Online Romance with an Iceberg Professor Backfired - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Covering Class

Ji Pei first followed the main group to the first class.

She sat in the very last row. The specialized course professor had just arrived, pushed up his glasses, and smiled kindly while looking at the empty seats in the front row.

“Those few students in the back, can you see clearly sitting in the last row? Come up front, there are many empty seats here.”

Ji Pei: “…”

She, along with the other “classmates” sharing the same hardship, moved to the front row. Sitting right in front of the lectern, she felt fidgety, wishing for the class bell to ring the next second.

This professor was quite casual. Since the class began, he hadn’t stayed at the lectern but stood right in front of Ji Pei. One of his hands rested on her desk, his fingers constantly tapping.

Ji Pei held her breath, feeling a sense of guilt with every slight movement.

She was sitting in the front row by the aisle. The classroom door was open for ventilation, and Ji Pei could see the entire corridor out of the corner of her eye.

She had never listened to a class so seriously, especially one on systemic anatomy.

She stared at the colorful diagrams of human organ dissection in the textbook, diligently taking notes alongside the PPT presentation.

Damn it, Ji Fan was a medical student, and she had even vowed that after becoming a doctor, the first person she would repay would be Ji Pei.

Did Ji Pei not know her sister’s capabilities? She might just indirectly send Ji Pei off one day.

Thinking this, Ji Pei tightened her grip on her pen.

She noticed the student next to her taking out their phone to photograph the PPT. Taking advantage of the professor’s distraction, she quickly snapped two photos herself.

She had to send the content of the PPT to Ji Fan so her sister could take her own notes.

Ji Pei was bowing her head, sending the pictures to Ji Fan and editing a message.

Suddenly, she realized the professor’s voice had stopped. She looked up and saw the source of a shadow falling over her head.

The moment she met Jiang Xianhan’s eyes, Ji Pei subconsciously tried to hide her phone in the desk compartment.

However, she quickly realized that this reaction was abnormal. She was currently playing the role of a university student. It was fine to use her phone to photograph key points during class, right?

Ji Pei eased her mind, but before she could sigh in relief, she looked up and met Jiang Xianhan’s cold eyes.

Those eyes were typical phoenix eyes, long and narrow, with slightly upturned outer corners, and a teardrop mole adorning the corner of her right eye.

The instant Jiang Xianhan looked down at her, even though no expression could be discerned in those eyes, Ji Pei still held her breath.

Jiang Xianhan’s eyes were simply too intimidating. An ordinary person couldn’t handle them.

She quietly lowered her head, pretending that everything that had just happened was insignificant. The sound of two people conversing reached her ears, and half a minute later, Jiang Xianhan left the classroom.

The next class was Jiang Xianhan’s Philosophy elective. Ji Pei swore she had to sit in the second-to-last row by the wall. The last row was simply too dangerous.

The hour and a half finally dragged to an end. Ji Pei had photographed all the important key points, and her textbook was filled with notes.

She felt she had done her absolute best. Looking at the blank pages in Ji Fan’s book where no notes had been taken, Ji Pei couldn’t help but feel a toothache.

Studying Ji Fan’s so-called notes, Ji Pei couldn’t help but lament that if her kind sister truly became a doctor in the future, who would dare to make an appointment with her if they fell ill?

The class was finally over. Ji Pei’s phone was full of PPT notes. She walked and simultaneously sent the photos to Ji Fan.

Ji Pei: “I’ve photographed the key points for you. I hear they’ll be used for the exam later.”

There was no response from Ji Fan’s side. Ji Pei pursed her lips, guessing that her sister was probably having too much fun with her so-called online partner.

The next class belonged to Jiang Xianhan. Ji Pei began to feel nervous. It was impossible not to be nervous.

If her substitute teaching wasn’t discovered, all would be well. But if she was exposed, Ji Fan’s punishment wouldn’t be as simple as just failing the course.

In the tiered lecture hall, Ji Pei found that the classroom was already half full. She hadn’t expected Jiang Xianhan’s class to be so popular, with so many people choosing it.

She had heard stories about Jiang Xianhan and others saying that a portion of those who took her elective were her “admirers.”

Ji Pei rubbed the goosebumps on her arms, thinking that these people shouldn’t torture themselves so much. Why deliberately invite suffering when there was no need to?

During the twenty-minute break, Ji Pei successfully found a seat in the second-to-last row, but the spot by the wall was already taken, so she had to sit by the steps.

Three minutes before the class bell rang, Jiang Xianhan walked onto the lectern wearing low heels.

Her figure was tall and straight. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up past her forearms. Up close, one could see perfectly toned muscle lines, suggesting she frequently worked out.

Ji Pei propped her chin on one hand, sitting quietly in her seat, her gaze slowly drifting from the second-to-last row towards Jiang Xianhan, who was preparing the course materials on the lectern.

She finally understood why Jiang Xianhan had so many admirers both inside and outside the school.

With one minute left until class, Ji Pei’s gaze drifted around. Seeing the other students gradually put away their phones, she also slipped hers under the desk.

A few light pink banners flashed on the phone screen. Ji Pei knew without opening it that these were notifications from Decibel. Winter Day was probably asking why she wasn’t replying to her messages.

Just as Ji Pei was about to open it, in a moment of guilt, she met the focused gaze of Jiang Xianhan on the lectern, who was looking right in her direction.

I’m finished.

Ji Pei silently repeated the words “I’m finished” countless times in her heart. Her right eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably.

Ji Pei rubbed her eyes fiercely twice, pretending to be unbothered and nonchalantly looking down at her textbook.

Jiang Xianhan stood at the lectern, observing all her movements, then opened the PPT file.

Ji Pei couldn’t understand anything about philosophy. She always felt the subject was vaguely abstract, much less practical than studying art.

“Class started a minute ago. It seems some students had an incident and forgot.”

The pleasing, spring-water-like voice, amplified through the microphone, reached Ji Pei’s ears, making her feel tipsy, as if she were stepping on clouds.

She felt like she had heard that voice somewhere before. Ji Pei thought it sounded vaguely familiar, maybe a voice actor from a TV show.

The teaching assistant stood beside Jiang Xianhan. The two nodded to each other, and Jiang Xianhan’s lips curved into a slight smile. She picked up the roster and began calling names.

Ji Pei’s heart sank. Her heart was already pounding in her throat as Jiang Xianhan called out the first name.

Her desk began to tremble uncontrollably. Ji Pei initially thought she was shaking unconsciously from fear.

But when she slightly turned her head, the girl next to her, with shoulder-length hair, was trembling all over, her lips looking pale.

Driven by the virtue of “learning from Lei Feng and doing good deeds,” Ji Pei asked tactlessly, “Classmate? Are you hypoglycemic?”

The girl shook her head. She picked up the Mao’s Outline textbook she was holding, flipped through a dozen pages, and said quietly, “No, I’m covering a class.”

Ji Pei: “…”

Such an honest seller is hard to find these days.

However, Ji Pei noticed that her legs were shaking, and she didn’t seem skilled enough. She must have just started.

Seeing Ji Pei’s shocked expression, the girl continued, “Please don’t report me. This job pays two hundred yuan.”

“I know, but…”

Ji Pei hesitated, her finger changing direction on the desk, pointing at the textbook in the girl’s hand.

“You’re holding Mao’s Outline.”

The girl looked tearful, wanting to bury her face in the desk. “I know, I brought the wrong book.”

Such an unreliable seller is even harder to find.

Ji Pei was silent for two seconds, then sincerely said, “Good luck.”

Jiang Xianhan continued reading names, but her gaze lingered on the position by the aisle in the second-to-last row.

The two female students, one with long hair and one with short, were openly whispering to each other right in front of her.

Especially the one with the voluminous black long hair, she looked somewhat familiar.

“Ji Fan.”

Ji Fan’s name was slowly pronounced by Jiang Xianhan. She stood at the lectern and, seeing no one stand up, called out again.

“Is student Ji Fan here?”

Ji Pei’s hand was still holding a pen. Upon hearing Jiang Xianhan call the name a second time, she instantly sprang up from her seat.

“Present.”

Beneath the spectacles were Jiang Xianhan’s sharp phoenix eyes. She subtly scrutinized the person from head to toe.

“Very well, please sit.”

The girl’s figure was tall and slender. The hem of her pink shirt was tucked into the waistband of her pants. Her legs were straight and long, and the pink top made her skin look fair and healthy.

Jiang Xianhan withdrew her gaze, silently committing the name Ji Fan to memory, and continued the roll call.

After being called upon and sitting down, Ji Pei breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart, which had been about to jump out of her throat, settled back down.

Thank goodness, Jiang Xianhan doesn’t recognize her. The most tense part of the class, the roll call, was over. The rest should be easier to endure.

By the end of the roll call, the teaching assistant had recorded all the names of the absent students, a total of three—two males and one female. A failing grade warning awaited them.

“I don’t usually look at the textbook when I teach.”

Jiang Xianhan leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the lectern. Her long hair draped slightly over her shoulder, making her look cool, intelligent, and elegant.

“I prepare these course materials for you to better understand these philosophical issues.”

Ji Pei shifted her gaze, looking down at her textbook. She took out the bunny pen that had been with her throughout university and wrote her name on the first page of the book.

She froze after writing it.

She had initially intended to write “Ji Fan,” but out of habit, she wrote her own name instead.

While Jiang Xianhan was speaking at the lectern, Ji Pei secretly opened her phone under the desk. Because of her guilty conscience and lack of practice, she entered the wrong password several times, locking her phone for fifteen minutes.

“…”

She had no choice but to listen attentively.

Ji Pei followed Jiang Xianhan’s instruction, turned to the page being discussed, and took notes with her bunny pen.

She couldn’t understand philosophy at all. Ji Pei had initially planned to just take some casual notes and survive the class, believing all would be fine. However, while resting her chin on her hand, she was called by name by Jiang Xianhan.

“Ji Fan.”

For a moment, Ji Pei felt struck by lightning. After confirming that Jiang Xianhan was calling her, she bit her lower lip and subconsciously stuffed her phone further into the desk.

Seeing the student reluctantly stand up, Jiang Xianhan’s gaze swept over Ji Pei’s face like a tangible presence. Her voice was clear and cool.

“Student Ji Fan, please stand up and share your views.”