A Blessing in Disguise (Revised)

Liu Yuewang felt it was a bit hot, so she took off her stockings, crossed her arms over her chest, walked to the balcony, and sat on a small stool with her hands on her lap.

She discovered that outside the balcony garden she had cultivated, an old osmanthus tree, whose age she didn't know, was starting to sprout buds.

I closed my eyes and took a sniff; sure enough, there was a very faint floral scent in the air.

"Ah, it's blooming again this year." Liu Yuewang recalled the beginning of "The Old Capital" and, in a fitting manner, echoed Chieko's sentiment.

The trunk of the osmanthus tree was much thicker than Liu Yuewang's waist, but of course, its rough, old bark and moss-covered trunk could never compare to Liu Yuewang's delicate body...

Liu Yuewang recalled her long chats with the "uncle," which were actually quite pleasant. She could always find a lot of academic inspiration from his erudite conversation, such as this recent paper.

Deleting the person was somewhat impulsive, but Liu Yuewang was indeed angry. This uncle was always outspoken and never cared about things that women particularly disliked.

Women become more sensitive to age than men can imagine after they turn thirty, especially Liu Yuewang, who is approaching forty. She prays that forty will never come, because after forty, she will truly be heading towards menopause.

That was outrageous! I still get angry thinking about it now.

Liu Yuewang sat on a small stool, holding her phone, and searched for "how to recover chat history of deleted friends," but Liu Yuewang couldn't figure out any of the methods.

The only simple way is to delete him yourself; if he doesn't know, you can see the remaining chat messages on his phone.

The chat messages weren't important; what mattered was whether Liu Chang'an had them on his phone.

That's impossible, isn't it? That's absurd.

But once Liu Yuewang had a doubt in her heart, she felt that there were many doubts... She had doubted some things before, such as suspecting that Liu Chang'an was that uncle's son.

Now she's starting to have doubts... Oh dear, this is so embarrassing! If it's true, then she absolutely has to kill Liu Chang'an to save face.

Liu Yuewang steadied herself and came out again, stretching as she casually said, "So I've already seen it... I've been too busy lately. Luckily, I have an online friend who guided me through finding sources and supporting arguments. It's so convenient to have someone help me with direction and provide guidance when writing a paper."

Liu Chang'an recalled Liu Yuewang's sudden interruption of the conversation, and also remembered the casual chats he had had with Liu Yuewang when they exchanged messages.

A person talks a lot every day, especially a good conversationalist. Topics range from the most mundane to the South China Sea, from the raising of Wagyu cattle to the necessity of cultivating a sense of taste through the production of fermented black beans. They can discuss how Mamoru Tonami's "The Establishment of the Song Dynasty Scholar-Officials" leads to the history of the decline of great medieval clans as evidenced by "Annotations on the Collected Works of Wei Zhuang." They can also discuss the intersection of figures like Xia Zhiqing, Zhang Ailing, Qian Zhongshu, and Shen Congwen, and why Eileen Zhang Ailing, despite working for the United States. intelligence agency in support of anti-China and anti-communist propaganda, is frequently commemorated by domestic media, while Guo Moruo receives drastically different treatment.

Right, here's the problem. During that time, when Liu Yuewang asked me about information related to Guo Moruo, I said the same things I just repeated. So now Liu Yuewang is testing me. She realized that the uncle she often chatted with while pretending to be a little girl was actually the boy in front of her.

The old man lost his horse, but the horse stumbled.

If you walk along the river often, you're bound to find some fish.

Even the wisest person can make a mistake, which will be discovered by the fool.

Liu Chang'an held the teacup, unconsciously changing his grip, holding it with one hand at the top, because only older men would hold a teacup with both hands.

Unable to be certain and filled with doubt, she used the limited wisdom in her mind to probe.

Liu Chang'an put his hand in his pocket and turned off his phone. He didn't know that Liu Yuewang had deleted him. Liu Yuewang usually contacted him through social media apps and didn't have that uncle's phone number. As long as she didn't send any messages and Liu Chang'an's phone beeped with a notification sound, there was no problem.

She had only managed to find that older man in real life by sheer luck last time.

"Our first year consists of basic courses, so we shouldn't have to write any papers." Liu Chang'an took a sip of tea, turned and smiled at Liu Yuewang.

That smile was so sunny and youthful, quite unlike the image of that carefree older man. Liu Yuewang nodded in agreement. "Spend more time in the lab during your first and second years, and hopefully you can publish one or more SCI papers in your third year. But you're clearly more interested in literature and history, so why did you choose to study biology?"

"I'm quite interested in myself... well, I'm quite interested in the human body. I want to study myself more, to explore natural evolution and supernatural evolution." Speaking of the human body, Liu Chang'an noticed that Liu Yuewang had taken off her stockings, revealing skin as white as snow. It seems that An Nuan inherited this trait from Liu Yuewang. Whenever he saw An Nuan jumping around on the court, he always found it pleasing to the eye.

Liu Yuewang nodded, then stood up to refill her cup with water, turned on the TV, and changed a few channels, seemingly having nothing more to ask Liu Chang'an.

"It's great to be able to choose a major based on your interests. Guess what I wanted to study when I was a child?" Liu Yuewang suddenly asked.

Liu Chang'an remained silent. Of course he knew, but why would he say anything? How could she have successfully set a trap when he had already begun to realize Liu Yuewang's intentions?

"Could it be writing novels? Many people in your generation probably wanted to be women like Zhang Ailing or Qiong Yao," Liu Chang'an guessed.

Liu Yuewang's expression changed, and she suspected that Liu Chang'an was insulting her, but she couldn't be sure... However, if that uncle said that, Liu Yuewang was sure it was sarcasm.

"I wanted to study computer science back then," Liu Yuewang said, referring to a popular major at the time.

"That's good." Liu Chang'an nodded.

"Writing novels isn't really a profession." Liu Yuewang tapped her finger on her cup. "I wrote a novel, but after a few tens of thousands of words, I couldn't continue. When I was reading it, I felt like I could write it too, but actually writing it is a different story."

"May I have the honor of having my eyes on it?"

"It's on my computer... I didn't upload it online. Never mind, sorry." Liu Yuewang refused.

"Oh."

The conversation had ended, Liu Yuewang was just about to find a topic to naturally probe when An Nuan came out after tidying up the kitchen.

"My mom rarely brews tea for others; she makes her own tea leaves." An Nuan looked somewhat surprised. "She really treats me differently."

"Am I supposed to give your boyfriend the cold shoulder?" Liu Yuewang was in a bad mood and glared at An Nuan.

"That won't do! I'm allowed to look at him coldly." An Nuan held two cherries in her hand, reached out and hugged Liu Chang'an's neck, trying to lift him up from his seat. "I'm the only one in school who can bully him. I bully him every day."

"Alright, hurry up and leave. Stop showing off your love in front of me, it's annoying." Liu Yuewang said irritably, waving her hand to shoo them away. A girl shouldn't have any self-respect; it's like she's afraid others won't know how much she cherishes her boyfriend.

Watching Liu Chang'an and An Nuan leave, Liu Chang'a Liu Yuewang walked to the door, opened it again, peeked at their backs, thought for a moment, and then went back to make a phone call.

"Old Zhao... does your library have any rules or regulations that allow you to confiscate a student's phone if they bring it into the study room?" Liu Yuewang asked.

No, that's not the case.

"Why don't you come up with one..."

"... Professor Liu, this won't do. The students will object so much. Usually, we just ask them to silence their phones when they enter the library. What are you trying to do?"

"That's true, it's nothing, you're busy, haha."

Liu Yuewang hung up the phone and then called a police officer friend she knew. But she decided against it; calling the police would be too much of an exaggeration. She couldn't be so impulsive; after all, she was an adult. After a few words, she hung up the phone amidst the other person's strange tone.

It's a pity I don't know any thieves... I do know some, but they've already reformed and become new people; they're now locksmith experts. If I asked someone to help me with something like this, they'd probably feel insulted.

After much thought, Liu Yuewang decided that she had to take matters into her own hands. Her first option was to find an opportunity to steal Liu Chang'an's phone, and her second option was to create a new phone number.

Small account... This method is good. Liu Chang'an, if it really is you, you'd better wait for the middle-aged woman's ultimate attack.

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