After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The first half of the sentence was true; the “very intense” part had an element of exaggeration.
Yu Qingtang had no experience, merely imitating Cheng Zhanxi’s previous light kiss, she held her lower lip, pressing against it without letting go.
In the winter quilt, the two slept in each other’s arms, the bed full of warmth. Yu Qingtang’s long, dense eyelashes were like little fans, their tips resting on her nose, ticklish, and her exhaled breath was hotter than usual.
She kept her eyes closed, as if she had found satisfaction in this light kiss.
But Cheng Zhanxi was not. She had coveted Yu Qingtang for a long time, wanting to be intimately close with her day and night, to do all the things couples do. How could a mere light touch of their lips be enough? The throbbing in her very bones was drawn out this night, boiling with the moonlight, unstoppable once it began.
She moistened Yu Qingtang’s lips, parted them, and explored deeper, meeting no resistance.
Cheng Zhanxi’s heart pounded like a drum, her mind slightly dizzy from the long-dreamed-of exquisite taste.
She didn’t actually remember the details of that kiss clearly. She had basically taken the lead, with Yu Qingtang occasionally responding with great shyness, her eyes always closed. Sweetness and smoothness intertwined, breaths mingled, indistinguishable from one another.
In a way, the phrase “very intense” wasn’t wrong, at least for Cheng Zhanxi. Her heart rate never dropped below 180 throughout. Her own rapid breathing filled her ears, thrumming against her eardrums. Her heartbeat wasn’t a ‘putong putong,’ but a heavy drumbeat, ‘dong dong dong.’
Excitement aside, Cheng Zhanxi kissed very gently, so Yu Qingtang’s sounds were also very soft, like a kitten’s, delicate and tender, scratching at Cheng Zhanxi’s heart.
Back and forth, Cheng Zhanxi enticed her, savoring her warm sweetness.
Even if Cheng Zhanxi wasn’t Liu Xiahui, she wasn’t an impatient person either. Various considerations, plus Yu Qingtang properly gripping the hem of her clothes, made her decide against any further actions.
After the kiss, Yu Qingtang seemed sleepy again and, still with her eyes closed, snuggled into Cheng Zhanxi’s embrace and fell back asleep.
From beginning to end, she never opened her eyes.
Cheng Zhanxi, however, found it hard to calm her emotions. She stole a few more kisses before finally closing her eyes, contentedly drifting off into a sweet, dark slumber.
She had rolled up the hem of the pajamas herself, and she had placed Yu Qingtang’s hand there too. If they couldn’t do that, couldn’t she at least let her feel it for a while, to get a preview? Sooner or later, that day would come anyway.
…
Of course, she didn’t mention any of this.
Yu Jianxing was itching with curiosity, but she couldn’t pry even a tiny detail out of her.
Yu Jianxing: “The little boat has capsized.”
Cheng Zhanxi: “Let it capsize later, I haven’t finished talking.” Yu Jianxing put the melon seeds back on her lap, excitedly urging her to continue.
Cheng Zhanxi: “This morning…”
Yu Jianxing: “Damn, why are you like those authors on Green Jinjiang, cutting straight to the next day after a fade-to-black? Are you even human?”
Cheng Zhanxi tutted: “Less nonsense. Listen if you want, or don’t.”
Yu Jianxing, online and humble: “I’ll listen. Go on.”
“I thought we had confirmed our relationship. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kissed me like that in the middle of the night, right?”
“Kissed like what?”
Cheng Zhanxi ignored her attempt to fish for details and continued: “This morning, I went to hug her. I’d thought of countless terms of endearment in my mind—Baby, Wifey, Girlfriend, Darling. Just as I was about to pick one to call her, before I could speak, she pushed me away. Her eyes were exactly the same as before. I felt something was wrong, so I asked her if she slept well last night. She said yes. I asked if she woke up in the middle of the night. She said no. Then who was the woman who kissed me?”
Yu Jianxing: “It was a ghost.”
Cheng Zhanxi, who was afraid of ghosts, felt her heart skip a beat and almost jumped up: “Yu Jianxing!”
Yu Jianxing laughed, “My bad.” She paused for two seconds, then said seriously, “Could it be that you were dreaming? What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.”
Cheng Zhanxi said: “I suspected that too.”
Yu Jianxing couldn’t help but sympathize with her: “Our Xixi is too pitiful. Finally got a kiss, and it’s like Inception.”
Cheng Zhanxi said: “But I have evidence that I probably wasn’t dreaming.” It was the sleeping position she had later adjusted for them.
“What evidence?”
“It’s not convenient to tell you.”
Yu Jianxing’s imagination ran wild, and she exclaimed: “Don’t tell me you were topped?!”
“…” Cheng Zhanxi wished, but Yu Qingtang didn’t seem like the type. Even when awake, she’d probably need to be taught, let alone when asleep.
Cheng Zhanxi skipped this part and said: “I think she thought she was dreaming. But what you said about ‘what you think about during the day, you dream about at night’ is right. She wanted to kiss me, but didn’t dare when she was awake, so she used the dream to kiss someone. She told me before that she usually forgets her dreams, so she forgot this part too.”
Yu Jianxing sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“What now?” Yu Jianxing said, “I think you’ve been fooled. You believe whatever she says. Do you believe she would forget about kissing you?”
Cheng Zhanxi: “I do believe it.” She gave the example of Yu Qingtang forgetting that same-sex marriage had been legalized two years ago.
Yu Jianxing: “…” Is this someone living in a modern city? She’s practically a caveman.
Cheng Zhanxi smiled: “You don’t know how innocent she is. We kiss and hug every day, and she still says she considers me a good friend.”
Yu Jianxing: “…”
Cheng Zhanxi’s heart was filled with tenderness and affection as she shared interesting details of their interactions. Yu Jianxing hadn’t experienced such a love, but she could hear from Cheng Zhanxi’s tone that she was very happy, so she swallowed her buzzkill words and said: “In that case, she definitely likes you, she just hasn’t realized it herself.”
“Right.”
“Are there any love rivals around you? Meaning, other people who like you.” Yu Jianxing offered her an idea.
“When have I ever not had people around who like me?”
“Damn.” Yu Jianxing was amused by her narcissism and said, “You’re so annoying. It’s simple. She doesn’t understand that what she feels for you is love. Just find someone to make her jealous. If you hug someone else, she’ll definitely realize her feelings immediately.”
Cheng Zhanxi refused: “No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want a third person between us, not even for an act.” Cheng Zhanxi said, “Besides, she would be sad, and I don’t want to make her upset.”
“I’ve known you for so many years, how come I never realized you were such a romantic sage?”
“If you liked someone as much as I do, you’d know. Nothing is more important than her.”
Yu Jianxing got goosebumps all over, and vaguely felt a little envious.
She had never liked someone that much. In this era of fast food, love was like fast food—it came quickly and went quickly. Everyone around her was like that, lacking the energy and unwilling to spend energy on such ethereal matters.
Yu Jianxing: “Then have you tried seducing her? Wear something bold and revealing, make her drool looking at you, then just do it on the spot. Get it done.”
Cheng Zhanxi’s expression was subtle.
She remembered the time Yu Qingtang had looked her up and down in the bathroom, her expression completely unfazed.
“She doesn’t fall for that,” Cheng Zhanxi said vaguely.
Yu Jianxing suddenly got excited: “So you’ve tried?”
Cheng Zhanxi kept her mouth shut.
All the conventional methods Yu Jianxing proposed were rejected by Cheng Zhanxi one by one. Anyway, she just wanted to make the other person understand that she liked her, without making Yu Qingtang feel even a bit uncomfortable. The strategy of pretending to be a real good friend to advance by retreating had failed last night. As soon as Yu Qingtang felt wronged, Cheng Zhanxi would give her life, let alone a few hugs.
Yu Jianxing racked her brains and finally came up with an idea: “Didn’t she forget kissing you? Find a way to make her remember.”
“What way?”
“Kiss again.”
Before Cheng Zhanxi could curse her out, Yu Jianxing added: “I’m not telling you to just go up and kiss her. Create a kissing atmosphere, you know?” Cheng Zhanxi was silent for a moment, then said: “Last night, she sat on my waist, pinned my wrists to the pillow with both hands, looked down at me, and my clothes were still disheveled.”
“And you still didn’t kiss her???” Yu Jianxing issued a soul-searching question. If it were her, she would have gone for it directly, okay?! The kind where you don’t stop teasing until they cry!
Cheng Zhanxi closed her eyes: “Yes.”
Yu Jianxing also fell silent for a few seconds, then said: “Well… that is indeed a bit difficult. She’s not frigid, is she?”
“No.” Cheng Zhanxi was very sure.
Yu Jianxing then remembered they had slept together, said “Oh,” gave up asking for details, and said: “Have you taken her to see a movie?”
Cheng Zhanxi’s eyes lit up.
The dark back seats of a movie theater, the light from the screen, mutual affection, not yet lovers, an irresistible exchange of glances, a natural progression. It was practically one of the sacred grounds for kissing.
Cheng Zhanxi rode the motorcycle parked opposite the special education school back and stopped it at Yu Qingtang’s doorstep.
Just then, Yu Qingtang sent her a message saying dinner was ready. Cheng Zhanxi pulled out the motorcycle key, twirled it around her fingers, and entered the courtyard gate.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Teacher Yu, I’m back.”
The voice traveled from the courtyard into the house, as if sunlight had broken through the clouds and shone all the way in. Inside, Fang Wenjiao smiled and said to Yu Qingtang, “Xiao Cheng is quite a nice person, good-looking and has a good personality.”
Yu Qingtang was baffled, and faintly agreed, “Mm.”
Fang Wenjiao said meaningfully, “She’s cheerful and talkative, a good complement to you.”
The more Yu Qingtang listened, the more confused she became, and she just “Mm-ed” again.
Meanwhile, Cheng Zhanxi had already entered the house, changed her shoes in the entryway, and said familiarly, “Are all the dishes from the kitchen brought out? Need any help?”
Yu Qingtang put down the last bowl of soup and said, “No need.”
Cheng Zhanxi walked over, took over the motion of her hands reaching behind her back, and untied the apron she was wearing, hanging it back on the hook in the kitchen.
Yu Qingtang was about to serve the rice when she suddenly noticed Fang Wenjiao’s face full of smiles, wrinkles crinkling at the corners of her eyes. She was whispering something to Grandpa, who nodded with a gentle expression.
Yu Qingtang looked at Cheng Zhanxi in the kitchen getting the bowls and chopsticks, and her cheeks inexplicably grew hot.
She quickly entered the kitchen, and Cheng Zhanxi handed her the rice ladle.
Yu Qingtang glanced at her, lowered her eyelids slightly, a trace of shyness she herself hadn’t noticed hidden in the corners of her eyes.
Since Cheng Zhanxi didn’t offer to leave, Yu Qingtang couldn’t possibly ask her to. So, she stayed in the old district until evening, had an early dinner, and then Cheng Zhanxi gave Yu Qingtang a ride back to the new district on her motorcycle.
Riding like the wind, Yu Qingtang held tightly onto her waist, her face pressed against her back.
Before it got completely dark, the two returned to Mingmen Estate.
Cheng Zhanxi carried the local specialties Fang Wenjiao had insisted on giving her before she left, because she heard she was from out of town. Yu Qingtang couldn’t see it, but Cheng Zhanxi saw it clearly: Fang Wenjiao and her husband were clearly treating her like a granddaughter-in-law. What ordinary colleagues sleep in the same bed at night and hug each other all the time? Besides, Yu Qingtang always showed an imperceptible shyness when faced with Fang Wenjiao’s subtle teasing.
Once or twice, it might not be noticeable, but after many times, the other three people in the house understood it as clear as day.
She liked Cheng Zhanxi, liked her very much.
The two parted ways at the elevator, each returning to their own home.
After showering, Yu Qingtang went into the study to look at the students’ grade reports, comparing the total scores and individual subject scores with the midterm exams. Among them, Xiang Tianyou’s score, which had improved by 100 points since the midterms, was very conspicuous on the list. He was a smart student, but his attitude towards learning was poor, and his foundation was too weak. He consistently ranked last in every exam, nearly 100 points lower than the second to last. Before this monthly exam, he had studied diligently for two weeks, improving by about ten points on average in each subject, which added up to a considerable amount. Although he was still last, because other students were also studying hard—the previous second-to-last, Guo Fang, had also improved by 30 points—Yu Qingtang believed it was only a matter of time before Xiang Tianyou caught up.
Xiang Tianyou himself was very dejected when he saw his scores. During study hall, Yu Qingtang saw him slumped over his desk from outside the window.
Yu Qingtang had a talk with Xiang Tianyou, essentially encouraging him and telling him that if he was willing, he could come to her office to do his homework before evening self-study, and ask questions anytime he didn’t understand something.
Xiang Tianyou knew this himself. He had slacked off for so long; if he easily surpassed other equally diligent students, how would they feel? So he had to work even harder, to prove himself with double the effort and sweat. He had even maintained first place in his grade for a whole year in his first year of middle school. So what if it was high school? Three years later, he would still be him!
Not only Xiang Tianyou, but the average score of the entire Class Seven was higher than the midterm exam. The average math score ranked third in the entire grade, second only to the two experimental classes, and the gap was very small, showing the students’ high enthusiasm for learning.
Looking at this impressive grade report, Yu Qingtang interlaced her fingers under her chin and couldn’t help but smile.
After a long while, she rubbed her sore facial muscles and carefully examined the scores of each student in the three major exams since they enrolled.
Xiao Qing was still first, Yu Zhou second, and the logical boy with glasses from the debate competition was third. Li Lan was back in fifth. Lian Yabing had only scored tenth in the midterms, but this time she scored sixth. Yu Qingtang recalled this math representative of hers; recently, when she came to her office to pick up homework, she had casually complained that the class monitor forced her to memorize English every day. Lian Yabing was severely lopsided in her subjects: as good as her math was, her English was equally bad. She could score 145 in math, but struggled to pass English, which worried Yang Li to death, almost making her think Lian Yabing had a problem with her and was deliberately not studying well. Li Lan’s English, on the other hand, was very good. If she hadn’t become class monitor first, the position of English representative would have gone to her.
This time, Lian Yabing miraculously scored 110 in English, and her total score jumped up four places.
Li Lan, Lian Yabing. Yu Qingtang looked at the two names placed together and smiled, shaking her head.
He Shuangjiang, along with her little girlfriend Xing Bailu, had improved by another two places, steadily rising. Yu Qingtang bent her fair knuckles and tapped on the desk. She vaguely recalled He Shuangjiang’s speech at the debate competition; she was an emotional girl who got easily agitated. She appeared low-key on the surface, but her personality was actually flamboyant. She had her own plans, insisted on being herself, and didn’t care about external opinions. She liked Xing Bailu very much, and Xing Bailu was much more naive than her. Love is a double-edged sword; if they broke up, He Shuangjiang might be the one who would have a harder time moving on.
Yu Qingtang sighed.
Who would have thought that she, a class teacher, would also have to worry about her students’ love lives, concerned that they wouldn’t be able to handle the blow of a breakup.
The girl dating a boy from another class had dropped ten places in her ranking. Yu Qingtang noted in her notebook: Talk to XXX on Monday.
Those who improved should be praised, those who declined should be encouraged, and helped to find the reasons.
Right, Class Seven did exceptionally well in this monthly exam, they’re getting a bit carried away. Pride comes before a fall. I need to find a way to knock some sense into them.
Also, the New Year’s Day party in half a month needs to be put on the agenda for preparation.
Final exam coordination… and so on and so forth.
Yu Qingtang’s notebook was unknowingly filled with dense, elegant handwriting, just like her life, which had been like a blank sheet of paper, was now being filled, stroke by stroke, with new connections, imperceptibly filling her heart.
2102.
Cheng Zhanxi was looking at recently released movies, wondering which one would be suitable to watch with Yu Qingtang.
Popcorn blockbusters with clanging special effects would easily attract the attention of the inexperienced Yu Qingtang, and if she focused on the movie instead of her, it would be a waste. Similarly, overly brilliant films wouldn’t work either. Horror movies were out of the question. That left art films and romance movies. Romance movies were best: the male and female leads kiss in the movie, and they kiss in their seats.
Mm, the actors’ looks also had to be good, to avoid being put off when seeing the male and female leads kiss. Cheng Zhanxi tentatively selected one, scheduled for release in three days.
But Yu Qingtang only had Tuesday free from evening self-study this week; the rest of her time was full, so she couldn’t be asked out. What about Friday? She didn’t know if Yu Qingtang would insist on going home.
Cheng Zhanxi took out her phone and sent Yu Qingtang a message: [Teacher Yu, are you going home this Friday?]
After more than half an hour, Yu Qingtang replied: [If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back]
Cheng Zhanxi: [Then let’s talk about it then]
Two minutes later, Yu Qingtang: [Mm]
Cheng Zhanxi: [What are you doing?]
Yu Qingtang: [[Photo]]
Yu Qingtang sent her a photo of her desk. The computer screen showed the students’ grade report, with paper and pen beside it.
Cheng Zhanxi tactfully didn’t disturb her: [You’re busy]
Yu Qingtang immersed herself in work and only saw Cheng Zhanxi’s reply a few minutes later. She placed her phone screen down on the desk and continued writing.
At eleven o’clock at night, Cheng Zhanxi called to urge her: “Teacher Yu, are you done with your work?”
Yu Qingtang had a notebook spread out in front of her, her phone on speaker: “Not yet.”
“It’s time to sleep.”
“In a bit.”
“Do it tomorrow. You have to get up early for work.”
Yu Qingtang absently “Mm-ed”.
There was no sound from the phone for a long time. Yu Qingtang thought she had hung up. She picked up her phone and found the call was still connected. Then, a knocking sound came from both the phone and the living room simultaneously.
Yu Qingtang put down her pen and went to open the door.
Cheng Zhanxi stood at the door, holding her phone in one hand and a glass of milk in the other, offering it to her. Her eyes were indulgent and helpless: “Why are you so disobedient, hmm?”
Yu Qingtang took the milk, her fair toes curling inside her slippers. She said softly, “I’m just about done.”
“Is it something very important?”
“No.”
“Do it tomorrow.” Cheng Zhanxi looked down and saw her bare feet in the slippers, her pretty brows furrowing.
Yu Qingtang followed her gaze, her heart panicked, and she immediately pulled her pant legs down, trying to cover them.
“Yu Qingtang.” Cheng Zhanxi’s voice was calm, calling her full name, showing no emotion.
But her not smiling was the biggest problem. Yu Qingtang stammered, “I… I…”
Cheng Zhanxi had just started to get a little angry, but she was amused by her stammering.
Cheng Zhanxi forced a stern face: “Drink the milk.”
Yu Qingtang obediently finished the milk but didn’t hand the glass back to her. She asked timidly, “Are you angry with me?”
Cheng Zhanxi said stiffly, “No.”
Yu Qingtang: “Then smile a little.”
Cheng Zhanxi looked at her, expressionless.
Yu Qingtang bit her lip, looking at her expectantly.
The corners of Cheng Zhanxi’s lips slowly curved up, returning to her usual gentle and approachable demeanor. She raised her hand and ruffled her hair, saying softly, “Remember to wear socks next time. If I see you barefoot again, I’ll really get angry.”
Yu Qingtang nodded: “Got it.” She handed the glass back to her.
Cheng Zhanxi took the empty milk glass and gently instructed, “Go back to your room and sleep obediently. If you don’t sleep, I’ll get angry too.”
Yu Qingtang muttered in her heart: Why do you get angry so easily?
Yet, a different kind of sweetness also arose.
Yu Qingtang said: “I’ll go to sleep right away.”
“Good girl.” Cheng Zhanxi caressed her cheek with her fingertips and turned to go back to her own apartment.
Yu Qingtang’s expression was slightly stunned.
She’s leaving just like that?
Cheng Zhanxi walked at an unhurried pace, counting in her mind: One, two…
She counted to three, and Yu Qingtang’s voice came from behind her: “Cheng Zhanxi.”
Cheng Zhanxi curved her lips into a smile and looked back at her.
Yu Qingtang stood at the entrance, slightly opening her arms towards her, and said softly, “You haven’t hugged me today.”
Cheng Zhanxi feigned confusion: “Didn’t we hug during the day?”
Yu Qingtang kept her arms open, saying aggrievedly, “Not in the evening yet.”
Cheng Zhanxi’s heart melted completely. She couldn’t bear to tease her anymore and strode forward to hug her.
Yu Qingtang immediately raised her arms to hug her back, wrapping them around her waist, her knuckles bent, gripping her back, holding each other tightly.
They had hugged thousands of times and knew how to fit together perfectly, leaving no gap.
But Yu Qingtang increasingly felt that this kind of intimacy wasn’t enough. She wanted more from Cheng Zhanxi, something closer than friends, like… like…
Perhaps she hadn’t entirely avoided considering that answer; it was just that subconsciously, she was unwilling to delve deeper. That thought was too dangerous; it would make everything spin out of control.
Cheng Zhanxi was squeezed so tightly her bones ached, but she endured it without making a sound.
Yu Qingtang’s hands slowly loosened their grip. They quietly hugged in the entryway for a while. She then withdrew from her embrace, looked at the tip of the woman’s nose, avoiding eye contact, and said, “Good night.”
Cheng Zhanxi gazed at her deeply and said, “Good night.”
“Good night.” Yu Qingtang lowered her head and said it again.
When she raised her head again, Cheng Zhanxi was no longer there; she had gone back.
The sound of a door closing came from the hallway.
Yu Qingtang glanced across the hall and also closed her door.
She tidied up the papers and pens in the study, shut down the computer, put the notebook into the bag she would take to work tomorrow, returned to the bedroom, lay down in bed, turned off the bedroom light, and closed her eyes.
Cheng Zhanxi went out for her morning exercise early on Monday, so Yu Qingtang didn’t run into her at the elevator.
She went to school alone and supervised the morning reading session in the Class Seven corridor.
The students all glanced at the empty spot beside her. They didn’t speak, but Yu Qingtang saw the same question written in their innocent, big eyes: Where’s Teacher Cheng?
Yu Qingtang stood at the doorway and saw Tong Feifei craning her neck from more than ten steps away, a complete live wire. When Tong Feifei reached her, Yu Qingtang suddenly said coolly, “What are you looking at? Teacher Cheng isn’t here.”
Tong Feifei shivered in fright, clutching her heart, almost in tears.
A faint smile appeared in Yu Qingtang’s eyes.
Tong Feifei looked up at her, and she had resumed her usual stern and serious demeanor: “Go in.”
Tong Feifei tucked her tail between her legs and entered the classroom. Before the morning reading class started, she turned to the student behind her and said, “Have you guys noticed that Teacher Yu has been enjoying playing pranks to scare people lately?”
The student at the desk behind said, “No.”
Li Lan, from the desk behind that one, looked up and said coolly, “It’s you who has a guilty conscience. Don’t ruin Teacher Yu’s reputation.”
Tong Feifei: “Aaaah, you fan, don’t talk!”
Lian Yabing: “I think the Class Monitor is right.”
Tong Feifei received a critical hit of affection and immediately shut down.
After the monthly exam, with less than a month until the final exams, time seemed to have been sped up by an invisible hand.
As the class teacher, Yu Qingtang became increasingly busy with school meetings, various ad-hoc meetings, student affairs, teaching work, and daily handling of parents’ trivial matters. The time she spent in the office decreased significantly. Often, when Cheng Zhanxi looked up, the seat diagonally opposite hers was empty.
When she was finally there during breaks, either students came to ask questions, or she went to find subject teachers, or subject teachers came to find her. If none of these happened, she would lean back in her chair and rest with her eyes closed, Cheng Zhanxi’s U-shaped pillow around her neck.
Soft fingertips pressed against her temples. With her eyes closed, Yu Qingtang smelled the faint floral scent from Cheng Zhanxi, relaxed her previously tense body, and let her gently massage her, alleviating her fatigue.
Dinner time was also significantly reduced because Yu Qingtang had the five students with the lowest scores in the class come to her office to do their homework, and she needed to go back to tutor them. There was a small interlude here: Xiang Tianyou thought Yu Qingtang had only called him, and he was secretly delighted for a while, telling no one. After school, he rushed to the school gate, bought a wrap with everything in it, and hurried to Yu Qingtang’s office with his homework.
Yu Qingtang’s desk was temporarily empty. He moved a chair from the corner by the water dispenser, sat at the edge of the desk, opened his homework and the wrap, and ate while writing, full of energy.
After ten minutes, he heard a puzzled voice: “Brother Xiang?”
Xiang Tianyou looked up and saw Guo Fang, formerly second to last, now third to last.
Xiang Tianyou thought he had come to ask him to play ball and waved impatiently, “I’m busy, go away, go away.”
Guo Fang chuckled, “Where would I go?” He placed his workbook on the desk, sat in Wen Zhihan’s seat opposite, and said, “Teacher Yu asked me to come to her office to do homework and ask her if I don’t understand anything. I just ran into her in the cafeteria, and she said she’d be here soon.”
Xiang Tianyou’s eyes widened in astonishment, filled with disbelief.
Guo Fang: “Brother Xiang?”
Xiang Tianyou kicked him and said irritably, “Go do your homework!”
Guo Fang: “???”
After a while, Lai Xin, formerly third to last, now second to last, and only two points behind the current third to last, also arrived, also with homework.
Lai Xin: “Fangfang, Brother Xiang.”
Xiang Tianyou said expressionlessly, “Scram, don’t come near me.”
Lai Xin scratched his head.
Guo Fang whispered in his ear, “Brother Xiang’s period came early.”
Lai Xin burst out laughing with a “pfft”.
Xiang Tianyou slammed the table, and both of them quieted down.
Footsteps approached the door. Xiang Tianyou looked up irritably, about to unleash his temper on the approaching person, but his fire died down when he saw who it was.
“Hello, Teacher,” he said.
“Hello, Teacher Yu,” Lai Xin and Guo Fang also said respectfully.
Yu Qingtang and Cheng Zhanxi had parted ways at the school gate. In her coat pocket was a candy Cheng Zhanxi had given her. She held the candy in her palm, and it had been warmed by her body heat all the way. Yu Qingtang moved the candy from her palm to her fingertips and nodded faintly, “Are there any questions you don’t understand?”
Xiang Tianyou immediately said, “I do!”
Guo Fang closed his open mouth.
After explaining the problem to Xiang Tianyou, Yu Qingtang prepared her lessons at her own desk.
Two more students arrived one after another, and then the uninvited PE committee member, Wu Peng, who scratched the back of his head and said, “Teacher Yu, I can’t calm down in class. Can I study here?”
“Yes,” Yu Qingtang nodded.
Wu Peng found an empty seat and sat down.
Two desks, six students, five of whom were boys; it was a bit crowded. Yu Qingtang voluntarily gave up her seat, picked up her books and teaching materials, and moved to Cheng Zhanxi’s seat. As she passed Xiang Tianyou, she patted his shoulder and said coolly, “You sit at my place and write.”
Xiang Tianyou quickly switched places, his long-tense face finally unable to hold back a smile.
Yu Qingtang watched his relaxed eyebrows and the tip of his pen flying across the scratch paper, and she couldn’t help but curve her lips too.
A child who hasn’t received normal love needs more love than others to warm him.
Yu Qingtang unwrapped the candy and tasted a strong milky flavor, but it wasn’t cloyingly sweet, very much to her liking. She glanced down at the brand, memorized it, and decided to ask Cheng Zhanxi which supermarket she bought it from when she got back.
Thinking there was nothing urgent for the moment, she suppressed the thought of asking later and directly sent Cheng Zhanxi a message.
[Where did you buy this? [Photo of candy wrapper]]
Cheng Zhanxi: [It’s from that supermarket near our place, sold by weight]
Yu Qingtang: [I don’t think I saw it before?]
Cheng Zhanxi thought to herself, you never look, how would you see it?
Cheng Zhanxi: [Pay attention next time, there are other candies too, you can buy some to try]
Yu Qingtang: [Will you go with me?]
Cheng Zhanxi: [If you’re willing to invite me]
Yu Qingtang thought for a moment and said: [When I have time]
She was so busy she didn’t even have time to go to the supermarket; by the time she went back at night, the supermarket was already closed. In the past, the supermarket was just there, open for a year, two years, ten years, twenty years. She would go in, buy her necessities, and leave, never interested in anything else, nor had she ever felt this kind of eagerness, this impatience to see just how many kinds of candies there were, how many wonderful things the world held.
…
At Cheng Zhanxi’s suggestion, Yu Qingtang left a set of pajamas in 2102, so she wouldn’t go back to her own apartment at noon, but directly to Cheng Zhanxi’s place.
Yu Qingtang worked hard, so she slept especially soundly during her nap, which also gave Cheng Zhanxi a great opportunity to steal some kisses. She couldn’t resist and used her tongue again.
Cheng Zhanxi straightened up, her heart pounding wildly. She reached out a finger to wipe the moisture from the woman’s lips.
She quietly gazed at the woman’s sleeping face for a moment, then leaned down and pressed her lips against hers again.
This time, she didn’t go deep, just pressed lightly, holding it for a long, long time. Until she felt Yu Qingtang’s breathing become heavy due to obstruction, her breath fanning across her face.
Only then did Cheng Zhanxi pull away from her dazed intoxication, caressing the woman’s flushed, sleeping cheek.
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