Once the performance reports had been submitted, the hectic period at the start of term finally came to an end.
On Tuesday afternoon, the two teachers finally managed to meet after not seeing each other for a month.
They chose Dou Yiqing’s favourite Korean restaurant.
The moment she saw Wen Ci, Dou Yiqing pulled out her phone and dialled 110.
“This can’t continue. We should call the police.”
Wen Ci pressed down her hand.
“What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re actually asking? Look at yourself!”
Dou Yiqing pointed at her neck.
“Why is he hitting you now? Did he grab you or choke you? You two—wait.”
Dou Yiqing suddenly realised something. Her entire worldview seemed to shatter as she stared at Wen Ci in horror.
“You two… You aren’t into S—”
“No! Of course not!”
Wen Ci covered her neck.
“Did I not place the plaster properly?”
“It’s round! How could a plaster possibly cover it?” Dou Yiqing asked. “Then how did you get hurt?”
“It isn’t an injury. It was a mosquito—”
Upon hearing this, Dou Yiqing lowered her head and prepared to call 110 again.
Wen Ci hurriedly admitted the truth. In the crowded restaurant, she lowered her voice and defended Zhou Wu with great emphasis.
“He kissed me. They’re kiss marks, really. They’ve already faded a lot. They’ll be completely gone in another couple of days.”
“…”
Dou Yiqing closed her eyes.
Although she had known about this arrangement for almost half a year, she still found it difficult to believe that Wen Ci—the girl who had barely read any explicit books or even many romance novels throughout middle and high school—would do something like this.
Who on earth was that man?!
Dou Yiqing could not resist asking again, but Wen Ci noticed her intention and struck first.
“When did you become short-sighted?”
This time, Dou Yiqing was wearing a pair of glasses she had never worn before.
Dou Yiqing pushed the frames up her nose.
“I’m not short-sighted. They’re decorative. They make me look older.”
Dou Yiqing was twenty-six that year and was currently the youngest teacher and homeroom teacher at Jiangcheng Middle School.
In their profession, teachers who looked too young struggled to command their students, especially in high school. To make herself appear more authoritative, Dou Yiqing wore oversized black T-shirts with wide-legged trousers every day and relied on a single claw clip for every hairstyle.
She dressed as maturely as possible.
Wen Ci laughed.
“How have things been in your class recently?”
“…Don’t mention it.”
The subject was successfully changed.
Dou Yiqing’s chest tightened, and she viciously bit into a chicken wing.
“I honestly wish I could perish together with those bastards who score thirty marks!”
“Calm down,” Wen Ci said with a smile. “You’re the one who said grades don’t represent everything about a student.”
“They don’t. But those students aren’t merely bad at studying. They skip school, fight and do everything else imaginable. A while ago, they even came into my office to steal an exam paper…”
Dou Yiqing sneered.
“Do you remember Qin Yun?”
Wen Ci paused.
“I do.”
“He was bad enough, wasn’t he?”
Dou Yiqing slapped the table.
“The students in my class are even worse than he was!”
During high school, Dou Yiqing had been the class discipline monitor.
She had once said that the name she had written down most often in her entire life was Qin Yun’s.
Qin Yun had been reported more times than anyone else in their class and had even received a minor disciplinary punishment because of it.
He had never accepted Dou Yiqing’s authority either. Back then, whenever the two met, they would exchange insults.
Each time Wen Ci worried that Dou Yiqing would suffer if they actually began fighting, Zhou Wu would appear and call Qin Yun away.
“You wanted to resign before,” Wen Ci said. “What are you planning to do now?”
“I’ll at least take this class through to graduation. A few of them are infuriating, but most of the students are good. Didn’t I have this idea last term? Somehow, word got out, and the students’ parents wrote a joint letter asking me not to leave.”
Dou Yiqing sighed.
“Let’s not discuss these irritating things. Are you coming to the school anniversary this weekend?”
If it had been an ordinary school anniversary, Dou Yiqing would not have bothered asking.
However, this year marked Jiangcheng Middle School’s fiftieth anniversary, and the school was making a grand occasion of it. Many activities had been arranged, numerous officials and distinguished alumni had been invited, and there were apparently going to be fireworks and an evening performance.
“Are you going?” Wen Ci asked.
“I was interested at first, but then I looked at the group chat and saw that Qin Yun and his lot are coming too. What a mood killer.”
“The group chat?”
“Yes, the old QQ group from high school. Didn’t you see it?”
“…No. Let me check.”
Wen Ci’s parents had been very strict during high school. She had rarely been allowed to use a computer and had not owned a phone.
Even her QQ account had been created using Dou Yiqing’s phone.
At the time, someone had started a QQ group for their class. One of the students passed a notebook from desk to desk, asking everyone to write down their QQ number so they could be added.
When the notebook reached Wen Ci, she was about to explain that she did not have an account when she caught sight of Zhou Wu’s name.
Wen Ci still remembered that hot afternoon.
With the sound of cicadas filling the air, she had stared into space for a while before turning to borrow Dou Yiqing’s phone.
After high school graduation, the group gradually fell silent.
When Wen Ci changed phones after starting work, she did not even reinstall QQ.
Once she downloaded it, the application prompted her to enter her account and password again.
Wen Ci stole a glance at Dou Yiqing, who was devouring her food beside her, then typed a string of pinyin letters into the password field as quickly as possible.
The application confirmed that she had logged in successfully.
As expected, the group chat displayed more than ninety-nine unread messages. Judging from the timestamps, the conversation had taken place the previous day.
Although it was called a class group, the people speaking were still the same most active members.
**Duan Wei: Who’s going to Jiangcheng Middle School’s fiftieth anniversary celebration?~**
**Classmate A: Me. Why have you suddenly come back to QQ to discuss it?**
**Duan Wei: The WeChat group only has a few of you in it. I came here to see whether any other old classmates are going.**
**Classmate B: I haven’t used this app in so long. It feels strange… What about Class Monitor? Is he coming with you?**
**Duan Wei: Who cares about him?**
**Classmate B: What happened? Did you two argue? Hahaha.**
**Classmate C: Married couples argue at the head of the bed and make up at the foot. Should we arrange somewhere to meet? It falls on a weekend, so we could also have a gathering that evening. Does anyone want to organise it?**
**Qin Yun: Sure. I’ll arrange it. How does that sound?**
Duan Wei sent a voice message.
Her voice was bold and coquettish as she complained playfully, “Qin Yun, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you replying on WeChat? Is Zhou Wu going? He’s ignoring my messages again. What is he acting so aloof for?”
**Qin Yun: He’s swimming and hasn’t looked at his phone. We’re together.**
**Qin Yun: Why do you even need to ask? Since you’ve spoken, he’ll definitely go.**
**Duan Wei: Hmph.**
**Duan Wei: Then tell him later that he has to wear the school uniform with me.**
…
Dou Yiqing grew bored while eating and leaned over to read with her.
When she saw Qin Yun’s profile picture, she clicked her tongue. When she saw Duan Wei’s, she muttered without thinking, “Xiang Wenwen is unbelievably tolerant. He and Duan Wei have been married for a year, yet she still uses a matching profile picture with Zhou Wu. I checked specially yesterday, and Zhou Wu hasn’t changed his either…”
She paused.
“Forget it. I’ve never understood the world those people live in. So, are you going?”
“Probably not.”
Wen Ci logged out, deleted the app and smiled.
“I’m too tired. I’d rather rest at home over the weekend.”
“That makes sense.”
Dou Yiqing nodded.
“Then I won’t go either.”
…
At nine o’clock on the morning of Jiangcheng Middle School’s anniversary celebration, Wen Ci and Dou Yiqing were sitting inside the school security office, struggling to inflate balloons.
“I can’t do this anymore. My arms hurt!”
Dou Yiqing threw herself backwards against the wall and wailed.
“Damn school! It’s bad enough that they’re taking up my weekend. Why do they also expect me to perform manual labour?”
After school on Friday, both of them had received a notice stating that Jiangcheng Middle School sincerely invited all faculty members from every division to attend the anniversary celebration. It also said that any staff members who wished to contribute could volunteer to help.
It claimed to be voluntary, but the assignments had already been distributed.
Dou Yiqing had even specially “used her connections” to persuade the administrators to assign her and Wen Ci the same task—inflating balloons and delivering them to the different activity areas.
Wen Ci patted her head.
“You rest. I’ll do it.”
Dou Yiqing looked at Wen Ci’s arms, which were even thinner than her own.
“Forget it. I’m afraid you’ll survive teaching but faint while inflating balloons. We should do it together.”
By the time they finished, it was already lunchtime.
The only remotely humane thing the school had done that day was allow staff to eat in the canteen for free using their employee cards.
When they returned after lunch, an additional display board had appeared in their “temporary office.”
Seeing them, the activity team leader pointed towards the board on the floor and smiled.
“Thank you for your hard work, teachers. We may need you to inflate a few more balloons and use them to surround this board introducing our distinguished alumni. Once it’s finished, take it directly to the area beside the school gates and hang it there. It needs to be ready before the school opens to visitors at two this afternoon.”
“There shouldn’t be any more work after that. I heard you were both students at Jiangcheng Middle School yourselves, so you can look around this afternoon.”
To control the flow of visitors, the school had suggested that graduates from different years return during separate morning, afternoon and evening sessions.
Their year had been assigned to the afternoon.
The moment the team leader left, Dou Yiqing rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her skull.
“Was being tortured at Jiangcheng Middle School all morning not enough? Who wants to wander around? The moment we finish, I’m leaving. I’ll run out!”
Wen Ci smiled.
“Exactly.”
After inflating the remaining balloons, Dou Yiqing stood and reached for the board that was propped against the wall with its back facing them.
“Come on. Let’s admire these distinguished alumni.”
Wen Ci held the other side, and together they turned the board around.
When she saw it, Wen Ci froze slightly.
Most of the distinguished alumni listed on the board had only their names printed. Only a small number had been given photographs.
Zhou Wu was placed first.
In the photograph, Zhou Wu was wearing his school uniform, and his hair had been cut extremely short.
Wen Ci remembered that it had been taken during the period when the school was enforcing strict grooming standards. Old Yu, their former homeroom teacher, had personally dragged him away to have it cut.
That hairstyle would have been a disaster on anyone else.
Zhou Wu was the exception.
Without his hair drawing attention, the entire focus fell on his face.
The boy lifted his chin slightly as he looked at the camera, displaying his sharp, striking features in full. He seemed to have been in a bad mood when the picture was taken. His gaze held both impatience and provocation, filled with the unruly spirit of youth.
Because space was limited, the description beneath it was concise.
He had graduated from a prestigious American university and was employed by Lingsheng Group.
“Employed?”
Dou Yiqing looked amused.
“He’s the crown prince of the company… Though I suppose the school couldn’t write that.”
She looked at the third row and laughed.
“I knew Duan Wei would be included.”
Compared with the other distinguished alumni, Duan Wei’s profile was relatively ordinary.
Her university was not even mentioned. It merely described her as an “outstanding designer.”
However, she was beautiful. During high school, whenever the school held an event, she was always placed at the front of the ceremonial team.
Dou Yiqing studied Duan Wei’s photograph and expressed her understanding.
“Forget it. If I were part of the school leadership and someone looked that beautiful, I’d put her on the board too.”
“That’s true.”
Wen Ci agreed with a faint smile.
She stood and held the board steady.
“Shall we take it over now?”
…
Beside the gates of Jiangcheng Middle School.
“Can you hang it properly?”
Two security guards held the bottom of the board and called up anxiously.
“Why don’t you come down and let us climb up instead? You young women shouldn’t risk falling.”
Amid their worried shouting, Wen Ci and Dou Yiqing successfully hung the board.
The two of them were exhausted and did not immediately climb down. Instead, they sat on the stepladders to rest.
“It’s up!”
Dou Yiqing shouted down.
“It’s fine. This is nothing. I compete with the students in my class to climb over walls every day. Don’t worry. Just make sure you support our fragile Ms Wen.”
Wen Ci rubbed her aching arm and laughed.
“What do you mean? The homework I usually carry is much heavier than this.”
“Wonderful. That’s so nice,” Dou Yiqing replied. “Whenever my class hands in homework, it looks as if half the students have vanished.”
Wen Ci laughed even harder.
“Stop laughing and look at yourself.”
Dou Yiqing grinned.
“You’ve got dust on your face.”
There had been some dust on the back of the board. Wen Ci must have accidentally brushed her hand against her face after moving it.
“Where?”
Wen Ci did not care much and wiped at her face randomly.
“Is it clean now—”
“Wen Ci?”
A familiar voice sounded behind her.
Wen Ci froze and turned around while still sitting on the stepladder.
A group of their former high school classmates stood there.
There were nearly ten of them—the same people who had spoken in the QQ group. They seemed to have planned it in advance, as all of them were wearing Jiangcheng Middle School uniforms.
The person who had called her name was Qin Yun, standing in the centre of the group.
There was only one woman among them.
Her gaze moved past Wen Ci towards the newly hung display board introducing the distinguished alumni.
Then she smiled and turned to grab the arm of the man behind her.
“Zhou Wu, look. Both of us are on the board.”
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