After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 13
Chapter 13
In broad daylight, in full view of everyone.
As teachers, this wasn't appropriate.
Her sense of propriety overriding her desires and impulses, Cheng Zhanxi placed her hands firmly on Yu Qingtang's shoulders and gently set her upright.
"Ms. Yu, we..." can do that later in private.
Before she could finish, Yu Qingtang interrupted her. "Did you go to Chunhe Road a little over a week ago?"
Cheng Zhanxi, not a local, wasn't familiar with the street names. "Where is Chunhe Road? Are there any landmarks nearby?"
"Near Zhongting Square. There was a famous exhibition going on at the time."
Cheng Zhanxi remembered and guessed why Yu Qingtang was asking. She smiled. "Yes, I caught a thief there that day." And I also happened to catch you so you wouldn't get knocked over by the thief.
Yu Qingtang looked at her for a moment, then said sincerely, "Thank you."
"You already thanked me last time."
"You saved me again just now."
"Alright," Cheng Zhanxi said readily. "I'll gladly accept your gratitude. I'll make sure to eat extra at lunch and use up all the money on your meal card."
Yu Qingtang nodded. "That's fine. Even three portions are okay."
The smile on Cheng Zhanxi's face faltered slightly.
Yu Qingtang continued walking.
Cheng Zhanxi hurried to catch up. "Ms. Yu," she explained, "actually, I don't eat that much. This morning, I just..." She quickly came up with an excuse. "Those pastries were so delicious, I bought two on impulse. I was almost bursting afterwards."
Yu Qingtang hummed in response.
But she didn't seem to believe her.
Or perhaps she simply didn't care whether it was true or not.
She was thinking: Ms. Cheng, the medical report, really talks too much. I should have pretended I didn't recognize her.
So noisy.
Just as talkative as that night.
Yu Qingtang quickened her pace.
Cheng Zhanxi followed her into the cafeteria. They encountered some students from Class 7 on the way.
"Hello, teachers."
"Hello."
Cheng Zhanxi greeted them with a smile, while Yu Qingtang's expression remained neutral.
It was Cheng Zhanxi's first time eating in the Sicheng No. 1 High School cafeteria. Yu Qingtang, acting as a semi-host, showed her where to get the trays and where to return them. Cheng Zhanxi followed her like an obedient child, her expression demure.
This made Yu Qingtang feel a little strange.
Cheng Zhanxi got a single portion of food. Yu Qingtang came back with two bowls of soup. Seeing Cheng Zhanxi's tray, she had initially wanted to suggest she get more, but it seemed impolite to say so to someone she barely knew. "The donkey meat sandwiches on the second floor are quite good. Would you like to try one, Ms. Cheng?" she asked instead.
A special lunch recommendation from her crush? Of course, she had to try it! Even if she couldn't finish it, she had to eat it!
Cheng Zhanxi smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Yu Qingtang thought: Just as I suspected.
She went to the counter and bought a donkey meat sandwich, adding an extra portion of meat.
Cheng Zhanxi paced back and forth in the office all afternoon, occasionally sighing softly.
The Chinese teacher who had teased her earlier was getting dizzy from watching her pace. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Cheng Zhanxi furrowed her brows. "I'm trying to digest my lunch."
The Chinese teacher chuckled.
Cheng Zhanxi glanced at Yu Qingtang's empty desk. They had parted ways after lunch – Ms. Yu, the master of disappearing acts, had vanished again.
"Does Ms. Yu always have a lot to do at noon?" she asked casually.
The Chinese teacher replied, "She's busy with her date."
"Huh? She has a partner?"
"Yes, she does."
Crack. A fissure appeared in Cheng Zhanxi's rosy heart.
Clutching her metaphorical heart, she asked, "Who is it?"
"Ms. Wen, Wen Zhihan. Didn't you know?" the Chinese teacher said, her expression implying she was sharing a big secret.
Cheng Zhanxi smiled. "I really didn't know."
She would eat her hat if Yu Qingtang and Wen Zhihan were a couple.
The only seemingly viable candidate was so clearly not viable, which meant Yu Qingtang was definitely single.
At 1:50 p.m., Yu Qingtang, the master of disappearing acts, reappeared, sitting at her desk filling out school forms, the scratching of her pen against the paper filling the air.
Cheng Zhanxi stared at the captivating tear mole at the corner of Yu Qingtang's eye, adding a light touch to the sketch in her notebook, dissatisfied with the result. She couldn't capture Yu Qingtang's essence, not even a fraction of it.
Cheng Zhanxi closed her notebook, rested her head on her desk, and asked idly, "Where did you go at noon, Ms. Yu?"
Yu Qingtang, without looking up, replied, "I went home for a nap."
A flicker of excitement sparked in Cheng Zhanxi's eyes. "Do you always go home for your lunch break?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Yu Qingtang asked, her voice calm as she continued filling out the forms.
"No, I'm sleepy too," Cheng Zhanxi said, stifling a yawn.
Her apartment was too far from school. The commute took at least an hour round trip, eating up all her break time.
"Go ahead and sleep," Yu Qingtang said.
Cheng Zhanxi glanced at the bright sun outside, feeling drowsy under the gentle breeze from the office air conditioner, and yawned again. "Good afternoon, Ms. Yu." She buried her face in her arms.
Yu Qingtang, seemingly not hearing her, continued filling out the forms.
Cheng Zhanxi fell asleep to the rhythmic scratching of Yu Qingtang's pen.
The bell rang twice. A few minutes later, Yu Qingtang, rubbing her aching wrist, looked up and saw someone asleep at the dark wooden desk to her left.
One cheek rested on her arm, which was cushioned by an open book, her face turned towards Yu Qingtang.
Her long hair cascaded over her arm and onto the desk. Her skin was as smooth and white as milk, her eyelashes long and curled, her nose straight, and her lips rosy, parted slightly as she breathed evenly in her sleep.
Cheng Zhanxi's features were striking, the kind that commanded attention in a crowd. Coupled with her outgoing personality and tall, slender figure, she exuded an aura of sharp confidence when awake, or "cool," as her students would say. But asleep, she was completely different. The large wooden desk dwarfed her sleeping form, making her appear small and delicate, her features soft, her aura innocent and pure, like a child.
Sometimes, the difference between people was starkly apparent.
Cheng Zhanxi was clearly someone who had been loved and cherished all her life. Her casual grace, her self-assuredness, the constant smile on her face – all spoke of a carefree life and a privileged background.
Her clothes, mostly unmarked by brand logos, were made of high-quality fabric, likely custom-made.
Her decision to become a teacher was probably just a whim, a playful indulgence for a rich heiress. She could lose interest at any moment and simply walk away.
Her life seemed to be the polar opposite of Yu Qingtang's.
Yu Qingtang watched her for a while, not knowing what she was looking at. She snapped out of her reverie and chuckled self-deprecatingly.
Cheng Zhanxi slept soundly, experiencing the nostalgic feeling of napping in class. She even dreamed of a teacher whose face she couldn't quite make out. When she woke up to the sound of the bell, she felt like she was sixteen again. She sat up, smoothing her hair, and looked at Yu Qingtang, who was still sitting in the same position, a sense of unreality washing over her, as if the past and present were intertwined.
If her math teacher had looked like Yu Qingtang, she definitely wouldn't have slept through math class.
"Is it time for class or break time?" she asked.
"Class," Yu Qingtang replied.
"Which period?"
"Second."
Cheng Zhanxi breathed a sigh of relief. She had only slept through one class.
She lay down again, intending to take a short nap.
Yu Qingtang, thinking she was going to sleep again, reminded her, "You have class third period."
"How did you know?" Cheng Zhanxi's heart fluttered with excitement.
"I happened to see your schedule."
Yu Qingtang had seen Cheng Zhanxi's schedule posted on her desk when she went to refill her water bottle. Worried that the heiress might oversleep and miss her class, she had memorized it.
Cheng Zhanxi, maintaining a calm facade, said politely, "Thank you."
Meanwhile, fireworks exploded in her mind. She secretly memorized my schedule and claimed it was an accident!!! Such a tsundere!
During the second period break, the homeroom teacher of Class 17 came to get Cheng Zhanxi for her PE class.
Even though only Cheng Zhanxi was gone, the other teachers were still chatting, yet Yu Qingtang felt a sense of long-lost peace return to the office.
Someone as radiant as Cheng Zhanxi naturally had a stronger presence than most.
During the evening math self-study session, Yu Qingtang caught a student playing with her phone hidden under her desk. She tapped lightly on the student's desk.
The student looked up, her face paling instantly.
Yu Qingtang glanced at the student's phone. A photo was displayed on the screen.
A woman wearing a helmet, her figure leaning against a sleek silver motorcycle against the backdrop of the setting sun, a scene reminiscent of a nostalgic romance movie.
The student obediently handed over her phone, following Yu Qingtang's gaze. "That's Ms. Cheng," she whispered.
Yu Qingtang paused for a split second, locked the phone, and hummed in acknowledgement.
After the self-study session, Yu Qingtang spoke to the student privately and returned her phone.
The night was dark and hazy, the sky a dusky blue, without a single star in sight. The moon rose and fell behind the clouds, and the trees swayed in the strong wind.
The sky remained overcast the following day, the sun hidden behind thick clouds. The temperature dropped by ten degrees compared to the previous day.
Cheng Zhanxi had stayed up late the previous night discussing Titian, a Venetian painter of the Renaissance, and his works, such as Venus of Urbino and Assumption of the Virgin, with a friend in a different time zone, losing track of time. Looking at the gloomy sky, she put on a light jacket before heading out. By the time she arrived at school, it was already second period.
As she approached the office, she sensed something was amiss.
The atmosphere in the first-year teachers' office was tense.
Yu Qingtang stood beside a girl in a neat school uniform. The girl, Yu Zhou, a student from Yu Qingtang's class, had delicate features and a fragile air, her head bowed.
Facing them was a well-dressed woman, presumably a parent, accompanied by a teenage boy who was slightly taller than his mother but stood with his head down, shoulders slumped, like a quail. The boy was from Class 10.
Yu Qingtang: "Hello."
The elegantly dressed woman raised an eyebrow. "Are you the homeroom teacher?"
"Yes, I am."
"Since her parents aren't here, talking to you is the same, right?"
"Yes."
The woman pointed at the quiet, frail girl. "She seduced my son!" she exclaimed. "What are you going to do about it?!"
The girl's eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up as she hid behind Yu Qingtang.
Yu Qingtang gently pushed the woman's hand down and said calmly, "Madam, are you sure your accusation is accurate?"
That morning, the woman had stormed into the office with her son, furious. Yu Qingtang had asked her to wait while she went to Yu Zhou's class to understand the situation. Yu Zhou explained that the boy from the other class had written her a love letter, asking someone from Class 7 to deliver it. Yu Zhou didn't even know him and had returned the letter through the messenger, making it clear that she only wanted to focus on her studies.
The incident had happened the previous week, and Yu Zhou had thought it was over. The rejected boy hadn't said anything, but now his mother had shown up at school.
The woman shrieked, "Are you saying I'm falsely accusing this little slut?"
Unable to bear the insult, the girl's tears started falling.
Yu Qingtang's expression turned cold. "Please watch your language," she said sternly.
Ignoring her, the woman continued, "At such a young age, learning how to seduce people instead of focusing on her studies." Her eyebrows shot up in anger, and she reached out to grab the girl's arm. "Don't hide! Come here! I'm going to teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!"
"Calm down! Don't resort to violence!" Yu Qingtang shielded the girl, her arm outstretched.
In the ensuing struggle, the woman's long nails scratched Yu Qingtang's arm, leaving three long, bloody marks. Yu Qingtang winced.
Her fair, delicate skin quickly welted, the scratches starkly visible.
The girl cried out, "Ms. Yu!"
Cheng Zhanxi kicked the door open.
Alas, I didn't finish writing the face-slapping scene. See you tomorrow.
Ms. Cheng's shining moment is loading. The relationship progress bar is about to make a qualitative leap ╰(*°▽°*)╯
Short skit:
Cheng Zhanxi: My wife bought me a special lunch today. I'm so happy! Awwww! So lovely!
Yu Qingtang: She really is a big eater.
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