Math Teacher, Please Get Lost (GL) - Chapter 38

When the auntie finished making the potatoes, she packed them in a plastic bag and sealed it. Shuyan handed her fifteen yuan, and the auntie gave her two yuan in change.

Shuyan reached out to take it but then pulled her hand back. “Auntie, that’s not right. One bowl of potatoes is six yuan, two bowls are twelve. Why did you only give me two yuan back?”

The auntie wiped her hands on a towel and chided her: “You silly girl, sharp with numbers, but did you forget the bottle of mineral water in your hand?”

With the reminder, Shuyan suddenly remembered she had grabbed the bottle when she choked earlier, after the auntie had handed it to her. She looked at the bottle—it had already been opened and drunk from, so there was no point in returning it.

“Alright then.” Shuyan put the two one-yuan coins into her pocket.

The auntie laughed at her. “You’re the first young person I’ve ever seen who fusses over even one yuan.”

She hadn’t really meant to fuss; she was just used to dealing with numbers. When it came to money, she didn’t even need to calculate—her mind always registered the totals automatically. But Yao Shuhan was always trying to find ways to save money for her, buying things here and there, and even Lanxi had asked her if she was short of cash. Her mother was seriously ill in the hospital, her father’s salary wasn’t high, and money really was tight. But even so, she only lived frugally; she had never thought she behaved as if she were possessed by a miser’s spirit.

If this had been before, Shuyan wouldn’t have thought much of it. But recent experiences had gradually changed her perspective. This little episode with the potatoes made her fall into reflection: just as Lanxi had said, people are different. They understand things differently, so you might misunderstand someone’s actions. They express themselves differently, so you might fail to convey your thoughts correctly.

Shuyan felt she acted quite normally—but how did Yao Shuhan see her? And had Shuyan really grasped the messages Yao Shuhan was sending her?

Thinking about it as she walked home, Shuyan soon felt a headache coming on. She stopped, stood in the cold wind to cool down, let her face go numb, then continued on, carefully tracing her thoughts. At first it was a mess, she didn’t even know what she was thinking. She wanted to pin down a single, clear question, so she could work in one direction to find an answer.

By the time she reached her front door, she still hadn’t sorted out a coherent thought. Everything just seemed messy.

Yao Shuhan opened the door for her. She said eating extra food at night wasn’t good, but still happily kept her company over the potatoes.

Watching Shuyan jab the same piece of potato with her skewer three times without picking it up, Yao Shuhan picked it up herself and fed it to her.

Shuyan, resting her cheek on her hand, stared off unfocused. Only when Yao Shuhan brought the potato to her lips did she smile faintly and open her mouth to bite it.

“What are you thinking about? Even eating makes you space out.” Yao Shuhan scolded her. “You’re the kind of person with nerves as thick as a rope and emotional intelligence in the negatives. You’re not suited for such a sacred activity as ‘thinking,’ got it? People with thick nerves should just do more practical things—leave the brainwork to us cultured types.”

Shuyan found this funny. Leaning back, she looked at Yao Shuhan and said, “You’re getting more and more blunt with me.”

“Don’t misunderstand.” Yao Shuhan sat up straight, serious. “It’s because I want to be good to you. Very good. The kind of good other people couldn’t imagine in their whole lives.”

For a moment, Shuyan lost herself. She nodded slightly. “Then why don’t you be good to me?” She only followed along with Yao Shuhan’s words, with no deeper meaning.

But Yao Shuhan shrugged, a little self-mocking, tapping her fingers on the table. “Shuyan, put your hand on your conscience and say that again. Am I not good to you?”

Shuyan knew she had said the wrong thing.

She wanted to tell Yao Shuhan she hadn’t meant it like that. But if she did, she could already guess what would come next: either Yao Shuhan would ask, “Then what did you mean?” or she’d say, “Forget it, pretend I never said it.”

When it came to wordplay, Shuyan knew she could never beat Yao Shuhan—past, present, or future. That was destined. But she didn’t think it was such a bad thing.

She was who she was.

Recently, Shuyan had been trying to figure out how to respond to Yao Shuhan whenever she didn’t know what to say. As the saying goes, “Whoever ties the knot must untie it”—in the end, the problem she puzzled over was solved by Yao Shuhan herself. Yao Shuhan had said: people with thick nerves should just do things, leave the brainwork to the cultured ones.

Fine then—she’d do more, talk less.

Shuyan stood up, went to Yao Shuhan’s side, pulled her into her arms, one hand braced on the table and the other holding the back of her head, and kissed her fiercely.

Yao Shuhan’s eyes widened in shock, her hands pressed against Shuyan’s chest. She struggled for a moment, realized she couldn’t break free, and gave up, tilting her head back to let Shuyan have her way. Only, she kept her lips tightly shut, refusing to let her tongue in.

“Mm—” Yao Shuhan gave a muffled gasp when Shuyan grabbed her hand and pressed it against her chest. With only a thin T-shirt between them, Yao Shuhan could clearly feel Shuyan’s heartbeat. Each thud made Yao Shuhan’s fingertips tremble faintly.

Yao Shuhan grew dazed. She raised her head and met Shuyan’s deep, black eyes.

Those two dark pupils stretched out hands, ready to seize her.

She tried to lower her gaze, but Shuyan held her tight.

Shuyan pressed Yao Shuhan’s head to her shoulder, gently stroking her long hair. She murmured softly, “You’re right. Then why shouldn’t I be good to you?”

Yao Shuhan froze in her arms for a while, then slowly wrapped her arms around Shuyan’s shoulders from behind. Her expression was somewhere between laughing and crying. “Fool,” she whispered.

Shuyan stroked her head, smiling. “Shuhan, I want you to remember—I’m one year older than you.”

Yao Shuhan blinked, puzzled. “Mm?”

“So it’s my job to take care of you—to treat you better than you treat me,” Shuyan said.

Yao Shuhan buried her face against her chest, swatted her back lightly, and muttered: “Your Chinese is still terrible. That was a broken sentence.”

Shuyan laughed. “Doesn’t matter. Your Chinese is good—you can understand my broken sentences.” Then she added, “You’re the only one who can.”

Yes, Yao Shuhan, perhaps only you could be foolish enough to love me for more than ten years. Through humiliation, through electric shocks, through forced vomiting, through abandonment by friends, through rejection by my parents—you never gave up.

If you’re already like this, where in the world could I ever find another Yao Shuhan who loves Shuyan so deeply?

That weekend, after finishing his practice papers, Gao Tianhong told his family he was going for a walk to clear his head. His mother worried and wanted to go with him, but his father stopped her.

“He’s old enough, what’s there to worry about?” His father was quite pleased with his son—an excellent student, well-behaved. Aside from the recent unpleasantness, when he had lost his temper and beaten him once… but he thought, boys are boys, fiery by nature, what’s the harm? Besides, the very next day Tianhong had come home to admit his mistakes, studying harder than ever, with a better attitude. Father was satisfied.

“Too much studying makes you tired. Go out and exercise, balance work and rest.” Father added.

Still uneasy, his mother reminded him, “Tianhong, take your phone with you. If anything happens, call us.”

“Don’t worry, Mom.”

She followed him to the door, calling out: “Be back before eight!”

Jogging away, Gao Tianhong waved back, signaling he’d heard.

He rushed out the gate, sprinted to the bus stop, and caught a bus just as it was about to leave. Sitting by the window in the back, he put in one earbud, closed his eyes, and quietly listened to music. Before long, he arrived at Jingxiang Garden.

Every time Yao Shuhan went to see Wu Junze, she would call a day in advance, in case he was busy. This evening, she was planning to take Shuyan to see him—Wu Junze had said he was struggling with some math problems.

As soon as Gao Tianhong entered, he pinned Wu Junze against the door, sliding his hand under his shirt and unbuttoning two buttons, complaining the shirt was too tight.

Wu Junze, breathless under his kisses, pushed weakly at his shoulder. “Not at the door.”

Embarrassed, Gao Tianhong ruffled his hair. “Sorry, Aze, I just missed you too much.”

“I missed you too.” Wu Junze hugged him back.

Then he remembered Yao Shuhan would arrive soon. Lifting his head, he said, “Teacher Yao is coming later. You should leave early.”

Hearing that, Tianhong frowned. “Why is she coming again?”

Wu Junze chuckled, pulled him to the bed, poured him a glass of water. “This is her apartment. Why shouldn’t she come? I told her I was stuck on some math, so she’s bringing a friend to help me.”

“What math? You could’ve asked me.” Tianhong sounded displeased.

“You’re busy with your studies—don’t always think about me. Besides, are your explanations better than a teacher’s?”

Tianhong scoffed.

Wu Junze sat beside him, resting his hand on his, leaning against his shoulder. “I know you’re amazing. Just one more month. Let’s both work hard, and get into the same university.” He raised his head to look at him.

“Aze…” Tianhong gazed at him, unconsciously reaching out to touch his face, whispering his name twice more before slowly pressing him down on the bed and kissing him.

Wu Junze reflexively hugged him back, yielding to the kiss.

“Tianhong, this is Teacher Yao’s place—we can’t…”

Kissing his throat, Tianhong soothed him. “It’s fine. I’ll just touch you.”

Wu Junze’s face flushed crimson. He turned away with a soft whimper, then nodded.

“Aze, I love you.” Tianhong grinned foolishly, eyes crinkling, little lines appearing at the corners.

He was only seventeen, yet already had faint wrinkles. What about later? Wu Junze frowned, wanting to smooth the lines away with his fingers. But looking at Tianhong’s smile, he thought: as long as he’s happy, nothing else matters. Everything is fine.

Two young boys in love, one day apart feeling like years apart—finally together in intimacy, they couldn’t help themselves. No matter how much Tianhong tried to restrain himself, their passion turned messy.

And right then, Yao Shuhan and Shuyan arrived at the door. Just as they knocked, Wu Junze shoved Tianhong away and scrambled to tidy up.

Tianhong hurried to dress, fumbling so much he put his T-shirt on backward, then had to yank it off to fix it.

Opening the door, Wu Junze’s face was a little unnatural, but he forced composure. “Hello, Teacher.”

Yao Shuhan glanced inside. “What, you’ve got a friend over?”

At that moment, Tianhong came out, greeting her awkwardly: “Hello, Teacher Yao. I… I just came to see Junze.”

Shuyan glanced at him, rubbed her nose, gave a light cough, then walked over to Wu Junze and patted his shoulder. “I’m here to teach you math.”

Wu Junze froze. Even Tianhong looked surprised.

“You’re a math teacher?” Junze asked.

“National Olympiad in Mathematics—first prize. High school entrance exam: 148 out of 150 in math. Math major at D University. Secondary school senior teacher. City-level core teacher. Explaining a few problems is nothing.” Shuyan clicked her tongue, then walked into the study.

“Thank you, Teacher.” Wu Junze ducked his head and followed, secretly signaling Tianhong with his eyes.

Yao Shuhan noticed the little exchange between the boys, smelled the faint musk in the air, but said nothing. She pointed at her locked bedroom. “Tianhong, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be in my room reading.”

Flustered, Tianhong waved his hands. “No, no—it’s fine, Teacher. I’ll go. It’s late, my family will be waiting.”

“Alright,” Yao Shuhan said. “Be careful on the way.”

“Mm.” Tianhong said goodbye to Wu Junze and left.

Yao Shuhan entered her bedroom, shut the door, looked at the long-unopened bookshelf, and sighed.