Urban Martial Saint

After being with Ye Qing, Huangfu Ziyu no longer seemed to be the once notorious East State Poisonous Mantis, known for her fierceness and beauty. Beside Ye Qing, she was like a gentle girl, laughing, shedding tears, and occasionally acting cute and coquettish.

Seeing Huangfu Ziyu like this, Ye Qing couldn’t help but smile slightly, taking her for a leisurely walk around the campus. The campus hadn’t changed much, but the current students were vastly different from when they were there. Back then, they rarely saw pairs holding hands, but now it was common to see couples kissing publicly. It was much more open than during their time.

After strolling halfway around the campus, Ye Qing first let Huangfu Ziyu sit in the library while he headed to the office building to visit the professors who had taught him during his studies here.

Everything inside the office building was exactly the same as before, and Ye Qing felt quite familiar with it. He went straight to the third floor, to the office in the center. This office was where the professor he respected the most during school was. Back in school, this professor had helped Ye Qing tremendously.

At the door, Ye Qing politely knocked lightly, and inside came a man’s voice, ”Come in.”

Ye Qing was slightly surprised and pushed the door open, only to see a man about his age tidying up inside. Seeing Ye Qing enter, the man immediately said, ”Looking for Professor Chen? He just went out. If you have anything, you can tell me, and I’ll pass it on to him when he returns!”

Ye Qing stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, ”Are you Zhou Yong?”

”Hm?” The man was taken aback, looking at Ye Qing in surprise and said, ”How...how do you know my name? Do you know me?”

”I am Ye Qing!” Ye Qing laughed, ”We were classmates back then!”

”Ye Qing?” Zhou Yong was even more surprised and said, ”The name sounds familiar. Sorry, I really can’t recall at the moment. Were you in the same year as me? Or a year below?”

”What same year or below! We were in the same class!” Ye Qing said, ”Remember I lived in the dorm opposite yours, and Gao Shibao from your dorm is also my fellow townsman!”

”Gao Shibao?” Zhou Yong stared at Ye Qing for a long time and suddenly realized, pointing at Ye Qing, ”Oh, right, I remember now. Ye Qing, Ye Qing, was that you who often picked leftovers in the cafeteria? I remember, I remember, everyone even gave you a nickname, calling you Trash Can!”

Ye Qing smiled slightly. Ever since his habit of picking leftovers in the school’s cafeteria was discovered, this nickname ”Trash Can” had stuck with him for three whole years, to the point where people forgot his real name. Unexpectedly, returning to his alma mater this time and meeting old classmates, they couldn’t recall him but remembered the nickname ”Trash Can.” It’s hard to say if that’s sad or ironic.

”Where is Professor Chen?” Ye Qing asked softly. In fact, during school, his relationship with Zhou Yong wasn’t particularly good. The excitement was because they spent four years together as classmates, and not seeing each other for six years inevitably brought some excitement. However, Zhou Yong’s attitude and manner of speaking made Ye Qing a bit uncomfortable. Therefore, Ye Qing wasn’t planning to waste much breath with Zhou Yong.

”Professor Chen just went out for a very important research project. Originally, I was in charge of the project, but I’m still quite young, and the partners insisted on having a more reputable academic leader to oversee it. Coincidentally, Professor Chen is my mentor, so I came to invite him.” Zhou Yong smiled proudly and said, ”This project is quite good, and if fully completed, I could earn about Five hundred thousand. If I can take on two or three such projects a year, I wouldn’t need to do anything else for the rest of the year.”

While Zhou Yong spoke, he occasionally glanced at Ye Qing to gauge his reaction. Back in school, Ye Qing’s grades were the best in the class, which really annoyed Zhou Yong. So now he purposely boasted about his current situation to make Ye Qing feel envious.

Ye Qing smiled faintly and said, ”Since Professor Chen is not here, I’ll come and visit another day.”

Ye Qing’s reaction left Zhou Yong very frustrated. He had expected Ye Qing would be envious of his words. After all, his current position and earnings were considered outstanding among their peers, and many classmates envied his current life. He had mentioned it in front of Ye Qing to evoke some envy. Unexpectedly, Ye Qing remained so calm, it was hard for him to accept. Why wasn’t this guy envious?

”Don’t be in such a hurry.” Zhou Yong quickly stopped Ye Qing and said, ”We’ve finally met after so long, why rush off? Come, come, sit for a while, sit for a while.”

Without giving Ye Qing a chance to refuse, Zhou Yong directly pulled him onto the sofa and said with a smile, ”Oh, old classmate, what’s the rush? Just because Professor Chen isn’t here doesn’t mean you can’t chat with an old classmate. Really, after not seeing each other for years, our relationship shouldn’t have faded to this point!”

Ye Qing smiled slightly and said, ”I see you’re quite busy; I didn’t want to disturb you.”

”It’s fine, what’s there to be busy about?” Zhou Yong laughed, ”I’m now just employed at the university and about to be evaluated for an associate professorship. There are only about five or six classes a week, so it’s quite leisurely. In my spare time, I take on some projects outside. One is to do some research, and the twos to earn some extra money. You know, in the Capital, relying on salary alone can’t sustain a living, and buying an apartment costs several million. Fortunately, I’ve been doing well these past years. Just the other day, I finished renovating my apartment, bought a one hundred square meter place at the fifth ring, over three million. The renovation alone cost over Fifty thousand. Oh, this money, I don’t know how to put it, it’s so insubstantial, used up with just a few expenses. I’m still planning to save up for a car for commuting. Seems like I’ll have to postpone this plan until after the new year. But if we really wait until after the new year, maybe I’ll raise the target a bit. I fancy a BMW, plan to save up five or sixty thousand to buy a BMW as a commuter car, it fits me well.”

Sitting on the sofa, Zhou Yong talked endlessly about his current living situation, clearly very satisfied with his present state. Indeed, among graduates of the same year, his life was something many people envied. After all, in six years since graduation, making three or four million, buying a house and a car, stable work at a prestigious institution like Northern University, and becoming an associate professor, his future could honestly be described as limitless.

But all of this wasn’t very important to Ye Qing, nor something he cared about. So despite Zhou Yong’s enthusiastic narrative, Ye Qing didn’t react with envy as Zhou Yong had hoped. Instead, Ye Qing remained very calm, as if just chatting normally, without showing a bit of envy, which further displeased Zhou Yong.

Damn, I am so well-off now, saying so much, can’t you at least show a bit of envy? Nothing at all, making me waste my breath!

”By the way, I got engaged a few days ago.” Zhou Yong suddenly said, ”Do you know who I’m engaged to?”

Ye Qing smiled faintly but said nothing. Seeing him like this, Zhou Yong grew even more anxious, he wanted to wait for Ye Qing to ask. However, Ye Qing not asking meant he couldn’t continue the topic.

”Let me tell you the truth, I’m engaged to Yang Yueru!” Since Ye Qing didn’t ask, Zhou Yong just said it out himself, otherwise, there would be no way to move the conversation forward.

”You remember Yang Yueru, right? She was the department flower back then, the beautiful one. So many guys in our department treated her like a Goddess. But relationships depend on fate, and in the end, it was me who ended up with her!” Zhou Yong laughed heartily at Ye Qing and said, ”By the way, back then I remember, your eyes were very fiery watching her!”

Ye Qing smiled faintly; he indeed remembered Yang Yueru. However, at the time, he didn’t feel anything for her. In fact, given his circumstances at the time, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking about romantic affairs. His life was simple: focus on school and surviving. No girl in school would choose a guy who picked leftovers in the cafeteria as a boyfriend. So, during those years, Ye Qing didn’t bother with romantic concerns and never entertained thoughts about any girls. Therefore, when Zhou Yong mentioned Yang Yueru, Ye Qing didn’t have much reaction and remained just as calm.

Nevertheless, his calm demeanor drove Zhou Yong almost mad with anxiety. Zhou Yong boasted so much, just to elicit envy from Ye Qing, but Ye Qing was too calm. Not showing a trace of envy was one thing, but not even saying a word, what did that mean?

Clenching his teeth, Zhou Yong finally played his trump card, asking, ”Oh, Trash... I mean, Ye Qing, what are you doing these days? Doing well financially? Have you bought a house? Got married?”

Ye Qing smiled faintly, ”After graduating from college, I joined the army for five years and just recently retired. Haven’t bought a house yet, though there was a relocation compensation back home with a house. But I have a younger brother and sister, so they have to live in it. So currently, I don’t have a house of my own. As for marriage, I haven’t planned it yet.”

Hearing Ye Qing’s words, Zhou Yong was immediately overjoyed. The situation Ye Qing described was a world apart from his current life.