148: Chapter 148 Don't Leave After Class

Leng Yue stood where she was, watching his back disappear at the school gate.

She looked down at the half-bottle of sugar water remaining in her hand. The warmth from her fingertips seemed to pass through the bottle, warming a corner of her heart.

In all her years as a police officer, she had seen all kinds of people.

But this was her first time encountering someone like Jiang Chen.

He was young and wealthy, yet he carried no trace of oily greed or vulgarity; he was steady and perceptive, flawless in his actions, and possessed a perfect sense of propriety in his interpersonal dealings.

That effortless thoughtfulness was harder to resist than any deliberate attempt to please.

"Captain Leng, let's go!" The shout from the officer in the car pulled her back to reality.

Leng Yue quickly collected her thoughts, put away the remaining food, and hurried into the police car.

Her gaze regained the sharpness expected of a criminal investigation team leader, but in a corner of her heart, that composed and open figure had already quietly left a mark.

Jiang Chen, having returned to campus, had just walked into the teaching building when his phone vibrated.

A message from Leng Yue, brief and clean: "Thank you for today. If you need assistance with follow-up cases, let me know — Leng Yue."

He looked at the screen, tapped his fingertips, replied, then put away his phone and pushed open the door to the classroom.

Outside the window, the sunlight was just right, casting dappled spots of light onto the desks through the gaps in the blinds. The classroom was filled with the laughter and chatter of students, noisy and vibrant.

Jiang Chen walked straight toward the front of the classroom and deliberately chose the seat in the very middle of the first row.

From this spot, one could look up and face the podium directly, clearly seeing the person on it. It was the seat he had specifically chosen for this class, for Su Wanqing.

Just as he stuffed his backpack into the desk compartment, a steady sound of footsteps came from the end of the corridor—the rhythm unhurried, carrying an air of competence and decisiveness.

Looking up, he saw Su Wanqing in a light apricot suit and skirt. The sharp, crisp tailoring made her figure appear even more upright and graceful.

Her long hair was elegantly tied into a low bun, revealing her slender neck and a clear, sharp jawline.

Her makeup was simple and appropriate, and her brows and eyes held the certainty and composure honed by years of teaching. Standing in front of the podium, her professional aura naturally unfolded.

She walked onto the podium carrying her lesson plan, her gaze habitually sweeping across the room. When her sight landed on Jiang Chen in the middle of the first row, the calmness in her eyes suddenly wavered, and her breathing paused for a beat.

During this period, Jiang Chen had been buried in Wantai's business layout, asset bidding, and various matters of Chenxing Capital, staying so busy for days that he had barely had time to breathe, and his contact with her had decreased significantly.

Plus, not having come to class for several days, it was as if he had disappeared. If he hadn't replied to her message, Su Wanqing would have been ready to call the police.

Seeing him suddenly sitting right in front of her, and having chosen such a straightforward, close position.

The hint of reproach, concern, and the unexpected stirrings of her heart that welled up within Su Wanqing were something only she knew the intensity of.

But she was Su Wanqing.

No matter how turbulent her heart was, the expression on her face remained dignified and steady, showing not a hint of anything unusual.

She tapped the podium gently with her fingertips. When she spoke, her voice was steady and clear, though to those familiar with her, it held a trace of something slightly deeper than usual: "Class begins."

The students instantly quieted down and sat up straight in unison.

Teacher Su's classes were always rigorous and professional; no one dared to be negligent.

Su Wanqing opened her lesson plan, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote the topic of the lesson on the blackboard.

"Compliance Mergers and Acquisitions and Valuation of Cash Flow Assets."

Her handwriting was elegant and sharp, her strokes steady and powerful; every stroke revealed a solid professional foundation.

She forced herself to suppress the waves in her heart, her gaze subconsciously sweeping over Jiang Chen in the first row before quickly pulling it back.

She pushed all the surging emotions to the deepest part of her heart and gathered all her attention onto the lesson content.

The next forty-five minutes was a finance lecture that could be called a model of its kind.

From the logic of asset screening to the process of compliance M&A, and then to valuation models, Su Wanqing was clear and logical, explaining profound concepts in simple terms; every knowledge point was explained thoroughly and precisely.

Her logic was as meticulous as a woven net, the rhythm perfectly paced; there was not a single stutter or oversight throughout.

The students below listened intently, their notes filling several pages, completely unaware that Teacher Su, who appeared calm and composed on the podium, was experiencing an unknown undercurrent in her heart because of that gaze in the first row.

But Jiang Chen saw it all clearly.

Sitting in the first row, he could see every subtle reaction of Su Wanqing just by looking up.

Her gaze would always drift toward him inadvertently, and every time they made eye contact, the knuckles holding the chalk would tighten slightly.

When she turned to write on the blackboard, a faint red would quietly creep onto the tips of her ears. These tiny, extreme details were all flaws in her facade of calmness.

Jiang Chen sat quietly in the first row, hands folded on the edge of the desk, his gaze always fixed on the shining woman on the podium.

Every one of her logical deductions, every composed turn, every precise choice of words—he saw it all.

He could read the hint of resentment and care hidden deep in her eyes, and he admired even more that, despite being disturbed by emotions and watched by him the entire time, she could still control the class flawlessly.

This contrast—professional and flawless in public, yet emotionally vulnerable to him in private—was in itself impossible to look away from.

Halfway through the class, Su Wanqing turned to explain a core knowledge point, and her gaze caught Jiang Chen's eyes unexpectedly.

The close-range gaze made the hand holding the chalk tighten sharply, and the blush on her ear tips deepened a little more.

But after pausing for less than half a second, she flowed smoothly into the next part of the explanation, turned back to continue writing on the blackboard, her teaching rhythm completely undisturbed.

Jiang Chen saw it, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He lowered his head unobtrusively, tore a corner off his notebook, wrote a few words, and folded it into a small note.

Taking advantage of the moment when the students in the front row were looking down to take notes, he raised his hand and gently passed it over, and the note landed precisely next to Su Wanqing's lesson plan.

Su Wanqing was turning to the next page of her lesson plan when she caught a glimpse of the note out of the corner of her eye. Her heart skipped a beat.

She lowered her head without changing her expression, used the action of organizing her lesson plan to quickly snatch the note into her palm, and only unfolded it quietly when she turned to write on the blackboard.

Jiang Chen's handwriting on the note was vigorous and powerful, with only six words: "Don't leave after class, wait for me."

The six words were like pebbles, precisely thrown into the most unsettled waters of her heart.

Ripples spread out, and the lingering grievances and anxiety from before were smoothed away silently just like that.

She carefully folded the note and put it in her pocket. When she turned back around, her eyes were noticeably calmer, and even the tone of her lecture had softened a bit.

But professionalism was still professionalism; where she needed to be strict, she remained strict, and where she needed to explain thoroughly, she didn't miss a thing. Until the bell rang for the end of class, the rhythm and quality of the entire lesson showed no slackening.

As the bell rang, the students packed up their books and left one after another. The noise in the classroom gradually receded, and in the end, only two people remained.

Su Wanqing was not in a hurry to leave.

She closed her lesson plan unhurriedly and tidied up the items on the podium one by one.

This action was twice as slow as usual, as if she were deliberately prolonging some kind of wait.

The professional Teacher Su who had been in class just a moment ago, now, with the departure of the students, shed some of her professional veneer, revealing the Su Wanqing behind it who carried little emotions.

She walked slowly to the first row and stood in front of Jiang Chen.

The slight reproach and grievances she had been brewing vanished the moment she looked up and saw Jiang Chen's face.

The exhaustion between the man's brows could not be hidden at all; his jawline showed the tension of days of busyness, and though the weariness in his eyes was faint, she caught it at a glance.

All the little emotions, all the unease and complaints, the moment she saw his exhausted appearance, turned entirely into deep heartache.

Su Wanqing's heart softened, and all her previous calculations were thrown to the back of her mind.

Her gaze toward him was so gentle it could drip water, and her tone was soft and concerned, without a hint of blame, only full of heartache: "You must be exhausted these past few days, right?"