Chapter 101: Wu Family Young Lady

However, Zu An’s thoughts quickly returned to the arithmetic class he was about to teach in the Sky Class. He needed to make a stylish first impression; simply showing up wouldn't highlight his extraordinary nature.

After racking his brains for a while, Zu An's eyes suddenly lit up. He hurried towards the administration building, but the staff there informed him that Shang Liuyu wasn't in her office; she might be resting in the teachers' dorms or classrooms.

Watching Zu An rush off towards the teachers' dorms, the staff couldn't help but mock him behind his back:

"Another one gone crazy."

"But Teacher Shang is truly charming. Haven't you noticed how even Director Lu keeps trying to curry favor with her?"

"Isn't that Lu De fellow already married?"

"It's a middle-aged man's second spring, you know how it is."

"Director Lu is one thing, but this kid also wants to pursue Teacher Shang? He's completely overestimating himself."

"Why didn't you tell him that Teacher Shang never allows outsiders into her courtyard? He's going there for nothing."

"Hmph, a student from the Yellow Class somehow pulled strings to become a teacher. It's good for him to suffer a bit."

Zu An was unaware he was being made fun of. He hurried to the teachers' dorm area and, following the previous directions, arrived outside Shang Liuyu's courtyard.

*Knock, knock, knock.* Zu An began knocking on the door.

While knocking, he subtly took out his key token and tried it, but the door showed no sign of opening.

It seemed that having a universal key was just a pipe dream.

"Who is it?" A very lazy voice came from inside the courtyard, but it sounded somewhat cold now, as if the speaker was annoyed at being disturbed while doing something.

"It's me, Sister Shang!" Zu An quickly replied. Of course, he wouldn't call her 'Teacher Shang' like others; that sounded too formal.

"Do you need something?" Shang Liuyu's voice echoed from the courtyard again.

Zu An looked at the unmoving gate, wondering what she meant. *With our friendship, you won't even open the door for me?* But seeing as he was at a disadvantage, he honestly replied, "There's a piece of music I'd like Sister Shang to help me play."

Silence fell over the courtyard. After a moment, the courtyard gate opened a crack, and Shang Liuyu's cool voice invited, "Come in."

Zu An didn't think much of it and pushed the door open. He found Shang Liuyu's courtyard much more secluded than his own. What truly caught his eye, however, was a large pond in her courtyard, its water shimmering and crystal clear.

"A private swimming pool! That's so luxurious!" Zu An murmured to himself, thinking, *I should also tell the beautiful headmistress why my courtyard doesn't have one. Isn't this discrimination? More importantly, my 7.5 million taels shouldn't have been spent in vain.*

"Do you have a new piece of music?" A gentle voice asked. Zu An turned his head and his eyes lit up.

Shang Liuyu was currently tilting her head, wiping her wet hair with a towel, as if she had just bathed. Some water droplets still clung to her skin, and these clear beads of water paled in comparison to her fair, snow-white skin.

She was wrapped in a loose, bath-robe like house dress, her delicate collarbones exposed to the air, revealing milky-white skin.

The dress length was just right, revealing the graceful curves of her calves and a pair of perfect, slender feet, with nails painted a vibrant balsam hue, looking incredibly vivid.

Shang Liuyu casually tossed her hair behind her and reclined in a wicker chair hanging from a nearby tree, exuding an air of extreme languor. "You came all this way to find me, not just to stare at me, did you?"

"Uh, no, I have a piece of music I'd like you to help me play." Zu An, for the first time in his life, blushed. He always felt that the woman before him possessed a unique temperament. Most women, upon noticing an impolite gaze, would either be shy or angry, or at least show some negative emotion.

But Shang Liuyu's eyes, vast and captivating like the ocean, seemed to hold a detached wisdom from worldly affairs, and an all-encompassing gentleness, which made Zu An feel rather embarrassed.

"What kind of music?" Shang Liuyu's eyes filled with curiosity. Indeed, many people had used this excuse to approach her over the years, as her love for music was no secret. However, very few managed to impress her, until she coincidentally met this young man in the pavilion last time. The music he played had surprised her and even stirred the deepest emotions hidden within her heart.

The style of music was clearly different from what was common in this world, but music, regardless of its path, ultimately aims to touch the human soul. Therefore, she was full of curiosity and goodwill towards this young man. She couldn't understand how someone so young could play such emotionally rich and beautiful music.

"This piece is called 'God of Gamblers'!" Zu An had been wondering how to make a cool entrance later, recalling scenes of various big shots appearing in different films and TV shows from his past life. He finally concluded that to be cool, a powerful BGM (background music) was essential.

But there were no recording devices in this world. He certainly couldn't play it himself while walking in; that would be too undignified. After much thought, Shang Liuyu was the only one in this world who could help him play it.

Of course, finding an excuse to see this beautiful teacher again was also a major reason.

"God of Gamblers?" Shang Liuyu's expression was strange. "That name certainly suits you, but I wonder how the music is."

Clearly, she had heard about Zu An winning 7.5 million taels at the Silver Hook Casino.

"I'll roughly demonstrate it for you; see if you can recreate it." Although Zu An remembered the melody, playing it was quite troublesome, as many of the sounds were synthesized later in his previous life and not simply produced by instruments.

At first, Shang Liuyu was relaxed and didn't take it too seriously, but after hearing the tune he hummed, her expression instantly changed, and she unconsciously sat up straight.

After humming, Zu An nervously asked her, "How is it?"

Shang Liuyu sighed in relief. "This tune seems to have a magical power that makes people's blood boil involuntarily. Even I feel a tingling sensation all over. It's somewhat like the battle songs of the beastmen, yet also different. How did you do it?"

"Uh, don't worry about how I did it. I'm curious if you can recreate and play it." Zu An quickly asked. He wasn't nervous about whether the tune sounded good or if she liked it; after all, these had already been proven in his previous life.

"This tune is a bit strange. Let me try. Can you demonstrate it again?" Shang Liuyu brought out a peculiar instrument from the house, somewhat resembling a harp. Its body, made of an unknown material, was as translucent as jade and emitted a beautiful blue glow.

Shang Liuyu's slender fingers glided over it. The timbre was vastly different from the harps he had seen in his previous life. It felt like the range was much wider, even capable of producing sounds that instruments from his previous life couldn't.

Shang Liuyu recalled the melody she had just heard, her slender hands stroking the harp. When unsure, she would confirm with Zu An again. Gradually, the 'God of Gamblers' BGM began to be recreated in this world.

"Why do you suddenly need this song?" With only a few details left to perfect, Shang Liuyu relaxed considerably and looked at the young man opposite her with some curiosity.

Zu An replied, "Of course, it's for my entrance background music..." He then briefly explained that he was going to teach in the Sky Class soon.

Shang Liuyu couldn't help but smile. "You're really putting a lot of effort into making Miss Chu look at you differently."

Zu An waved his hand. "It's not just for her. More importantly, this is my first class as a teacher, so the entrance can't be sloppy. Oh, by the way, do you think I should wear some makeup, or maybe glasses and a beard to look more mature?"

Before Shang Liuyu could answer, a girl's voice suddenly rang out, "Aha, so it *is* you, surnamed Shang, you're here after all!"

Her voice was actually clear and quite pleasant, but her domineering tone made it less comfortable to hear.

Zu An looked in the direction of the voice. Because he had forgotten to close the door, a girl in a red dress was standing at the entrance. Around her neck was a large pearl necklace, which further accentuated her extremely fair and soft complexion, like cream, seemingly about to drip water. On her wrist was a jade bangle, clearly very valuable at first glance.

He quickly scanned her, noting that she was adorned with expensive jewelry everywhere.

"Doesn't this woman worry about getting robbed when she goes out?" Zu An wondered with a hint of malice, but he had to admit that despite all the gold and silver, the girl didn't have the vulgar air of a nouveau riche. Perhaps it was because her eyes sparkled, her eyebrows were long and slender, and she was simply stunningly beautiful?

"Who are you?" Shang Liuyu looked at the red-clad girl before her with some confusion.

The girl immediately became angry. "Surnamed Shang, you're pretending not to know me? You've clearly taught me before!"

Shang Liuyu said calmly, "I generally don't remember students' names."

Her elegant demeanor made the girl gasp, feeling unable to erupt.

At that moment, a man stepped out from beside her and introduced, "This is Miss Wu Qing, the eldest daughter of Duke Yangquan, the Wu family."

Another person beside him chimed in, "She's ranked fifth in the school's beauty rankings. How could Teacher Shang not have heard of such a figure?"

"Holy crap, ruthless?" A familiar melody from Zu An's previous life echoed in his mind.

However, his sudden exclamation immediately drew the gaze of the three towards him. Wu Qing's face turned somewhat awkward. "How dare you take advantage of me?"

Anger value from Wu Qing +233!

Zu An knew there was a huge misunderstanding and quickly explained, "I said 'holy crap, ruthless,' not 'I want to shag you'... Uh, anyway, it's not what you think."

He suddenly realized that he was only making things worse. Even with his usual eloquence, he didn't know how to explain himself now.

"How dare you insult Miss Wu with such vulgar language!" The two attendants beside the girl immediately wore expressions of disbelief and began pointing and scolding him.

"Tell me your name. I want to see which family produced someone so audacious." Wu Qing's face was frosty, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.