems.”
Professor Mu Si didn’t speak again, merely looking at him in silence.
“Then your brain is a bit… not smart.”
The moment these words were out, Jiang Chenyan was completely petrified.
“How about this, I’ll explain it once.” Professor Mu Si’s tone softened.
Jiang Chenyan snapped back to reality and nodded quickly. “Okay.” He had just straightened his body, preparing to focus on the explanation, when a cold gaze suddenly fell from above him, like a chill crawling into his neck.
Looking up, Professor Ariel was standing nearby holding a white porcelain cup, his eyes coldly locked onto him. His tone held no warmth. “Would you like some coffee?”
Jiang Chenyan instinctively shook his head, his breathing becoming light.
Why would he drink coffee?
Seeing this, Mu Si frowned at Ariel. “Don’t add to the mess.”
He corrected Jiang Chenyan, “Why are you looking at him? Look at the screen. I’m about to start the explanation.”
Professor Mu Si picked up the pen and disassembled the problems step by step, from formula derivation to logic analysis, explaining with reasonable clarity. But Jiang Chenyan heard it all through a fog. It wasn’t until the end that he barely grasped a bit of the thread. Maybe, perhaps, he understood.
“It’s good that you understood. I’ll give you a few problems to see if you can apply the logic to other cases.” Professor Mu Si put down the pen and pushed a blank sheet of scratch paper toward him.
Jiang Chenyan couldn’t smile. Apply the logic to other cases? He thought too highly of him.
Looking at the paper on the table, his mouth twitched. The only thought left in his mind was “it’s over.” He could only brace himself and put pen to paper.
The result was predictable. The answers he wrote were full of errors, and even the steps were a jumbled mess.
Professor Mu Si leaned over to take a look, and his initially gentle expression instantly darkened, becoming visibly black.
“If you don’t do these correctly today, you don’t have to go back.” Professor Mu Si’s tone carried a hint of gnashing teeth, yet it also felt like a lament. “Speaking of which, Ariel has pampered you too much. Actually, I shouldn’t say it like that; he pampers all his students.”
As soon as he finished, he added another sentence, “I’m impressed. He actually said you were a genius before. I didn’t expect you to be completely clueless about mecha maintenance knowledge.”
“Genius?” Jiang Chenyan caught the keyword.
In terms of networking, he was indeed a genius.
“I never said that.” Professor Ariel frowned and interrupted Mu Si. “Teach your problems.”
Professor Mu Si ignored him, his face still incredibly dark. He stared at Jiang Chenyan and increased his tone, “I absolutely must make you learn this today.”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
Staring at the scratch paper, he felt his mind was a mess. The more Professor Mu Si scolded, the more dazed he became. The formulas and lines before his eyes gradually became a blurred mass, and he couldn’t distinguish what was drawn on the paper at all.
Why were these lines so abstract? Their shapes were also bizarre.
“Professor, did you secretly increase the difficulty?”
“If you say one more word, I won’t be able to stop myself from getting physical.” Professor Mu Si’s tone turned a bit colder, saying with disappointment, “Do you know what state you’re in right now? You have a kind of clear-headed stupidity.”
Jiang Chenyan was left speechless by the rebuttal. He painfully stole a glance at the time; it was already 10 PM.
He tentatively pleaded for mercy, “Professor, how about… we continue tomorrow?”
“Don’t even think about running.” Mu Si saw through his thoughts in one glance. “If you were my student, you would have been made to copy the knowledge points a hundred times by now.”
Jiang Chenyan suspected he had heard wrong. A hundred times? Was he serious?
He took back his previous thoughts. What “gentle Professor Mu Si”? This was clearly a ruthless man. No wonder the students under him went bald. At this rate, he was afraid he would also meet his end here tonight.
Ariel sat not far away, not saying a word, just quietly watching Jiang Chenyan get scolded. Just when Jiang Chenyan was about to lose his grip, he unexpectedly curled his lips and chuckled. “Jiang Chenyan, you truly do have a kind of clear-headed stupidity.”
Jiang Chenyan was exhausted and completely surrendered.
He was gravely mistaken; he shouldn’t have come tonight.
“But the lights are about to be turned off.” If they continued, he was afraid he wouldn’t even be able to get through the dorm doors.
Mu Si frowned, glanced out the window, and his tone relaxed a bit. “It seems so. Then tonight, make sure you properly understand today’s problems and come find me again tomorrow.”
Tomorrow…
Jiang Chenyan’s expression was a bit ugly, but he could only bite the bullet and agree. “Okay.”
“It is indeed late. I have to head back first.” Professor Mu Si packed his things and stood up to leave.
“Then I…” Jiang Chenyan hurriedly followed and stood up. Just as he took a step to seize the chance to slip away, his back collar was suddenly grabbed. The force wasn’t great, but he couldn’t budge.
Looking back, it was Professor Ariel. The other’s eyes were rippleless. “Wait a moment. I have something to say to you.”
Mu Si couldn’t help but smile. “Then you two chat. I’m leaving.” Having said that, he left, leaving the space to the two frozen people. For a moment, only Jiang Chenyan and Ariel remained in the room.
“Professor.” Jiang Chenyan was the first to break the silence.
Professor Ariel raised an eyebrow and slowly sat back in his chair. His fingers lightly tapped the armrest in a slow rhythm. “Have I not warned you, Jiang Chenyan? Or are you truly pretending to be ignorant?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You really do have a constant stream of petty cleverness.” Professor Ariel’s eyes were pitch black. “What? Seeing that things won’t work with me, you went to curry favor with Mu Si?”
Jiang Chenyan instantly froze, the color draining from his face. The smile on his face could no longer be maintained, and he could only awkwardly twitch the corners of his mouth, forced to admit it. “You already know?”
Since he couldn’t hide it anymore, he simply stopped pretending. “How did you find out?”
Professor Ariel didn’t answer his question. Instead, he let out a low laugh. “So you’ve given up on pretending that quickly? Giving up the act so fast? You and Kailan are truly alike, each more shameless than the last.”
“You’re right. I am shameless.” Jiang Chenyan simply broke the jar. Since he had been exposed, hiding would only be more pathetic. He had set his sights on the recommendation quota.
“So, will the Professor give me a chance?” He looked up and met Professor Ariel’s gaze directly, not beating around the bush.
Even if he were rejected, he had already thought of a way out. At worst, he would cast a wide net; he could always find another shortcut. He was always skilled in that regard.
Ariel stared at him, rarely not refuting immediately. A brief silence fell over the room.
After a long while, he spoke, “I underestimated the extent of your shamelessness.”
“Professor, people strive for higher ground. I have to climb up, don’t I?” Jiang Chenyan smiled. “You can’t limit my potential.”
“Rest assured, I am not as sinister as you think.” Ariel’s tone softened as he supported his forehead. “If you are outstanding enough, it is impossible for me not to select you.”
“At the very least, we must observe fairness.”
During these days, Ariel had also repeatedly thought about it. Kailan was a child he had watched grow up; he couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
As for Jiang Chenyan, since he had become his disciple, he would take responsibility to the end.
Perhaps his heart had softened.
He would just treat them as children carrying dreams.
Jiang Chenyan’s heart felt as if it had been lightly tapped by something, and warmth slowly spread. He spoke softly, “Professor, thank you.”
The Professor’s words were undoubtedly a reassuring pill. He and Kailan had always been speculating about the Professor’s thoughts, but in reality, it was just that they had never truly walked close to him or understood him. That was why they were trapped by various misunderstandings.
“Mhm,” Ariel responded, still somewhat annoyed. “So, can you two stop being so willful?”
How many times had it been? Was the school’s surveillance system something you just hacked whenever you felt like it?
“I’m sorry, but circumstances forced my hand.” Jiang Chenyan didn’t know which matter the Professor was referring to.
He hesitated for a few seconds before slowly adding, “You are a good person.”
“I would rather be a bad person.” Ariel looked at Jiang Chenyan, his eyes darkening. Suddenly remembering something, his brow furrowed slightly as he reminded, “Just pay more attention to the people around you.”
“It’s alright.”
Shen Shiyue and Ji Xuan were both very good to him.
Ariel: “You seem to trust Shen Shiyue very much.”
Jiang Chenyan didn’t say anything. He did indeed trust Shen Shiyue. Even if it wasn’t the case initially, after spending time together, that trust had slowly taken root.
“Do you understand him? To trust him so much,” Professor Ariel asked him.
Jiang Chenyan was stunned, not knowing how to answer for a moment. Did he understand Shen Shiyue? He seemed to, but all that understanding came from what he had read in the book about Shen Shiyue’s past. Thinking carefully, that surface-level information didn’t count as true understanding. He didn’t even know what Shen Shiyue was like in private.
Ariel continued, “I’m just giving you a reminder. However, one thing is true: Shen Shiyue is indeed good to you.”
As for how much of it was sincere, or how many secrets he held, he wouldn’t know.
Jiang Chenyan nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Professor.”
Seeing that it was indeed late, he said his goodbyes again. The Professor nodded, allowing him to leave.
Turning to walk out of the room, the door opened, and the evening wind rushed in with a chill. The wind wasn’t strong, but it carried a unique freshness. When it swept over his cheeks, it caused the restlessness in his heart to gradually settle down.
Jiang Chenyan didn’t know what to say, so he just walked in silence. He still had to finish the tasks at hand; he couldn’t let his thoughts wander. For example, he needed to organize the things for his shift at the shop tomorrow night.
The following evening, when Jiang Chenyan had nearly finished his work at the shop, he realized it was pouring rain outside.
The shop owner was quite kind and handed him an umbrella. “Take it. It’s hard to walk in such heavy rain.”
Jiang Chenyan thanked him and started walking back under the umbrella. The rain was so heavy it made a thudding sound against the canopy, and his vision was blurred by the curtain of rain.
Passing a street corner, he suddenly caught sight of a figure that felt inexplicably familiar.
The person had no umbrella and was soaked through, hair clinging to their cheeks, looking a bit wretched. Even more eye-catching was the blood seeping through his sleeve, staining half of it red.
In the next second, the person sat down directly on the roadside steps, showing no intention of seeking shelter from the rain.
Jiang Chenyan’s heart skipped a beat, as if being pulled. Following a ghost-like impulse, he stepped forward and shifted the umbrella over the other’s head.
“Are you alright?”
When he spoke those words, Jiang Chenyan felt he had gone mad. Why was he starting to mind other people’s business?
The person slowly looked up, rain dripping down his jawline.
When he saw that face clearly, Jiang Chenyan was completely stunned. It was Shen Shiyue.
Translator’s Note:
A few terms to note:
- “Clear-headed stupidity” (清澈的愚蠢): This is a popular Chinese internet slang term. It’s often used to describe college students who look very bright and “pure” in their eyes but are actually hilariously clueless or slow to catch on to academic concepts or real-world logic.
- Guangnao (光脑): Literally “Light Brain.” This is the standard Interstellar term for a futuristic personal computer or AI interface, often worn on the wrist.
- Gong/Shou (攻/受): These are the terms for the “attacker” (top) and “receiver” (bottom) in BL novels. Jiang Chenyan is trying to navigate a world where he’s supposed to be a side character (cannon fodder) while these powerful Alphas are starting to act very… un-cannon-fodder-like around him!
📖 Advance Access: Complete Novel
- Option 1: Note your email on PayPal/Ko-fi.
- Option 2: Email proof to beezzzreads@gmail.com.
- Option 3: Comment below.
Recommended Reads
![Those Years When the Son of Destiny Was Severely Scammed [Quick Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/QUICK-TRANSMIGRATION1-214x300.jpg)
