Gu Qiu, afraid that Qin Zhiyi would reveal their relationship as online friends and make people overthink things, quickly answered first.
But to his surprise, the moment he finished speaking, Qin Zhiyi locked onto him again.
Only this time, her gaze carried a trace of quiet resentment.
Fortunately, she didn’t refute Gu Qiu’s words. Instead, she smiled softly and explained her reason for choosing that seat:
“Sitting across from a handsome guy is easy on the eyes.”
Hearing this, Gu Qiu’s mouth twitched.
Something was definitely wrong with this woman!
In his previous life, she rarely said such mushy things even in private.
Suddenly, the office fell unusually silent, and the atmosphere grew slightly awkward.
Fortunately, a female teacher stepped in to smooth things over.
“Teacher Gu is indeed handsome, and you’re very beautiful too, Teacher Qin. With the two of you together, you’ll be the most eye-catching sight in our office from now on!”
Cui Jianguo chuckled and added:
“It’s fine, now you’ve gotten to know each other!”
“And what a coincidence… you two happen to teach the same class, so you’ll be dealing with each other a lot from now on!”
“A-Qiu, don’t just sit there like a fool. Help Teacher Qin tidy up her desk; look at this mess!”
Gu Qiu glanced at Qin Zhiyi, then picked up his textbook and waved it.
“Brother Cui, I have class!”
Right on cue, the class bell rang in the hallway.
“Ring ring ring.”
“Class time has arrived. Students, please return to the classroom quickly and prepare for class!”
Immediately, the two teachers who had classes picked up their textbooks, said goodbye, and left chatting and laughing.
Gu Qiu also shrugged and headed toward the door.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, Qin Zhiyi’s voice came from behind him again.
“Teacher Gu, may I sit in on your class?”
Gu Qiu turned his head with a puzzled look.
You teach biology… what exactly would you be sitting in on in my history class?
As if seeing through his thoughts, Qin Zhiyi blinked and explained:
“I’m new here and don’t know anything yet, but I can’t hold up the students’ learning. I want to get into the swing of things as soon as possible. Since we happen to teach the same class, I’d like to follow along and get familiar with the classroom environment.”
“I promise I won’t disrupt your class. Is that okay?”
She looked completely sincere, and her explanation was flawless.
Gu Qiu wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t find a good reason for the moment, so he couldn’t help looking at Cui Jianguo.
Cui Jianguo immediately avoided his gaze.
His observational skills had always been sharp; he could tell that these two definitely knew each other beforehand, but he had no interest in getting involved in young people’s affairs.
“Ahem.”
“I just remembered that the vice principal asked me to go to his office.”
With that, he left without looking back!
Seeing this, Gu Qiu helplessly withdrew his gaze. Seeing Qin Zhiyi still looking at him with an expectant face, he replied in a low voice:
“Fine!”
Qin Zhiyi responded with a smile, then took off her bag and placed it on the desk before quickly following in Gu Qiu’s footsteps.
…
First-Year High School Class 9
Despite having gone through an hour and a half of lunch break, many students still felt unsatisfied and lay weakly on their desks. It wasn’t until they saw their history teacher bring a beautiful young woman into the classroom that they unanimously perked up, and whistles even came from the back row.
Being teased by the students, Gu Qiu’s expression turned somewhat unnatural.
After all, if he counted the fact that their divorce hadn’t succeeded in his previous life, they were technically still husband and wife!
But this chaos wouldn’t do, so he quickly brought the situation under control.
“Keep chattering and I’ll add homework for the weekend!”
This trick never failed. Sure enough, the students all fell silent the very next second.
Qin Zhiyi, on the other hand, seemed rather pleased, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
After exchanging a nod with Gu Qiu, she found a seat in the back. A thoughtful student even brought her a chair.
Gu Qiu placed his textbook on the desk, opened it, and began organizing his lesson plan.
But three girls in the front row couldn’t resist gossiping.
“Teacher Gu, who’s that girl in the back?”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
“You brought your girlfriend to class?”
Gu Qiu hadn’t intended to pay them any mind, but afraid the students would spread rumors, he patiently explained:
“Don’t talk nonsense. That’s your new biology teacher!”
The three girls looked even more excited after hearing this. They glanced back at Qin Zhiyi twice and were about to keep pressing for answers.
But Gu Qiu didn’t give them the chance. He said seriously:
“Class begins!”
“Stand up!”
“Hello, teacher!”
“Hello, students, sit down!”
After going through the routine, classroom order was clearly much better.
Gu Qiu held the textbook and said:
“Let me quiz you on the content from last class.”
“Zhou Yunjian!”
“Who discovered the New World?”
“…”
During the Q&A session, the students, afraid of being noticed by the teacher, all wished they could duck their heads under the desks.
This formed a stark contrast with Qin Zhiyi, who sat upright by the back door, her head raised, staring straight at Gu Qiu.
Her coming to sit in on the class and getting familiar with the environment was only one aspect.
More importantly, the life-and-death separation of her previous life was still vivid in her mind. Only by looking at Gu Qiu more could she feel at ease.
“It’s so good to see you again!”
After murmuring that in her heart, Qin Zhiyi’s thoughts gradually drifted further away.
In her previous life, after Gu Qiu had asked for a divorce and moved out, she began to reflect.
She realized that she had done many wrong things, and she also came to understand that the most important thing to her was not her parents’ approval, nor empty fame and money, but Gu Qiu… who had appeared during her youth and had always been by her side!
So, whenever Gu Qiu discussed divorce with her, she would find various excuses to refuse and stall.
She wanted to hold on to Gu Qiu, to make him give her another chance.
But when she had finished planning and was ready to reconcile with Gu Qiu, what greeted her was the devastating news of his death.
That rainy night, listening as Gu Qiu’s voice gradually weakened until it disappeared entirely, she was on the verge of collapse!
But who could have imagined that, in her desperation to see him one last time, she had rushed to find A-Long, only to accidentally collide with another car, and by a stroke of fortune amidst misfortune, had reincarnated back to ten years ago.
She hadn’t dared to believe any of it at first, but the moment she managed to contact Gu Qiu on her phone, even if it were a dream, she hoped she would never have to wake up!
Because only with him by her side did her life… and even her existence… have meaning.
…
Gu Qiu had always been dedicated to his work and didn’t let Qin Zhiyi’s presence affect his teaching.
But once the bell rang ending class, he fled the classroom as if running for his life, with no intention whatsoever of waiting for Qin Zhiyi.
Qin Zhiyi, however, appeared quite calm and chatted briefly with the students before leaving.
But the moment she entered the office, she found Gu Qiu packing up his things.
“Teacher Gu, you don’t have any more classes this afternoon?”
“Mm!”
Gu Qiu didn’t stop his movements, replying somewhat reluctantly.
Hearing this, Qin Zhiyi’s pretty eyebrows lifted slightly.
After a brief moment of thought, she looked at her own cluttered desk and her eyes suddenly lit up.
“Teacher Gu, there’s a lot of stuff piled on my desk, and I don’t know what’s useful and what’s not. How about you help me sort it out?”
Gu Qiu instinctively wanted to refuse, but with two other teachers still present, he struggled inwardly for a moment before finally agreeing.
And so, the two of them busied themselves for quite a while, clearing off the desk and giving it a cleaning in the process.
Before they knew it, only the two of them were left in the office.
Gu Qiu stretched his back and loosened up his muscles.
“There was a perfectly good spot ready for you over there, but you insisted on making trouble.”
“All right, you can clean up the rest yourself. I’m leaving!”
But the moment those words left his mouth, he noticed Qin Zhiyi approaching him with a smile on her face.
With no other choice, Gu Qiu could only step backward.
But behind him was the wall… there was nowhere to retreat.
“Ah Yi, what are you doing?”
This woman sure was bold… they were still in the office, for crying out loud!
Qin Zhiyi tilted her head up slightly, her gaze burning.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t know me?”
“Now you know to call me Ah Yi?”
Gu Qiu turned his head to avoid her gaze and said in a low voice:
“Didn’t I make myself clear to you?”
“Say what?”
“Say that you need to work hard in class, or that you’re planning to date a real-life girlfriend?”
Qin Zhiyi sounded as if she were questioning him, but her voice was very soft, very gentle.
During this half month, she had tried to maintain the same ambiguous relationship with Gu Qiu as in her previous life, even being a little clingier.
But for some reason, this life’s Gu Qiu seemed to be deliberately or unconsciously avoiding her.
Qin Zhiyi thought that perhaps she had reincarnated into a different world, or that her reincarnation had triggered a butterfly effect.
But no matter what the reason was, she felt that since she had done so many things in her previous life that hurt Gu Qiu, it was only normal for her to suffer a little in this one.
So she simply quit her job in Hangcheng and came looking for him!
Since Heaven had given her another chance, she absolutely could not miss Gu Qiu again!
In her previous life, it had been Gu Qiu who pursued her. Then this time…
“A-Qiu, since you don’t want an online relationship, then let’s start from reality. I’ll pursue you, okay?”