Yu Bei had barely ever visited other floors.
He had arrived at Baihe in early spring two years prior, around the same season—when the chill had yet to fade and all things were poised to burst forth.
The fledgling school was much the same, waiting for a good rain.
When the campus site had first been chosen, Lin Yuzhang had spared no effort in gathering talent far and wide. Yet the first semester's enrollment results were disappointing—fewer than ten students signed up for the hearing-impaired and intellectual-disability classes, and two of the barely-scraped-together teaching staff had already run off.
Lin Yuzhang, a man who took his commitments seriously, reported to Chen Yu'en: "I'm not sure this can keep going."
Chen Yu'en said: "Keep going. Keep it running. Money isn't the issue."
Lin Yuzhang changed his approach, making three visits to the humble abode of an acquaintance's junior—and persuaded him to come aboard.
Yu Bei, a PhD in psychology from Beijing Normal University, became Lin Yuzhang's new selling point.
The prestige of a famous institution shone brightly—word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and more parents came asking: "Really no tuition?"
The security guard at the gate declared grandly: "Really no tuition."
Over two years passed, and Baihe Special School built up a reputation in the surrounding area. Though enrollment only matched a single class at a regular school, it was steadily rising, and the school ran in orderly fashion.
If the Chen family was the great tree behind it all, Yu Bei was unquestionably the intellectual shareholder. New teachers who heard the backstory would habitually remark:
"No wonder Teacher Yu is so aloof."
Aside from the security guard and the head cook, the entire school had only three male teachers—Yu Bei being one, and the other two being Yan Jing and Zhang Zhipeng from the intellectual-disability program.
Teacher Yan and Teacher Zhang were locals and didn't board at the school.
The staff dormitory wasn't segregated by gender, but the rooms were spaced far apart, so there was no inconvenience.
Yu Bei never went around bothering people, let alone visiting other floors. The last time he'd gone upstairs was to help a colleague reinstall their system.
Chen Qingning's "snack mountain" had stuffed his entire duffel bag to the brim.
He considered for a moment, then sent a message on WeChat: Left it at your door. Take your stuff.
The reply came back at the speed of an auto-response: Your door or my door?
Yu Bei didn't reply to that message.
Chen Qingning had come up empty-handed, slouching back dejectedly: "What the heck—I thought he'd bring it right to my door."
Qu Xiao had just woken up and was rinsing his mouth: "Mmph?"
Dragging Qu Xiao along as company to the second floor, they found a black duffel bag—Arctic Fox brand—lying across Yu Bei's doorway, bulging fat and full.
Chen Qingning was stunned: "He can pack it up, but won't take it inside?"
Qu Xiao, ever the optimist: "At least he organized it for you. Though I still don't get why you had to take everything out of the plastic bags."
Chen Qingning said: "Do you even know what 'visual impact' means?"
Qu Xiao: "I don't."
She understood even less why Chen Qingning didn't just take the bag—that way, when returning it, she'd get to see Teacher Yu again, like the paper umbrella by West Lake, passed back and forth until it connected Xu Xian and the White Snake.
And the snacks wouldn't go to waste either.
When she arrived at class that afternoon, Chen Qingning didn't mention the snacks at all, focusing entirely on catching up on sleep.
At the end of class, Yu Bei tapped the corner of her desk—twice. No reaction. The students snickered nearby. Seeing Teacher Yu's expression darken slightly, Ge Lingxi gathered her courage and called out loudly: "Teacher Chen, wake up—Teacher Chen—"
Yu Bei turned to look at her.
The girl immediately clamped both hands over her mouth.
Yu Bei's eyes softened a degree. He looked around at the students watching the commotion and signed: "Whoever wakes her up first gets a reward point card from me."
The children began shouting without restraint.
Whether their pronunciation was accurate or not didn't matter—waking Teacher Chen was the top priority.
Yu Bei didn't correct their articulation either, letting each of them open their throats freely.
Chen Qingning dreamed she'd fallen into a tropical rainforest, perched high on a tree branch, with a troop of monkeys swarming around her, surrounding her completely—clutching bananas and mangoes, leaping up and down, demanding she catch them.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, made a few fan-service poses, and tried to say: "One at a time, slowly now—do you have any leaves? I can sign autographs too…"
But to her surprise, what came out of her mouth was also primal screeching and hollering.
She jolted upright in fright.
Chaotic noises surrounded her—the monkeys had turned into children, all beaming at her, some even doubled over laughing.
Chen Qingning's heart was still racing. Her gaze traveled upward.
Yu Bei stood silently behind them, uttering two words: "Come out."
"Do you still want to learn sign language?" Following him out the back door of the classroom, before she'd even steadied her feet, Yu Bei's question came crashing down.
Chen Qingning had just woken up, her head still foggy: "Yeah, I do."
Yu Bei asked: "I put the book on your desk. Did you see it?"
Chen Qingning wasn't sure: "I think… I saw it?"
He said: "Start reading it today."
Chen Qingning seized the opportunity to negotiate, putting on a sweet smile and mimicking his phrasing: "The supplies are at your door. Start eating them today."
"Take them back."
Chen Qingning blurted out: "Then you take the book back too."
Yu Bei was silent for a moment: "You're saying you don't want to learn, is that it?"
Chen Qingning was even more confused: "Who said I don't want to learn? Of course I do."
Yu Bei's lips curved slightly as he regarded her: "By sleeping through every class?"
Chen Qingning didn't understand: "Isn't what you teach seventh-grade material?" She was already in university, after all—even if it was the dropout edition.
Yu Bei said, "What about seventh grade? Did I teach in sign language?"
"You slept through class from start to finish, from morning to afternoon. You don't listen in class, fine," Yu Bei seemed genuinely angry. "But you don't even use your break time?"
He glanced at the window, and the little peeping thieves ducked back down in a flash. "You sit in the classroom sleeping—do you think the students can't see?"
Chen Qingning acted as if she hadn't heard, a vertical crease forming between her brows. "Wasn't it you who taught me sign language?"
Growing up, she had rarely been criticized, and on top of that, she had morning crankiness, so her tone turned sharp too. "I already placed the thank-you gift at your door."
Yu Bei said, "I don't want it."
Chen Qingning shot back, "You don't want yours, I'll give mine anyway."
Yu Bei didn't argue with her logic. "If you want to learn, then fix your attitude. Listen when you should listen, communicate when you should communicate."
"What kind of teaching is this?" Chen Qingning had her own reasoning. "Isn't it just teaching me on the side while you teach the students?"
"Otherwise?" Yu Bei's tone calmed down. "Do I need to set aside extra time just to give you special tutoring?"
Chen Qingning said, "Exactly, that's what I was thinking."
"I don't have that much time, Teacher Chen."
Yu Bei told her honestly.
Chen Qingning was displeased. "Is this place Florida? No slackers allowed?"
Yu Bei's chest gave a slight heave. "I'm not joking with you."
The man's pupils were deep and dark, staring straight at her without the slightest hint of give or playfulness. Chen Qingning's lips turned down. "I refuse to believe you can't squeeze out even a little time."
"Here's the deal," Yu Bei quickly adjusted his approach in his mind. "In class, listen as much as you can. Every couple of days, I'll send you a video. Follow along with it, and when you've more or less got it, tell me and sign it for me to see. I'll correct whatever's wrong. During breaks, try to communicate with the students as much as possible. Next period is still mine, so you don't need to come—go to the office and read the book."
He added, "Sleeping is fine too. From now on, sleep in the office, not in the classroom."
Chen Qingning listened, her head spinning. She sorted through it and found a loophole. "You tell me not to come to class, but also tell me to communicate more with the students—aren't you contradicting yourself?"
"I'm giving you a choice."
Chen Qingning raised her voice. "Why should I listen to you?"
"Because I'm being responsible for you right now," Yu Bei tilted his chin toward the building across. "The principal's office is on the third floor over there. If you're unsatisfied and don't want to be managed, go ask for a replacement."
Chen Qingning decisively chose to return to the office. She wouldn't compromise, and she certainly wouldn't let Yu Bei have his way. If she followed his suggestion and switched supervising teachers, wouldn't that let him laugh in his sleep?
She wasn't completely oblivious.
But before her own will, everyone else's opinions had to step aside.
The more Yu Bei retreated, the more she wanted to charge forward with her spear raised.
She stole a pen from Yu Bei's pencil holder—the Pilot he always used, its ink cartridge nearly empty—and used it to twist her hair into a bun.
The book…
She hummed a little tune as she retreated to her own desk.
Chen Qingning had a vague impression of the "book" Yu Bei mentioned. The cover had a title related to "sign language." She had assumed it was casually left on her desk by one of the teachers in the office, so she had casually tossed it somewhere else.
As for where she tossed it, she had no memory at all.
She prowled through the empty office, checking every desk and cabinet one by one, not even skipping the base of the water dispenser.
Yuan Yue came by midway and saw her crouched in front of the locked file cabinet, staring at the keyhole as if facing off with it. She asked with concern, "Teacher Chen, what are you looking for?"
Chen Qingning grabbed at her hair. "Have you seen a sign language book?"
Yuan Yue thought for a moment. "No. Why don't you ask Wenlei?"
Chen Qingning nodded regretfully.
Not long after Yuan Yue left, Yu Wenlei came back.
Chen Qingning grabbed her arm. "Sister Yu, have you seen a sign language book?"
Yu Wenlei paused for a moment. "One? Isn't it two?"
Chen Qingning felt like she'd found a lifeline and urged, "Never mind one or two, just tell me if you've seen them."
Yu Wenlei pulled her over to her own desk, opened the drawer, and took out the books. "I thought they were Teacher Yu's books, so I put them away for now, planning to give them back to him when he finishes class."
Chen Qingning lowered her gaze. Two red-and-white sign language dictionaries lay stacked on top of each other, their covers wrapped in transparent frosted plastic sleeves, but still bearing scratches and creases.
Clearly not brand new. Yu Bei, you'd better not be secondhand goods either.
Chen Qingning yanked them over with resentment, spouting nonsense. "These are the teaching materials Teacher Yu gave me. Maybe he was too busy and accidentally left them on your desk."
Yu Wenlei smiled without responding, and only after a couple of seconds said, "Then I suppose I've returned them to their rightful owner."
Chen Qingning's gaze wandered over the book covers, then flipped to the title page. Seeing no signature, she asked in confusion, "How did you know they were Yu Bei's?"
Yu Wenlei replied, "There's a sticky note on the table of contents. You can tell at a glance it's Teacher Yu's handwriting."
Chen Qingning blinked and flipped a couple more pages.
A neat, pure white sticky note was adhered to the upper-left corner of the page, with orderly running script listing the borrower's requirements.
"1. Familiarize yourself with the first ten pages by next Tuesday. If you don't understand something, ask me or consult the dictionary app.
Don't sleep in class. Pay attention to common classroom phrases.
During breaks, if you have nothing to do, chat with Ge Lingxi or Xu Yi to practice; the former has better hearing, and the latter is strong at lip-reading.
Chen Qingning couldn’t help but pout.
She had grown up pampered and unrestrained—her parents indulged her, her teachers let her run wild, and her friends treated her like the center of the universe. At first, no one could control her, and later, no one even bothered to try.
So being disciplined… felt this good…?
It made her chest burn, and her nose felt like someone had given it a sharp pinch.
The bell for the long break snapped her back to reality. Clutching her books, Chen Qingning spun around and dashed out the door.
Yu Bei had no special ritual for starting class. He turned on the electronic screen, greeted the students, reminded them to open their books to the day’s page, and began lecturing.
This period was Chinese.
The classroom was unusually quiet. Yu Bei turned to write the lesson title on the board: The White Poplar.
The door was suddenly pushed open.
Yu Bei paused mid-chalk-stroke and looked toward the sound. It was Chen Qingning, breathless, her cheeks flushed pink.
A stir rippled through the seats.
“Is something the matter?” Their eyes met, and Yu Bei lowered his hand.
The girl, sporting a messy, tousled “bird’s nest” of hair, spoke in a bright, clear voice:
“I’m here to listen to the lecture!”