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

"Remember, let's open it tomorrow, and you can take a rest."

After the nursery rhyme was finished, she felt the little girl in her arms move. She looked down and found two black eyes looking at her, shining even in the night. She smiled and covered the little girl with clothes:

"Sleep peacefully."

The car drove to the ramp and headed towards Feng Village. The desolate wilderness finally had traces of civilization, residential houses and gas stations. Tong Hua looked at his phone, confirmed the hotel information, stopped the car, and took out two umbrellas:

"Get off the car."

Tong Yao took the umbrella and whispered into the little girl's ear:

"Get off the car."

Ruan Qian felt that Teacher Tong was seducing her.

After leaving the gentle land, the little girl held Tong Yao's hand as soon as she got off the car. She was a little nervous in front of Teacher Tong's family. Fortunately, Tong Hua didn't pay attention. She gave them the room card and went into her room. Tong Yao took the room card. The hotel corridor was covered with scarlet carpets late at night. It was so quiet that it could be used to shoot a horror movie, but there was no horror atmosphere at this time, only...

She looked at the little girl and found that her face had turned red.

Two people checked into a room.

It is indeed thought-provoking.

The door opened after the door card was swiped, revealing two beds inside. The little girl's face instantly fell and she looked lost. Tong Yao thought she had bullied her.

"Don't take a shower, just go to bed." Tong Yao smiled and tapped Ruan Qian's forehead, then went in first, "I'll call your mother."

The hotel room was warm.

After Tong Yao finished the call, she sat on the bed and took off her coat, leaving only a long-sleeved shirt and leggings. She was shy, so she got into bed and secretly took off her underwear and threw it in the pile of her clothes. She turned her back, not wanting to look at the girl's updates, and tried to fall asleep quickly.

Ruan Qian was wearing thermal underwear and long johns, wrapped in a blanket, and looking at Teacher Tong's back, she could only see her long hair. The black hair was draped over the bed, like gentle moonlight. If it were in ancient times, this long hair would one day be entangled with someone and tied up by someone. The boys in the class always joked that meeting Teacher Tong would ruin their lives, but Ruan Qian felt that she was really trapped in it for the rest of her life.

She slowly sat up from the bed. Tong Yao heard the noise and asked in a daze:

"Ruanruan, don't you want to sleep?"

Tong Yao heard the sound of slippers being put on, and then the bed shook slightly, and a soft and warm person squeezed into her bed and gently hugged her waist. She almost exploded on the spot, shuddering all over, and the words "you..." were stuck in her throat. After confirming that the little girl did not make any further moves, she stopped talking.

"Ruanruan," she blushed, "go back to sleep."

The little girl drew back her hand, murmured her agreement, but did not move.

Tong Yao thought that the little girl had learned to play dead, so she turned around and looked at Ruan Qian. Ruan Qian knew she was in the wrong and didn't dare to look at her, but she just... refused to leave.

“…little rascal.”

As the nursery rhyme was spoken, she placed the pillow between the two of them and stopped trying to chase the little girl away.

Seeing that the little girl is in trouble today, let’s sleep together.

Ruan Qian said nothing. Every night, she would think a lot, especially today. She had caused trouble for Teacher Tong again. So far, she had not been able to bring any substantial help to Teacher Tong. Maybe she was redundant, maybe Teacher Tong would be more relaxed without her... Looking at the sleeping face covered with moonlight, she really wanted to give something back.

Even physically.

But... she was also afraid that Teacher Tong would be angry and think that she did not respect herself.

She secretly took out her cell phone and logged into the comic website. Her comic had dropped from second place to third place on the monthly ticket list. Some people in the comments said that her plots were getting worse and worse and that the male lead was too stupid. She was so anxious that she wanted to cry.

Will I be just an ordinary employee in the future?

She hid in the quilt and suddenly felt embraced in a warm embrace.

"Unhappy again?" the man said, "You are such a worrying child."

"Teacher Tong..."

"You are still young, don't think so much all day long." Tong Yao hugged the little girl with a pillow between them, "Go to sleep."

Legs rubbing against each other, breathing so close, this is heaven. Those anxieties still exist, but under the illumination of the light, they hide in the dark corners and dare not scare her anymore.

During the winter vacation, after thirty days of separation, she wanted to break out of her cocoon and transform into a brand new self.

With this thought in mind, Ruan Qian fell into a deep sleep.

-

-

The next day, in the morning.

They got up, and Tong Hua drove the car and continued on their way. More than three hours later, they arrived in Xiangnan and sent the little girl home directly.

Ruan Qian's home is in an old neighborhood.

The ground was covered with fallen leaves that no one had swept, and moss grew on the stone brick walls of the building. The handrails of the stairs were rusty, boxes of discarded furniture and coal were piled up in the stairwell, and every step you took you could see advertisements for unclogging toilets and unlocking locks.

Tong Hua was walking behind with the girl's luggage, while Tong Yao and Ruan Qian were walking in front. The girl's home was on the third floor. The houses here were not tall, so the third floor also looked quite low. There was a milk house on the wall at the door. Tong Yao smiled and asked:

"Your family also ordered milk?"

Ruan Qian blushed: "I used to order it. When I was in elementary school, I could get milk every morning."

The little girl pressed the doorbell. When the doorbell rang, the door opened quickly. Ms. Gu inside saw her daughter and hugged her:

"You're driving your mother crazy."

Ms. Gu didn't say much because she saw Tong Yao and Tong Hua behind her. The man in the room also came out. He was a little sickly thin and was the little girl's father.

"Teacher Tong, thank you for your hard work this time. And this young man, this is..."

"My brother, Tong Hua."

"Yes, thank you so much. Teacher Tong, why don't you stay for lunch? I've already bought the food."

Ms. Gu thanked him repeatedly, and Ruan Xi's father also took a large Chinese cigarette from the house and handed it to Tong Hua:

"Teacher Tong, how much is the fare for this trip? I'll transfer it to you."

Ruan Qian stood behind her parents, silent. She was the only child here. The communication between adults was exactly what children hated the most. But Ruan Qian was not bored. She wanted to grow up, but she seemed to never get rid of her childishness. Growth is not something that can be realized suddenly, but the accumulation of time and experience.

"No, you're welcome." Tong Yao smiled, "We have things to do, so we won't stay for dinner. Ruanruan, I'm leaving."

She said, smiling, waved to the little girl and went downstairs. Ruan Qian's eyes suddenly had tears, and for a moment, she wanted to go with Teacher Tong - this idea was a bit stupid, but she... just didn't want to be separated from Teacher Tong.

She lowered her head and said softly: "...Goodbye, Teacher Tong, and goodbye, Brother Tong Hua."

"Have a safe journey, Teacher Tong!" Ms. Gu shouted, pushing her daughter and scolding her, "Why are you so cold to the teacher? Teacher Tong is so nice to you."

How could she know that her daughter's heart was on that person?

Ruan's father was upset: "Oh, they confiscated my cigarettes, so I bought them for nothing."

"I'll treat Teacher Tong to a meal next time," Ms. Gu sighed, "We can't let people work in vain. We have to repay favors. Xiao Qian, you have to learn how to behave when you enter society, don't you? People have to be grateful."

"I know, Mom." The little girl said sadly, "Pack your luggage."

I returned to my long-lost home, but I didn't feel excited or nostalgic.

Ruan Qian's home is not big, but in this remote city, more than 90 square meters is not expensive, and it is not crowded for a family of four. She returned to the bedroom, lay on the bed, and got up again after lying for a while, took out the drawing paper from the desk, and started to rush the draft.

At noon, Ruan Xi's father prepared a sumptuous meal. Ms. Gu only took half a day off and hurried back to the company after dinner. Ruan Xi's father answered the phone, said something, and went out to play cards. The house suddenly became very big, and Ruan Xi stayed quietly in the room, painting all day.

During dinner, the little girl received a text message.

[Teacher Tong]: "We are home."

Ruan Qian held the phone and typed a long message, then deleted it and started over again. She was struggling for a long time, wanting to express her longing but also wanting to appear mature.

In the distance, Tong Yao looked at the message "The other party is typing" on the screen for a long time, but no reply came. She couldn't help laughing and put her phone in her pocket. More than ten minutes later, her phone vibrated and she received a message "Teacher Tong, have a good rest."

"Yaoyao, what are you looking at?" Jiang Wu asked.

"nothing."

-

-

The junior high schools in Shonan City are the worst in the province.

And what Ruan Qian read was the best among the worst.

It's like picking a general from a group of dwarfs.

Her junior high school is called TOEFL Middle School, which reminds people of an English test, as if the name would make the school international. TOEFL Middle School is a private school, with a tuition of 5,000 per semester. Students with poor grades can also enter by paying more. The local area is not short of gangsters. A considerable number of students' fathers are big gangsters, so they become small gangsters in the school, and many of them repeat a grade until they are 16 or 17 years old. Ruan Qian has never seen school bullying in No. 1 Middle School, but she has witnessed ten group fights in the three years of junior high school.

She had thought before that she must escape from this city, and her life could not be buried in such a place. She was one of the most serious students in this school. Fortunately, the Education Bureau did not strictly control the cross-city enrollment of high schools at that time. The teacher of the admissions office of No. 1 Middle School held an exam here and admitted the top few students, and Ruan Qian was one of them.

This was the most important turning point in her life.

But after leaving the remote countryside and moving to the big city, I realized that I, who used to have excellent grades, was actually nothing. Children in big cities start learning English in kindergarten and start learning competitions in junior high school. The test questions are not difficult at all. The gap in education easily broke the girl's proud wings. People who have not experienced it will never understand how unfair the distribution of educational resources is.

Until I met Teacher Tong.

That was the light in her life.

Ruan Qian raised her head and unknowingly walked to the gate of the junior high school. The students here had not yet had their holidays, and the familiar school uniforms on campus brought back memories. She actually didn't hate this place. No matter how bad or messy it was, it left her with many good memories.

She opened her old junior high school group and saw countless messages popping up. She was @ed and scrolled to the bottom, where there was an invitation:

"Class reunion, coming?"

Chapter 79: Party

Ruan Qian never liked parties.

But after more than a year, those various faces in junior high school have become familiar in her memory. She used to be buried in her studies, but she also had a few good friends in junior high school. It seems nice to go to a party and reminisce the past.

She replied:

"go."

After agreeing on the time and place, Ruan Qian returned home that night and opened her closet to select items one by one. She really didn't have many clothes to change into, and all she could find were old styles. She gave up on herself a little and picked a few simple-colored ones to try on, which surprisingly looked pretty good.

Ruan Qian looked at herself in the mirror. Compared with junior high school, her face had grown and become more delicate. She also had curves instead of the malnourished look in her memory. Her chest was full, her waist was thin, her legs were long, and she seemed to be still growing. She thought of Teacher Tong's words "You are not allowed to grow taller" and couldn't help but curl her lips. She stood in front of the mirror and took a few photos of herself that she thought looked good. Nothing was exposed, but the lines were clear. After sending them to Teacher Tong, the little girl lay on the bed, laughing secretly, and couldn't help rolling around.

Teacher Tong is probably still busy grading papers now, right?

She held the phone, lying on her side, and whispered to the screen.

"Teacher Tong, I'm going to a class reunion with my junior high school classmates tomorrow."

"Does this look good on me?"

"Teacher Tong, I'm beginning to miss you..."

The voice messages were sent one by one. Ruan Qian grabbed the quilt and threw the phone aside in frustration without waiting for a reply. She left the bedroom, prepared to wash up, and said to Ms. Gu who came back:

"Mom, I have a class reunion tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ms. Gu took out her cell phone, "Mom will transfer some money to you... Is two hundred yuan enough?"

"No need," Ruan Qian smiled, "I still have some money."

"Well, be careful when you go out to play, and tell mom where you're going to play."

"Good~"

After washing up, the little girl returned to bed and opened WeChat, only to find a few more replies. They were voice messages from Teacher Tong. Her face gradually turned red, and she turned down the volume and listened to it:

"I just finished grading the papers and didn't check my phone."

"It's a class reunion... I look pretty in this outfit, and it's good to get in touch with my old friends."

"...Glib tongue."

When she said the last four words, her voice changed from gentle to coquettish. The little girl seemed to be able to imagine Teacher Tong's shy look, rolling on the bed like a fish that had come ashore.

People are always bolder in what they say online than in face-to-face communication. She said "mua" to her phone, sent the message, and then fell asleep while waiting.

-

-

The next day.

The gathering place for the class reunion is right at the entrance of the junior high school.

Ruan Qian arrived ten minutes early. She thought she would see a lot of people. After all, everyone in the group had promised so solemnly. But when she arrived, she found out that there were only ten people including her.

Looking at the group again, everyone has something urgent to do, or is just pretending to be dead.

Perhaps most people don’t look forward to meeting old classmates. People miss the past only because things are not going as they wish now. They want to go back to the carefree days of the past, but they don’t want their classmates to see them now, looking ugly and unfashionable, and maybe even fat and acne-ridden.

"Ruan Qian!" a girl shouted and ran to Ruan Qian.