30: Chapter 30 She looks down on money and only values ​​sincerity, then I'll show her what hard work really is.

At 12:15 PM the next day, the sun in Nanqiao City was scorching.

Fang Jiming rode a shared bike with a loose chain that clanked loudly, traveling along the five-kilometer road from Qiaonan Old Street to the city center.

The UV rays beating down on his head were searingly hot, and a large, dark patch of sweat had already soaked through the back of his gray hoodie.

He passed three ice drink shops, four bubble tea shops, and a convenience store having a sale, but he didn't enter any of them.

Because he had done his homework last night.

He had scoured Teacher Wen Ruyan's social media feed, going all the way from 2019 to yesterday.

Teacher Wen Ruyan's posts consisted of teaching insights, reading notes, and photos of various coffees.

And the item that appeared most frequently in those coffee photos was a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato.

Under every photo of a Caramel Macchiato, she had captioned it with the same smiling sun emoji.

From this, Fang Jiming concluded that this woman's obsession with Caramel Macchiatos was etched into her DNA.

The problem was that there was no Starbucks within a three-kilometer radius of Qiaonan Old Street in Nanqiao.

The nearest one was on the first floor of Wanda Plaza in the city center.

So, he was currently using a shared bike with a speed of 15 kilometers per hour, attempting to cross half of Nanqiao City to buy a 32-yuan coffee for a female teacher who might not even appreciate it.

Fang Jiming: (； one_ one)

As he pedaled, he cursed himself in his heart.

"Fang Jiming, are you sick in the head?"

"You have 200 million in your hands; would it kill you to take a taxi?"

"If a taxi won't do, you could even order a delivery service."

"Why on earth do you have to ride a shared bike?" He wiped away some sweat. "To exercise?"

He certainly knew that taking a taxi was more convenient and that using a delivery service was easier.

But he had thought about it all night and reached an important strategic conclusion: people like Teacher Wen Ruyan didn't buy into that rich person shtick.

She looked down on showing off wealth, looked down on pulling strings, and looked down on everything that could be bought with money.

What she valued was sincerity.

And the best vehicle for sincerity was sweat.

A man riding a shared bike for five kilometers under the scorching sun just to buy a cup of coffee she liked.

This act itself was a love letter that didn't need to be written.

By the time he parked the bike at the entrance of Wanda Plaza, he was soaked through, and beads of sweat were dripping down from his forehead.

He walked into Starbucks and shivered under the embrace of the air conditioning, wiping the sweat from his face with the back of his hand while waiting in line.

"One grande Caramel Macchiato," he tapped on the counter. "Hot, extra milk."

Fang Jiming remembered that Teacher Wen Ruyan had a photo with a caption saying that extra milk was the correct way to enjoy it.

The barista looked at his drenched appearance, their eyes filled with a hint of bewilderment.

Fang Jiming: (˘ω˘)

He didn't care at all, taking out his phone to scan the code and pay the 32 yuan.

After the coffee was ready, he carefully placed the cup into a paper bag, then got back on the clanking shared bike and rode back the way he came, facing the sun.

Five kilometers there and five kilometers back; it took him forty minutes.

By the time he arrived at No. 19 Middle School, it was exactly 1:00 PM, with half an hour left of the lunch break.

He wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve and walked into the office building, carrying the still-steaming Caramel Macchiato.

Teacher Wen Ruyan's office door was open.

She was sitting at her desk, wearing black-rimmed glasses and grading essays, with a half-eaten apple beside her.

Fang Jiming knocked on the doorframe.

Teacher Wen Ruyan didn't even look up.

"Come in."

Fang Jiming walked over and gently placed the Caramel Macchiato on the top left corner of her desk, with the green logo facing her.

Teacher Wen Ruyan's pen tip paused on the paper for a second.

She turned her head to look at the coffee, then looked up at Fang Jiming, her brows knitting together.

"Fang Jiming, what is this?"

Fang Jiming stood with his hands in his hoodie pockets, looking innocent.

"Teacher Wen, you lent me your Physics lesson plan book yesterday and comforted my wounded soul in the hallway; this coffee is my tuition fee for becoming your student."

"By the way, I'd like to ask Teacher Wen how to write lesson plans in the future. A Physics illiterate like me is counting on you to save my life."

Teacher Wen Ruyan stared at him for two seconds, her gaze shifting to the coffee cup before returning to his face.

"Where did you go to buy this in the middle of the day?" She pushed up her glasses. "There isn't a shop like this within a three-kilometer radius of Qiaonan Old Street."

Fang Jiming blinked.

"I rode my bike to Wanda in the city center to buy it; it's good exercise, right?" He smiled. "Substitute teachers have low salaries and can't afford a gym membership, so I just use the shared bike as a spin bike."

Teacher Wen Ruyan looked down at the label on the cup.

The label indeed said Wanda Plaza store, and the production time was 12:45 PM.

This meant he had left at 12:00, ridden for over twenty minutes to Wanda, and then ridden for over twenty minutes back after buying it.

Right in the middle of the day when the sun was at its fiercest.

Teacher Wen Ruyan: (•̀_•́)

She took off her glasses, placed them on the desk, and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingertips.

"Is there something wrong with your brain?"

"Wouldn't ordering delivery have been fine?"

"If you got heatstroke and collapsed on the road," she sighed, "tomorrow's social news headline in Qiaonan Old Street would be 'Substitute Teacher Collapses on Street While Riding Bike'."

Fang Jiming grinned.

"Delivery would take at least forty minutes, and I was afraid it would get cold and taste bad." He pointed at the cup. "A hot Caramel Macchiato must be drunk within thirty minutes to be at its best."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's hand paused as she picked up the cup.

She glanced at Fang Jiming, her eyes filled with a mix of vigilance and an indescribable softness.

"How did you know I like Caramel Macchiatos?"

Fang Jiming feigned an expression of sudden realization.

"I just bought it randomly; did I guess right?" He clapped his hands. "It's fate, Teacher Wen."

Teacher Wen Ruyan put the cup down and looked at him askance; her expression was full of disbelief.

Fang Jiming: (ᇂ_ᇂ)

Knowing that if he stayed any longer his cover would be blown, he quickly took two steps back.

"Teacher Wen, enjoy your drink, I'll head back to prepare my lessons."

"About the lesson plans, I'll ask you another day; no rush, no rush."

As he turned to leave, Teacher Wen Ruyan spoke up from behind him in a muffled voice.

"Fang Jiming."

He stopped and turned back.

Teacher Wen Ruyan picked up the Caramel Macchiato and took a small sip, the curve of her lips hidden by the rim of the cup, making it hard to tell.

"Don't ride your bike there in the future."

"The beans at the Wanda Plaza branch aren't as good as the ones at the East City District branch."

"The East City District one is on Renmin Road, nine kilometers from the school."

Fang Jiming froze for a second, then his eyes curved into crescents.

Translated into plain language, what this woman just said meant that he could buy it again, but he should go to the one further away.

This was clearly her assigning him extra homework.

He stood at the doorway, made an 'okay' gesture at her, and turned to walk out, his steps feeling light.

He walked to the corner of the corridor, and after confirming that Teacher Wen Ruyan couldn't see him, he took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the System Panel.