Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
“Anything wrong?” Xie Yujia got back into the car and asked Hao Ren curiously when she saw him looking back at the guard.
“Nothing.” Hao Ren drove the car into the school, wondering if some of the workers in the school were also plain-clothed bodyguards sent by Zhao Guang.
He parked the car in the parking lot behind the cafeteria and got off the car with Xie Yujia.
Right now, the students were in class, and it was quiet on campus. Xie Yujia was here to visit her former teachers, and Hao Ren came here as her driver, planning to check up on Zhao Yanzi while he was here.
In the academic building of the Middle School Department, Hao Ren and Xie Yujia gentled their steps while they walked up the stairs.
Xie Yujia had gone through both the Middle School and High School Departments. She planned to first visit the teachers of the Middle School Department before going to the opposite building to visit the teachers in the High School Department.
Walking on the familiar stairs and through the corridors, Xie Yujia was reminiscent. When she was in the Middle School Department, she had refused many boys’ public or secret pursuits due to her feelings for “Little Older Brother”. Right now, she had a strange and wondrous feeling inside walking around in the Middle School Department with “Little Older Brother”.
Oblivious to Xie Yujia’s complicated feelings, Hao Ren remembered the last time he was here attending a parent-teacher meeting. When he was sitting in Zhao Yanzi’s classroom, he had imagined the scenario in which Zhao Yanzi was in the class. Today, he finally had the chance to witness it.
They came to the second floor. The left side was teachers’ offices, and the classrooms were on the right. Hao Ren walked directly to the classrooms on the right. He remembered the location of Class Two of the Eighth Grade and decided to go directly to the classroom to check up on Zhao Yanzi.
“The saucy girl must be reading a comic book in class. If she sees me pass by the windows, she will be startled,” Hao Ren thought with some secret enjoyment.
He could even imagine the surprise in Zhao Yanzi’s eyes when she saw him.
“Yujia?”
Suddenly, a voice both familiar and strange interrupted his wandering thoughts.
Hao Ren and Xie Yujia both looked back and saw Luo Ying, the Class Advisor of Class Two of Eighth Grade, was standing at the entrance of the staircase.
“Ms. Luo!” Xie Yujia called. Her voice was not loud but very pleasing.
“Well, why are you here today?” Luo Ying looked at Xie Yujia, pleasantly surprised. She walked closer and glanced at Hao Ren, vaguely remembering he was Zhao Yanzi’s “cousin”.
Seeing Luo Ying, Hao Ren dared not loiter at the entrance of the classroom. He stayed by Xie Yujia’s side politely.
Casting a glance at Hao Ren, Luo Ying asked Xie Yujia cautiously, “Your boyfriend?”
Xie Yujia blushed. “No. He’s my classmate in the university. We came here together.”
Luo Ying nodded with a smile as if she was relieved.
“What?! You think I’m not good enough for Xie Yujia?” Hao Ren murmured silently.
“I have to print some tests in the Copying Room. You guys go ahead and sit in my office until I come back,” Luo Ying continued.
She said “you guys” which certainly included Hao Ren. Resigned, Hao Ren had to go with Xie Yujia, deciding to check up on Zhao Yanzi in the classroom when Xie Yujia went to visit her teachers in the High School Department.
“Ok, Ms. Luo,” Xie Yujia answered with a smile.
Luo Ying nodded with satisfaction before going down the stairs.
Seeing Hao Ren was looking around curiously, Xie Yujia tugged at him and pulled him to the office area on the right.
The Eighth-Grade teachers’ offices were all on the second floor for the convenience of management. The teachers of Chinese, Math, and English, the three main courses, shared one big office.
Looking up at the plaque “Eighth Grade Office of Chinese, Math and English” above the room, Hao Ren followed Xie Yujia into the office.
Obviously, Xie Yujia had been a class president when she was in middle school since she was very familiar with the office. However, Hao Ren was reminded of the many times when he was summoned to his teacher’s office for lectures, and it was not a pleasant experience for him to enter such an office again.
“Well! It’s Yujia!” Many teachers in the office recognized Xie Yujia and called out to her happily.
“Hi! Ms. Sun! Ms. Tian! Ms. Jin!” Xie Yujia greeted them one by one.
Obviously very fond of Xie Yujia, they waved at her happily. Instantly, the quiet office room became lively.
English Teacher Ms. Jin, the youngest among them, was especially happy. She took Xie Yujia’s hand, saying, “I’ve not seen you for years, and you are even prettier now! I still remember the boys writing you love letters and I even caught one in my English Class. It was written in English!”
“Ms. Jin, it happened a long ago…” Xie Yujia lowered her head and said shyly.
Standing in the office, Hao Ren just looked at Xie Yujia and the teachers. He felt a little embarrassed since he had not been a student of LingZhao Middle School and thus didn’t know any of the teachers.
“Haha! You’ve brought your boyfriend to visit us?” Ms. Jin saw Hao Ren standing in the office and asked Xie Yujia.
“No! He’s my classmate in the university,” Xie Yujia hurried to explain.
However, the teachers didn’t believe her. They teased her, “You used to study hard, but you are in the college now. It’s natural to have a boyfriend.”
Xie Yujia blushed. She turned to look at Hao Ren, but he didn’t come over to help her explain.
Hao Ren felt it would be weird to talk to them. After all, they were not his teachers.
“Your boyfriend is quite handsome. You two must be going steady since he has agreed to come here to visit your teachers with you,” Seeing Xie Yujia’s blush, the teachers teased her more vigorously
Since Xie Yujia had graduated from the Middle School Department many years ago, the teachers no longer treated her as a kid. Besides, it was quite common for college students to date. Seeing Hao Ren’s solid character and Xie Yujia’s gentleness, they thought it was highly likely that they would stick with each other after graduating from university.
Being teased mercilessly by the teachers and Hao Ren didn’t look like he would come forward to help explain, Xie Yujia had to distract them with another topic. She asked, “Are you quite busy these days?”
“Of course! I’m overwhelmed!” Ms. Jin complained. “The students are getting more and more rebellious! Today I even caught one copying someone else’s homework in class!”
“Oh?” Xie Yujia pulled out a chair and sat down before beckoning Hao Ren to sit beside her.
Just when Hao Ren was dragging a chair over to her side, Ms. Jin turned toward a corner and asked, “Zhao Yanzi, are you finished with your Self Reflection Report?”
Hao Ren turned his head and saw behind the piles of papers on the desk Zhao Yanzi was busy writing a Self Reflection Report with her teeth gritting.