Fu Zhi did not know what was going on with Li Nanli. She went near Liu Mi and whispered, “What is wrong with him?”

  Liu Mi was dumbfounded.

  “Ms. Fu, it’s very inappropriate of you to get so close to me.” Liu Mi did not want to go to Africa to be a miner, so he said, “He’s your boyfriend. Don’t you know what he wants?”

  “But how am I supposed to know if he doesn’t want to say it? I’m not a psychic, so I can’t read minds.”

  “Then you have to ask him!”

  “I think it’s because I promised to buy him food, but I was distracted by other things and I didn’t buy him any. It’s actually because he didn’t transfer money to me. However, he still thinks I don’t keep my word and it’s my fault, so he’s angry with me now.”

  Liu Mi: “Wow, you’re so awesome!”

  Fu Zhi then said, “Well, it’s nothing, but thank you for the compliment anyway.”

  “Since President Li is thirsty, Ms. Fu, I think that compared to milk tea, you should place President Li first. It’s only by capturing President Li’s heart that you will have an endless supply of milk tea. It’s a great deal, don’t you think so?”

  Fu Zhi contemplated it.

  Looking at Fu Zhi, Li Nanli stretched his arm forward and pulled her into his arms. Fu Zhi raised her head to look him in the eye and asked, “Are you sure you want to drink this?”

  Li Nanli did not reply. He did not say yes or no.

  “But I don’t think you will like it……”

  ‘Ye Jiu even blew bubbles through the straw into the drink……’

  “Have I ever said I dislike you?”

  Cocking her head in confusion, Fu Zhi said, “But they are two different things.”

  Li Nanli did not want to talk to her anymore and took a sip of the milk tea placed in the center of the car seat.

  Just like Ye Jiu had said, the roselle red bean milk tea was bad. It was sickeningly sweet. Li Nanli bit a rose petal, and a faint fragrance spread on the tip of his tongue.

  “I think it’s nice,” Li Nanli commented, looking straight at the bewildered Fu Zhi.

  Fu Zhi replied, “Okay.”

  ‘So this is what your taste is like.’

  Liu Mi smiled in relief.

  ‘Yes! I finally don’t have to go to Africa to be a miner anymore!’

  Li Nanli shook the milk tea and realized there was still a lot left.

  He put the straw nearer to Fu Zhi’s lips and asked, “Do you still want it?”

  Fu Zhi hesitated. On a normal day, she would not hesitate, but today was different. She had not liked sharing drinks with Ye Jiu since her childhood.

  After all, Ye Jiu had a habit of blowing bubbles into his drinks through the straw.

  Fu Zhi replied, “This milk tea isn’t mine.”

  Both Liu Mi and Li Nanli were stunned.

  Li Nanli’s expression changed, and his hand, which was holding the milk tea, shook.

  “This isn’t yours?!”

  “Yeah. Mine is a strawberry ice cream milkshake. Ye Jiu took it away,” Fu Zhi said as she nodded. “This milk tea was Ye Jiu’s.”

  “.……”

  Li Nanli was speechless.

  ‘So instead of sharing a kiss with her, I was kissing Ye Jiu this whole time?!’

  Li Nan’s face turned even darker.

  “Did Ye Jiu drink this milk tea after he finished the ice cream milkshake?” Liu Mi asked.

  “Nope. He didn’t like it, so I planned to throw it away when I came out,” Fu Zhi replied.

  However, she had been unable to find a dustbin.

  “President Li, you’ve lost your chastity to a man!” Liu Mi cried out loud.

  Li Nanli did not know what to say.

  He rubbed the spot between his eyebrows, and it seemed to him that he did not get along with his girlfriend’s brothers.

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 423: Ye San Go To Yu City, President Fu Gives Present To Ouyang Ya

  Fu Zhi felt the same way as Liu Mi as well. She tugged at Lu Nanli’s sleeve, whose expression was sour, and asked, “What happened? You’ve gotten what you wanted, so why are you still not happy?”

  “Think for yourself.”

  Fu Zhi fell silent and thought hard for roughly 10 minutes. After Lu Yumo had finally calmed himself down outside of the haunted house, he psyched himself up and went into the haunted house again to rescue Fu Zhi, who he assumed to be held hostage by ghosts and monsters.

  Liu Mi came out of the car to leave the space for Fu Zhi and Li Nanli.

  Inside the car, Li Nanli did not plan to talk to Fu Zhi at all. He sat with his back up against the cushion while keeping his eyes on the passersby outside, the warm light from the headlight of the car and the streetlights had cast a halo of yellow light on them.

  Suddenly, Fu Zhi seemed to have realized something and she said, “Is it because I joined the cheerleading team?”

  “Hmm……” Li Nanli’s expression lightened a bit. “Not exactly.”

  ‘Not exactly? That means I’m half right?’

  Fu Zhi felt that reading the mind of a man was like searching for a needle under a sea.

  “Then?” She asked again.

  Not far away, Wang Yu and his team finally came out of the haunted house through the roller coaster, their shouts ringing through the air.

  Li Nanli pulled an umbrella from the side of the passenger seat. As he handed the umbrella to Fu Zhi, he pulled her into his embrace and rested his chin on her shoulder, his breath warm and wet against her ear.

  The snow became heavier, and Fu Zhi could see through the window that her friends were doing headcount under the roof.

  “If your brother and your boyfriend fall into the sea at the same time, who would you save first? Your brother, or your boyfriend?” Li Nanli’s voice wafted into Fu Zhi’s ear.

  Fu Zhi was speechless.

  ‘Great, here comes the tricky question.’

  Fu Zhi then replied with a question of her own, “Isn’t it supposed to be my boyfriend and my mother?”

  “I’ll amend my question. If your brother, your mother, and I fall into the sea at the same time, who would you save first?”

  Fu Zhi’s eyes were glowing as she replied, “In fact, according to the new law that the government has just introduced not long ago, I don’t have the obligation to save you, but I’m breaking the law if I don’t save my mother!”

  “That means you don’t love me enough,” Li Nanli said expressionlessly, “You’re not willing to break the law for me.”

  Fu Zhi became speechless again.

  ‘Should I break the law for you?’

  Li Nanli ran his fingers over her eyebrows and said, “I will forgive you this time, next time……”

  “Next time, I will save you after I saved my mom,” Fu Zhi answered before Li Nanli could finish his sentence.

  Li Nanli nodded in satisfaction, and just when he was about to say something, she continued, “Well, even my brother, who is bad at everything, knows how to swim, so I suggest you’d better don’t go so near the river next time.”

  Li Nanli was stumped.

  ——

  When Ye Jiu came out of the haunted house, he saw Fu Zhi and he froze.

  He did not blame Fu Zhi for leaving him alone in the haunted house, but……

  Ye Jiu went forward and pinched Fu Zhi’s chin. His beautiful eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, “What happened? Why is there a wound on your lips?”

  “Huh? Oh…… I accidentally bit my lips when I was drinking milk tea,” Fu Zhi replied. However, Ye Jiu was able to tell that she was lying from the fact that her ears were red and she did not dare to look him in the eyes.

  “Liar,” Ye Jiu said as he pointed at Fu Zhi’s head.

  Fu Zhi raised her head and replied with a serious voice, “I’m not lying.”

  “Tsk,” Ye Jiu clicked his tongue. He did not say anything anymore and leaned over to Fu Zhi. Then, he sniffed her shoulder like a dog looking for drugs.

  The weather was cold in winter, and a thin mist would form whenever he took a breath.

  Then, he pinched at the back of Fu Zhi’s neck.

  “What are you doing? Let go of me,” Fu Zhi said as she tried to push him away.

  “Don’t move,” Ye Jiu warned, “I have reason to suspect that you have a boyfriend outside.”

  Fu Zhi froze.

  Ye Jiu took another sniff and said in a grave voice, “Don’t let me find out that you’re seeing someone or you are buying things for him or her. If I don’t have enough money to buy milk tea, I will break your bank card, you hear me?”

  Fu Zhi’s eyes rounded in disbelief.

  This was even worse than breaking her legs!

  ——

  The Lu Family imposed a nighttime curfew on their children. They had to be home before 10 o’clock at night.

  As such, Song Fang, Fu Zhi, Lu Yubai, Lu Yumo, and Ye Jiu did not go to the karaoke and took a taxi home directly.

  While they were on their way home, the more Ye Jiu thought about it, the more he felt Fu Zhi was hiding something from him.

  Therefore, he opened up his WeChat and sent a message to Ye Shiyun, [You know what? I suspect that Fu Zhi is seeing someone.]

  *

  A certain filming location in Z City.

  It was very late at night, yet the filming location was filled with light. There were plenty of flowers in the corridor, and the air was permeated with the fragrance of flowers.

  The assistant director ran all the way down the corridor hurriedly as he asked, “Where’s the actress? Did you guys send someone to remind her? Why hasn’t she come yet?”

  The producer replied, “She said she’s not feeling well and she wants to rest today.”

  “No! I don’t care what you guys do, you have to make sure she will be here tonight!” The assistant director said, his voice filled with anxiety. “That person is already here. He has waited for more than 10 minutes, and he’s not happy right now!”

  The movie was a historical film directed by a relatively well-known new producer. Today was the first day of the making, and the luxurious palace was filled with actors and actresses. The several leading actors had a big background, so the producer was not sure which one the assistant director talked about. He asked, “Who?”

  The assistant director rolled his eyes and said, “Ye San. Ye Shiyun.”

  ‘Oh, that one,’ The producer nodded. Then, he replied, “Just tell him to stop making such a big fuss and wait a little longer. He is the worst actor with the worst acting skills I’ve ever seen, and all his fans are brainless. Without them, he’s nothing. Besides, I remember Guang Yuan dissed him on Weibo several days ago? He even said that if Ye San doesn’t quit acting, then he will quit.”

  “So what? Do you know who is supporting Ye San from the back? The Fu Corporation! Anyway, try to get the actress here as soon as possible!” The assistant director waved his hand frustratingly. “I’ve to go back to him now.”

  When the assistant director rushed back to the set, Ye Shiyun was looking at his phone on a chair.

  The light shone on his face and made him look even fairer.

  The assistant director could understand why so many fans still loved Ye Shiyun despite his poor acting skills. After all, he would arrive at the set on time, which was something that many actors were not able to do.

  Tapping on his phone, Ye Shiyun sent a “?” to Ye Jiu.

  Ye Jiu replied, [Whoever that guy is, I suspect that he gets close to her because he wants her money, and considering Fu Zhi’s intellect, I’m sure she will give all her money to that guy.]

  Looking at Ye Jiu’s message, Ye Shiyun pressed his lips thin and replied, [So are you saying that someone is scamming Fu Zhi out of her savings?]

  [Yes! He took all the money that Fu Zhi was going to use to buy me milk tea!]

  [Did she tell you anything about it?] Ye Shiyun asked again.

  [Hah, of course, she told me something about it. She told me that I’m being delusional and she isn’t seeing anybody! I’m confident she’s lying to me. She must have given a few bank cards to that guy! I can buy at least tens of thousands of cups of milk tea with that money!]

  Ye Shiyun scoffed expressionlessly, [That’s it? That’s the reason you messaged me? Do you know how much I can earn while I’m talking to you right now?]

  Ye Jiu was speechless.

  Ye Shiyun continued, [Give me her bank account numbers. I will transfer some money to her, so stop texting me.]

  Ye Jiu was speechless again.

  [Alright, then. You don’t come and cry at me when your sister gets cheated out of her money, her body, and her heart!]

  Ye Shiyun fell silent after seeing Ye Jiu’s message. Then, he remembered that there were a lot of girls who committed suicide after getting cheated recently.

  ‘Should I transfer money to her? But, is Fu Zhi’s mind that weak?’

  Well, Fu Zhi did not have a weak mind, but things happened.

  To prevent Fu Zhi from dying early, Ye Shiyun decided to go to Yu City to have a look at Fu Zhi tonight.

  With that thought in mind, Ye Shiyun rose to his feet and took his jacket from the hanger.

  It was only then the assistant director recovered his senses from his reverie. He walked up to Ye Shiyun in panic and asked, “Where are you going?”

  “Yu City.”

  “Yu City?! When will you be back? The leading actress is arriving soon, so why……”

  “I don’t like people who are not punctual. It’s not very professional,” Ye Shiyun commented, “If she doesn’t change her behavior, you guys can just photoshop my face into the film.”

  The assistant director did not know what to say.

  However, it seemed to him that there was still some room for negotiation. He walked up to Ye Shiyun and pressed on, “Did something happen in Yu City? Do you need me to send someone to help you?”

  “The kid in my family is going through a rebellious phase,” Ye Shiyun replied expressionlessly as he put on his jacket. “So I’m going back to punish her. As for you, why do you think you are to mess with my family affair?”

  The assistant director became speechless again.

  ——

  It was Friday when Hang Yuan went to No.1 High School, and they had two days off on Saturday and Sunday.

  The atmosphere in the Mu Family was tense.

  Mu Changqing was facing a lot of problems recently and Mu Chenxi was worried about his father.

  Mu Changqing had been trying his best to get to Pure Feather but to no avail. After all this time, he had to admit that, like her daughter said, Pure Feather and Fu Zhi were good friends, and it was exactly because of Fu Zhi that Pure Feather did not want to cooperate with them.

  After he heard Ouyang Ya’s plan, he nodded and said, “I remember you have Ye Shiyun’s WeChat, right? Well, try to invite him over to Yu City. Tell him that we have a job for him, and I will take care of the rest.”

  “Don’t worry, dad,” Mu Chenxi said, “I already asked Ye Shiyun to come to Yu City. Although he isn’t good at acting, he behaves well when he’s working. He left his phone at a side when he’s working, and I assure you that he will definitely come to Yu City when he sees my message.”

  ****

  It had been snowing for a whole night, and the entire Yu City was covered in a blanket of white on Monday.

  Fu Zhi, Lu Yumo, and Ye Jiu arrived at No.1 High School at the same time.

  The students from Hang Yuan had been received by their teachers, and they settled them down in the class.

  Perhaps Class 21 was the worst class in No.1 High School, none of the exchange students came to Class 21.

  Initially, Fu Zhi wanted to read Ouyang Feng’s notebook, but before she could do it, the school authority summoned all of them to the hall for an assembly. After the assembly, they were going to visit the museum at Yu City.

  Su Xing was reading the book “Red Sun” in her seat, as No.1 High School required their students to read a book before the class started.

  Their language teacher, Fan Gaoda, was suddenly appointed as a guide by Director Liu to take the students in the school to visit the museum.

  Fan Gaoda was in his mid-forties and compared to Ma Mingquan, who had a good temper, he was kind of erratic. He liked to tease and mess with his students.

  Director had considered a lot before assigning him to be the guide.

  Most of the students had not been to the museum before.

  The museum was small, but it contained a lot of artifacts.

  Fan Gaoda had prepared a script for himself and he was looking through it in front of Class 21.

  Before they departed to the museum, every student in the school had to gather in the hall in advance to listen to Director Liu’s blathering about matters such as “watch the traffic lights and be safe when crossing the street” and so on.

  Fu Zhi did not want to go to the hall and she did not want to go to the museum either. Just when she was about to say it out, Fan Gaoda shot daggers at her and said, “I can forgive a certain girl for not wanting to read Pure Feather’s works, but I will never forgive her if she refuses to go to the museum!”

  He threw his script on the table and continued, “Just take a look at your own language paper result. I don’t care whatever reason you have, you’re going to the museum today. You know what? You’re going to go to the museum every day and read history every day until the day before the examination. I don’t believe that you will still score a zero for my language paper!”

  Fu Zhi did not know what she should comment on.

  ‘If it were not for you and other teachers to give me zero marks, would I score zero for my language paper?’

  That said, Fu Zhi did not argue with him and just followed at the back of her class.

  Class 21 was the last class to enter the hall. Since they were running short of time, by the time they were there, the speech had already started and it was Ouyang Ya’s turn to give a speech.

  “I believe everyone has seen the news about the Fu Corporation from the internet lately. I personally appreciate President Fu’s effort in securing our country’s relics and his method of punishing the Ford Family. I’m fortunate enough to be his friend and he has sent some gifts to the school that I invested in.”

  Ouyang Ya turned around and said something to Wu Zhiheng. Very soon, the presentation slides that Hang Yuan prepared appeared on the screen.

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 424: Appraising The Ancient Painting From The Yuan Dynasty – 1

  “The day I invested in Hang Yuan High School, President Fu instructed the Fu Corporation to send a piece of jade to Hang Yuan.” Ouyang Ya paused for a moment before adding, “Although he didn’t go to Hang Yuan personally, he wrote something on the jade, hoping that it could act as a motto to push the students of Hang Yuan to focus on their studies.”

  “President Fu? The national husband?”

  “He made a splash some time ago on Weibo. I even shipped him and Fu Zhi! They would make a great couple!”

  “He’s such a fine man! Even the Ford Family could not do anything to him when he forcibly took those artifacts back from them!”

  The students of No.1 High School got excited, and the atmosphere in the hall was even more restless than the time Pure Feather had donated her books to them.

  They had not expected that President Fu would give a piece of jade as a gift to Hang Yuan. Could the Fu Corporation be planning to select a few outstanding graduates from Hang Yuan to work at the Fu Corporation?

  Well, even if that was the case, they felt that it was pretty reasonable. After all, Hang Yuan was an elite school in the capital, not to mention that the quality of their teachers was good.

  They were all jealous of the students from Hang Yuan for having such a good opportunity.

  On the other hand, Ouyang Ya took a furtive glance at Fu Zhi after she took a seat. Then, she offered the students below the stage a smile and said, “Do you all want to see President Fu’s handwriting?”

  “Yes!” All of the students shouted in chorus.

  Truth be told, even the teachers on the stage were curious as well. The recent presidents of the Fu Corporation had all been talented. Fu Zhao aside, even Fu Jiang’s artwork could be auctioned for tens of millions of dollars, and his gilded Flying White Calligraphy Technique was truly a masterpiece.

  Thus, they were all wondering if the current President Fu had inherited their mantle or not.

  While all of them were trapped in their thoughts, a few photos appeared on the presentation slides.

  On the screen, everyone could see the words “heaven blesses the diligent” carved on the massive jade stone with a certain machine.

  “I’m sure any of you who are familiar with calligraphy would be able to notice that the script that President Fu used was the Hairpin flower small regular script. It has a high artistic value and it can be sold for an astronomical price in the market, yet President Fu decided to give it to us.”

  Fu Zhi put her phone on her lap while Ye Jiu turned to look at her and asked, “Really? You gave the jade stone to Hang Yuan?”

  “I guess so. I can’t remember.”

  Fu Zhi was telling the truth. She could vaguely remember that she had come across someone from the Wu Family before in a certain WeChat group. The Fu Corporation happened to need to expand its network at the time, so they’d picked Hang Yuan out of the bunch of schools in the capital and sent a gift over. It was actually just a small gift, and Fu Zhi did not know why Ouyang Ya wanted to make a big fuss about it.

  What’s more, she made it look like she was the reason President Fu had decided to give the jade stone to Hang Yuan, which caused a few female students to ship her and President Fu, saying that they would make a great couple.

  Fu Zhi was speechless.

  ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not homosexual.’

  Ouyang Ya’s primary objective was to bring the students from Hang Yuan and No.1 High School to visit the museum, but there was more to it. Director Liu figured that it had something to do with the gift she was going to give to No.1 High School.

  However, he could not tell what kind of gift it was. In any case, it was definitely not the jade stone. After all, Director Liu could feel that Ouyang Ya was pretty stingy, and unlike Fu Zhi, who would let everyone know she was stingy, Ouyang Ya often hid her stinginess beneath her generosity.

  Ouyang Ya took a look at her watch and told Director Liu, “I guess it’s about time for us to depart and head to the museum?”

  There were more than 1,000 third-year students, so they had to go batch by batch. In the end, the teachers decided to pick 10 representatives out of each class to visit the museum, while the rest of the students would stay back at school.

  Fu Zhi was thrown into the bus by Fan Gaoda.

  After getting off the bus, only the students from the two schools went to the museum, as the Hang Yuan side had informed the museum about their visit in advance.

  Ouyang Ya led Wu Zhiheng to an antique street near the museum, while the rest of the students were split into two teams to enter the museum.

  Fan Gaoda was walking in front of the group, and Class 21 was the first batch to enter the museum.

  The students from No.1 High School were not very interested in the antiques and relics in the museum, so Fan Gaoda was mainly giving explanations to the students from Hang Yuan.

  After Fu Zhi and Ye Jiu finished admiring the ancient paintings in the museum, they planned to find a spot to sit down and play games together. Just as they turned around, they saw a boy from Hang Yuan asking Fan Gaoda questions.

  Fu Zhi remembered the boy. He was always around Wu Zhiheng. She just could not remember his name.

  Then, the boy introduced himself to Fan Gaoda. “Hi, sir. My name is Zhu Mingjie, and I’m a third-year student from Class 1 in Hang Yuan. I like history very much.”

  After he introduced himself, he pointed at a painting behind Fan Gaoda and asked, “Sir, can you tell us what dynasty this ancient painting is from? I like it very much, but I don’t know any specific information about it.”

  He sounded as if he was genuinely asking a question, but when the students around him looked in the direction of his finger, they did not know why, but they suddenly had a bad feeling about it.

  It had only been 11 years since the establishment of the museum in Yu City. Many of the artifacts inside, in addition to those bought at auctions or donated by some wealthy bigwigs, had been discovered locally.

  The origin and history of the first two were clearly identified, but when it came to the latter, archeologists would need to examine the artifacts in person to recognize their origins.

  Since they had discovered quite a lot of artifacts in Yu City in the past few years, the archeologists were working under a lot of stress. Some of the relics or artifacts that could not be identified would be brought to the museum in advance and wait for the appraisal of the experts in the capital.

  The painting that Zhu Wenjie was pointing at was one of the artifacts that could not be identified.

  Fan Gaoda frowned.

  “Could you not know either?” Zhu Wenjie continued when he saw the frown on Fan Gaoda’s face. “I’m sorry, sir. I thought you would know about it, but it seems like I was wrong. If a teacher can’t even recognize his own country’s cultural relics and can’t explain their origins clearly to his students, isn’t he just misleading his students by being a teacher?”

  Fan Gaoda pressed his lips firmly. The fact that he had been appointed as a guide meant that he really knew his work. Even though he did not know much about archeology, he knew quite a lot about ancient paintings.

  Squinting his eyes, Fan Gaoda walked toward the painting and said after a few minutes, “Well, it’s not easy to identify the origin of this painting, but in my opinion, it’s from the Yuan Dynasty. It seems like the work of Huang Gongwang, the oldest of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, but this is just my speculation. I’m not very sure about it, so I guess it’d be better for us to wait for a proper statement from the museum.”

  “Oh, I see……” Zhu Wenjie nodded meaningfully. Then, he turned around and told the student behind him, “Mr. Fan Gaoda said he doesn’t know how to appraise ancient paintings, but why do I remember our history teacher knowing a lot about this?”

  “Our history teacher has a postdoc and retired from the archaeology department of a good school!”

  “It’s just a painting. I’m sure that if our history teacher was here, he would be able to tell us everything about it!”

  “I don’t understand why we came here. He doesn’t know anything about artifacts or ancient paintings at all. How can he help us gain knowledge?”

  “Hah! Even a student like me knows what this painting is, but he, a teacher, doesn’t know anything about it? How can he be a guide with such minimal history knowledge?”

  Every student from Hang Yuan was criticizing Fan Gaoda.

  When Song Fang heard their comments about his teacher, he said, “Why the hell would you guys ask if you know everything about it, huh? What can you guys possibly gain by making things bad for my teacher? Don’t you know how to respect teachers?”

  “So? He’s the guide, yet he cannot explain the origin of an artifact to us. In my opinion, he should not be a teacher but a student!”

  “That’s no reason for him to be an incompetent teacher!”

  “We are making things bad for him? Look at the painting yourself. Can you see the imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong? That means this painting is from the Qing Dynasty, yet he said this painting is from the Yuan Dynasty! Do you know how funny that is?”

  “.……”

  Song Fang did not know what to say.

  Lifting his brows, Zhu Wenjie then added, “Mr. Fan Gaoda, with all due respect, you’d be fired if you were a teacher at our school.”

  That was it.

  The students from Class 21 threw all caution to the wind and got into a brawl with Hang Yuan.

  Fan Gaoda tried his best to calm them down, but nobody listened to him. The security guard that was standing not far away immediately called the manager when they saw the scene.

  The situation was getting out of control.

  Then, Zhu Wenjie shouted, “A public school? Do you think your school is great just because you’re a public school? You guys are just……”

  Before he could finish his sentence, a blue water bottle was suddenly smashed against the spot by his feet, startling everyone.

  They all stared at the blue water bottle springing on the floor a few times before coming to a complete stop. Then, they looked in the direction the water bottle had flown from.

  Fu Zhi was standing not far away, and her face was dark.

  Everyone fell silent.

  She squinted her eyes and glanced through the two crowds of students with a cold gaze.

  “Still want to fight?”

  Both the students from Hang Yuan and No.1 High School shook their heads in unison.

  “Alright then.” She then looked at Zhu Wenjie and commented, “Yes. I think my school is great.”

  She paused for a moment before adding, “At least we don’t have an *ss like you as a student.”

  Fu Zhi then walked toward the ancient painting. She studied the painting for a moment before saying, “You guys said this painting is from the Qing Dynasty?”


  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 425: Appraising The Ancient Painting From The Yuan Dynasty – 2

  Zhu Wenjie was stunned, and he subconsciously took a step back when he felt Fu Zhi’s gaze on him.

  He heard that Chen Shan needed 2 days before he could get off the bed and walk again after the basketball match on Friday. He did not follow them to the museum today, and a girl from the cheerleading team filled in his spot.

  Fu Zhi bowed down and picked the blue bottle up from the floor. She crushed the bottle with her hand, sending a chill down Zhu Wenjie’s spine.

  He heard that Fu Zhi could bare handedly split a person’s skull.

  He hastily went to hide behind Nian Feiyuan and said, “Director, she…… she’s so scary. I’m scared.”

  Nian Feiyuan was speechless.

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of!” He snarled, “Hang Yuan will always back you up if anything happens. Besides, as the organizer of this exchange meeting, I’m sure her school won’t sit back and do nothing if she does anything out of line, so stop being such a coward! I have faith in you!”

  Most of the representatives from Hang Yuan that attended the exchange meeting not only had a good family background, but each of them excelled in different fields.

  For example Sun Yongge was Sun Sanzhen’s relative, while the headmaster of Hang Yuan was Wu Zhiheng’s father.

  As for Zhu Wenjie, most of his family members were archeologists, so he also knew a lot about archeology since he grew up in such a situation.

  Most of the students at Hang Yuan High School had strong family backgrounds. The level of education they received was of higher quality, and some of them were better than their teachers in their field of expertise.

  As such, Nian Feiyuan was not lying when he said he had faith in Zhu Wenjie.

  “Can my school really protect me?” Zhu Wenjie asked, his voice shaking, “She…… She won’t split my skull apart, right?”

  Nian Feiyuan replied without any hesitation, “Of course!”

  Then, he paused for a moment before continuing, “Use that little brain of yours and think about it. Everybody is watching us right now, so do you think Fu Zhi would really split your skull open? Go! Don’t be afraid. It’s time for us to show her who’s the boss here!”

  ‘Alright, then.’ Zhu Wenjie said inwardly. Then, he took two steps forward. Whipping up a smile on his face, he took a deep breath and shouted at Fu Zhi, “Who are you calling an *ss, huh?! You’d better watch your mouth!”

  The water bottle in Fu Zhi’s hand made an ear-piercing rattle as she crumpled the bottle with one hand.

  “Wha—”

  ‘Nope, nope, nope, I’m not doing this!”

  Zhu Wenjie turned around and hugged Hian Feiyuan. He buried his head in Nian Feiyuan’s jacket and shouted, “She’s so scary! I…… I don’t dare to argue with her. Chen Shan is still in the hospital. I don’t want to be like him……”

  Nian Feiyuan was speechless again.

  He looked exasperatedly at Zhu Wenjie and snarled, “What the hell are you doing? Aren’t you going to show her who’s the boss?”

  “She’s too scary. Can’t you see the bottle in her hand? I don’t want to end up like it!”

  Nian Feiyuan took a deep breath and said, “If you don’t stop crying now and do as I said, I’m going to give you a demerit when we’re back at the school!”

  Zhu Wenjie looked at Nian Feiyuan in disbelief. He did not want to get a demerit, so he psyched himself up, straightened his back, and turned around. He pointed at Fu Zhi and shouted, “Fine, you can insult me, but you can’t insult my school! I just want to know more about the painting, but Fan Gaoda cannot give a correct answer to my question. Don’t you think that he has failed his duty as a teacher?”

  “He has failed his duty as a teacher?” Fu Zhi squinted her eyes to look at him, “So what if he doesn’t know the answer to your question? He’s just a teacher, he isn’t God. There’s no way he will know the answer to all the questions. Besides, when did the responsibility of language teachers include the precise introduction of ancient paintings in museums, which even professional archaeologists cannot determine its age and historical background?”

  “I guess that only applies to the teachers in your school,” Zhu Wenjie scoffed, “Every teacher in Hang Yuan is knowledgeable. If it were our teacher to be the guide today, I’m sure he would be able to tell us every story behind each and every cultural relics and artifacts in this museum. It’s totally a waste of time for us to be here!”

  “Stop bragging about how great your teachers are. No. 1 High School is recognized as a key high school at the provincial level, but how about Hang Yuan? Has the capital’s Education Bureau officially recognized you as a key high school? On one side, you guys are trying to use No.1 High School as your stepping stone to make your school even more famous, then on the other side, you guys put on an attitude and act like an *ss in our school. If you really don’t like staying in our school so much, then leave!”

  “Look at her, Director Liu! Look at your student!” Nian Feiyuan stepped in and pulled Zhu Wenjie to his back. “We came all the way from the capital to Yu City to carry out an exchange meeting with your school with good graces. Don’t you think her attitude will damage the good relationship between both schools?”

  Nian Feiyuan felt there was nothing wrong for them to use No.1 High School as their stepping stone.

  After all, they were here for a competition.

  “With good graces? Are you sure about that?” Fu Zhi chuckled.

  She threw the water bottle into a dustbin not far away and continued, “Since the first day of the exchange meeting, have your students ever shown any respect to the teachers in my school? Even the most qualified archaeologists require some time to identify the origin of certain artifacts or cultural relics.

  “Zhu Wenjie can outrightly say that this painting, which its origin has not been identified, is from the Qing dynasty because he’s a student. He doesn’t need to hold any responsibility if his answer’s wrong. However, as a teacher, Mr. Fan could not do the same. If he doesn’t have an answer to a question, he has to say he doesn’t know the answer so that he won’t mislead his student. So, now you tell me, did he do anything wrong?”

  Nian Feiyuan’s face turned red.

  Director clapped his hands and said, “Well said!”

  Then, he turned to Ma Mingquan and praised Fu Zhi, “She’s really the best student I’ve seen so far! I knew she’s going to achieve something great from the day she joined our school!”

  Fu Zhi then continued, “Hang Yuan is considered as an elite school as well, so please do something about the manner of your students. If they don’t know how to respect their teachers, perhaps they can stay at No.1 High School and learn from our students. However, if they don’t get it, then maybe they should quit the school and go home and ask their parents to teach them how to be a human first!”

  After hearing what Fu Zhi had said, Song Fang grabbed Zhou Zihuai’s arm excitedly and said, “Did you hear that? Fu Zhi is praising me!”

  Zhou Zihuai looked at him expressionlessly and replied, “She’s praising me as well.”

  The students from Hang Yuan were stunned. No.1 High School had never said something so harsh to them before ever since the first day of the exchange meeting. After all, there were a lot of rules in No.1 High School, unlike them. It was their school that asked them to show some color to No.1 High School, that’s was why they all acted like an *ss the moment they arrived at No.1 High School.

  However, they had never expected that they would come across someone like Fu Zhi.

  Fu Zhi had made herself very clear as well.

  She allowed them to ask questions, but she would never allow them to bully Fan Gaoda.

  After all, Fan Gaoda was one of the most hardworking teachers she had ever since, so he deserved to be respected.

  Nian Feiyuan turned to Director Liu and said, “Look at her. How can you guys let a girl teach you guys how to do things in No.1 High School? She seems a little too agitated to me, so why don’t you send her out first?”

  Everyone in No.1 High School looked at Director Liu.

  “Well, in our school, we listen to the opinion of our students. Besides, she didn’t say anything wrong. Since your students look down on our teachers, why do you guys still want to come to our school for an exchange meeting?” Director Liu said, offering a grin at Nian Feiyuan.

  “Besides, our principal has said that not only is No.1 High School a public school, but we’re also invested in by the Li Corporation. Each and every student in our school is backed up by No.1 High School, the Li Corporation, and the government. As such, the school authority has told us teachers to protect our students at all costs!”

  Nian Feiyuan was stunned, while the students from No.1 High School broke into a sustained clamor.

  “Ahh! Xiao Liu, I love you!”

  “Xiao Liu is becoming more and more like Sister Zhi!”


  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 426: Appraising The Ancient Painting From The Yuan Dynasty – 3

  “Stop acting all high and mighty, you guys. Is your history teacher better than the archeologists from the capital? Even they wouldn’t be able to identify the origin of this painting at a single glance, and your teacher can do it? Does your history teacher know you guys are bragging over here?”

  “Can’t you hear what Sister Zhi is saying? Zhu Wenjie said this painting originates from the Qing Dynasty, and Sister Zhi nearly told him to stop making a fool of himself in his face.”

  They might have held themselves back in the past, but things were different now.

  Someone was backing them up, and their backers were much stronger and better than the supporters of Hang Yuan’s students.

  The Li Corporation aside, the fact that their school was a public school meant that even the government had to take care of them. Thus, they should just go head to head with Hang Yuan!

  Nian Feiyuan was so infuriated that he snorted and stared in anger, but there was nothing he could do. He could not bring his students back to their school just like that. With that thought in mind, he turned around and glared at Zhu Wenjie, urging him to say something to counter Fu Zhi.

  Zhu Wenjie took a deep breath and walked up to Fu Zhi. Then, as his friends watched on, he said, “Most of my family members are archeologists, and we didn’t disrespect your teacher. That is the seal of Emperor Qianlong, so I’m confident that this painting originates from the Qing Dynasty. Your teacher doesn’t know this because he’s incompetent. As for you, you should stop swindling people with rumors and making us look like villains!”

  Zhu Wenjie tried his best to make himself look more intimidating, but to no avail. The moment he saw Fu Zhi’s expressionless face, his knee went weak, and if his friends did not support him, he would have fallen to the floor already.

  “Just keep your mouth shut if you don’t know anything about it.” One of the students from Hang Yuan interjected. “We didn’t disrespect your teacher, and Wenjie is a professional. If you think he’s wrong, can you tell us which dynasty this painting is from?”

  “That’s right. Have a match with Wenjie if you dare. Let’s see who’s correct!” another student said as he pointed at an ancient painting behind Fan Gaoda.

  The painting had been unearthed not long ago, so there was a lot of wear and tear to it.

  Those who did not understand art would not be able to appreciate the painting, let alone figure out its age and background.

  Fan Gaoda pulled Fu Zhi aside. He was touched by Fu Zhi’s protective gesture, but at the same time, he was worried about her. “I appreciate that you’re willing to stand up for me, but you still have to hand your homework in on time, or I will punish you.”

  Fu Zhi was speechless.

  ‘Are you a demon?’

  Well, Fan Gaoda was indeed a demon, but he was an angel as well. He said, “You don’t know anything about art, so don’t accept their challenge. Just let me handle them.”

  Truth be told, Fan Gaoda did not care what they said about him at all. After all, at his age, he had seen and heard worse, so this was nothing for him. However, he would never allow anyone to badmouth his students.

  At the same time, Zhou Zihuai chimed in, “Appraising and identifying an ancient painting requires professional knowledge. Even experts are not able to figure out the origin of this painting. Besides, considering your history result…… even if Zhu Wenjie is wrong, you won’t be able to prove that you’re right either if you don’t have any solid evidence. Mr. Fan is right. Let’s not accept their challenge.”

  “Zihuai is right. Everything in the museum has plenty of background stories. You’re good at mathematics and chemistry, but you’re not good at liberal art subjects. Anyway, listen to me, when God opens a door for you, He is bound to shut a window!”

  Fu Zhi gestured to them to calm down and then turned around to inspect the painting.

  After doing that, she turned back to face Zhu Wenjie and said, “Are you guys certain that this painting originates from the Qing Dynasty?”

  Zhu Wenjie was stunned for a moment. After he regained his composure, he replied, “Of course! Why? You also want to say this is a painting from the Qing Dynasty?”

  “Wu Zhiheng is not here today, so you don’t have to apologize to me,” Fu Zhi said. She pointed at Fan Gaoda and added, “If you lose, you have to apologize to my teacher.”

  ‘She wants me to apologize to a teacher from a small town?!’

  Zhu Wenjie scoffed coldly. He nodded and said, “If you tell us everything about the painting, including its origin and background, I could even call him dad!”

  ‘Well, that’s not necessary.’ With that thought in mind, Fan Gaoda added, “I’d never have a bad son like you.”

  Zhu Wenjie was speechless. He gritted his teeth and said, “Enough of your crap. Let’s get down to business!”

  Fu Zhi smiled and pointed at the seal on the painting. “First of all, this is indeed the imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong. However, as an emperor of the Qing Dynasty, it’s widely known that he was an avid collector of famous paintings and antiques.”

  She was stating the truth. One of the things that Emperor Qianlong used to enjoy was collecting famous paintings and antiques from around the country, but he had a bad habit of stamping his seal on every painting that he liked.

  Song Fang sighed. “Holy…… I didn’t know that Sister Zhi knew these things about the Qing Dynasty.”

  “Therefore, we can’t say that this painting is from the Qing Dynasty just based on the seal alone. Let’s take a look at the painting one more time. The painting style emphasizes the uniformity of all elements in a painting, and it’s very similar to the traditional Chinese realistic painting art of the Song Dynasty palace, which created a distinctive style of their time, emulated the forms of deities, and emphasized simplicity. There are plum blossoms in the painting, so I can say for sure that this painting is from the Yuan Dynasty.”

  Alright, Song Fang, who did not know much about art, did not know what Fu Zhi was talking about.

  In fact, even Zhou Zihuan did not know what Fu Zhi was talking about.

  If they were asked to describe the painting, the only word they would think of was “beautiful”.

  Fortunately, Fu Zhi was talking slowly, so they had the time to mull over the things she said. “The style of this painting is very similar to the painting style of Huang Gongwang, one of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty. However, there are some subtle differences. This painting lacks depth, and based on the drawing style, I can see that the drawer was inexperienced. Therefore, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty collected a forged painting.”

  She paused for a moment before adding, “As long as this is forgery, the painting is worthless.”

  He was an avid collector, but that did not mean that all his items were genuine. Some forgeries were so real that even the most professional appraisal expert would not be able to tell the difference.

  They had not expected her to know so much about paintings, and all of them were stunned, especially Zhu Wenjie.

  He knew Emperor Qianlong loved to collect antiques and he had deduced that the painting originated from the Qing Dynasty because of the seal.

  As for Fu Zhi, she had explained the origin of the painting based entirely on her understanding of art and the technique of creating ancient paintings.

  Even though she might be wrong, one could not deny the fact that she was more knowledgeable than Zhu Wenjie in terms of painting.

  Zhu Wenjie’s face turned dark.

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise