Qin Zhiyi’s expression tightened as she gathered her thoughts and returned to reality.
She looked at the Kuromi cardboard box in front of her. Its appearance had not changed, except that the lid on top had been sealed shut, and a circular opening slightly larger than a fist had been cut into the middle. It looked very much like a lucky draw box.
Suddenly, Qin Zhiyi took half a step forward and leaned against the side of the cardboard box. Sure enough, through the opening she could see slips of paper inside.
Curious, she pulled one out, unfolded it, and read the contents.
『One cup of milk tea!』
Her starry eyes blinked as she guessed:
“Teacher Gu, is this prepared for the students?”
Gu Qiu blew away the steam rising from his coffee and took a small sip.
“Yes.”
Hearing this, Qin Zhiyi lowered her eyes, her emotions in turmoil.
Last night, when she heard Gu Qiu say he was preparing a surprise, even though she knew it could not possibly be for her, she still held onto a sliver of hope. But now that hope had come to nothing.
At least it was not for some other specific person, which eased the worry in her heart.
At that moment, Ge Yan also walked over. She first glanced at the slip of paper in Qin Zhiyi’s hand, then drew one herself.
“One fountain pen!”
“Teacher Gu, what kind of trick are you trying this time?”
Gu Qiu shrugged and smiled faintly.
“Just a few small rewards to raise the students’ enthusiasm for studying.”
Ge Yan nodded slightly, refolded the slip of paper, and put it back into the box.
“You young people always have all kinds of fresh ideas. No wonder the students feel close to you.”
“Still, these things may look like small gifts, but once you add up the cost, it probably won’t be a small amount. I can’t let you spend so much… how about this? When the time comes, give me the list of gifts for our class, and I’ll handle the purchasing.”
Gu Qiu shook his head.
“Sister Yan, if you do that, I’ll feel pressured. Then I won’t dare to do it so freely!”
“Don’t worry, I can still afford this amount!”
Hearing this, Ge Yan pursed her lips. She did not argue with him, but she still reminded him:
“Then if there’s anything you need help with in the future, just let me know.”
“Alright. If I really run into trouble, I won’t be polite.”
Gu Qiu replied with a smile.
Ge Yan nodded slightly and returned to her seat.
Qin Zhiyi also folded the slip of paper and put it back. Seeing Gu Qiu drinking his coffee with a deeply furrowed brow, she could not help but chuckle.
She had always remembered his habit of adding a lot of sugar to his coffee. Unfortunately, she had bought the coffee just to give herself a pick-me-up and had not prepared any sugar. However…
Right then, Qin Zhiyi placed the White Rabbit creamy candy she had been hiding in her palm onto the corner of the desk.
In her heart, she let out a sigh:
“Good thing I did not rush to eat the candy Sister Yan gave me!”
When she looked up again, she noticed that Gu Qiu was already watching her.
Qin Zhiyi blinked playfully, then turned and walked back to her workstation.
Gu Qiu’s gaze followed her figure for a moment. When he looked away, his eyes fell on the White Rabbit candy.
His expression froze slightly, and he could not help but reveal a bitter smile as he thought to himself:
“Last time I said I’d treat her to a meal at the cafeteria. Was that lacking sincerity?”
After thinking it over, he shook his head and did not dwell on it further.
He reached out, picked up the candy, unwrapped it, and put it into his mouth. Then he drank it down with coffee, unable to help but taste that bittersweet flavor.
After finishing more than half a cup of coffee, Gu Qiu felt much more alert.
Looking at the somewhat cluttered desk, he was just about to clean up when he noticed that, somehow, a scallion pancake and a bag of soy milk had been pressed underneath his laptop bag.
Gu Qiu picked them up in confusion, only to discover that they were already ice-cold, clearly having been there for quite some time.
Most teachers were kind. As long as you asked, it was common for someone to bring you breakfast along the way.
But the key was that he had not asked anyone for help!
Suddenly, Gu Qiu remembered how Qin Zhiyi had “along the way” brought him breakfast yesterday, and he silently looked toward the opposite side.
Qin Zhiyi had already put on her glasses and was seriously browsing an academic website related to biomedicine, but as if sensing something telepathically, she lifted a hand to brush back her hair, and her gaze collided with his.
A trace of suspicion appeared in her clear eyes as she waited for him to continue.
Very quickly, Gu Qiu lowered his head and started tapping on his phone.
Qin Zhiyi followed suit and picked up her phone. Just as she opened WeChat, she saw his message.
『How much for the breakfast and coffee?』
『Actually, I’m usually very proactive about breakfast. Especially from Monday to Friday, I generally go to the cafeteria to eat before coming to the office. I won’t trouble you anymore after this!』
After reading the message, the confusion in Qin Zhiyi’s eyes did not lessen.
She looked over at Gu Qiu and quickly noticed the things in his hand.
She had long expected Gu Qiu to eat breakfast on time from Monday to Friday, so she had only planned to prepare it for him on weekends.
But since Gu Qiu was asking this, it could only mean that this breakfast had been placed on his desk by someone else.
In an instant, Qin Zhiyi frowned, and a guarded look flashed in her eyes.
What was going on?
Her feeding plan had only just started, and she had already met a rival?
Gu Qiu noticed Qin Zhiyi’s unusual reaction and narrowed his eyes slightly as his thoughts raced.
Suddenly, he remembered that around this time in his previous life, someone had also been bringing him breakfast. But after asking around and checking carefully, he had never been able to find out who it was.
However, it had only continued for a week. And at the time, the math teacher in the neighboring class was also being chased around and fed by students, so he had simply assumed it was a student and had not taken it to heart.
After thinking it through, he sent Qin Zhiyi another message to confirm.
『It wasn’t you who brought it?』
Qin Zhiyi’s expression turned slightly heavy, and her fingers poked at the screen a few times.
『It wasn’t me!』
Suddenly, she could not help but add another line.
『Teacher Gu sure is popular!』
Gu Qiu blinked his dark eyes, stared at the message for a moment, then looked up and glanced at Qin Zhiyi.
Seeing her lightly biting her lip, he could not help but sigh inwardly.
Was she jealous?
This scene reminded him of when they first started dating in their previous life. When they went out and someone asked him for WeChat, Qin Zhiyi, the jealous type, had completely lost it. Afterwards, while clinging tightly to him, she had sarcastically imitated the tone of the girl who asked for his WeChat, looking as if she wanted to plaster “He is my boyfriend” across her face.
Thinking of that, Gu Qiu shook his head and chuckled.
That reaction was naturally taken in completely by Qin Zhiyi. Feeling even more wronged, she typed again.
『That makes you so happy?』
『Do you really like scallion pancakes that much?』
『Or do you think the person who brought you breakfast was just too considerate?』
Seeing the messages, Gu Qiu coughed twice and quickly adjusted his expression.
『What are you talking about!』
『Maybe another teacher accidentally left it on my desk.』
Qin Zhiyi did not buy that explanation at all.
After all, she had been sitting here since the morning reading session, and she had not seen any teacher go to Gu Qiu’s desk. Besides, who loses their breakfast for so long and still does not come looking for it?
Still, in her heart, she genuinely hoped it had been left by another teacher.
The two of them waited for more than ten minutes, and the morning assembly speech had already ended.
The teachers returned one after another, but not a single person asked about the breakfast that Gu Qiu had deliberately placed in a conspicuous spot.
Gu Qiu let out a soft sigh.
It seemed to be the same situation as in his previous life.
However, he did not like owing favors. Not to mention that there was still a jealous girl sitting right across from him. To avoid her overthinking, it would be best to go to the classroom later and say something about it.
Just then, a stocky boy of average height walked in carrying a stack of workbooks. He looked just like Gu Qiu had earlier, appearing utterly listless.
This immediately drew the attention of Ge Yan, the homeroom teacher.
“Jiang Yunchen, what did you do last night?”
Jiang Yunchen suddenly looked up, full of confusion.
“Huh?”
“I didn’t do anything last night!”
“Then why do you look so out of it?”
Ge Yan pressed on with a serious expression.
Jiang Yunchen’s grades in the class were above average, and his attitude toward studying was usually decent. She did not want this child secretly bringing a phone to school and staying up all night.
But the facts proved she was worrying too much.
Jiang Yunchen placed Class 9’s history homework on Gu Qiu’s desk, then rubbed his stomach and wore a helpless expression.
“Sigh, there was no money on my meal card, so I didn’t eat breakfast. I’m starving!”
Hearing this, Ge Yan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly rummaged through her drawer for her own meal card, then handed it over.
“There’s still some time. Go to the cafeteria and see what food is left.”
“If this happens again, borrow a meal card from a classmate!”
Jiang Yunchen pursed his lips.
He had already agreed with his best buddy, but that guy had gotten too into eating and forgotten to bring it for him.
He did not think much more about it and was just about to reach out and borrow the meal card when Gu Qiu interrupted.
“Want some of this?”
“It’s just a little cold!”
Jiang Yunchen had actually noticed the scallion pancake on Gu Qiu’s desk a long time ago, but he did not have the nerve to fight a teacher for breakfast. However, now that Gu Qiu was offering it to him on his own, the fat on his face immediately piled up into a grin.
“Holy crap!”
“Old Gu, you’re really a good guy. I love you to death!”
But just as the words left his mouth, he caught the homeroom teacher’s stare and quickly corrected himself.
“Cough, cough!”
“Thank you, Teacher Gu!”
After speaking, Jiang Yunchen picked up the breakfast and was about to leave.
But just as he turned around, he was stopped again by a voice coming from the side.
“Classmate Jiang, please have some chips!”
Following the sound, Jiang Yunchen looked over and discovered that Teacher Qin, whom the students in the class had crowned “Yunmeng’s No. 1 Beauty,” was actually smiling as she handed him a bag of potato chips. His body stiffened, and he roared inwardly:
“Huh?”
“This is too lucky!”
He truly had not expected that coming to the office would let him score so much food. The thought even occurred to him that he should come by more often in the future.
Jiang Yunchen grinned foolishly and bowed to Qin Zhiyi in thanks.
“Hehe, thank you, Teacher Qin.”
“You’re welcome.”
Qin Zhiyi replied in a gentle voice.
Although someone had brought food to Gu Qiu, the fact that he immediately handed it off to someone else made her very satisfied.
Of course, this little chubby guy had arrived at just the right time, so rewarding him with a bag of chips was only appropriate.
Gu Qiu raised an eyebrow, somewhat speechless, and interrupted the two of them.
“Alright, since you’re here, help me take this back to the class.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the cardboard box beside him.
Jiang Yunchen nodded and said nothing else. He picked up the box.
After saying goodbye to the teachers, he turned and headed outside.
Gu Qiu glanced at the time on his phone. Seeing that there was not much time left before class, he also headed toward the classroom.