Three days passed, and Ming You’s throat had recovered completely. She converted the recorded audio into MP3 format and sent it to Jiang Lai. This was her bribe to Jiang Lai.
In the darkened dormitory, Jiang Lai received the file, put on her earphones, and excitedly opened the audio file. She listened to it dozens of times. Only after she had her fill did she remember to reply to her senior’s message.
【Jiang Lai: Aaaah! Thank you, Senior Ming You! Launching 100,000 little hearts, love you love you!】
【Ming You: You can keep the thanks, but I’m not accepting the little hearts.】
【Jiang Lai: Got it, withdrawing them. Obedient.gif】
One second she was over the moon, the next she was sighing in disappointment. Combining this with their previous two meetings, she concluded: This senior was a tiny bit cold.
【Ming You: Can you get me Teacher Yan’s class schedule?】
【Jiang Lai: Sure.】
【Jiang Lai: Every classroom has the schedules posted. I’ll sneak photos from the two classes Teacher Yan teaches tomorrow. [Sneaky grin]】
【Ming You: Thanks for the hard work.】
【Jiang Lai: No trouble at all, Senior. Don’t be so polite.】
…
Jiang Lai was highly efficient. The next day, before nine o’clock, she had sent Ming You both of Yan Ningxi’s class schedules.
Having planned ahead, Ming You didn’t sleep in. After washing up and getting dressed, she went out to buy all sorts of desserts, pastries, and fruits. When she arrived at the gates of No. 3 Middle School, she called her high school homeroom teacher. She prettied it up as returning to her alma mater to visit her mentor.
Fortunately, she hadn’t deleted the phone number.
In the office, Teacher Li, who had been Ming You’s homeroom teacher in high school, lavished praise on this student who had far exceeded expectations in the college entrance exam and soared to great heights.
“Ming You, perfect timing that you’re back. Come clean with us honestly—was it on purpose back then? Apart from Chinese, all your other subjects hovered right around the passing line. If you say it wasn’t on purpose, then how did you score over 130 in English and over 110 in math on the gaokao? Spill it.”
“Teacher Li asks a great question.” Another subject teacher chimed in. “Ming You, don’t feed us any nonsense about a study god possessing you or guessing everything right!”
From the moment Ming You entered the office, He Huan had felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. Her seat faced away from the door, but when Teacher Li said, “Teacher He, take a look at who’s here,” she froze in place.
Starting from her sophomore year, Ming You’s Chinese scores had always been among the top two in the entire grade, and her essays were nearly always circulated as model examples across all classes.
Even though Teacher He repeatedly clarified that she hadn’t given Ming You any private tutoring, and no one had seen Ming You frequently visiting the office to ask Teacher He questions, it was obvious from the proud expression on Teacher He’s face every time someone mentioned how outstanding Ming You’s essay was or that she took first place in the subject— their teacher-student relationship was anything but ordinary.
On the gaokao, Ming You scored 135 in Chinese, first in the grade.
Compared to the massive gaokao cohort across the province, this score was undoubtedly in the top tier. Compared to her own usual performance, it was just her average.
But subjects like math and foreign languages were highly suspicious—their gaokao scores far exceeded her daily marks. If not for the strict exam supervision, the teachers would have suspected she had masterful cheating techniques.
“I’ll confess!”
Ming You raised her right hand. “I did well because the teachers’ pre-exam coaching was excellent. During review, my mindset matured. I understood that the gaokao was a major turning point in life and appreciated the teachers’ good intentions, so I burned the midnight oil and crammed relentlessly to repay you with good scores.”
She had anticipated this and come prepared. This hurdle had to be crossed sooner or later.
Teacher Li was a middle-aged man in his forties who hadn’t paid much attention to Ming You back then. “Haven’t seen you in two years, and now you can talk like this?”
“It’s a professional necessity. Eloquence is a required course.”
He Huan had steadied her emotions and just stood up when she heard Ming You call out cheerfully, “Sister Yan!”
Yan Ningxi had returned to the office after class, accompanied by a male student carrying a stack of homework. Caught off guard by Ming You’s shout, she stopped in her tracks in surprise.
“Sister Yan, you’re finally done with class. If you didn’t come save me soon, Teacher Li and the others were going to interrogate me!” The girl happily ran to the door, linked arms with Yan Ningxi, and explained to the other astonished teachers, “Teacher Li, I’ll confess for leniency. I did come with selfish motives today. Teacher Yan is my sister, I missed her, and I missed all you teachers too, so here I am.”
Seeing how intimately Ming You clung to Teacher Yan, there was no reason to doubt it.
No one in the room dwelled on what kind of “sister” Ming You meant. One female teacher laughed, “Teacher Yan, your family’s genes are too good—they only produce great beauties.”
“Teacher Yan, I’ll put the homework on your desk. I’m heading out.” The male student stole several glances at Ming You. Now he had fresh gossip to share with the class.
“Mm.” Yan Ningxi withdrew her arm and patted Ming You’s back. “It’s only Wednesday. No class today?”
The National Day holiday had disrupted the schedule, so they had made up classes last Sunday, making today the fourth day of school.
“It’s not far, and weekdays have way less traffic. High-speed rail round trip is super convenient.”
Ming You followed Yan Ningxi to her desk, which happened to be right across from He Huan’s. “I got sick over National Day. Sister Yan took such good care of me for days and even went with me to buy a new phone. Of course I had to make time to treat you to a meal as thanks. I’m a very conscientious person, you know.”
Teacher Li, back at his seat, munched on the pastries Ming You had bought while chuckling, “Teacher Yan, you wouldn’t know, but this little sister’s conscience back in the day was only ever used on Chinese. She dominated that subject every exam. As for my math class? It hovered around 90, right on the passing edge, every single time for three years. Then boom—gaokao results: math breaks 110, and her total score rockets from thirtieth or fortieth in our class to top 100 in the whole grade. Good thing I don’t have a heart condition…”
Huai’an No.3 High School was a city key school with six or seven hundred students in the grade. Top 100 were the elites.
With the other teachers treating Yan Ningxi as Ming You’s “guardian,” Yan Ningxi had no choice but to play along with this sudden “little sister.”
“This kid’s always been free-spirited and does whatever she wants. She’s caused you teachers trouble—I’ll make her apologize.” With that, she tapped Ming You’s shoulder with her textbook.
Ming You got the hint. A sister she’d claimed herself, of course she’d obey. So she stood at attention. “Teachers, I was willful and reckless before, causing you trouble. I admit my fault. Please be magnanimous and forgive this petty person.”
Her perfect ninety-degree bow left Teacher Li and the others feeling too guilty to accept it.
Her grades had been average in school. She didn’t answer questions in class but never caused chaos, had poor relationships with classmates but never got into major trouble. “Willful and reckless” and “admitting fault” felt like a stretch.
“Alright, alright, I was just joking.”
Teacher Li waved it off and said earnestly, “Ming You, don’t be so carefree in university. You have talent—don’t hide it. Show it openly. University teachers won’t supervise you from dawn to dusk like we did. College is about self-discipline and self-realization, so seize opportunities, join clubs and practical activities. It’s all upside, no downside.”
“I’ll heed your teachings.”
At the start of high school, Teacher Li had talked to her several times. Later, finding her unresponsive, he stopped the long heart-to-hearts from sophomore year on. Today, unloading all this was a rarity.
“Don’t think you’re off the hook.”
Teacher Li removed his glasses and wiped the thick lenses. “I just don’t get it. Your total score was over 600. Jingping Media University’s broadcasting hosting major would’ve been a sure thing. Why not put it as your first choice instead of Hengchuan? I know Hengchuan has a reputation, but Jingchuan’s broadcasting major is the top in the country, right?”
Why?
Because Jingping was far from Huai’an, far from He Huan. She didn’t want to be far from her.
“Hengchuan’s close to home. There’s that saying: better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big one. Jingping’s too competitive. I just wanted a peaceful school life.”
With her personality, that made sense.
The class bell rang.
“No regrets once the piece is placed. You chose your path yourself—walk it yourself.” Teacher Li put on his glasses, grabbed his textbook. “Off to class.”
Having smoothly handled Teacher Li, Ming You picked up a book from a nearby desk and returned to Yan Ningxi’s side. “Sister Yan, this is for you. You probably didn’t finish it at the hotel, right?”
The book was Faraway Rendezvous. Yan Ningxi indeed hadn’t finished it. She took it and placed it on the shelf. “Thanks.”
“For how well I behaved today, Sister Yan, take me on a nostalgic tour of the old school grounds, then lunch in the cafeteria? Okay?” Without waiting for Yan Ningxi to respond, Ming You turned to the person who hadn’t spoken. “Teacher He, want to join us?”
…
The teaching building for the senior year had two paths to the cafeteria: the wide main driveway and the garden path.
The girl wore a simple floral dress. As she passed the garden bridge, her steps were lighter than ever before. “The most beautiful little garden in the whole school. Teacher Yan, Teacher He, how about a group photo here?”
Both women froze.
He Huan regretted it the moment they left the building—regretted blurting out “Sure” when the girl asked if she wanted to join them for lunch.
Who could she blame?
The girl’s dress, the book she’d given Yan Ningxi—everything was deeply connected to her.
She only had herself to blame for lacking resolve, getting sentimental over the sights, letting memories disrupt her composure.
“I don’t like taking photos.” Yan Ningxi refused and walked past the bridge. “Class ends in half an hour. It’ll be crowded later.”
Before they finished crossing the bridge, a voice from behind said, “Ming You, let’s take one together.”
The girl had been holding her phone the whole time, even switching it to selfie mode earlier. But now, she didn’t want to take a photo at all.
Over three years of high school, she hadn’t taken a single photo related to campus, nor any group shots with classmates or teachers—except the whole-class graduation photo. He Huan was in that one too, and she had stood right behind her.
“Teacher Yan, trouble you to take one for me and Ming You.”
Ming You stood dazed in the middle of the bridge when He Huan gracefully approached her side, smiling as gently as ever.
She lightly draped an arm around the girl’s shoulder and said with a laugh, “When you make it big someday, I’ll put this photo right on my desk in the most prominent spot and tell my students, ‘This is your senior, my proudest student.'”
She and her were just teacher and student.
She had many students. She’d put arms around plenty of their shoulders, patted their heads, been linked arms with by girls. But during Ming You’s school years, He Huan had never once put an arm around her, and she had never once linked arms with He Huan.
Ming You didn’t know how she managed to pose for the photo, or what her expression looked like. She only felt it deeply—her heart ached.
Thanks to He Huan, she tasted the sensation of her heart being sliced by a sharp blade, making it hard to breathe. The pain left her gasping for air.
