In the end, Wen Ci hailed a taxi and put her bicycle in the boot.
She was far too tired. Her legs still seemed to be trembling, and if she cycled for another hour to get home, she feared she would not be able to go to work the next day.
The taxi travelled from streets lined with skyscrapers into narrow old alleyways. Wen Ci did not let the driver take her any farther inside. The neighbours all knew one another too well. If they saw her taking a bicycle out of a taxi’s boot, she would probably face another round of questions.
Her prediction proved correct.
She had barely pushed her bicycle a few steps when someone called out to her. Wen Ci looked up and saw that it was none other than her mother.
Mother Wen had just returned from taking out the rubbish and was chatting with a nearby neighbour.
When the neighbour saw her, she smiled.
“Wen Ci, you’re back! Goodness, you’ve lost weight again. But you’ve become even prettier.”
“She’s a teacher. She spends every day teaching children. Of course it’s exhausting. How could she not lose weight?” Mother Wen replied cheerfully before turning to her. “Why are you back so late? I saved you a bowl of soup. It’s still in the pot. Hurry home and drink it.”
Wen Ci greeted the neighbour and smiled.
“All right. I’ll head inside, then.”
After walking a few steps, she could still hear the people behind her chatting.
“Your family is truly impressive. Every one of you is a teacher serving the people.”
“Oh, there’s nothing impressive about that…”
When Wen Ci returned home, Father Wen was sitting in the living room reading.
Hearing her enter, he did not raise his head.
“You’re back?”
“Mm.”
“Drink the soup in the pot.”
Wen Ci had just entered the kitchen when Father Wen spoke again.
“Your vice-principal told me your observation lesson today went reasonably well. Have you grown accustomed to the school environment and the students’ pace?”
Wen Ci glanced at the soup, its surface covered in oil, and frowned almost imperceptibly. Even so, she picked up the bowl.
“I have.”
Mother Wen followed closely behind her into the house. When she heard their conversation, she immediately interjected.
“See? Your father and I were right, weren’t we? Primary school teachers have less pressure and fewer responsibilities. If you hadn’t listened to us and had applied for a position teaching middle school instead, forget going out for dinner with your colleagues after work—you’d probably still be supervising the students’ evening study session right now.”
She noticed Wen Ci had stopped drinking.
“Why aren’t you drinking? Finish it. I made it especially for you. I stayed home all day just to watch the heat. Drink all of it.”
Suppressing her nausea, Wen Ci finished the entire bowl in one breath.
“I’m going to my room.”
After returning to her room, Wen Ci showered once again.
She was mildly obsessed with cleanliness and had to shower before getting into bed.
Even after washing, her throat still felt greasy. Wen Ci drank several mouthfuls of water before barely managing to suppress the sensation of nausea.
When she lay down, she discovered a new message on her phone.
**Zhou Wu: [Image]**
It was the bill for their dinner.
783.4 yuan.
Wen Ci immediately transferred 391.7 yuan to him.
Zhou Wu did not accept it. He probably had not seen the transfer yet.
Wen Ci did not move away from their conversation.
She was not deliberately waiting for Zhou Wu’s reply. She was simply too tired and had no energy to do anything else on her phone.
Zhou Wu’s profile picture was a Samoyed.
It was probably his dog. The dog wore sunglasses and stuck its tongue out at the camera, looking rather silly.
Wen Ci scrolled upwards.
She and Zhou Wu had exchanged very few messages. Although they had added each other a long time ago, their first actual conversation had only begun a year earlier.
They had met no more than ten times.
Wen Ci had been busy after starting work at the school, while Zhou Wu was frequently outside the country. It did not take long to scroll all the way to the beginning of their chat history.
Wen Ci had initiated the kiss the first time.
She had also been the one to arrange their second meeting.
She still remembered that day. It had been her first day as a trainee teacher at Jiangcheng Primary School. During her lunch break, she sent Zhou Wu a WeChat message for the first time.
**Wen Ci: Hello, Zhou Wu. I’m Wen Ci.**
**Zhou Wu: I know.**
**Wen Ci: Are you free this weekend? I’d like to meet you.**
**Zhou Wu: …**
At the time, Wen Ci had stared at the ellipsis and felt that Zhou Wu might be trying to refuse her.
She put away her phone and thought that if he had not replied by the end of the lunch break, she would ask him again.
Zhou Wu did not make her wait for the entire lunch break.
Only ten minutes later, he replied.
**Zhou Wu: Where should we meet?**
Wen Ci booked a hotel and sent him the room number.
After she did that twice, Zhou Wu finally lost patience with the quality of the hotels she chose and told her that he would decide on the hotels from then on.
After that, their chat history changed from Wen Ci sending him room numbers to Zhou Wu sending them instead.
There was occasionally a line of conversation mixed in between, but there was never any idle chatter. Most messages simply informed the other person that they were unavailable.
By the time Wen Ci returned to the latest messages, Zhou Wu still had not accepted the money.
She lay on her side and habitually opened his Moments.
Zhou Wu had not set any time restriction on his Moments. Everything was visible to his contacts.
There was not much content. He posted at most twice a year, but every update was packed with photographs—motorcycles, horse riding, skiing, castle banquets…
It was obvious that Zhou Wu was the same as he had been in high school. He kept his work and his interests clearly separated and excelled at both.
Zhou Wu was tall and lean, and nothing looked out of place on him.
In a suit, he appeared calm and disciplined. In a sports jersey, he looked full of youthful energy. Whenever he faced the camera, there was always some trace of a smile on his face—sometimes faint, sometimes unrestrained.
Either way, he was handsome.
As she was looking, a message notification appeared at the top of her screen.
**Director: @Everyone The school anniversary is at the end of the month. Although our primary school division was founded relatively late, we should still celebrate. The school’s official account has posted a congratulatory article. Everyone, please repost it and leave plenty of comments!**
Wen Ci exited Zhou Wu’s Moments and reposted the school’s congratulatory article.
Her own Moments were visible for one year.
Originally, she had set them to three days, but Mother Wen said that made her seem ungenerous and told her to change it.
However, whether the setting was three days or one year made no difference to Wen Ci because she never posted anything herself. Every update she had shared during the past year had been a repost, followed by another repost, then another.
She was completely different from Zhou Wu.
Her parents and several colleagues gradually liked her post.
After thinking about it, Wen Ci went to the posts shared by her other colleagues and returned their likes.
She was about to go to sleep when her phone vibrated.
Zhou Wu had accepted the transfer.
A few seconds later, the notification for her Moments lit up.
Wen Ci opened it and froze.
Zhou Wu had liked the compulsory post she had just shared.
…
On Friday afternoon, Wen Ci was writing a lesson plan when a small jar of ointment was placed on her desk.
She raised her head.
It was Ms Li, the homeroom teacher of one of the classes Wen Ci taught.
Ms Li looked at her with concern.
“Ms Wen, were you bitten by some poisonous mosquito? It’s been two days and the swelling still hasn’t gone down. Try this ointment.”
Hearing this, Wen Ci instinctively covered her neck with her palm.
Zhou Wu had kissed her there for too long the last time. The marks had still not completely faded, and even concealer could barely cover them.
Once she began sweating at school, they became even more obvious. Whenever another teacher asked, she could only say she had been bitten by a mosquito.
“Thank you.”
Wen Ci could only accept the ointment.
“I’ll return it after I use some.”
“That’s all right. Just leave it on my desk when you’re finished.”
Ms Li did not leave. Instead, she asked tentatively, “Ms Wen, do you have anything else to do this afternoon?”
Rather than answering, Wen Ci asked, “Why?”
Ms Li looked anxious.
“It’s like this… The flu has been spreading recently, hasn’t it? My son suddenly developed a high fever at lunchtime. My husband has already taken him to the hospital, but you know how it is. He’s still young—only seven. Right now, he’s crying for me and refusing to cooperate with the injection, but I can’t leave…”
“Ms Wen, would you have time to help me?”
“Do you still have classes later?” Wen Ci asked awkwardly. “I don’t think I can substitute for a Chinese lesson very well…”
“No, no. I don’t have any more classes this afternoon. I only need someone to take the students in my class to the school entrance after lessons so their parents can collect them.”
The school required every student below the fourth grade to be personally collected by a parent or guardian.
Wen Ci understood.
“All right. Hurry to the hospital. I’ll take them to the entrance.”
Her parents happened to be attending an academic conference outside the city for the next few days, so she was in no hurry to return home.
“Thank you so much, Ms Wen. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”
Ms Li thanked her repeatedly, grabbed her bag and prepared to leave.
Before departing, she could not resist reminding her again.
“Once every student has been collected, could you send me a message so I know everything is fine? Thank you, Ms Wen. The parents in our class usually arrive very quickly. School ends at three thirty, and everyone is normally gone by four. It won’t take up too much of your time. Thank you!”
At six in the evening, almost all the students in the neighbouring middle and high school division had already left.
Wen Ci was still standing at the school gates, holding the hand of the only remaining student from the class.
**Ms Li, Class Five: The parent finally answered the phone. They said they were on a plane earlier and had already sent someone to collect the child. They don’t know why that person still hasn’t arrived, but they’ve already urged them to hurry. I’m so sorry, Ms Wen. Could I trouble you to wait a little longer? [praying hands] [praying hands]**
Still holding the little girl’s hand, Wen Ci replied that she understood.
Then she lowered her head and asked, “Are you hungry? Shall I take you to buy something to eat?”
When Zhou Wu arrived, Wen Ci was crouching outside the school gates, wiping biscuit crumbs from the corners of the little girl’s mouth.
Wen Ci had tied her hair into two braids that day. By now, they had become slightly messy, hanging loosely on either side of her cheeks.
Zhou Wu watched for a moment before speaking.
“Teacher, I’m here to collect…”
He did not know the little girl’s name.
“…her.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Wen Ci froze and looked up.
Before she could recover from her surprise, the little girl had already rushed over and grabbed the hem of Zhou Wu’s shirt.
Zhou Wu was dressed casually that day in a black T-shirt and loose trousers. His exposed arms were smooth and powerful, and he looked fresh and youthful, like a university student.
When the little girl directly grabbed his shirt, Zhou Wu froze as well.
Wen Ci quickly recovered and called the girl’s name.
“What relation is this older brother to you?”
She then explained to Zhou Wu, “We need to register whoever collects her.”
“I don’t know,” the little girl answered crisply. “I’ve never met him.”
Wen Ci stared at her.
“?”
Zhou Wu lowered his head and looked at the girl in amusement.
“Then why are you holding onto me?”
The little girl hugged Zhou Wu’s leg and exclaimed dramatically, “You’re so handsome! You must be a celebrity. Give me your autograph!”
Wen Ci was speechless.
“Autograph, my arse! Stand properly!”
A man came running over from a distance, panting heavily. He pried the little girl away from Zhou Wu’s leg.
Zhou Wu pointed at the newcomer and lazily explained, “Her uncle.”
“I’m sorry, Ms Wen. I forgot I was supposed to collect this little brat today. On the way here, someone even scraped my car.”
The man who had just arrived apologised, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Ms Wen, do you still remember me? We used to be classmates—high school classmates.”
Wen Ci nodded.
“Qin Yun.”
“See!”
Qin Yun nudged the man beside him.
“I told you she would definitely remember me.”
Zhou Wu said nothing. He merely scoffed and turned his face away.
Wen Ci was somewhat bewildered.
*Told him before? When? Had they discussed her?*
“I’m really sorry, Wen Ci,” Qin Yun said. “You must have waited alone with her for nearly two hours. It’s already dark.”
“How about this? It’s dinner time anyway. Let me treat you to a meal as an apology.”
“There’s no need,” Wen Ci hurriedly replied. “I didn’t wait very long. The other parents were late today as well.”
“Everyone else left at four!”
The little girl punched Qin Yun’s leg several times.
“You made Ms Wen stand here for two hours!”
Wen Ci fell silent.
Qin Yun caught his niece’s fist.
“If I don’t treat you to dinner, my sister really will beat me. Do me the honour, Ms Wen. We were old classmates, after all.”
“My… my family is waiting for me to return home for dinner,” Wen Ci said haltingly.
Qin Yun replied, “You can eat at home any day. Besides, Zhou Wu and I were just about to visit a private restaurant owned by one of our friends. Other people have to wait two months for a reservation. You absolutely have to come with us!”
Wen Ci had never been good at refusing people in situations like this.
She looked towards Zhou Wu for help.
Zhou Wu stood with both hands in his pockets, having watched the scene for quite some time.
This seemed to be the first time he had ever seen Wen Ci tell a lie.
To be honest, she was not very good at it.
Her attempt was so clumsy that anyone could see through it immediately.
When she looked at him, Zhou Wu asked, “Where did you leave your bicycle?”
Wen Ci blinked.
“?”
Ten minutes later, Wen Ci watched helplessly as Zhou Wu lifted her bicycle and placed it in the boot of Qin Yun’s car.
Leave a Reply