The new semester in college always brings joy to some and sorrow to others. Having spent half a year at Kelly Women’s College, Su Ziceng always found herself unconsciously comparing it with Daoquan University - it seems in a woman’s nature to make all sorts of comparisons, from bags and cosmetics to comparing ex-boyfriends and current ones; ideally down to the number of moles each has.
Kelly Women’s College lags behind the trendy and bustling atmosphere of Daoquan University, featuring quite a few rigid and peculiar rules, yet it offers some degree of flexibility. Unlike the impersonal conventional universities, Kelly publicly released the academic reports only after the seniors returned to the school.
Apart from quitting the equestrian class midway, Su Ziceng miraculously passed all her courses without cheating, though her baking class was notably frustrating, achieving just a "Satisfactory" grade.
Students like Yan Wuxu, who diligently applied themselves, naturally excelled, and this semester, she smoothly won the Kelly Women’s College "Wei Lei Award." After growing closer to Su Qingzhang, Yan Wuxu began to think of herself as partly belonging to the Su Family and confided many past events to Ziceng, revealing that she gained admission to Kelly through Teacher Pello’s recommendation.
"So, Teacher Pello is actually a good person," Yan Wuxu said as they were heading towards the new "Mysticism" class. Several female students passing by, overhearing Pello’s name, shot glaring looks filled with unmistakable hostility.
"Goddamn, Valentine’s Day is over, and there are still so many taboos," Su Ziceng was relieved that she had sent her gift the night before, albeit in a drunken state, most of which she barely remembered, but at least the gift was sent.
"Yesterday, Pello nearly offended all the female students in the school, returning hundreds of Valentine’s Day gifts, including a cake personally baked by Wen Maixue," Su Ziceng didn’t expect Yan Wuxu to engage in gossip, but she always managed to hear some from her.
"Sending him desserts is less appreciated than sending sweet wine," Su Ziceng opened the classroom door—a Feng Shui class with a new curriculum, even the door to the teacher’s room had a bizarre push-style wooden design. Upon entering, you must change into disposable slippers.
"This is one of the graduation courses, it must be taken seriously, and being a new class, it attracted quite a number of students," Yan Wuxu commented while picking up a pair of slippers and looking into the classroom.
Today, there was no snow outside; the sunlight reflected off the ground snow, making the teaching building much brighter than usual. However, inside the "Mysticism Classroom," it was quite murky. Both their eyes took some time to adjust, spotting the densely packed heads of students.
All blinds were drawn, allowing slivers of light to peek through the gaps. There were no desks nor educational equipment, just a long table that could accommodate four to five people standing side by side, covered with Astrology Cards, a Crystal Ball, an Eight Diagram Mirror, Copper Coins, and a gleaming turtle shell.
"Why does it smell like toilet air freshener here?" Su Ziceng peered beyond the so-called "feudal operation table" and noticed that each corner of the classroom had a Brass Incense Burner lit.
The classroom accommodated around fifty people, each confined to a tiny spot on the floor. It was so cramped that even breathing felt strained.
"Can’t they divide it into several batches? It’s like being stuck in a barrel of paste," Su Ziceng muttered.
"They say the new teacher is a revered master, hard to hire, teaching only once a week, chosen by many seniors for the entire school year," Yan Wuxu replied.
In the dimly lit room, the door opened and a hunched figure walked in. From Su Ziceng’s angle, she could only see the feet at first, and upon closer inspection, noticed a hole around the big toe on a yellow sock.
Almost at the same time, a foot odor permeated the room. Many eager, pretty faces immediately turned sour. Some even couldn’t resist opening the blinds a bit to air the room.
But, after all, it’s Kelly Women’s College; everyone upheld their disciplined, graceful learning ethos—no one stormed out.
Su Ziceng breathed shallowly for a few moments, observing the teacher comfortably settling next to the long table, comfortably crossing his legs. A familiar-looking bamboo pole rested next to him.
No wonder the classroom was set up so dark, no wonder incense was used; it turns out the so-called master is the fortune teller from Yuhua Eye in the Sixth District’s Diagonal Alley.