Chapter 43: Chapter 43

"Teacher Lu, please wait a moment!"

Hearing the voice behind her, An Ning stopped and turned to examine the person who had suddenly appeared.

The woman wore a Hong Kong-style beige floral shirt casually tucked into her waist, with water-blue jeans accentuating her slender legs and a pair of leather Martin boots completing the outfit. Honestly, the ensemble looked quite striking at first glance.

Unfortunately, the woman's slightly sallow complexion, rough palms, and visibly dull energy dragged down the overall impression by several notches. If not for the system frantically reminding her in her mind, An Ning might not have recognized this as the same bright-eyed, capable female lead from the original memories.

Indeed, true beauty requires cultivation.

"Student, is there something you need?"

Ignoring the system's noisy protests, An Ning put away her teaching materials and asked with deliberate coolness.

Jiang Xue nervously bit her lip:

"Um, Teacher Lu, I have something tomorrow... Could the afternoon test possibly..."

"I'm sorry!" An Ning smiled but refused firmly. "Tomorrow's test is your department's decision. If you need leave, you should first speak with your department professors."

"Yes? Anything else?"

"No... nothing... Sorry to bother you..."

Thinking of her strict professors, Jiang Xue had initially wanted to beg for leniency, but for some reason, facing this particular teacher, she instinctively resisted lowering her head too much.

Lu An Ning, a Kun University graduate with multiple papers published in authoritative international journals, had only agreed to teach at Capital University this year after repeated invitations from the Math Department's Director Huang—and only after her husband's promotion brought them back to Beijing.

With her beauty and grace, her name had become known throughout the university within half a year. Jiang Xue herself had heard it mentioned several times in the dormitory—always with envy.

Lu An Ning... Repeating the name silently, Jiang Xue felt an inexplicable emptiness, a sense that something wasn't right. At the very least, Lu An Ning shouldn't be .

As she left, Jiang Xue quickened her pace but still caught fragments of laughter. No wonder Teacher Lu had seemed impatient—someone had come to meet her. Spotting a clearly mismatched couple ahead, the man instinctively wrapping his arm around the woman's waist to lift her over a puddle, Jiang Xue felt an arrow pierce her heart and hurried away.

"Host guessed right—the female lead is indeed busy with business! She's imported piles of Hong Kong-style clothes, no wonder she keeps asking for leave."

Back home, after a relaxing bath and her usual skincare routine, An Ning finally had time for today's gossip. Honestly, if not for today's encounter, she might have completely forgotten about this female lead.

Come to think of it, hadn't Professor Wang next door complained yesterday about a student constantly skipping classes, nearly getting held back after failing several courses last semester? Could that be her?

"That Xiao Lu... How could anyone take these rare educational opportunities for granted? Everyone at our school fought tooth and nail to get here—who wouldn't cherish it?"

Remembering the old professor's pained expression, An Ning shook her head. Professor Wang wasn't wrong—perhaps because education was hard-won, students in this era generally had remarkable drive, their thirst for knowledge visibly evident. At top universities especially, the libraries were always packed. Some even fell asleep reading in bathrooms to save on electricity.

Among such people, any slack would stand out glaringly—let alone diverting significant energy to business. An Ning wasn't surprised by the female lead's situation. Without extraordinary talent, failing was inevitable.

When everyone else is running, walking means falling behind.

"But the female lead seems to be struggling these years!" Sipping her fruit juice, An Ning's well-maintained face adopted her usual gossipy expression.

How could someone ask that with a straight face?

"Host, you're the one who butterfly-effected away the devoted second male lead who was supposed to go to the countryside. You have no idea how hard it's been for the main couple." The system couldn't help sighing.

But An Ning focused on something else entirely:

"Wait... You mean they're still together?"

In that environment, with him being from the "cowshed" class and no self-sacrificing second male lead this time, they actually persevered? An Ning felt genuine respect for the female lead's courage.

"Not everyone is like you, Host." The type who wouldn't suffer the slightest hardship, it added silently.

"Their love was forged through shared adversity, overcoming countless trials—"

"Stop, stop—redemption arc, got it." An Ning nodded absently.

High-born male lead falls from grace, enduring scorn until meeting the resilient female lead who helps without disdain, even caring for his elderly family members, ultimately melting his cold heart through countless hardships...

Well, she didn't approve but respected it. Bless them!

"But shouldn't the male lead's grandfather have been rehabilitated by now? Why is the female lead so desperate for money?"

"Actually, her golden finger is nearly useless, and the grandfather died years ago."

Its gaze unconsciously drifted toward a small box in the system space.

Not missing the glance, An Ning's eyes turned dangerous:

"System, you don't mean the jade pendant that was traded for twenty yuan in the original timeline, do you?"

In the original memories, the female lead had repeatedly coveted that pendant. But An Ning had checked—no hidden space or special properties. She'd even tried the blood ritual.

So it must be the jade's intrinsic value.

"Let me guess—her golden finger is a space, farm, or spirit spring that upgrades using gold, silver, or premium jade energy?"

Her casual tone belied how her peripheral vision locked onto the system's reaction—especially when mentioning "farm," the system's eyes visibly widened.

"Ah, so it's a farm!"

And a pre-upgrade one at that—barely able to sustain a few people.

Host was totally cheating! It wanted to report this!

Ignoring its protests, based on previous world experiences, such local golden fingers couldn't be reclaimed. Still, An Ning verified—and upon confirmation, instantly lost interest in the so-called main couple.

She'd rather do a face mask. Madam Lu had recently sent some new recipes worth trying when she had time.

Yet sometimes, the more one avoids drama, the more it chases you.

One day, while testing new-season coats at a foreign trade mall with Madam Lu, An Ning noticed a handsome man escorting a fashionable woman with voluminous curls and a red dress exiting a neighboring store.

The man looked cold and impatient, yet didn't shake off the woman's arm when she linked hers through it.

In these early reform years, public intimacy remained taboo. Their striking looks and style quickly drew the entire mall's attention—including An Ning's.

But upon recognizing his face, An Ning froze.