On the Wedding Night, I Transmigrated to After the Divorce – Chapter 29
by Little PandaNo Necessity
What right do you have?
Yu Yan’s heart skipped a beat.
The stiffness lasted only a moment. Soon, Fu Yunqing looked away expressionlessly, not letting anyone besides Yu Yan notice anything unusual. But a shared secret now existed between them—from stage to audience, an unspoken understanding.
This was a peculiar kind of intimate tether, one Fu Yunqing could not resist.
Walking to the podium and setting down her handbag, Fu Yunqing opened her laptop while greeting the students, announcing what they would cover today. Her voice was like spring water in a mountain stream, cold yet gentle, her tone as calm and even as when Yu Yan had first met her.
When they first met, she had said the same thing to Yu Yan with that same faint quality: “You’re beautiful too.”
When had Fu Yunqing developed a special attitude toward Yu Yan? Was it that moment in the car when Yu Yan held her, wanting to be taken away?
Did Fu Yunqing enjoy that feeling?
Yu Yan was nudged by a female student beside her. She snapped back to attention. The student leaned over and whispered, “I think you have a real chance.”
Yu Yan: “Hmm? Why?”
“Because you’re really good-looking. Not just ordinarily good-looking—the kind of beautiful that’s impossible to refuse.”
“Is that so?” Yu Yan’s eyes curved, but she wasn’t flattered. She had heard such words since childhood; she knew exactly how beautiful she was.
“That’s right, girl.”
“Anyway, I’m rooting for you. Teacher Fu is very gentle with girls, and with looks like yours, as long as you’re not too forward, she probably won’t be put off. Go for it!”
Sigh.
Yu Yan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
If she and Fu Yunqing were strangers at this moment, with no history between them, and she were genuinely pursuing her—Yu Yan did have confidence. She was beautiful and cultured, with plenty of experience being liked by women and the skills for romantic ambiguity.
But what could she do? She seemed to be stuck with the chasing wife crematorium1 script.
Fu-jiejie was disappointed and angry with her.
She would have to be more careful.
That was what Yu Yan thought.
During Fu Yunqing’s class, Yu Yan didn’t look at her phone. Even without a textbook, she held a pen and that notebook she had bought at the stationery store, pretending to take notes. Perhaps this would let Fu Yunqing see her sincerity.
Fu Yunqing had a cool presence, but her lectures were interesting—not at all dry recitation. She had deep knowledge of ancient instruments and unique insights. Her explanations were precise and accessible, skillfully weaving in classical allusions, her voice holding a kind of magic that easily captured one’s thoughts.
Even Yu Yan, a bad student whose mind was entirely occupied with how to seduce the teacher, learned quite a bit of new knowledge over one class period.
There was a ten-minute break. Fu Yunqing took out a water bottle from her bag to drink. Yu Yan relaxed her rigid shoulders, but her gaze remained on Fu Yunqing.
She thought Fu-jiejie worked so hard—students sat listening for forty minutes, but the teacher stood for forty minutes. Seeing a chair in the corner by the door, Yu Yan wanted to go down and carry it over so Teacher Fu could sit and rest. But Teacher Fu’s knowledge was so captivating that after just two sips of water, students were already approaching with notebooks to ask questions.
Yu Yan recognized her—the girl sitting in the front row who openly liked Fu Yunqing.
Did Fu Yunqing know the student liked her? If even outsiders could tell, how could the person involved not feel it? Young people’s feelings were always passionate and obvious.
Regardless of whether Fu Yunqing liked her back, she would fulfill her duty as a teacher, answering questions with patience and focus.
Yu Yan had to abandon her idea of carrying a chair for Teacher Fu.
“Hey, classmate, classmate~”
Yu Yan was propping her chin on her hand, watching Fu Yunqing teach while spacing out, when she felt someone calling her. She turned around. A girl smiled as she approached with her phone in hand. “I was sitting diagonally behind you and couldn’t stop looking at you this whole class. You’re so pretty, like you walked out of a Japanese anime. Can I add your WeChat? I really want to expand my connections2 with beautiful girls—I’ll like every single one of your Moments posts!”
“Chen Meiqian, why do you want to add every pretty girl you see!” The girl who had been talking to Yu Yan earlier knew this person and frowned in accusation.
Chen Meiqian made an “ah” sound, completely unbothered: “I love beautiful women, why can’t I add beautiful women?”
She scoffed: “How many beautiful women do you love? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning—you want to hit on her again, right? As if she’d even look at you.”
Hearing this, Chen Meiqian got upset too: “Why wouldn’t she look at me? Am I that bad? Am I ugly?”
“Yes, you’re pretty ugly. Everyone knows you’re just a sea king3.”
“Xu Nian, we’re in the same dorm after all. You don’t have to put me down just because you don’t like me. Ugly? That’s hilarious. If you’re jealous that I’m better-looking, just say so.” Chen Meiqian truly wasn’t ugly—oval face, refined features, very fair skin, dyed blonde hair, completely a polished beauty. Calling her ugly didn’t hurt her at all; she was just angered into laughter, very indignant.
The smell of gunpowder was so strong that Yu Yan was stunned. The two of them were actually fighting over this. The more Chen Meiqian wanted to add Yu Yan’s WeChat, the more upset Xu Nian became, her eyes reddening as she said frantically: “She’s here to chase Teacher Fu! She’s never going to look at you, so just give it up!”
“…”
Accidentally too loud, half the classroom looked over. Yu Yan instinctively glanced toward the podium—Fu Yunqing had also raised her head, following the sound.
…Did she hear that?
Yu Yan saw the girl standing beside Fu Yunqing looking at her with an extremely subtle, scrutinizing gaze—she heard.
A voice in Yu Yan’s heart said so.
“Stop fighting, you two. Aren’t you embarrassed? I’m so done with you. Fighting in the dorm is one thing, but in the classroom too? When we get back, I’m slapping both of you.”
The dorm head pulled Chen Meiqian back to her seat and scolded her. The people watching the drama lost interest after a while and went back to their own business. Fu Yunqing on the podium had also long withdrawn her gaze, continuing to answer that girl’s questions.
“Sorry about that, I was a bit heated earlier. Really sorry, you, you…” Xu Nian calmed down, not daring to imagine what she had just done, covering her face, utterly mortified.
“Earlier… Teacher Fu didn’t hear that, did she?” She revealed her eyes, full of fear.
She did hear~, Yu Yan thought.
But she said breezily: “It’s fine, really.”
The other girl was still falling apart: “I should just die!”
“It’s really okay. I am pursuing her anyway, so I’d have to tell her sooner or later. Isn’t it better that she’s prepared?” Yu Yan comforted her, genuinely not minding.
Xu Nian had never seen someone so calm after having their feelings exposed in front of their crush. Her eyes filled with admiration as she gave a thumbs up: “Girl, I respect you. You’re definitely going to accomplish great things. Go for it, I’m fully behind you.”
The admired Yu Yan curved her lips. Her beautiful eyes, with their exquisite makeup—fox-like yet full of youthful charm—gazed lazily and unflinchingly toward the podium. Teacher Fu and that girl had their heads bowed. From Yu Yan’s vantage point above, she couldn’t see her expression.
Yu Yan was curious—so, what would Fu-jiejie be thinking?
Fu Yunqing was occupied by that girl for almost the entire break. After class resumed, besides occasionally zoning out and pretending to take notes, Yu Yan stared at Teacher Fu without looking away for even an instant, then was thoroughly and pointedly ignored—Yu Yan could feel that Fu Yunqing clearly sensed her gaze but wouldn’t give her even half a glance.
Deliberate… Yu Yan couldn’t figure out the woman’s heart for now, racking her brain trying to figure out how to face her later.
Perhaps because her brain had been running at high speed, these forty minutes passed particularly quickly. When the bell rang, Yu Yan’s heart lurched—she felt she hadn’t prepared enough, hadn’t braced herself.
Fu Yunqing announced the end of class. Students stretched and groaned about finally finishing this week’s classes, lazily dispersing. Yu Yan quickly gathered her things and left her seat, nervously walking toward the podium, only to be cut off by High Ponytail—she sat in the front row, so she was naturally faster than Yu Yan, and now she had claimed Fu Yunqing’s attention with her notebook again.
Such a love of learning.
Well, this was the highest institution for performing arts in Yuncheng—loving learning was normal. And if she had a crush on Fu Yunqing, she’d naturally have a question or two and seize every opportunity to spend more time with the teacher. Yu Yan understood. She was good, wouldn’t disturb anyone, just waited obediently on the side, watching helplessly as Fu Yunqing devoted her attention to someone else.
The other students left quickly. Soon the vast classroom held only the three of them. Yu Yan grew even more tense, even a bit awkward. She couldn’t really understand what they were discussing, so to ease her strained nerves, she looked out the window, then at the clock, then at the ceiling, then at their shoes. She noticed High Ponytail wore shoes from a brand she also liked, but in a style Yu Yan hadn’t seen—must be a new model from the last two years. She silently praised the choice—sure enough, a woman who liked Fu Yunqing like her had good taste.
After who knows how long, Yu Yan finally heard them wrapping up.
She looked over. High Ponytail was smiling at Fu Yunqing: “Thank you, Teacher.”
“You’re welcome.” Fu Yunqing was gentle.
High Ponytail put her book in her bag, her smile undiminished: “Teacher Fu, are you going to the cafeteria to eat? Want to go together?”
Yu Yan’s heart shot into her throat. Fu Yunqing said: “No, I’m going home to eat.”
Yu Yan exhaled.
“All right then.” She pouted but wasn’t upset. “See you, Teacher Fu~”
“See you.”
High Ponytail turned and looked Yu Yan over with a meaningful glance, saying nothing as she passed by.
Yu Yan couldn’t begin to interpret the depth of that look, staring straight at the woman who had finally turned her eyes toward her. The vast classroom held only the two of them now. Her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
Fu Yunqing was only two meters away from her. She was taller than Yu Yan, looking down from above, her indifferent gaze making her seem even more imposing: “What did you want to ask?”
“I…” When people got nervous, they easily threw all their prepared words out the window. Yu Yan blinked nervously and whispered: “Fu-jiejie…”
Fu Yunqing’s silence was intimidating. Yu Yan stammered, her tone becoming timid: “I, I want to see you…”
She missed her, wanted to see her, wanted to pursue her.
Fu Yunqing pursed her lips, looking deeply at her. In the empty classroom with only the two of them remaining, something seemed to have solidified, on the verge of breaking at any moment.
Was it guilt? Yu Yan couldn’t quite withstand such a profound gaze and unconsciously lowered her eyes to avoid it.
In the end, Fu Yunqing said nothing. She picked up her bag and left the classroom.
Yu Yan followed behind Fu Yunqing like a child who had done something wrong, head lowered. Fu Yunqing walked very fast—Yu Yan had to jog every few steps to keep up.
This continued from the academic building all the way to the parking garage. Yu Yan wanted to say something to her but never got the chance. And Yu Yan was exhausted—she had been home most of the time since being discharged from the hospital, someone whose WeChat step count was usually in the double or triple digits—how could her body handle this kind of ordeal? By the time Fu Yunqing unlocked the car door, Yu Yan was already several meters behind. If Fu Yunqing were truly determined to ignore her, she could get in the car and drive away right now while Yu Yan’s lips were pale and she couldn’t catch her breath, leaving Yu Yan in utter humiliation and despair.
Fortunately, Fu Yunqing didn’t. She stopped and looked back: “How long are you going to keep following me?”
It was over. The impatience in her tone still chilled Yu Yan’s heart. Yu Yan was fragile; she couldn’t withstand being despised like this.
She asked humbly: “Can you approve the friend request?”
Fu Yunqing said quickly: “Is there any necessity?”
Yu Yan said: “I want to see Honey. I miss her so much.” Though there was an element of manipulation, Yu Yan genuinely wanted to see her cat—even if it was her cat from before.
“What’s the point of seeing it? It doesn’t mean anything to you anyway. You abandoned it at random, disappeared without caring about its feelings, and now you want to see it just because you feel like it? What right do you have to say you miss it?” Fu Yunqing mocked coldly: “You’re still so good at making things easy for yourself.”
Yu Yan froze, unable to speak.
She suddenly realized she was wrong.
—She didn’t even want Honey.
Honey was Fu Yunqing’s twenty-first birthday gift to her, a child they had raised together. Yu Yan had foolishly thought that as long as she showed her love and longing for Honey, Fu Yunqing would soften—at least approve the request and send her a photo of Honey. But Yu Yan had forgotten—she was the one who had abandoned her cat. Now casually saying she missed her would only make people more resentful.
Even though all those sins she had no knowledge of felt like a form of bullying to her at this moment, she had no way to clear her name.
Something like amnesia—such a melodramatic trope from novels—would only make Fu Yunqing angrier if she brought it up.
She felt her mood dropping.
She didn’t know what to say, knew she couldn’t stop Fu Yunqing from leaving anymore, so she simply admitted her fault: “You’re right. I have no right. Um… I’m sorry.”
She spoke these words with nowhere to hide. Those sparkling eyes that had gazed at Fu Yunqing in the classroom now went dim, and she stood there like a student who had done something wrong, not daring to look at her again, her passion and courage extinguished by Fu Yunqing’s sharp words.
Fu Yunqing said nothing more. She turned and got into the car. In the rearview mirror, she saw the girl standing frozen in the dim parking garage, growing smaller and smaller, then disappearing.
Fu Yunqing took a deep breath.
Driving out of the campus gate, she urgently found a place to park. She opened her phone and looked at those two friend requests over and over. She closed her eyes, lowered her head, palm covering her forehead, expression pained.
She remembered, inappropriately, some promises she had once made to Yu Yan—she had said she would never leave her alone on a rainy midnight or in a pitch-black parking lot, would never let her be afraid.
She knew that Yu Yan was timid, afraid of the dark, afraid of thunder, afraid of being alone.
Footnotes
- 'Chasing wife crematorium' (zhuī qī huǒ zàng chǎng) is a popular Chinese web novel trope where a character must endure great suffering and effort to win back their spouse's love.
- 'Expand list' (kuò liè) is internet slang for expanding one's social connections, typically adding new friends on social media platforms.
- 'Sea king' (hǎi wáng) is Chinese internet slang for someone who has many romantic interests simultaneously, like a king of the sea with many fish. The female equivalent is 'sea queen' (hǎi hòu).
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