Journey to Somewhere New (Sun Wukong x reader)

Chap. 22 - Domestic life, just as adventurous (3)

Today was the day of the exam. Our two protagonists woke up early, Monkey quizzed her during breakfast and on the ride to Guangfu Xue, they took the carriage together. She got all the answers correctly.
"You're gonna kill it." he held her shoulders as the two of them stood in front of the school. "Say it with me: you're gonna kill it!"
"I'm gonna kill it!"
"Say it again!"
"I'm gonna kill it!"
"That's my girl! I'll wait right here, and you tell me all about it once you come back!"
She nodded and walked inside. She gave him one last look and waved, to which he responded with a thumb up.
"Okay." Monkey exhaled and walked away. "Let's get on with it."

The chi blocking test was supposed to happen like so: each student would take turns to see the teacher, as a one-on-one presentation. They'd be given a mannequin, along with a condition chosen by the teacher at random, and the student would show and explain the procedure they'd take to try and cure the 'patient'. (Y/n) went to wait in the hallway by the door of the room where the exam would take place. But she began to be worried when she saw no one around, no one seemed to be in the room either. She decided to ask around and was relieved when she heard that everyone was simply elsewhere, passing another exam.
'Right,' she scratched her cheek, feeling silly for forgetting. 'they are classes other than this one.'
The exam before the chi blocking one was apparently half-exam and half-contest, and it was for medical-engineering. - Upon earring this, she was reminded that Guangfu Xue was a prestigious school. - Each students were gathered in a big room, given their own little space, where they must give a presentation for a project (of little or big scale) they'd have worked on since the beginning of the school year. These events were apparently opened to the public, and prestigious school meant prestigious people. It wasn't just an exam for the students, it was also an opportunity to secure a career or to get a sponsor. With an hour to spare, (Y/n) decided to go check it out. The room was indeed big. She'd stop at each station, admiring the ingenuity and creativity of some of the students. And whenever she'd see a presentation that would be considered 'lazy', she'd nod, understanding.

"Oh my gosh, it's you. Excuse me!"
She turned around to see a woman rushing up to her. She's never seen her before.
"Are you perhaps the new student, who only goes to the chi blocking class?"
"Um...Yes." she nodded, a bit taken aback.
"Lovely! You see, my husband told me about the poems your fiancé wrote for you. He's always been a big fan of poems, and yours are so beautiful! So I came here to ask if I could commission for one, since I bet, knowing him, he secretly wants one for himself."
"Your husband...?" her eyes widen. "The teacher?!"
The woman nodded. (Y/n) looked at her up and down.
"I'm sorry for being rude but... How old are you?"
"Thirty-seven."
"Uh-hu, and how old is your husband?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Oh!" she laughed. "Happens all the time, don't worry. He's forty-one."
"Forty-one?!" she exclaimed.
'This is not a forty-one year old man!' she thought, picturing the teacher's white beard and wrinkles.

The woman chuckled.
"There's a simple explanation for that: When he was a student here, he tried to experiment with some new, kind of dark, science. He wanted to try and reverse people's age, and since all his teachers disapproved of his project. He carried it out himself, and that includes...experimenting." for a moment, her gaze wandered, looking sad. "Didn't go very well, but he was rescued just in time. And now he looks like this."
"I see..." (Y/n) glanced down. "Well, I'm sorry to say this, but my partner didn't write those poems. I could ask him who wrote it and then get back to you."
"Oh that would be lovely! Thank you so much."
She smiled.

"May I have your name?"
"Zhan Lu Lin."
(Y/n)'s eyes widen. Lu Lin. She's seen that name before, on the cover of a book.
"He wrote that book?" she frowned.
"Huh?" she blinked twice. "Oh, my husband did write a book yes! He wanted to expand the teaching of chi blocking to the masses. But the school's bureau didn't allow its publishing in the end." she looked down, a bit disappointed. "To this day, he still treasures the original, and only copy he wrote."
(Y/n) pictured the look on her teacher's face when he spoke about it. She took a moment to process all of this information. She still believed he could've been nicer to her. But, now she understood him a little better.