Chapter 8: In the Photographs, Memories of the Past Are Sealed
The students stood frozen at the door until the familiar figure of Teacher Tong appeared in the living room.
“What are you guys blocking the door for?” Tong Yao walked over, sounding a bit exasperated, one hand on her hip. “Why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you to leave?”
However, through the students’ preconceived filters, her tone sounded almost like she was acting coquettishly.
Tong Hua scratched his head. “I was just curious what your students looked like…”
“Now that you’ve seen them, hurry up and leave. Don’t disturb their studies,” Tong Yao started shooing him away. Turning to the students, she immediately switched to a gentle face. “Come on in, you don’t need to take off your shoes. I’ll just mop the floor later.”
The students, who still hadn’t snapped out of it, entered the apartment like wooden figures.
Ruan Xi’s eyes were fixed on Tong Hua, as if trying to stare this man to death. This person… this person, is this who Teacher Tong likes?
This feeling was like Zhu Bajie discovering that Chang’e liked Hou Yi.
Isn’t that right? I am Zhu Bajie. I don’t even count as Marshal Tianpeng. (Zhu Bajie / Chang’e / Hou Yi: Characters from Chinese mythology)
Tong Hua, who was changing his shoes, felt a sudden chill on his back for some reason, feeling a bit creeped out.
“I’m leaving then,” Tong Hua shouted.
“Close the door properly,” Tong Yao instructed.
Ruan Xi couldn’t help but bite her lip until it bled.
Her heart felt sour for some reason, but Teacher Tong had her own happiness. As a student, she should feel happy for her.
“Alright, everyone find a seat.”
Tong Yao, holding a stack of test papers she had printed herself, walked into the living room. Several long tables were arranged there, more than enough to seat a dozen people.
However, Ruan Xi felt that she definitely wouldn’t be able to absorb anything from the upcoming lesson.
She found a familiar corner spot. Next to her was a boy from Class 4, so she couldn’t help but scoot a bit closer to the wall. At this moment, Xu Yin in the front seemed to want to talk to Teacher Tong. Ruan Xi shook her head, focusing her attention, trying to hear clearly.
“Sister Yao Yao,” Xu Yin looked nervous but tried to force a nonchalant expression, “was that your boyfriend just now?”
Good question!
For the first time, Ruan Xi mentally cheered for the monitor of Class 4.
You must get an answer! Don’t let Teacher Tong dodge it!
“Huh?” Hearing this, Tong Yao’s face was full of shock and disdain. “That’s my brother. He came to drop something off for me.”
Hearing this, the students collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
—That’s my brother.
So… just a brother.
Ruan Xi suddenly felt that she had been incredibly stupid since she walked in the door.
Too stupid.
Fortunately, Teacher Tong didn’t know the petty thoughts in her heart.
Before she knew it, the test paper was passed to her. Ruan Xi snapped back to reality and took out her pen. Soon, she realized that apart from her name, she didn’t seem to know how to fill in a single blank.
This is too hard, isn’t it?
Although she had mentally prepared herself, when she actually started writing, she realized she had no idea where to even begin.
What made her feel even worse was that the boy next to her was writing furiously. After a few minutes, his scratch paper was full. She couldn’t write a single answer and instead became increasingly anxious.
“Everyone, just do the first five questions. Leave them blank if you don’t know the answer. I’ll explain them in a bit,” Tong Yao said as she walked down the rows, checking on each student’s progress.
Xu Yin, ranked eighth in the grade this time. As expected, the questions she set didn’t stump her.
Ji Chen was a bit slower. Tong Yao stood next to him, wanting to see the calculations on his scratch paper, but Ji Chen gradually stopped writing.
Seeing his ears turning visibly red, Tong Yao felt a drop of sweat. He’s the monitor of Class 7, for goodness’ sake. Isn’t he getting nervous a little too easily?
Yin Jiali’s progress was the same as most people’s. Although she was the class representative of Class 7, she wasn’t stronger than the top students of Class 4.
And…
Tong Yao stood on her tiptoes, trying to see Ruan Xi’s situation in the far corner. But the little girl was sitting too close to the wall, blocking her scratch paper with her elbow and covering her side profile with her arm, hiding completely. Tong Yao couldn’t see anything even if she wanted to.
Tong Yao: “…”
Forget it, this child cares about saving face. Unlike Xu Yin, who couldn’t wait to shove her answer sheet in her face, Tong Yao could guess Ruan Xi’s situation, so she wouldn’t force her.
While they were working on the problems, Tong Yao took out coconut milk from the fridge, filled disposable cups, and delivered them to the students one by one.
“Here, be careful not to spill.”
“Eh, thank you, Sister Yao Yao.”
“Thank you, Teacher Tong.”
The boys drank it in one gulp, while the girls savored it slowly.
Seeing their satisfied smiles, she felt warm inside too.
Tong Yao paused for a moment. She suddenly realized, is this what it feels like to take care of children? This feeling of enjoyment and pleasure… is it called maternal instinct?
The students saw their Teacher Tong inexplicably choke up at the front of the room.
Tong Yao checked the time. It was about time. She cleared her throat and began to explain the problems.
Faces full of thirst for knowledge looked up at her. Some were suddenly enlightened, while others scratched their ears and cheeks in confusion.
So it can be solved like this.
Teacher Tong’s thinking is so clear.
They say the master leads you through the door, but cultivation depends on the individual. However, the way of leading through the door can make a world of difference.
There were also those who were completely lost in the fog, understanding nothing. Like Ruan Xi.
The gap between her and the top one hundred was still quite large.
The top one hundred were future stars who could march into A University, while she could probably barely manage not to drag down the school’s 95% first-tier university acceptance rate.
But Ruan Xi took notes very seriously. She copied down every step. These steps were very detailed. If she went back and analyzed them slowly, step by step… she would definitely be able to understand.
At her current level, doing these kinds of problems was like fighting a high-level boss while under-leveled. Fighting above your level was actually very inefficient; honestly grinding through maps according to a guide was the way to go—generally speaking.
Unless a high-level player carried you.
And Tong Yao was that high-level player.
Her clear problem-solving process was like playing the Boss’s moves in slow motion, allowing a slacker like Ruan Xi to barely see clearly and dodge the attacks while throwing in a move or two.
Bracing herself and persisting in sitting here, it seemed… it wasn’t impossible to learn.
“Sister Yao Yao,” Xu Yin raised her hand, “is my method okay?”
“Teacher Tong,” a while later, Yin Jiali, unwilling to be outdone, asked, “look, is my way correct?”
Everyone was showing off.
Ruan Xi, acting as the background board, sighed continuously.
“Everyone take a break. Class dismissed for now.” Tong Yao kept track of the time. As soon as she spoke, the room became lively.
“Teacher, do you live alone?” Xu Yin clung to her, asking one question after another.
“Yes,” Tong Yao smiled. “Why, do you want to come keep me company?”
The little girl’s pretty face flushed red. “Sure! Where would I sleep?”
Alarm bells instantly rang in Ruan Xi’s heart—Damn it, I knew she would try to curry favor with the teacher!
Since she was little, she had envied those who could interact naturally with teachers from the bottom of her heart.
Tong Yao waved her hand. “I’m teasing you. I don’t have anywhere for you to sleep here.”
She walked to the bedroom door and looked back. “By the way, let me show you my pet.”
With that, she opened the door. A black and white ball of fur immediately darted out. She squatted down at once, and the fur ball climbed up her knee and finally burrowed into her arms.
“Wow!” Xu Yin exclaimed. “So cute!”
Yin Jiali reached out to touch it but didn’t quite dare. “Teacher, is this a dog?”
Ruan Xi watched from her seat in the distance.
She was like a lonely, cold Pluto, so far away from the hot, warm sun.
“So stupid,” Xu Yin glanced at Yin Jiali and huffed. “Look at the tail, it’s obviously a fox.”
Hearing it was a fox, even the boys who pretended not to be interested in fluffy creatures became interested.
“Mm, it’s a fox.” Tong Yao smiled, her eyes narrowing as she continuously smoothed the little fox’s fur and scratched it. “Mine is a marble fox, a type of Arctic fox. Cute, right?”
Her fingers scratched the little fox’s chin, making it lift its head in enjoyment, exposing its snow-white belly.
“Look, a fox tail.” She gently held the little fox’s big fluffy tail and showed it to the girls.
“Sister Yao Yao,” Xu Yin couldn’t help but ask, her cunning eyes resembling the fox in Tong Yao’s arms, “what’s its name?”
“Its name is…” Tong Yao was about to say it, but suddenly paused, narrowing her eyes. “Little rascal, trying to fish for my Qzone password?”
“No way,” Xu Yin pouted. “But, Sister Yao Yao, just let me see your Qzone.”
“Keep dreaming.”
…
So annoying.
Ruan Xi resentfully refused to look at the front.
She also wanted to see Teacher Tong’s Qzone.
But that security question, “What is my pet’s name?”, was like a heavenly moat. Yet this little fox was right in front of them—visible, but its name a mystery.
What kind of name could a fox have?
Seeing no one was paying attention to her, she took out her phone and started probing.
“Ah Li.”
Answer incorrect.
“Da Ji.”
Answer incorrect.
As expected… how could I guess it right?
Ruan Xi turned off the screen in discouragement, but a flash of inspiration crossed her mind—
Teacher Tong’s QQ nickname was “Shuten-dōji.”
Japanese yōkai…
She took a breath and tried typing “Tamamo-no-Mae.”
Answer incorrect.
She didn’t give up and typed “Tamamo.”
…
She got in!
“Sister Yao Yao, tell us.”
“Can’t do anything with you. Fine, its name is Kurama.”
At the front, Tong Yao helplessly told Xu Yin the little fox’s name and rubbed its tail. “Right, Kurama?”
The little fox cooperated with a “Woof.”
Official name Tamamo, nickname Kurama. It wasn’t really a lie.
Xu Yin secretly memorized it, thinking she could finally enter the teacher’s Qzone.
“By the way, I wrote the WiFi password here. If you want to use it, connect yourself.” Tong Yao tapped a corner of the blackboard, then went to pet the fox by herself.
For Ruan Xi, this was simply someone sending a pillow when she was sleepy.
“August 21st.
Shuten-dōji: Today is the first day of being a teacher. The students are very cute, and the seniors are very friendly.”
Scrolling down, it was obvious that Teacher Tong was very popular. A single status update had over a hundred likes and dozens of comments.
“Congrats, congrats!”
“The great beauty Tong has become a teacher?”
“I really envy your students…”
…
Ruan Xi thought, this person is right. Being Teacher Tong’s student is indeed enviable.
She turned to the Qzone diary. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any embarrassing childhood memories. Teacher Tong didn’t seem to write diaries.
If she knew Ruan Xi’s thoughts, Tong Yao would definitely not be able to hold back her laughter—Diaries? That’s stuff left over from my previous life.
But to Ruan Xi’s pleasant surprise, Teacher Tong’s photo album wasn’t locked.
In the earliest photo, Teacher Tong was probably only eight or nine years old. Her face bore a seriousness and stability unlike a child, even a bit of indifference, forming a sharp contrast with the boy next to her wearing a baseball cap, looking fifteen or sixteen and overflowing with chunibyo energy.
This must be that man from earlier, Teacher Tong’s brother.
Little Teacher Tong is so cute…
Her hand subconsciously touched the screen, pressing on the little person’s cheek in the photo.
A few photos from a middle school sports meet, where Teacher Tong was a cheerleader, though her expression wasn’t very enthusiastic; high school graduation photos, university graduation photos in academic dress… The girl in the photos grew up rapidly, accompanied by an air of scholarship. The people around her changed repeatedly, and now she had become a delicate flower blooming on a ridge, graceful and enchanting.
The remaining photos were basically all of her petting the fox.
The comments below were basically undisguised praise and prpr (licking sounds).
I really envy these people in the photos, who participated in Teacher Tong’s growth over these years.
From now on, in future photos… can I… also leave some traces?
