Happy weekend moments are always fleeting, and in the blink of an eye, a new week began.
Every Monday during the long recess, a flag-raising ceremony was held, with the stirring national anthem echoing throughout the campus.
Just as the anthem ended, Gu Qiu walked into the office.
At this moment, only Qin Zhiyi and Ge Yan were in the office.
Ever since Ge Yan offered Qin Zhiyi a towel after she got caught in the rain last time, the two had gradually grown familiar and formed a friendship.
The two, who had been chatting idly, noticed Gu Qiu and simultaneously turned their gazes toward him.
Gu Qiu’s eye sockets were badly red and swollen, his hair was poorly groomed, with a small section on the right looking somewhat disheveled, and he kept yawning nonstop.
He carried a laptop bag in one hand while also holding a paper box with cartoon packaging.
Ge Yan held her water cup with both hands and asked with concern:
“Teacher Gu, did you not rest well last night?”
“A little bit.”
Gu Qiu responded politely.
He was a man of action. Yesterday, after deciding to make short videos documenting his daily teaching, he immediately started drawing up a plan and came up with quite a few interesting ideas that could also promote student learning.
Little did he expect that by the time he finished fiddling around, it was already four in the morning, and his current state was indeed rather poor.
Gu Qiu placed the items in his hands on the desk one by one, and immediately after, he heard Qin Zhiyi’s question.
“Teacher Gu, would you like some coffee?”
Raising his eyes, he saw her gazing at him with wide, starry eyes, lightly waving two sticks of instant coffee.
Gu Qiu paused for a moment, feeling that he indeed needed a pick-me-up, so he did not refuse.
He had been about to reach out and take the coffee, but Qin Zhiyi actually picked up the cup on his desk directly and headed toward the water dispenser instead.
Ge Yan’s gaze remained on Gu Qiu. After a moment of thought, she said:
“Teacher Gu, I’ve noticed you haven’t been in great shape these past two weeks. How about taking some leave to adjust?”
As colleagues for half a year and subject teachers in the same class, she had seen Gu Qiu’s dedication with her own eyes. But when problems arose, they should be resolved promptly… first, to ensure his health, and second, to avoid holding the students back.
Gu Qiu raised an eyebrow.
He knew that Ge Yan was linking his current state to the nightmares he had been having earlier, but in reality, ever since Qin Zhiyi appeared, he had not had a relapse.
At that thought, he subconsciously looked in Qin Zhiyi’s direction.
Right at that moment, Qin Zhiyi returned carrying the freshly brewed coffee and placed it on his desk.
“Careful, it’s hot!”
“I also have Class 9’s lessons this afternoon. How about we swap?”
Gu Qiu quickly withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
“No need, I’ll be wide awake in a bit!”
Then, he said to Ge Yan:
“Teacher Ge, I’m already making adjustments. No need for leave for now.”
Seeing how persistent he was, Ge Yan could only nod in response and said nothing more.
Qin Zhiyi, however, curiously examined the box on his desk, her thoughts pulled back to last night…
…
The day before, just after dark.
Qin Zhiyi carried nearly ten packages of various sizes back to the apartment building. After climbing five flights of stairs, she couldn’t help but pant slightly.
She stopped in front of Gu Qiu’s door and suddenly recalled that in her previous life, he was always the one who picked up her packages and fetched her takeout.
Although there was an elevator back then, it still took a considerable amount of time and energy. Sometimes she would buy an especially large amount of things. Doing these little tasks for a day or two wasn’t hard, but keeping it up consistently for years was no easy feat… a testament to how patient Gu Qiu was in managing their home.
Yet such a wonderful him, she had failed to cherish!
Qin Zhiyi let out a sigh and slowly reined in her thoughts.
Then, she placed three packages she had set aside in advance on the shoe rack in front of Gu Qiu’s door and raised her hand to knock.
In her heart, she silently said:
“A-Qiu, the tenderness you gave me… in this life, I will repay it tenfold, a hundredfold!”
A moment later, Gu Qiu, now changed into loungewear, walked to the door.
He peered through the peephole for a long time but found nothing. However, he knew that all the residents in this unit were single teachers, so there wouldn’t be any bratty kids causing trouble… not to mention this was the top floor… so he opened the door anyway.
He scanned left and right and quickly noticed the delivery boxes.
Gu Qiu’s expression froze.
The school naturally did not allow delivery couriers inside; packages were all stored and managed uniformly at the school gate. Although it was normal for teachers to help each other pick up packages, on a weekend, the only person who would bother picking up deliveries and bringing them right to his door was probably…
At that thought, he raised his head and looked toward the opposite door.
At this moment, Qin Zhiyi was leaning against the back of her door, peeping through the peephole at Gu Qiu’s actions. When she saw his gaze come her way, she suddenly felt nervous.
She turned around and leaned her back carefully against the door, avoiding making any sound.
The reason she hadn’t waited for Gu Qiu to come out and instead went straight home was that she was afraid he would think she was pestering him again. She didn’t want to put pressure on Gu Qiu, nor did she want him to form another bad impression of her. Just letting him subtly become aware of her kindness was enough!
Qin Zhiyi leaned lightly against the door, preparing to wait until Gu Qiu went back inside before making any further moves.
But after waiting for quite a while, she never heard the door next door close. Instead, a knock came from behind her.
Qin Zhiyi’s gaze went blank for a moment, but thankfully she quickly adjusted her emotions.
After waiting a few seconds, she opened the door and offered a smile.
“What’s up?”
“Thanks for picking up my packages!”
Gu Qiu kept his head half-lowered and said in a deep, low voice.
Qin Zhiyi shrugged casually, pretending to be relaxed.
“It was no trouble at all!”
“Mm.”
Gu Qiu gave a slight nod but showed no intention of leaving.
Qin Zhiyi pressed her lips together and tentatively asked:
“Is there… something else?”
“If you need my help, just say so!”
Gu Qiu exhaled softly and asked:
“Um… do you still have the cardboard boxes from when you moved?”
“Lend me one.”
Qin Zhiyi’s starry eyes flickered as she smiled gently:
“I thought you had some big matter!”
“They’re all still here. What size do you need?”
Gu Qiu replied plainly:
“Doesn’t need to be too big.”
“Okay, wait a moment!”
After responding, Qin Zhiyi trotted into the apartment.
Gu Qiu stayed outside the door, examining the interior decor of Qin Zhiyi’s home.
To his surprise, the woman had decorated her place in pinks and whites. Could it be that the ice queen Qin Zhiyi actually had a girlish heart?
What the hell!
How had he not noticed that in his previous life?
Just as he was still reeling from the shock, Qin Zhiyi had already returned, holding out a box with a Kuromi cartoon design and a plain yellow cardboard box in front of him.
“Which one do you want?”
Gu Qiu quickly withdrew his gaze, looked down, and finally chose the cartoon box.
This caught Qin Zhiyi by surprise, and she asked subconsciously:
“Are you planning to prepare a surprise?”
Gu Qiu’s dark eyes blinked twice.
“A surprise?”
“Something like that!”
Saying that, he inspected the box, confirmed there were no issues, then picked up the packages and headed back to his own place.
“Thanks!”
“Tell me how much it costs later, I’ll transfer you the money.”
“Bang!”
Watching the opposite door close, Qin Zhiyi couldn’t help but pout and muttered under her breath:
“He didn’t even say who the surprise was for!”