Teacher
The crisp autumn air was refreshing, with a gentle breeze blowing.
Lin Qing had already changed into her third outfit, but as she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but feel a bit dissatisfied.
The commotion caught the attention of Mother Lin, who curiously peeked in to see her daughter so unusually focused on her clothes, leaning against the door with a smile.
“Are you… going on a date?”
“No way!”
Lin Qing’s face suddenly flushed red, she turned away quickly to deny it, but seeing her mother’s disbelieving expression, she straightened her face and spoke seriously.
“I’m going to work.”
“…But I remember you were working at the café. Don’t they provide uniforms there?”
At the mention of this, Lin Qing seemed a bit uncertain, subtly avoiding eye contact.
“I started… a new job last week.”
“Oh, Mom haven’t heard about.”
Mother Lin pretended to look serious, glancing meaningfully at the clothes spread out on the bed, her eyes full of implication.
“What kind of job requires you to dress up so nicely?”
Feeling embarrassed by her probing tone, Lin Qing took a few quick steps to push her mother out towards the door, before closing it and saying huffily,
“I’m a tutor!”
“Oh my.”
As the door slammed shut in front of her, Mother Lin blinked in confusion, feeling a bit puzzled by the situation.
“…If it’s just tutoring, why is she getting so shy?”
Inside the room, Lin Qing glanced at the clock and realized it was time to leave; she had to go out. She had to make sure her outfit was perfect one last time, her gaze landing on a particular spot in the mirror. Suddenly, she held her breath and let out a hesitant sigh.
…What should she do? Should she take out the earring in her left ear?
Meanwhile, Qiao Yu was sitting in the backyard counting clouds.
The weather was lovely, with the September sun in the afternoon not too scorching, bathing everyone in a warm glow that made Qiao Yu feel a bit drowsy. She quickly patted her cheeks to shake off the sleepiness. It was tiring to keep looking up all the time, so she lowered her head, massaging her neck, when her attention was caught by a flash of white in front of her.
“Oh, a cat.”
(Originally translated on littlepandatranslations.com, let's go!)
While she was still waiting for the person she was expecting to arrive, an unexpected guest appeared first. Effortlessly, a small white cat slipped through the gap in the railing and entered the yard. It locked eyes with Qiao Yu from a distance, its left front paw hesitantly suspended in the air, as if contemplating whether to approach.
“Meow.”
With this gesture, the cat cautiously approached her. Qiao Yu crouched down immediately, extending her hand tentatively. After a moment of hesitation, the white cat cautiously walked towards her.
“You’re so beautiful, can I touch you?”
After engaging in a friendly conversation and receiving (probably) consent, Qiao Yu carefully began to stroke the cat’s warm fur, a soft smile gracing her face.
“What’s up, what’s up? Are you here to play? I’m just waiting for someone and have some free time.”
Since she was idle anyway, Qiao Yu decided to chat with the cat while petting it. The white cat contentedly accepted her attention, purring softly from its throat as it rubbed its fuzzy head against her palm, truly becoming an adorable conversational partner.
“The weather is nice today, isn’t it? I was worried about what I would do if it rained yesterday—although the chance of precipitation was only 10%, it’s either raining or not, right? She wouldn’t let me pick her up, so having a sunny day today is really great.”
“Meow.”
“Mm, I know you’re happy too, especially with your fur all warm from the sun. Petting you like this makes me feel so calm… Thank you for letting me touch you. I’ve been a bit nervous since this morning, it’s been almost two weeks since I last saw her, and I don’t know if she’s still upset with me… Oh, would you like some food?”
“Meow~”
“Hmm, your belly feels a bit round, so you must have gone out for a walk after eating. Let’s sunbathe together then. But I can only stay with you until she arrives, even though you’re very cute, she’s the cutest in the whole world—haha, sorry, I might be a bit biased, forgive me.”
“… Cough.”
This time, there was no response from the cat to the dialogue. Instead, the first sound Qiao Yu heard was a somewhat deliberate cough coming from near the courtyard gate. She subconsciously looked up.
After standing in a concealed spot outside the gate for a while, Lin Qing felt like her face would turn red if she continued to listen further. After taking a deep breath, she couldn’t resist walking to the gate and giving a light cough. Seeing Qiao Yu looking confused while chatting happily with the cat, Lin Qing sighed. The white cat under her hand rubbed against her hand affectionately, sensing the atmosphere, and trotted out of the yard with an air of nostalgia.
“Ah…”
Before she could lament the departure of the white cat, Qiao Yu quickly stood up and walked a few steps to meet her. Nervously, she smiled, “You’re here.”
“Yeah, am I late?”
“No, no, I was just staying at home and decided to come out for some sun.”
Qiao Yu waved her hand dismissively, her gaze lingering briefly on Lin Qing before turning around and leading her into the courtyard.
…The loose-fitting white turtleneck sweater gave her a resemblance to that little white cat.
But Lin Qing was even cuter.
As they pushed open the door, their eyes met in the living room, almost as if tangible beams were shooting between them, freezing Qiao Yu and Lin Qing in place.
“Uncle, Auntie, hello?”
Seeing the bewildered expressions on Qiao Yu’s parents sitting on the living room sofa, Lin Qing greeted them awkwardly and subconsciously looked towards Qiao Yu.
“They… they were really supposed to go out this morning… Sorry, let me go deal with this.”
Qiao Yu had nothing to say in defense. She sighed, turned her head to glare at her parents, and Lin Qing, standing nearby, noticed her ears gradually turning red.
“Both of you… You said yesterday that today’s work was very important and you needed to leave early in the morning! And yet, you’ve been dragging your feet and not going out all day today!”
“I literally just told you not to come down before I went to the yard…”
But they ended up appearing in the living room again as soon as she turned around. Truly unpredictable.
An exasperated Qiao Yu approached them, lowering her voice and scolding, only to see her parents absentmindedly nodding along. Their gaze kept darting towards Lin Qing by the door, which infuriated her enough to step aside to block their view. This finally prompted a slightly embarrassed response from her dad.
“But, but wasn’t it Lin Qing who was supposed to come over?”
“…So we definitely shouldn’t be acting like this! I’ve probably said this a hundred times already…”
Qiao Yu, feeling helpless, massaged her temples. Yesterday, she had made sure to confirm that both of her parents would be out, and then reassured Lin Qing that she could come over without any worries. Little did she know that they would have a sudden change of heart after a night’s sleep. Despite not explicitly stating their intentions, their actions spoke volumes, and it was clear to everyone involved.
“Lin Qing, it’s been a while. Do you remember Auntie? Oh, this child is so pretty, and she’s grown so tall—”
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“She hasn’t grown much taller since the last time you saw her!”
Before she knew it, Mother Qiao managed to slip out of her defensive circle to approach Lin Qing. Qiao Yu hurriedly ran over to block Lin Qing, ready to handle the situation and vigilantly watching her parents’ movements. She reiterated for what felt like the hundredth time, “She’s just here as a tutor! Don’t bother her!”
“…Well, can we at least chat with your tutor—”
“No!”
They haven’t even talked to her teacher in these past two years!
Responding firmly to Mother Qiao’s cryptic words, Qiao Yu felt that it was no longer tenable to stay in such a tricky situation. Without hesitation, she turned around, grabbed the bewildered Lin Qing, and hurriedly ran up the stairs.
Seeing their intense rejection, Father Qiao and Mother Qiao downstairs could only watch as the two children disappeared from view, exchanging a glance before bursting into laughter.
“Yuyu is really… I’ve never seen her like this before.”
“Hey, don’t say that. This child takes after me.” Father Qiao nodded in satisfaction, then chuckled when he saw Mother Qiao’s puzzled look. “She has good taste.”
“…”
Thinking that Qiao Yu’s saving grace was her smooth tongue, Father Qiao and Mother Qiao chuckled, sighed, and still looked somewhat worriedly towards the upstairs.
“Such a silly girl, I wonder if she can bring her back.”
Unaware of her parents’ concerns about her foolhardiness, Qiao Yu hurriedly brought Lin Qing to her room as if escaping for her life. She finally breathed a sigh of relief after closing the door.
Help! This is really embarrassing!
Qiao Yu closed her eyes in despair, feeling like she must have lost a lot of points with Lin Qing.
Even though everyone could see through her slight scheming, having her parents blatantly exhibit it was a different story altogether. It made her appear as if she had ulterior motives!
Deflated, Qiao Yu slumped her shoulders and turned to look at Lin Qing, who stood in the middle of the room with crossed arms, silent. She tentatively tried to explain.
“They don’t have any ill intentions either. It’s just that, it’s because of… that phone call I had with Dad on the day of the banquet…”
Her voice trailed off as she lowered it, using her eyes to gesture towards the phone call that both of them had overheard. Lin Qing hesitated for a moment but quickly composed herself and motioned for Qiao Yu to continue.
“Then the next day, I… explained everything to them, and that’s how it all ended up.”
Without giving her a chance to beat around the bush, Lin Qing bluntly asked, “Explain?”
“Um.” Seeing that there was no way to escape, Qiao Yu nervously licked her lips, hesitatingly replied, “Just… telling the truth?”
For some reason, she phrased it as a question. Lin Qing’s face uncontrollably flushed, feeling at a loss for words. She ended up simply turning her head away and nodding silently.
Seeing that Lin Qing didn’t seem too angry, Qiao Yu felt a huge weight lift off her chest, feeling truly relieved. In her heart, she silently thanked her lucky stars.
Her honesty with her parents had turned out to be a success.
However, it could be said that she may have been a bit too successful.
That day, not only did she receive her parents’ encouragement and unconditional support, she was also forced to divulge some of her past emotional experiences with Lin Qing, her face blushing bright red with embarrassment before it was all over.
As for how it turned into being referred to as “ex-girlfriend,” Qiao Yu only mentioned that she had done something that had upset Lin Qing in the past, prompting a round of sighs and hearty encouragement from Father Qiao: who hasn’t made a few mistakes when they were young!
No, one mistake was enough; she couldn’t afford to make the same level of mistake again.
After that, the two of them occasionally fretted over her relationship progress. Therefore, although Qiao Yu had sprung the tutoring idea on Lin Qing without prior consultation that day, she still managed to secure her parents’ enthusiastic support and offered a very high salary as bait for Lin Qing – it was like a simple idea of putting cat food in the yard to attract a cat.
Of course, Lin Qing did reject the initial offer, but in the end, both parties reached a consensus on the salary conditions, which Qiao Yu tightly controlled within a reasonable range.
“…I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make sure they won’t do that again before you come next time, I guarantee it.”
Afraid that Lin Qing might be hesitant to come back due to this incident, Qiao Yu hurriedly raised her hand to make a solemn vow, receiving a light and airy “Mm” from Lin Qing in response.
…It felt like she didn’t really care much.
Qiao Yu focused her gaze and saw that Lin Qing had already walked over to the desk, taking out study materials from her bag. After selecting a few books, Lin Qing glanced over at her, tilting her head slightly.
“Isn’t it time for the tutoring session to begin?”
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“Oh, yes.”
Qiao Yu’s response was too ordinary, leaving her momentarily unable to react. She walked over to the desk and sat down, accepting the test paper handed to her by Lin Qing.
“Let’s start by working on this test paper. I want to see your current level.”
Seemingly already in work mode, Lin Qing’s expression and tone were both calm.
“My university entrance exam scores were very high – I hope you haven’t forgotten too much in the past two years.”
“…I will do my best.”
Qiao Yu forced a smile as she picked up the pen and quickly immersed herself in the test questions.
Quietly relieved, Lin Qing confirmed that Qiao Yu was indeed taking the test seriously before allowing herself the luxury of surveying the room, which she had been separated from for a long time.
The decorations and furnishings were the same as when she last visited, not particularly tidy, but showing signs of clumsy tidying up by the owner before her arrival. Everywhere bore traces of Qiao Yu’s life in this space.
Her gaze lingered briefly on the bed nearby, as if scalded, before quickly moving away.
Lin Qing didn’t want to fall into a nostalgic mood. It was a very dangerous thing to do. However, being alone with Qiao Yu in this particular space made it seem more difficult to control her emotions than she had imagined.
That night, the one where the truth had come to light, had once been forgotten, but now, the events of that night were as clear to Lin Qing as if they had happened yesterday. The trembling emotions from that night were still vividly etched into her being.
On that night, a significant change had occurred in her relationship with Qiao Yu. Two years later, while their relationship hadn’t quite evolved as expected, now –
“Oh, Lin Qing, would you like water or a drink? I’ll go downstairs to get it.”
Her thoughts were interrupted as Lin Qing looked up at Qiao Yu, who had stood up, her eyes flashing.
“It’s time for our tutoring session now.”
Seeing Qiao Yu’s bewildered expression, Lin Qing pleasantly narrowed her eyes and smiled suggestively.
“Shouldn’t you be using a more formal address, instead of calling me by my name?”
Qiao Yu’s expression momentarily appeared speechless, then she sighed in resignation and obediently responded.
“…Alright, teacher.”
“Mm, the teacher would like some orange juice, the non-alcoholic kind.”
“Which kind of orange juice contains alcohol? Don’t worry, we don’t have any alcoholic beverages at home.”
Suppressing a smile, Lin Qing watched as Qiao Yu left the room, then she withdrew her gaze, leaned back in her chair, and looked up at the ceiling.
Ah, she felt a little bit happy.
LP: Sorry for the no updates yesterday, cleaning took a lot of time than I expected.