Chapter 24 of 100

Chapter 24

13 min read3,359 words

Xu Yan has a problem: he is not good at dealing with pretty girls. This is also the reason why, despite his tall stature, good looks, and decent family background, he has never had a girlfriend.

Xu Yan's difficulty in dealing with girls does not mean that he blushes or stammers when he sees a pretty girl. Rather, it means that he doesn't know how to approach a pretty girl he doesn't know, and even if he manages to start a conversation, he doesn't know how to find topics to chat about. For example, in the current situation, Xu Yan and the beautiful girl have exchanged names, and they are now acquainted, but how should he proceed from here? What should they talk about? Xu Yan is completely at a loss.

At this moment, Xu Yan really envies those male classmates with high emotional intelligence, like Zhao Xuesong, who is in his dormitory. Xu Yan remembers him the most. That guy can talk non-stop without repeating himself. In just a year and a half from freshman to sophomore year, his achievements are remarkable: from class beauties to school beauties, he has dated almost every girl with the word "flower" in their names, except for "flower crazy." The number of girls he has dated is enough to defend the Fakashan position.

Now, Xu Yan really wishes he could have even a fraction of Zhao Xuesong's smooth-talking skills. If that's not possible, he would even be happy to learn Liu Fat's ability to make jokes and liven up the atmosphere, as long as it helps to keep the conversation going. After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with a clumsy line: "Beautiful girl, do you come to class every Sunday morning?"

Gong Xueting nodded, looking at Xu Yan in confusion. Xu Yan chuckled awkwardly: "This is my first time coming to class. I haven't attended before."

Gong Xueting frowned slightly and asked, "Why not? Teacher Situ's lectures are very interesting. I come every week. Listening to his lectures can broaden your horizons."

"Yes, I felt the same today. It was my first time coming to this class, and it was indeed very interesting. However, I live in a rented house outside, so the distance is quite far, and I arrived late. Today, I almost couldn't find a seat."

Xu Yan put on a troubled look: "Classmate, could you help me reserve a seat next week?"

As soon as the words were out, Xu Yan admired himself, wishing he could give himself a thumbs up: "Great, brother, you're really great!" — Could it be that he has some hidden talent for flirting? He actually came up with such a good excuse on the spot!

First, this request is a small favor that doesn't require much effort. Out of politeness, classmates generally wouldn't refuse such a request, especially female students, who are often too shy to say no. Sure enough, Gong Xueting nodded: "Sure, I'll help you reserve a seat next week."

Xu Yan was so happy he wanted to sing a song — this beautiful girl might not have realized the trap in his request: helping to reserve a seat usually means reserving a seat next to her, which means that next week, he would have the opportunity to sit next to her!

He put on a delighted look: "Hehe, that's great. Classmate, you're really helping me a lot. By the way, classmate, let's exchange phone numbers. If there's any news about this course, we can inform each other."

Xu Yan thought to himself that there wouldn't be any important matters in such a course for credit.

The girl took out her phone: "Sure, tell me your number, and I'll write it down."

As she wrote down a string of numbers in Xu Yan's notebook, Xu Yan also gave her his phone number. While entering the number, Xu Yan noticed that the girl was using an old Nokia phone, which looked quite old.

He thought: It seems that Gong Xueting's family situation is not very good?

But Xu Yan's clever move didn't stop there. He had a hidden third move. He said sincerely to the girl: "Classmate, that's great. You've really helped me a lot. To show my gratitude, let me take you out for lunch. I know a restaurant outside the north gate of the school that serves delicious spicy hotpot. It's very unique. Let's try it together."

Gong Xueting was taken aback, then she smiled, a pure smile: "No need to be so formal. It's a small matter, no need to go to so much trouble."

"Hehe, it's no problem. It's just a casual meal. If you have friends, you can bring them along too. It would be good for everyone to get to know each other. — Uh, the food at that restaurant is really good. Just thinking about it makes me drool. You should really try it."

"Hehe, really no need. I have something to do at noon. You can go eat by yourself, classmate."

Hearing Gong Xueting's firm tone, Xu Yan wisely stopped persuading her — it was only their first day of meeting. Being able to arrange a chance to meet again and getting her phone number was already a good progress. If he pushed too hard, he might anger the beautiful girl and ruin all his efforts.

He quickly found a way out: "Oh, you have something to do? That's too bad. Next time, we can invite more friends and go to the hotpot place together. It will be more lively with more people."

Gong Xueting nodded indifferently: "Sure, next time. If there's a chance, we'll go."

They chatted for a while, and the class ended. Xu Yan had never disliked the sound of the bell so much. Gong Xueting said goodbye and left first, while Xu Yan lingered in his seat for a while before going out. When he went out and passed the corridor outside the classroom, he saw Gong Xueting and a few other girls talking to Teacher Situ, who looked very happy, and they were laughing brightly. Xu Yan saw that Gong Xueting was looking at the young teacher with admiration, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

He stopped and watched for a moment, but was seen by Teacher Situ, who waved to him, inviting him to come closer. Xu Yan hesitated for a moment before slowly walking over, feeling a bit reluctant.

"Teacher, do you need me for something?"

"This classmate, you're a new face in the class. Let's get to know each other. I'm Situ Xiao. Which department are you from?" Teacher Situ smiled, his smile bright and his teeth white and neat, which made Xu Yan feel a bit annoyed: Do you think you're the only one who uses Blue Sky Six Must-Treat? Then he felt a bit embarrassed: New face? Isn't the teacher hinting that I haven't attended any classes before?

"Hello, Teacher Situ. I'm from the Economics and Management Department, Class 2. My name is Xu Yan."

"Oh, Xu Yan?" Teacher Situ nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then smiled: "Actually, I recalled that during the lecture, to liven up the atmosphere, I might have exaggerated a bit about your friend's story. If it made you feel uncomfortable, it's my fault, and I should apologize. I hope you can understand."

As he said this, he turned to look at Gong Xueting and smiled: "Classmate Xueting also knows. I just returned from abroad, where the classroom style is more lively, which might be different from the serious style here. I'm still trying to adapt, but it might take some time. I hope the students can understand."

Before Xu Yan could respond, Gong Xueting quickly said: "No, we all think it's great! Teacher Situ, your lectures are very clear and interesting. My roommates all like your class. Everyone says that listening to your lectures can broaden our horizons. Even though it's Sunday, we all came — Xu Yan, right?"

Xu Yan chuckled awkwardly: "Yes, the teacher's lectures are really good."

Teacher Situ smiled and said: "Xu Yan, about the example you mentioned earlier. I want to ask, is it a real person, or did you make it up?"

Xu Yan was vague: "Because it involves someone's privacy, I can't go into too much detail. But you can consider it a real story."

Hearing this, Teacher Situ's expression became serious: "I understand. Xu Yan, if it's a real story, your friend's delusional disorder is very serious. He can no longer distinguish between reality and imagination. In this case, relying on his own psychological adjustment might not be very effective. To help him overcome his delusional disorder, external psychological and medical treatment is necessary. Otherwise, if it drags on, this person might be ruined for life.

If possible, you can bring him here, and I can talk to him in person. That way, I can make a more accurate judgment, which might be helpful to him."

Gong Xueting interjected: "Xu Yan, you don't know, Teacher Situ is also a psychology Ph.D. from Columbia University in the United States..."

"Hehe, that's not the point," Teacher Situ smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he wasn't trying to show off: "It's mainly my personal interest. I'm very interested in strange and unusual things, especially real-life cases. In China, it's rare to encounter such cases.

This is also a difference in national conditions. In China, even if someone has mental health issues, they often avoid seeing a doctor for fear of being called crazy. But in foreign countries, seeing a psychologist is very normal. In many countries, some high-stress professions even require regular psychological testing, such as frontline soldiers and police officers."

At this point, the class bell rang again. Teacher Situ smiled apologetically and stopped talking. He hurriedly shook hands with Xu Yan and said: "Okay, I also teach an English class, so I won't chat with you anymore — Uh, Xu Yan, if you need to contact me about your friend, you can find Classmate Gong. She has my phone number. We'll talk next time!"

He rushed away, and Xu Yan and the girls stood in the corridor, each with their own thoughts as they watched the young and handsome teacher hurry down the corridor.

After Teacher Situ left, Gong Xueting resumed her cold and indifferent expression. She said to Xu Yan: "Xu Yan, if your friend is really like that, you should bring him to see Teacher Situ. The teacher is very knowledgeable and might be able to help him."

Finding another chance to be alone with Gong Xueting, Xu Yan was quite happy. He was about to muster the courage to invite her again, but her constant mention of Teacher Situ made him very unhappy — although Teacher Situ is handsome, knowledgeable, and has impeccable manners, for some reason, Xu Yan just couldn't stand him, especially when Gong Xueting and the other girls looked at him with such admiration. He immediately lost his appetite for inviting her to lunch.

Xu Yan vaguely replied: "We'll see. It depends on whether he is willing." But he thought to himself: "Introduce this beauty Zhu Youxiang to this pretty boy? I'm not that stupid!"

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