Chapter 10: Rabbits Are Cute Animals That Bite
At 11:00 AM, the anxious little girl started knocking on the door.
“Coming.” Tong Yao opened the door and, sure enough, saw Ruan Xi standing there obediently with her backpack. “Come in.”
“Mm!” Ruan Xi’s voice carried a hint of shyness. “I’m here to freeload a meal…”
The little girl stepped into the entryway, then suddenly stopped, taking plastic bags out of her pocket, intending to wrap them over her shoes.
“What are you doing?” Tong Yao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I said you can just come in.”
“But Teacher, you cleaned it all up… and the others won’t come until after two…” Ruan Xi couldn’t bear to dirty the floor.
“Silly girl.” Tong Yao bent down, rummaged in the shoe cabinet for a moment, and took out a pair of slippers. “These are new. Just wear these when you come over from now on.”
“Eh?!”
Ruan Xi swallowed hard. Putting on the slippers, she felt her status had undergone a subtle change.
If her classmates came in the afternoon and saw her wearing slippers, would they have any… thoughts?
“Lunch is at 11:30. You can play for a while first. Oh, the cable bill hasn’t been paid yet, so go play on the computer; it’s on.” Tong Yao smiled, then hearing a noise from the kitchen, quickly turned and went back in.
Play on the computer?
This was actually a very novel experience for Ruan Xi. There was no computer at home, so her only contact with them was in middle school computer classes and internet cafes. She hadn’t toured the apartment yet. 70 square meters, not big, but decorated very warmly. A study, a bedroom, and a little fox running around the house.
Traces of Teacher Tong were everywhere.
She walked into the study. The equipment on the computer desk was clean and tidy, completely different from the greasy, tobacco-smelling desks and chairs in the internet cafes she had used.
Since Teacher Tong told her to play on the computer, she could use it boldly, right?
She didn’t play games. Having a computer was actually similar to having a phone for her, just with completely different smoothness. Ruan Xi usually liked browsing Tieba. This was the era when Tieba was at its peak, so she opened it immediately.
However, as soon as she opened Baidu, she discovered that Teacher Tong’s account was already logged in.
[Miss My 18cm]
Ruan Xi froze in her seat.
This is Teacher Tong’s ID?
Impossible… 18cm refers to that, right? Ruan Xi was already a second-year high school student. When the biology textbooks were first distributed, everyone secretly looked at the page on physiological organs. Some people even liked to snicker when the teacher taught that lesson. Of course, she knew about these things. Why would Teacher Tong miss it? Did Teacher Tong once experience…
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Ruan Xi quickly found a reasonable explanation—Teacher Tong’s brother was here yesterday; he must have used the computer.
Terrible man.
How could he let his sister see this kind of ID?
Ruan Xi swore to defend Teacher Tong’s purity to the death. So, with trembling hands, she logged out of the account.
After doing this, she felt relieved, but she was no longer in the mood to play on the computer.
The little girl wandered aimlessly. On the bookshelf, she saw a photo frame on the middle shelf containing a group photo.
Is this Teacher Tong’s family? A family portrait?
There were four people in the photo. A serious and tall man, a woman who was strong yet charming, the cynical Tong Hua she saw yesterday, and standing in the very center, a young girl with Tong Hua’s hands on her shoulders.
Ruan Xi felt that calling Teacher Tong a young girl was completely accurate.
It’s just… Teacher Tong’s father has such a fierce look in his eyes, she thought. Teacher Tong’s mother must also be a strong career woman, and very beautiful; her mature charm practically leaps out of the photo.
It must be a happy family.
“Looking at photos?”
Tong Yao’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Panic flashed across the girl’s face. She turned around and found Tong Yao right behind her, holding a crystal-clear tomato.
“Want to eat this first?” Tong Yao weighed the vermilion fruit in her hand, still dripping with water. “I just tried one; it’s not sour.”
“…Mm.” Since she wasn’t asked about the computer, Ruan Xi relaxed. She took it carefully, accidentally touching Tong Yao’s palm. “Thank you, Teacher Tong.”
“You’re welcome.” Tong Yao looked at the photo frame and noticed it was slightly crooked, so she reached out to straighten it.
Ruan Xi took a bite of the tomato. It was sweet and sour, exuding a light fruity aroma. The overflowing juice ran down her hand. Afraid of making a mess on the floor, she ended up flustered.
“Look at you.” Tong Yao laughed involuntarily. She subconsciously reached out and wiped the pulp from the corner of the girl’s mouth with a tissue. When she withdrew her hand, Ruan Xi’s face turned bright red with a whoosh. Tong Yao initially thought nothing of the action, but seeing Ruan Xi’s reaction, she somehow inexplicably blushed as well.
This child… acting as if I did something bad.
She coughed lightly, intending to step away for a moment. Before she could turn around, she heard Ruan Xi ask softly:
“Teacher Tong… do you think you are happy right now?”
Tong Yao stopped. After a slight pause, she began to think seriously.
“I think… I’m probably happy, right?” She thought for a moment, tilted her head, and spread her hands. “Some people say that people often don’t feel happiness because they are too happy. My life has been smooth sailing since I was little, and I’m doing a job I like now, so… I should be considered happy. What about you?”
Ruan Xi’s heart skipped a beat, then she lowered her head:
“I… I am also… very happy.
“Because… Teacher Tong is here.”
After the girl finished speaking, shyness climbed up like vines, and her face turned as red as a rose.
What strange things am I saying!
“Because of me?” Tong Yao laughed. “Am I that good?”
“Mm!” Ruan Xi explained clumsily, “Teacher Tong is very gentle…”
Gentle, huh.
Tong Yao tucked her hair behind her ear. She was no longer allergic to such praise. She patted the girl’s head and said softly:
“Alright, let’s go eat.”
This hand was as warm as sunlight.
Ruan Xi felt she could never refuse it.
**
**
Day and night alternated, and a new week began.
“You look pretty good lately.” During the break, Jiang Yiming teased Ruan Xi next to him. “Listening so seriously in class too? Taking notes like this, tsk tsk, planning to become a good student?”
“Mm.”
Ruan Xi didn’t look up, nor was she ashamed to admit it. She continued calculating the math problems from the weekend tutoring on her scratch paper.
“Are these the questions Teacher Tong gave you?” Jiang Yiming stretched his neck to take a few looks. “Damn, so hard. Good thing I didn’t sign up.”
Best if you don’t sign up.
Ruan Xi said inwardly, It’s best if none of you sign up, so Teacher Tong only teaches me.
But… if few people sign up, Teacher Tong will be sad and disappointed.
So it’s best the way it is now.
“By the way, let me tell you,” Jiang Yiming interjected with a look of expecting drama, “be careful in the next chemistry class. Long Ting must have taken the wrong medicine or something; she threw a huge tantrum in Class 9 last period. She’s probably still cursing now.”
Chemistry teacher Long Ting was responsible for teaching chemistry to Class 7 and Class 9. Cursing even five minutes after class ended meant she probably wouldn’t have a good expression in their class either.
“What medicine could she take? Dynamite, obviously.” The boy in front also joked.
Ruan Xi fell silent. She had always been walking on thin ice in Long Ting’s class, always worried that the woman would call on her. But… she had brought this upon herself.
The class bell rang.
The classroom, having received the early warning, was unusually quiet.
Long Ting walked into the classroom, expressionless and emotionless. She said “Class begins,” opened the book, and started lecturing.
Such a class was undoubtedly oppressive.
Long Ting lectured while staring at the students below. Even top students like Ji Chen and Yin Jiali didn’t dare rely on their good grades to do homework at this time; they had to listen attentively. After finishing the concepts, Long Ting turned to the exercise book, her hawk-like eyes scanning downward:
“Jiang Yiming, come do this problem.”
Jiang Yiming shuddered and walked up to the podium with a face full of unease. Ruan Xi below also shivered, praying he would answer correctly—otherwise, it might very well be “Desk mate, come help him answer.”
Jiang Yiming stood on the podium, his chalk writing crooked. After finishing, he looked at Long Ting, seemingly seeking an opinion, but Long Ting kept a straight face:
“Finished?”
He bit the bullet and said, “…Mm.”
Jiang Yiming put down the chalk and wanted to walk back to his seat. At this moment, Long Ting spoke:
“Did I let you go down?”
The boy froze and turned back awkwardly.
Long Ting held a piece of chalk and sneered:
“Look at what you wrote. Irritating gas, gas! What did you miss?”
Jiang Yiming was startled, cursing himself for being brain-dead. He swallowed and said, “…The gas symbol.”
“You knew?!” Long Ting forcefully drew a gas symbol on the blackboard and slapped the board hard. “You make such a low-level mistake?!
“What will you do in the exam?!
“Let me tell you, if you miss this symbol, you lose the points for this blank! You wrote it for nothing! How many times have I said this? Why just don’t you have a memory? With your learning attitude, everything you do is in vain! You’ll be a useless waste in the future!”
Jiang Yiming lowered his head, not daring to say a word.
“Go down!” Long Ting shouted after venting.
Class 7 was dead silent.
Ruan Xi stole a glance at her desk mate. This boy who usually loved to laugh now had red rims around his eyes, his fingernails digging into his palms.
That’s too much.
Even hearing those words from below the podium made her feel terrible, let alone a proud boy, and… in front of the whole class.
Long Ting continued lecturing on the podium, slapping the blackboard from time to time to emphasize her points. Near the end of class, her eyes swept across the room, and she saw another scene that displeased her—this time it was Ruan Xi.
“Ruan Xi, did I let you drink water?”
Ruan Xi, who was capping her bottle, froze. The classroom was extremely quiet.
“I’m talking about the most important content, and you’re drinking water down there? Come, tell me, what did I just say?”
Although Long Ting asked, she had no intention of letting Ruan Xi speak. Instead, she continued to glare at the girl below. “I talk for forty minutes; don’t I get a dry mouth? Aren’t I thirsty? I haven’t even drunk water, so what water are you drinking?!”
Being stared at and scolded by such a fierce adult, who happened to be an authoritative teacher… for a student, it was simply the most terrible torture.
Long Ting caught her breath. After scolding a few sentences, she felt it was about enough and prepared to continue explaining the problem. But just then, a discordant voice sounded.
“…You can drink water too.”
Ruan Xi lowered her head and whispered.
“Holy shit.” The students in the class looked at each other, thinking, Is Ruan Xi really that tough? They wanted to look back but didn’t dare.
“What did you say?!” Long Ting heard it clearly and was furious. “Say that again for me!”
Ruan Xi stopped talking. She hung her head like a withered flower.
“Ruan Xi, is this your attitude toward a teacher?” Long Ting laughed out of extreme anger. But just then, the bell rang for the end of class.
Yet not a single person in the class dared to make a sound.
“Good, good.”
Long Ting stood in place, nodding, though no one knew what she was nodding at.
“Come with me to the office!”
Finally, she threw down this sentence and slammed the door as she left.
