SYLM Chapter 1

Chapter 1: An Unremarkable First Encounter

Ningcheng is a small county town located in Northeast China, with distinct seasons. The locals are warm, hospitable, cheerful, and generous.

However, with the increasing imbalance in economic development between the north and south, not only Ningcheng but fewer and fewer young people are choosing to stay in the Northeast. Because of this, Ningcheng has gradually become a slow-paced place full of life.

A small county town in winter, 5:30 in the morning.

The biting wind relentlessly whipped through the trees and buildings, and the snow that had fallen overnight covered the entire street like smooth, white silk.

The sky was still filled with light snow, and the surroundings were pitch black. The streetlights were still asleep before work hours, but the buses had already started their day of early starts and late finishes.

The bus that Gu Wan Jun was on was the first bus of the day in Ningcheng, and the final stop was the only high school in the county, Ningcheng No. 1 High School.

When Gu Wan Jun boarded the bus, there were no seats left. She stood next to the handrail near the back door, surrounded by people on all sides.

Most of the passengers were high school students rushing to attend morning self-study. They had neat, easy-to-manage hairstyles and wore the school’s uniform winter attire, which was easily recognizable.

Some held booklets in their hands, muttering and reciting what they would be tested on later.

Some gripped the handrail with one hand and wolfed down buns and soy milk with the other, probably wanting to finish breakfast before entering the school.

Others leaned against the handrail with their heads down and eyes closed, yawning from time to time, obviously not fully awake but forced to get up and go to school…

Fine snow fluttered, and the road surface was slippery. The bus headlights shone brightly, and a traffic accident could easily occur if one wasn’t careful. The bus driver had to concentrate two hundred percent to drive.

The bus was crowded, and the winter clothes were thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. The bus drove as carefully as possible, but when turning and passing bus stops, the bus still swayed violently, and everyone on board tried to maintain their balance.

Despite being inside the bus, people exhaled white vapor when they breathed because they were packed so closely together.

Gu Wan Jun stamped her feet, which were almost frozen stiff, and buried her face and ears in her scarf, only exposing her autumn waters, long sky peach blossom eyes. To steady herself, she tightly gripped the nearest handrail, her rounded fingertips were slightly red from the cold.

It was her first time taking the early bus, and she was worried about missing it. As a result, she rushed out the door and forgot to bring her gloves.

…

After a slight jolt, the bus turned onto a new street. Ningcheng No. 1 High School was on this street.

As it approached the school, unlike the silence and darkness of other streets, the signs and windows of shops on one side of this street glowed with light, opening early. Most of them were breakfast shops, small stores, copy shops, stationery stores, and so on that students frequented.

Seeing that the bus was about to arrive, the students on the bus began to put on hats and scarves, preparing to get off the bus, brave the wind and snow, and quickly enter the school’s teaching building.

Gu Wan Jun subconsciously touched her cotton-padded coat pocket to check if her lesson preparation USB drive was still there.

But the next second, without knowing what happened in front, the bus suddenly braked, and the bus body shook abruptly!

Gu Wan Jun, squeezed in the crowd, was completely unprepared. Even though she was still holding the handrail, her uncontrollable body leaned forward sharply with the crowd, and then leaned back again due to inertia, like a tumbler!

With this sudden incident, there were exclamations and sighs on the bus. The driver was both angry and scared. He knew how many families’ hopes his bus carried, so his voice even trembled:

“What the heck! Why is this section of the road so slippery? Didn’t they say there were cars clearing the snow near the school? Where are they? Where are the cars?”

“…”

In order to stand firm and not fall, Gu Wan Jun tightly grasped the handrail. Her right foot subconsciously took half a step back, but this step seemed to step on something.

Oh no, she seemed to have stepped on someone…

Gu Wan Jun secretly thought it was bad. She immediately retracted her right foot and quickly looked down at her feet.

On the dirty carriage floor where the snow had melted, a brand-new white sneaker was unfortunately imprinted with half a wet black footprint…

Gu Wan Jun’s heart suddenly sank. Her first thought was to turn around and apologize to the person behind her, but at the moment, people were squeezed together so closely that she couldn’t turn around at all, and even turning her head was difficult.

Unable to see who she had stepped on, Gu Wan Jun could only express her apology through her voice:

“I’m sorry, excuse me, I stepped on you.”

“It’s okay.”

Perhaps it was the silent understanding between the person who stepped on someone and the person who was stepped on, Gu Wan Jun quickly received a response.

A clear and pleasant voice fell into her ears, like a mountain spring. Judging from the voice, it should be a girl.

Girls generally pay more attention to cleanliness, but she had just dirtied someone’s white shoes.

Gu Wan Jun sighed in her heart. She deeply regretted why she had taken that half step back.

…

The bus restarted, and it was only a few dozen meters away from the school.

Afraid of stepping on someone again, Gu Wan Jun’s legs seemed to be nailed to the spot during this period, without moving.

Remembering that she had packed alcohol wipes in her bag when she left in the morning, but now she was too squeezed to get them out, she thought that when she got off the bus to apologize to the girl behind her, she could give them to her to wipe her shoes.

Gu Wan Jun planned the remedial measures in her heart.

—

A minute later, the bus stopped in front of the bus stop near the school.

The back door of the bus opened automatically, and the biting cold wind mixed with the fluttering fine snow poured into the bus, like a sharp blade cutting through the surrounding air, and the biting coldness hit the body directly, causing people to shiver involuntarily.

After getting off the bus, the cold wind messed up the broken hair on Gu Wan Jun’s forehead. She tugged at her scarf and first looked around at the high school students who got off the bus, trying to find the girl whose shoe she had stepped on among the many figures.

The surrounding lights were dim and the visibility was low. The high school students who got off the bus were agile and quick, and were roughly divided into two parts. One part braved the wind and snow and quickly ran into the school; the other part crossed the road and jogged to the shops opposite the school.

Gu Wan Jun looked left and right. In this situation, it was really difficult for her to find the girl she had just stepped on.

Unable to find the person, Gu Wan Jun had to apologize to the girl in her heart again.

Looking down at her watch, seeing that there was still time, Gu Wan Jun turned around and walked towards the breakfast cart next to the school gate as usual.

…

Rather than a breakfast cart, it was more like a simple pushcart.

On the pushcart were foam insulation boxes covered with quilts. The boxes contained freshly steamed buns, crispy fried dough sticks, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside meat pies, hot soy milk, milk porridge, sticky corn, sweet potatoes, and essential tea eggs…

Since coming to Ningcheng No. 1 High School as a teacher, Gu Wan Jun’s breakfast had almost always come from here.

The stall owner was a middle-aged woman, a true Northeasterner, with the signature loud voice and straightforward personality of Northeasterners. Every time she saw Gu Wan Jun, she would greet her warmly, and today was no exception.

“Oh, Teacher Gu is here. You look so good in this outfit today. Beauty defies the cold! Oh yeah, why are you here so early today?”

“I’m a homeroom teacher now, so I’ll be here around this time every day from now on.”

“Oh, you’re a homeroom teacher now, that’s really tiring work. In our small county, one teacher is used as ten, especially high school homeroom teachers. Low pay, lots of work, and responsibility. You have to take care of your health.”

The woman adjusted the cotton hat on her head. Even through the thick scarf, white vapor still puffed out, freezing her eyebrows white. “Okay, I won’t chatter with you anymore. See what you want to eat today?”

“Two buns, one egg, one cup of millet porridge, thank you.”

Gu Wan Jun handed over the money she had prepared in advance while speaking.

“Okay! Coming right up!”

…

While waiting for her breakfast to be packed, Gu Wan Jun stamped her feet in place to resist the cold, rubbing her icy hands back and forth in her coat pocket to warm them.

Even with the scarf, her fair and plain face was still frozen red. The white vapor exhaled through the scarf condensed a thin layer of frost on Gu Wan Jun’s curled and thick eyelashes, like traces left by snowflakes kissing her.

The woman was quick, and the breakfast was packed quickly.

When taking the plastic bag from the woman, a hint of doubt flashed in her peach blossom-like eyes. Gu Wan Jun asked softly, “Auntie, I only ordered one egg, you put in too many.”

“Oh, that other one is on me. You’re a homeroom teacher now, but you’re still so thin. From afar, it looks like a gust of wind could blow you away. You can’t handle working day and night like this. You need to eat more.”

“No, I can’t take your things for free.”

After speaking, Gu Wan Jun was about to rummage through her bag to find cash, but the woman grabbed her hand and started shooing her away:

“Okay, okay, don’t bother looking. It’s just a dollar or two. Just take it. Hurry up and go in, don’t delay my business!”

“…”

The large hand with the cotton glove had surprisingly strong strength. Unable to resist the woman’s actions, Gu Wan Jun had to say thank you.

…

It was still dark, but almost every window of the teaching building emitted a faint glow.

Entering the campus, there were students walking quickly in front and behind her. Gu Wan Jun tucked her breakfast-carrying hand into her sleeve, and walked towards the teaching building, stepping on the footprints left by the students.

Ningcheng No. 1 High School had a total of three teaching buildings. From west to east, they were the freshman, sophomore, and senior year buildings. At this moment, the road Gu Wan Jun was on led to the sophomore teaching building.

This was one of the few times she had walked in this direction since coming to work at Ningcheng No. 1 High School.

…

In just a short distance, Gu Wan Jun had switched hands carrying her breakfast countless times because she was so cold.

As she approached the steps at the entrance of the teaching building, Gu Wan Jun took the hand in her pocket to her mouth and breathed hot air on it, preparing to pull the frozen iron door handle.

It had snowed all night, and there was both snow and ice on the steps.

Stepping onto the second step, Gu Wan Jun lost her footing. With a subconscious exclamation, her body instantly lost balance, and she was about to fall!

Below the steps was solid concrete ground, and she would definitely be hurt if she fell.

Such a thought flashed through Gu Wan Jun’s mind. She was even prepared to close her eyes, but the next second—

There was no expected pain or coldness. A pair of hands suddenly appeared behind Gu Wan Jun, quickly supporting her shoulders and waist.

…

“Are you okay?”

A clear and calm voice came from behind her, sounding particularly reassuring at this moment.

Almost falling and being lucky enough to be supported, it was only a few seconds from beginning to end. Gu Wan Jun breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t even seen who had helped her, and the words of thanks had already blurted out subconsciously:

“I’m fine, thanks to you for helping me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The voice sounded so familiar. Gu Wan Jun turned around when she heard the voice. Standing in front of her was a girl wearing a school uniform, a black mask, and a tall, thin figure.

The person in front of her was half a head shorter than herself, with an estimated height of 165cm. Her high ponytail was neatly combed, revealing her ears, which were red from the cold. Beneath her willow leaf eyebrows were crescent-shaped eyes with full silkworm, and the clear and bright pupils revealed a cold confidence that formed a strong contrast with her gentle and delicate eyebrows.

Her eyes must look very beautiful when she smiles.

This was Gu Wan Jun’s first impression of Chen Lu.

And as for the other person involved, Chen Lu.

Coincidentally, at the moment when she supported Gu Wan Jun’s back, Chen Lu recognized her at a glance.

Mulberry red knitted scarf, beige diamond-patterned down jacket, corduroy wide-leg pants in the same color, dark brown chunky-heeled short boots, and the faint white tea scent that she had smelled all the way.

She was the person who stepped on her foot on the bus just now.

Chen Lu didn’t expect that the two of them would meet again in less than ten minutes.

Although she had never seen this woman in the sophomore teaching building, anyone who came to the teaching building at this time should be either a student or a teacher.

Meeting the woman’s gentle and beautiful peach blossom eyes, Chen Lu nodded politely: “Hello, teacher.”

“Hello, thank you just now.” Gu Wan Jun thanked her again.

“It’s okay.” Chen Lu shook her head, her tone still very calm.

Many high school students passed the two of them and entered the teaching building. Gu Wan Jun originally wanted to ask “Which class are you in, student?” However, Chen Lu, who was in a hurry, glanced at her watch and directly defaulted that the conversation was over. She took the steps three at a time and opened the door of the teaching building.

There were less than twenty minutes left until the morning self-study that started at 6:30. Recently, each grade had been strict about students being late. Usually, most students would already be sitting in the classroom reciting books in preparation for the quiz later, so it was no wonder the child was in a hurry.

Gu Wan Jun understood.

The only pity was that she didn’t have time to ask her name and which class she was in.

Like you and me, ordinary people, no one can predict the future. The gears of fate turned quietly. What Gu Wan Jun didn’t know at this moment was that she didn’t need to feel sorry at all, because they would meet again soon.

…