The next morning.
The morning sun, haloed in a faint red glow, had only just risen from the east. A few diligent birds perched on the treetops, looking down at the stream of teachers and students hurrying toward the teaching building, chirping as if they were discussing why humans also had to get up so early.
Some treated this as just another daily chore to get through, while others saw it as a hardship on the road to changing their fate…
But Qin Zhiyi, who had just stepped onto the stairs, seemed to have another reason.
Because Qin Zhiyi only started working a month after the semester began, even though she was highly capable, she still lacked teaching experience. On top of that, both she and the students needed time to adjust to one another… After some consideration, the school decided to let her handle two liberal arts classes this semester first.
By rights, her teaching load was not heavy at the moment, and she did not need to attend morning reading sessions. There was no need for her to come so early.
Unfortunately, she had been troubled all along by the origin of the breakfast that appeared on Gu Qiu’s desk yesterday, which was why she rushed over early in the morning, intending to wait and see.
Qin Zhiyi went all the way up to the second floor.
The office was on the left side of the corridor.
She let out a rough breath, inwardly lamenting that she really needed to exercise more, only to turn her head and see a woman in a white long dress coming out of the office.
At once, Qin Zhiyi became alert.
She knew every teacher who had a fixed seat in the office, as well as those who occasionally used a seat temporarily, but she had never seen the unfamiliar woman before her.
What was she doing inside so early in the morning?
At the same time, Qin Zhiyi’s appearance also surprised the woman opposite her, and her body gave a slight jolt.
Fortunately, she recovered quickly. A faint smile appeared on her face, and after giving Qin Zhiyi a slight nod in greeting, she left briskly.
Qin Zhiyi was wearing a shirt with a jacket today, paired with loose flared pants below, all in solid black.
As the two passed each other, it was like a collision of black and white, strikingly vivid.
Once the sound of the other’s footsteps faded, Qin Zhiyi slowly turned around, following the woman’s figure with her eyes until it disappeared.
Then she immediately walked into the office, intending to confirm her suspicion.
The moment the light was switched on, a small bag of food and a bottle of lactic acid drink placed on Gu Qiu’s desk immediately came into Qin Zhiyi’s view.
She walked over to the desk with heavy steps, narrowed her eyes slightly, and stared at the breakfast on the table.
“How dare you steal my man?”
…
A moment later.
Jiang Yunchen and Xu Youtian appeared together outside the office. They had already stepped halfway inside when they suddenly noticed Qin Zhiyi with her head buried in front of the computer, so they quickly backed out again and said in unison:
“Report!”
But Qin Zhiyi seemed not to hear them and was still carefully browsing the content on the computer.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunchen had no choice but to clear his throat and raise his voice a little.
“Report!”
This time, Qin Zhiyi reacted and turned to look at the two of them.
“Come in, please!”
She was far too idle right now, and no student would specifically come looking for her. Also, in the past, whenever students called out to report, other teachers would answer, so she had never paid any attention to it. She had never expected that the office would only have her in it at this moment.
Of course, she did not take such a small matter to heart either. Watching the two walk in, she lowered her head again.
Seeing that Gu Qiu was not there, Jiang Yunchen and Xu Youtian stood for a moment beside his desk.
Jiang Yunchen’s gaze was quickly drawn to the breakfast on the desk. His eyes lit up, and he nudged Xu Youtian, who was reading beside him, with his elbow.
Xu Youtian glared at him in annoyance, only to see him making eyes at her.
Curiously following Jiang Yunchen’s gaze, she then let her face fall in speechlessness and whispered:
“What are you doing?”
“You want to steal Old Gu’s breakfast?”
Jiang Yunchen rolled his eyes and explained in a low voice:
“Do you remember yesterday when Old Gu said someone had brought him breakfast?”
Hearing that, Xu Youtian immediately understood.
Right!
Old Gu hadn’t even arrived yet, so where had the breakfast come from?
All of a sudden, the two seemed to think of something at the same time and looked toward the busy Qin Zhiyi in unison.
Xu Youtian, as if she had learned something earth-shattering, had a nervous yet gossipy light in her eyes as she glanced sideways at Jiang Yunchen.
“Could it be?”
“Very possible!”
Jiang Yunchen nodded slightly.
A few days ago, someone in class had seen Teacher Gu and Teacher Qin leave school together after class, and rumors started spreading that the two of them might be having an affair.
He had scoffed at that, believing that a man like Old Gu, who was so focused on his career, would not be in a hurry to pursue love.
But looking at it now, just because Old Gu was not chasing romance did not mean romance would not come looking for Old Gu!
And so, the two of them concluded that the breakfast in front of them was given to Gu Qiu by Qin Zhiyi.
They murmured among themselves for a few words, then planned to cautiously ask Qin Zhiyi some questions to satisfy their curiosity.
But before they could even open their mouths, they saw Qin Zhiyi lift her head, looking somewhat irritated.
She had wanted to search the school official website for information on the woman in the white dress, only to browse through everything and find nothing at all!
One must know that even she, a new teacher who had only been on the job for a week, could find some basic information. How could the other person possibly not show up at all?
“Could she not be a teacher?”
Qin Zhiyi murmured softly, and also noticed that the two students were watching her.
She put away the doubts in her heart and asked curiously:
“What are you two standing there for?”
“Do you need something from me?”
Jiang Yunchen shook his head and explained with a simple smile:
“We’re waiting for Teacher Gu to come and grade our test papers.”
Speak of Gu Qiu, and Gu Qiu arrives!
He walked into the office, chewing on buns.
His gaze swept quickly over the three of them, lingering briefly on Qin Zhiyi as he thought to himself:
“She doesn’t need to attend morning reading sessions, so why is she here so early?”
“Tsk, tsk. A workaholic through and through. Truly worthy of the reputation.”
While grumbling inwardly, Gu Qiu had already reached his workstation.
The moment he sat down, he noticed the breakfast on the desk and immediately frowned.
“Again?”
He casually picked up the breakfast and held it in front of him to inspect it.
“It looks like potstickers and xiaolongbao.”
“Ah, what a pity. I’m already full!”
After muttering to himself a couple of times, Gu Qiu turned to glance at Little Fatty beside him and handed it over directly.
“Wanna eat?”
“It’s still hot today!”
At that, Jiang Yunchen subconsciously glanced at Qin Zhiyi.
He saw her first staring at the breakfast in Gu Qiu’s hand, then turning to look at him, with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips, which sent a shiver through him.
He quickly pulled his gaze back, and then thought of the scene from yesterday when Qin Zhiyi gave him chips, and suddenly a guess formed in his mind.
“Could it be that Teacher Qin gave me chips yesterday not because she cared whether I was hungry, but because she wanted me not to fight Old Gu for breakfast?”
“That’s right. Teacher Qin carefully prepared breakfast for Old Gu, so she definitely wouldn’t want anyone other than her to eat it. I already accepted the chips yesterday, and if I eat Old Gu’s breakfast today too, that would be shamelessly clueless. If Teacher Qin ever makes life difficult for me later, I’ll be doomed!”
Thinking of this, Jiang Yunchen hurriedly stepped back half a pace.
“Old Gu, I’ve already had breakfast!”
Gu Qiu was immediately surprised and confused.
This Little Fatty was usually the greediest eater around, yet he was actually refusing him?
But he did not think too much about it and turned to look at Xu Youtian.
Jiang Yunchen could figure it out, so Xu Youtian naturally would not be unclear either. She waved her hand.
“Teacher, this is too greasy. I won’t eat it!”
Hearing the two refuse one after the other, Qin Zhiyi’s hand reaching toward the drawer froze.
She had been planning to give the two of them chips as a reward for helping her finish off this breakfast!