Chapter 51: They Are Despicable
After the boys’ street dance, the children of Class 7 stood in a line for a perfect curtain call.
The scene was as high-energy as a concert.
Who doesn’t like pretty girls with long, slender, pale legs?
The performers returned to the Class 7 seats from the side aisle, causing the boys of Class 7 to blush—their former classmates, it turned out, had such hot bodies, and the girls who usually seemed plain were so beautiful with makeup on.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get to admire them for long, as they all put on their school uniform jackets.
Ruan Xi stretched her neck to look back, trying to find Teacher Tong in the theater, but the light was too dim, and everyone had a phone in front of their face, making it impossible to distinguish anyone.
“What did you record?” Jiang Wu leaned back in her chair, her calves crossed. “Let me see?”
Tong Yao put away her phone, her expression calm.
“Didn’t you just watch it? It was the dance from just now.”
“Who knows who you were recording,” Jiang Wu sneered. “The one in the middle?”
Tong Yao froze, about to explain, when she heard Jiang Wu say, “You like that kind of little boy? He’s pretty good at street dance.”
Fortunately, Tong Yao was standing in front, otherwise, Jiang Wu would have definitely seen the dark lines on her face.
Jiang Wu continued, “Let me tell you, boys of this age are not reliable.”
Tong Yao was mortified. “Mom, what are you talking about…”
“You can’t see for yourself how lost you looked when you were recording.”
Hearing this, Tong Yao subconsciously touched her face. Was I?
“You’re overthinking it,” she said, unconvinced. “I would never go for a little brat.”
“How old do you think you are?” Jiang Wu said grumpily. “It’s best if you don’t. A female teacher dating a male student, only the teacher loses out.”
Tong Yao wanted to retort, but for a moment, she was speechless.
Never mind.
She had no intention of dating anyway.
But… that kiss.
She pursed her lips, like licking the cream off the side of her mouth after finishing a cake. The time had been tight just now. Now that she had calmed down, she realized she had done something inappropriate.
No matter how much she favored or doted on her, she shouldn’t have such an intimate action with a student.
Ruan Ruan was still a child. She didn’t know what a normal 16-year-old girl was thinking. Perhaps she just wanted to be close to her, the teacher who had always taken care of her students. Perhaps she had a hazy affection for the same sex… Although it was just a budding sign, she shouldn’t let it continue.
Her mother thought that a female teacher dating a male student was a disadvantage, but she rationally believed that her situation with Ruan Ruan was more like a male teacher and a female student. If such feelings were to truly develop, the student would be the one who gets hurt.
At school, she was first and foremost a teacher.
Parents sent their children to school not to see them get involved with a teacher. Dating a student was a line she couldn’t cross.
Tong Yao sat silently. Suddenly, she saw someone walking towards them—in the aisle filled with outstretched legs, a young girl was apologetically saying something, weaving through the narrow path, seemingly not having seen her yet. But a person’s gaze has a kind of magic; if you look at her, she will be drawn to look at you—Ruan Xi’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise, and she quickened her pace.
“Teacher Tong!”
Then, seeing Jiang Wu beside Tong Yao, the young girl’s expression clearly froze. The “I want a hug” look was instantly adjusted, and her hands were hidden away.
“Hello, Auntie!”
Jiang Wu looked at her, thought for a moment, and then it dawned on her.
“You’re… the child who took Yao Yao to the infirmary, right? And you came to our house to see Yao Yao later?”
“Y-yes!”
The young girl was flattered. She was still wearing her baseball-themed dance costume. She had originally wanted to cling to Teacher Tong for a while, but now in front of an elder, she couldn’t be so unrestrained.
Tong Yao struggled internally. How should I act? The wrong feelings shouldn’t be allowed to fester, but treating her coldly would be even more hurtful. Looking at the young girl’s expectant face, she couldn’t bear to push her away. In the end, she just gave a light smile, which was somewhat bitter.
“You danced very well.”
Ruan Xi noticed a subtle change. The joy on her face froze. She puffed out one cheek. Afraid of blocking the view of the people behind her, she had to squat in front of Tong Yao’s seat, her tone tinged with a spoiled air.
“Did Teacher Tong record for me?”
Beside them, Jiang Wu raised an eyebrow, realizing that things were a little different from what she had thought.
“I did,” Tong Yao said in a low voice. “I’ll send it to you this weekend. Hurry back and put on your jacket so you don’t catch a cold.”
After hearing this, the young girl stared at her, aggrieved. She had run so far to get here, and going back would mean weaving through so many people again. It was very troublesome, and she didn’t want to leave after such a short time. But if she didn’t leave… there was no reason to stay.
The young girl sensitively realized that Teacher Tong was trying to get her to leave.
Was the kiss I asked for too abrupt?
She was terrified, afraid that Teacher Tong would hate her.
She stood up, not daring to ask anything more, and left with a soft “Goodbye, Teacher Tong,” then ran back with her head down.
Tong Yao watched the young girl’s back, but in the end, she didn’t ask her to stay.
“You two are really close.”
Jiang Wu was lost in thought.
Tong Yao didn’t refute, just said softly, “She’s a child who makes you want to dote on her.”
**
The Arts Festival came to a successful conclusion.
Neither Class 4 nor Class 7 ranked high, both receiving second prize. The first prizes were mostly won by proper song and dance performances. Obviously, the leaders who held the voting power were all freeloaders, the kind who might not even come next time.
Even so, the heroes still felt the sincere admiration and gratitude of their classmates.
During evening self-study, Tong Yao was supervising in Class 7. The mid-term exams were tomorrow. The students knew to race against time to review without needing to be disciplined. She was on the podium, planning her future teaching, but the classroom was too quiet. She couldn’t help but look down—in the corner, the young girl was buried in her work, writing furiously, preparing for the mid-terms.
Is my wish just like this?
Some things just don’t have a right answer.
If it were the young girl from before, she would probably be coming to ask her questions now. She would stomp her foot lightly to show she was waiting, telling the person in front to hurry up. She would deliberately ask about later content to show that she had previewed. Anyone would be moved by such a young girl, right? Even she herself would sometimes have some inappropriate thoughts. But the more Ruan Ruan relied on her, the more she had to uphold the code of a teacher.
After school.
She lingered for a while, until no one came to ask questions. Before leaving, she looked at the exam room information posted at the back of the classroom and learned that Ruan Ruan was not in the exam room she was proctoring. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she felt relieved or heavy-hearted.
**
Like welcoming the twilight of the gods, when she woke up in the morning, even the dormitory bell had become solemn. Who knows which country’s partisan song it had been changed to.
Ruan Xi got up with dark circles under her eyes, quickly tidied up her internal affairs, and walked while memorizing from a small notebook. Someone in the dorm really did snore at night. Although the sound wasn’t loud, she still couldn’t sleep. She had bought a pair of earplugs, but they were uncomfortable to wear, and the effect wasn’t good.
With such poor sleep quality, one could imagine her state during the day.
The frequency of exams at No. 1 High was high. There were quizzes every week, and the major exams every month were more punctual than a period. Logically, the students should be used to it, but the mid-term exams were ultimately different because they were followed by a terrifying existence called “parent-teacher conferences.” Your grades would largely determine how high your parents could hold their heads during the meeting in the classroom.
There was never enough time for review.
The first day was Chinese, Chemistry, and Math. After being saved by Chinese last time, Ruan Xi no longer dared to underestimate this subject. She had done countless analyses of ancient poetry and even made her own summaries. The same went for the other subjects. After scouring the popular exercise books on the market, even a fool could get the hang of it.
This time, the ancient poetry was about expressing feelings through scenery. Ruan Xi knew after a few glances that it was about expressing love for nature and the melancholy of a frustrated official career, using descriptive methods of rendering and foiling…
Making progress was really not that difficult.
Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear. Anyone who does so many problems can write with divine inspiration.
**
This time, Tong Yao was proctoring the first exam room.
This was the world of the strong, gathering the top forty elites of the grade. Xu Yin, sitting in the third seat, even smiled at her during the remaining inspection time.
They were masters who had been through hundreds of battles and could still laugh at the world.
Ji Chen, who was in the group of top students for the first time, was a little nervous, constantly taking deep breaths in his seat.
Tong Yao was absent-minded. There was nothing for her to do, so she could only move her gaze out the window. Figures of students would often flash by in the hallway, all rushing to the restroom like their lives depended on it. After finishing one exam, there was no time to rest. They would pick up their chemistry books and continue to memorize.
She saw that the exam papers were about to burst the students’ folders.
After a whole day and three exams, the evening self-study session became a new practice ground. Tomorrow’s dungeons were English, Physics, and Biology.
Tong Yao didn’t dare to ask how the young girl had done in math.
On the podium, she saw Ruan Xi lying on her desk. Even though her eyes were almost closed, one hand was still writing on the scratch paper.
The classroom door was pushed open. It was the physics teacher, Teacher Lu. Bright Summit gave her an apologetic smile and said, “Teacher Tong, the physics exam is tomorrow. Can I borrow your evening self-study session? I want to explain some problems to them.”
Tong Yao stood up, glanced at the young girl, and turned her head. “…Alright, then I’ll be leaving.”
She had no classes tonight and could rest early, which was a good thing in itself.
But with a concern in her heart, she couldn’t let it go.
She thought for a moment, didn’t go straight back to her dorm, but went downstairs to find Lu Bingjie.
“Late-night snack?” In the office, Lu Bingjie was overjoyed. “Let’s go.”
“What are you busy with?”
“Sigh, it’s the video for the Arts Festival. It’s killing me.”
The music teacher was one of the teachers with the most miscellaneous tasks.
Tong Yao expressed her deep sympathy, but then she thought that she would have to grade papers tomorrow. They were both in the same boat, so she didn’t offer any words of comfort.
At the late-night snack stall, the two ordered a few portions of crayfish and grilled fish, which were very cheap locally. Lu Bingjie also ordered a bottle of beer and asked if Tong Yao wanted some.
“No,” Tong Yao frowned at the smell of alcohol.
“Why did you ask me out today? Something on your mind, sister?” Lu Bingjie shrugged and took a sip herself. “When other best friends have something on their minds, they go to a bar to drink and relieve their boredom. We, on the other hand, come to eat barbecue.”
Tong Yao didn’t want to complain about this. She was thinking about how to start—”I have a friend” was definitely not an option; it was no different from exposing herself. After pondering for a long time, she asked, “I remember you said before that a male student liked you?”
“Yeah, what…” Lu Bingjie was halfway through eating when she suddenly understood something, her eyes widening. “Did a boy confess to you? I knew it, it was only a matter of time!”
Tong Yao was silent for a moment, didn’t deny it, and then continued to ask, “Why didn’t you get together with that boy?”
**
Perhaps everyone has a sad past, buried deep in their hearts, pressing down so hard they can’t turn over, yet never forgotten.
The off-the-wall Lu Bingjie, for the first time in Tong Yao’s eyes, became profound.
“It just… wasn’t suitable.”
Lu Bingjie narrowed her eyes. “As a teacher, you have to have professional ethics.”
Ethics.
If opposing same-sex relationships was just a matter of closed-mindedness, then a teacher-student relationship had to bear the shackles of ethics.
“Actually, he was really handsome, and tall,” Lu Bingjie bit into a piece of fish. “He knew how to please me, a bit of a little rogue.
“But I’m not the kind of scum who uses my teacher’s identity to hook up with people. You remember the one next door who molested a student, right? Heh—tui!”
She spat and said with disdain, “I’m a teacher, so he thinks I know a lot, I’m knowledgeable, I’m radiant, he’s seen too many movies and thinks it’s exciting and immoral… but he doesn’t know that he’ll be like this when he grows up too. It’s just because he’s young and doesn’t understand.
“If I lose my identity as a teacher, he might eventually find out that I’m not even as outstanding as his senior in university. Aren’t the junior girls more appealing? Who would still look at a high school teacher a generation older than him then?”
After she finished, she suddenly smiled at Tong Yao. “But you’re different. You’re really beautiful. They’re just lusting after your body. They’re despicable.”
**
Author’s Note
PS:
Tong Yao: So Ruan Ruan is lusting after my body.
Ruan Xi: I like you
