After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Cheng Zhanxi gently closed the study door, came out for a glass of water, and then, when it was time, went in to wake the dreamer.
Now that Yu Qingtang changed into pajamas at her house, the perk of being princess-carried around was gone, but she could enjoy other things—for instance, a groggy Yu Qingtang, reluctant to get out of bed, would snuggle into her embrace with her eyes closed.
“What time is it?” The moment Cheng Zhanxi sat on the edge of the bed, Yu Qingtang instinctively lifted her upper body and nestled into the woman's embrace as if she had no bones.
One of Cheng Zhanxi's hands stroked her long hair, while the other caressed her warm cheek. Her chin rested on top of Yu Qingtang's head, her thin lips lightly brushing against the soft crown of her hair. Her gaze, tender as water, said, “You can sleep for another two minutes.”
Yu Qingtang nuzzled against her, murmuring sleepily, “Then why did you wake me now?”
Cheng Zhanxi smiled but didn't answer.
Of course, it was so Yu Qingtang could linger coquettishly in her arms a little longer.
Yu Qingtang didn't notice Cheng Zhanxi's little ploy, or perhaps she did subconsciously but chose to play along. The result was that the distance between them grew ever closer. Once back home, she wished she could be attached to Cheng Zhanxi, to have Cheng Zhanxi hold her, caress her, touch her. She reveled in the intimacy of complete trust, an intimacy only Cheng Zhanxi could provide.
Yu Qingtang caught the scent on her body, delicate wisps drifting into her nose, like a honey-coated poison—alluring and dangerous.
Yu Qingtang closed her eyes and took a deep breath, intoxicated by her rich fragrance, trying not to let her mind wander.
Dawn was breaking, the city a canvas of gray. The densely packed, unauthorized buildings of the urban village were veiled in a thin mist, still carrying the eerie, lingering chill of the night.
Yu Zhou put on her school uniform jacket and opened the steamer on the stove. Reaching in, she felt that the sweet potatoes inside were almost cold. She glanced at the window, at the sky still dark with a hint of gray, and bit her lower lip.
Mom was leaving earlier and earlier, especially on such cold days.
Yu Zhou raised her eyes, her resolve hardening.
She definitely couldn't tell her about that matter, lest her mother worry. This was a society governed by law; they wouldn't dare do anything serious, just harass her at most. As long as she was careful, she'd be fine.
Having convinced herself, Yu Zhou turned on the stove to reheat the sweet potatoes. She sat at the table, peeled, and ate two of them. Then, she went back to her room, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, her hand in her uniform pocket clutching a small bottle of homemade pepper spray. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the house.
The sound of barking dogs drifted through the morning mist.
Head bowed, Yu Zhou walked into a nearby alley, her footsteps echoing on the cracked bluestone pavement of the deep, narrow passage. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked up, her back instantly tensing.
Two figures stood at the alley's exit. They weren't old, appearing to be around sixteen or seventeen, with dyed yellow and green hair and earrings. One of them even wore a ring.
An almost imperceptible tremor ran through Yu Zhou's body as she tightened her grip on the pepper spray bottle in her hand.
When the two saw her, the one with yellow hair finished a half-stifled yawn, cracked his neck, and straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall. He raised a deliberately shaved-off eyebrow at her, a smirk playing on his lips.
The one with green hair watched her expressionlessly.
Fear made Yu Zhou's heart pound violently, but she betrayed none of it on her face. Head held high, shoulders back, she walked straight past them, looking neither left nor right.
“Hold on a sec,” the yellow-haired one drawled.
Yu Zhou didn't break her stride.
The yellow-haired one shot a look at his companion, who then took two steps forward, blocking Yu Zhou's path.
Yu Zhou turned, her gaze glacial.
The yellow-haired one slapped his companion's arm, as if chiding him for his rudeness, then turned to Yu Zhou with a leering grin. “Sis-in-law.”
Yu Zhou clenched her jaw, treating his words as nothing more than a dog barking at her side.
Yellow Hair continued, “You live in Building XX, Unit X, right? Our boss said, if you don't agree to be with him, he'll pay a visit to your future mother-in-law to propose.”
Yu Zhou's pupils contracted sharply, and the color drained from her face.
Satisfied with her reaction, his tone became somewhat more amicable. “Our boss is a really good guy, especially to his girlfriends. He never forces them to do anything. If you agree, he'll personally escort you to school from now on. Sis-in-law, you're so pretty, someone's bound to notice you eventually. Might as well pick a good one early, right?”
The cold wind whistling through the alley stung Yu Zhou's face like a razor.
She raised her eyes to the smug face of the yellow-haired thug and enunciated clearly, “If you keep pestering me, I'm calling the police.”
He burst out laughing. “Go on, call them! We haven't done anything to you.” He took two steps back, holding up his hands. “We haven't even laid a finger on you. The police are busy people; they don't have time for trivial stuff like this.”
He tilted his head towards his companion. “Right?”
Glancing at Yu Zhou's neat and tidy school uniform, he tutted. “Just as expected from a good student of Sicheng No. 1 Middle School. So naive in what you say and do.”
...
Xiang Tianyou was once again passing through the urban village, a white earbud in each ear.
“This is the BBC in London. Here is the...” Xiang Tianyou hadn't been up for long, and the English news in his earbuds almost made him yawn repeatedly as he walked. Even so, he shook his head, forcing himself to stay alert.
“The study is based not on how many students reach what level...” Xiang Tianyou paused and let out a long yawn. To shake off the drowsiness, he tilted his head back, rotated his neck, and let his gaze sweep across the deserted street.
Sicheng wasn't a metropolis like the Capital or Shanghai. In the early morning, its streets were mostly empty save for sanitation workers and students like them, hurrying to school.
A figure in a blue and white school uniform caught Xiang Tianyou's eye.
Through the hazy morning light, Xiang Tianyou recognized the figure with a single ponytail as Yu Zhou.
It wasn't the first time he had encountered her on this road.
Xiang Tianyou casually glanced across the street. Just as he was about to look away, he frowned.
Two guys, about 1.7 meters tall, were trailing her, not too close, not too far. With their brightly colored hair, they looked like delinquents.
Xiang Tianyou recalled how Yu Zhou always seemed flustered whenever he saw her, as if she were hiding from someone. Could it be them? How had she gotten involved with such types?
The news report in his earbuds finished without him noticing. Xiang Tianyou matched Yu Zhou's pace from across the street, his expression grim. At the upcoming intersection, Yu Zhou stopped for a red light, one hand thrust deep into her pocket, the other clutching her schoolbag strap tightly.
The two guys with dyed hair approached her, smirking and talking to her.
Xiang Tianyou saw Yu Zhou lower her head, not saying a word, her body language radiating defensiveness and fear.
“Yu Zhou!” Sensing trouble, Xiang Tianyou shouted loudly from across the intersection.
The young man's clear voice pierced the morning mist, dispelling the unlit gloom.
Hearing his voice, Yu Zhou looked over, her eyes instantly lighting up with an extraordinary brilliance, like a drowning person clutching at a life-saving straw.
“Xiang Tianyou!” she immediately called back. Her voice was hoarse, laced with a tremor and an almost imperceptible sob, but she shouted loudly enough for Xiang Tianyou to hear her from across the street.
The yellow-haired and green-haired thugs also looked towards Xiang Tianyou, their faces twisting into malicious sneers.
Another goody-two-shoes from Sicheng No. 1 Middle School. So what if he's tall? Just a bookworm, a total pushover.
Xiang Tianyou detected the panic in her voice and added, “I'll wait for you here!”
The light turned green. Yu Zhou practically ran across. When she reached Xiang Tianyou, he caught her arm to steady her stumbling form. “Are you okay?”
Yu Zhou shook her head.
The two thugs followed them across, the yellow-haired one swaggering insolently as he stood a few paces away from them.
Yu Zhou looked up at Xiang Tianyou, who was a full head taller than her. Biting her lip, she took two steps closer to him. Xiang Tianyou, unaccustomed to such proximity with girls, instinctively started to step back. But seeing Yu Zhou's pleading eyes and the menacing thugs watching them, he froze.
Then he felt the girl's warm face press against his lean chest. It felt as if ten thousand ants were crawling all over Xiang Tianyou, making him desperately want to scratch himself.
He stood rooted to the spot, stiff as a board.
Yu Zhou leaned into his embrace, closed her eyes for a moment, then calmly turned to the thugs. “I have a boyfriend.”
The yellow-haired thug roared with laughter. “You think we'll believe that?” He turned to Xiang Tianyou, who looked every bit the “good student.” “You tell us, are you her boyfriend, or just some random guy she roped in to help? I suggest you think carefully before you answer, or else...”
Xiang Tianyou had gotten a haircut the previous week, trimming the fringe that had nearly covered his eyes. His soft, dark hair now rested neatly on his forehead, revealing clear brows and eyes. His skin was fair, and his features were more refined than most boys his age. Lately, he'd also been acting very obediently towards his teachers, making him seem somewhat easy to bully.
Usually, Xiang Tianyou was the one dishing out threats; he wasn't used to being on the receiving end.
The yellow-haired thug jabbed a finger in his face. Xiang Tianyou grabbed it, twisted it sharply, and flung it back, adopting the swagger of his former pseudo-school bully persona. A nonchalant smirk played on his lips as he drawled, “She's my girlfriend. What are you going to do about it?”
The yellow-haired thug was speechless. “...”
Xiang Tianyou had, in fact, studied how to be a school bully. Before he decided to turn over a new leaf, he'd spent his days at school putting on a tough act. Now, he looked down at Yu Zhou, who was still pressed against him, and said gently, “Go wait over there for me.”
In that moment, he seemed like a seasoned player, a master at wooing girls.
Yu Zhou hesitated for a moment, then moved to the side.
Xiang Tianyou shrugged off his school jacket, handed it to Yu Zhou, revealing a plain black T-shirt underneath that hinted at lean muscle. He stepped up to the yellow-haired thug, looking down at him with a challenging smirk. “Looking for a fight? Hmm?”
Overwhelmed by Xiang Tianyou's 1.85-meter frame, the yellow-haired thug knew when he was beaten. He signaled to his green-haired companion, and they retreated, but not before tossing back a threat, “You just wait!”
Xiang Tianyou scoffed. “I'll be waiting, you punks!”
Once the two were out of sight, a gust of cold wind made Xiang Tianyou shiver. He reached out to Yu Zhou. “My jacket.”
They walked towards the school together. Yu Zhou kept her head down, walking beside Xiang Tianyou, and only uttered two phrases: “I'm sorry,” and “Thank you.”
Xiang Tianyou asked, “Who were those two clowns?”
Yu Zhou remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
They were small-time gangsters from the vocational high school. Yu Zhou was very pretty and had caught the eye of a gang leader there, who wanted her to be his girlfriend. The yellow-haired and green-haired guys were his lackeys, sent to tail her and intimidate her into submission.
It was the kind of trouble that was hard to avoid. Yu Zhou had merely been passing by when she attracted this unwanted attention, and ever since, her journeys to and from school had been plagued by them.
Xiang Tianyou wanted to ask why she hadn't told her parents, but then he remembered she was from a single-parent family and lived with her mother. Telling her would only cause her mother to worry, achieving little else.
But things couldn't go on like this. Tell Teacher Yu? The thought crossed Xiang Tianyou's mind, but he immediately dismissed it. She was a teacher, not a police officer; how could she deal with gangsters? Besides, she looked so delicate, as if a gust of wind could knock her over. And running to the teacher with every problem... it felt childish. Xiang Tianyou, who prided himself on being mature, instinctively recoiled from the idea.
“Where do you live?” Xiang Tianyou asked. Yu Zhou looked up. “If it's on my way, I'll walk you home tonight,” he offered. His father didn't care what time he got home anyway.
Yu Zhou's voice was soft. “Thank you.”
That evening, while Xiang Tianyou was doing his homework in Yu Qingtang's office, scenes from the morning kept flashing through his mind, and he found himself unconsciously chewing on the end of his pen.
Yu Qingtang sensed his gaze and looked up. “Is something wrong?” she asked coolly.
“Nothing,” Xiang Tianyou replied.
Yu Qingtang's expression remained neutral. “Nothing? You've looked up at me over a dozen times in the last few minutes.”
“Has it been that many?” Xiang Tianyou grinned cheekily. “I'm stuck on a problem and was hoping to get some mathematical inspiration from Teacher Yu's face. You know, bask in the glow of your genius.”
Yu Qingtang, unamused, casually took a fruit candy from Cheng Zhanxi's drawer and tossed it to him.
Xiang Tianyou deftly caught it and drawled, “Much obliged for the reward, Teacher—” He was being incredibly cheeky.
“My surname is Yu, not Xie,” Yu Qingtang stated coolly.
The other students burst out laughing. “Hahahahahaha.”
An almost imperceptible smile touched Yu Qingtang's lips. She gave a candy to each of the other students before returning her attention to the teaching materials in her email on Cheng Zhanxi's computer.
Xiang Tianyou scribbled a cross on his scratch paper. He decided against telling Teacher Yu about Yu Zhou's situation. Even if it needed to be said, Yu Zhou should be the one to say it, not him.
A vague sense of unease settled in his heart. Xiang Tianyou forced his attention back to his homework and continued to write diligently.
Friday afternoon, during the break. Cheng Zhanxi was massaging Yu Qingtang's temples. “Teacher Yu, are you going home this weekend?”
With her eyes closed, Yu Qingtang replied, “No.”
Cheng Zhanxi's heart leaped with joy. Then... But before she could extend her invitation to the movies, Yu Qingtang said, “I have to supervise the evening self-study session tonight.”
“Isn't it Friday?”
“Teacher Wang had a family emergency and asked for leave, so I'm covering his evening self-study.”
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“I need to tutor students.”
“What about Sunday?”
“That too.”
“...”
When no sound came from behind her for a while, Yu Qingtang turned to look at her and asked gently, “Teacher Cheng, is there something you wanted to ask?”
Cheng Zhanxi said dejectedly, “I wanted to ask you to the movies.”
Yu Qingtang replied, “I'll probably be home around ten tonight. I can sleep in a bit tomorrow. We could watch something at your place?”
“I meant going to a movie theater,” Cheng Zhanxi clarified.
Yu Qingtang paused, taken aback.
This was another one of Yu Qingtang's blind spots.
Previously, when she was shopping for clothes in malls, she would occasionally notice the floor where the cinema was located, and see groups of people heading to watch movies, chatting and laughing animatedly. Of course, to Yu Qingtang, all these people seemed very loud, so she avoided such places whenever possible.
“Teacher Yu, have you ever been to a movie theater?” Cheng Zhanxi asked.
Yu Qingtang thought for a moment, then nodded. “I went when I was little,” she said. “It was a school-organized viewing. I've long forgotten what film we watched; it left no impression on me.”
Cheng Zhanxi's expression visibly relaxed. She smiled. “So, are you free? Saturday or Sunday evening would work.”
Yu Qingtang thought for a moment. “I need to prepare my lessons.”
Cheng Zhanxi smiled. “Alright, then. We'll talk about it when you have time.”
The class bell rang. She returned to her own desk, but before leaving Yu Qingtang's side, she habitually teased Yu Qingtang's chin with her finger. Yu Qingtang's face brushed against her palm, like a gentle, compliant cat.
Ge Jing, who sat near the door, withdrew her envious gaze.
Yu Qingtang sat in her chair, seemingly engrossed in her work. However, the blank scratch paper beside her was covered in a series of messy, illegible scribbles made with her fountain pen, betraying her inner turmoil.
Snapping back to reality, she crumpled the scratch paper into a ball and tossed it into the wastebasket.
During the weekend, while Yu Qingtang was at the café tutoring students, Cheng Zhanxi paid a visit to the special education school. She sought out Ms. Wang, the teacher who had taught Yu Qingtang, hoping to learn more about her past.
Ms. Wang was discreet. In Cheng Zhanxi's presence, she called Yu Qingtang. Yu Qingtang told her that Cheng Zhanxi was a good friend and could ask anything she wished. Only then did Ms. Wang put down her phone and turn to the young woman seated across from her.
Cheng Zhanxi offered a polite, gentle smile. “Hello, Ms. Wang.”
“Hello,” Ms. Wang replied.
Yu Qingtang had spent over a year there. Due to her unique circumstances, Ms. Wang remembered her vividly, recounting past events with clarity, one after another. When Ms. Wang mentioned how she had spent a full year helping Yu Qingtang to speak, Cheng Zhanxi stood up and bowed deeply.
Ms. Wang helped her up. “I'm a teacher; it was my duty.” Seeing Cheng Zhanxi's eyes slightly reddened, her sincerity unmistakably genuine, Ms. Wang was visibly moved.
When Yu Qingtang had learned to speak all those years ago, and her grandparents had come to take her home, even they hadn't shown such profound, heartfelt emotion as this young woman before her, whose feelings were so clearly written on her face.
Once Cheng Zhanxi had composed herself, Ms. Wang looked at her with a gentle smile. “I'm very happy that she has found a friend.”
“And I am deeply grateful that she had a teacher like you,” Cheng Zhanxi replied with sincerity.
Ms. Wang felt a slight stirring in her heart, sensing an underlying meaning in Cheng Zhanxi's words, but she didn't press the matter. Instead, she opened a drawer in her desk and took out an old photo album.
Cheng Zhanxi's heart began to beat a little faster as she stared at the album.
Ms. Wang turned the pages one by one, stopping at a particular one. She smiled faintly and pushed the album towards Cheng Zhanxi.
Cheng Zhanxi changed her WeChat profile picture, which had remained the same for years.
Her friends' group chat immediately erupted, everyone speculating about who the person in the new picture was.
The first thing Cheng Zhanxi did was send a message to Yu Qingtang: [Want to have lunch together?]
Yu Qingtang saw the notification on her screen and tapped on it. She was momentarily taken aback by the unfamiliar profile picture on the left. She replied with an “Okay” and then tapped to view Cheng Zhanxi's new profile picture.
It was an old photograph. A little girl in a floral dress stood beside a swing. The image was so pixelated it looked as if it had been taken with an old camera phone, yet even so, it couldn't hide the little girl's delicate features, making her look like a porcelain doll.
“I'm stepping out for a moment. You all continue with your work.” The scraping of chair legs was heard as students, engrossed in their exercises, looked up. They saw their homeroom teacher, her face flushed red, hastily rise and leave the café.
Guo Fang, chewing on his pen, remarked, “Teacher Yu must be in a relationship, right?”
Just as the others were about to chime in, Xiang Tianyou interjected sharply, “Have you all mastered everything? Can you score a perfect 150? Got nothing better to do? Teacher Yu is sacrificing her weekend to tutor us, not so you can gossip about her!”
Guo Fang and the others lowered their heads in shame.
They were all seated near the window where the light was bright. Xiang Tianyou glanced out through the glass. Yu Qingtang stood with her back to them, her head slightly bowed. One hand unconsciously toyed with the hem of her clothes, and her body swayed gently from side to side. Her entire demeanor radiated the unmistakable aura of someone deeply in love.
Outside the café, they switched to a phone call.
“Why did you... suddenly change your profile picture?”
“Ms. Wang gave it to me. I thought it was cute, so I changed it.”
“Your photos are definitely prettier than mine.”
“I don't care about that. I just think you're beautiful. You're the most beautiful woman in the world.” Yu Qingtang's ears burned, and she fell silent.
Whenever Cheng Zhanxi complimented her, she consciously used the word “woman.” Not “girl,” or any other term, but one that, from an adult's perspective, carried a certain ambiguous air of admiration and affection for another adult.
Even if Yu Qingtang couldn't fully grasp it, she could vaguely sense it.
In Cheng Zhanxi's presence, she had once considered herself a child, her spirit seemingly frozen at the age of six or seven. Now, she was increasingly aware that she was a woman, and so was Cheng Zhanxi. Yet, she consistently avoided delving too deeply into the question: of their current interactions, of the attachment she felt for Cheng Zhanxi, how much was a remnant of their past bond, and how much was an irresistible feeling that had blossomed with adulthood?
She clung to the convenient banner of “childhood acquaintance,” blinding herself and stubbornly shielding her heart. She rationalized all her actions, comfortably settling into the role of a “good friend.”
It was like walking a tightrope over a chasm. No matter how much one tried to convince oneself it was solid ground, a tightrope remained a tightrope. Even the most skilled acrobat couldn't stay on it forever; a misstep was inevitable.
On the other end of the line, Cheng Zhanxi asked, “Are you hungry? Shall we have lunch together?”
The sound of car horns on the street faded and then grew louder again. It was as if Yu Qingtang had briefly detached from the world and then returned, her ears filled with its cacophony. Her mind went blank for a few seconds before she asked, her reaction slow, “What did you say?”
Cheng Zhanxi repeated her question. Yu Qingtang's knuckles, resting on the edge of her phone, tightened unconsciously. She heard her own voice, calm as ever, reply, “Okay.”
“I'll come pick you up,” Cheng Zhanxi said happily.
Yu Qingtang sensed her palpable joy and the corners of her own lips twitched upwards, though the smile vanished before it could fully form.
Yu Qingtang stood silently on the street corner for a while, letting her mind drift, before returning to the café.
She sat back down across from her students, reached for Xiang Tianyou's homework, and began to review it.
Xiang Tianyou wanted to say he hadn't finished yet, but seeing Yu Qingtang's serene, almost placid expression, he obediently kept quiet.
After Xiang Tianyou, it was Guo Fang's turn. She went through their work one by one, not allowing herself any idle time for her thoughts to stray.
The welcome chime at the café entrance tinkled.
Ordinarily, Yu Qingtang shouldn't have heard it. She was completely focused on explaining problems to her students, her concentration absolute, impervious to distractions. Yet, she did hear it. Not only did she hear it, but the sound seemed to amplify in her ears, startlingly clear, as if she had been sitting there all this time, waiting for precisely that chime.
Cheng Zhanxi, dressed in a deep camel-colored coat, walked in. Tall and slender, with bright, captivating features, she drew the gazes of nearly everyone in the café.
Cheng Zhanxi spotted Yu Qingtang by the window immediately—along with, hmm, a few little third wheels.
Cheng Zhanxi walked straight towards her, a smile naturally gracing her lips.
The “little third wheels” chorused, “Hello, Teacher Cheng.”
Cheng Zhanxi smiled faintly. “Hello, everyone.”
The students, nudging each other, quickly stood up to make way and filed out, leaving the seat opposite Yu Qingtang instantly vacant.
Cheng Zhanxi sat down and gently covered the back of Yu Qingtang's hand, which was resting on the table. “What would you like for lunch?” she asked softly.
Yu Qingtang glanced at their overlapping hands and said gently, “You should ask the students.”
Cheng Zhanxi looked towards the students. The “little third wheels,” who had been exchanging knowing glances and silently gossiping, quickly composed themselves and chorused, “No! Whatever Teacher Yu says!”
Cheng Zhanxi gently squeezed Yu Qingtang's smooth, soft hand. “They want you to decide,” she said with a smile.
“A buffet?” Yu Qingtang suggested.
The students chimed in, “Sounds good!”
“How about a seafood buffet?” Cheng Zhanxi asked.
Unconsciously adopting their concise way of speaking, Yu Qingtang replied, “Good.”
Everyone chuckled.
A warmth spread to Yu Qingtang's ears, and she lowered her gaze.
Cheng Zhanxi urged the “little rascals” to head to the entrance first, while she stayed in the café with Yu Qingtang, waiting for the flush in her ears to subside before they left.
“You blush so easily, hmm?” Cheng Zhanxi had Yu Qingtang link arms with her, tilting her head to tease her.
No sooner had she spoken than the warmth that had just receded from Yu Qingtang's ears spread once more to the tips of her snow-white lobes, turning them an even deeper shade of red.
Cheng Zhanxi didn't dare tease her further.
But a thought secretly bloomed in her mind: She didn't used to blush this easily. Could it be...
After standing in the cool breeze at the entrance for a moment, Cheng Zhanxi put an arm around Yu Qingtang and led her to the white Audi. She opened the passenger door for her, while two students got into the back seat. The rest would take a taxi to their destination.
Upon entering the restaurant, the famished boys made a beeline for the food counters, like a pack of wolves let loose.
Cheng Zhanxi chuckled. As she watched the boys return to their seats, their plates piled high like small mountains and their faces beaming, a thought suddenly struck her like a flash of lightning—
“Teacher Yu.”
“Hmm?”
Cheng Zhanxi stood behind her, resting her chin on Yu Qingtang's shoulder, her lips close to her ear as she whispered, “Did you suggest a buffet because you wanted to save me money?”
The shoulder beneath her chin stiffened for two or three seconds. Yu Qingtang took a small step forward, her long hair brushing against her delicate, fair ear. She lowered her head, offering no reply.
The boys had thoughtfully taken a separate table, careful not to disturb their teachers' “romance.”
Yu Qingtang tolerated seafood better than barbecue and seemed to quite enjoy it. Once Cheng Zhanxi noticed this, she focused on plying her with food.
Yu Qingtang took a bite of the grilled oyster Cheng Zhanxi offered her. “You eat too,” she said.
Cheng Zhanxi managed a quick bite of blanched greens from the hot pot before continuing to grill other items for her.
Yu Qingtang watched her deft movements, her nimble fingers. Her gaze traveled up from the fair, slender knuckles to the woman's exquisitely defined jawline.
Suddenly, Cheng Zhanxi looked up and flashed her a radiant smile.
“It'll be ready in a moment.” Cheng Zhanxi's voice seemed to drift, sometimes near, sometimes far. Though she was sitting right across from her, Yu Qingtang couldn't quite hear her clearly.
The only sound in Yu Qingtang's ears was the ever-loudening thump of her own heart. Thump. Thump.
After a busy weekend, Yu Qingtang returned to her usual hectic schedule on Monday, working tirelessly.
With final exams approaching, homeroom teachers and subject teachers alike became incredibly busy. The PE teachers were the most idle, as they didn't even have classes to teach—the main subject teachers had commandeered their periods for review sessions. Students grumbled, but the teachers were accustomed to this practice.
On Wednesday, both Yu Qingtang and Yang Li approached Cheng Zhanxi, each wanting to take over Thursday's PE class slot.
Yu Qingtang was no longer her former self. For her students' sake, she would naturally fight for any class time she needed. Besides, she was their homeroom teacher. Given her relationship with Cheng Zhanxi, if Cheng Zhanxi's class slot wasn't given to her, would it really go to Yang Li?
However, Cheng Zhanxi didn't agree immediately. She sat in her office chair, one arm resting on the armrest, swiveling slightly, a playful smile on her lips. “Teacher Yu, how about you accompany me to a movie tonight?”
Yu Qingtang's mind was entirely consumed by her students. Every evening, she looked ready to fall asleep the moment she stepped out of the elevator at home. Lunch breaks were the same; she'd change her clothes and immediately fall asleep. Forget about asking her to a movie; even the time she spent having meals with Cheng Zhanxi was squeezed out, always rushed.
Cheng Zhanxi had been simmering with jealousy, one wave after another. Even if not for her own well-being, for Yu Qingtang's sake, Cheng Zhanxi felt she had to take her to a movie to relax. Who could endure being completely immersed in work day in and day out?
But Yu Qingtang certainly wouldn't agree so easily. And just as Cheng Zhanxi expected, Yu Qingtang looked troubled. “I don't have time.”
Cheng Zhanxi lightly slapped the armrest of her chair, her tone casual. “Well then, shall I give my class slot tomorrow to the English teacher?”
Yu Qingtang paused for a moment, then lifted her gaze. “What time in the evening?”
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