Gene Determines

An Nuan didn't order rice today. She trains less these days, so she doesn't feel that starving hunger she used to get if she skipped it. As a volleyball-playing beauty, maintaining her weight is a must, but she doesn't have that habit some girls have of skipping meals whenever possible.

An Nuan drank porridge, and after piling all the beef onto Liu Chang'an's plate, she paired the porridge with wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. It tasted excellent; this restaurant specialized in porridge back in the day—it was their trade—but because it's located near the school and the people of Junsha aren't particularly enthusiastic about porridge, they started serving affordable dishes instead.

"Seeing you drink porridge reminds me of Yun Niang." Liu Chang'an continued to eat his rice in a slow, measured way. When a person has lived as long as he has, they tend to do things this way—unhurried and steady. "When Shen Fu was hanging out at Yun Niang's home and got hungry with nothing to eat, Yun Niang would quietly tug on his sleeve and lead him to her room, feeding him the porridge and side dishes she'd hidden away. Then, Yun Niang's cousin Yu Heng discovered it and teased them: 'I asked for porridge and you said there was none, so it turns out you were hiding it specifically for your husband...' Back then, Yun Niang and Shen Fu weren't even married yet."

"I won't be feeding you porridge." An Nuan cupped her bowl with both hands and pulled it closer to herself.

"When Shen Fu caught smallpox, Yun Niang wasn't married to him yet either. She couldn't do much, so she ate a vegetarian diet to pray for his recovery, right up until their wedding night." Liu Chang'an shook his head slightly with a sigh. "For men, women of the ancient era were more considerate and lovable."

"I'm sorry, but this isn't a feudal society anymore. Don't expect us women to just stay home, raise children, and revolve around you men." An Nuan said with a gloating tone. She knew Liu Chang'an's mindset hadn't kept pace with the times and was in need of an overhaul. "The Six Records of a Floating Life was written by Shen Fu; of course he'd beautify himself. Yun Niang wasn't worth it. Ancient men were just hypocritical—acting deeply affectionate on one hand, while taking concubines, drinking, and frequenting brothels in the name of being 'refined' on the other. Especially those so-called talented scholars; Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, Yuan Zhen, and Fan Zhongyan were all like that."

"You're only scolding them because there are too many of their poems and essays you have to memorize." Liu Chang'an laughed. "Fan Zhongyan is actually quite enviable. When he met Zhen Jinlian, the girl was only eleven or twelve. By the time she grew up, he took this official courtesan home as his wife, and she remained chaste for him. Zhen Jinlian called herself 'Lady'... later generations of courtesans learned that title, but most didn't have Zhen Jinlian's luck to meet a Fan Zhongyan."

"Are you saying ancient men were more loyal and righteous? No celebrity or rich man today would dare to openly marry a courtesan as his wife, but ancient men dared to?"

"Your interpretation is a bit skewed. Who says no one dares to today?" Liu Chang'an shook his head. "Zhen Jinlian only made a living through her talent and looks. There are many such women today, and their social status is still quite high. If a Fan Zhongyan were to marry one home today, there just wouldn't be the 'surprise' of seeing blood on the wedding sheets."

"And why are you envying Fan Zhongyan? When did you become a lolicon? I thought you liked mature women?" An Nuan glanced at the phone Liu Chang'an had placed on the table. Her mother's phone had a fingerprint lock, and An Nuan had found an excuse to use it earlier to secretly check her WeChat, but she hadn't found Liu Chang'an. Even with his explanation, An Nuan remained curious.

It is a woman's instinct to snoop through chat logs.

"I like anyone who is good-looking, whether they are a mature woman or a young girl." Liu Chang'an tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"Pfft, shameless. The good-looking ones don't like you."

"It's enough that I like them. I never said I needed others to like me back."

"Eat faster, we'll be late."

After eating, the two leaned against the school wall, drinking orange juice. The sun was intense, the surroundings bustling, and they chatted idly.

An Nuan finished first. Biting her straw, she watched Liu Chang'an, who was enjoying his life even while sipping orange juice in his slow, unhurried way.

Liu Chang'an extended his bottle toward her. An Nuan took her straw, inserted it into his bottle, eyes darting around, and quickly sucked down the rest of his orange juice in one go.

"Your lung capacity is impressive! I couldn't tell!" Liu Chang'an laughed, looking surprised.

"Don't think only your Bai Hui has well-developed chest muscles." An Nuan's cheeks puffed out; she caught her breath and snorted dismissively. "I did it so we wouldn't be late. If I waited for you to finish drinking like that, school would be over."

Having said that, An Nuan slapped his shoulder again. He actually mocked her chest size compared to Bai Hui's again!

Back in the classroom, Huang Shan brought over someone who looked like a reporter, accompanied by two assistants. He said to An Nuan, "This is a reporter from Middle School Student magazine; they want to interview you."

Huang Shan didn't mention how An Nuan and Liu Chang'an had ignored his warnings, always appearing together.

An Nuan nodded. She was already well-versed in handling such situations. "Alright, but class is about to start."

"It won't take much of your time." The reporter smiled.

An Nuan winked at Liu Chang'an, pointed at Bai Hui, who was peering over from across the room, and followed Huang Shan to the head teacher's office.

Bai Hui was the type of girl who could rest her chest on the desk. The biggest annoyance for such girls was that they couldn't place books at the front of their desks, as it narrowed the space, yet they had to stretch their books or test papers as far forward as possible. Otherwise, when they lowered their heads, something would block their view, preventing them from seeing part of the page or the exercises.

Ordinary girls or men couldn't grasp this frustration. Liu Chang'an looked down at Bai Hui's delicate collarbones. From the perspective of genetics and reproduction, genes make men irresistibly drawn to such girls.

This is because genes make males prefer females suited for reproduction and nurturing offspring, giving them a more stable and secure chance at passing on their lineage.

Liu Chang'an had always been puzzled by one question: modern research suggests that to increase mutations and create more evolutionary opportunities, genes limit human lifespan, thereby driving more reproduction to gain those chances. So why, when his own genes didn't limit his lifespan, did he still have aesthetic needs rooted in genetics and reproduction?

In short, driven by physiological needs, Liu Chang'an did indeed prefer fuller-figured girls.

Perhaps modern scientific explanations were flawed, Liu Chang'an thought. In any era, he held reservations about the mainstream trends of thought; time would eventually filter out the theories closer to the truth for him.

Since the birth of genetic theory, the things it could explain—or rather, the explanations it provided—hadn't satisfied Liu Chang'an, because he himself was a living counter-evidence.

"What are you looking at!" Bai Hui covered her chest, her cheeks flushed red, and glared at Liu Chang'an.

Qian Ning and Lu Yuan both ran over, hurriedly asking what was going on.

Bai Hui was too embarrassed to say, only keeping her collar covered.

Seeing Bai Hui's actions and expression, Lu Yuan caught on first. He flew into a rage, raised his fist, and swung at Liu Chang'an.

Qian Ning was a beat slower, but not to be outdone, he threw a punch as well.

Liu Chang'an dodged, reached out, pulled, and pushed, causing the two men's fists to collide, making them both want to cry out in pain.

"You two are overthinking it. I was just looking at Bai Hui's collarbones and then got lost in thought about something else." Liu Chang'an said with a smile. "What are you two thinking about?"

"Why were you looking at Bai Hui's collarbones?" Lu Yuan paused, still unwilling to let it go.

"Do you want to forbid me from breathing? Don't you know? Sometimes when Bai Hui is reading, I can even smell the scent from her mouth." Liu Chang'an said with regret. "It's a pity that expecting me to consciously stop breathing is impossible. Imagine this: the girl you like sits with me every day, and her breath mingles with mine. Isn't that even more painful and harder to accept?"

"What scent is in my mouth?" Bai Hui's breathing grew rapid, but she didn't dare to gasp loudly. Girls are naturally sensitive to such remarks; being told she had a "scent" on her breath or body was even more embarrassing, awkward, and infuriating than being called ugly.

"A fragrance."

Bai Hui opened her mouth, her cheeks still flushed. Not knowing what to say, she turned her head and flipped open a book at random.

Lu Yuan and Qian Ning felt that what Liu Chang'an said was something not worth worrying about—only a lunatic would care about such things—yet they still felt uncomfortable. Just then, the bell rang, and they had to return to their seats.

Liu Chang'an chuckled. Little boys are truly easy to provoke.

"Liu Chang'an, you're so annoying. How does An Nuan put up with you?" Bai Hui wrote on her notebook and pushed it over.

"Because we are both people you dislike, so birds of a feather flock together." Liu Chang'an wrote back.

Thankfully, the college entrance exam was coming soon, Bai Hui took a deep breath.

Bai Hui tore the paper off and shredded it. Girls like to be told they smell good. Bai Hui didn't want to continue the cold war with Liu Chang'an anymore; after all, he was the boy An Nuan liked. If she had a better relationship with him, An Nuan would definitely be unhappy. But Liu Chang'an seemed truly bound to An Nuan, completely rejecting the olive branch Bai Hui offered.