Xiao Chen brought Qiao Rui back home. Only then did Qiao Rui stammer out the truth — "Bro, actually, I only provided the phone. It was Song Yan who wanted to secretly take photos of Teacher Yu on his own initiative. That book was also Song Yan's."
Xiao Chen tutted, "Why didn't you say that earlier then? You just wanted to get sent home from class like that?"
"No, it's Song Yan's dad. His dad is an alcoholic and has a nasty temper. If he finds out the truth, he'll definitely beat Song Yan half to death. I swear, secretly taking photos was not my idea. If I'm lying, may lightning strike me dead!"
"Alright alright."
Xiao Chen didn't doubt him too much either, since Song Yan's dad did look quite vicious.
And with Qiao Rui's grades that even a dog would shake its head at, missing a day or even a week of class wouldn't make much difference.
"Bro, you mustn't tell my mum no matter what."
"Go write your self-reflection."
"Okay!"
Xiao Chen locked Qiao Rui up at home and didn't allow him to go out.
As for himself, he went out drinking with Han Chengxun.
He didn't bring up Teacher Yu coming to Changwan. Instead, he heard about it first from Han Chengxun.
Xiao Chen asked in surprise, "How do you know about it?"
Han Chengxun: "My wife told me."
That day, Teacher Yu was chatting with Lin Shu'an. Han Chengxun was lying next to Lin Shu'an.
Xiao Chen said speechlessly, "Don't mention it. I've lost so much face I could die."
"What happened?"
"She's Qiao Rui's form teacher. Can you believe it?"
"..."
Silence filled the air. Han Chengxun only knew that Teacher Yu had come to live in Changwan, but didn't know about her work, let alone expect her to be Qiao Rui's form teacher.
"Damn, for real?"
"Why would I lie to you about this?" Xiao Chen clutched his forehead in agony. "Do you know what inconceivable thing Qiao Rui did?"
Han Chengxun held his wine glass, waiting for him to continue.
Xiao Chen downed all the wine in his glass in one gulp. Even now when he thought back on it, he still felt irritated. "He and his friend were secretly taking photos of the teacher during class. They got caught red-handed by the head of discipline. Now he's got called parents, suspension and self-reflection, the damn brat's scored a hat trick."
Han Chengxun burst out laughing. "You went?"
"Ah, what else could I do? I really can't stand that little sh*t."
...Teacher Yu's life here had basically stabilized by now. That night, she also made plans to meet up with Lin Shu'an.
The Han couple each went to different appointments.
The two sisters hadn't seen each other for years, yet there was no imagined estrangement between them.
It was as if they had just seen each other yesterday.
Lin Shu'an's face revealed pleasant surprise. She couldn't wait to ask, "How did you end up living here? Did your dad agree?"
"Mm, the process of him agreeing was a little bumpy." Although that's what Teacher Yu said, her expression was joyful. "But I have freedom now. I'm really very happy. Although my material conditions aren't as good as before, my spiritual world has been greatly satisfied."
The two sisters seemed to have endless topics to talk about.
Especially when Lin Shu'an found out that Teacher Yu was teaching at Xinghai High School, her eyes were full of astonishment.
Xinghai High School was a prestigious private high school. The teachers who could teach there all had great capabilities.
When it came to this, Teacher Yu was visibly hesitant. She observed the changes in Lin Shu'an's expression. Her heart struggled intensely. In the end, she still couldn't resist asking, "Shu'an, do you know Xiao Chen's younger brother?"
Lin Shu'an's expression froze.
She knew that Teacher Yu had liked Xiao Chen in the past and got rejected, after which they lost contact.
So she had never brought up Xiao Chen in front of her.
Since Teacher Yu had brought him up now, Lin Shu'an could only reply, "Mm, you mean Qiao Rui?"
"Yes."
"I know of him, but I've only seen him twice."
"He's my—" Teacher Yu paused for two seconds before stiffly uttering two words, "student."
Lin Shu'an: "..."
It took her a moment to react.
She and Qiao Rui weren't very familiar. But that brat got along quite well with Han Chengxun despite their age difference, and they could even play together.
She recalled Han Chengxun mentioning that Qiao Rui attended Xinghai High School.
"So Xiao Chen—"
Teacher Yu shrugged, not avoiding that name at all. "He came to the school today."
"Ah...? Parent-teacher meeting? That can't be right."
"Parent-teacher meeting. As in Qiao Rui's parents got called in by the head of discipline."
"What did he do?"
"...He just—" Teacher Yu deliberately concealed the fact that she had been secretly photographed, speaking ambiguously. "Got caught playing on his phone during class. I was in the middle of teaching and didn't notice. The head of discipline caught him. Then the head called Xiao Chen in."
"So you two..."
"Nothing happened!" Teacher Yu felt extremely relaxed, indifferent. "I just feel it's quite amazing, so I wanted to share this oddity with you, isn't it bizarre?"
Lin Shu'an could see that her gaze was different when she talked about Xiao Chen, but she didn't want to say more, so Lin Shu'an didn't ask further either.
"His parents are practically worried to death, complaining that he's not young anymore yet still hasn't found a partner. He hasn't attended a single arranged blind date, doesn't even have an opposite gender friend around him. Every day he just sticks to Han Chengxun. Really."
Although this sounded like nitpicking, she was actually using another method to tell Teacher Yu that Xiao Chen was currently single.
...After returning home, Teacher Yu took a shower.
She blow-dried her hair halfway, then collapsed onto the bed.
Recalling everything that happened today, plus Lin Shu'an's words, she suddenly had an idea that even she herself felt was preposterous.
Teacher Yu picked up her phone from the bedside table and opened WeChat.
Most parents had taken the initiative to add her on WeChat.
Teacher Yu scrolled through the list of friend requests. She didn't see Xiao Chen's account amongst them.
She tossed her phone aside in irritation and flipped over, grabbing the pillow next to her to cover her head.
Forcing herself not to think about it.
But the more she forced herself like this, the easier it was to think about him.
As long as she recalled one scene related to him, the other scenes would follow.
Teacher Yu lay stomach-down on the bed and kicked her legs a few times.
Inwardly scolding herself for being shameless. It had been so long, yet why was it that just one meeting caused her to revert to how she used to be?
Although she thought this, her hand still unconsciously picked up the phone she had tossed aside.
In the parents' group chat, she found "Qiao Rui's Brother".
She clicked to open his profile picture.
She struggled over whether she should take the initiative to add him as a friend or not.
After all, she was his cousin's form teacher.
Shouldn't a form teacher and parent have some method of contact? Just in case something happened, it'd be convenient to get in touch too.
That was how she tried to justify it to herself.
But her fingertips trembled slightly, frozen in place, unable to click "Add Friend" for the longest time.
Teacher Yu exited this interface and returned to the group chat.
After hesitating for a bit, she typed a sentence in the group chat input box: 【Parents please add me on WeChat for easier contact】 She stared at this sentence for a full thirty seconds.
She deliberated some more then deleted it in the end.
"..."
Teacher Yu's heart couldn't calm down. She ran to the fridge and drank two mouthfuls of ice water, trying to make herself sober up.
She still had work tomorrow. Thinking useless thoughts like these would only affect her.
...Early Monday morning, Teacher Yu got up early.
After washing up, she saw there was still ample time.
She couldn't cook, her kitchen at home was sparkling clean. Each meal was just her going through the motions.
Sometimes when she wasn't hungry she wouldn't even eat.
Naturally, she also didn't have the habit of eating breakfast either.
Teacher Yu sat in front of the dressing table. Due to her extremely irregular eating, the formerly pampered and glowing complexion was gone from her fair face.
But her eyes shone brighter than before.
She didn't know if it was because she finally obtained the freedom she had always longed for.
Or because she would see him soon, and her heart secretly harbored anticipation.
She applied light makeup, then headed out.
Her father had always been a decisive man.
Agreeing to let her return home alone to live her life, he truly cut off her source of income, leaving her to earn everything herself.
He firmly believed that Teacher Yu was only interested momentarily. This spoiled princess who had been doted on since young would definitely be unable to withstand struggling for money.
Yet she hadn't asked him for help even once, only occasionally contacting her mother to let her know she was fine.
She hadn't asked for a single cent.
In the past when going out, a luxury car would be waiting early outside.
Now when going out she had to take the subway or bus. At first, because she didn't know how, it led to an embarrassing incident.
But she was determined not to yield.
Because she really enjoyed days like these.
After alighting from the bus, she walked to a convenience store.
Teacher Yu browsed for a while but didn't have much of an appetite. In the end, she only took a can of iced coffee from the refrigerated section.
Right then, a loud and clear "Teacher Yu!" entered her ears from the convenience store entrance.
The convenience store was rather quiet in the early morning, only footsteps and the sounds of purchases could be heard.
Teacher Yu couldn't help but give a violent jolt from the shock.
She turned her head, only to see Qiao Rui enthusiastically waving hello to her.
Xiao Chen followed behind.
Backlit, he also seemed to be looking at her, his gaze obscure and unclear.
