It's the students' fault if they are too popular.

Is this selfish?

Calculate.

But is selfishness bad?

She didn't think so.

Chapter 13: Her charm radiates everywhere

"Can I refuse..."

Ruan Qian held her work badge and spoke in a low voice.

"No," Tong Yao stretched out her hand and gently touched the little girl's forehead, "I refuse your refusal. Go quickly, or the food will get cold."

Ruan Qian finally went to the teacher's window to get her meal.

Really... very obedient.

Nursery rhyme thought.

She found a seat and sat down. There was no need to queue at the teacher's window. Soon, Ruan Qian came back with two bowls of rice. Tong Yao had already taken the chopsticks and handed a pair to the girl:

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ruan Qian blushed and shook her head.

She didn't feel tired at all.

She held the work badge in her hand and wanted to give it back to Tong Yao, but as soon as she took it out, Tong Yao waved her hand:

"I told you to take it and improve your food."

But there is no reward without merit, and the little girl felt uneasy holding it.

She took such a great advantage of Teacher Tong...she didn't know how to thank him.

As if seeing through the girl's thoughts, Tong Yao sighed and said:

"Take care of yourself and study hard, then I will be happy, got it?"

The little girl nodded vigorously.

She must become a promising person in the future. Only then can she...

Ruan Qian lowered her head and put a mouthful of food into her mouth.

"By the way, Xiao Qian," Tong Yao raised the corner of her lips, "Can I call you Xiao Qian? Or... Ruan Ruan?"

Tong Yao was not sure, but she preferred the name Ruan Ruan because it has the same pronunciation as "ruan" and sounds soft and sticky, which fits Ruan Qian's image very well.

A shy little girl.

Ruan Qian felt her face getting hot and she was extremely embarrassed:

"Teacher Tong...you can call me whatever you want."

"Then call her Ruanruan." Tong Yao took the opportunity to make the final decision, "I've actually always wanted a younger sister."

It’s a pity that I only have a younger brother at home.

Ruan Qian lowered her head and said nothing. She did not regard Tong Yao as an older sister. In her eyes, Teacher Tong was just Teacher Tong.

"Ruanruan has a younger brother at home, right?" Tong Yao asked tentatively.

"Well," Ruan Qian put down her chopsticks and looked serious, as if every question in the nursery rhyme was the English listening test for the college entrance examination, worthy of the most wholehearted treatment, "He also goes to school here, but he is in junior high school."

"I remember your family is from Shonan?"

"Well, the teachers here came to our place to recruit students, and I came here only after I passed. After all... the rate of admission to the first-class high schools in the local area is very low, and they think it is better to come to this big city to study."

Tong Yao's heart was slightly moved.

Middle schools continue to pick the best students, which is as deep-rooted as the street vendors at the school gate. How can a school that constantly breaks the rules convince students by always talking about the rules? Is it the school's fault or is there something wrong with the rules themselves? I'm afraid it's both.

"Your brother comes here alone at such a young age. Are your parents worried?" Tong Yao lowered her eyes and asked softly.

"Living on campus..." Ruan Qian bit her lip, her slender eyelashes trembling slightly, and then she smiled, "And I go to see him sometimes, he's quite adaptable. It would be better if he came earlier, so he can adapt to high school faster."

Not like myself...

The topic became a little heavy. Ruan Qian ate too fast and choked a few times. She waved her hand to indicate that she was fine and took the initiative to change the subject:

"Where's Teacher Tong? Is she on good terms with my brother?"

"My brother and I..." Tong Yao put down her chopsticks and supported half of her face with her palm, "We're fine."

Perhaps because of the big age gap, she has been taken care of by Tong Hua since she was a child. She can choose the life she wants at her own will. In addition to her own excellence since she was a child, a big part of the reason is that all the responsibilities of the family fall on Tong Hua.

Although I am not used to being a younger sister, I have to admit that the experience of being a younger sister is surprisingly good.

In fact, she hoped that Ruan Qian could have an older brother or sister, so that they could take care of the child to some extent. But her younger brother happened to be a careless one, and he was only in junior high school, so he couldn't protect his sister.

"Um, Teacher Tong," Ruan Qian asked curiously, "Why did you become a teacher when you graduated at the age of 18?"

There is very little information on the Internet. There is only a short paragraph of news about "genius girl admitted to University A", and there is no useful information at all.

"17 years old." Tong Yao raised a finger and corrected, "I graduated at 17, stayed at home for a year, and then went to do things like taking exams."

She said she was idle for a year, but in fact she was studying. She even passed the civil service exam, but she didn't go in the end.

Ruan Qian swallowed her saliva. She graduated at the age of 17... and she was already 16. We were both human beings, so why was there such a big gap between them?

"Teacher Tong...did you skip a grade?"

"Well, I didn't go to elementary school much."

She actually wanted to jump faster, but her mother was worried that she was too young to take care of herself in school, so she forced her to study for a few more years.

Skipping a grade in school did save a lot of time, but because of the age gap, Tong Yao didn't have many friends. Because of her age, she couldn't participate in activities like sports meets, and school was just a plot she wanted to skip quickly when she played the game again.

I am unwilling to be mediocre, so I work hard. But have I missed some precious things in the process of working hard?

She bit her chopsticks, her thoughts drifting away. After a shout, there was suddenly someone beside her.

"Sister Yaoyao!"

Xu Yin held the bowl and asked in surprise, "You guys are eating together? Hey, Ruan Qian's dish is the same as yours."

Xu Yin put down her plate, which contained one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, a standard meal for girls.

Ruan Qian's body tensed up, she lowered her head to eat, and didn't respond guiltily. Fortunately, Xu Yin didn't continue to ask.

"Sister Yaoyao, Saturday is Teacher's Day, come out for dinner with us!" Xu Yin turned to Tong Yao with a smile on her face, "Everyone wants to treat you to a meal, okay~"

Teachers' Day!

Ruan Qian paused and clenched her chopsticks.

The early autumn of September, this festival which once had a low presence, now has a very high status in Ruan Qian's heart.

In fact... she had known that Teacher's Day was coming and wanted to give Teacher Tong a surprise on that day, but Xu Yin said it first... it was as if she didn't know about it before.

She had classes during the day on Saturday and had to go to Teacher Tong's house to take math lessons at night. It was the only dinner she could have outside of school, and she originally wanted to treat Teacher Tong to a meal.

Even if it's just... a little bit of appreciation for how much care you have given to Teacher Tong.

But how could the amount of food that she could treat Teacher Tong to be compared to what the group of people in Class 4 could treat Teacher Tong to together? Xu Yin had this appeal, but she didn't.

She is just an ordinary student. If a disaster happens somewhere, Ji Chen will enthusiastically organize everyone to donate money and write greeting cards, while she will just quietly follow her classmates and donate a few dollars of her own.

You can't ask Teacher Tong to give up the hotel dinner and go to the original noodle shop with her, right? Her intentions are intentional, but other people's intentions are also full of sincerity.

I am just an ordinary student among Teacher Tong.

"Go out to eat with you guys?" Tong Yao was a little surprised that she was so popular among the students. It was impossible for her to say that she was unhappy. "Will it be troublesome?"

"It's very close! Mainly, the twenty or so people in our class who are taking extra classes here want to thank you, Sister Yaoyao. Come on, we've found the place." Xu Yin clasped her hands together and begged in a coquettish and cute manner.

"But the evening tutoring..."

"Take a week off!" Xu Yin suggested, "It's Teacher's Day, won't Sister Yaoyao give herself a break?"

It is indeed a tempting proposal.

She was a little tired of attending classes every day, so she smiled and said, "Okay, go tell them that there will be no make-up classes this week. Ruanruan, please tell the students in Class 7 for me."

Ruan Qian responded sullenly.

Soft?

Xu Yin blinked. Sister Yaoyao and Ruan Qian seemed very close?

"Sister Yaoyao," she pouted, "I already call you Sister Yaoyao, why don't you call me something else too."

Ruan Qian: "!"

This Xu Yin!

Not satisfied with having snatched away her chance to treat Teacher Tong to a meal on Teachers' Day, he also wanted to take away the only affectionate name that Teacher Tong had ever given her!

Greedy!

Is this what Xu Yin is like? Is she going to take away the warmth that belongs to her bit by bit?

"Change the name?" Tong Yao thought, "Yin Yin? Xiao Yin?"

I feel that it is not as cute as when it is called "soft".

Not only does "Yinyin" sound like an onomatopeia, but "Xiaoyin" also reminds her of a bunch of anime characters named "Xiaoying", and it would be a bit out of place to call her that.

"I feel like it's easier to just call out the name." Tong Yao smiled.

The loss that Xu Yin couldn't hide on her face was like a doll's spring having reached the end of its winding path and could no longer sustain its joy.

Oh no, did I hurt the child?

Tong Yao wanted to say something, but the next second, Xu Yin had put on a smile again, and didn't seem to care. Instead, she complained about herself heartlessly:

"Hey, it's all my dad's fault. He should have given me a cuter name."

"The name now sounds nice too," Tong Yao coaxed.

The fairly leisurely lunch hour passed like this.

When Ruan Qian returned to the dormitory, the other three people had already arrived. Two of them were sitting at the table doing homework, and He Xueyu was sitting on the bed reading a novel. She touched her teacher's ID card in her pocket, afraid of being discovered, so she washed up and climbed into bed.

"Hey, Xixi, it's not good for your stomach to lie down right after a meal." He Xueyu knocked on the bed.

Ruan Qian grumbled "hmm" and buried her head in the quilt, then secretly took out the work badge.

Is this considered... a token of trust?

The girl held her work badge to her heart, and when she thought about the time she spent with Teacher Tong at noon, she felt so happy that she almost rolled over.

It’s just… I didn’t have the chance to invite Teacher Tong to dinner on Teacher’s Day.

Thinking of this, she sank her face into the pillow like a balloon with a hole in it, and became discouraged again in an instant.

It would be nice if Teacher Tong was only nice to her.

...So shameless.

She said Xu Yin was greedy, but in fact she was greedier than anyone else.

Teacher Tong doesn't belong to anyone.

but……

She clutched the quilt tightly, buried her head in the pillow, and her invisible face turned a faint pink.

She wants to be the special one in Teacher Tong's heart.

Even though the reality is so clear - I am actually the worst one.

-

-

"I'm sorry...I didn't expect her to be mad at you."

It was half past ten in the evening. Tong Yao had just got off work. She picked up her bag and walked down the stairs. A sound downstairs made her stop.

"It's not your fault," said a boy. "It's all my fault."

"I don't want you to be misunderstood by her." Another gentle voice came from the girl, "She has finally found a boyfriend as good as you. If it were me, I would also be afraid that you would be snatched away by someone else."