Just as the two were about to get in the car, Lin Feng suddenly asked Ding Wan’er, who still seemed somewhat embarrassed and silent, "Ding Wan’er, your family has several more cars, don’t they?"

Then he gestured with his hand towards the cars parked in the garage.

"Uh, this..." Ding Wan’er was a bit embarrassed, fully aware of what Lin Feng meant, thinking to herself, how can you think this way, aren’t you happy to have a great beauty like me willing to ride in your car?

"You are the one who damaged my car, is there a problem with me riding in yours? Besides, am I really that annoying?" Ding Wan’er asked with a flushed face and annoyance. Her heart was also feeling frustrated, thinking, I’m such a great beauty, voluntarily wanting to ride in your car to and from work, yet you’re making all these excuses, what’s the meaning of this? Do you find me not pretty enough or not gentle enough?

"No problem, just asking," Lin Feng shrugged his shoulders and got into the car.

Ding Wan’er sat in the backseat, her eyes fixed on Lin Feng, who was driving seriously in front of her, carefully sizing him up in her heart. This man really isn’t bad; at least when looking at me, there’s none of that lecherous expression other rich young masters have, as if they can’t wait to devour me.

He’s also quite handsome, with a good figure - very well-proportioned and pleasant to look at. Usually, he’s quite amiable too, except sometimes a bit clueless about romance. Overall, Lin Feng is not bad.

Ding Wan’er didn’t know why she started to size up a man, and moreover, it was Lin Feng, who was to be her future husband...

...

Close to the school, Ding Wan’er suddenly asked Lin Feng to stop the car, and she got out to walk towards the school; she was afraid that if people at the school saw them, there might be misunderstandings.

As soon as Ding Wan’er asked him to stop, Lin Feng understood the implication, didn’t try to stop her, and directly drove into the school’s parking lot to find a spot to park.

Checking his watch and remembering the call Leng Mei had made him the night before, he thought it better to go and see her, so he headed towards the language institute.

But just as he was about to reach the classroom door, he suddenly saw Leng Mei arguing with someone in an out-of-the-way corner. After a moment’s thought, Lin Feng still went over there.

Rafael was in a foul mood today. As soon as he arrived in the classroom this morning, he encountered his students and shockingly learnt that the last lesson was covered not by the Dean himself but by a young Chinese person. He took that as a grave insult. A young and inexperienced Chinese man replacing a Frenchman for a French language class? What was that all about? Who would believe such a story if it was told? Wasn’t it a blatant insult?

What did they think French was?

Rafael left the classroom angry, so he sought Leng Mei to argue. Why had she had to find such a young and inexperienced Chinese person who hadn’t even been to France to take over his class?

"Mei, can you tell me why, when I missed class last time, you had to get such a young and inexperienced Chinese person to cover my lessons? He hasn’t even been to France," Rafael said in what he believed to be an exceedingly elegant French, appearing very noble.

"Is there a problem?" Leng Mei replied, puzzled—Rafael wasn’t expected to be in these past few days, so why had he come today?

"Rafael, weren’t you not coming today? Why are you here now?" Leng Mei asked with curiosity.

"Uh, this... I finished my business and thought that I shouldn’t delay the students’ lessons, so I rushed back," Rafael lied. In truth, he knew it wasn’t easy to find a temporary French language substitute, and while he thought he could handle the icy-beauty Dean, she was not easy to deal with; his plan was to use this method to get the beautiful Dean to seek him out personally, but he hadn’t expected this unfortunate complication.

"Don’t you think it’s an insult to me, a French citizen and French teacher, to have such a young and inexperienced Chinese person take over my French class? What will others think when they hear about this?" Rafael lamented, anyone would be frustrated in this situation. The play he had scripted was not supposed to go this way, and out of nowhere, a French teacher had emerged and disrupted the entire plan. What was all this mess?

"Is it? I haven’t felt that way. I think that being able to teach well is what makes a good teacher. Everything else doesn’t matter. No matter how much you talk, it’s useless," Leng Mei replied coldly to Rafael.

In fact, Leng Mei had anticipated Rafael’s actions. Everyone knew how scarce good French teachers were in China. With Rafael’s class cancellation, she would have been the one suffering. Had it not been for Lin Feng, she indeed would have had a hard time. One option was teaching the class herself, but she even doubted her own fluency in French, let alone teaching students. The other was to ask Rafael to come back as soon as possible.

And Leng Mei knew very well Rafael’s intention in doing so, which was nothing more than to pursue her, hoping she would soften up and spend some time with him. But Leng Mei was Leng Mei, she never gave any man any illusions, not even a little bit.

"Mei, I’m back, and from now on, don’t let that Teacher Lin substitute for my classes again." Hearing Ding Wan’er’s words, Rafael was utterly speechless. How is this happening? Why does this school have a talent who can teach French? Why didn’t I hear anything about this before? This is like shooting myself in the foot.

"We’ll see about that," said Leng Mei cleverly, not flat-out refusing, while simultaneously warning this Rafael that if he ever skipped class again, she would let Lin Feng take over.

Hearing Leng Mei’s words, Rafael was truly angered, and he retorted, "Is that Lin Feng really that great? I don’t believe it. The students say he’s about their age, how could he possibly be better than me? Why are you even considering him? Just don’t use him in the future."

"Whether we use him or not is up to me, I’m the Dean." Leng Mei’s face turned a shade darker.

"Dean, I, Rafael, really don’t want to see that young man again. He’s so young, how could he possibly be that skilled? I don’t understand why the students in the class have such a good impression of him. He must be talented at deceiving people, fooling all of you."

Rafael didn’t notice the darkening of Leng Mei’s expression and was just expressing his opinion in French because he felt that the Dean, like his students, had a very good impression of the substitute teacher, which was not a good sign at all.

As it happened, Lin Feng walked over and heard Rafael’s last sentence.

"Mr. Rafael, your regional accent is too strong; it’s not standard. In China, we’d call that a dialect," Lin Feng said bluntly in French, giving no face to Rafael.

Leng Mei was feeling frustrated, having been bothered by Rafael early in the morning, but suddenly hearing Lin Feng’s voice, especially his forthright remark, she felt a sudden sense of relief and happiness, an unusual feeling for her.

"Huh? Who are you? How dare you speak to me like that, I’m French." Rafael found it amusing to hear someone criticize his French as being non-standard in the language itself. I’m French, even if it’s not standard, it would be better than you Chinese speaking it. To be told by a Chinese that my French is not standard is a joke!

"I am the very person you were just talking about, the one who substituted for your class."

"You’re the... person? I was just looking for you, to tell you there’s no need for you to come again." Rafael’s voice rose as he argued with Lin Feng in French.

But his heart was filled with surprise and shock because this young man’s French was truly impeccable. The most crucial issue was that there was not a hint of regional accent. How had he learned it?

Rafael was now utterly distressed. Who could have imagined this situation? He had designed this scenario so Leng Mei would come to him for help, but now it had turned into this predicament.

This was just creating trouble for himself. Why did he bother in the first place? Now, to top it off, he encountered someone so proficient in French that it disrupted all his plans and even posed a threat to his position. How could there be such a formidable presence in the school he didn’t know about before?

But now that things had come to this, he had to stand firm. No matter what, he was a pure Frenchman, and this was just a young Chinese person, after all.

"If I, as a Frenchman, am not standard in French, do you think that’s possible? And what qualifies you to judge me?" Rafael stubbornly refused to admit that Lin Feng spoke French better than he did; that would be far too embarrassing. Would he even be able to continue working at the academy or pursue Dean Leng Mei?

"In our Chinese terms, your ’Mandarin’ French is not standard. With such a heavy regional accent in your French, you have the nerve to teach students? As for my qualifications to speak to you, there’s only one: my French is better than yours, and I’m younger," Lin Feng continued to challenge the French national with his impeccably standard French.

"You... You... Mei, you decide, should I stay or should he stay?" Rafael was on the verge of a blood rush to the head; he felt his blood pressure soaring. He wanted to refute Lin Feng but was left speechless by Lin Feng’s blunt truths. The frustrated Rafael turned to Leng Mei, hoping she would give him face and a way out.

If there were no one else there, that would be one thing, but Leng Mei was present. Although her French was not as good yet, Rafael knew about her language talent, and having stayed in France, she could not be deceived.

But things did not go the way Rafael had hoped. Leng Mei looked at Rafael and also glanced at Lin Feng, ultimately choosing to remain silent. It wasn’t for any reason other than that speaking to either of them seemed inappropriate. She decided that staying silent was the best option, and she silently watched the two with an expressionless face.

"Good. Very good. Mei, from today on, I resign," said Rafael, driven to the brink by Lin Feng. Unable to argue or compete, what could he use to fight? He felt as if God was playing with him on purpose. Without another word, he turned and walked away.

"Be careful; you seem to have a fiery temper with a gloomy look between your brows, possibly foretelling a ’Blood Disaster.’" While Lin Feng hadn’t reached the old man’s level yet, interpreting someone’s facial features was still quite simple for him. Noting Rafael’s obvious sign of the ’Blood Disaster’, he offered a warning.