SYLM Chapter 127
by VolareChapter 127 “I don’t need you anymore.”
Chapter 127 “I don’t need you anymore.”
Fu Yi Wen felt very guilty for impulsively making Tang Ying her TOEFL teacher, mainly towards Chen Qing Yu, who had painstakingly helped her find many teachers.
But Chen Qing Yu didn’t say anything after learning about it, only said to contact her anytime if anything came up, and told Fu Yi Wen never to wrong herself.
Her Lulu had said the same thing to her. Mother and daughter were on the same wavelength again.
And so, Tang Ying officially became Fu Yi Wen’s TOEFL teacher.
The four modules of reading, listening, speaking, and writing all require the accumulation and use of English vocabulary. To train Fu Yi Wen’s ear, Tang Ying initiated daily all-English conversations from her first day, in addition to the necessary tutoring.
“Are you ready for today’s torture session?”
When the cold and standard English voice came from the doorway, Fu Yi Wen was staring blankly at a reading question from TPO. She looked up and saw that familiar figure leaning against the door frame, a black pencil skirt outlining a perfect waist-to-hip ratio, and the collar of a silk shirt slightly open, her snow-white skin hitting the eye.
Fu Yi Wen subconsciously swallowed, her fingers nervously clutching the corner of the book page.
She saw… no, she heard the word “today,” so she asked, “What, what does it mean?”
Tang Ying raised an eyebrow and walked in on high heels. She placed a stack of materials on the table, and a woody rose scent drilled straight into Fu Yi Wen’s nose.
“It means are you ready. You can answer ‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ meaning ‘ready anytime.’ Understand?”
“…Yes…”
Fu Yi Wen had a premonition that her days preparing for the exam would be difficult.
Sure enough, the following days were as she expected.
Tang Ying was still Tang Ying.
Whether it was American, British, or Australian accents, Tang Ying switched between them naturally, often leaving Fu Yi Wen dumbfounded. This person’s language talent was simply terrifying; every accent sounded authentic.
“First, let’s review yesterday’s vocabulary.”
Tang Ying pulled out a whiteboard marker and fluently wrote down several words. Her British accent was as standard as a BBC announcer, each syllable round and full:
“Repeat after me: ubiquitous.”
Fu Yi Wen opened her mouth and ambiguously repeated: “Ubiquitous.”
The typical Chinese pronunciation made Tang Ying frown: “No, darling. U-bi-qui-tous, the second syllable should be lighter.”
As she spoke, Tang Ying suddenly approached, gently placing Fu Yi Wen’s finger on her vocal cords:
“Feel here when I say it.”
“……”
Fu Yi Wen froze completely.
The two were so close, so close that she was surrounded by Tang Ying’s scent with every breath. When Tang Ying repeated the word, she could indeed feel the subtle vibrations of her vocal cords.
“Now you try.”
This time, the cool fingertip landed on Fu Yi Wen’s vocal cords:
“…U-bi-qui-tous…”
Fu Yi Wen pronounced it correctly this time, but she couldn’t hear her own voice at all. All her attention was on the hand Tang Ying was holding.
“Good girl.”
Tang Ying was satisfied and withdrew her hand, continuing on, seemingly oblivious to Fu Yi Wen’s completely flushed face.
The listening practice that followed was even more torturous.
Tang Ying didn’t know where she found English materials with various accents: technical reports from British engineers, academic papers from Indian PhD students, interviews with Scottish old ladies, speeches by South African businessmen…
The worst thing was that this person could even imitate these accents vividly, leaving Fu Yi Wen stunned, her mouth never closing.
“Wait, say that question you just said again!” Fu Yi Wen requested for the sixth time, anxiously scratching her head.
“Say it in English.”
“Emm… Wait, say that again?”
Tang Ying nodded, and when she spoke again, her standard British accent suddenly switched to a heavy Australian accent, repeating the question just now at a moderate speed.
Fu Yi Wen felt like she was listening to an Australian kangaroo speaking: “……”
Was this right? What was the difference between this and not repeating it? How could this person switch accents every minute?
If Fu Yi Wen exerted a little more effort, she would have pulled out all her hair. Seeing her frustration and dissatisfaction, Tang Ying twirled the pen between her fingers and switched to Chinese:
“Not all exams use standard English.”
“No, but how do you switch so naturally?”
Tang Ying raised an eyebrow and smiled, switching back to a standard London accent: “Practice makes perfect.”
When Tang Ying said this, the sunlight just happened to shine on her profile through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating her whole being.
She was so charming.
Fu Yi Wen felt like her heart skipped a beat.
For Fu Yi Wen, who was at the level of an English elementary school student, learning English had no most difficult, only more difficult.
The speaking practice was even more unbearable, making her want to die.
Tang Ying didn’t know where she got a set of mock interview equipment, so Fu Yi Wen had to answer all kinds of tricky questions into the microphone.
“Describe a time you faced a difficult challenge.”
Tang Ying’s voice came through the headset, calm and professional, as if she were really taking the exam.
Fu Yi Wen almost bit through her lip. The challenge she wanted to talk about most was falling in love with Tang Ying and trying to forget her, but that was obviously not the answer the TOEFL exam wanted. In the end, she could only stammer through a story about her restaurant opening, stuttering five or six times in the middle.
After listening, a soft sigh came from the headset, and Tang Ying switched to an American accent: “Sweetie, you sound like a washing machine on spin cycle.”
“……”
Fu Yi Wen didn’t quite understand what Tang Ying meant by that sentence, but she roughly guessed that the other person was complaining about her. She couldn’t help but mutter in a low voice:
“Isn’t it because you’re listening…”
That short sentence was successfully picked up by the microphone, and silence suddenly fell on the other end of the headset.
After a few seconds, the originally official and standard voice suddenly had a bit of tenderness it shouldn’t have:
“Take a deep breath. Imagine I’m not here.”
“……”
Her originally steady breathing suddenly became a little rapid. Fu Yi Wen understood this sentence.
But how was that possible?
Even if she closed her eyes, Tang Ying’s presence was as strong as the midday sun in summer—the pleasant scent of perfume, the rustling of the pen across the paper, the occasional friction of clothing when adjusting her posture… everything reminded Fu Yi Wen that Tang Ying was right here.
Close at hand, yet out of reach.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Fu Yi Wen took off her headset and collapsed on the table, her forehead pressed against the cold surface, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, not knowing who she was kowtowing to:
“I’m going to die, let me die, I don’t want to live anymore!”
“Darling, your Chinese won’t impress the TOEFL examiner.” Tang Ying tapped the edge of the table with her finger, her tone quite calm: “English only.”
“。。。”
What time was it already? Did she have to use English even if she died!?
Fu Yi Wen glared at Tang Ying, who was standing next to her, and after stammering for a long time, finally choked out: “I’m dead!”
Looking at the person’s puffed-up appearance, Tang Ying couldn’t help but laugh, and subconsciously reached out to rub the other person’s hair, but Fu Yi Wen instinctively dodged.
Two subconscious actions resulted in a slightly awkward silence.
Neither was intentional, but both were deliberate.
Fu Yi Wen looked away first, looking down at the table.
This table was really a table.
The hand that had reached out fell empty, and Tang Ying withdrew her hand, also looking away:
“Okay, one last exercise.”
After speaking, she took out a recording of a speech by Hillary Clinton, spoken at a shockingly fast pace: “Take notes, then summarize.”
Fu Yi Wen pulled her gaze away from the table and stared at Tang Ying in despair:
“Are you a devil?”
“Maybe.” Tang Ying raised an eyebrow and pressed the play button.
Twenty minutes later, when Fu Yi Wen finally stuttered through the summary, Tang Ying suddenly said in a pure London accent:
“Actually, you’re doing better than you think.”
“……”
Fu Yi Wen froze for a moment. When she looked up, she met those beautiful eyes that were rarely full of praise.
What did it feel like to be praised by someone so capable?
In the past two months, Tang Ying had never lowered her standards. Fu Yi Wen did her best, but didn’t always keep up with her pace. Now, having stumbled to this point, Fu Yi Wen felt that her performance was, at best, just passing.
But now Tang Ying was telling her that she was doing well.
A warm current surged in her chest, and Fu Yi Wen suddenly wanted to cry.
“Thank you.” She said softly, “For not giving up on me.”
Perhaps it was shame in her native language, but this time Fu Yi Wen took the initiative to use English.
Regardless of what they had been through, at this moment, her gratitude to Tang Ying was genuine.
Fu Yi Wen said her thanks with her head down. She didn’t notice Tang Ying’s expression soften for a moment when she heard “Thank you for not giving up on me,” nor did she see the hand that wanted to touch her head, hesitated in mid-air, and finally turned to organizing the materials on the table.
“Tomorrow we’ll focus on writing.”
Fu Yi Wen heard Tang Ying say this, and after two seconds of mentally translating it from English to Chinese, she couldn’t help but howl to the sky.
Gratitude was gratitude, but when would these days end!?
—
Early winter in Los Angeles came silently.
Two months had passed since Tang Ying had successfully competed for her position.
In front of the testing center, Fu Yi Wen paced back and forth, as if this could alleviate her indescribable nervousness. Today, she was wearing a beige turtleneck sweater, which made her small round face look particularly fair, and her lips were blood-red from repeatedly biting them.
“Don’t be nervous.”
Tang Ying’s voice came from her side. Fu Yi Wen turned her head and collided with those phoenix eyes that held a hint of a smile.
Tang Ying was wearing flat shoes today, a rare sight, but she was still half a head taller than her. A camel-colored cashmere coat wrapped around her slender figure, and the gold earrings on her earlobes dazzled the eyes.
Fu Yi Wen was unconvinced and subconsciously retorted: “Who said I was nervous?”
Tang Ying raised an eyebrow and chuckled: “You’re shaking so much you could be popping.”
Fu Yi Wen: “……”
“Don’t be nervous.” Tang Ying joked: “Even if you don’t believe in your own abilities, don’t you believe in my teaching?”
Fu Yi Wen: ???
This person really knew how to pat herself on the back!
After receiving a glare, Tang Ying wasn’t angry. Instead, she suddenly opened her arms, an action that startled Fu Yi Wen so much that she took half a step back:
“You, what are you doing?”
“Don’t you want to absorb some of my lucky energy?”
“……”
Fu Yi Wen’s expression stiffened. This sentence was like a key, opening the memory valve deep in her mind. She suddenly remembered that year of the college entrance examination, when she, at nineteen, had also hugged Tang Ying, who was seeing her off at the school gate:
“Oh my god! You scared me to death! I thought I was going to be late! You don’t know how congested the road near my house was. Luckily, I ran into a delivery guy, or I definitely wouldn’t have made it!”
“It’s your bad luck if you’re late. Why are you hugging me? Let go!”
“Don’t! The exam is about to start, let me absorb some of your lucky energy!”
“Fu Yi Wen! Let go! You’re suffocating me!”
“……”
That bear hug nearly knocked Tang Ying into the flower bed behind her. In the end, the two were almost fighting.
Memories flooded back like a tide, and Fu Yi Wen’s eyes stung.
Things had changed, and she was no longer the headstrong little girl who was a moth flying into a flame. She would never—
Before she could finish making her resolution, Fu Yi Wen was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace. The soft cashmere fabric brushed against her cheek, carrying a faint scent of perfume and body warmth.
“Did you bring everything?”
Tang Ying’s voice brushed past her ear, her breath burning through her heart. Subconsciously, her raised arms hung in the air, finally slowly lowering. Perhaps her body was craving this moment of warmth, Fu Yi Wen forgot to push away, and could only nod blankly: “Yeah.”
“Don’t be nervous, I’ll wait for you outside.”
This sentence made Fu Yi Wen’s heart tremble.
No. Don’t wait for me. I don’t want you to wait for me.
Fu Yi Wen said this in her heart, but the only word that came out was a thin “Yeah.”
……
Nearly three and a half hours of testing was like a marathon.
When she walked out of the examination hall, the afternoon sun shone diagonally on the corridor, making people’s shadows very long.
Fu Yi Wen rubbed her wrist, which was so sore it was on the verge of tendinitis. She truly admired her Lulu for being able to sit in front of the computer and write day after day, year after year.
After coming out, Fu Yi Wen saw Tang Ying at a glance.
That person was still standing where they had parted in the morning, only now she had a bouquet of baby’s breath and daisies, and a strawberry ice cream cone that looked delicious.
Before Fu Yi Wen could react, that person had already walked over.
“Good luck with the exam.” Tang Ying handed the flowers and ice cream cone to her.
Fu Yi Wen glanced at the flowers, then glanced at the ice cream cone, turning her face away in rejection:
“It’s almost winter, who eats ice cream in this cold weather? Are you trying to freeze me to death?”
As if to help Fu Yi Wen, a gust of cold wind just happened to sweep over, causing her to shiver.
Tang Ying looked down at the ice cream cone in her hand, and the smile on her lips froze for a moment. Fu Yi Wen could almost guess that she was going to say something like “Eat it or don’t,” or “Good riddance if you freeze to death.”
But Tang Ying didn’t.
After a few seconds of silence, that person lowered her eyes and said softly: “Then I’ll eat it myself.”
Eat it herself?
Fu Yi Wen suddenly turned her head, a little anxious: “Aren’t you on your period? How can you eat—”
Loving Tang Ying seemed to have really become Fu Yi Wen’s instinct. Some words blurted out, and when she realized it, she almost bit her tongue.
She actually still remembered Tang Ying’s menstrual cycle, remembered that she couldn’t have anything cold at this time.
Dead brain, why was it so good at remembering things, especially these kinds of things?
Fu Yi Wen was very annoyed, and Tang Ying certainly didn’t miss this opportunity. Remembering how this person had insisted on her changing her high heels to flats this morning, she raised her eyebrows in a good mood:
“So you still remember.”
“……”
Whether it was out of anger or shame, Fu Yi Wen’s entire face burned up. She turned around and left!
“Little Fatty, wait for me, I can’t walk fast.”
It was that nickname she both loved and hated.
The back under her sweater was ramrod straight, and Fu Yi Wen quickened her pace without looking back.
“Don’t you want the flowers?”
Still ignoring her, she continued to walk forward.
“The ice cream cone is going to melt.”
The distance grew wider and wider.
“Little Fatty, my stomach hurts.”
These words were as light as a sigh, carried by the cold wind into someone’s ear, and Fu Yi Wen’s footsteps stopped abruptly.
Not turning around was her last bit of stubbornness.
Hearing Tang Ying’s footsteps gradually approaching behind her, Fu Yi Wen took a deep breath, and the cold air filled her lungs, a stinging pain.
From summer to winter, from China to America, this couldn’t go on any longer.
This entanglement should end.
The footsteps stopped behind her. Fu Yi Wen turned her head, meeting those beautiful eyes that were looking at her with a smile.
She didn’t take the flowers, nor did she take the ice cream cone.
“Tang Ying.”
Fu Yi Wen heard her voice, colder than the winter:
“The TOEFL exam is over, I don’t need you anymore.”
“……”
This sentence was like a double-edged sword, piercing two hearts at the same time.
The strawberry ice cream cone fell to the ground with a “plop,” pink cream splattering everywhere. Early winter in Los Angeles was so cold, so cold that Tang Ying’s smile froze on her face.