BSS - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Their gazes met for only a moment. A student entered the room, and Xu Wei shifted her gaze to him. He was a tall boy, and he turned his head to say something to her. Xu Wei nodded, and he crouched down to fiddle with the projector equipment.

Before long, the class bell rang. The boy stood up, his frame nearly eclipsing Xu Wei. He spoke to her with his back to the class. Deng Chuan couldn't see their expressions as they exchanged a few words. Then, the boy turned and left the classroom. Xu Wei, her expression calm, announced that class was starting.

Two-thirds of the way through class, Xu Wei assigned some problems for in-class practice, as usual.

The classroom fell silent. Xu Wei pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned her hands, then rested one hand on the lectern while holding a test paper in the other, her head lowered to read it.

After a moment, Wu Fuwu raised his hand, signaling for Xu Wei to come over.

With her head lowered, Xu Wei didn't see him.

Seeing that she hadn't reacted, he waved his hand more emphatically and called out in a low voice, "Teacher-"

People nearby glanced over.

Xu Wei finally looked up and began to walk toward him.

Deng Chuan kept her head down, listening to the unhurried rhythm of her footsteps. Her own heart tightened in sync, pounded with each step. A moment later, Xu Wei drifted past her side in her peripheral vision. The hem of her jacket brushed against Deng Chuan's shoulder.

Then she stopped right behind her and stood still.

It was just a simple brush past, the pressure neither light nor heavy. Yet for a moment, the fabric of their clothes had truly touched before separating, like skin against skin.

The tips of Deng Chuan's ears burned. She could almost feel the firm curve of Xu Wei's waist. Before she had time to savor the sensation, she heard Xu Wei ask the student in the back seat in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Her voice was very soft. Deng Chuan's pen froze. She strained to listen.

Wu Fuwu asked in a low voice, "Teacher, why is the slope zero when I substitute these points? Doesn't that create a contradiction?"

Xu Wei studied the paper intently. Then, gathering her long, cascading hair with one hand, she pointed to the test paper with the other and explained quietly.

"You solved the derivative equation incorrectly. You need to find the derivative to get the points first, and then substitute them."

"Oh, oh…" Wu Fuwu nodded quickly. He asked again, "So Teacher, for this type of problem, should we generally find the derivative first, or consider the trigonometric functions? We had a similar problem on our last test, but for that one, we had to solve the trigonometric functions first."

Xu Wei shifted her feet and leaned back slightly. "Hmm… It depends on the conditions given in the problem. For example…"

As she spoke, she jotted down some brief notes on his paper.

For some reason, she bent over slightly, and her hanging hair fell onto Deng Chuan's back. A few strands landed in the nape of her neck, hovering just above her skin.

Deng Chuan couldn't hear the rest of what Xu Wei said. The back of her neck tingled, and her heart raced, yet her thoughts were exceptionally calm, her mind clear.

The student in the back seat was still speaking in a low voice. The surroundings were quiet. Xu Wei's scent silently wafted up to her, light yet rich, enveloping her.

Time seemed to stand still.

Xu Wei didn't notice. After finishing her explanation, she straightened up and glanced at the other students. Her eyes then fell on Deng Chuan's frozen pen and the half-written answer on her paper. Without a word, she walked away.

Shortly after the dismissal bell rang, Xu Wei stood at the lectern, gathering her things. The boy from earlier came back in, greeted her, then crouched down and pulled a projector cable from the lectern.

Xu Wei didn't wait for him, heading for the classroom next door a step ahead.

The student hurried after her, clutching the cable. "Teacher, wait for me."

Xu Wei asked him, "When will your class's projector be fixed?"

The boy held up the cable in his hand and smiled confidently. "If all goes well, we can use it this period."

Xu Wei said, "That's our class's cable. Return it as soon as you're done testing it. They need it for the next class."

The boy was unhappy. "Our class is your class too. What's the big deal if we borrow it for one period?"

Xu Wei couldn't be bothered to argue. Ignoring his displeasure, she just said, "Remember to return it before class starts."

The boy, sullen, clutched the cable and only replied after a long moment, "Got it."

The two of them reached the classroom door and were about to go inside when the boy suddenly spoke again. "Teacher Xu, what do you like to do? I saw you reading that book, Fermat's Last Theorem, last time. I bought it too. After I finish it, can I find you to talk about my thoughts on it?"

The question came out of nowhere. Xu Wei stopped and stared at him fixedly.

"Time is precious in your third year of high school," she said. "Don't waste it on meaningless things."

Her gaze was slightly cold, sending a jolt through him, as if a basin of cold water had been dumped over his head.

Still, he didn't give up. "I'm under a lot of pressure in my third year, too," he said. "Just think of it as helping a student relieve some stress."

He leaned closer. "Teacher Xu, how about it?"

"No," Xu Wei refused, then urged him, "Fix the projector. And hurry up and return that cable."

The boy pouted and silently crouched down to swap the cables. Xu Wei placed her book on the lectern. Having no intention of staying, she turned and walked out.

She stood in the corridor. The morning wind was briskly cool. She wasn't wearing her overcoat, and the cold was sharp but invigorating.

The weather wasn't good today; the sky was a gloomy, grayish-white, with no sign of rain or snow. Xu Wei stared into the distance for a while, only heading back when she heard the class bell ring behind her.

Morning classes ended. Everyone began packing up to go to lunch, and the classroom was soon more than half empty. Deng Chuan waited for Su Mian to come find her so they could eat at the teachers' dormitory together. Wu Fuwu, who sat behind her, hadn't left either. The two of them were making idle conversation.

After a moment, a loud set of footsteps approached the classroom door. Someone rushed in, taking two or three steps at a time.

Deng Chuan looked up and saw it was the boy from that morning. He was looking for Wu Fuwu. As soon as they saw each other, Wu Fuwu asked, "How'd it go?"

The boy pouted. "No chance."

Wu Fuwu laughed. "I told you so. I'd advise you to switch targets sooner rather than later."

The boy slammed his fist on the desk in frustration. "Agh-"

Wu Fuwu said, "Forget it. She's too difficult. You probably won't even get to say more than a few words to her by the time you graduate."

The boy was silent for a long moment, then asked, "Is she like this with people in your class too? So cold?"

Wu Fuwu thought for a moment. "Not really, she's very responsible… Sigh, she's not actually cold. Just hard to get close to."

The boy gave a sullen "mhm."

Deng Chuan hadn't been paying attention to their conversation at first, but their voices were loud, and with all their talk of "she" this and "she" that, it was starting to rub her the wrong way.

The boy sat on a nearby desk, his shoulders slumped dejectedly. Wu Fuwu put on his backpack and patted him. "Why don't you just drop it- It's your third year; it's pointless to think about these things. Besides…" He paused and lowered his voice. "-that's Xu Wei we're talking about."

The boy said nothing. The two of them left.

Deng Chuan sat at her desk, lost in thought. She spun a pen between her fingertips, round and round.

Su Mian came in from the doorway and saw Deng Chuan was the only one left in the classroom, sitting motionless at her desk. She asked, "Aren't you hungry? Let's go."

Deng Chuan finally snapped out of it, picked up her bag, and walked toward her.

Su Mian had been getting some materials from her teacher, which was why she was so late.

As the two of them walked toward the teachers' dormitory, Deng Chuan's mind was in a bit of a jumble, and she didn't say much. Su Mian was complaining about how slow her homeroom teacher was at filling out forms, but then she added, "By the way, your Teacher Xu looked amazing today. She was about to head out and put on this wool coat- she had such an aura, she was absolutely gorgeous."

"The moment she put that coat on, the entire office fell silent. I guess everyone was just staring at the beauty."

"Oh…" Deng Chuan said.

Before she could say anything more, she heard a laughing voice from behind them ask, "What beauty are you looking at?"

They both turned around and saw the very subject of their conversation looking at them.

Qin Shu added with a grin, "See, the beauty is right here. Take a look."

Though stunned, Deng Chuan still managed to carefully observe Xu Wei's attire, thinking to herself that Su Mian truly hadn't been exaggerating.

Xu Wei felt Deng Chuan's gaze on her. With a composed expression, she looked back and stood her ground.

Beside them, Su Mian was already practically on her knees in terror. "Hello, beautiful ladies! Have you eaten?"

Qin Shu laughed, teasing her, "Beauties don't need to eat. They live on dew."

Seeing that Xu Wei and Deng Chuan were silent, she assumed they were at an impasse and joked, "Teacher Xu, don't be so aloof. Look, you're scaring the kids."

"I'm not being aloof," Xu Wei said. She reached up to tuck her long hair back and walked over to them.

So the four of them walked on together.

Xu Wei's hands were tucked in her coat pockets, her gait unhurried. The distance between her and Deng Chuan was closer than usual. When someone squeezed past them, Xu Wei shifted closer and didn't move away again. Since they were about the same height, their wrists, both tucked inside their respective coat pockets, were suddenly very close.

No one said much at first. Partway there, Xu Wei took a phone call. She hardly spoke, mostly just listening to the other person and occasionally murmuring "mhm" or "okay." Finally, she replied with a low, two-syllable phrase in her hometown's dialect, which Deng Chuan couldn't understand.

No one else understood it either, which sparked a new topic of conversation.

Deng Chuan and Su Mian were both locals. Qin Shu had done her undergraduate and master's degrees in the Guangzhou region and could speak Cantonese. Su Mian, who often watched Hong Kong movies, was curious and pestered her to say a few things. After "Gong hei fat choy," came "hello," "goodbye," and "thank you."

After running through the basic daily phrases, Qin Shu said, "I've used up my entire Cantonese arsenal for impressing northerners. It's your Teacher Xu's turn."

Everyone turned to look at Xu Wei.

Su Mian's eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Feeling a bit shy under her gaze, Xu Wei looked away uncomfortably. "I don't speak it very well," she said. "I only know a phrase or two."

"Mhm, mhm. That's fine, that's fine."

She tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then glanced at Deng Chuan, who was standing by quietly. Deng Chuan felt her gaze land between her eyebrows, and the small patch of skin there seemed to burn under her stare.

She didn't dare to look back. Everyone was quiet, waiting for Xu Wei to speak. After a brief, thoughtful silence, as if she were mentally reviewing the pronunciation, Xu Wei finally parted her lips and recited, slowly and clearly:

"When golden wind and jade dew meet, a single encounter surpasses countless others in the mortal world."

Her enunciation was clear, her accent carrying the characteristic softness of Cantonese. The moment she finished speaking, everyone let out an impressed "Wow!" and begged her to say more.

"-That's all I know," Xu Wei said helplessly. "I don't really speak Cantonese, just a phrase or two."

"Ooh," Qin Shu said, then asked nosily, "Who taught you that line?"

Xu Wei didn't answer directly. "Someone taught it to me in college."

Qin Shu didn't pursue it, just smiled and let it drop. Xu Wei looked at her, gave a soft, knowing laugh, and remained silent.

Previous Table of Contents Next