Yan Chi's sudden cold laugh sent a shiver down Shen Mingsu's spine. He wasn't stupid enough to think that the laugh meant Yan Chi was happy.
He had accidentally angered Yan Chi, and considering what he had just said, Shen Mingsu roughly figured out why Yan Chi was angry. He was both amused and exasperated. "You don't actually think I'm a capitalist who exploits people, do you?"
Yan Chi retorted, "Aren't you?"
Shen Mingsu feigned a deeply hurt expression, clutching his chest. "Heaven and earth bear witness, I haven't even charged the students their tuition! Do you think capitalists have such a kind heart?"
Now it was Yan Chi's turn to be surprised. "You haven't charged tuition?"
Shen Mingsu said pitifully, "Yes, some students come from very poor families, living in basements, even their meals are cold. How could I... maybe they'll make the best of the opportunity."
Yan Chi was no longer the naive boy he used to be. Having been subjected to Shen Mingsu's manipulative tactics, he asked suspiciously, "...You're not talking about the little zombies in Class 2, or the ghost students in the second year, are you?"
"..."
Shen Mingsu didn't answer. He looked up and down, trying to make conversation, but only making things worse. "The sky is so blue today, isn't it, Teacher Chi?"
Yan Chi: "Heh."
Shen Mingsu opened his arms and said sincerely, "I was wrong. I just didn't want to take money. Having too much money and not being able to spend it is a big problem, so can I have a hug?"
This was an agreement between Yan Chi and Shen Mingsu: if they got emotional and argued, a hug would mean making up.
Yan Chi felt a pang in his heart at his incredibly generous statement, but seeing his pitiful eyes, he softened, took two steps forward, and hugged him.
An ancient tree blocked a little rabbit's eyes, reminding the young couple, "A hug is fine, but you can't do anything naughty here."
Yan Chi, who hadn't done anything, blushed upon hearing this and tugged at Shen Mingsu's sleeve, "Let's go fix the teaching building."
The students were waiting for class.
After Shen Mingsu finished repairing the second and third teaching buildings, the director rushed over. He looked at Shen Mingsu with astonishment, as if he were meeting him for the first time, and was moved to tears. "You've finally shown some effort!" he exclaimed.
Yunzhou had collapsed before, and back then Shen Mingsu had been lazy and uncooperative. What could have been done in minutes, he would play around with, taking a whole day to complete.
Therefore, this time the director had let the students leave first.
The director didn't want to waste a single second. With a wave of his hand, he said, "In that case, go and inform the students and teachers to return to class. The holiday is canceled."
Soon, the students of the second and third teaching buildings returned with heavy steps. Losing a holiday they had never had was more painful than never having had one at all.
But the principal and the director were two rather cold-blooded men, a fact the students knew perfectly well. They didn't expect them to show any mercy. But Teacher Xiao Chi was different; he was the ideal homeroom teacher every student dreamed of.
So, as these students passed by Yan Chi, they all harbored their own little thoughts.
"Sigh..."
"So tired."
"I don't want to go to class, waaaah, I want to go home and sleep."
"A good teacher wouldn't go back on their word, waaaah, my vacation!"
"..."
Yan Chi listened to these little brats deliberately saying things to him, his eyes filled with helplessness. They didn't want to go to school, and he didn't want to go to work either.
Just then, a little boy ran up to Yan Chi and handed him a pink letter. "Teacher Chi, this is..."
Shen Mingsu's gaze instantly fell on the letter, his terrifying eyes startling the little boy.
What to do? The principal suddenly became so scary.
The little boy suppressed his fear and said to Yan Chi, "This...this is a letter from a player named Xin Xia who asked me to give to your class's Sethia. Teacher Chi, could you please give it to him for me?"
For Sethia? Shen Mingsu immediately looked away nonchalantly.
"Of course." Yan Chi hesitated for a moment, then accepted the letter. It shouldn't be a love letter, right?
Xin Xia already knew Sethia was a boy; that budding romance should have died down by now.
Yan Chi said to Shen Mingsu, "I want to go back to my classroom. Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course."
Shen Mingsu chuckled, intertwining his fingers with Yan Chi's. His warmth radiated from their hands, and Yan Chi's eyelashes fluttered. They walked together towards the first teaching building.
In Class 1 of the first year, half the students were writing their assessment reports, while the other half were helping each other brainstorm. Yan Chi told Shen Mingsu to stay in the office for a while while he went to deliver Xin Xia's letter to Sethia.
Sethia and Ahui switched seats, and he sat next to Tan Mo. Tan Mo's assessment report was finished, and he was helping Sethia polish his.
"A letter for me?" Sethia took the fancy-looking letter, bewildered. "Why would he write to me? I don't even know him."
Thankfully, Xin Xia had already left, otherwise, hearing this would have brought tears to his eyes again.
Yan Chi thought to himself, hearing the sound of the envelope being torn open, he looked up and saw Sethia frowning as he held the papers. His expression was so serious that Yan Chi couldn't help but ask, "What did he write?"
Logically, this was Sethia's privacy, and Yan Chi shouldn't pry, but by the time he realized it, it was too late.
"He didn't write anything," Sethia showed Yan Chi the blank papers. "There's nothing on them."
There were five sheets of paper in total, each one clean and without a trace of ink.
"Why did he give me these?" Sethia asked, puzzled.
Yan Chi picked up the papers and looked at them, also confused by Xin Xia's intentions. He handed the papers back to Sethia. "Didn't he say anything to you before he left?"
A look of doubt flashed in Sethia's blue eyes. "Let me think...no, I don't really remember."
He was still grieving over the candy he'd lost; he had no mind to share with Xin Xia.
That's strange. Is this some kind of encryption method young people use these days? Yan Chi knew of pens that could only reveal writing under special light, but he had no idea what was being used.
Or did Xin Xia really just leave Sethia a few blank papers? Without any other intention?
Yan Chi really couldn't understand what these kids were thinking. He stopped worrying about it, walked around the classroom, and when he reached the back row, he saw Ning Zhu sleeping on his desk again.
"Ning Zhu?" Yan Chi gently nudged him. "Have you finished your report?"
Ning Zhu woke up groggily, stretched, and handed his assignment to Yan Chi. "Finished, teacher, you can have it."
Yan Chi: "Don't you need to revise it?"
Ning Zhu waved his hand, adopting a nonchalant attitude that a perfect score was fine, and a zero wouldn't be bad either. "It's fine as it is."
"Okay."
Yan Chi couldn't very well force him to pick up his pen and polish it again. He was about to leave with his assignment when Ning Zhu called out to him, "Teacher Xiao Chi."
Yan Chi stopped. "Hmm? What's wrong?"
Ning Zhu hesitated, roughly smoothing his messy hair. "Um... did Xie Tao message you?"
"No." Yan Chi hadn't expected him to ask about Xie Tao. "He should be in another small world by now. I don't know much about his situation. If you miss him, I can call and ask?"
Although Yan Chi and Xie Tao were childhood friends, they each had their own lives and didn't message each other constantly, only chatting occasionally when they had a spare moment.
“Huh? I miss him?!” Ning Zhu's reaction was unexpectedly strong. “How could I miss him? Why would I miss him? Do you think I haven't been slapped enough? That's ridiculous. I miss him? Absolutely not.”
He spoke with conviction, and Yan Chi was stunned for a few seconds. “Okay, I thought your relationship had improved.”
But it was still this bad.
“Well… it's alright.” Ning Zhu looked at Yan Chi, hesitant to speak. He seemed to want to say something, but didn't, then suddenly became agitated, slamming his head on the table and remaining motionless.
Yan Chi took two steps back in surprise. What was wrong with this child?
Ning Zhu said weakly, "Teacher, I'm sorry, I'm a little emotional. I need to calm down."
"Alright, you... get some rest and drink some hot water." Yan Chi noticed Ning Zhu's obviously off-target condition today, gave him a few more words of advice, glanced at him a couple of times, then turned and left, returning to his office.
Sethia was still looking at the blank sheets of paper. After a while, Tan Mo, who hadn't spoken until now, held out his hand. "Let me see."
Sethia handed him the blank papers. Tan Mo carefully flipped through them and finally found a line of small print: "This assessment report is for you. I wrote it myself, but please don't misunderstand. I just saw how difficult it was for you to write a two-thousand-word report, and I was only helping you out of kindness. Don't overthink it!"
Sethia leaned close to Tan Mo's eye, nudging his arm impatiently. "Did you figure something out?"
Tan Mo handed the papers back, saying casually, "Probably because he found you speechless, leaving him speechless."
Sethia's eyes widened, his cheeks puffed out in anger. He crumpled the papers into a ball, swallowed it whole, and chewed it as if he wanted to chew Xin Xia up and eat him too.
Mingcai got a sore throat just watching. "Drink some water, don't choke."
Sethia glared at Mingcai, not too fiercely. "Choking to death is the most humiliating way to die for me. I would never choke to death. Even if I ate this whole table right now, I wouldn't choke to death."
As he spoke, he lowered his head to bite the corner of the table.
Tan Mo quickly pressed down on his head, saying helplessly, "You don't need to prove yourself like that. We all know you won't choke."
Sethia brushed his hand away, a hint of pride on his face, and asked Mingcai, "So, do you understand now?"
Mingcai was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore. "I understand, you silly boy."
She scolded him again… Sethia pursed his lips, unhappy. He took out a bag of cookies, channeling his grief into his appetite, and as he ate, he happily hummed a tuneless little tune.
Around 3 PM, all five assessment reports were submitted. Yan Chi spent an hour grading them, then called each of them to his office and carefully explained the problems they had encountered.
By the time everything was resolved, it was almost 5 PM. Yan Chi told the children to go home for dinner, and Shen Chang Le was waiting for them beside him.
Yan Chi stood up and stretched, then said to Shen Mingsu, who had spent the afternoon with him in the office, "Let's go home for dinner."
Shen Mingsu remained silent the whole way home, unusually quiet while Yan Chi and Shen Chang Le chatted.
Once home, Shen Mingsu asked them, "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Yan Chi turned to Shen Chang Le, waiting for his opinion.
Shen Chang Le thought for a moment, "Let's have tomato and egg noodles."
Yan Chi nodded, "That's it then."
While Shen Mingsu was simmering the tomatoes in the pot to make tomato sauce, Yan Chi stood beside him, helping him with the seasonings, adding salt and vinegar as needed…
"Xiao Chi," Shen Mingsu suddenly called out to Yan Chi, his eyes lowered as he looked at the boiling tomato sauce in the pot, "Do you think teaching the children is tiring?"
Yan Chi paused, then smiled and shook his head, "It was tiring at the institution before, but not now."
Shen Mingsu looked at him, his eyes filled with concern, "But your voice is a little hoarse."
"So that's why you've been so troubled all the way here?" Yan Chi had noticed his unusual behavior earlier, but he didn't want to ask him directly in front of Shen Chang Le.
Shen Mingsu hummed in agreement. He had seen Yan Chi busy ever since returning to the classroom, from grading homework to explaining it, and also checking on the students' mental well-being. Watching him, he felt exhausted just watching.
"If you're tired, take a break." Shen Mingsu suddenly turned and hugged Yan Chi, pulling him tightly into his arms. "We have money, lots and lots of money, so take a rest."
Yan Chi rested his head on Shen Mingsu's shoulder, feeling his warm body, his eyes slightly red. "Sigh...why didn't I meet you sooner?"
Before meeting Shen Mingsu, he was exhausted every day. His boss was pressuring him to find students to bring in customers, parents were urging him to produce results—ideally, to turn their struggling students into top students within a week—while the students thought he was meddling.
Yan Chi suffered from insomnia every night during those days, and eventually decided to quit his job.
“But that’s all in the past.” Yan Chi patted Shen Mingsu’s head, and he smiled with relief. “Really, I wasn’t lying to you. I’m very happy now. My students are great, my colleagues are great, my boss is great, and you are great too.”
Shen Mingsu looked at him intently, then leaned down and kissed Yan Chi’s lips. Yan Chi hugged his neck, responding to his kiss.
“Dinner…”
Shen Chang Le had just approached when he saw this scene, turned around, and walked away.
Yan Chi and Shen Mingsu kissed for a few minutes when Yan Chi smelled a burning smell. He quickly pushed him away, “It’s burnt! The tomatoes are burnt!”
Shen Mingsu turned around and saw that the tomatoes in the pot had turned into black mush.
There was nothing he could do but throw the whole pot away and make a new one.
Yan Chi was worried that Shen Chang Le would be hungry after waiting so long, so he went to the living room and said to him, “We’ll have to wait a little longer before we eat. Are you hungry? Why don’t you go eat some bread to fill your stomach?”
Shen Chang Le, head down, gulped down a glass of water. "It's nothing, I'm not hungry yet."
It wasn't until seven o'clock that the three of them ate their tomato and egg noodles. Throughout the meal, Shen Chang Le kept his head down, averting his gaze whenever it met Yan Chi's.
Yan Chi reached out and touched Shen Chang Le's forehead. His temperature was normal; he didn't have a fever.
Yan Chi asked with concern, "Chang Le, are you feeling unwell?"
"N-no, nothing."
"Really?" Yan Chi felt Shen Chang Le was acting strangely today. He was usually quiet, but today he was unusually quiet.
Shen Chang Le gave Shen Mingsu a look, and Shen Mingsu immediately knew that the boy had definitely caught him and Yan Chi kissing in the kitchen.
To avoid embarrassing Yan Chi, Shen Mingsu made an excuse for Shen Chang Le, "He's probably worried about who will be the champion class at tonight's closing ceremony. This kid always has a strong competitive spirit."
Yan Chi asked Shen Chang Le, "Because of that?"
Shen Chang Le nodded.
Yan Chi comforted him, "Even if our class doesn't win this time, there's always next time."
Shen Chang Le glanced at him, then quickly lowered his head, "Um..."
The closing ceremony was at eight o'clock in the evening. Yan Chi and the others arrived right on time and went to their respective seats.
Beside Yan Chi were Lin Heng and Xi Chang. Xi Chang's bright blue eyes lit up when he saw him approach, and he hugged Yan Chi's arm. "I think our class will definitely be first! Everyone on their class got first place, and Feng Wang and Chang Le even got more than one!"
Yan Chi's heart naturally leaned towards his own class. "Actually, I also hope it's us."
The director went on stage to give a speech about the sports meet. This time, his speech was short. As everyone held their breath, he took out another sheet of paper with the rankings recorded.
The director: "Now we'll rank the classes based on the number of gold medals each class has won."
Yan Chi gripped Xi Chang's hand tightly. Xi Chang, equally nervous, squeezed Yan Chi's hand back. The two stood close together, waiting for the head teacher to announce the rankings.
"Fifth place, Class 2, Grade 2, three gold medals."
"..."
"Second place, Class 3, Grade 2, eleven gold medals."
"First place..." The director paused suddenly, glanced in Yan Chi's direction, and announced with a smile, "Class 1, Grade 1, twelve gold medals. Congratulations, Teacher Yan Chi!"
The entire room erupted in cheers. Amidst the clamor, Yan Chi looked towards Class 1's section. They were smiling at him too. Mingcai called out loudly to Yan Chi, "Teacher Yan Chi, we've prepared a gift for you!"
A gift? Yan Chi looked at them in surprise.
The director smiled at them. "The gifts are here, Mr. Xiao Chi, come up and get them."
Under the gaze of the entire school, Yan Chi walked blankly to the stage. At that moment, Shen Mingsu approached Yan Chi with a box.
"These are gifts they prepared for you," Shen Mingsu said, handing the box to Yan Chi. His deep voice held a hint of amusement. "Open it and see."
Yan Chi slowly opened the box. Twelve gleaming gold medals lay quietly inside, each engraved with a name: Xingluo, Ahui, Shen Chang Le…
Everyone's medal was there. They had given their prized medals as gifts to their beloved Mr. Xiao Chi.
Yan Chi's fingers trembled as he traced the names. His eyes reddened, glistening with tears. "Thank you… thank you all."
Shen Mingsu gently wiped away his tears and placed a silver chain bracelet on his wrist. A dark green gemstone dangled from the bracelet, perfectly complementing Yan Chi's fair and shapely wrist. “This is a gift for you.” Shen Mingsu kissed the back of his hand, looking up at him with eyes that reflected only him. “Teacher Xiaochi is number one, congratulations.”
Tears clung to Yan Chi’s curled eyelashes. He whispered, “Thank you, I…I love you.”
His confession left Shen Mingsu speechless for several seconds. His eyes nearly overflowed with laughter as he exclaimed, “Our Teacher Xiaochi is so adorable. Of course, I love you too.”
Yan Chi walked off the stage carrying a box full of gold medals. Xi Chang asked him curiously, “What? What’s inside?”
Yan Chi opened the box, his voice tinged with a smile, “It’s the gold medals from Class 1.”
“Wow!” Xi Chang exclaimed in surprise, "They really love you so much!"
He knew all too well how possessive those little rascals were; they wouldn't allow anyone to touch their things. But now they'd given such a meaningful gold medal to Yan Chi…
Xi Chang smiled. "You didn't spoil them for nothing."
In his eyes, only Yan Chi deserved this gift.
Yan Chi carefully closed the box and hugged it to his chest.
After the closing ceremony, to the astonishment of the other students, the students from Class 1 brought out bouquets of carnations, hyacinths, tulips…
They presented the flowers to Yan Chi.
Yan Chi stared in shock at the flowers. "Thank you...but I can't accept any more..."
Xingluo said, "It's alright. You can give the flowers to the principal and Teacher Xi Chang, or to me and Chang Le. We live nearby and can help the teachers take them back."
But then he turned and saw Shen Mingsu walking out carrying a huge bouquet of roses. Shen Mingsu looked at his own roses, then at the various flowers the students were giving him, and offered his roses to Yan Chi first. "You must take my flowers first."
Yan Chi sighed, holding the carnations in his left hand and his roses in his right. "Is that enough?"
Shen Mingsu was satisfied and turned to get the flowers other students had given Yan Chi. Xi Chang helped, sneezing several times from the overwhelming fragrance. Finally, Lin Heng helped carry the flowers.
Even so, there were still too many flowers to carry, because the little zombies from Class 2 had also brought a huge pile.
Yan Chi looked at the flowers and experienced a sweet dilemma for the first time.
Just then, a relaxed voice rang out, "Give them to me, I'll help too."
Yan Chi stared wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of Xing Zhinan, "Zhinan?!"
"Call me Uncle Zhinan, you're so disrespectful," Xing Zhinan said with a smile, taking the baby's breath and lilies from Ahui and Mingcai, and casually greeting his son, "Oh, why do you look like you're limping?"
Xingluo: "...From running."
"Working so hard, was there a monster chasing you?"
Xingluo was annoyed, "You already know, why did you ask me!"
Xing Zhinan smiled, "Just trying to build rapport, don't be angry, my dear son."
Xingluo: "..."
Under the envious gazes of the other teachers, Yan Chi and his group walked away, carrying the flowers. The teachers turned to look at their own bewildered students and couldn't help but sigh.
They are all students; why are their gloves like hand warmers?
The students, receiving disappointed glances from their teachers, were also bewildered. No one had told them to buy flowers beforehand; how had they secretly amassed such a collection behind their backs?
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