SYLM Chapter 16
by VolareChapter 16 Treat Me to a Meal After Moving
Seeing Chen Lu getting closer and closer, Gu Wan Jun realized she had been smiling when her lips slightly moved and touched her cool teeth.
The bus driver’s urging to board sounded in her ear, and Gu Wan Jun snapped back to reality, waving her hand and stepping aside to allow others to board.
The bus started and drove away, and Chen Lu jogged up to Gu Wan Jun.
“Why are you here? Is something the matter?”
Gu Wan Jun asked, casually tucking a stray strand of hair behind Chen Lu’s ear.
Chen Lu wasn’t wearing her usual high ponytail today, her hair simply down. The soft, dark hair felt wonderful to the touch, making the girl’s complexion appear even fairer and more lovely.
“Teacher, moving alone is too much trouble. I’ll help you.”
“…”
Hearing that Chen Lu had run all the way here just to help her move, Gu Wan Jun was stunned for a moment, then habitually smiled and politely declined:
“No need, I don’t have much stuff. I can move it myself.”
“Two people can move faster than one. Let’s finish early while it’s still warm.”
“Chen Lu, I appreciate your kindness, but really, it’s okay. I can manage on my own. You finally have a day off, go home and rest.”
“Your hand is injured; it’s inconvenient for you to move things.”
“It’s fine, it’s just a small injury. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“After you move here, we’ll be neighbors. Didn’t Auntie say we should look after each other?”
“…”
Meeting Chen Lu’s earnest yet somewhat stubborn gaze, Gu Wan Jun’s brow twitched slightly, and she chuckled:
“Did Auntie say that?”
“Yes.” Chen Lu nodded.
“Didn’t Auntie tell me to take good care of you? How did it become ‘look after each other’ in your version?”
“People should help and take care of each other. I’m helping Teacher now, and there will be times when I need Teacher’s help in the future.”
“…”
Listening to the speech that even Chen Lu herself seemed dissatisfied with, Gu Wan Jun was both amused and helpless. She was about to say something to refuse, but Chen Lu spoke first:
“Teacher doesn’t need to worry about troubling me. I’m not helping for nothing. After moving, Teacher will treat me to a meal, right?”
Chen Lu’s tone was serious, with no hint of a joke.
She knew very well that Gu Wan Jun didn’t like to trouble others. In this respect, they were alike. No one understood better than Chen Lu how to get Gu Wan Jun to accept help.
As Chen Lu expected, when Gu Wan Jun heard about the post-move meal, an indescribable emotion flashed in her eyes, and the words of refusal died in her throat.
Not to mention that moving alone was indeed difficult, but more importantly, Gu Wan Jun had some selfish motives—
She had always wanted to treat Chen Lu to a meal.
Whether it was when she helped her at the entrance of the teaching building, brought her a flashlight in the middle of the night, provided her with heat patches and hot water during her period, saved her a seat for several days in a row, or even today, offering to help her move…
Gu Wan Jun was determined to pay for this meal.
…
——
Having reached an agreement, the two boarded the next bus together.
The bus wasn’t crowded, and after getting on, they sat in their usual double seat with remarkable understanding.
Remembering the “bleak sadness” she felt when riding the bus alone these past few days, and now with that quiet, considerate girl sitting next to her again, Gu Wan Jun felt a complex emotion that was hard to describe. She couldn’t help but mention:
“Why didn’t you tell me you were moving?”
“Huh?”
“The first time I didn’t see you on the bus, I thought you had missed it.”
Gu Wan Jun was smiling when she said this, intending it as casual conversation, but somehow, as she continued, a hint of grievance that even Gu Wan Jun herself didn’t notice crept into her gentle tone:
“After not seeing you on the bus for several days in a row, I figured you must have moved.”
“…”
With pale pink fingertips tugging at the corner of her cotton coat, Chen Lu lowered her eyes, her tone devoid of any discernible emotion:
“Actually, I was going to tell you, but I thought you might not care about such things…”
“Who said that?”
Gu Wan Jun straightened up instantly, her tone a little anxious:
“How could I not care about things concerning you? If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have lost sleep for several nights wondering where you had moved to.”
“…”
As soon as the words fell, those bright, clear crescent eyes lit up. Chen Lu felt every organ in her body tremble with Gu Wan Jun’s words. She immediately turned her head to stare at Gu Wan Jun.
Could someone as composed and relaxed as Gu Wan Jun lose sleep over someone else?
Before Gu Wan Jun admitted it herself, Chen Lu would never have believed it.
What’s more, that lucky person was herself.
…
The moment their eyes met, Gu Wan Jun realized that the conversation was going in a somewhat wrong direction. She cleared her throat and explained:
“I’m your homeroom teacher. Isn’t it normal to worry about you?”
As she spoke, Gu Wan Jun smiled and averted her gaze from Chen Lu’s.
She also missed the fleeting look of disappointment in those crescent eyes.
Worrying about her out of a homeroom teacher’s responsibility to her student, just like worrying about other students – wasn’t that a teacher’s duty? What was she hoping for?
Chen Lu twitched the corners of her mouth, a hint of unnoticed disappointment and self-deprecation flickering in her eyes.
Meanwhile, recalling Chen Lu’s “unannounced departure” this time, Gu Wan Jun felt a little uneasy. She suppressed her smile and looked earnestly at the person beside her:
“I’ve said before, you can come and talk to me about anything. Next time you have a situation like this, remember to tell me so I don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
Chen Lu answered casually, her voice sounding somewhat muffled, perhaps because of the mask she was wearing.
——
Moving with two people was indeed faster than moving alone.
As Gu Wan Jun had said, she had very few belongings, mostly books and materials. Now, with Chen Lu’s help, everything from the rental apartment was packed and loaded onto the truck in less than two hours.
——
Rose Garden, 302.
After carrying everything upstairs, both of them were exhausted and sat down on the sofa to rest.
Perhaps moving the things had aggravated the wound, the bloodstains on the medical cotton pad on the back of Gu Wan Jun’s right hand were clearly visible.
Chen Lu was the first to notice.
“It’s bleeding, Teacher. You should change the cotton pad. I have a first-aid kit at my house.”
“No need, I have one here.”
Gu Wan Jun stopped Chen Lu, who was about to get up from the sofa, and opened the nearest cardboard box sealed with transparent tape, taking out a simple household first-aid kit.
Pushing the opened box aside, Gu Wan Jun was going to find a cotton pad to change it herself, but when she turned her head, she saw Chen Lu holding a few medicine boxes and looking up at her, her expression a mixture of concern and helplessness:
“These medicines are expired. They can’t be used.”
“…Expired?” Gu Wan Jun widened her eyes.
“Is the cotton pad on your hand from here too?”
“Yes… it is…”
“Hurry up and tear it off to let it breathe. I’ll go get my first-aid kit from my house. Wait for me.”
“…”
Watching Chen Lu’s hurried departure, Gu Wan Jun blinked belatedly. She grabbed the medicine boxes in the first-aid kit and carefully examined them one by one, only to find that most of the medicines had expired last year.
That’s right, she had taken this first-aid kit from her sister’s house a long time ago and brought it to Ningcheng. It must have been three or four years at least…
The medicine boxes were ruthlessly thrown back into the first-aid kit, and Gu Wan Jun closed her eyes in speechlessness. She tore off the cotton pad on the back of her right hand with a frustrated expression.
Why did she always have to make a fool of herself in front of her favorite student?
This was too embarrassing.