Chapter 12: Her Answer Flashed Through Her Mind
“I heard it! I heard it!”
A boy rushed back into the classroom. He had just pretended to go to the restroom but had actually been eavesdropping outside the office.
“Holy shit, you guys should have heard it! Teacher Tong’s takedown of Long Ting was so satisfying! It was a total hero-saves-the-beauty moment!”
With that, he proudly waved his phone. “I recorded the whole thing!”
Although he had only recorded a part of it, he had run back before he expected Teacher Tong and Ruan Xi to come out.
“I wanna hear it! Play it!”
“Send it to me!”
For a moment, the room erupted in celebration.
“Quiet!” Ji Chen roared. “We’ll talk about this after class!”
The class president still held some authority, and most students were willing to give him face, so they all lowered their voices significantly.
“They hugged!” shouted Jiang Yiming from the back row.
The classroom windows were all covered with a privacy film, making it impossible to see outside, except for the very last one. A few boys were squeezed together, peering out like frogs at the bottom of a well looking up at the sky. From a distance, they could only see Tong Yao holding Ruan Xi and comforting her. They were all scratching their heads, desperate to hear but unable to.
“Can you boys move? We want to see too!” The girls in the back were getting anxious. They wanted a peek through the window, but it was completely blocked by boys.
“Almost, almost,” a boy said dismissively, then let out a gasp. “Holy shit…”
“What is it?! What happened!?” Those who couldn’t see were getting impatient, wishing they could kick the butts in front of them.
“Nothing… they hugged again. Ah, they’re heading back!”
The crowd by the window quickly dispersed, and everyone scrambled back to their seats.
The front and back doors opened at roughly the same time.
Tong Yao came in, and Ruan Xi, her eyes still slightly red, returned to her seat. She noticed everyone was staring at her, and the young girl grew flustered, lowering her head in embarrassment.
“Not bad,” Jiang Yiming said with a sly grin.
Ruan Xi shot him a glare, not daring to look at the person on the podium.
“Ahem, could everyone please focus on the lesson?” Tong Yao was also a bit embarrassed. She knew those gossip-loving kids had probably seen her hugging Ruan Xi, but it wasn’t a big deal. If it had been a male teacher, rumors of a student-teacher romance might have started, but since she was a female teacher, the students would only see it as an act of concern and nothing more.
She checked the time. There were only 25 minutes left. It would be difficult to finish the lesson.
“Let’s continue with this problem on second derivatives…”
Tong Yao raced against the clock, skipping her usual classroom banter. Even so, she couldn’t finish before the bell.
The bell rang.
Tong Yao’s voice stopped abruptly. What should I do? Her personal rule was to never hold class over… not that she thought it was a terrible crime. This section was very important, and continuing tomorrow wouldn’t be as effective as finishing it now.
On the other hand, the moment the bell rang, some students’ minds had probably already flown out the window. They might not be able to focus, and teaching them would be a waste of time.
“This part…” Tong Yao glanced at the back door. Students from the class next door were already playing in the hallway, which only added to her dilemma. “Do you want to continue listening, or should we finish this tomorrow?”
To her surprise, a large number of students below shouted, “Continue!” The calls came one after another, and Ruan Xi in the back row even sycophantically closed the back door.
Tong Yao smiled. “Alright then, let’s continue.”
**
Although she had held the class over, Tong Yao was still considerate enough to leave the students two minutes for a restroom break before officially dismissing them.
When she returned to the office, it was quite full, and that naturally included Long Ting.
The moment Long Ting saw her enter, she immediately lowered her head and stared at her computer.
The two mutually disliked each other, so it was best they didn’t interact.
If I were to be objective, was Long Ting’s crime unforgivable? Not necessarily. But a few words spoken in anger could cause immeasurable harm to a student. Was I too impulsive? Was there a better way to handle it? Anger clouded one’s judgment, which was why Tong Yao disliked getting angry.
“Everyone, listen up,” the grade-level head, Ye Wei, suddenly appeared, tapping on the door. “The principal will be inspecting the offices this afternoon. Divide up the work and do a major clean-up. Get rid of all the trash, especially cigarette butts. There absolutely can’t be any.”
The school had a strict no-smoking policy, but some teachers still smoked in secret.
“You got it, Head Ye.”
As soon as Ye Wei left, the highly efficient teachers began to divide the labor. By the time sweeping, mopping, and window-wiping had all been assigned, Tong Yao belatedly realized she had nothing to do.
Sensing her predicament, the male teachers laughed.
“Little Tong, you go on and do your own thing. We can handle this kind of work.”
…Is this a perk of being a beautiful woman?
The corner of Tong Yao’s mouth twitched.
The office was large, with 12 teachers. She and Long Ting were the only two young female teachers; the others were highly respected senior teachers. Long Ting was assigned to wipe the desks, and the look she gave Tong Yao seemed even more hostile.
Tong Yao felt that sooner or later, she would be branded a seductress by her.
Not wanting to get in the way, she decided to wait by the door. Just then, a series of dull thuds echoed from the stairwell.
She looked over and saw the music teacher struggling alone to drag a large trash can.
“Teacher Lu,” she said, eager to do something. “Let me give you a hand.”
Lu Bingjie wiped the sweat from her brow, her face full of gratitude.
“Thanks, thanks! This is killing me!”
Tong Yao lifted one side of the trash can, the edge digging painfully into her hand. It was… very heavy. She didn’t know what kind of trash it was, but it gave off a pungent, sour smell. Thankfully, in this world, they didn’t have to sort their trash for now.
“Why are you taking this out all by yourself?”
This was the first time in her life she had ever taken out a large trash can like this. Back when she was a student, everyone saw how young she was and never let her do such chores.
“Well, there are too few of us, just me and one other teacher. Seriously, why is the principal doing an inspection at a time like this…”
Tong Yao nodded in deep agreement. Bureaucracy was the worst.
“By the way,” Tong Yao said, trying to make conversation to break the awkward silence as they carried the can. “Teacher Lu, are there any students in Class Seven who have left a strong impression on you?”
“Class Seven?” Lu Bingjie thought for a moment. “Hmm… Ji Chen, I suppose. Oh, and there’s a Ruan Xi. That kid has a nice appearance, haha.”
So Ruan Xi wasn’t that invisible after all.
It was a strange feeling.
She had thought that once she became a teacher, every student would be the same to her. She would treat them all equally and be a good teacher, but… whenever it came to Ruan Xi, her heart would always lean a little.
Is it pity? Because the child’s family is poor and her grades are bad? Or is it that despite all her flaws, she’s… not a bad person?
She was like a pearl that had fallen into the mud. Even covered in filth, Tong Yao could still see a translucent brilliance in her. She thought that perhaps she could be the one to wipe that pearl clean.
Or maybe it was just because she was cute.
She let out a soft laugh. It wasn’t like she was committing some heinous crime. She could be nice to whomever she wanted to be nice to.
“Teacher Little Tong, your smile is really beautiful,” Lu Bingjie said, blinking at her.
As if by reflex, Tong Yao’s smile vanished, and she cleared her throat lightly.
She could remain unfazed when complimented by men, but when complimented by women… for some reason, she felt shy.
“Are you in a relationship?”
“Pfft,” Tong Yao laughed. “No.”
“No? Hey…” Lu Bingjie’s eyes narrowed slyly. “I heard Teacher Ding is pursuing you. Is that true?”
Teacher Ding?
Tong Yao looked up at the ceiling. She seemed to recall someone by that name. He was quite handsome, taught geography, and was very popular among the girls in the liberal arts track. But to her, he was as significant as a weed on the side of the road; she had absolutely no desire to get to know him. Her interest in him was far less than her interest in the boys in her own class.
As for him pursuing her… she seemed to recall him asking her out to dinner. But that sort of thing happened every day, and she was already an expert at turning people down.
“It’s fake,” she said flatly, dismissing the fact as a rumor.
“It is?” Lu Bingjie said, disappointed. “So what’s your type, Teacher Tong?”
“…What are the specific types?”
Tong Yao was curious. She only knew the female archetypes—the mature older sister, the loli, the wife, the tsundere, the kuudere, the ice queen. She had no idea how men were categorized. This was one of the few ways she wasn’t like other girls.
“Hmm… you don’t know? Like the ‘little wolf dog’ or ‘little milk dog’ types, the ‘uncle’ type, and now the ‘veteran cadre’ type is popular too…”
“Okay, I think I get the gist of it,” Tong Yao summarized. “Basically, the core requirement is that they have to be handsome, right?”
An ugly one would just be a ‘little mutt.’
“And he has to be caring!” Lu Bingjie emphasized. “Who doesn’t want to be pampered?”
“That’s true.”
“You still haven’t picked one. But I think a ‘little milk dog’ would suit you. You’re such a catch. Find someone younger who adores you, who doesn’t listen to anyone but you, and in bed, he’s… haha, be a lady, be a lady! We’re teachers!”
Tong Yao’s face darkened. She was only 18. Finding someone younger… an underage boy?
She had no desire to test the boundaries of the law.
But… a ‘little milk dog’…
Young, adores you, and listens to you…
She patted her forehead, forcing back the answers that were on the tip of her tongue.
I’m a teacher, for goodness’ sake.
**
Noon arrived.
As Tong Yao stepped out of the office, she saw Ruan Xi waiting for her by the door.
The young girl was drenched in sweat, likely from PE class. Her thin school uniform clung to her, outlining her youthful curves, with the faint trace of her undergarments visible. A few strands of sweat-dampened hair stuck to her forehead, adding a different kind of charm to her.
“Don’t catch a cold,” Tong Yao said, averting her gaze, feeling a little awkward.
“Hehe,” Ruan Xi grinned foolishly. “I just played badminton.”
“How did it go?”
“…I’m terrible!” Ruan Xi blushed. “But they went easy on me.”
They?
It seemed she had made quite a few new friends.
Tong Yao smiled. It was normal. It was only the beginning of their second year, and classes had just been reshuffled, so everyone’s social circles hadn’t fully formed yet. Ruan Xi was pretty, she was studying hard now, and she had stood up to the unpopular Long Ting. It was only natural that her social standing would rise.
She wasn’t wearing heels today, so at nearly five-foot-five, she was the same height as Ruan Xi. Walking together, they looked less like a teacher and student and more like best friends, attracting a lot of attention along the way.
“Teacher Tong, I’ll go get food over there.”
When they reached the cafeteria, Ruan Xi was about to head for the student section but was pulled back by Tong Yao.
“How much are you planning to spend?” Tong Yao let go of her, half amused and half exasperated. “Don’t tell me you’re just getting one or two vegetable dishes.”
Ruan Xi hesitated, wondering if she should splurge on a meat dish today, when she saw Teacher Tong hold something out to her.
It was… a teacher’s ID card?
It was a plastic-laminated card with Teacher Tong’s name and photo on it.
Even Teacher Tong’s ID photo is so beautiful…
“Teacher Tong, this is…”
“Go to the teachers’ window and get me a bowl of rice. Pick whatever dishes you want, and get the same for yourself,” Tong Yao said with a gentle smile. “Go on.”
Ruan Xi was startled, feeling as if the ID card was a hot potato.
“Teacher Tong, this isn’t… this isn’t right… If someone sees… it won’t look good…”
She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to accept, but she also didn’t want to refuse Teacher Tong’s kindness.
“The school allows it. What are you worried about?” Tong Yao held out her hand, dangling the ID card. “You can hold onto it from now on. I don’t really use it anyway. Eat well, you hear me?”
The food at the teachers’ window was free, and there was always more than enough. It was common for teachers to bring people to eat with them; the school could afford it.
She just didn’t want to see this child looking as pitiful as the Little Match Girl anymore.
Was this favoritism?
Yes.
But was favoritism a bad thing?
She didn’t think so.
