Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
Su Qianyi, in her previous life, Xie Shu had tried for ten years to warm her heart to no avail. This life, he's given up. Could it be that she would still cling to him?
Whenever she calls him, it must be because she needs something from him.
It's the weekend today; she's probably looking to go out and have fun, that's why she's reaching out to him.
In his past life, around this time, he had given up his part-time job to spend time with her.
Now that he's chosen the part-time job over her, she must have no one to make arrangements for her.
"So that's the case. But if she's calling you, she must need something, right? Isn't it a problem to just hang up without even listening to what she has to say?" Teacher Li also asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's fine."
He doesn't care what she wants.
Even if the sky were falling, it wouldn't concern him.
If there were any emergencies at the school, his three dutiful sons would inform him. There's no need for her to stoop so low to notify him.
Xie Shu didn't want to talk too much about Su Qianyi.
The other teachers present could tell, so they tactfully changed the subject and didn't bring it up again.
***
At the same time. In the girls' dormitory.
Su Qianyi stared at the disconnected call, stunned once again.
She had only spoken a single sentence…
After coming back to her senses, she immediately redialed.
But the call was quickly disconnected again.
She persisted, redialing over and over, only to be rejected each time.
After several attempts, she was blocked…
A wave of immense grievance swept over her, a sour veil clouded her eyes, and the air in her nostrils seemed to thin, the suffocating feeling making her more and more uncomfortable.
The scene before her began to blur. She raised her hand to rub her swollen eyes, wiping away the tears that obstructed her vision, suppressing the urge to cry, and turned to WeChat.
She opened Xie Shu's chat window, staring at the screen that still showed no reply, her heart throbbing painfully.
Her phone screen was filled with messages she had sent to Xie Shu, scrolling up revealed a long trail of her one-sided conversation.
But not a single one had been answered.
She opened the keyboard, wanting to send a message asking why he had blocked her number, but she feared that if she did, he might find her annoying and block her on WeChat too.
Or perhaps… he had already blocked her?
Su Qianyi wasn't sure, but either way, she couldn't accept it.
After much hesitation, she typed, deleted, and revised her message, finally choosing to send it.
Su Qianyi: [Xie Shu, can we talk?]
The message sent successfully.
But there was no reply.
Afterward, Su Qianyi didn't continue to send messages.
The fact that Xie Shu hadn't blocked her on WeChat was already a relief. If she kept messaging him like she had been calling, she might end up on the block list there too.
She felt so wronged, so sad. When would Xie Shu come to comfort her?
He used to be so nice to her, so caring, and would even accompany her on weekends.
Today, she got up early to contact him, intending to ask him out, but he kept ignoring her…
She sent him many messages, made many calls, and finally got through at noon, but the outcome…
Who was with him just now? Where was he?
She cared so much.
***
The lunch was hosted by a few teachers.
After lunch, the students returned to the art district in small groups, and Xie Shu stayed with the teachers.
Although he was just an assistant, he was still a teacher.
Contrary to Xie Shu's expectations, they didn't return to the previous villa but headed towards another exit of the art district, the same route he had taken that morning.
The scenery at the two exits was vastly different.
The other side was crowded with restaurants, resembling a tourist area.
This side… was just an ordinary suburb with residential buildings and fields.
"Where are we going?" Xie Shu asked Teacher Li, puzzled.
"To the dormitories. It's easy to feel sleepy this season. It's better for the students to rest a bit at noon before classes resume."
Xie Shu nodded: "Makes sense. What about me？"
He didn't live here, nor was he a student. Why should he follow them?
Shouldn't he go back to the studio?
"You should go rest too. There are beds available. The artists who partnered to open the studio aren't short on money, and they've made the living accommodations quite nice."
With the conversation reaching this point, Xie Shu didn't refuse and followed them back.
Since there were many self-built houses around, the artists who partnered to open the studio rented a few rooms to serve as dormitories for the students. The environment was generally good and close by.
The teachers had separate dormitories, and as a temporary assistant, Xie Shu naturally didn't have one. To ensure he could rest properly, a male teacher took him to the boys' dormitory.
Fortunately, both classes had few male students, so there were spare beds for him to rest temporarily.
Once in the dormitory, he finally wouldn't be disturbed anymore!
Xie Shu opened Ruan Nianxi's chat window again and finally sent a message.
Ruan Nianxi replied instantly.
Seeing Ruan Nianxi online, Xie Shu immediately sent another message explaining that he hadn't had time to check his phone in the morning, which is why he hadn't replied to her messages promptly.
Ruan Nianxi: [What were you doing this morning that kept you so busy?]
Xie Shu: [Part-time job. Didn't I tell you?]
Ruan Nianxi: [Part-time?]
Xie Shu: [Yeah, I'm free on weekends anyway, so I found a part-time job.]
Ruan Nianxi: [What kind of job?]
Xie Shu: [Assistant at a drawing studio.]
Ruan Nianxi: [Is it busy? Tiring?]
Xie Shu: [Not too busy. It's just that I'm the only teacher in the classroom, so I can't slack off. If I'm always looking at my phone, what if the students think I'm not serious? And if the main teacher sees me and thinks I'm not dedicated, what if they don't let me come back?]
Reading his reply, Ruan Nianxi typed out several messages like "I have money," "You don't need to work part-time," "I can support you," but in the end, she deleted all of them.
After editing back and forth, she finally sent a few words: [Hmm, you've worked hard.]
Xie Shu: [I have classes this afternoon here too, and I might return late tonight.]
This message suddenly gave Ruan Nianxi an illusion.
Why did she feel… like Xie Shu was explaining something to her…
Explaining that he was busy all day today and hadn't been with anyone else?
Before she could feel happy, Ruan Nianxi's vision dimmed.
…Was she deluding herself again?
She had taken so many pills these past few days, why weren't they working?