Break time
After the announcement of the monthly exam scores, the following event was the start of the National Day holiday. I must say that for Qiao Yu, this was a very fortunate occurrence.
Even though she could keep in touch with Lin Qing through her phone, she still felt uneasy not being able to see her in person. Fortunately, the holiday came just in time, and Lin Qing continued her tutoring work with Qiao Yu, visiting her at her house every other day.
“You have really dark circles under your eyes.”
After resting for a day, when Lin Qing visited Qiao Yu’s house on October 2nd, she couldn’t see any trace of the unusualness from the evening before. Lin Qing touched Qiao Yu’s darkened eyelids with a normal expression, slightly furrowing her brows.
“Have you been sleeping well?”
“I… have been trying my best to study.”
Qiao Yu was speechless, avoiding Lin Qing’s eyes that were filled with both reproach and concern, and reluctantly tried to justify herself.
“It’s quite normal for senior high school students to have reduced sleep time, and I have to make up for the missed homework from before, so—”
“You don’t need to compensate for that with sleep. I’m here for you.”
Lin Qing sternly interrupted Qiao Yu’s defense, causing her to obediently fall silent, looking at Lin Qing’s calm expression. Qiao Yu inwardly sighed in admiration, realizing that she truly was an outstanding student who could speak with such confidence. How impressive.
Feeling uncomfortable under the gaze full of admiration from Qiao Yu, Lin Qing glanced at her before looking away, taking out the prepared teaching materials and handing them to Qiao Yu with a proficient and professional demeanor, showing no signs of negligence.
“I have thought this through.” Her gaze subtly fell to the right of Qiao Yu, just a fist away, without directly looking at her. “As long as I focus all my attention on tutoring you— at least while I’m here at your house, I can try to keep my emotions as stable as possible.”
“…Is that so?”
Seeing Qiao Yu’s visibly skeptical expression, Lin Qing nodded firmly, revealing the official smile of a private tutor.
“So, from now on, when I’m here, it’ll just be a teacher and student relationship between us.”
“Do you understand, Qiao Yu?”
“…Alright.”
Although she did have some objections in her heart— after all, having to set aside all her thoughts and only see Lin Qing as a teacher wasn’t as easy as it seemed when put into practice— Qiao Yu still nodded honestly and forced a smile.
“I’ll follow your lead, Teacher Lin Qing.”
Sensing that Qiao Yu had some unspoken implications, Lin Qing felt a twinge of guilt for fully accepting her without probing further. She bit her lip, thought for a moment, and inexplicably added, “…”
“Then let’s agree that only breaks during the teaching sessions are exempt.”
On October 4th, a gentle breeze blew.
“Have you finished already?”
Surprised, Lin Qing accepted the exercises handed to her by Qiao Yu, carefully reviewed them, and then looked up with a look of astonishment in her eyes, gazing at Qiao Yu, who was sitting upright.
“You only made mistakes in two questions… Did you really listen to me and go to bed before midnight every night? You didn’t secretly stay up late studying, did you?”
“I swear, I really do. I was in bed by eleven thirty yesterday.”
Qiao Yu earnestly raised her right hand, and although Lin Qing couldn’t hear it, the system was nodding in approval of Qiao Yu’s words. It continued with a few mutterings like “Looks like listening to Lin Qing does work” and “The host really does listen to Lin Qing,” which earned it a few quiet scoldings from Qiao Yu.
“But I did receive help from somewhere else… I’ll tell you during break time.”
A rather clumsy attempt at playing cat and mouse.
Lin Qing chuckled as she watched Qiao Yu, who spoke with righteous words. Her eyes sparkled, making it clear that she simply wanted to negotiate for some rest time.
“Alright, alright. I was planning to let you rest after finishing this set of exercises anyway, so go ahead and take a break now.”
“Great!”
Excited like a dog receiving a command, Qiao Yu stood up and stretched vigorously, then casually dragged a chair next to Lin Qing and sat down, bringing them closer together. Their knees accidentally touched.
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“…”
Even under Lin Qing’s hesitant gaze, Qiao Yu acted as if nothing happened. She naturally took Lin Qing’s hand and placed it on her leg, smiling brightly.
“Yesterday, when you were on break, Cong Ye and Lu Yao came to visit me.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Qiao Yu had already mentioned this to Lin Qing when they messaged yesterday, but out of consideration and a slight desire not to let Qiao Yu expose her thoughts about chatting with her in front of others, Lin Qing chose to take a nap after that and didn’t know what happened afterwards. She was unsure why Qiao Yu suddenly brought this up now and how it related to their current conversation about solving problems.
“I had no idea beforehand either. Those two just showed up out of the blue. They said they had planned to play games together yesterday, but halfway through, they lost interest and decided to come see me instead. When I heard their reason, I really felt like kicking them out for wasting my time.”
Although she expressed her irritation, Qiao Yu didn’t actually display any signs of annoyance on her face. She simply sighed in mock exasperation, holding back a smile as she spoke.
“And then I ended up keeping them to teach me.”
“Well, that’s one way to spend time.”
Lin Qing couldn’t help but burst into laughter, thinking about how the two friends who were supposed to go out and have fun ended up getting caught up in studying with Qiao Yu. It must have been quite frustrating for them.
“Well, I told them that I didn’t have time to go out and play. Don’t set too many expectations for a high school senior,” Qiao Yu admitted sheepishly, rubbing her nose. “Although they were initially reluctant— in the end, they all willingly stayed! I didn’t force them!”
Lin Qing gave Qiao Yu a skeptical look and, as expected, saw Qiao Yu blink awkwardly, confessing.
“No, there really wasn’t any coercion, but…”
“You see, Lu Yao didn’t have much objection from the start—because he straightforwardly told me that he couldn’t help me with studying anyway, but he could serve tea, water, and sing for us. The main issue was that Cong Ye wasn’t too happy about it, and then he made a request.”
The conversation abruptly halted at this point. Lin Qing saw an extremely reluctant expression on Qiao Yu’s face as she hesitantly spoke.
“…He asked me to call him brother.”
“…”
Boys really are…are they all so particular about these things? She’s older than Qiao Yu, and she’s not thinking of having Qiao Yu call her sister, that would be so strange.
Lin Qing’s mind immediately jumped to this thought, but she quickly realized it was inappropriate. She let out an ‘ah’ sound, then hurriedly covered her mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed as she furrowed her brows, sensing a slight warmth creeping up to her ears.
“…And then? Did you call him that?”
She casually changed the subject, avoiding meeting Qiao Yu’s meaningful gaze. She heard Qiao Yu let out a long sigh.
“I did.”
…Sounds like it was through gritted teeth.
Lin Qing found herself both amused and uneasy, feeling that Qiao Yu probably agreed to call him that because of her and Cong Ye’s senior-junior relationship—cough, though it wasn’t really her problem. But if it wasn’t for her, Qiao Yu probably wouldn’t acknowledge this ‘great uncle.’ Just as she was grappling with these conflicting emotions, she heard Qiao Yu suddenly speak in a resentful tone.
“One day, I’ll make him call me uncle…and then, I’ll make him call me dad.”
Ah, this person has already marked him as an enemy.
Looking helplessly at Qiao Yu, who was playfully toying with Lin Qing’s fingers, making her feel ticklish and unable to resist curling them into a fist, leaving Qiao Yu with nowhere to go. No matter how she tried to use a pitiful gaze, Lin Qing remained unmoved.
“Anyway, I received guidance from Cong Ye and a little song from Lu Yao yesterday, which is why I have made progress today.”
“The latter doesn’t sound very significant…well, it’s better this way, so I don’t have to leave you two alone together,” Lin Qing lowered her gaze, adding, “I’m afraid you might end up fighting.”
“What? I wouldn’t do that. I’m a reliable adult.”
“I—Wait a minute, Qiao Yu, you’re standing too close.”
Turning her head, Lin Qing noticed Qiao Yu’s face, and she quickly became strict, pushing Qiao Yu aside with the hidden intention to keep her distance. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to move Qiao Yu, seeing her innocent expression, Lin Qing had to shift herself away.
“Since I’ll be coming to teach you on alternate days, you don’t have to work so hard during breaks. Even as an exam candidate, you need a balance of work and rest—”
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“Qingqing, don’t you want Cong Ye to teach me?”
“…”
She knew deep down that she should have immediately refuted with a response at this moment, but for some reason, she fell silent. The brief pause was enough to reveal the truth. Lin Qing bit her tongue lightly in regret, turning her head away, not wanting to see the expression on Qiao Yu’s face.
“I understand. I won’t let him teach me in the future.”
Qiao Yu’s gentle voice came from beside her, devoid of laughter or resignation, just a plain statement.
The unusually normal tone left Lin Qing feeling a bit unsettled. She shook her head and looked at Qiao Yu, trying to say, “It’s okay, don’t worry about me. Having more people teach you is a good thing. Maybe I have some shortcomings too.”
Listening attentively to her words, Qiao Yu’s slightly lighter eyes flashed, as she asked,
“Would Qingqing be unhappy?”
“…I…”
“It’s break time now. Don’t speak to me from the perspective of a teacher.”
Qiao Yu spoke as she retook Lin Qing’s hand, which had unknowingly relaxed from its clenched state, drawing closer to gaze directly into Lin Qing’s slightly evasive eyes, gently blinking.
“I’m asking Lin Qing.”
As if something had suddenly collapsed within her, Lin Qing struggled to contain her tumultuous emotions and trembled as she blurted out,
“…I would be unhappy.”
Once the floodgates opened, it was hard to close them again. Despite her rational mind struggling, Lin Qing couldn’t control her desires. Reaching out, she grasped Qiao Yu’s hand, burying her face in her shoulder, sitting awkwardly on her lap, drawing a startled gaze from Qiao Yu.
“I’m unhappy.”
The most fitting phrase to describe Lin Qing’s current state of mind was probably “throwing caution to the wind.”
Lin Qing, feeling embarrassed, gritted her teeth and let out her pent-up feelings, finding it hard to believe that her self-imposed rule of maintaining a teacher-student relationship with Qiao Yu at her house so quickly crumbled on their second meeting.
…But it should still be within reason, right? Because it’s break time now, right? Break time should be an exception?
But if it comes to this point, then do all the efforts made before really hold any meaning? It feels like all the previous hard work was just in vain.
As a sense of defeat washed over her, it was quickly overshadowed by other emotions because Qiao Yu’s hand was now resting on her lower back. The autumn clothing wasn’t particularly thick, and Lin Qing could feel the warmth of her palm seeping through, almost scorching.
Qiao Yu’s other hand gently patted her back, speaking softly as if soothing a child. The voice resonated from their closely pressed bodies, sounding somewhat deep.
“I won’t do anything that makes Qingqing unhappy, that’s perfectly normal.”
“…Um, I’m sorry.”
“So, it’s perfectly normal, no need to apologize to me.”
Feeling Lin Qing’s voice grow more candid, Qiao Yu continued to comfort her, patting her back gently. After a moment, Lin Qing let out a sigh and said, “What should I do? I even feel unhappy when Cong Ye and you are together.”
“…What should we do then? How about you join me when I play with Cong Ye in the future?”
“No, that would just address the symptoms and not the root cause. Don’t think of ways that would only enable me.”
As Lin Qing made this remark, she must have had a slightly puffed-up, angry look on her face. To show her displeasure, she lightly bumped Qiao Yu’s shoulder, causing Qiao Yu to laugh.
“But it’s break time now.”
Break time had become like a scapegoat, and Lin Qing felt that when she initially proposed this idea, she had definitely not thought it through. She decided she needed to reflect on the pros and cons of this situation later—but not right at that moment.
“It’s rare to be able to hug Qingqing. It’s inevitable that I would want to indulge you. Please forgive me.”
Before Lin Qing could put on an angry expression to rebut her in response to her lofty words, she felt Qiao Yu tighten her arms slightly, bringing them even closer. Lin Qing’s words turned into a mere utterance as she hesitated on whether or not to push away Qiao Yu, only to be firmly embraced.
Warmth, scent, and the indistinguishable sound of whose heartbeat it was.
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“Speaking of which, when will break time end?”
Even though Qiao Yu knew that the break times before were only ten minutes, she still asked, feigning ignorance. It was a very deliberate inquiry.
Lin Qing lifted her eyes to glance at the clock on the wall, her eyelashes trembling lightly as she hesitated before lowering her eyes.
Is it inevitable to indulge during break time?
“…Anyway, it’s not time to end yet.”
Even though she saw that the minute hand had already shifted three large marks, she still spoke words of self-deception, allowing herself to succumb to the voice in her heart at that moment, letting desire surge up.
Her nose tip touched the warm, smooth skin of her lover’s neck, suddenly feeling an impulse like a vampire, wanting to leave a mark by biting.
Lin Qing’s eyes flickered, unable to resist the tempting invitation, leaning in.
She covered it with her soft lips, a brief touch in the chaos before pulling away.
“It’s so itchy.”
The person who was unaware protested, probably thinking it was a sweeping of hair strands or something. Lin Qing’s eyes were dark and unclear, speaking in a low voice.
“I can’t help it, because it’s break time right now.”
So sweet!!!!