Chapter 70: New Year’s Eve (Part 2)
In the pedestrian street, you’ll never have to worry about how to kill time.
By the time they came out of a board game cafe, the sky had already darkened. The winter sun set early, and the bustling street was lit up with lanterns and decorations, making the nighttime atmosphere even richer. Tong Yao held the fox doll in her hand and, catching a glimpse of the young girl secretly checking her wallet, couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’ve spent a lot today.”
“No!” Ruan Xi quickly tried to cover it up. “I… I was just checking if I’d lost anything.”
Her prize money had other uses, and her fluid capital was actually not much. Although she had made a budget, the high cost of a day out still made her gasp. She was afraid that Teacher Tong would see how tight her finances were.
It was a rare date, and she couldn’t let Teacher Tong be wronged in any way.
The young girl didn’t want Teacher Tong’s family to think that their daughter had been tricked by a poor boy—that kind of story was a cliché in TV dramas.
She wanted to ride a seven-colored cloud to marry her properly.
“Teacher Tong, want some chicken cutlet?” At the intersection, the young girl pointed to the newly opened food street ahead.
Taiwanese large chicken cutlet.
Tong Yao narrowed her eyes. Next to it was a Taiwanese hand-pulled pancake stall. The spokesperson for both was Jay Chou, she didn’t know if it was real or fake. She touched her stomach, a feeling of emptiness washing over her, and nodded.
“Sure.”
The chicken cutlet shop was booming. The line was disorderly, ordering was all about shouting, and paying was all about squeezing. Watching Ruan Ruan struggling in the crowd, she felt a little bad, but with a fox in one hand and the young girl’s bag in the other, she could only stare from the outside.
Ruan Xi was very agile. She squeezed to the front in no time. After getting the chicken cutlet, she squeezed out a little irritably, like a cat with its fur on end. When she returned to Tong Yao, she was a delicate and cute, well-behaved child again.
“Teacher Tong, here!”
“Oh… thank you for your hard work.”
Tong Yao picked up a skewer, stuck it into a piece, and under the young girl’s eager gaze, she chewed slowly and said, “Delicious.”
A flower bloomed on Ruan Xi’s lips.
“I want some too!”
She held her own skewer, her cheerful voice drowning in the night.
**
“Ah!”
The young girl suddenly exclaimed.
The wooden skewer wasn’t placed steadily. In a moment of distraction, it had already fallen to the ground. Silently, like falling into water, its sharp point seemed to have pierced Tong Yao’s heart.
Tong Yao was stunned. She looked at the half-full box of chicken cutlet in her hand, and her only wooden skewer. She slowly turned her head. They were already far from the chicken cutlet shop, and they certainly wouldn’t go back for another one.
“…Ah, it fell,” the young girl squatted down, as if she wanted to pick it up. “Never mind, Teacher Tong can have the rest.”
Tong Yao felt that the chicken cutlet in her hand had suddenly become a hot potato. As a teacher, how could she eat alone on a date?
Anyone would probably be embarrassed.
“…You can use my skewer,” she said in a low voice. “If you don’t mind.”
After she spoke, she put the skewer in the box and gently held it out to the young girl. “…Want some?”
Ruan Xi experienced a moment of disappointment—she had originally wanted Teacher Tong to feed her. She didn’t give up and didn’t take the box. She rubbed her toes on the snowy ground and said coquettishly, “Can’t Teacher Tong feed me…”
Tong Yao’s hand trembled, and her heart suddenly sped up.
Feed… or not?
She buried her head, the plaid scarf covering half her face. She silently stuck a piece of chicken cutlet, held it stiffly in the air, trembling. The young girl was celebrating wildly in her heart, but her face was as calm as water, with only a faint blush. Then, she opened her mouth and bit down on the chicken cutlet.
“…Is it good?”
“It’s especially delicious when Teacher Tong feeds me!”
“Nonsense.” Tong Yao’s face was burning. It was the first time she had fed someone. With the young girl, she had given up so many firsts. She stuck another piece, her eyes scanning behind the young girl, and then, her face turned pale—
Two boys in No. 1 High winter school uniforms were behind them, talking and laughing while playing on their phones.
Ruan Xi noticed the change in Teacher Tong’s expression, turned her head, and was shocked to find that it was Jiang Yiming and Xu Hao—the two boys had come here, most likely to go online.
“Let’s go!”
Tong Yao didn’t dare to feed her anymore. She pulled the young girl’s hand and quickly blended into the crowd. Ruan Xi, being pulled by her, realized her thoughts and suddenly let out a chuckle.
“Teacher Tong, why are we running?”
Tong Yao led the young girl across the street. When they finally stopped, she was at a loss for words when faced with this question.
“Because… because…”
She couldn’t say it. Suddenly, she was mortified and put on her adult authority. “Stop asking so many questions.”
She had forgotten that she was still holding the young girl’s hand. She stared at the retreating backs of the two boys and murmured to herself, “What are they doing?”
“Maybe they’re going to the arcade,” Ruan Xi’s voice came from behind. “What else can two people of the same sex do when they come out together?”
They can’t be getting a room, can they?
The young girl’s voice was gloomy. Tong Yao was taken aback. She felt her hand being squeezed, quickly pulled it back into her pocket, and gave an embarrassed “mhm.”
On the bustling street, they stood there foolishly, and that ambiguous tension between them gradually settled.
“Teacher Tong,” the young girl moved closer. “Shall we go skating?”
“…Skating?”
“There’s a roller rink ahead. You can rent shoes. Does Teacher Tong know how to skate?”
“Mhm… maybe… I do?”
She had actually never skated before. She had been a homebody all her life and had a strong desire to try this kind of sport.
Ruan Xi smiled. From an angle that Tong Yao couldn’t see, she smiled a little slyly. She led Teacher Tong to the roller rink, rented two pairs of quad skates, put them on deftly, and glided gracefully. And Tong Yao was nervous. She asked for a set of protective gear from the wall, wishing she could be armed to the teeth.
“Teacher Tong, stand up,” the young girl coaxed.
Tong Yao held onto the bench, so focused she didn’t dare to speak. After taking off her boots, she struggled to stand firm. On roller skates, everyone was equal. Her real height was exposed, shorter than Ruan Ruan. She instantly didn’t want to get close to the young girl.
“It seems… not that hard.”
She grabbed the handrail at the edge of the rink, took a deep breath, and moved forward like a turtle.
Ruan Xi skated to her side, her feet as smooth as if they had been oiled, which made Tong Yao envious. Then, the young girl skated backward, facing her, and held out her hand with a smile.
“Teacher Tong, hold on to me.”
Tong Yao rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that no one was more reliable than the handrail.
“No, I’ll go slowly by myself.”
But she soon encountered a problem.
At the handrail ahead, a couple was leaning against it, being affectionate. She had to go around this couple to reach the handrail behind them. She tried to let go, could barely stand, and panicked as soon as she moved. She gritted her teeth and moved bit by bit—this couple must have found it strange to see her wriggling like a slug—she felt very embarrassed, but something even more embarrassing was coming.
“Ah!” A tilt, and the wheels suddenly rolled forward on their own. The more she adjusted, the more chaotic it became. She exclaimed, “Ruan Ruan!”
Her hand was grabbed. It was as if someone had thrown her a lifebuoy when she was drowning. She held on for dear life, scared out of her wits, and finally regained her balance.
“Teacher Tong,” the young girl held her wrist and smiled lightly. “Hold on to me, you won’t fall.”
—So embarrassing.
Tong Yao’s face was burning hot. She said sullenly, “Thanks… help me to the railing.”
“Does Teacher Tong want to hold the wall and walk along the edge all the time?” The young girl provoked her. “The rink is so big. Don’t you want to go play in the middle?”
“Maybe… not?” Tong Yao hesitated.
A strong wind suddenly blew past them. A dashing man passed by them, then turned around and skated backward, giving them a wink—but no one appreciated it. As he passed, he bumped into Tong Yao’s arm. Tong Yao felt like she was standing on a single-plank bridge about to fall, completely losing her composure. Just then, her waist was held. She had unbuttoned her coat earlier because she had sweated a little. Now that hand went straight into her coat and held her waist. She was already ticklish, and now her legs went weak.
“Don’t…” Her voice changed.
“Teacher Tong, don’t be afraid,” the young girl held her tight, her hot breath in her ear. “You won’t fall.”
Too close.
Tong Yao’s ears were burning. It wasn’t that they hadn’t hugged before, but after her feelings had changed, even the hugs had a different flavor. She wanted to escape, but a drowning person would never dare to leave the protection of a lifebuoy. This child was her life-saving straw, but also… the source of her shame.
At this moment, Ruan Xi wished that time could stop for her.
Holding the soft and fragrant jade in her arms, her hands couldn’t help but become a little more audacious, rubbing on Teacher Tong’s waist. She felt she was very despicable, knowing that Teacher Tong couldn’t skate but not letting her go back to the handrail. She had never seen a Teacher Tong who relied on her like this, but she shamefully wanted to keep it that way.
“…Don’t touch me randomly.”
Sensing that the young girl was not just helping her balance but also taking advantage, Tong Yao’s face flushed red, and she snapped in a low voice.
The young girl was startled and immediately stopped, looking at her face with trepidation, her eyes watery, her apologetic look utterly sincere.
Tong Yao was speechless for a long time. She stood there, holding the young girl, for a while, then sighed and said slowly, “I’m not skating anymore. Help me over there.”
The young girl’s voice was very soft, but Tong Yao still heard it clearly. It was an “okay.”
On the bench outside the rink.
Tong Yao changed back into her boots, the young girl diligently handing her water and taking her equipment. Her feelings were complicated. How could she have thought this child was well-behaved and honest before? Touching her waist, fantasizing about her legs, and even saying she would be gentle in bed… she was clearly a little rogue.
And a little rogue she didn’t dislike.
She was a little annoyed. On today’s date, she was like a little girl being pursued. She wasn’t a proactive person, but no one had ever made her passive. The feeling of being controlled on the ice rink was unfamiliar and made her flustered. Finding a sense of security in someone else also made her confused.
Isn’t it just… because she knows I won’t do anything to a student?
Relying on her identity as a teacher, students were all just children who hadn’t grown up in her eyes. The constraints of morality, the condemnation of conscience, she felt that she was the one who had turned Ruan Ruan gay. Maybe… it would ruin this child’s life.
“Teacher Tong, there are fireworks at the square at ten o’clock.”
Ruan Xi looked at her carefully, afraid that Teacher Tong was still holding a grudge about her transgression just now, and acted very well-behaved. “Do you want to go see?”
Tong Yao was in a daze. After coming back to her senses, she said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”
Fireworks, brilliant and brief. They shoot up into the sky, and then are gone in a flash.
Before it even started, the square was already packed with people. Everyone was discussing what time the fireworks would start. The city didn’t allow firecrackers, but setting off fireworks had a kind of “the magistrates are allowed to burn down houses, but the common people are forbidden to light lamps” feel to it. Vendors were selling small toys for more than ten yuan. A child on the side was clamoring to buy one. The parents either scolded and dragged the child away, or paid with a wry smile.
There were lights in the floor. Stepping on them, Tong Yao had the feeling of creating a game character. The young girl followed her closely, looking at the time from time to time. Finally, the time came. Tong Yao continued to walk forward until she heard a call, “Teacher Tong!”
Suddenly looking back, on the ground where the lights were dim, the young girl was looking at her, smiling slightly. As a few streams of light shot towards the sky, she opened her lips and said, “I…”
The fireworks bloomed.
Under the huge sound, the noise of the people became quiet.
The young girl ran to her side and looked up at the fireworks.
“Teacher Tong, look!”
Tong Yao was stunned, gazing at the fireworks, burying her flutter of emotions.
End, walk.
11:59.
The fashionable young people began to count down loudly. When the time came, they kissed the person beside them.
Tong Yao turned around and found that the young girl beside her was facing her, very, very close, and had gently closed her eyes.
