Chapter 5 — The Fluffy-Haired Vixen and the Cold-Faced Professor

I was utterly shocked. So this was what online violence felt like! Countless complete strangers were willing to hurl toxic words and spin malicious narratives with absolute malice. The entire dormitory stared at me, their eyes filled with astonishment. I hastily tried to clear my name: “It is not at all what they are saying online…” I immediately called Shen Yizhou, urging him to look at the post. He calmly said, “Don’t worry, I know. Rest assured, this can be resolved.” I asked anxiously, “Really? Will this affect you?” What if it kept escalating, spreading from campus rumors into the real world? By then, both of us would find it impossible to explain ourselves. Shen Yizhou reassured me, “Don’t worry. You must go to class this afternoon, I will handle it.” I had no idea what he planned to do, but I trusted him.

When I arrived at class that afternoon, the entire room fell silent the moment I stepped inside. I instantly became the center of attention, everyone whispering and glancing at me with intense curiosity. I just wanted to vanish into the floorboards, trying my hardest to feign calmness. Fortunately, my roommates were kind-hearted; they sat right beside me, shielding me from the surrounding gazes and chatting normally to ease my awkwardness. The bell rang, and Shen Yizhou walked into the classroom as if nothing had happened. The room grew instantly dead silent. Someone muttered, “Everyone is here now, I guess he is going to clear up the rumors?” But Shen Yizhou said nothing of the sort and simply began his lecture as he did every single day. I sat there in a daze, completely clueless about what was actually happening, listening in a fog.

Near the end of the class, he finally paused his lecture and announced, “Let us talk about something off-topic. Yesterday, there was a post on the campus forum related to me that caused quite a stir, so I would like to clarify a few things.” His gaze locked straight onto me, and he said clearly and distinctly, “Student Su Nian and I are indeed dating, and it is a serious relationship pointing toward marriage.” The classroom erupted, instantly chaotic like a broken market. Whistling, loud cheers, and shouting echoed through the entire room. I froze—he wasn’t refuting the rumors, he was publicly confirming them?! But he wasn’t finished; Shen Yizhou changed his tone and continued, “Su Nian has always been very worried about our teacher-student relationship, fearing that people might think her grades were unfair. Therefore, to avoid any such trouble, I submitted my resignation at the beginning of this month.”

“And today is my official last day. After this lecture, I am no longer a university lecturer. From now on, I am simply Su Nian’s boyfriend.” “Rumors will end with rational people. I hope that in the future, our school makes the hot search for its academic achievements, rather than for gossip like this.” As soon as those words fell, the classroom exploded once more. “Oh my god! He actually resigned? For real?!” “This is literally straight out of an idol drama!” “They are dating with marriage as the goal! Why doesn’t wonderful stuff like this ever happen to me? I must start doing good deeds right away!” Little by little, my deskmate stared at me with her mouth wide open: “Are… are you a vixen? Reincarnated from a nine-tailed fox?! What kind of love potion did you feed Professor Shen?! He quit his job just because of you?!” I thought to myself: “…” I didn’t even know about any of this! Don’t ask me!

When class ended, the students gathered in groups to leave, still whispering and gossiping endlessly. Shen Yizhou walked over and sat down beside me, teasing, “Stunned stiff, are you? Why so quiet?” It took me a while to digest everything, and I finally blurted out, “You really are the type of person to silently accomplish massive things!” Without saying a word to me beforehand, he had quietly resigned—that was so typical of his style. Shen Yizhou took my hand, smiling gently, “Actually, I had considered resigning long ago. I didn’t want you to carry that kind of pressure every single day.” “Besides, resigning isn’t much trouble at all; I just have to return several hundred thousand in housing subsidies, which I haven’t even touched anyway.” What did he mean by… “not much trouble”?! I asked, “So what do you plan to do next?” Shen Yizhou replied, “Actually, when I first returned to the country, several major universities invited me to teach. I chose this school because of a connection with the principal, not because it offered the highest salary.” “Now, I plan to transfer to the university right next door.” I stared blankly: “The university next door?!” He nodded, “Yes. The principal of this school is probably furious right now. But I can teach anywhere; the important thing is… staying close to you.” I thought: “…”

It felt like my life was set on hard mode, while his was set on easy mode, and he was winning with absolute arrogance. Just look at that shameless, proud look on his face. “You…” Shen Yizhou raised an eyebrow playfully, “What were you going to say? Deeply moved, aren't you?” Well… I was actually quite touched. But what I wanted to know more was: “Why do you like me so much?” “…” Shen Yizhou fell silent for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts. A moment later, he said softly, “I like you… so much that I don’t even know what to do anymore.”

After Shen Yizhou resigned, all the rumors instantly vanished. No one speculated on the forum post anymore, and some people even started uploading videos of his lectures. Because he was both exceptionally handsome and deeply devoted, he quickly became a viral, internet-famous teacher. After he left our campus, word had it that the enrollment rate at the neighboring university skyrocketed. I did not know if I was just being overly sensitive, but every single time the dean of our department looked at me, his eyes were filled with… profound resentment. Um… I actually felt a little guilty.

Later on, Shen Yizhou told me that he had tracked down the person who posted the false accusations. It was a female student from my own major who lived in the same residential complex as him. She apparently had romantic feelings for Shen Yizhou, but he had never paid her any attention and had even ignored her friend requests. Catching sight of us together in the neighborhood by chance, she had secretly taken pictures. Driven probably by jealousy, she had stirred up that entire storm. After the incident, that girl apparently suffered a massive mental blow and transferred to a different major not long after. “At first, I intended to have a straightforward talk with her,” Shen Yizhou said, “Now… there is no need for that anymore.”