Chapter 71: The Ruler and a Drop of Tear
Lina sulked in her room all night and fell into a daze in the early morning, not noticing Adele’s quiet departure.
All that was left for her was a resignation letter.
Lina slept until the afternoon. When she got up, she was still puffed up with anger, but soon, she realized something was wrong.
Today was a school day, but Adele had not come to call her!
Lina didn’t even put on her shoes and rushed straight into Adele’s room. There was no one inside. The bed was neatly made, the floor spotless, as if… no one had ever lived there.
An ominous premonition came to her heart. Lina ran downstairs and happened to bump into her mother.
“Oh, baby! Be careful!”
“Where is Teacher Adele? Where did she go?” Lina asked urgently.
“Oh, she’s moving to another city, so she’s planning to resign. But she’ll be back one more time because she said she wants to write you a letter of recommendation to make it easier for you to get into a higher school.”
Resign?
Move!
Lina felt as if she had been plunged into an ice cellar. Was it because of last night?
“When will she be back?”
Her mother cupped her face and rubbed it. “That I don’t know. I’m going out to get my hair done. You be good and stay at home.”
Lina walked back upstairs in a daze. She stared at Adele’s empty room and inexplicably wanted to cry.
A piece of her heart was empty. A cold wind was blowing in. She would never eat iced watermelon again.
So cold.
Days passed.
Nothing in the manor had changed. Everything was as usual, except for Lina. She began to frequently look at the door, her ears perked up, listening for familiar footsteps.
But every expectation was dashed.
On the seventh day, Adele still had not returned.
Lina sat on the bay window where Adele had once sat, her heart in a mess. She randomly pulled a book from the bookshelf and flipped through it aimlessly, trying to pass the long time.
She didn’t notice the four words “lesbian” on the cover of the book. By the time she realized what she was reading, a new world had opened up.
The lingering and poignant love was enough to move a person. Just as she was empathizing, the next chapter happened to be uncut.
It was just the age to be interested in “sex.” The direct descriptions made her blush, her whole being on fire.
Lina directly closed the book. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her two ears directly curled up, trembling shyly on top of her head.
After a long moment, she opened it again out of curiosity, her heart pounding like a drum as she read, word by word.
As she read, she had a sudden realization!
What was on her underwear, why she was like that, what the pleasant tremor was…
She understood it all!
Lina threw the book away, as if the pages were burning her hands.
She liked the scent on Adele, wanted to hug her, wanted to touch her. All the restlessness was because she was in love with Adele.
?!
From the discovery that two women could be together, the world had gained another side.
Lina only took a second to accept this fact.
As for the possibility that she might have fallen in love with her teacher, she also only took a second to accept it with composure.
So what?
From childhood, what had she ever wanted that she hadn’t gotten? If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t pluck the stars, she would have long since had a room full of them.
What’s wrong with being in a relationship with a woman?
The gossip and the eyes of outsiders mentioned in the book, she didn’t care about them at all.
Once you have this concept, you will start to imagine.
Lina thought of Adele’s hand again.
The hand that had landed on her bottom, the hand that had caressed her ears, the hand that had gently patted her back at night, coaxing her to sleep…
The hand that had taught her to write, the hand that had always protected her, not letting her fall from the horse…
What if Adele’s hand touched her lips, slid down her throat, and gently squeezed her neck, completely controlling her?
What if Adele’s hand undid her buttons, one by one, frivolously rolled up her slip slowly, and asked her what was exposed now was her lower abdomen, then her ribs, and then what?
What if…
Lina couldn’t help but let out a shameful whimper and abruptly covered her burning face with her hands.
What on earth am I thinking!
She tried to suppress it, tried to restrain it.
But more desires were growing wildly, and her body also gradually grew hot from these amorous imaginations.
Help…
Lina buried her face in her knees. Her restless heart, upon remembering Adele’s avoidance and indifference, immediately calmed down, and even fell to the bottom.
To leave without saying goodbye was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing her hopes and fantasies.
Adele was five years older than her. She must have known all this long ago. A restrained person like her must not be able to accept a teacher-student relationship… would she think she was frivolous? Would she dislike her getting close?
Perhaps she didn’t like a rabbit at all.
The more Lina thought, the sadder she became. She hadn’t even started a relationship, and she had already been unilaterally broken up with.
But she was not a slow person, and she certainly would not mope around by herself. She had to catch Adele and ask her clearly!
She had to see Adele immediately!
She didn’t want to wait anymore!
Lina simply packed a bag, left a note for her family about her whereabouts, and rushed out of the farm in a single-horse carriage.
Lina was eager to see her. When she left, she didn’t notice the dark clouds in the distance at all, let alone the crack in the carriage wheel.
Danger was quietly approaching.
The moment twilight was gone, in the blink of an eye, the sky was completely dark. The dark clouds had completely covered the moon. The open plain was boundless. There were no houses in the fields. It was pitch black on both sides of the road.
Thunder rumbled in the sky. The swaying lights barely illuminated the road ahead. But the downpour came as it pleased, and her vision instantly became blurry.
Lina had to slow down. Misfortune never comes alone. The cracked wheel completely broke after entering the water!
The carriage body jolted violently, and the entire carriage tilted sharply to one side!
The horse pulling the carriage was startled and let out a neigh.
Lina’s face turned pale with fright, but she still remembered Adele’s instructions and controlled the horse in an orderly manner.
She jumped out of the carriage to check and found that not only was the wheel broken, but several of the spokes were also broken. She couldn’t go on.
Her current location was in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention people, there were probably not even ghosts.
Only the raging storm.
The cold rain wet Lina’s thin dress. A cold wind blew past, and she shivered from the cold.
She was completely trapped. Whether she abandoned the carriage and walked forward, or retreated, with her constitution that could not catch a cold, she would not be able to reach the end…
Lina put a raincoat on the horse, then climbed back into the already tilted carriage, trembling.
In the darkness, she curled up on the seat, hugged her cold arms, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. Lightning struck a distant mountain, tearing a pale white crack in the darkness.
The discomfort of her body was magnified by the harsh environment.
Cold, fear, grievance, and helplessness intertwined. Her eyes suddenly grew moist.
Her longing for Adele also reached its peak.
Lina shrank into a small ball and silently began to cry.
She wanted to see Adele so badly, to see that bad woman who would always discipline her with a ruler, but would always protect her, and had grown up with her.
“Teacher…” Lina sobbed softly and murmured, “Adele, I miss you so much…”
The next second, a ray of light pierced through the carriage curtain.
Lina raised her face in surprise and uncertainty.
Then, the carriage curtain was thrown open!
The cold steam and the roaring storm were all blocked by a figure.
It was Adele.
She was soaked from head to toe. The usually meticulous person, whose shirt had not a single wrinkle, was now in a pathetic state. Her wet long hair was stuck to her face, and her slightly thin body was swaying slightly in the strong wind.
That face that was always calm was no longer calm. Instead, it was filled with an almost frantic anxiety!
Lina had never seen such an Adele.
In her impression, Adele was always calm, always restrained. But at this moment, she… was in a panic.
“Mmph…”
Lina saw Adele’s face clearly, knew that her backer had come. All her fear and grievance turned into tears, rolling down fiercely.
“Teacher…”
She cried out loud. Large teardrops fell in the carriage, and also on Adele’s heart.
She had come back to deliver the letter of recommendation. She had originally planned to say a proper goodbye to Lina and then disappear completely.
But when she recognized the carriage that was stopped in the middle of the road, she was completely flustered. She was afraid that Lina was inside.
She was even more afraid that Lina would be hurt.
The moment she pulled open the carriage curtain, what entered her eyes was a little rabbit, curled up in a corner, trembling.
All the masks she used to disguise herself were easily shattered by a single drop of Lina’s tear.
She had used 7 days, 168 hours, 10080 minutes to convince herself to leave, and in this second of seeing Lina cry, it was all for nothing.
The cold rain poured down on her head. Adele was already streaming with tears. Her pity for her lover overflowed uncontrollably.
She could no longer deceive herself.
She couldn’t leave.
She didn’t want to leave either.
Adele climbed into the carriage and reached out to hold the trembling Lina tightly in her arms.
The body heat of the two of them quickly merged. They were wet and pressed against each other. On this rainy and thundery night, they were intimate.
“Are you stupid? Why are you running around in this rainy weather?” Adele’s voice was trembling.
Lina choked out incoherently, “I miss you so much. I understand everything now, homosexuality and orgasm, I understand it all… I like you… Mmph?”
Adele subconsciously raised her hand and touched her lips. “Don’t say it…”
Her lover was so close. An instinctive reaction did not need to be taught. Lina opened her mouth, trying to bite Adele’s index finger.
!
The sound of Adele’s heartbeat instantly drowned out the thunderstorm in the sky. She pulled her hand back and said in a hoarse voice, “You’re still young…”
The darkness magnified the ambiguity. The wetness made everything worse. Lina’s eyes were blurry with tears. She squeezed her against the wall of the carriage and asked in her ear, “When I’m an adult… can we?”
Adele stared at those beautiful blue eyes and couldn’t say anything against her heart. She was silent for a moment, turned her face away, and nodded.
Lina’s tears turned into a smile. She pressed her face against Adele’s chest. “Wait for me for two more years.”
“Okay.”
The equestrian competition lasted for three whole days. The stands were packed. A black stallion perfectly cleared all the obstacles. Time froze. After a short silence, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause.
Lina held the reins with one hand and raised her hand to greet the judges and the audience. She was wearing a riding suit, her long golden hair neatly tied back. Sitting on the horse, her smile was bright, enjoying the attention of the whole field, full of spirit.
Her competitor rode up to her. “That was amazing! Lina! After school starts, I’ll be waiting for you in the club! Let’s compete again!”
“Alright.” Lina shook her hand.
“Who is your coach? Can you introduce me?”
Lina’s smile grew even brighter. Her eyes were filled with an undisguised pride and sweetness. She raised her hand and pointed at Adele in the stands.
“My lover taught me.”
Her competitor followed the direction she was pointing, then looked back at her, a knowing and ambiguous smile on her face. “I see! Never mind, never mind. I won’t disturb your date!”
She smiled and rode away.
Lina dismounted and, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, ran toward Adele.
Adele watched her approach, subconsciously holding her breath.
Lina in the sun was too dazzling.
That was the student she had personally taught, a flower she had carefully nurtured.
The little rabbit she had raised was now the focus of the whole field, and she was running toward her with all her heart.
This wanton blooming flower was finally going to fall into her palm.
But she wanted to run.
But the moment she got up, before she could even lift her foot, she was grabbed by the wrist by Lina.
A force completely different from when she was a child held her tightly.
She couldn’t break free at all.
In fact, a year ago, she had not been able to completely hold Lina down…
Let alone now.
“Teacher!” Lina’s smile was obedient, but a hint of aggression flashed in her eyes. “Where are you going?”
Adele’s voice was tight. She tried to maintain her usual calm. “Ah! It’s a little sunny here. I want to go to a shady spot.”
This excuse was so pale that even she herself didn’t believe it.
Lina looked at her slightly red earlobes and flickering eyes, a wicked thought coming to her mind.
She took a step closer and lowered her voice. “Teacher, I’m an adult now.”
She deliberately emphasized the last three words.
Adele said in a small voice, “Don’t say these things outside…”
In this life, the care of her family, a wealthy life, the concern of her lover, the company of her friends—not a single thing was late. Lina was raised to be fearless.
She pulled Adele to the changing room, directly wrapped her arms around her waist, and pulled the distance between the two of them even closer. “I didn’t lose the ruler. I’ve been keeping it well. Whether you want to hit me or scold me, I’ll take it.”
Lina pressed against her. “But now, I don’t want to be good.”
“You…” Adele’s words were blocked by a kiss.
Lina stuffed the medal around her neck into Adele’s hand and said, “Hold me tight.”
Hold me tight and don’t let go.
Adele was so flustered by her innocent actions that her legs went weak. She tried to regain some initiative, pulled at the medal, and Lina pressed on her like a little puppy.
“What’s wrong?”
Adele pinched her ear, half-pulling, half-chiding. “Continue.”
“As you command.”
/
I don’t know that I could be so impulsive, so emotional, until I saw her cry.
I don’t like to use winning and losing to describe a relationship, but if it’s Lina, she’s already won just by standing in front of me.
On my path of growth, the most I’ve heard is that crying is useless, that it’s better to solve the problem than to cry.
Actually, it’s not.
If Lina cries, I’ll fall apart. I love her. I don’t want to see her shed a single tear.
I should be restrained, should be rational. But when she looks at me and cries, I have no self-control.
She wants me to wait for her, so I’ll wait. She wants to explore the unknown on me, and I’ll allow it. I can be with her, as long as she needs it.
She has a lot of youth to squander. Maybe I’m just a passerby, but it doesn’t matter.
I love her. I’m willing to give her everything. This is not a transaction. I just want her to be happy. I don’t expect anything in return.
