Chapter 340: Déjà Vu
Tang Xiu’s eyes sparkled as his sight fixated on Han Qingwu’s cascading fingers. It was a shocking discovery. Han Qingwu’s movement was… It was her… most habitual action in the Immortal World.
Back then, although Tang Xiu drowned himself in cultivation and somewhat neglected her, but when all was said and done, he lived together with her for millenniums. He was perfectly aware of this habitual action of hers.
At this time, Tang Xiu recalled that, after his return to Earth, he came across Han Qingwu many times; for which, he suddenly came to a realization. That was, he had never paid attention to her words, actions and demeanor before. And now, clues appeared one by one in Han Qingwu’s actions.
The mannerism and the changes in demeanor!
Her little actions were extremely similar with… her… in the Immortal World.
This is impossible!
Tang Xiu suddenly stood, attracting the attention of Han Qingwu and the other students. He didn’t go to the podium but turned to the back door and left the classroom. Yet, the restlessness inside his heart didn’t reduce in the slightest after he came out of the classroom. Instead, it got more intense.
“Oh?”
Suddenly, he smelled smoke in the air. He immediately followed the smoke trail to the stairwell. There, he saw two young men squatting in the stairwell, smoking while chatting. Tang Xiu walked over and then said, “Brothers, could you give me a cigarette? I was in a hurry when I came outside and forgot to bring mine.”
The two young men were startled for a second, as one of them smiled and took out half a pack of cigarettes. He pulled out one and handed it over to Tang Xiu together with his lighter. He then laughed, “We originally thought that students who can be admitted to Shanghai University were only the goody two shoes and don’t like smoking. Never thought I would find another smoker buddy here. Anyways, I’m Tang Chao from Western Prairie; and he’s Wu Dong from Northeast. We both are freshmen in the Department of Finance.”
Tang Xiu lit up his cigarette and took deep puffs. After the restless feeling inside his heart disappeared, he said, “I’m Tang Xiu from Star City and also a freshman, albeit in the Department of History. You two continue chatting, I still have to go downstairs. We’ll chat some other time.”
“OK, go!” The two young men could also feel Tang Xiu’s restlessness as they nodded and replied.
Smoking his cigarette, Tang Xiu went out of the building and headed straight to a small grove nearby. He then sat himself down on a stone bench by the sidewalk trail, while two identical faces kept appearing in his mind.
Han Qingwu! Xue Qingcheng!
His wife in the Immortal World was called Xue Qingcheng.
Their slightest facial expressions, words, and actions, as well as their bearings, ceaselessly turned his mind upside down as he compared and contrasted them. Yet, the more he compared, the more he could tell that there were too many similarities between them.
This is highly improbable! Xue Qingcheng ought to be in the Immortal World. At the most, she would only have trouble cultivating the Heavenly Art of Cosmic Genesis. But it’s absolutely impossible for her to come to Earth. Even if she wanted to, she doesn’t have the ability to send her Avatar embodiment here.
Only, they are clearly people from two different worlds. I couldn’t care less whether they are alike. But, why do they have some resemblances to their bearing, words, and actions? Is this just a mere coincidence?
Inside the Department of History’s classroom.
Upon seeing Tang Xiu leave without a word, the 20 students and Han Qingwu had bewildered expressions on their faces. Han Qingwu herself wanted to chase after Tang Xiu, asking for the reason. But she didn’t feel right to leave out the other students here. Hence, she could only smile and explain, “Well, maybe Tang Xiu is not feeling well. We don’t need to worry about him. Anyways, let’s continue with the self-introductions!”
“My turn!” Hu Qingsong got up.
Han Qingwu nodded. While listening to the student’s self-introductions and dealing with everyone inside, she came before the classroom’s windows at the front row without herself realizing it.
She knew Tang Xiu rather well. She was clear that Tang Xiu was definitely not someone who would easily display such a rude gaffe. She had never seen Tang Xiu as silent as a grave and with such an unsightly face.
After the students finished introducing themselves, her eyes glanced out of the window. But at this moment, she could clearly see Tang Xiu sitting alone smoking on a stone bench on the sidewalk in the small grove near the classroom building.
That's right! He was smoking!
Han Qingwu was stupefied. She didn’t know when did Tang Xiu learn to smoke!
Something must have happened!
She deeply thought inside in silence. She wasn’t aware of the fact that she herself had become somewhat preoccupied since Tang Xiu left the classroom.
“Hey, did you noticed? Teacher Han seems absent-minded.”
“When Tang Xiu was still here, Teacher Han was very energetic. But after he inexplicably left, she became somewhat inattentive. Don’t tell me what everyone said is true, that Teacher Han really came to Shanghai University to pursue him?”
“No shit! Does Teacher Han really like Tang Xiu? She smiled a lot less ever since he left the classroom.”
“Man, Tang Xiu is too cool, isn’t he? He even can make Teacher Han be deeply in love with him! I gotta consult and ask his guidance another day to learn his experience of picking up hot chicks!”
"..."
The students gossiped in whispers so as to avoid being heard by Han Qingwu. But she herself barely registered the students introducing themselves on the podium. After all the students had finished with their introductions, she laughed spiritedly and said, “Well, I believe we all know each other now! There’s nothing much to do this morning, so you all can chat with your classmates here. I’ll come back to the classroom at 2:00 PM and we’ll elect the interim class president then. After that, you will receive the list for textbooks and teaching materials; you can find them later in the bookstore.”
“Teacher Han, does the University have many courses for us to attend?” asked Zhao Liang.
“Not too many. But you still have to study many subjects, though.” Han Qingwu shook her head and said, “Although you are all Department of History’s students, you also need to select some elective courses. You can choose what you like and what you want! By the way, I also have received a notice from the campus that we also have a lot of student societies here. You can sign up for any societies you like, but it will have to wait until you’ve finished your military training subject.”
“Teacher Han, can we apply to establish a new society?” Yue Kai suddenly asked.
“Applying to establish a new society is rather troublesome,” Han Qingwu shook her head and said, “This must wait after the student military training finished.”
"Got it!" Yue Kai nodded.
Han Qingwu stayed in the classroom for a few more minutes before she casually found an excuse to leave. When she quickly came to that small grove where Tang Xiu was sitting motionlessly on the stone bench, as if being in deep thought about something, she secretly sighed inside and inquired, “What are you thinking about?”
Tang Xiu looked up. A complicated mood flashed in his eyes as he saw Han Qingwu. He then shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. I just felt upset all of a sudden, so I came out to have some fresh air and vent it out.”
Han Qingwu stamped on Tang Xiu’s cigarette butt on the ground and said, “Your worry seems quite heavy since you’re smoking, doesn’t it? Can you tell what matter is concerning you? Perhaps I can help you to dispel it.”
Tang Xiu was silent for a moment. He slowly shook his head and said, “No, you can’t help me!”
“How do you know I can’t help you?” Han Qingwu lightly laughed and said, “Tell me, perhaps I can help! Don’t forget, I’m a teacher and you’re a student.”
After thinking deeply for a while, Tang Xiu then said, “If you really want to help, then I’ll ask you something. If -- I say if -- if there are two worlds, one being our planet and the other one is another world; tell me, will the same identical person appear in both worlds?”
Han Qingwu involuntarily laughed, “How can two worlds exist? Even if there is, the same identical person is impossible to appear! Is it even possible for a person to have doppelgangers? I may not know much about physics, but a lot of physicists have been trying to study it, but they have never found any places in the outer space like our Earth; or such as the positive and negative of the north and south poles. Even after having spent so many years researching it, they haven’t found it yet.”
“Nobody not being able to study it, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “I was quite restless since I had some questions in my mind that I could not answer. Don’t worry, though! I’m fine already… perhaps after a while.”
“I really don’t know what goes on inside your head!” Han Qingwu forced a smile and said, “Well, forget it. You had better not to lose yourself in various fancies, conjectures, and whatnot. Besides, you haven’t introduced yourself to your class yet!”
“Forget it! Even if I don’t introduce myself, I’m afraid that everyone already knows me!” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “After all, the fact that we—teacher and student, entered the same university simultaneously and continued our teacher-student relationship has been publicly known by them already.”
Han Qingwu placed her finger ring on her pinkie, pressing her middle finger on top the ring finger, and the forefinger atop it. She then lifted her hand and gently caressed her long hair as she said with a smile, “In this case, you must thank me for making you famous, no? How about treating me to a meal today since there’s nothing to do this noon?”
“I can’t. I have something to do at noon,” Tang Xiu shook his head.
“What are you gonna do?” Han Qingwu was puzzled and said, “Are you not willing to treat me to a meal?”
“I’m going to look for someone at noon. He’s our Department of History’s Vice Dean.” Said Tang Xiu.
Han Qingwu was startled for a moment and asked with a puzzled expression, “What are you seeking the Vice Dean for?”
“To request a leave of absence!” said Tang Xiu.
Han Qingwu was stunned. She never imagined that Tang Xiu wanted to find the Vice Dean in order to ask a leave of absence. It could be said that she was crystal clear about Tang Xiu’s ability for asking leaves of absence. During his study in Star City First High School, Tang Xiu was still asking for leaves of absence even in his final period of study; even the number of days he asked for was very long.
He used to ask for a leave before very frequently, but why did he also want ask a leave of absence now? He did say in Star city that he had a lot of businesses that needed to be done, but after he came to Shanghai, did he still have other important things to do?
“Tang Xiu, what are you requesting a leave of absence for?”
“I don’t want to attend the military training. I feel that it will be very boring. So, while others are taking military training, I want to study the whole freshman’s curriculum! Thus, I will be very relaxed when the new term officially starts.”
Han Qingwu suddenly understood. She let out a smile and said, “Ah, it turns out that you don’t want to participate in the military training! I can understand it. But when I was in the university back then, I also thought of every possible means to not participate in the subject. Even though I didn’t get a holiday or a leave of absence, I also tried various means and excuses to reduce my time attending the military training. Anyways, would the Vice Dean even approve your request?”
“I know the Vice Dean of Shanghai University’s Department of History—Le Baiyi.”
“You know Vice Dean Le?” cried Han Qingwu with an incredulous expression.