Teacher Qin Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Just One Photo

Gu Yuwei woke up earlier than usual today, for no other reason than wanting to leave the house before that man woke up. It had rained all night in Linqi County, and Gu Yuwei had barely slept. To her, the presence of that man in the same room was more suffocating than the thunder and lightning outside.

The man was named Gu Tao. Not yet forty, he was Gu Yuwei’s stepfather in name. Gu Yuwei didn’t actually know much about the history between Gu Tao and her so-called mother. For as long as she could remember, the woman she called mother—Yang Qianwen—had never been a part of her world.

Many times when Gu Tao was drunk, Gu Yuwei would hear him talk about Yang Qianwen, though never anything good. It was mostly talk about how Yang Qianwen had abandoned her husband and daughter to run off with another man.

Last night, in her groggy state, Gu Yuwei heard Gu Tao’s cursing again. The sound moved from far to near, quickly stopping right outside her bedroom door. As a blinding flash of lightning struck, Gu Tao kicked open her door. The little yellow dog lying by the bed startled and began barking at Gu Tao as if to protect its mistress. Gu Yuwei sat up in bed; she had long since grown numb to her fear of him.

Gu Tao had originally intended to come in and teach Gu Yuwei a lesson, telling her to stop running around outside so much, but today he seemed to have mistaken her for someone else. Yang Qianwen—that woman—even after all these years, he was still thinking about her. Gu Tao was angry at himself, but he hated himself even more. Because of a woman who had abandoned her family, he had become like this, and his life was ruined.

“I told you, no damn animals are allowed in this house.” Gu Tao strode over to the little yellow dog, reaching down to hoist it up by the scruff. “Bark again and I’ll slaughter you!” he roared at the dog.

Gu Yuwei looked at Gu Tao and stood up, trying to snatch the dog back from his hands. As if expecting her reaction, Gu Tao tossed the dog upward, throwing it over Gu Yuwei’s head and onto the floor. The little yellow dog let out a terrified whimper, trembling as it struggled to get up. Gu Yuwei stepped forward and scooped the dog into her arms, looking at Gu Tao with a face full of resentment.

Gu Tao cursed a few more times, but he was truly exhausted. A life of inverted days and nights, combined with years of drinking and smoking, had left his body extremely withered. After Gu Tao left, Gu Yuwei retracted her gaze and held the little yellow dog, checking to see if it was injured.

Fortunately, the injuries weren’t serious. Gu Yuwei stroked the dog and held it like that, staying awake the entire night.

Early the next morning, Gu Yuwei tiptoed from her room to the front door. It wasn’t until she was closing the door that her eyes met the man sleeping soundly on the sofa. The door suddenly shut with a loud bang, startling the man on the sofa and prompting another round of cursing directed at the doorway.

Gu Yuwei, however, felt a sense of joy. Without looking back, she ran outside clutching the little yellow dog, only stopping once she reached a small convenience store.

“Morning, Uncle Chen.” Gu Yuwei handed the little yellow dog to Old Chen. Old Chen nodded and smiled. “This little thing, I don’t even know when it ran back yesterday. Xiao Wei, this isn’t a long-term solution. If it doesn’t work out, you should give it away!” Old Chen said, looking down as he stroked the dog’s fur.

Gu Tao didn’t like pets, especially cats and dogs. On the day Gu Yuwei had picked up the little yellow dog, Gu Tao had chased it halfway down the street with a knife, vowing to slaughter the creature. If Old Chen hadn’t stopped him back then, there was no telling what would have happened.

Gu Yuwei looked at the little yellow dog and remained silent for a moment before nodding obediently. “I know, Uncle Chen. I’ll have to trouble you again today. I have to go now, Aunt Lu is waiting!” After waving goodbye to Old Chen, Gu Yuwei jogged all the way to the amusement park.

On weekends when she didn’t have classes, Gu Yuwei would come here to earn some pocket money. Ever since Gu Tao lost his job and Yang Qianwen left, although they received some government assistance every month, it was a drop in the bucket. Nearly two-thirds of it was spent by Gu Tao on cigarettes and alcohol.

The amount she earned from Lu Fei wasn’t much, but it was enough to cover things like her usual textbook fees.

It was already past eleven o’clock, and the sun was growing increasingly intense. Taking advantage of a break, Gu Yuwei took off her mascot head, tucking it under her arm as she drank some water.

“Xiao Wei, come here. Aunt Lu will treat you to an ice cream. It’s so hot today, you must be roasting!” Lu Fei’s voice drew Gu Yuwei over as she was tilting her head back to drink. From a distance, Gu Yuwei spotted a familiar figure, accompanied by a girl who looked to be about her own age. Gu Yuwei studied the two of them as she walked toward Lu Fei.

The girl said something to the person, then quickly ran off. Gu Yuwei took the ice cream from Lu Fei’s hand and thanked her with a smile. When she looked back, that familiar figure was already sitting on a long bench. The person looked up at the sky; through the dense leaves, light filtered through her fingers and splashed across her face. It was just sunlight, yet she smiled.

Gu Yuwei watched the person quietly, then put her mascot head back on and walked over.

When she returned, Lu Fei looked in the direction Gu Yuwei had come from. “Is that a friend of yours, Xiao Wei?” Lu Fei offered Gu Yuwei another ice cream, but Gu Yuwei shook her head and didn’t take it. “Just someone I know. Aunt Lu, keep this ice cream to sell.” Gu Yuwei said before running off.

Lu Fei didn’t ask further, and the ice cream in her hand remained ungiven.

When Qin An’an returned, her face was puffed up with annoyance. She pointed at the nearly finished ice cream in Qin Qing’s hand and said, “Auntie, you’re too much! You actually sneaked an ice cream all by yourself!”

Qin Qing smiled and waved the ice cream stick. “You can’t blame me. Who told you to run off to the bathroom? They didn’t see you, so they only gave one to me!” Qin Qing pointed somewhat triumphantly in Gu Yuwei’s direction.

Qin An’an grumbled and glanced toward Gu Yuwei, seeing only a person in a gray bear mascot costume taking photos with a group of children. “Auntie, do you know them?” Qin An’an was a bit confused, wondering when the amusement park started offering such perks as free ice cream.

“I don’t think so,” Qin Qing replied, looking over with uncertainty.

“If you don’t know them, why would they give you ice cream? Auntie, are you playing me? You just didn’t want to buy me one! I’m ignoring you, I’m leaving.” Qin An’an turned and walked away in a huff. Qin Qing stepped forward and patted Qin An’an’s head. Although she didn’t understand what had happened, she said patiently, “I’m not. Come on, Auntie will buy you an ice cream.”

Qin An’an gave a small huff but stopped arguing. The two of them soon arrived at Aunt Lu’s stall, where Qin Qing bought an ice cream for Qin An’an. Lu Fei greeted Qin Qing warmly. Qin An’an took the ice cream and turned back toward Gu Yuwei. It wasn’t until Qin An’an left that Qin Qing remembered what she had said earlier, so she asked a few indirect questions. However, she didn’t get any information about who was inside the costume and could only turn to follow Qin An’an.

Qin An’an watched Gu Yuwei from a distance, holding her ice cream in one hand and rubbing her chin with the other. As children ran back and forth around Gu Yuwei, Qin An’an whispered to herself, “Could they be trying to hit on Auntie? No, that won’t do. I haven’t even asked about the thing Dad told me to…”

“What did your dad tell you to ask?” Qin Qing suddenly asked from behind, startling the conflicted Qin An’an. Qin An’an turned to look at Qin Qing and gave a forced smile. “Nothing, nothing. Auntie, I want to take a photo with it too.” Qin An’an pointed at Gu Yuwei, trying to change the subject. She wasn’t about to tell Qin Qing that her dad had instructed her to ask about Qin Qing’s relationship status; Qin An’an just thought her dad was being a gossip.

However, she was also quite curious about such things. In Qin An’an’s memory, her aunt Qin Qing had seemingly never been with anyone. Qin Qing had been a total bookworm in high school, and Qin An’an didn’t know much about her time in university. Now that Qin Qing had graduated and started working, Qin An’an’s father, as her cousin, was very concerned. But as a man, it wasn’t easy for him to ask directly. Thinking that his daughter was close to this cousin, he planned to have her fish for information so that An’an’s mother could arrange an introduction.

“Childish,” Qin Qing said, rolling her eyes at Qin An’an, yet she reached out and pulled out her phone. “Go on then, I’ll take it for you.” Qin An’an nodded with a smile; she was planning to get a close-up look at this “gray bear.”

Gu Yuwei watched Qin An’an getting closer, as well as Qin Qing holding the phone not far away, and naturally understood their intention. Qin An’an walked up to Gu Yuwei and waved her hand. “Hello!”

Gu Yuwei held the heavy mascot head with both hands and nodded. Qin An’an blinked, hoping to hear the person say something, but it seemed there was no hope for that. Qin An’an continued, “Can I take a photo with you?” Gu Yuwei nodded again. Qin An’an had no choice but to wave to Qin Qing, who understood and aimed the phone at the two of them. Qin An’an took the opportunity to hug the bulky mascot costume.

The moment the shutter clicked, Gu Yuwei’s mascot head was lifted without warning and then dropped back down. Although it was only for a fleeting second, the sunlight outside the headpiece made her feel dizzy for a moment. Qin An’an’s trick had succeeded, and she felt even happier. Seeing that Gu Yuwei was about her own age, Qin An’an would no longer associate her with Qin Qing, especially since it was a girl.

Qin An’an let go of Gu Yuwei, her face full of apology. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Gu Yuwei shook her head and steadied the mascot head again.

Qin Qing walked over. “An’an, you’re being too careless.” Gu Yuwei waved her hand at Qin Qing again, indicating she was really fine. It was only after Qin An’an apologized repeatedly that Qin Qing stopped scolding her. As they were leaving, Qin An’an pushed Qin Qing a step toward Gu Yuwei and snatched Qin Qing’s phone. “Auntie, let me take one of you too!”

Gu Yuwei froze, looking at the aunt and niece.

“Stop messing around. It’s late, we should head back,” Qin Qing said, giving Qin An’an a mock-angry glare.

“Auntie, just one photo, just one! She even treated you to ice cream earlier. It wasn’t easy to get here, let’s take one as a souvenir!” Qin Qing didn’t like taking photos, whether it was being in someone else’s camera or her own phone.

Once Qin An’an said those words, Qin Qing indeed hesitated. She glanced at Gu Yuwei and finally walked over, reaching out to tuck her arm into the mascot’s.