56 Chapter 56

Let's sit at the same table.

The auditorium faced the back playground, which was bustling with activity, but the playground outside was deserted, without a single person in sight. The weather was gloomy, as if it were about to rain, and the tall trees beside the track stood silently, as still as if in another world.

Zhan Xinyue looked up at the sky, but instead of going to the restroom, she found a bench by the playground and sat down.

She gazed at the sky; it was only a little past five in the afternoon, but the sky was already quite dark, and the whole world was shrouded in a dim, gloomy twilight. In this vast, silent space, the auditorium seemed like an old Walkman, its music leaking out in a faint, persistent murmur.

In such weather, people's emotions seem to suddenly become fragile.

What was happening in the auditorium was an important memory for her, but how much imagination would she need to overlap the image of the boy who stood on the stage and sang gently for her with the man who betrayed her?

She wanted him to pay the price, but the pain from almost reliving the past was like a dull knife, slowly torturing her heart again and again.

She sat there for an unknown amount of time, during which the music in the auditorium changed several times. Someone walked past on the track in front of her, and the pale-colored hem of her skirt hesitated before her. Then, a young female voice rang out: "Excuse me, what's wrong?"

Zhan Xinyue quickly wiped her face, only to realize that she had started crying without even noticing.

The person in front of her crouched down, looked at her carefully, and asked softly, "Is it Xinyue?"

Zhan Xinyue then noticed that the person in front of her was Wang Zhiyi. She nodded and said, "Teacher Wang, what are you doing here?"

"I didn't have classes this afternoon, so I came out for a stroll. I didn't expect to see you sitting here alone." Wang Zhiyi smelled of a light, pleasant perfume, and her voice was as soft and gentle as the scent. "Isn't today the arts festival? Why are you sitting outside alone?"

Zhan Xinyue said, "It's too stuffy in the auditorium, so I came out for some fresh air."

"It's a bit stuffy, and it looks like it's going to rain." Wang Zhiyi didn't press for details, but simply said gently, "I'm a little tired from walking around for a while. I'll sit here for a bit, you don't mind, do you?"

Zhan Xinyue shook her head. She heard soothing piano music playing in the auditorium; Xu Shen's song had long since ended.

Wang Zhiyi sat next to her, tapping her fingers on the wooden board as she leaned on the chair, looking somewhat troubled. After a while, she suddenly turned around and said happily, "I just saw you dancing, and you danced very well!"

Zhan Xinyue studied the expression on her face and asked, "Teacher Wang, which program am I?"

Wang Zhiyi paused for a moment, then stuck out her tongue somewhat guiltily: "Okay, actually I didn't go to the performance. I just saw that you seemed unhappy, and I'm not very good at comforting people. I was hoping to say something to cheer you up, but unfortunately, you young people really don't hold back at all when you speak."

Zhan Xinyue couldn't help but chuckle. She didn't ask Wang Zhiyi how he knew she had participated in the performance; he must have guessed it from the makeup still on her face.

Wang Zhi saw her smile and relaxed a bit. She stretched out her legs, her toes wobbling back and forth like a child.

"Actually, I had a lot of troubles in middle school. I would cry if I didn't do well on a test, I would cry if I argued with my best friend, and sometimes I would cry if I was criticized by the teacher..." Wang Zhiyi held her face in her hands, "Thinking about it, I was really quite spoiled and cried too much back then."

“When I was young, I often felt like the sky was falling when something happened. Now, when I think back, I can’t even remember why I was crying back then. So, you have to believe that those things that are troubling you now will seem like very small things when you look back on them many years later.”

Her eyes shone brightly in the twilight, and it was clear at a glance that she had grown up in a very simple environment and hadn't experienced much. She didn't look like a teacher, but rather like a high school student of the same age.

Zhan Xinyue suddenly realized that Wang Zhiyi was actually quite similar to her original self; she had never experienced the bitterness of human nature and was so innocent that it was enviable.

Thinking of this, she recalled the pained expression on Wang Zhiyi's face when she saw her in her past life, and the tear that had rolled down her cheek, and fell silent again.

Seeing that she remained silent, Wang Zhiyi continued, "As long as you look forward, everything will pass."

Her thoughts wandered a bit, and as she was talking, she suddenly thought of something and eagerly asked, "Do you want to come visit me? I recently bought some ingredients, and I can make you some roasted milk tea."

Wang Zhiyi lived in the teachers' apartment not far from the back playground, and this was Zhan Xinyue's first time visiting this building.

The room wasn't large, but Wang Zhiyi had decorated it warmly. There was also an easel in the room, with an unfinished oil painting on it. Zhan Xinyue leaned closer to look; it was a painting of flowers in a vase, only half-painted.

"Do you like painting? I can give you anything you like," Wang Zhiyi said from behind.

Zhan Xinyue sat down on the sofa. "I have no artistic talent, so I'm wasting my time painting."

"Art is meant to be appreciated by all, so how can it be considered a waste?"

A floor-to-ceiling bookcase stood next to the sofa, filled with books. Zhan Xinyue glanced at it; apart from a few art books, most were related to education.

"Sit down for a while, I'll go make you some milk tea. I just learned how to make it recently, so you can see if it tastes good."

The apartment's kitchen was semi-open. Zhan Xinyue sat on the sofa watching her busy herself. It was obvious that she hadn't used a stove much before; she was flustered even while baking milk, and in the middle of it, she turned around and asked her, "Do you like it sweeter or less sweet?"

Zhan Xinyue said, "Let's make it a little lighter."

Soon, a rich aroma of tea mixed with the scent of milk wafted out, and it smelled quite convincing.

“Come on, give it a try.” She even prepared a special little teacup.

The small coffee table was cluttered with various items, which Zhan Xinyue tidied up to make room for her teacups. She closed an open book and saw the words on the cover: How to Be Friends with Students.

"My place is a mess. I usually live alone and hardly anyone comes over, so I just leave my things lying around. If I had known I was going to bring you over, I would have tidied up beforehand." She explained a little embarrassedly when she saw Zhan Xinyue staring at the books on her table for a few seconds.

“It’s alright.” Zhan Xinyue snapped out of her reverie. “People who study art are generally quite easygoing in their daily lives.”

“The word ‘casual’ sounds nice.” Wang Zhiyi smiled, her eyes crinkling. “At home, my mom only says I’m incredibly lazy and messy wherever I go. Here, have a bite and see how it tastes.”

Zhan Xinyue reached out and took the small teacup, taking a sip. The milk tea was mellow and fragrant, with a subtle tea aroma and just the right amount of sweetness. She sincerely praised it, saying, "It's delicious, almost as good as what you buy outside."

“Right! I’ll give it a try too.” Wang Zhiyi happily sat down on the beanbag chair opposite her. “I saw this recipe in the library last week. It seemed pretty simple, so I wrote it down. But I was too lazy to make it by myself. Since you’re here today, I’ll give it a try.”

Zhan Xinyue was a little surprised: "Our school library? It even has recipes."

“Yeah! You guys probably don’t have many classes to read there, but I don’t have many classes either, and they’re often taken up by the main subject teachers from other classes, haha. Anyway, when I have nothing to do, I go there to sit for a while and find some interesting books to read, otherwise it’s quite boring to be alone in the apartment.” She took a sip of her teacup. “It’s really not bad, but this cup is a bit small; it feels like I could finish it in one gulp.”

She picked up the teapot to refill Zhan Xinyue's milk tea. Zhan Xinyue's gaze slid from the teapot to her face. Her brown curly hair was loosely tied back with a hairband. At this moment, she lowered her head slightly, and a faint mole could be seen on the tip of her nose, which made her face look vivid and just right.

In her memory, the only other person with a small mole on their nose was Shi Ziqian, though his was on the bridge of his nose. Perhaps this is a common characteristic of beautiful people?

Zhan Xinyue shook her head and realized that she had been staring at Wang Zhiyi absentmindedly.

Wang Zhiyi had already sat back down, comfortably nestled in the beanbag chair. Zhan Xinyue stared at her, unknowingly asking the question that had been on her mind: "Why did you become a teacher?"

A girl as beautiful as Wang Zhiyi has so many paths to choose from in life, and becoming a high school teacher doesn't seem to be the only option.

"Well..." Wang Zhiyi thought about it seriously for the first time, as if it were the first time she had been asked this question. "Actually, there's no particular reason. My parents are both teachers, so I never thought about what other profession I would pursue when I was young. I assumed that I would become a teacher in the future."

"I see." Zhan Xinyue took the refilled teacup, lowered her eyes, and took a small sip.

“Both my parents were high school math teachers. They were both the kind of people who were very dedicated and responsible to their students. When I was a kid, I would often do my homework with a few of my students at the same table. Those students didn’t have much parental supervision, and they would spend a lot of their time at my house after school. Later, one of them got into Peking University, and he would come to visit my parents every year during the holidays. So… I guess it was subconsciously, but I’ve always felt that the teaching profession is quite sacred.”

At this point, she smiled a little shyly, revealing two shallow dimples on her cheeks, making her beauty striking yet not dazzling, easily making people feel close to her. "But I don't like studying math, so I became an art teacher."

“Actually, I only graduated last year, and you are my first class of students.” Wang Zhiyi sighed with some trouble. “This job is great sometimes, but it can also be very troublesome. Especially in terms of attitude towards students, I don’t want to be a very strict teacher, but it seems that if I’m too soft, I can’t control them. I didn’t know what to do in class that day, but luckily you and the class monitor helped me out of the predicament.”

Zhan Xinyue frowned again as she recalled what happened that day: "I can't stand their behavior."

“They’re not bad people at heart; it’s just that I didn’t guide them well.” Wang Zhiyi leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh. “The art of education still needs to be learned!”

Wang Zhiyi's troubles came and went quickly, and soon he was excitedly asking Zhan Xinyue, "Xinyue, do you know what impression I have of you?"

Zhan Xinyue shook his head.

Wang Zhiyi: "I think you have a chivalrous spirit, like a female knight-errant."

It seems like this is the first time someone has used this word to describe her.

A female knight-errant? That sounds pretty good.

But she needs to be even braver.

The two finished a pot of milk tea together. Zhan Xinyue chatted with her for a while, and her mood improved a lot. She stood up and said, "Teacher Wang, I should go back now. The performance should be over by now."

Wang Zhiyi nodded: "Okay, you're welcome to come again next time. To be honest, I'm quite bored living alone."

As she left, Wang Zhiyi walked her to the elevator, waved goodbye, and told her, "Xinyue, be happy!"

The moment the elevator doors closed, Zhan Xinyue suddenly reached out and blocked them. "Teacher Wang, you need to be careful when you live alone. Don't bring other people back like you did today."

Wang Zhiyi paused for a moment, then her eyes crinkled into a smile: "Don't worry, the classroom apartment is very safe, there's nothing to fear."

After leaving the apartment, the art festival had indeed ended. Zhan Xinyue ate alone in the cafeteria and then headed towards the classroom.

In the stairwell, she ran into Xie Wanzhi, who had been acting strangely lately.

Xie Wanzhi hadn't contacted her much lately, but now she quietly approached her.

"New Moon, where did you just go?"

Zhan Xinyue glanced at her: "I just sat by the playground for a while."

"Oh." Xie Wanzhi tugged at her school uniform sleeve. "I want to discuss something with you. How about we sit together next week when we're changing seats?"