Decayed Vulgarian chapter 53

Alumni Association

Meng Yuan Cen, who had just completed the move in with Shen Xun, didn’t get any relaxation time. His main recent realization was that life always comes with never-ending tasks.

For instance, he was invited to attend the doctoral forum organized by the School of Social Sciences and Law Alumni Association at Qichuan University.

Qichuan University not only ranked top in Qichuan Province but also excelled nationally. The doctoral alumni attending this forum included not just university professors but also leading figures in public safety and law enforcement, such as the Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Anti-Corruption Bureau Director.

Hence, the school’s leaders highly valued this forum. This expectation extended to the doctoral students from Qichuan University, now working at Huafeng University.

As a former Qichuan University doctoral student and currently a criminal law teacher at Huafeng University, Meng Yuan Cen had high expectations from the school’s leadership. When he began preparing the presentation, he couldn’t help but be grateful for his foresight. He had resolved the final exam papers early and had only some less crucial content to cover in his lectures. This made it possible for him to explain within half a class session.

What’s more, the timing of the forum didn’t clash with the moving schedule. They only needed some non-urgent household items, and Meng Yuan Cen intended to leisurely browse online to choose items both he and Shen Xun would like.

Shen Xun considered himself burdened with a significant case of decision paralysis. Even with Meng Yuan Cen’s help narrowing down choices, he found it challenging to decide. He could be indecisive even with simple two-option choices, ultimately giving up and saying, “Meng Yuan Cen, you decide, I’m okay with whatever.”

However, Meng Yuan Cen replied, “You have to choose. Even if it’s by drawing straws or lots. It’s not for me alone to make decisions about couple items. That would be too ‘autocratic,’ wouldn’t it?”

At first, Shen Xun was a bit startled and momentarily taken aback. He nodded thoughtfully in agreement and later remarked that Meng Yuan Cen had “stubbornly upheld tradition.”

Knowing that Shen Xun was teasing, Meng Yuan Cen took the words as a huge compliment, “When you stay with Professor Meng for a long time, I promise you will experience the charm of tradition.”

Shen Xun cast a sidelong glance and, with a slight curve at the corner of his eye, said, “Really? I don’t believe it.”

Slippers, ceramic cups, phone cases, keychains, and so on—whatever couple items Meng Yuan Cen could think of, he would select during fragmented moments and send the links to Shen Xun for the second round of selection. Even though Shen Xun replied a bit slowly, he was never impatient.

However, Meng Yuan Cen did not expect that one day, upon returning home, Shen Xun was still seriously contemplating the links he had sent in the morning. After observing this behavior several times, Meng Yuan Cen finally understood why Shen Xun took so much time choosing things online—

He would browse text, images, and video descriptions, compare product specifications repeatedly, watch live streams if available, check buyer reviews in chronological order, and search for the same item to find better prices?

This whole process took quite some time.

Seated on the sofa, Shen Xun remained silent for a long time. Finally, he relaxed his brows, sent back the chosen links, and asked Meng Yuan Cen, “Should I buy them, or would you like to?”

“I’ll buy them,” Meng Yuan Cen smiled, “It seems like a difficult decision for you.”

Shen Xun agreed with an “Mm,” unable to resist repeating his previous point, “Online shopping is both tiresome and time-consuming. In the future, you can choose. I like the things you buy; I’m serious.”

“No, “Meng Yuan Cen didn’t leave any room for compromise on this matter, “I’ve mentioned my reasons before.”

Shen Xun parted his lips, swallowing the urge to retort, realizing his glorious history of defeats—up to now, he hadn’t successfully convinced Meng Yuan Cen even once. It was best not to waste effort on a losing battle.

“Alright, alright,” he repeatedly agreed.

The new home indeed lacked various household items. They made a list, and Meng Yuan Cen would purchase some of them whenever he got the chance. He noticed he was becoming a bit addicted to online shopping. Even though he was actually quite busy lately, he still found time for online purchases—

If he couldn’t think of things to buy soon, he’d think about what to buy in a few months, such as spring clothing. Meng Yuan Cen felt the urge to get couple outfits with Shen Xun too.

Recently, the priority of couple items almost paralleled that of work. He was probably falling head over heels in love.

Thus, on a dark, stormy night, while enjoying intimate moments with Shen Xun, Meng Yuan Cen, amidst kissing him, also casually mentioned the idea of buying couple outfits. And Shen Xun, as always, didn’t refuse him. After all, Shen Xun was always compliant in bed.

The next day, having received immense physical and mental satisfaction, Meng Yuan Cen was pleased to begin selecting couple outfits. He had some pretty high standards for couple outfits; he didn’t like identical clothes. He found them more like “colliding.” He wanted there to be a subtle distinction and matching connection between the two pieces of clothing.

He selected a few and sent them to Shen Xun for his choice. The latter once again faced a dilemma.

Meng Yuan Cen involuntarily recalled the previous scene—Shen Xun, eyebrows knitted, sitting on the couch, staring at the phone with a grave, solemn expression for over an hour. His initial reaction wasn’t empathy but finding him cute. Meng Yuan Cen suddenly felt he was getting a little mischievous—though he wasn’t planning to change.

After a few more moments of secretly checking the phone, Shen Xun remained silent. Clothes were indeed harder to pick compared to items like phone cases, and this could be attributed to busyness as well.

So, Meng Yuan Cen turned to his own work in the meantime. He’d been pondering the topic of his presentation at the Qichuan University Alumni Association for the past few days. It had to align with the forum’s theme, be closely linked to his research findings, and ideally encompass current hot issues over the past few years.

Before making the presentation slides, Meng Yuan Cen habitually outlined the content. Today, he felt inspired and had a good flow of ideas, managing to write over two thousand words in less than an hour.

Stretching his arms and flexing his wrists, the phone on the desk vibrated a few times.

Has he finally replied?

Meng Yuan Cen, partway speculating on which item Shen Xun would choose, eagerly picked up the phone—

Only to discover that it wasn’t Shen Xun but a WeChat friend request.

Note: I’m Zheng Cong, a lecturer at the Marxist Institute. I will also attend Qichuan University’s doctoral alumni association. The leadership has asked us to exchange content for our presentations!

The message ended with a rose emoticon.

Zheng Cong?

Meng Yuanzhen focused, contemplating for a few seconds. He remembered—Zheng Cong was the teacher who confessed to him in the cafeteria earlier.

Although the idea of discussing academic matters pretending that nothing had happened between them was somewhat awkward, Meng Yuan Cen had to comply with the command of the leadership. He had no choice but to accept it, as it was unavoidable at this point.

He accepted the friend request, and shortly after, Zheng Cong sent a set of emojis to greet him, followed by a text message: I have some questions I’d like to discuss with you. I hope you can provide new insights from a criminal law perspective. So, if possible, can we have a phone conversation?

Meng Yuan Cen wasn’t particularly keen on taking Zheng Cong’s call, and coincidentally, he wasn’t available at the moment. He replied: Sorry, I have a class right now.

Zheng Cong: It’s okay, don’t worry. You focus on your work. We can schedule another time!