Kiss you at Sunset (BL) - Chapter 19
Zhou Shiluo stared blankly at the textbook on his desk, his thoughts wandering far away. It wasn’t until Ding Nan, his colleague, called his name three times that he finally snapped back to reality.
“Teacher Ding, what did you say?” Zhou Shiluo asked sheepishly.
This was already the third time today that Ding Nan had caught him zoning out, and she couldn’t help but feel concerned. “Teacher Zhou, are you feeling unwell?”
Zhou Shiluo shook his head and forced a smile that looked worse than crying. “I’m fine, maybe I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
As soon as he said that, he regretted it.
Sure enough, Ding Nan misunderstood.
“You’ve been working hard lately. I’ll treat everyone to a nice meal sometime,” Ding Nan said apologetically before quickly getting back on topic. “Can I see your World Film History lesson plan for Class Two? I need to prepare for next week’s class.”
Four months ago, Ding Nan had taken maternity leave, and her courses had been temporarily assigned to other teachers in the department. She had only officially returned to work this week.
After receiving the lesson plan, Ding Nan noticed Zhou Shiluo’s pale complexion again and reminded him, “Teacher Zhou, make sure you rest properly.”
Zhou Shiluo nodded with a polite smile. In truth, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong. It just felt like he was trapped in a dark, enclosed space, fumbling around with no way out.
When did this feeling start? Probably since that phone call with Yang Jin last week.
Yang Jin had told him that they shouldn’t stay in touch anymore.
At that moment, Zhou Shiluo had felt as if his soul had been sucked out of him. His breath caught in his throat, his mind went blank, and even when Yang Jin hung up, he hadn’t managed to say a single word.
Not even a casual insult, like calling him a brat.
In Zhou Shiluo’s memory, he had never begged anyone for anything. Even when he realized he might have been wrong, he always stubbornly held onto his pride. And now, the person he was dealing with was a kid six years younger than him.
That was just the way he was—outwardly composed, but inwardly a mess.
“It’s a boy! Teacher Ding, you’d better start saving up,” someone in the office joked, instantly livening up the atmosphere.
Zhou Shiluo pulled himself out of his thoughts and absentmindedly listened to their chatter. Since the office was mostly female staff, he rarely joined in, preferring to sit quietly and listen.
It was no secret that Ding Nan had given birth to a baby boy. Ever since the day she became a mother, she had also become an enthusiastic social media mom, constantly posting pictures of her child.
As expected, the conversation soon shifted to her latest posts. In the midst of their discussion, Ding Nan turned to Zhou Shiluo and said, “Teacher Zhou, you should check my Moments when you have time.”
Not wanting to seem rude, Zhou Shiluo nodded and actually picked up his phone. Scrolling through his feed, he found it flooded with ads from resellers—page after page of shoes in different styles. Uninterested, he impatiently flicked through, until a particular photo suddenly caught his eye.
It was a picture of a leather couch, torn apart beyond recognition, with white stuffing scattered everywhere. Amidst the mess lay a husky, its tongue hanging out excitedly as if proudly showing off its masterpiece. It looked both ridiculous and ugly.
Above the photo was a caption: “Anyone want husky meat? I don’t want this girl anymore.”
The post was from Jiang Yutang.
Zhou Shiluo stiffened. That night at the bar, Jiang Yutang and Feng Jiayang’s conversation echoed in his ears. A sudden realization struck him—what if all the misunderstandings had started from there? A tiny mistake had grown into an absurd mess.
His fingers trembled as he clicked on the photo. It took him several tries to bring up the share menu before he sent it to Jiang Yutang without hesitation.
With a mix of caution and anticipation, he typed: “This dog…?”
Closing his eyes, he only reopened them when his phone buzzed with a reply.
Jiang Yutang had sent three crying emojis, followed by four messages in quick succession:
—“She’s my girl. Not ‘my girl’ like that, I mean her name is ‘Girl’.”
—“I don’t know if you get what I mean.”
—“Forget it.”
—“She’s probably in her rebellious phase. She’s driving me crazy.”
A moment later, when Zhou Shiluo still hadn’t responded, Jiang Yutang tentatively sent another message: “Zhou-ge? You there?”
Zhou Shiluo felt his breath catch—was it from frustration? He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm, and asked: “Why on earth would you name her that?”
Jiang Yutang responded matter-of-factly: “Because she’s a girl, duh!”