Chapter 34: That’s No Way to Chase a Girl

The female teachers’ office was in front of the girls’ dormitory, a separate courtyard.

There were six offices in total. One was shared, while the other five were single-room accommodations provided for some non-local female teachers whose homes were far from the school, serving as both their workspace and living quarters.

Xiao Qian’s office was at the easternmost end, a small room less than twenty-five square meters.

Because the doors and windows were tightly sealed for warmth in winter, the indoor light was somewhat dim.

To the right of the entrance, under the window, stood an old tan office desk. On it, a row of books was neatly stacked, and there was a small pink desk lamp.

Against the left wall, a small honeycomb coal stove sat on the floor. An aluminum kettle placed on top was steaming with faint water vapor. The stovepipe at the edge of the coal stove rose over two meters high, nearly touching the simple cloth ceiling, then bent and passed through a round hole drilled in the wall near the doorframe.

At the far end of the office, against the west wall stood an old-style dark wardrobe with a mirror. Beside the east wall was a meticulously tidy wooden single bed, spread with a blue-and-white checkered bedsheet. On it were two thick, neatly folded light-patterned quilts piled together, along with a pillow and a white stuffed bear over a meter tall. The walls at the foot and side of the bed were pasted with white paper. A wire hung with a pale blue curtain ran across the middle of the office just below the cloth ceiling. Pulling the curtain closed at night could section off a private little bedroom inside.

In such a simple and plain environment, Xiao Qian, who came from a well-off family and was young and trendy, had managed to arrange and tidy the small office until it felt as warm and tidy as a boudoir.

Coupled with the good insulation, it gave the office a rather spring-like warmth.

Su Chunfeng stood somewhat stiffly with his head bowed near the door, not making a sound.

“Sit down.” Xiao Qian smiled, reached out to close the wooden door which had a thick cotton curtain hanging outside, and pointed to a stool placed beside the coal stove.

“Oh.” Su Chunfeng took two steps inside, sat on the stool, lowered his head, placed his hands together, and didn’t move.

Seeing Su Chunfeng’s stiff demeanor, Xiao Qian sat at her desk and said with a laugh, “What’s the matter? Su Chunfeng, the student brave enough to team up with outsiders and beat Wang Liqiu—the most famous troublemaker in our class and even our whole school—until his head bled, now you’re nervous and scared in the teacher’s office? Where’s your tough act?”

“Teacher Xiao…” Su Chunfeng felt a bit puzzled. These days, Xiao Qian no longer targeted him as she initially did; their teacher-student relationship was fairly harmonious. Why was she suddenly picking on him again? Though he wondered, he still offered a somewhat awkward defense: “I didn’t lay a hand that day, and I’m not really familiar with Dong Chuliang either. I didn’t expect them to start fighting.”

“Never mind, I didn’t call you here to talk about that.” Xiao Qian waved her hand, doing her best to show the kind demeanor of a good teacher, and said, “Today, I mainly wanted to have a heart-to-heart with you. Based on my observations of you over this long period, I’ve found that you’re actually quite a well-behaved child and an excellent student. You study hard, improve quickly, have outstanding grades, rarely cause trouble or mischief in class, and have earned the recognition and liking of most teachers.”

Su Chunfeng blushed and said, “I haven’t done enough yet. I still need to work harder.”

“Yes, it’s good that you understand that.” Xiao Qian nodded and said, “As the saying goes, learning is like rowing a boat upstream; if you don’t advance, you fall back. You mustn’t become complacent. Ever since I heard about you getting involved with outsiders and beating up a classmate, I’ve been very worried… you know? At your age, when you’re in your rebellious phase and your mind isn’t fully mature yet, it’s easiest to be misled by foolish ideas and external phenomena, leading you astray. So, I hope that from now on, you can draw a clear line between yourself and idle outsiders, especially those idle youths who don’t focus on proper work and are fond of fighting and brawling. Cut off all contact completely, don’t waste your precious youth.”

Listening to Xiao Qian’s earnest advice, Su Chunfeng just felt like laughing inside—with his mature mindset, he could naturally see that Xiao Qian was pretending to be worldly-wise. Of course, her intentions and motivation were good.

But why was she talking to me about this?

Su Chunfeng naturally couldn’t guess that Xiao Qian was simply acting out of a burst of responsibility and meddling in others’ business. So, feeling confused inside, on the surface he nodded repeatedly and earnestly declared: “Yes, yes, I definitely won’t let Teacher Xiao’s expectations and teachings down. From now on, I will absolutely sever any contact with outsiders and study hard!”

Xiao Qian was taken aback. Her carefully prepared speech was blocked inside her, unable to be expressed, by Su Chunfeng’s honest and completely unresisting, sincere declaration. This gave her a sense of defeat, but she still showed an expression of satisfied approval and said, “Well, Su Chunfeng, you…”

She had only spoken halfway when a knock interrupted.

Knock, knock, knock…

Xiao Qian frowned, stood up, and walked over to open the door.

She saw the tall Zuo Hongbin, wearing a black overcoat, holding a small electric hot plate. Without waiting for Xiao Qian’s permission, he ducked through the doorway and strode in, saying with a smile, “Teacher Xiao, the weather is getting colder. I brought you an electric hot plate. It’ll be handy for making some hot soup quickly at night, and it can provide some warmth too…”

Startled to see Su Chunfeng sitting inside, Zuo Hongbin couldn’t help but frown and ask, “Why are you here?”

Su Chunfeng blinked innocently and looked at Xiao Qian.

“Oh, I asked Su Chunfeng to come. I have some things to discuss with him.” Xiao Qian explained, then smiled and politely declined: “Teacher Zuo, thank you for your kindness, but you should take the electric hot plate back. I don’t need it. Besides, the wiring in our school offices is severely outdated. Using an electric hot plate could easily cause a short circuit and pose a fire hazard… If there’s nothing else, you see, I’m in the middle of talking with a student.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll find time later to run a new wire in for you.” Zuo Hongbin said with an ingratiating smile. “Is the stovepipe outlet drafty anymore?”

Xiao Qian had no choice but to reply with a gentle smile, “It’s fine now, thank you.”

The hole in the wall for the stovepipe was rather large, and gaps where the pipe passed through were inevitable, allowing drafts. Yesterday, Zuo Hongbin had eagerly taken the initiative to help Xiao Qian plug the gaps around the stovepipe opening.

“Don’t mention it! It’s what should be done!” Zuo Hongbin waved his hand generously, but showed no intention of leaving at all, as if he hadn’t picked up on the hint in Xiao Qian’s earlier words politely asking him to leave. Then he lifted his head, assuming a stern teacher’s expression, and glared at Su Chunfeng. “What’s going on with you? Did you cause trouble in Teacher Xiao’s class? I’m warning you, watch your step from now on. If I find out…”

Su Chunfeng looked at Xiao Qian with a bitter smile.

Xiao Qian’s face flushed red, and she quickly interrupted Zuo Hongbin, saying, “Teacher Zuo, please don’t misunderstand. I’m just having a talk with Su Chunfeng.”

“A talk?” Zuo Hongbin was stunned for a moment, then acted as if he suddenly understood. “Teacher Xiao, although you’ve been at the school for a while, you still don’t fully understand the psychology of these students nowadays, especially the boys! Let me tell you, with this kind of student, you can’t indulge them. Trying to reform them through ideological education is almost impossible…”

Xiao Qian frowned, showing a look of distaste.

Seeming to realize he had said too much, Zuo Hongbin awkwardly fell silent, shaking his head with an expression of helplessness and grievance, as if his good intentions weren’t appreciated. He was just about to offer a few polite words and leave when he saw Su Chunfeng stand up from the stool.

“Teacher Xiao, I’ve remembered what you said. I won’t let you down… I’ll go now.”

With that, without waiting for Xiao Qian to say anything, Su Chunfeng walked past between Zuo Hongbin and Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian was stunned. She realized Su Chunfeng’s expression now was completely different from before, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly was off. It seemed like… he had matured a lot?

“Hmph!” Zuo Hongbin slightly stepped aside to let him pass, glaring hatefully at Su Chunfeng.

Pulling the door open, Su Chunfeng, with one foot already out the door, suddenly stopped. He turned his head and looked at Zuo Hongbin with a scornful expression, grinning as he said, “Teacher Zuo, I think it’s necessary to remind you, this is no way to chase a girl… If you want to win the beauty’s heart, you should first focus on improving your own character and quality. After all, there aren’t many girls in this world who are fools! And among female teachers, the chances of finding someone with low emotional intelligence who can be easily fooled by your fake affection and hypocrisy are even slimmer! Don’t you agree?”

“What do you mean?” Zuo Hongbin couldn’t wrap his head around it for a moment.

“You don’t even get that? Go back and think it over carefully… No need to thank me whenever you figure it out.” Su Chunfeng scoffed lightly with disdain, turned his head, strode away, and pulled the door shut behind him.

Inside the office, it grew quiet.

Xiao Qian’s face was bright red, her eyes filled with an incredulous look. She stared fixedly at the wooden door on which a poster of Michael Jackson’s image was pasted, as if Su Chunfeng were still standing there—wearing a suddenly transformed expression, from nervous, naive, and simple to incredibly mature, with a hint of unruliness and wildness, a mischievously bad grin—looking scornfully at Zuo Hongbin and delivering a string of rather forward, flippant remarks that were completely unlike what a teenager of his age could say.

Moreover, those words had very sharply and mercilessly torn open a layer of fig leaf that both Xiao Qian and Zuo Hongbin were aware of in their hearts but deliberately kept covered.

Xiao Qian certainly knew Zuo Hongbin was pursuing her. But since he hadn’t directly confessed, even though she already understood his character from her observations and thus had no fondness for him and hadn’t considered developing a relationship, she couldn’t very well presumptuously reject his enthusiasm and kindness either.

And Zuo Hongbin had always wanted to proceed steadily; of course, he couldn’t confess before the timing was right.

But now…

Finally catching on, Zuo Hongbin suddenly felt a violent rage, a desire to kill Su Chunfeng: “That wretched student is too vicious! His words seemed to mock me, but in reality, they were also warning and pressuring Xiao Qian—’You aren’t someone with extremely low emotional intelligence who’s a fool, are you? Don’t get fooled by a sinister, despicable, low-quality person with poor character!'”

But right now, in front of Xiao Qian, Zuo Hongbin couldn’t very well chase after him and make a scene. He could only wear an awkward, sheepish smile, trying to explain something: “Teacher Xiao, you see? What did I tell you? These students nowadays are simply…”