SYLM Chapter 22
by VolareHigh School Second Grade (12) Class.
During class break, Chen Lu was looking for Jiang Zhen Zhen at the classroom door to ask her about a math problem.
Before long, Fu Yi Wen came back from the liberal arts office, running right into the two who were discussing math problems.
Seeing the large box of soft cookies in Fu Yi Wen’s hand, both Chen Lu and Jiang Zhen Zhen were taken aback, instinctively exchanging a glance.
The sun must be rising in the west today; this was the first time they’d seen Sun Li Xia giving Fu Yi Wen something.
Chen Lu guessed this, but judging from the corners of Fu Yi Wen’s mouth, which were practically drooping to her toes, she immediately understood that the box of soft cookies wasn’t from Sun Li Xia. Otherwise, that girl’s mouth would have been stretched to the back of her ears by now.
Jiang Zhen Zhen also noticed that Fu Yi Wen’s expression was off. She glanced at Chen Lu before tentatively asking, “What’s wrong, Fu Xiao Wen? What’s with that look on your face?”
“It’s infuriating! I’m so angry my stomach hurts!”
With a ‘thump,’ Fu Yi Wen threw the box of soft cookies onto Jiang Zhen Zhen’s desk and began to pour out her grievances to the two, complaining about how outrageous Tang Ying had been in the office just now.
…
“If she thought they were ugly, she shouldn’t have taken them! Who told her to take them! Her big hand went right in and emptied my tin box! I didn’t even want to eat one myself! So annoying!”
“…”
Listening to Fu Yi Wen’s complaints, Jiang Zhen Zhen was momentarily speechless, unsure of how to console her.
Before speaking, Chen Lu glanced at the cookie box. It was a pretty expensive brand. This was the first time Chen Lu had seen Fu Yi Wen bring something tangible back from the liberal arts office.
Compared to Sun Li Xia, who only knew how to say nice things to appease people, Tang Ying was much better.
Seeing Fu Yi Wen’s indignant appearance, Chen Lu patted her best friend’s back and gently explained on behalf of Tang Ying, “Didn’t Teacher Tang return a box of soft cookies to you?”
“Who wants her stupid cookies!?” Fu Yi Wen was so angry she was about to breathe fire.
“It’s better than nothing, right? Besides, didn’t you offer to share with Teacher Tang in the first place?” Chen Lu was a little amused.
“I did that for my Teacher Sun! Who knows if that annoying person would report me behind my back! But she took so many! We spent several nights making those!”
“What do you mean, ‘spent several nights making’?”
“?!?”
A familiar female voice rang in their ears, interrupting the conversation between Chen Lu and the others. Gu Wan Jun was standing at the door at some point.
Turns out this was Chinese class.
…
The three who were caught red-handed were all startled. Fu Yi Wen immediately turned around to block the soft cookies on the desk, and Jiang Zhen Zhen quickly stuffed the soft cookies into her desk. The two coordinated perfectly.
However, even though it was Fu Yi Wen and Jiang Zhen Zhen who were “committing a crime against the wind” right under the teacher’s nose, the one with the guiltiest expression among the three was actually Chen Lu, who was standing to the side and couldn’t help.
When did Gu Wan Jun arrive? How much did she hear? Wouldn’t the surprise she prepared be ruined before she even got to give it?
Remembering the handmade chocolates that she and Fu Yi Wen had spent several nights making together, Chen Lu appeared calm, but in reality, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Fu Yi Wen was making them for Sun Li Xia, and what she made was naturally for Gu Wan Jun.
It just wasn’t time for her to give the gift yet.
…
Seeing Chen Lu standing there motionless like a log, which was a rare sight, Fu Yi Wen secretly thought something was wrong. She quickly braced herself and stood up to explain:
“Haha, it’s nothing, Teacher. We were discussing math problems!”
Lying came naturally to her. Fu Yi Wen gave an awkward laugh, not noticing that the math test paper she had grabbed was upside down.
Seeing Gu Wan Jun glance at the upside-down math paper in Fu Yi Wen’s hand and then smile slightly, Chen Lu almost couldn’t catch her breath.
…
Fortunately, Gu Wan Jun didn’t press the issue, only saying that class was about to start and telling everyone to return to their seats.
The heart that was hanging in her throat fell back into her stomach, and Chen Lu breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Before returning to her seat, Jiang Zhen Zhen gave Fu Yi Wen a look, asking what to do with the soft cookies in the desk. Fu Yi Wen mouthed the word “whatever” to Jiang Zhen Zhen, meaning she didn’t want them anyway.
—
Chinese class ended.
As soon as the bell rang, a student came to the door of Class 12 to relay a message that the Class 12 English teacher, Jiang Wen, wanted Chen Lu to go to the English office.
The English office was also on the fourth floor, and Gu Wan Jun, who was about to return to the Chinese office, happened to be going the same way as Chen Lu.
Walking to the second floor, remembering the little episode during the last class break, Gu Wan Jun casually asked, “Are you girls okay from the last class break?”
“Huh?” Chen Lu, who was distracted thinking about something, suddenly snapped back to reality and forced herself to explain calmly, “We’re fine.”
“Really? I thought you three looked pretty nervous when you saw me.” Gu Wan Jun smiled. Her tone made it sound like she was just chatting with Chen Lu.
Afraid of revealing the surprise, Chen Lu answered very cautiously, “After all, you’re the homeroom teacher. Everyone gets nervous when they see you.”
“But when you saw me just now, you were the most nervous of all.”
The smile on her lips faded slightly, Gu Wan Jun turned her head to look at Chen Lu, her tone more serious:
“Are you afraid of me too?”
“…”
Chen Lu absolutely didn’t expect that what Gu Wan Jun was thinking about at this moment was what happened last week.
Last Thursday, Gu Wan Jun caught several students copying homework. At first, she just talked to each of them once and asked them not to do it again. But the next day, Friday, during the weekly test, the students who had been spoken to were caught cheating again during the exam. Gu Wan Jun was disappointed and angry, and she lost her temper in class for the first time.
Although copying was wrong and she, as the homeroom teacher, should manage it strictly, Gu Wan Jun felt that her handling of the matter was somewhat inappropriate afterward, because losing her temper didn’t solve the problem.
But after that, she didn’t know if she had scared people, but Gu Wan Jun found that Chen Lu had been walking alone to and from school these past few days. It wasn’t hard to see that she was intentionally or unintentionally avoiding her.
It wasn’t that Gu Wan Jun necessarily wanted Chen Lu to walk with her every day, but in her opinion, Chen Lu’s unannounced departures were more like a tactful way of quietly distancing themselves from each other. This sudden sense of alienation made Gu Wan Jun extremely uncomfortable. She had wanted to ask Chen Lu several times what had happened, or if she had done something wrong, but she was worried that it would affect Chen Lu’s studies, so she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
…
Gu Wan Jun’s sentence, “Are you afraid of me too?” stunned Chen Lu. Her heart felt sour and swollen as if it were soaked in boiling lemonade.
At this moment, more than comforting Gu Wan Jun’s mood, the surprise was not important at all.
Chen Lu wanted Gu Wan Jun to be happy every minute of every day, not just on Christmas.
Chen Lu confessed her actions over the past few days to Gu Wan Jun in one breath, and clearly explained that she wasn’t avoiding her, just trying to prepare a surprise gift for her.
…
“A gift?” The worry between her eyebrows was gradually replaced by shock. Gu Wan Jun never thought that this would be the reason.
“Yes, and not just for Christmas. I wanted to give it to you anyway. I originally planned to give you a surprise when I got home at night. I haven’t been able to walk with you for the past few days because time was too tight. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to prepare it. I wasn’t avoiding you or afraid of you.”
After saying that, Chen Lu paused, as if she had thought of something, and added:
“The gift is handmade by me. It’s not expensive, so you don’t have to feel burdened.”
As she spoke, Chen Lu looked steadily at Gu Wan Jun. Her crescent-shaped eyes were like clear lake water, without a trace of hypocrisy or concealment.
So Chen Lu didn’t want to stay away from her.
Her eyelids trembled, and the big stone that had been pressing on her heart finally fell to the ground. When she spoke again, Gu Wan Jun was clearly in a different mood, her tone as gentle as it could be:
“You’ve been preparing this surprise for so many days, and you just blurt it out like that?”
“Yes.” Chen Lu nodded, her tone sincere: “Because I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us, and I don’t want to see you sad.”
“…”
Gu Wan Jun saw the rare warmth and sincerity of the person in front of her, and it burned in her heart. The previous worries and sorrows were all melted and evaporated by this sincerity.
Gu Wan Jun curled the corners of her lips unconsciously, and even felt a burning sensation in her eyes.
—
Fourth floor.
The two walked to the stairwell on the fourth floor. Just as they were about to separate, they ran into Tang Ying holding a large stack of test papers, ready to go downstairs. The next class in Class 12 was politics.
“Hello, Teacher,” Chen Lu nodded in greeting. As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Wan Jun smiled and politely added, “Teacher Tang.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Ying first glanced at Chen Lu, and then her gaze swept over Gu Wan Jun. She replied with a cold “mm.”
Tang Ying’s high-cold poker face was well-known throughout the school. Chen Lu didn’t find her cold reaction strange.
But Gu Wan Jun seemed to notice something wrong from Tang Ying’s poker face.
What was that suddenly cold look in her eyes just now? Was it because she didn’t call her name just now?
Gu Wan Jun shook her head and smiled helplessly. She thought she was overthinking it.
—
Tang Ying walked to the first floor with the test papers in her arms, her wrists a little sore.
She had told her to call her Tang Ying, but what was it? Were the two words “Tang Ying” too hot to say?
Also, they were just chatting and laughing in the previous second. How could their faces change faster than flipping a book after they saw her, as if they had seen a ghost? Was she that scary?
The more Tang Ying thought about it, the colder her face became. Just as she stepped into the door of Class 12, she happened to see Fu Yi Wen on her seat chatting with others in a low voice, her eyebrows dancing.
She didn’t know what they were talking about, but Fu Yi Wen was laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach. If her mouth opened any wider, you could see her stomach.
Usually, when Sun Li Xia only carried a book, this little chubby girl would have been running over to help her deliver it to Class 1. She was carrying such a large stack of test papers, and her wrists were about to break, but this person didn’t even say to meet her at the liberal arts office?
Tang Ying threw the test papers on the podium in a bad mood, her face even more unsightly.
…
Chen Lu was called to the office by the English teacher to talk about an English competition recently. When she returned to the class, the bell for class had just rung.
When she passed the podium to return to her seat, Chen Lu saw Tang Ying distributing the test papers to each group on the podium. The fingers with the black and white nail polish seemed a little inconvenient to check the test papers, but no student came forward to help.
In the students’ eyes, although Tang Ying was beautiful and taught well, the feeling she gave people was too cold. She was strict, weird, and liked to be sarcastic. Everyone didn’t like her very much, and even called her and the English teacher Jiang Wen the “Black and White Impermanence” of Class 12 behind her back. As a result, even if they felt that Tang Ying needed help at this time, everyone would avoid her.
But it was one thing for others not to help, but what about the politics representative?
Chen Lu subconsciously glanced at Fu Yi Wen, but found that she was laughing so hard in her seat that she was leaning forward and backward, as if she hadn’t noticed that Tang Ying was already standing on the podium.
Chen Lu sighed in her heart and decided to do it herself. She approached the podium and asked, “Teacher, are you going to hand out these test papers?”
“Yeah, what else would I be doing with them?”
Interrupted while counting, Tang Ying frowned slightly, her tone not very good. Chen Lu didn’t mind, and continued in a calm tone, “I’ll hand them out, Teacher.”
Hearing this, Tang Ying paused in her action of checking the test papers. She raised her eyes and glanced at the person on the podium. It was the girl who had gone upstairs with Gu Wan Jun just now.
Tang Ying gave a grunt, without saying anything else, but when she handed the test papers in her hand to Chen Lu, there was a little more gentleness in her cold and sharp phoenix eyes.
…
Although Fu Yi Wen didn’t like Tang Ying, and could even say that she was annoyed by her, she would still seriously do the work that the class representative should do.
For example, now, until Chen Lu took the opportunity to hand out the politics test papers to remind her, Fu Yi Wen realized that Tang Ying had already come to the class at some point.
No, when did this annoying person come? Why was she walking so quietly?!
…
Before every politics class, Tang Ying would ask the students to take a small test to memorize the knowledge points from the last class, but this class was a little different.
Just as the bell for class rang, Tang Ying suddenly said that the small test would be changed to an oral quiz. At the same time, she asked a student to go to the blackboard to memorize a big question.
Hearing Tang Ying’s freezing tone, Fu Yi Wen felt that something was wrong. Before she could finish groaning in her heart, Tang Ying’s cold gaze had already shot over:
“Fu Yi Wen, you were chatting happily before class. It looks like you’ve memorized everything you should have. I have to give you a chance to show it off. Come on.”
“…”
The eyes of all the students in the class turned to the fourth row by the window. Fu Yi Wen, who was named, looked embarrassed and had to get up and stand up.
Walking to the podium, meeting Tang Ying’s half-smiling gaze, Fu Yi Wen was sure that this annoying person was taking revenge!
…
After all, she was the politics representative, and Fu Yi Wen’s basic knowledge was not bad. She fluently memorized the knowledge points from the last class on the blackboard.
Originally, Fu Yi Wen was secretly happy that she had slapped the face of that annoying Tang Ying hard, but as soon as she put down the chalk, she heard Tang Ying’s cold voice:
“Do you know why I asked you to come to the blackboard to show it off?”
As she spoke, Tang Ying raised her eyebrows and looked at Fu Yi Wen’s handwriting on the blackboard with a look of disdain:
“Your handwriting is really ugly. Grading your test papers is like looking for the points in a pile of ‘oracle bone inscriptions’. I’ll buy you a calligraphy copybook later, so you can practice your shrimp-like handwriting.”
“…”
Sometimes, Fu Yi Wen really wondered if God didn’t want her as a granddaughter anymore, otherwise, why would she have met Tang Ying, this “vicious” annoying person!?
—
Christmas Eve was no different from a normal school day, from six in the morning to ten at night.
After evening self-study, after a few days, Chen Lu and Gu Wan Jun were able to go home together again.
After getting home, Chen Lu took out the chocolate she made from the refrigerator and gave it to Gu Wan Jun.
Remembering what Fu Yi Wen said during the day about Tang Ying complaining that the handmade chocolates were ugly, Chen Lu swallowed, feeling inexplicably nervous:
“What I made is not very good-looking, but the taste is okay.”
“Thank you, I especially like it.”
Gu Wan Jun clenched the box in her hand, her eyebrows and eyes full of undisguised surprise and smile.
Except for her family, this was the first time Gu Wan Jun had received a handmade gift from someone else, and it just so happened that this person was her favorite student. This joy and emotion could not be expressed in words.
But unfortunately, she didn’t prepare a gift for Chen Lu.
…
302.
On the windowsill, the vigorous broad and shiny leaves of the clivia quietly occupied a corner of the windowsill, making the succulent next to it even more petite and cute.
On the table, the two small goldfish in the fish tank swayed their tails and swam around, seeming to have fully adapted to this new home.
After returning home, although it was already past ten o’clock, Gu Wan Jun still opened the chocolate box as soon as possible.
She took out a piece of chocolate wrapped in blue candy paper. The chocolate was round and looked very cute after the candy paper was peeled off.
After entering the mouth, the outer layer of chocolate gradually melted, and the filling hidden in the middle flowed out. The taste was smooth and the sweetness was just right. It was delicious and not greasy.
After tasting one piece, Gu Wan Jun was reluctant to eat the rest. She closed the lid and put the box in the refrigerator’s fresh-keeping layer.
Returning to the living room, looking at the small goldfish in the fish tank on the table, Gu Wan Jun pursed her lips, and a thought suddenly flashed in her mind. She picked up the phone on the table and sent a message to her sister Gu Wan Rong—
【Sister, are you off work?】
As soon as the message was sent, Gu Wan Rong replied almost instantly: 【I’m at home, what’s wrong?】
Gu Wan Jun typed quickly: 【I remember you used to knit scarves, how much yarn does it take to knit a scarf? What kind of yarn is good? What tools are needed to knit a scarf?】
After the message was sent, the chat box showed “The other party is typing” for a long time. Two minutes later, Gu Wan Jun received a sentence from her sister: 【If you want to knit a scarf, I can knit one for you and send it to you.】
Gu Wan Jun curled the corners of her lips and typed a reply: 【Not for me, I want to knit one for someone else.】
Sister: 【Give it away?】
Afraid of being misunderstood by her sister, Gu Wan Jun directly sent a voice message:
“I plan to give it to a student. There is a student in the class I just took that I especially like. Thanks to her for helping me when I moved before. She also gave me chocolate today for Christmas. I want to give her a thoughtful gift, so I thought about giving her a scarf I knitted myself.”
After the voice message was sent, the chat display box showed “The other party is typing” for a long time again. Then Gu Wan Jun received a message: 【Is your student a boy or a girl?】
After seeing the text, Gu Wan Jun was about to reply that it was a girl, but Gu Wan Rong’s next message jumped out, a 20-second voice message—
“Wan Jun, children in high school are in their puberty with strong hormones. They are especially curious about the opposite sex and are prone to feelings. Our hospital’s psychology department has already received several students who are in love with their teachers. You have to pay attention to the boundaries between teachers and students.”
After listening to the voice, knowing that what her sister said was true, Gu Wan Jun’s expression became a little serious. She pressed and held the microphone and sent a voice message back:
“I know, the student I especially like is a girl. She is a very caring, excellent, and simple child. I treat her like a little sister. Don’t worry, I understand what you said, sister. I will pay extra attention.”
Probably because she heard Gu Wan Jun say that she was a female student, Gu Wan Rong was a little relieved. In addition, Gu Wan Jun was concerned about the scarf, so the sisters no longer discussed the student’s problem, but focused on how to learn to knit a scarf in a short time.
On the other side, 301, just a stone’s throw away.
A brown leather notebook was spread out on a white desk, and the bright light of the desk lamp outlined Chen Lu’s serious face. Her delicate handwriting was printed on the notebook—
【December 24, 2017 Sunday Sunny】
【Today is Christmas Eve. We have to go to school on a make-up day to make up for the New Year’s Day holiday later.】
【Fu Yi Wen went to give Sun Li Xia chocolate, but Teacher Tang “intercepted” it.】
【We made those chocolates for many days. When I made them for the first time, the shapes were simply horrible. Fortunately, I made a few more to practice, so they were still presentable.】
【I wanted to give Gu Wan Jun a surprise, but it was all in vain.】
【But it doesn’t matter, as long as Gu Wan Jun is happy.】
【The chocolate was sent out, and Gu Wan Jun said she liked it very much. I’m so happy.】
【I will do better next Christmas.】
Next year.
The action of putting down the pen paused, and Chen Lu looked up at the snow falling outside the bay window.
Will she still have a chance to send Gu Wan Jun chocolate next year?
…