After Escaping Marriage - Chapter 81

Chapter 81

First-year high school teachers' office.

The printer spat out sheets of paper, one after another, smelling of ink. With a final hum, the process completed. Yu Qingtang sat in her office chair, lost in thought.

After a few minutes, she belatedly pulled herself out of her daze, got up, took the printed test papers from the output tray, straightened them, and opened the left-hand drawer to put them inside.

Cheng Zhanxi took in her inexplicably dazed behavior.

Half an hour ago, she had just agreed to Cheng Zhanxi's invitation to go see a movie.

After that, she became like this.

Like seeing flowers in a fog; the fog couldn't withstand the wind. With the slightest stir, the flowers would appear faintly in the dissipating mist, budding and ready to bloom.

Yu Qingtang glanced at her phone; she had gone to a meeting and would be back in half an hour.

During the break, a subject teacher came to Yu Qingtang to report disciplinary problems; it was already the third time this week.

Class Seven's discipline had always been very good. Even during the time they petitioned to change homeroom teachers, under the strict organization of Li Lan and other class committee members, it hadn't been like this. When the teacher walked into the classroom, they were still noisy, chattering away. During class, there were occasional whispers. The mischievous group, however, had been well-managed; Hu Juan never came to complain about Xiang Tianyou anymore.

The problem wasn't a major one, but the whispering itself greatly affected the teachers' state during class. Yang Li, who shared an office with Yu Qingtang, also recently reported that class monitor Li Lan was talking to Lian Yabing, who sat across the aisle, during class.

If even Li Lan was like this, one could imagine the others.

It wasn't that they didn't want to study anymore; on the contrary, they felt they were studying too well. In the last monthly exam, Class Seven had performed exceptionally well, excelling in every aspect. Without even realizing it, they had become arrogant and complacent, chatting freely in class, disregarding the teachers, each one with ambitions soaring to the sky.

Yu Qingtang thought of a countermeasure: to teach them how to be students again. This was the freshly printed math test paper in her hand.

The class bell rang. Yu Qingtang walked into the classroom, handed the test papers to Lian Yabing, and gestured for her to distribute them.

The rustling sound of test papers being passed around filled the classroom.

Yu Qingtang said calmly, "We won't have a lecture this period. We'll do a short quiz."

From the podium, she surveyed the entire classroom. Most students looked relaxed, twirling their pens and examining the questions with ease. The few with average math scores didn't look as flustered as before; the light, airy atmosphere of the class had affected them. The boys in the back row, who received daily individual tutoring from Yu Qingtang, were particularly serious.

Yu Qingtang came down from the podium, walked slowly around the classroom with her hands behind her back, and stopped beside Lian Yabing, the math class representative. Lian Yabing had scored two points short of a perfect score in math on the monthly exam, tying for first place in the subject with a girl from the experimental class. If not for her severe imbalance in subjects, she should have entered the experimental class in her first year of high school.

The difficulty of this test was moderate, and for a top student like Lian Yabing, it was a piece of cake. Just a few minutes after it was distributed, she had already finished the multiple-choice questions on the first page, confidently filling in C after C in the brackets with her black gel pen.

But her brow was tightly furrowed, especially when she reached question 11. The correct answer calculated on her scratch paper was C again.

Lian Yabing found it difficult to write, but she still ticked option C for question 11.

The last multiple-choice question was quite difficult, requiring a lot of calculation. Lian Yabing used up an entire sheet of scratch paper, and when she compared her answer with the four options, her vision went dark.

Still C!

All multiple-choice questions on a test paper being C, was that possible?! Either the test paper was crazy, or she was wrong. No, she must be wrong.

Lian Yabing redid multiple-choice questions 1-12 from the beginning and got the exact same answers. She started pulling her hair, her face contorted like a bitter melon.

Yu Qingtang watched her reaction the entire time, refraining from showing any expression.

The other students' reactions were largely the same: brows furrowed, scratching their heads and picking at their hands.

Ding ling ling ling—

Class ended. Lian Yabing put down her pen with a solemn expression and collected the test papers. Yu Qingtang took the papers back to the office.

Class Seven immediately erupted into chaos.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I chose a whole bunch of Cs for the multiple-choice questions!!!"

"Me too!"

"The last question should be B, right? 2√6."

"Why did I calculate 2√3? That's C."

Li Lan gently patted Lian Yabing's arm: "What did you choose for the last question?"

Lian Yabing looked dazed: "A."

Li Lan: "Huh? How could it be A?"

Lian Yabing buried her face in her arms and said sullenly, "I don't know, don't ask me anymore."

She finished the long-answer questions at the back, then returned to the tricky multiple-choice questions. She calculated question 12 no less than a dozen times. "Congratulations" to her, she managed to calculate all four options, A, B, C, and D. Lian Yabing was going crazy. In the end, she randomly filled one in; as long as it wasn't C, it was fine. She felt like throwing up just seeing the letter C now.

She definitely bombed this test.

During the fourth period in the morning, Yu Qingtang was in the office grading papers with a red pen, smiling and holding her forehead as she graded.

Fortunately, her seat was secluded; otherwise, if other teachers saw her, they would definitely think Yu Qingtang was possessed.

Cheng Zhanxi's line of sight could see everything clearly, so she walked over and asked curiously in a low voice, "What are you laughing at?"

Yu Qingtang knew she found math annoying, so she only showed her the paper with the correct answers printed on it.

Cheng Zhanxi took a look.

Whoa! Good heavens! A neat string of Cs, a full 12 of them, leaving no room for any other option.

Cheng Zhanxi then looked at the paper in her hand. In the answer column for the multiple-choice section, a certain student, after several corrections, finally chose the wrong option. She also started laughing and said, "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Yu Qingtang waved the red pen in her hand, looking rather relaxed and pleased, and said, "I deliberately changed the correct answers to option C one by one in the document."

Cheng Zhanxi cupped her fists: "Teacher Yu is amazing."

A smile hidden in the corner of Yu Qingtang's eyes, she said modestly, "Not at all."

At noon, after school, the two ate at a Shaxian Snacks near the school gate and walked home hand in hand. Yu Qingtang didn't take a nap today. She had a math class in the afternoon and planned to finish grading the morning's papers in one go, distribute them, explain them, and incidentally, teach those little rascals a lesson.

2102.

Yu Qingtang sat at Cheng Zhanxi's desk, test papers spread out before her, grading them in the bright light of the study.

Clearly, the study layout was the same, the desk and chair were similar, so why was the light so good here at Cheng Zhanxi's, and why was the chair more comfortable to sit in?

Cheng Zhanxi brought over a plate of washed grapes and cream strawberries and placed it by her hand.

She stayed for a while and found that Yu Qingtang was truly focused when working, going through the papers page by page, not giving a single glance to the fruit or the person who brought the fruit.

Cheng Zhanxi sighed helplessly in her heart, picked out a large, red strawberry, and thoughtfully brought it to Yu Qingtang's lips.

As the strawberry entered Yu Qingtang's field of vision, she habitually lowered her head and bit into it, her soft lips touching Cheng Zhanxi's fingertips. Cheng Zhanxi had just washed the fruit, so her fingertips were slightly cool, a very distinct sensation.

Yu Qingtang resisted the urge to look up, bit off the strawberry, pulled a tissue from the dispenser, and wiped the strawberry juice from the corner of her lips.

"Thank you." Her voice was very low and soft.

Cheng Zhanxi put the remaining half of the strawberry she had eaten into her own mouth. The stem end was a bit sour, but her heart felt very sweet.

Cheng Zhanxi gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "I won't disturb you anymore. I'm going to sleep."

"Okay." Yu Qingtang looked up, watched her walk to the door, leave, and close the study door.

Yu Qingtang picked up a strawberry from the plate, held it between her fingertips, and examined it. She mimicked Cheng Zhanxi's action of feeding her the strawberry, opened her mouth to bite it, her lips touching her fingertips, slowly feeling for any difference.

After a few seconds, she was amused by herself, ate the whole strawberry, and wiped her fingers clean.

Previously, she had even licked her fingers when eating potato chips. Could licking her own fingers be the same as licking Cheng Zhanxi's?

Her thoughts suddenly paused there. Licking Cheng Zhanxi's fingers?

Yu Qingtang's thoughts uncontrollably drifted, and a hazy image appeared in her mind. After a long moment, her breath hitched, and a blush crept onto her face.

Yu Qingtang shook her head, quickly banishing this absurd image from her mind.

Grade papers, grade papers.

Yu Qingtang had been a teacher for almost a semester, and her grading proficiency had increased. After finishing all the papers, there were still fifteen minutes before her usual lunch break ended, so she simply rested her head on the desk for a short nap.

Cheng Zhanxi pushed the door open at half past one. Yu Qingtang's ears twitched slightly, and she woke up.

But she wasn't fully awake, her eyes sleepy, and she opened her arms towards Cheng Zhanxi.

Cheng Zhanxi walked over and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around Cheng Zhanxi's waist, nuzzled into her embrace, and closed her eyes.

No nap at noon, the whole day is wasted. Yu Qingtang tried to catch up on sleep in the elevator, racing against time. To let her sleep a little longer, Cheng Zhanxi went down to the underground garage, drove to school, and let her continue sleeping in the car.

After sleeping intermittently for half an hour, Yu Qingtang gradually woke up on the school path to the office.

In the afternoon, Class Seven had another English test.

English was different from math; apart from writing, it was all multiple-choice questions. Yang Li naturally also played some tricks with the options, sitting at the podium, smiling as she watched every student doubt their existence.

After the test, Lian Yabing looked at Li Lan: "You..."

Li Lan interrupted her: "Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is I'm shutting myself off."

Lian Yabing laughed: "Okay."

The students of Class Seven, whose arrogance had soared to the heavens, were forcefully tripped up by their homeroom teacher in cahoots with the English teacher.

The math test papers were distributed. Xiang Tianyou got all the multiple-choice questions correct. Following the principle of "if you don't know the multiple-choice answer, choose C," since you could always guess one or two correctly, he chose C for all the ones he was unsure about and, by a fluke, got a perfect score on that section.

Lian Yabing, in a state of giving up, got two multiple-choice questions wrong, dropping her score directly below 140. As for the others, it's better not to mention them.

After knocking some sense into the students, Yu Qingtang returned to the office. In the time before school ended, she appeared to be working but was actually spacing out.

Ding ling ling ling—

The campus broadcast began to play upbeat pop songs.

Yu Qingtang slowly tidied her desk, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of Cheng Zhanxi, who was diagonally opposite her, with a faint smile on her face.

"Finished tidying up?" Cheng Zhanxi came to her side.

"Yes." Yu Qingtang locked the drawer with her key and stood up.

Outside the school gate, the setting sun cast its lingering rays. The traffic snaked along the street like a golden dragon, and the white Audi A4 merged into the flow.

Yu Qingtang asked, "Dinner first or movie first?"

Cheng Zhanxi said, "Dinner first. What do you want to eat?"

Yu Qingtang's lips turned down slightly.

Cheng Zhanxi lifted the corner of her lips with her fingertip and smiled, "Just teasing you. You don't have to decide. We're having Thai food today."

Thai lemon shrimp, Tom Yum Goong soup, seafood pineapple rice, and finally, a signature specialty platter was served.

After a satisfying meal, Cheng Zhanxi led Yu Qingtang by the hand to the cinema on the fifth floor.

The mall's electronic calendar displayed: December 26, 2018.

Yesterday was the first Christmas since the two had met. Yu Qingtang was busy with work all day, received several cards and small gifts from students, and returned home after ten in the evening. There was no date, no romantic story happened; Christmas passed uneventfully.

But the old almanac said for today: Auspicious for Nàcǎi - acceptance of betrothal gifts.

The cinema in the city center never worried about foot traffic. Nearby white-collar workers ate and drank in the mall and then conveniently went upstairs to the cinema.

When Cheng Zhanxi was getting the tickets, Yu Qingtang stood beside her, watching with curiosity as she operated the ticket machine. Her slender fingers nimbly entered two strings of numbers, and two paper tickets were dispensed.

"What did you buy?"

Cheng Zhanxi handed it to her to see. The movie title was Girl in the Clouds.

Yu Qingtang blinked: "What's it about?"

Cheng Zhanxi looked down at her fluttering eyelashes and said gently, "I don't know either."

She really didn't know. Even after reading the synopsis, she didn't understand what the story was about. In short, it was a romance film with good-looking leads; "in the clouds and mist" was just right.

At the same time, a sci-fi blockbuster was showing – by a world-famous director, on a 3D IMAX giant screen, exciting and stunning. Many people came for this movie. Cheng Zhanxi sat in the waiting hall, listening to the staff on the broadcast repeatedly announce, "Viewers for the X:XX showing of XXX can now enter."

Waves of people next to them went in. Yu Qingtang would glance at the bustling crowd, then at the ticket in her hand.

Cheng Zhanxi suddenly felt a little guilty.

Maybe they should watch the sci-fi blockbuster too? It was the first time she took Yu Qingtang to a movie, and if it turned out to be a bad film, this...

Cheng Zhanxi thought for a moment, leaned over, and asked Yu Qingtang in a low voice, "Do you want to watch that sci-fi film?"

Yu Qingtang: "Haven't we already bought the tickets?"

Cheng Zhanxi: "We can switch to another one."

Yu Qingtang looked down at the recently printed movie ticket. The paper was smooth, the printing clear. She rubbed the surface of the ticket with her fingertip and said, "Do you want to switch?"

Cheng Zhanxi: "I'm fine with either."

Yu Qingtang then said, "Then forget it. Let's just watch this one."

The person you watch the movie with is important; what you watch isn't. Cheng Zhanxi enveloped her hand, along with the movie ticket, in her palm and said softly, "Okay."

The staff at the ticket checkpoint said, "Viewers for the 8:30 PM showing of Girl in the Clouds can now enter."

Cheng Zhanxi and Yu Qingtang stood up, and two other people also stood up. Compared to the earlier bustle, their group of moviegoers seemed a bit meager.

Cheng Zhanxi couldn't help but glance at Yu Qingtang again.

She wouldn't think my taste is bad, would she?

The four of them had their tickets checked and entered. Cheng Zhanxi and Yu Qingtang walked behind the other two. Yu Qingtang, in a volume only they could hear, said relaxedly in a low voice, "It's finally a bit quieter."

Cheng Zhanxi smiled: "You find it noisy?"

Yu Qingtang nodded.

Cheng Zhanxi said, "Next time, I'll take you to my place to watch movies. There's a home theater in the basement of my house."

Yu Qingtang turned her head to look at the movie posters in the hallway, not answering.

The hallway was dimly lit, the carpet soft. Her feet felt a bit unsteady on the ground. Cheng Zhanxi put her arm around Yu Qingtang's waist and followed the signs, turning left at the end to Hall Five. The heavy wooden door was ajar. Cheng Zhanxi pulled it open with one hand, let Yu Qingtang enter first, and then followed.

Advertisements were playing on the big screen. The lights in the hall were on, and Yu Qingtang could clearly see the arrangement of the seats inside.

The front rows were all single seats; the back two rows were double-seat sofas.

If Yu Qingtang came a couple more times, she would know that the double-seat sofas had another name: couple seats.

Cheng Zhanxi led her by the hand to a double sofa in the second-to-last row. The milk tea and popcorn they bought outside were placed on the armrests at either end.

The two people who had entered before them were sitting in the middle seats.

"Why aren't they sitting on the sofas?" Yu Qingtang raised her gaze and quietly asked the woman beside her.

"Their relationship isn't as good as ours."

"Oh."

Cheng Zhanxi brought the milk tea straw to her lips. Yu Qingtang took a sip. Cheng Zhanxi immediately followed, taking a sip from the same straw she had used, and casually placed it back.

Yu Qingtang glanced at the straw, then at Cheng Zhanxi's red lips, still moist and full in the dim light, and lowered her eyes.

Cheng Zhanxi: "What are you thinking about?"

Yu Qingtang was startled by the sudden voice, even though Cheng Zhanxi had only asked softly in her ear.

Yu Qingtang uncomfortably tucked her hair behind her ear and pursed her lips: "Nothing."

She was still looking! Was the straw really that captivating!

Yu Qingtang forced herself to look at the big screen. They had come in early, and advertisements and various trailers were constantly playing.

She widened her eyes, as if doing so could make her mind also be filled with only advertisements and trailers.

Cheng Zhanxi looked amused and asked her, "Are there any movies you're interested in?"

Yu Qingtang said seriously, "I'll look a bit more."

"Then look." Cheng Zhanxi took the milk tea, took a sip herself, and handed it to Yu Qingtang.

Yu Qingtang held her breath, lowered her head, and her lips covered the light red lipstick mark at the tip of the straw. She swallowed a mouthful of milk tea, tasting the woman's flavor, then bit her lip and pulled away, her heartbeat a little chaotic.

Cheng Zhanxi: "Why aren't you watching the trailers?"

Yu Qingtang returned from her reverie again and looked at the big screen in front.

But the trailers stopped abruptly. The screen went black, and all the lights in the theater dimmed.

Beside her, Cheng Zhanxi was just a dark silhouette, but their hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined.

"It's starting." Cheng Zhanxi leaned over to remind her.

It was too dark to see clearly. Cheng Zhanxi's lips accidentally brushed against her earlobe, bringing a tingling, electric sensation.

Yu Qingtang stiffened all over, until the screen lit up again and that warm breath moved away.

Watching a movie in a cinema was completely different from watching at home; the big screen itself was an enjoyment. Yu Qingtang gradually relaxed and immersed herself in the plot of the film.

During the movie, Cheng Zhanxi switched hands to hold hers, and her left arm wrapped around Yu Qingtang's waist, pulling her closer.

The two of them often hugged, but rarely like this.

Occasionally, when watching TV on the sofa at home, they wouldn't hold hands because it felt awkward, and they also needed to eat snacks, so their hands weren't free. But the cinema atmosphere was very suitable: a semi-lit, semi-dark space, soft and spacious seats. Naturally, the two leaned closely together, drawing warmth from each other, smelling each other's fragrance.

The movie showed the male and female leads painfully separating, each shedding tears, but Yu Qingtang couldn't recall why they had decided to separate just a few minutes earlier.

She smelled so good.

The theater had air conditioning, so their coats were draped aside. Both were wearing close-fitting, warm cashmere sweaters underneath. The physical contact became exceptionally clear to the senses. Because Cheng Zhanxi was holding her, she sat slightly sideways, her soft body pressing against Yu Qingtang's arm. Yu Qingtang didn't dare move her arm at all.

Cheng Zhanxi seemed completely unaware, occasionally adjusting to a more comfortable posture, rubbing and shifting against her.

Yu Qingtang's face grew hotter and hotter. Fortunately, the darkness concealed it, and it wasn't noticed.

Yu Qingtang couldn't take it anymore. Her mind went blank. She unclasped her intertwined fingers from Cheng Zhanxi's, pulled her arm out, but after pulling it out, she found nowhere to put it. She couldn't just hold it up. After another two seconds of blankness, she draped it over Cheng Zhanxi's shoulder.

The current situation was: Cheng Zhanxi had her arm around Yu Qingtang's waist, Yu Qingtang had her arm around Cheng Zhanxi's shoulders, and Cheng Zhanxi was nestled in her embrace like a delicate bird.

Yu Qingtang: "..."

Yu Qingtang's mind went blank for two or three seconds. Her right shoulder dipped slightly as Cheng Zhanxi rested her head on it, like a small bird perched on a cold branch. Yu Qingtang's hand lifted and then gently fell, her fingertips stroking through Cheng Zhanxi's soft, long hair down her back.

The strands of hair pulled at her scalp. As Yu Qingtang combed her hair with her fingers like this for a while, Cheng Zhanxi felt faint, invisible currents spreading from the roots of her hair, making her body tremble uncontrollably, and she moved away from Yu Qingtang's hand.

"What's wrong?" Yu Qingtang lowered her head and asked her softly.

Cheng Zhanxi pursed her lips: "Nothing."

She changed her strategy and sat up straight.

Her shoulder lightened, and Yu Qingtang's heart felt empty along with it. Cheng Zhanxi leaned over again, but this time she took Yu Qingtang's hand that had originally been on her back, their fingers tightly intertwined.

She hadn't intended for Yu Qingtang to stroke her hair all night; in the end, she was the only one being tormented.

Cheng Zhanxi rested her head on Yu Qingtang's shoulder, and her free right hand grasped Yu Qingtang's chin, her fingertips giving it a gentle squeeze.

Yu Qingtang looked down in confusion. Cheng Zhanxi curved her lips into a smile at her.

The world in Yu Qingtang's eyes brightened bit by bit with her smile.

Yu Qingtang couldn't help but curve her eyes into a smile.

The dialogue and sound effects from the theater's speakers became background noise, receding like mist.

In Yu Qingtang's eyes, only this woman remained – leaning on her shoulder with a faint smile, her eyes sparkling. Looking up at her, she was clearly like a flower in full, resplendent bloom, yet unexpectedly, she evoked a sense of tender affection.

Yu Qingtang's gaze was gentle. She couldn't help but lift her left hand and touch Cheng Zhanxi's smooth cheek with the back of her fingers, her movements very cherishing, as if facing a fragile piece of porcelain.

First the back of her fingers, then the pads. Her palm cupped Cheng Zhanxi's cheek, lifting it from her shoulder.

Cheng Zhanxi cooperatively sat up properly, cooperatively looked into her eyes. Her gaze was very soft, very alluring, very innocent.

The moment Yu Qingtang met her gaze, her mind briefly shut down, losing the ability to think, and her own eyes became hazy.

Yu Qingtang fell for this every time; Cheng Zhanxi had figured her out. To make her take the initiative, one had to show weakness.

Yu Qingtang caressed her cheek, almost mesmerized, making Cheng Zhanxi's face warm up. Especially seeing Yu Qingtang's infatuated expression, Cheng Zhanxi felt an even greater heat in her heart.

She clearly liked her so much, yet she still insisted on treating her as just a good friend.

Yu Qingtang's thumb pressed against the corner of her lips, gently caressing it.

She and Cheng Zhanxi met eyes again. Cheng Zhanxi's gaze grew softer and softer as she looked down at Yu Qingtang's lips.

So Yu Qingtang, following her example, also looked at her lips.

Her breathing became erratic, her chest rose and fell irregularly, her gaze fixed intently on Cheng Zhanxi's lips.

The thought that had been lingering in her mind naturally took shape, broke through the obscuring clouds and mist, layer upon layer of shackles, and rushed out unstoppably.

She wanted to kiss her.

A trace of struggle appeared in Yu Qingtang's eyes, but it was quickly covered by a hazy look. She tilted her head slightly, her features slowly magnifying before Cheng Zhanxi's eyes.

Cheng Zhanxi's butterfly-wing-like eyelashes drooped, and she obediently closed her eyes.

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