Love, Gun, Cupid

"Because there are more males who rebel against the empire."

Lin Jiade understood what Du Juan meant and asked, "Don't they hate humans?"

Du Juan replied, "When the overall economic conditions of society are still good, racial hatred is no match for life. Don't worry, I've put you on the battlefield of matchmaking, so naturally I'm also responsible for your safety."

“Since you put it that way… I’ll give it a try? But if I don’t feel anything, don’t force me,” Lin Jiade said.

Du Juan nodded: "I promise."

Lin Jiade got up to get water. Du Juan talked to him for a long time, the information hidden in her words making him dizzy. Just then, he saw the time on the clock and said, "Something's wrong!"

"what's up?"

"Do your homework," Lin Jiade replied seriously.

"What?"

Du Juan was somewhat surprised, while Lin Jiade was on the verge of tears. In their senior year of high school, the teachers had encouraged them by saying that university would be a time for lots of fun. He had believed them, genuinely thinking that university was some carefree paradise.

As a result, his university life was filled with mind-numbing professional courses and sleep-inducing general education courses, a mountain of homework, and a stern teacher, Mr. Yang, who wouldn't tolerate a moment of laziness in class.

During his freshman year, he did homework until midnight every day, spending half of that time thinking about the problems and the other half doing random matrix calculations on scratch paper.

Things got a little better in his second year, but he still had to do homework until 11 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays when he had a lot of major courses.

On Friday, Mr. Yang, who teaches Discrete Mathematics, assigned an absurd amount of homework. That night, Lin Jiade and his friends played five-a-side football. On Saturday, they ate, drank, slept, and watched "Digital Treasure ○ Big Colon". On Sunday, they spent the day playing online shooting games with their friends.

Adding to the commotion that evening, by 9 PM, his homework remained untouched.

Discrete Mathematics may not be much, but it's said that she'll also be teaching Real Analysis and Complex Analysis, which are included as part of the main storyline in the third year (version 3.0). That's terrifying.

According to information from the previous year's students, the course with the highest failure rate in our department is "Mathematical Physics Equations." In a semester of more than fifty students, only seven students did not have to repeat the course. The second most common course is "Complex Functions."

"Mathematical Physics Equations" is an elective course, so you can skip this toxic pool later. However, "Complex Functions" is given as part of the main storyline, so you can't avoid it no matter what.

If he offends the lecturer at this time, he will suffer the consequences of not getting a good grade for participation in the course in the future.

"Would you mind if I took a look at human homework?"

Du Juan looked nostalgic: "Actually, in high school, my teacher tricked me into thinking that I could relax properly once I got to college."

Lin Jiade looked surprised: "So even in different worlds, high school teachers still have the same lying mouth."

"That's right. I was so busy during my freshman and sophomore years that I didn't even have time to carefully consider cosmetics."

"Cosmetics... uh, I mean, you're so pretty, do you really need this?"

"Whether man or woman, the pursuit of natural beauty has reached a pathological level. However, any exquisite and lasting beauty in the world relies on patient, everyday maintenance—"

"Using cosmetics, using medicine, using lies."

Du Juan leaned closer and pointed to her cheek: "Actually, I wore light makeup, look. But if there were other girls around, I would definitely say I was wearing no makeup."

A sweet fragrance wafted over, and Du Juan's close face made Lin Jiade's heart race and his mouth go dry.

He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of her, so he gave her a perfunctory reply and went back to his room to do his homework.

As time passed, Lin Jiade's heart gradually calmed down. Some of the new knowledge that shattered his worldview was digested and absorbed, while some was left behind.

Instead, a beautiful girl... The fact that his beautiful stepmother was right outside the door stirred something within him.

Chapter Five: "It's Magic"

Lin Jiade was lost in thought and didn't finish his homework until after 1 a.m. He opened the door and saw Du Juan playing on her phone, looking energetic.

Her phone was connected to a charger, which in turn was plugged into something resembling a compatible tool, which was in turn connected to a power outlet. Thus, the celestial visitor completed her connection with the mortal world.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Lin Jiade said.

"Finished your homework? You've worked hard." Du Juan looked up and said, "There's something else, not so important, that I need to discuss with you."

"what's up?"

"I've taken a look, and your house is quite large, plus it's conveniently located. So, until I help you with your relationship and finish my research, could I stay here?"

Lin Jiade felt it was a bit strange that their first night together had almost turned into living together. But just as he opened his mouth, Du Juan said pitifully, "I just came from the Heavenly Realm, penniless and helpless."

Can you bear to see the young woman who rescued you and became deeply connected to you sleeping on a park bench, enduring the long nights covered with discarded newspapers?

"You're quite the master of moral blackmail," Lin Jiade said, rubbing his forehead.

The Cupid intern smiled and said, "I don't need to eat or drink, I'm very energy-efficient, and I won't be a financial burden on you. I just need a place where I can sleep peacefully and regain my magic through sleep."

Similarly, if we act together, it will be easier for me to help you achieve your romantic goals.

Lastly, I don't think my appearance and figure are the type that would make humans dislike me. You could treat me like an ornamental plant to relax.

"How could I dislike you? It's just that you're so beautiful that I'm almost embarrassed to look at you," Lin Jiade thought to himself.

Having already put it this way, what could Lin Jiade possibly object to? He couldn't even offer the excuse of maintaining proper boundaries between men and women, because the balance of power between the two sides meant that when a crime occurred, he was 100% the victim.

As for whether he would become a victim, he simply believed that the person who saved his life would not harm him.

Furthermore, his parents work in another city and contact each other by phone once a week. During their call this Friday, they indicated that the power system project had been delayed and they would not be returning anytime soon.

So he had to continue living alone in the three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, feeling free but lonely. He even considered discussing with his counselor the following year about moving into a six-person dormitory.

So when Du Juan suggested staying, Lin Jiade was overjoyed.

According to Du Juan, the Cupid Education Academy has a course called Human Life Studies, which she took, much like Conan studied in Hawaii, thus gaining a broad understanding of human living equipment.

This made things easier for Lin Jiade; it only took him a few minutes to teach her how to use the household appliances.

Du Juan lived in an empty room. After asking him for a blanket and a novel from a bookshelf, she locked herself in the room and didn't make a sound. She didn't disturb his life.

But that night, Lin Jiade dreamed of her constantly.

A beautiful Cupid has intruded into the single man's life, bringing curiosity, desire, embarrassment, and a touch of discomfort. These mixed feelings cause Lin Jiade to suffer from insomnia.

He lay in bed, thinking about Cupid just a wall away. The more he minded, the more painfully lucid his thoughts became.

As a result, he suffered from sleep deprivation and fell asleep during his major class on Monday.

In his dream, he saw Cupid with a blurred face bowing her head, her long pink hair weaving a curtain that enveloped his vision. Her face slowly drew closer, her hand pulling his hand, and a bone spur shooting out from her palm pierced his hand.

When he asked why in anguish, Cupid looked at him with an expression he couldn't understand; his face was reflected in her eyes, and her voice entered his ears—

"It's magic."

"Lin Jiade, please answer the question I just asked you."

Lin Jiade felt a poke in his ribs. The memory from his dream made him jump up from his seat and shout, "It's magic!"

The classroom remained silent for two seconds, then broke into low chuckles. Lin Jiade wiped his face, looking around somewhat dazedly, when the red banner with yellow lettering on the wall came into view—

Those who toil with tears in their eyes now will reap with smiles in the future.

These are the last ripples left by the senior students in the mathematics department who are preparing for graduate school entrance exams. Because the content is very inspiring, the department leaders did not arrange for them to be removed.

However, for a group of Jedi virgins without girlfriends, the Force of Freud was with them, and they automatically imagined an exciting scene from an inspirational postgraduate entrance exam slogan.

Lin Jiade hadn't thought much of it at first, but after being reminded by his friends, he was deeply impressed by the slogan, and it was etched into his DNA.

So, the moment he saw the slogan, he realized he was in class. The bad news was, he had just fallen asleep. Even worse, he had fallen asleep during the most crucial class of his major, a class where he absolutely couldn't afford to be careless.

On the podium, the teacher's face was flushed with anger. This was the youngest teacher in Lin Jiade's major, who came to teach here after obtaining his doctoral degree.

Although this teacher was quite approachable outside of class, she was stricter than the older teachers in class, which was evident in her habit of taking attendance every class.

The boy sitting next to him secretly pointed to the question the teacher had just asked. Lin Jiade glanced at it and answered it fluently.

The teacher told him to sit down, but her warning gaze lingered on him for three seconds. She thought Lin Jiade understood what she meant; Lin Jiade's mind understood, but his mind sometimes couldn't control his body, and right now, his body just wanted to sleep.

The already dry and tedious professional knowledge made him drowsy. He told himself he would only sleep for one minute, then closed his eyes, but he couldn't open them.

The teacher lowered her head and continued reading the PowerPoint presentation. A short while later, she looked up again and found Lin Jiade fast asleep on the table.

After class, Lin Jiade was taken back to the teacher's office. He barely survived the verbal storm before returning, looking as pale as Tang Sanzang who had escaped from the clutches of a demon.

With his major courses scheduled back-to-back in the same classroom, he went back and sat with his good buddies again. After being scolded and breaking out in a cold sweat, he was no longer sleepy.

The young man said absentmindedly, "There's definitely a reason why Ms. Yang can't find a boyfriend: she's highly educated, has a respectable job, a decent income, owns a house and a car, is good-looking and has a great figure, and is strong-willed and confident—"

Unfortunately, all of this was ruined by his words.

When she scolded me, I wondered what kind of brave person could be so carefree as to live with her. Did she feel weak enough to clench her fist or did her blood pressure not rise high enough?

"Oh my god, it's like I'm watching Sterling playing 'happy football' right now, or Katsuragi Keima blatantly choosing a random female lead... Can you understand how I feel?"

Lin Jiade isn't the type to talk badly about people behind their backs, but he wasn't in the right mood today, so he blurted out what was on his mind, even revealing his love for cartoons.

His brothers were completely silent, looking at him as if they were looking at Zhang Xun, who was trapped in Suiyang.

Following their gaze, Lin Jiade turned around, and the familiar sleeveless dress came into view. He looked up and met an even more familiar face.

Ms. Yang didn't say anything, but a storm was brewing in her eyes.

Chapter Six: In short, I deeply regret it.

Perhaps only Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony could reflect Lin Jiade's feelings. After the teacher left with a vengeful look, his good buddies huddled together and whispered, "You're so bold! You dared to sleep in Teacher Yang's class and even dared to poke at her 28-year-old single-boyfriend landmine."

Lin Jiade slammed his head on the table, looking like a salted fish. He said wearily, "Thank you for the compliment, but in short, I deeply regret it."

If he could have regrets, his regrets would likely go back to Sunday when he shouldn't have gone to the wholesale market. Then he wouldn't have rashly rushed into the alley, and naturally, he wouldn't have made a pact with Cupid.

"Want to play five-a-side football tonight?" my good friend asked.

"No, thank you," Lin Jiade waved his hand. "I haven't been feeling well these past few days. Let me rest for a bit."

"Yesterday I asked you to play 11-a-side but you wouldn't. You looked like you were drained of energy and acting all mysterious... I'm telling you, you wouldn't be hiding a mistress behind your brothers' backs and partying every night, would you?"

Although they didn't live on campus, the friendships fostered through group activities were enough for the best buddies to joke around with each other without restraint.

Unfortunately, this is no joke.

Lin Jiade stammered, "I'm just not feeling well. I'll rest for a couple of days."

Lin Jiade's height and physique usually gave people a strong impression, so it was quite surprising that he said he wasn't feeling well. His buddies exchanged glances, and one of them asked, "Did you eat too many hamburgers and then sit on the toilet?"

"In short, I deeply regret it," Lin Jiade repeated.

After a long and tiring day, he dragged his exhausted body home. The glow of the setting sun cast a lonely hue over the apartment building, but from today onward, whenever he looked up, he would always find a white light on his floor.

The not-so-warm LED lights made his heart feel cozy, and he was so engrossed in his fantasy that he didn't even notice the girl watching him in the elevator.

He opened the door and glanced towards the kitchen, where a girl wearing a floral apron peeked out. She smiled at him, then turned back to continue her work. Lin Jiade's heart warmed more than global warming.

This was one of the reasons Lin Jiade convinced himself to live with the beautiful woman of unknown origin: although Miss Dujuan's cooking was terrible, her efforts for him satisfied his vanity and filled his loneliness.