Chapter 32: Takagi Akira

Under the gaze of the entire assembly, Qiu Takagi appeared perfectly composed. She walked in small, steady steps straight to her seat.

But at that moment, Xiao Fei Jiang suddenly called out, “Stop right there.”

His voice was not loud, yet it made every student in the room knit their brows.

Hearing Jiang’s voice, Qiu Takagi paused, frowned slightly, turned around, and asked him coolly, “And who might you be?”

A female student sitting in the front row quickly whispered, “Sister Qiu, that’s the new Professor Jiang.”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Takagi nodded slightly and addressed Jiang in an even tone, “So, you’re the new professor. What business do you have with me?”

Jiang did not reply immediately. He stared intently at Qiu Takagi, as though trying to see straight through her.

Sensing his unusual gaze, Qiu Takagi frowned. “Hey, I asked you a question. Are you mute?”

“You certainly know how to hide yourself, but a fox will eventually show its tail,” Jiang scoffed inwardly. Then, with a cold voice, he said, “Did I give you permission to enter?”

Qiu Takagi laughed coldly. “So, you’re not mute after all. But this classroom doesn’t belong to you. What does it matter to you if I come in?”

Jiang snapped, “You’re late and didn’t even bother to report it. And you still think you’re in the right?”

“You…” Qiu Takagi sneered, refusing to argue further. She turned on her heel, strode to her seat, sat down, and ignored him completely.

The students saw the whole exchange and couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up.

Qiu Takagi noticed their gestures, frowned, and turned to her desk-mate. “Tang Shishi, what’s going on?”

Tang Shishi grinned. “Sister Qiu, you don’t know—this new Professor Jiang is something else. He just put Lin Tianfeng in his place a moment ago. Now that you’ve stood up to him, everyone must admire you. But a word of warning: he’s a Mystic-class mage. Don’t provoke him, or the consequences will be serious.”

“Mystic-class mage?” Qiu Takagi raised her brows, said nothing, and opened her textbook, leafing through it at random.

Jiang watched her actions, snorted inwardly, and then swept his gaze over the class, smiling. “Everyone, I suppose we’ve gotten to know one another a little today. Now, let’s begin the lesson. But before we start, let’s play a game.”

His words immediately piqued the students’ interest, and they asked in unison, “Professor Jiang, what kind of game?”

Jiang smiled. “I’ll set a question, and you try to solve it.”

At this, the students’ interest evaporated. Answering questions? What kind of game was that?

Jiang noticed their reaction but merely smiled. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a problem on the blackboard.

One plus one equals what.

The students stared at the board, thinking this was far too easy. But noticing Jiang’s smile, they instantly second-guessed themselves.

Surely the answer couldn’t simply be two? There must be another answer.

If not two, then what? The more they pondered, the more enigmatic the question seemed.

Jiang watched their confusion, then asked, smiling, “Does anyone know the answer and wish to come up and solve it?”

No one volunteered; all shook their heads.

Jiang sneered. “One plus one equals two—even elementary students know the answer. Yet none of you do? I suppose you’re all fake scholars, probably slipped in here through the back door.”

At this, the students felt they’d been had and immediately protested, “Of course we know one plus one equals two!”

Jiang’s tone turned cold. “If you all know it’s two, why didn’t anyone dare answer?”

That stumped them into silence.

Li Xiaofang stood up. “Professor Jiang, that doesn’t count. Give us another question—we’ll definitely answer it this time.”

The other students echoed, “Yes, that last one doesn’t count. Try another.”

Jiang frowned slightly. “And if you can’t solve it?”

“If we can’t solve it, we’ll listen to you from now on—your word will be law,” the students chorused.

“Very well, remember what you’ve promised.” With that, Jiang wrote another question on the board.

When he finished, he said, “Begin.”

The students scrutinized the problem seriously, but soon realized they were stumped—it was entirely incomprehensible. Some even suspected Jiang had just scribbled nonsense.

Jiang observed their expressions with quiet satisfaction, then asked, “Does anyone know the answer?”

Once more, everyone shook their heads.

Li Xiaofang stood again. “Professor Jiang, this question is too difficult. Could you give us a different one?”

Jiang pretended not to hear. “What did you say? Louder—I didn’t catch that.”

Li Xiaofang sighed. “It’s too hard!”

Jiang sneered. “Such a simple question, and you say it’s too hard?”

He shook his head. “Of course, for those who aren’t good at their studies, it might be difficult.”

Realizing she’d only embarrassed herself, Li Xiaofang quickly sat down, drawing a burst of laughter from the class.

Jiang said nothing further, his gaze moving from Li Xiaofang to the other students before finally settling on Qiu Takagi. He smiled. “You there—I noticed you were quite focused on this question. Why don’t you come up and solve it?”

“Me?” Qiu Takagi was taken aback.

Truthfully, she had no idea how to answer the question.

Just then, her classmates began to cheer, “Go on, campus belle! We’re all rooting for you!”

Buoyed by their encouragement, Qiu Takagi forced a smile. “But I really don’t know how!”

Her classmates all replied, “You’re the top student in our class—if even you can’t solve it, who can? Believe in yourself—we believe in you!”

“All right then.” Qiu Takagi nodded and walked to the podium under everyone’s expectant gaze.

At once, she felt Jiang’s hostile gaze upon her, making her frown—she felt singled out.

Just then, a woman’s voice echoed in her mind, “Be careful. The man before you is extremely dangerous.”

Hearing this, Qiu Takagi was delighted. “Perfect timing—tell me how to solve this problem?”

The woman replied, “Let me take a look.”

At once, Qiu Takagi’s eyes gleamed with clarity as she stared at the blackboard.

Jiang noticed the change in her gaze and urged, “What are you dawdling for? Hurry up—if you can’t solve it, step down and don’t embarrass yourself.”

At his words, the brightness in Qiu Takagi’s eyes faded. She picked up the chalk, and with barely a pause for thought, wrote out the solution in a few swift strokes.

Her speed was such that it seemed she already knew the answer by heart and was simply writing it down.