The scorching sunlight finally broke through the clouds, illuminating the gloomy Huai’an City that had been overcast for days. It slipped through the window cracks, casting a golden beam that reflected off the jet-black hair of the girl on the white king-sized bed.
The landline on the bedside table rang incessantly until it was finally picked up at the last moment.
A woman’s voice came from the receiver: “Hello, this is the hotel front desk providing wake-up service. It is now exactly nine o’clock in the morning, and your pre-ordered breakfast will be delivered to your room in ten minutes. Is there anything else you need?”
Ming You, rudely awakened, was still groggy. When had she requested a wake-up call? And when had she ordered breakfast??
“No!” She irritably hung up the receiver and sat up, flipping over.
She looked down. Her clothes were intact on her body. Her ponytail had come undone, with only the hair tie—and her ID—placed on the cabinet.
She indifferently scanned the surroundings. The quiet room held only her. Aside from the extra hair tie and ID, nothing on the cabinet or table had been touched. There were no signs that a second person had stayed there.
But she knew full well that last night had not been a dream, and the one who had opened the room here was definitely not just her.
She picked up the phone by the pillow. After a whole night, there were still no new messages she hoped to see. For a full two years, the “love” seed she had planted with high hopes and nurtured so carefully had yet to sprout. It had simply rotted away inexplicably in the soil. All her joy had been in vain, gaining her nothing.
…
At noon, Ming You arrived alone at one of the city’s few five-star hotels, dressed in fresh clothes.
It was the annual National Day golden week holiday, and crowds were rushing to hold weddings. The hotel entrance buzzed with festive joy.
Two prominent wedding banquet signs stood outside the main doors. Ming You immediately recognized the bride on the left one.
In the photo, the woman wore a bright red traditional Chinese wedding gown, matched with the groom in a similar outfit. Each held one end of a red embroidered ball, gazing at each other with joyful smiles.
She had always thought the woman’s kindness toward her was special. But in reality, the woman had never given her a clear response or promised her anything. All the emotional ties were her one-sided delusions—they had never existed.
With heavy steps, she entered the hotel amid endless blessings of “Happy marriage” and “A hundred years of harmony.” But Ming You’s face showed no joy; her expression was more like she was attending a funeral—the funeral of her youth.
She skirted past the beaming groom and groomsmen, then the sign-in desk. After asking a server, she found one of the lounges.
With a “creak,” the two people inside turned around. Ming You stood at the door with a smile, admiring the bride’s unmistakable panic that had nowhere to hide.
The bride’s pristine white wedding dress stung her eyes, and the bride’s expression pierced her heart. Her red lips parted lightly: “Teacher He, long time no see.”
The woman she called “Teacher He” was one of the wedding’s protagonists: He Huan.
An older woman in a gold velvet cheongsam was also in the room, plump and chatting animatedly with a beaming smile. He Huan tugged her arm and whispered something after she bent down. The woman then walked toward the door.
As she passed Ming You, she paused to size her up and praised: “Nice girl, pretty and sensible. After so many years at university, you still made a special trip back for your teacher’s wedding. Alright, you two chat. But don’t take too long—mind the time, don’t miss the auspicious hour.”
Ming You ignored her.
Once the room held only her and He Huan, she stepped closer, one step at a time.
“I only realized today how much you fear me. You fear me so much you didn’t dare be honest with me about dating or getting married. You panic at the sight of me and even hoped I’d slept with someone else last night, right?”
At Ming You’s mention of “sleeping together,” He Huan opened her mouth but found no way to refute.
She forcibly suppressed her panic and put on a teacher’s demeanor: “I’m not afraid of you. Today isn’t the best time to talk, but since it’s come to this, I should indeed clear things up. Ming You, you’re an adult now. Whatever decisions you make, you must take responsibility for your actions. No one else has the right to interfere or bear the consequences for you. As for us, I don’t owe you, and I’m not afraid of you. If you hadn’t said those things just now, maybe we could still be friends. But now, it seems we can’t. I only hope that in the future…”
“You hope I never pester you again, that I never appear before you again, right?”
Ming You closed in on He Huan, sweeping the cosmetics off the table with a wave of her hand. Her right hand pressed down on the desk, her left hooked under He Huan’s chin, thumb pressing to force her red lips slightly apart.
“These years, I’ve played by the rules and given you all due respect. But you? How many lies did you spin to deceive me? I actually believed you, thinking you truly understood and cared for me, that you’d wait for me… He Huan, seeing me obey you like a fool—did that give you a great sense of accomplishment?”
Ming You’s smile turned mocking, her words growing more outrageous: “The wedding’s about to start. Before going on stage, don’t you want to taste something different from kissing a man?”
The accused woman’s mind went blank.
She forgot to resist.
Just as the girl had said, she had always respected her, never laid a hand on her, never humiliated her so mercilessly with words.
The girl who had always been obedient only around her had lost control.
He Huan’s eyes filled with disappointment, shame, resentment, and more—pouring fuel on the fire, burning away Ming You’s last shred of reason. Just as she prepared to burn her bridges with a vengeful kiss, it was thwarted by the sound of high heels approaching from afar.
With another “creak,” a woman’s voice came from the door: “Teacher He, twenty minutes left…”
This time, it was the bridesmaid who pushed open the door.
Ming You had already dropped her aggressive stance. She faced the door, hands braced behind her on the desk edge, body leaning back against the waist-high vanity. Her right leg bent slightly, toes touching the ground, her demeanor relaxed.
He Huan faced away from the door, picking up a powder puff to touch up her makeup in the mirror.
Most of the items Ming You had swept to the floor were covered by He Huan lifting the hem of her wedding dress.
He Huan patted the corners of her eyes for show, set down the puff, and turned to Yan Ningxi with a slight smile: “Teacher Yan, perfect timing. Let me introduce her—she’s Ming You, a student who graduated from our school a few years back. She’s now a junior at Hengyuan Media University.”
Gazing at the woman who had ruined her “fun,” a flash of surprise crossed Ming You’s eyes.
Huai’an City, with its eight million people, was truly small.
What a coincidence.
“Hello, Teacher Yan!” Ming You composed herself, stood at attention, and bowed a full ninety degrees to Yan Ningxi with utmost sincerity, the picture of a good girl.
“Hello.” Yan Ningxi caught the ambiguous smile at the corner of the girl’s mouth. Fortunately, she was always calm and composed; no matter how her heart stirred, her face remained impassive.
“I hadn’t seen Teacher He in a while, so I came specially to catch up.” Ming You didn’t glance at He Huan again. She walked casually to Yan Ningxi’s side and stopped, bending to pick up a luxury lipstick from the floor whose cap had come off. She twisted out the tube to inspect it, then stared at Yan Ningxi’s lips and said, “Teacher Yan’s lipstick shade looks better, though.”
The beautiful woman before her wasn’t the typical heart-shaped face of popular standards. A moderately colored mole sat at the level of her right cheek and earlobe. Her peach-colored lips were neither thin nor thick, with a dainty Cupid’s bow at the center of her upper lip and naturally upturned corners.
Her ink-black hair was pinned up, with only two slightly curled strands hanging naturally by her face. The knee-length waist-cinching gauze skirt paired with silver rhinestone high heels perfectly embodied mature, elegant intellectual beauty.
Ming You tossed the lipstick in a perfect arc into the trash bin, smiling as she requested: “I’ve caught up with Teacher He now. Could Teacher Yan trouble herself to show me the way to the banquet hall?”
Yan Ningxi neither confirmed nor denied.
Watching the girl’s retreating back, He Huan breathed a sigh of relief: “The students are all seated in one area. Teacher Yan, you’re more familiar with the layout—take her there. It’s not far, just two or three minutes. It won’t delay anything.”
Since He Huan had spoken, Yan Ningxi had no choice but to agree. She opened the door and said to the girl: “Follow me.”
The girl leaned close, her tone laced with amusement: “Pretty sister, those weren’t the three words you said last night.”
…
In the wedding banquet hall, Ming You and Yan Ningxi kept half a step’s distance, one on each side. Servers bustled about, some pushing carts, others carrying trays to serve the banquet. A voice called from behind: “Excuse me, excuse me.”
Ming You seized the moment, stepping aside first and smoothly supporting the woman’s waist, pulling her to the side: “Careful.”
Caught off guard by the arm around her waist, Yan Ningxi stumbled and stepped on Ming You’s foot.
Ming You’s expression didn’t change as she held her even tighter.
Yan Ningxi wore a light purple off-shoulder gauze dress with a matching gauze scarf tied around her neck—that scarf was meant to be a waist accessory. Ming You’s left hand steadied her waist, her right on the bare right shoulder. She didn’t need Ming You’s help; she could have dodged herself.
Once the cart-pushing server passed, Yan Ningxi said “Thank you” and took a step, only to be pulled back single-handedly by Ming You: “Don’t move—the scarf’s caught.”
Their bodies pressed closer than they had last night.
In such a public place, tugging and pulling would easily draw onlookers and baseless speculation. Yan Ningxi could only comply for the moment.
The caught scarf was a lie. Ming You played her role fully, pretending to hook a corner of the scarf around the woman’s neck with her finger, giving a light tug, then deftly tightening the knot single-handedly: “There, fixed.”
But the hand on Yan Ningxi’s waist didn’t release, and her warm breath drew nearer to Yan Ningxi’s ear: “It must have hurt a lot last night, right? Won’t pretty sister bite back?”
Upon hearing this, Yan Ningxi stiffened. Poked once and then again, she could no longer maintain her calm.
The girl’s words and actions dripped with frivolity—no trace of the politeness and deference from the lounge, completely disregarding her “teacher” status.
Feeling deeply uncomfortable in body and mind, Yan Ningxi took two small steps forward, her face turning cold as she scolded sharply: “You’re a university student who’s studied for over a decade, after all. What does ‘respecting teachers and valuing education’ mean? Do I need to teach you again?”
“But I clearly bowed and paid my respects to you just now.” The girl smiled unconcernedly. “Besides, I’m not a student at No. 3 Middle School anymore, and you’re not my teacher. One ninety-degree bow is enough to show respect, right? Plus, last night, pretty sister, you… were the one who hooked up with me first. Hey, pretty sister wouldn’t… sleep and then deny it, would you?”
