Wen Ci never told anyone about running into Xiang Wenwen.
She did not want to mention it. Even talking about it felt as though it would ruin other people’s moods.
The next time she heard news of him was in November.
In the school canteen, Dou Yiqing sat opposite her eating lunch while sharing gossip she had heard from Qin Yun. Duan Wei’s family had been unable to swallow their anger and had made a move. Xiang Wenwen’s company had barely begun operating before being suppressed and pushed aside. It probably would not last much longer.
Wen Ci wiped her mouth with a tissue and nodded in acknowledgement.
Then she picked up her phone and saw the message she had just received. She hurriedly swallowed the food in her mouth and said indistinctly,
“Yiqing, I’m leaving first.”
“You’ve only taken two bites.”
Wen Ci explained, “Our year group is holding a parents’ meeting this afternoon.”
“I know, but it’s still early. The meeting hasn’t even started yet.”
Dou Yiqing checked her watch.
“Besides, you aren’t a form teacher. Why are you going so early?”
“Some parents are waiting for me in the office. They want to ask about their children’s studies.”
Wen Ci smiled.
“All right.”
Dou Yiqing placed the bread she had just bought into Wen Ci’s bag.
“Take this and eat it if you’re hungry this afternoon.”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be your afternoon snack?”
“I’ll buy another one later.”
Dou Yiqing waved her away.
“Hurry.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Wen Ci’s eyes curved as she hurriedly blew several very proper kisses towards her.
“I’m leaving, then.”
“…”
Wen Ci disappeared through the canteen doors.
She was walking so quickly that the hood of her coat bounced up and down.
Dou Yiqing watched while biting her chopsticks.
Where had Wen Ci learned to blow kisses like that?
Was Wen Ci’s unbearably adorable state caused by leaving home, or by falling in love?
…
By the time Wen Ci finished speaking with the parents who had come to see her, the parents’ meeting was about to begin.
She needed to visit three classrooms next.
Wen Ci unscrewed her thermos and drank several large mouthfuls of water in advance.
Then she picked up her phone and messaged her mother.
**Wen Ci: Mum, the temperature has dropped these past few days. Make sure you and Dad wear more layers.**
Wen Ci messaged her mother every few days.
Apart from initially informing her of the address of her rented flat, the rest were ordinary conversations.
Sometimes she reminded her that it would rain that day, to take care of her rheumatism and remember an umbrella before going out.
Sometimes she shared a restaurant she had recently discovered and suggested that her parents try it.
At other times, she sent only a photograph.
It might show a sunset, a scenic view, or a bouquet she had just received.
Her mother never responded.
Wen Ci did not mind.
She knew her mother had definitely read every message.
Just after she sent it, another notification appeared.
**Zhou Wu: Teacher, why haven’t you come to the parents’ meeting yet?**
The wording was slightly strange, but Wen Ci was in a hurry and did not notice.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the screen.
**Wen Ci: I’m about to go now.**
**Wen Ci: Yeye is nervous.jpg**
Wen Ci had recently edited many photographs of Yeye into stickers.
Zhou Wu complained about them while using them himself.
**Zhou Wu: Yeye is cheering you on.jpg**
Wen Ci smiled, picked up the documents and water bottle she needed for the meeting and hurried towards the classroom.
The speaking order for the subject teachers had been arranged in advance.
Wen Ci had only just reached the doorway of the first class where she was due to speak when Wang Ziliu grabbed her clothes.
He pressed his palms together and bowed twice.
“Teacher Wen, protect me! That hired thug has chased me all the way to school. Please call the police for me!”
A hired thug?
What hired thug?
While Wen Ci stood there confused, the form teacher, Teacher Li, emerged from the classroom.
“Go ahead, Teacher Wen. I’ve finished.”
Wen Ci quickly nodded and lightly patted Wang Ziliu’s head.
“Ask your form teacher to protect you.”
This was Wen Ci’s first time speaking at a parents’ meeting.
Afraid she might become so nervous onstage that she forgot her words, she had spent the previous week rehearsing at home every evening.
To make the experience more realistic, she had even seated her boyfriend and Yeye in front of her as substitute parents.
So when she raised her head and saw Zhou Wu sitting in the final row of the classroom, she momentarily could not tell whether she was at school or at home.
The students’ parents were all middle-aged adults in their thirties or forties.
They wore neat, formal clothes and sat even straighter than their children did during class.
Among them, Zhou Wu rested his face against one hand.
He wore a bold black leather jacket and twirled a pen he had apparently taken from somewhere.
He raised his eyelids and met Wen Ci’s eyes with the hint of a smile.
Wen Ci remained stunned for several seconds before reciting the opening she had practised for several evenings.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Wen Ci, Class Five’s English teacher.”
Zhou Wu slowly sat upright and clapped twice.
The other parents froze briefly before immediately following him.
Applause filled the classroom.
Wen Ci:
“…”
Teacher Li, standing outside the room:
“?”
Whose parent was that?
She had not received this treatment when she spoke earlier.
“…That’s enough. Thank you, everyone.”
Wen Ci opened the multimedia presentation.
Her face was bright red, but her voice remained composed.
“I’ll first discuss the results of the previous English examination.”
Zhou Wu sat below for a long time without meeting Wen Ci’s eyes again.
Wen Ci deliberately avoided looking at him.
Zhou Wu did not mind.
He leaned back in the chair and listened with exceptional seriousness, as though his own child’s name genuinely appeared on the grade sheet.
He was young and handsome, making him particularly noticeable among the other parents.
Many had glanced at him from the moment he sat down, silently wondering whether he had become a parent exceptionally young or simply maintained himself extremely well.
The subject teachers did not have much time to speak.
Wen Ci finished after twenty minutes.
She smiled and said goodbye to the parents, then stepped down from the platform and left the classroom.
The parent sitting beside Zhou Wu looked down at his own beer belly, then at Zhou Wu.
Finally, he could not resist leaning closer.
“Excuse me, whose parent are you? I remember my son, Wang Ziliu, sits alone at a desk.”
Zhou Wu returned the pen he had been spinning to someone else’s son’s pencil case.
“Teacher Wen’s.”
“Huh?”
Before Wang Ziliu’s father could understand, Teacher Wen, who had just left through the front door, appeared at the rear entrance.
She bent slightly and grabbed Zhou Wu’s leather jacket.
“Come outside.”
Zhou Wu obediently stood.
Like when he used to skip class in high school, he bent down skilfully and followed her out.
Before leaving, he seemed to remember something.
He turned and lazily reminded Wang Ziliu’s father,
“Wang Ziliu didn’t submit his English homework again last week. He’s always like this, and it makes things difficult for my child.”
“Keep a closer eye on him. If necessary, just beat—”
Before he could finish, Wen Ci covered his mouth with her hand.
After pulling him into the corridor, Wen Ci looked up.
Her face remained slightly red, while her eyes sparkled.
“How did you get inside?”
“It’s a parents’ meeting, and it’s Friday. Security wasn’t checking carefully.”
“That doesn’t mean you can sit inside the classroom.”
“I was worried the experienced performer wouldn’t be there and you’d become nervous.”
Zhou Wu raised an eyebrow and smiled lazily.
“Which class are you going to next?”
“Class Seven.”
Wen Ci checked her watch.
“But I’m going alone.”
“I won’t sit inside.”
Zhou Wu tilted his face and lowered his head to negotiate with her.
“Can’t I stand outside the classroom and listen?”
Wen Ci looked up at him.
Her smile and voice were gentle, but her words were merciless.
“No. Leave quickly. I need to go to the next classroom.”
Zhou Wu stared at her for a long while before compromising.
“Then tell me when you finish work.”
Wen Ci considered it.
“Why don’t you go home first? Parents will probably come and speak with me later. I may finish very late.”
“I’m not going home. I’ll wait for you.”
Zhou Wu pulled the zip of her coat slightly higher.
“Qin Yun took advantage of the confusion and slipped through your school’s back gate into the high-school section to watch Dou Yiqing teach.”
“I’m going to see whether he’s been caught.”
…
Just as Wen Ci expected, parents lined up to question her until six thirty that evening.
Only then was she finally able to leave.
Dusk had already fallen when she walked out of the office.
Wen Ci took out her phone and saw a message Zhou Wu had left half an hour earlier.
**Zhou Wu: Playing basketball with Qin Yun in the high-school section. Come and collect me after work.**
Wen Ci replied **All right**.
She was about to put the phone into her pocket when it vibrated again.
Assuming it was Zhou Wu’s response, she opened it without hesitation.
**Mum: You know the weather is colder, yet you still haven’t come back to collect your clothes. What are you planning to wear during winter?**
Wen Ci stood there blankly for a very long time.
When she recovered, her nose felt slightly sore, but she could not help smiling.
After smiling foolishly for a while, she typed:
**All right. I’ll come back this weekend to collect them.**
The entire campus was dyed red by the evening glow.
At six thirty on a Friday, even the high-school section was nearly empty.
As Wen Ci approached the basketball court, she heard the pounding sound of a basketball striking the ground.
She raised her head from her phone and looked through the wire fence.
Only one court was in use.
Several tall male high-school students stood nearby.
The place where Wen Ci stood happened to be downhill, making the ground lower.
For a moment, she could not clearly see the people inside.
Wen Ci looked around and was about to search for the court entrance when she heard Qin Yun shout,
“Zhou Wu—”
Wen Ci abruptly turned back.
She saw Zhou Wu leap beneath the basket.
He had removed his jacket and wore a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath.
For convenience, he had rolled the sleeves up to his shoulders.
Under the setting sun, the lines of Zhou Wu’s arms were strong and long.
With a light flick of his wrist, the basketball dropped through the net.
Zhou Wu’s physique was far stronger than it had been in high school, but his style of play had not changed.
When he landed, the loose hair across his forehead shifted slightly.
The bold smile at the corner of his mouth overlapped with the uniformed teenager in Wen Ci’s memory.
Wen Ci stood still, suddenly remembering that basketball match years ago.
She had stood in this exact place, pushing her bicycle and rising onto her toes to secretly watch Zhou Wu play.
She stared blankly for a while before instinctively raising her phone to take a photograph.
The moment she opened the camera, the high-school students moved aside.
Zhou Wu became visible on the court.
He said something to the PE teachers playing with him, then walked through the students and slowly approached her.
Through the wire fence, Zhou Wu looked directly into the phone camera blocking Wen Ci’s face.
“Finished work?”
The sound of the camera shutter answered him.
Zhou Wu turned his face away and laughed for a long time.
Then he raised one hand and passed his half-finished bottle of water through a gap in the fence.
“Your lips look pitifully pale. Drink some water before taking photographs, Teacher Wen.”
Wen Ci lowered her phone and obediently unscrewed the cap.
Qin Yun’s voice sounded behind Zhou Wu.
“Zhou Wu, are you still playing?”
“No.”
Zhou Wu had only just finished playing, so his voice was clearer and more energetic than usual.
A faint confidence and youthful spirit ran through it.
“You can wait here for Dou Yiqing yourself.”
“My parent has come to collect me.”
…
On the empty school road, the setting sun stretched their shadows far ahead.
Zhou Wu moved two steps sideways.
Wen Ci silently shifted closer until her arm pressed against his through their coats.
He moved away again.
Wen Ci followed.
After several repetitions, Zhou Wu could not resist laughing.
“Stand farther away. I just finished playing. I smell terrible.”
Wen Ci hummed.
Then she continued leaning against him.
Seeing her distracted expression, Zhou Wu was about to ask what she was thinking.
“Zhou Wu, I like you.”
“…”
Was that confession not rather late?
Recently, he had already begun thinking about how to propose.
Zhou Wu replied slowly,
“I know.”
Wen Ci walked beside him with her head lowered.
“I’ve liked you since our first year of high school.”
“Oh.”
Zhou Wu raised an eyebrow and perfunctorily pretended to be slightly surprised.
“Then why didn’t you come and kiss me back then?”
Wen Ci said, “…Middle-school students aren’t allowed to kiss.”
Zhou Wu laughed and nodded in understanding.
“They aren’t allowed to drink either.”
Wen Ci remained silent for a very long time.
“Actually, I didn’t drink at the wedding.”
“…”
Zhou Wu looked towards the dimming sky.
A smile appeared on his lips from sheer astonishment.
So her journey as a timid adventurer had begun that very day?
“Teacher Wen,” he sighed, “you genuinely love lying.”
Wen Ci touched her nose in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Zhou Wu accepted the apology and opened his hand towards her.
“Let’s hold hands.”
Seventeen-year-old Wen Ci and seventeen-year-old Zhou Wu had been separated by crowds of people.
Across all three years of high school, they exchanged only a handful of words.
Twenty-seven-year-old Zhou Wu held twenty-seven-year-old Wen Ci’s hand.
He intended to spend the rest of his life with her.
**End of the Main Story**
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