Two days of inspection had the entire school playing host, and Chen Qingning's class meeting topic was now hanging by a thread.
The deadline had arrived, yet she remained utterly clueless, sighing long and hard. The hardest work in the world was mental work.
Oddly enough, though, Yu Bei hadn't pressed her to turn in her assignment.
It was Wednesday now, and a full day had passed. The man who was practically joined at her hip hadn't mentioned the class meeting even once.
Could he have been too busy and forgotten?
Chen Qingning secretly harbored a sliver of hope.
But then she reconsidered—last time, during the sign language assessment, he'd blindsided her by weaving it into the morning exercises. There was no guarantee he wouldn't pull another surprise this time.
He looked perfectly proper, but he had a bag full of tricks.
She shot Yu Bei a sidelong glance, the corner of her mouth twitching.
Yu Bei was drinking orange juice. Several teaching researchers who'd come to inspect the school sat around a table with Principal Lin, cups clinking as the conversation drifted from the classroom to everyday life.
Yu Bei held steady at the serving station, and as his "low-key" teaching assistant, Chen Qingning chose to stay by his side.
When the waiter brought dishes, Yu Bei habitually turned them toward the elders first. But today was different—Chen Qingning would intercept them halfway, snatching the first bite every time.
Everyone laughed at the sight.
Chen Qingning popped it into her mouth with perfect composure: "I'm testing the food for poison on behalf of the uncles and aunties."
The waiter's face went green, but the elders were thoroughly charmed by the young woman's sweet talk: "Miss Chen really is a woman of character."
Chen Qingning corrected them: "Call me Teacher Chen."
The table dissolved into laughter again.
Chen Qingning heard Yu Bei let out a low chuckle.
His voice was different from everyone else's at the table. Most of the older men had deep, thick voices, muddied further by the alcohol. But Yu Bei's was clear and bright, slipping straight into her ear.
She hadn't written a single word of her assignment, so she suppressed the urge to tease him and hid her mouth behind her drink cup.
As the banquet wound down, the two of them walked back with Principal Lin. Lin Yuzhang strolled with his hands behind his back, glancing at them several times before finally saying with a smile, "Teacher Chen gave a stunning performance today."
Chen Qingning's answer was as unpredictable as ever: "Only today?"
Principal Lin even pulled out some English: "Every day. Every day."
Chen Qingning turned her face toward Yu Bei. The night was heavy, and the man's expression was hard to read, but that didn't stop her from instinctively seeking praise: "Yu—"
Yu Bei's eyes slid toward her.
Close call. Chen Qingning redirected her gaze to the principal: "It's only because I have a principal as good as Principal Lin that I can unlock this kind of potential."
Principal Lin kept smiling.
When they reached the school gate, he nodded his goodbyes to the two younger ones, saying he was off to get his car and head home.
Yu Bei, who'd been silent the whole walk, spoke up: "You've been drinking. Is it safe for you to drive?"
Principal Lin showed off: "My wife is coming to pick me up."
Only then did Yu Bei nod in relief.
Principal Lin added: "You walk Teacher Chen back to her dorm."
Chen Qingning was baffled: "We're heading the same way anyway."
Principal Lin doubled down: "Then walk her all the way to her door. It's late, and the dorm building lights are dim. She needs someone to keep an eye on her."
Chen Qingning: "Is it really necessary to go that far?"
"You're a gentleman. Be considerate."
Yu Bei gave no response.
"No need, really…" Can we skip it this time? Don't go playing matchmaker at such an inappropriate moment!
Watching Principal Lin turn toward the parking lot, Chen Qingning rarely showed restraint: "Teacher Yu, you should head back to your dorm and rest early."
—Please, please, please don't remember, she prayed inwardly, hands clasped in supplication.
The two walked side by side toward the dorm building. Chen Qingning rubbed her temples, then pounded her shoulders and back: "So tired today. Being a grassroots teacher really is something else."
She turned her concern to Yu Bei: "What about you, Teacher Yu?"
You're tired!
You're very tired!
You don't want to think about anything related to the class meeting!
"Not bad," Yu Bei replied flatly. "You—"
Chen Qingning jumped in immediately: "I'll get a good rest too."
Yu Bei seemed to hold something back: "Fine."
He fell silent again.
Chen Qingning stole a glance at him from under her lashes. She inexplicably thought of their chat wallpaper—how could Qu Xiao not see him? He was as tall as a lighthouse.
"How old are you?" Chen Qingning asked offhandedly.
Yu Bei looked at her, seemingly puzzled by her sudden survey.
Chen Qingning emphasized: "I mean your age."
Yu Bei said, "Twenty-nine."
Chen Qingning: "Oh." So old.
"How old is Principal Lin?" Was the walk back to the dorm longer than usual today? Chen Qingning found herself oddly making small talk.
Yu Bei sounded surprisingly uncertain: "Fifty-six, fifty-seven."
Chen Qingning responded: "Isn't he about to retire soon?"
Yu Bei: "Mm."
"When you retire, will you become principal?"
"…"
Realizing how nonsensical that question was, Chen Qingning switched topics: "I heard from that tuk-tuk driver that you're from Hangzhou too."
Yu Bei gave another "Mm."
"Where do you live?"
Yu Bei's gaze returned to her: "What for?"
Chen Qingning raised her voice: "Just asking! Chatting. Deep talk. You know what that is?"
"Walking and doing this is very romantic." She pointed at the flowerbed bricks they passed—the leaves were swaying in the shadows, the moon was watching her, and he got a share of the glow too.
Yu Bei let out a laugh: "Your deep talk is a census?"
Chen Qingning refused to back down: "Then deep it up!"
Yu Bei said calmly, "When are you going to give me the class meeting theme?"
Yu Bei had originally planned to tacitly allow Chen Qingning to skate by. She caused trouble every day, but she also got things done. He could see her strengths and her progress. Letting her run completely unchecked wasn't appropriate, but a moderate degree of flexible management wasn't out of the question.
He stood there, looking down at the girl rummaging through his duffel bag like a cat digging in a litter box, pulling out snacks one by one. He couldn't help but wonder if the elastic band of his tolerance had perhaps been stretched a bit too far.
"You really haven't touched a single bag?" She crouched there, turning back to look at him, incredulous.
Yu Bei nodded.
That day, when she hadn't taken the packaged "convenience store" items, Yu Bei had brought the duffel bag back and placed it on the top shelf of the storage rack.
He guessed that even if he actually carried it up to her floor, Chen Qingning would still return it intact.
Rather than playing that kind of circular game, it was better to stay patient.
If one day she lost interest and the things expired, he could throw them away with a clear conscience.
"These are all from my heart, and you won't even eat them!" She stood up unhappily, tore open a bag of chips, and popped one into her mouth. "You can't bear to eat them, so you carefully keep them stored away—you must love me so much."
"…"
This was also one of the strengths Yu Bei had noticed.
Chen Qingning possessed an extremely rare ability to reframe things—she could twist what was right into something crooked, but she could also turn something bad into something good.
Completely different from Yu Nan.
"Yu Bei, you really are a collector."
While he was distracted, Chen Qingning had already claimed his desk, leaning forward to examine his elaborate display board.
She poked at things here and there, muttering:
"Happy Teacher's Day, Teacher Yu."
"Teacher, don't be angry, we love you very much."
"Whose handwriting is this? So ugly."
Yu Bei was quick to defend his students: "Not worse than yours?"
Chen Qingning ignored him, squinting at a small drawing with crude, heavy lines, then turning back to compare it with the real Yu Bei: "It's drawn exactly like you."
She pulled the corners of her mouth flat with two fingers: "Even the unsmiling mouth is the same."
Letting her in had indeed been a mistake.
"Since you're here," Yu Bei began, starting to usher her out.
He gathered up the snacks from the floor and stuffed them back into the bag: "Take the snacks with you."
The girl was still making her rounds, greeting the little fish with exaggerated surprise: "Wow, Baduanjin, Diamond Sutra, you're both still alive! And you've even upgraded to a big villa fish tank!"
Then her tone turned sinister: "You treat me much better than some people do, heh heh."
Yu Bei quickly restored the snack bag and placed it by the door, instructing: "Remember to take it when you leave."
Chen Qingning leaned back into the chair, tapping out a rhythm even without music: "In a bit—finding inspiration isn't that fast."
Her excuses were endless: "Besides, your place is full of academic atmosphere, it's perfect for meditation."
Yu Bei checked his watch: "It's 8:20 now. You leave at 8:40 sharp."
Chen Qingning pouted: "Nine."
"8:40."
"Nine."
"8:40." He enunciated each syllable.
"Nine—" she said in a soft, coaxing voice.
"No negotiation."
"8:45."
Seeing Yu Bei look over with no reaction, Chen Qingning bristled: "Can't you even give me five more minutes?!"
"Fine," he relented. "8:45."
Yu Bei stopped talking, fetched a khaki camping chair from the balcony, unfolded it, and sat down at leisure, looking at his phone.
Chen Qingning glanced at him for a moment, then lowered her head to send a WeChat message. The moment she saw the couple wallpaper, she wanted to laugh.
So she laughed, shoulders shaking.
Yu Bei swept a glance at her from not far away, then continued scrolling through sports news on his phone.
The next moment, he received her message:
Teacher Chen: Can I see your old class meeting slides?
Yu Bei turned off his phone, stood up, and walked over to look for the computer on the desk.
He leaned left to look—Chen Qingning also leaned left.
He leaned right—the girl mischievously leaned right as well.
Yu Bei looked down at her: "Do you still want them or not?"
"I do." Chen Qingning pressed both arms together against her chest, tilted her upper body at a forty-five-degree angle, and gave him room to see.
"Would standing up for a second kill you?" Yu Bei took the MacBook away.
Chen Qingning had her reasoning: "I sat on a crappy chair all day. Is it wrong to enjoy a nice chair for a bit?"
Yu Bei didn't bicker with her. He sat back down in the low chair, propped the laptop on his thighs, and started working.
It wasn't a comfortable position for using a computer, but he was good at turning limited resources into something usable, so it didn't bother him.
Yu Bei sat at an angle behind her, and Chen Qingning lay over the back of the chair, staring at him.
The man swiped and clicked the trackpad with practiced ease, completely focused. When Chen Qingning interrupted midway—"The time you spend making the slides doesn't count toward my twenty-five minutes"—he only made a stop hand gesture.
Showing off.
Chen Qingning snorted, then propped her chin on her hand and secretly smiled: He really was quite handsome. So handsome it made her ridiculously happy and ridiculously fond.
Her gaze drifted to the bed behind Yu Bei.
The dormitory beds were uniformly provided by the school, all 2m × 1.2m. Yu Bei used solid-colored bedding in a shade of iris blue, and it was the fitted-sheet type, corners stretched taut with barely a wrinkle—just as meticulous as the man himself.
It was hard to imagine someone as tall and broad as Yu Bei lying on that bed. There wouldn't even be room for her.
Chen Qingning crunched her chips loudly, disappointed.
Chen Qingning was very much like one of those flashy, iridescent candy wrappers—even the slightest touch would set her rustling and crinkling endlessly.
This was Yu Bei's observation.
The dorm had never been this noisy.
Yu Bei looked up. "Don't just focus on eating—you brought your bag, right? Did you bring the sign language book?"
Chen Qingning paused, reluctant, and dug the dictionary out of the Dior tote at the corner of the desk.
"I already know everyone in the class," she said, resisting to the last.
Yu Bei looked at the screen. "Mm. Can you call them by name?"
"Barely. The alphabet isn't nearly as simple as you said."
"Simplicity comes from practice."
Easy for him to say. Chen Qingning let out a heavy huff.
Without lifting his head, Yu Bei assigned her new work: "Read ten pages of the A vocabulary. I'll check next Tuesday."
Chen Qingning wailed to the heavens.
Yu Bei glanced at her twice.
It was hard for a human to make that sound—especially coming from such a delicate face.
Chen Qingning angrily flipped open her book, speaking with tragic indignation: "Who would learn such niche sign languages like Achang or Albanian?"
Yu Bei said lightly, "Before I leave, I'll mark the common words for you."
Chen Qingning turned to look at the fish, fantasizing about smashing the tank: "I'm going to die together with your beloved pet!"
Yu Bei didn't look up.
She seized the chance to silently mouth "son."
Chen Qingning's face went ashen; she buried her head in the book. Yu Bei compiled several courseware files that had received good classroom feedback, zipped them into a folder.
The mouse paused over the naming field. Yu Bei didn't think much, typing 【Courseware Reference Chen】. A moment later, he deleted "Chen" and changed it to "Ning."
"Send it to my email."
"Why, sending me a love letter?" The head behind the chair finally perked up.
Yu Bei didn't banter with her: "I'll package and send it to you."
Chen Qingning asked, "Can't I just watch it here?"
"You won't finish."
"I'll watch all night."
"I need to sleep."
"You sleep, I'll watch."
"…" Yu Bei raised his wrist: "Five more minutes."
Chen Qingning deflated in a second: "That fast?"
She pressed her phone awake—the lock screen already read 20:47.
Huh?
Chen Qingning froze, then realized what was happening, and asked knowingly: "Did you misread the time?"
Yu Bei said calmly, "No, I didn't."
Chen Qingning's lips twitched, as if holding in a laugh like a candy she was afraid would fall out: "You didn't count the time you spent on the courseware."
Yu Bei didn't answer directly: "Send me your email."
Chen Qingning hummed a tune, typed out her email address, and said with exaggerated respect: "Please check your inbox, Teacher Yu."
Yu Bei opened Chen Qingning's message.
He thought she'd sent a short foreign-language micro-fiction.
Teacher Chen:
Yu Bei tried to piece it together in his head: I am… a amnesiac beauty?
Seeing the man's brow furrow slightly, Chen Qingning revealed the answer: "I am the world's number one beauty."
In case the country bumpkin Yu didn't get it, she added: "The most beautiful woman in the world."
Yu Bei: "…"
Yu Bei attached the file, confirmed the send, and tilted his chin toward Chen Qingning: "Check your inbox."
The girl's hands were quick, and the internet was fast—she was already reading it aloud:
"'Understanding My Emotions,'
'I Didn't Understand, Can We Try Again?'
'I Can Ask for Help Like This,'
'How to Arrange My Day'
…"
Chen Qingning stopped, blinking as she looked at Yu Bei: "You made all of these?"
Yu Bei's answer was ambiguous: "I made them, and I didn't make them."
Chen Qingning caught on, her gaze turning scornful: "Don't tell me you use cheats too?"
Yu Bei smiled openly: "That's right."
Chen Qingning was momentarily dazzled, judging that he must brush his teeth very carefully every day. She muttered, "And here I thought you were an old-school artist who did everything by hand."
"You can do it by hand."
"The upper beam is crooked, so the lower beam is crooked too." Chen Qingning grinned slyly and crooked her finger: "Hurry up and hand over your tricks. The software Qu Xiao recommended to me doesn't have anything this human."
Yu Bei raised an eyebrow: "Because the themes are thought up by humans, and the process too."
Chen Qingning: "Are you human?"
Yu Bei: "?"
"You show me no humanity at all." She seized the opening to accuse him.
Fine, he wasn't human. Yu Bei glanced at the computer screen and calmly announced: "It's almost nine. You can leave now—remember to take your snacks."
He typed into his phone: "I've also sent you the name of the software I use."
He gave his final instructions: "You studied abroad, so you know how to use a VPN, right?"
Chen Qingning clenched the air: "Easy as pie."
Yu Bei fell silent, poured half a cup of water from the thermos, and drank it.
Then he walked to the balcony, casually squeezing toothpaste onto his brush.
Chen Qingning was horrified.
Someone even more shameless than her had appeared. She wasn't going to take the snacks—no way Yu Bei would get what he wanted.
Seizing the moment when he wasn't looking, Chen Qingning grabbed her book and, like a problem student finally released from detention, scrambled out of the room.
The door slammed shut with a bang.
Yu Bei leaned out, setting down the fake toothbrush.
After confirming the garish parrot wouldn't turn back to peck at the door, he walked to the desk, folded the opening of the chip bag she'd left behind, and pulled open the drawer to find a clip to seal it.
He held the chip bag, looked around, and finally, annoyed, tossed it to the corner of the desk.
Just as he reached for a wet wipe to clean the crumbs off the surface, his gaze paused on the wall.
In the very center of the corkboard, a white sticky note had appeared at some point, stuck on crookedly—whose handiwork it was went without saying.
Yu Bei took it off to examine it closely—it was the one he had slipped into Chen Qingning's sign language book last week. In the blank space, new content had been added: a small doodle in red pen, a little face sticking its tongue out at him.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yu Bei's lips. He flipped it over to check the back, then stuck it back in its original place.