Chapter 39 She wanted to try it, like a moth drawn to a flame.

Evening classes end at 8:30 PM. At this time, students either continue studying in the classroom or go straight back to their dormitories, usually without lingering on the way. There's a brief crowd downstairs in front of the teaching building, but the crowd quickly disperses.

Meng Zhuxi stopped downstairs to talk to Jin Zhao. Actually, Jin Zhao didn't say anything, but Meng Zhuxi could tell that she seemed to have something to say, so he cleverly and politely stopped to wait for her.

Actually, she was very uneasy, glancing nervously every now and then at the Rolls-Royce parked across the street. She was afraid that Meng Yanxi would suddenly do something to embarrass her, like pushing open the Rolls-Royce door, walking towards Jin Zhao like a greasy CEO in a short drama, pinning her against the wall, and saying: "Woman, you've successfully caught my attention."

Just imagining that scene made Meng Zhuxi feel like she was going to lose all face for the rest of her life.

Fortunately, until Jin Zhao said goodbye and left, the Rolls-Royce didn't make a sound. It sat quietly by the roadside, as if no one was inside.

Meng Zhuxi glanced at the handsome profile through the half-closed car window, then turned to look at Jin Zhao's departing figure.

The streetlights were not very bright, and the night was dark. Even with Meng Yanxi's excellent eyesight, she could not see her clearly for long.

The passenger door was opened, and before Meng Zhuxi could get in, a wary voice entered: "Brother, what are you doing here?"

Meng Yanxi withdrew his gaze, turned his head and glanced at his sister indifferently: "I'll take you home."

They're siblings who know each other inside and out, what's the point of telling such a lie? She knows how lazy Meng Yanxi is, believing he'll come to pick her up is like believing she's Qin Shi Huang.

Meng Zhuxi muttered, "I'm not going home during the week."

Meng Yanxi: "The second rule of the Meng family is that we must come home every Wednesday night from now on."

Meng Zhuxi's mind went blank for a moment, and before she could react, she blurted out, "The second one? What was the first one then?"

Meng Yanxi glanced at her: "Each time you cause trouble, you get two more credits. Collect ten credits to apply for postgraduate studies."

Meng Zhuxi: "..." You're so sharp-tongued!

The car headed west and caught up with Jin Zhao at the intersection of No. 3 Road. She was walking alone on the sidewalk, holding her textbooks, looking up at the bright moon in the sky, lost in thought, her steps very slow.

The Rolls-Royce's windows were closed, and its wheels rolled over the asphalt road at a moderate speed as it passed by her.

As if he hadn't noticed her, Jin Zhao hadn't noticed him either. They brushed past each other, and the Rolls-Royce quickly drove to the west gate. Jin Zhao also turned right from No. 3 Road and headed north towards the teachers' apartments.

Two roads, each heading in a different direction.

A silence spread through the carriage.

Meng Zhuxi was quiet for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Brother, do you know what Teacher Jin Zhao talked about in the first class today?"

Meng Yanxi looked at the road ahead, and after a few seconds, she hummed softly. It was so soft that it was impossible to tell whether it was a question or an affirmation.

Meng Zhuxi asked and answered herself: "She was talking about Petrarch, the Petrarch of the Renaissance period. He fell in love with a woman when he was 23 and wrote 366 love poems for her over the next 20 years. Teacher Jin Zhao admires such a grand and lasting love."

Meng Yanxi drove without saying a word, it was unclear whether she hadn't heard her or simply didn't want to talk to her.

Meng Zhuxi turned her head, blinking her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes: "Brother, can you write poetry?"

Meng Yanxi said calmly, "No."

Meng Zhuxi was relieved. Now that things had come to this, Meng Yanxi was so smart that she should know when to back down.

Unexpectedly, Meng Yanxi reappeared the following week.

Then came the third week, the fourth week... throughout October, until the beginning of November, every Wednesday, Meng Yanxi would appear on time downstairs at the Third Teaching Building after evening classes.

At first, Meng Zhuxi was furious. Her brother was clearly trying to harm her, so she repeatedly issued stern warnings to Meng Yanxi.

But later she discovered that although Meng Yanxi came every week, he never got out of his car. He simply parked on the side of the road, away from the streetlights. That spot was very dark, and if she hadn't been familiar with his car, even she wouldn't have noticed him, let alone Jin Zhao, who wasn't familiar with him at all. Jin Zhao probably hadn't even noticed him.

She didn't know what Meng Yanxi was planning to do.

Suiyi basically has no spring or autumn; summer is quickly followed by winter. In early November, the weather suddenly turned cold. That evening, the weather was fine before class, but after class, a torrential downpour began outside.

Meng Zhuxi shielded her head with her book and hurriedly ran over to open the car door. Even in such a short journey, she had gotten quite soaked.

She took out a tissue to wipe herself clean, and suddenly noticed that Meng Yanxi's gaze was quietly fixed in front of her.

The sudden downpour stranded many students outside the teaching building. Soon, some were picked up by their roommates, while others were picked up by their boyfriends or girlfriends. Before long, most of the teachers and students stranded in front of the building had dispersed.

Jin Zhao stood outside the teaching building, helpless in the face of the heavy rain, having brought no umbrella.

Undeterred, she ventured out into the rain to try, only to sheepishly retreat back inside. Since ride-hailing services weren't allowed on campus, she couldn't hail a ride on her phone. Hoping against hope, she checked the weather forecast to see how long the rain would last; if it stopped soon, she could leave later.

But the weather forecast shattered her hopes.

"Teacher Jin Zhao."

Behind her, a tall, thin young male teacher walked towards her. He had a handsome appearance, carrying a briefcase in his left hand and a folding umbrella in his right.

Jin Zhao doesn't usually remember people very well, and she hasn't even remembered all her colleagues in the same department yet. She looked at the other person with a puzzled expression.

"Do you remember me? I'm Zhou Qian, from the School of Artificial Intelligence. We met at the fall sports meet."

Last month, during the autumn sports meet, there was also a sports meet for faculty and staff, and each department had to send a teacher to participate in the marching formation. Theoretically, participation was voluntary, but generally few people volunteer, so Jin Zhao, as a newly hired young teacher, naturally had this task fall to her. Several colleges were involved at the time, so she must have seen Jin Zhao before.

Jin Zhao smiled politely and said, "Hello, Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Qian lived up to his name; when he smiled, he resembled a refined gentleman, and the surname Zhou itself sounded cultured. He glanced outside and offered, "Is Teacher Jin heading back to Teacher's Apartment No. 7? Shall we go together?"

Jin Zhao glanced at the umbrella in his hand.

There's only one umbrella, and if they go together, they'll inevitably have to share it. She doesn't want to be that close to anyone.

She smiled and politely declined, "Thank you, Teacher Zhou. But it's alright, you can go back now."

Zhou Qian didn't insist, which would seem abrupt, and instead generously handed her the umbrella: "You can use this umbrella. I'll go back and borrow another one from a student. I'm quite familiar with the students in my professional class tonight."

At this time, all the students in class have already left, and the students studying on their own will have to go back to their dorms later because they need to use the facilities themselves. This excuse is too lame.

Jin Zhao had no right to take someone else's umbrella. He quickly said, "No, no, Teacher Zhou, you don't need to worry about me."

Seeing her step back, Zhou Qian stepped forward again and handed the umbrella to her: "It's really okay, you can take it and return it to me later. I'm in the school's group chat, so contact me when it's convenient and tell me a time, and I'll come and pick it up."

Although Jin Zhao can be a bit slow-witted at times, she understood immediately when the other party mentioned a large group chat and contact information.

But she didn't mean it that way at the moment, so she could only lie apologetically and say, "Really, it's not necessary. My boyfriend will bring me an umbrella in a little while. Teacher Zhou, you can go back now."

Zhou Qian's smile froze for a moment: "Boyfriend?"

Jin Zhao nodded solemnly, then glanced into the wind and rain as if waiting. There was no one outside now, only a black sedan parked quietly on the side of the road ahead.

"Thank you," Jin Zhao thought, inspired, and the lie came out of his mouth: "Yes, my boyfriend is driving over, he should be here soon."

The beauty was already taken, and Zhou Qian could only regret that he hadn't acted sooner. He had clearly inquired last month and been told by their department head that she was still single.

He remained calm and composed, smiling as he said goodbye to her, and walked alone into the rain under his umbrella.

"Brother, should we see Mr. Jin Zhao off?"

Raindrops pattered against the roof of the Rolls-Royce. Meng Yanxi watched the whole thing in silence, neither driving away nor showing any intention of getting out. He leaned back in his seat, quietly watching the person standing on the steps.

The night was dark, except for the bright lights in the lobby of the teaching building, and she stood in that cluster of light.

Meng Yanxi remained silent.

Meng Zhuxi suspected her brother was under a spell. For years, Meng Yanxi, true to his businessman nature, would do anything for profit, yet lately he'd been waiting outside the teaching building every day. Let him come, she couldn't stop him from harassing innocent girls, but he just parked his car on the side of the road, never approaching anyone, not even getting out. Now it was raining, a golden opportunity, but he didn't intend to make a move.

Meng Zhuxi couldn't help but remind her, "If you don't go over there soon, another male teacher will be trying to curry favor with you. Let me tell you, Teacher Jin Zhao is very popular at school. Not to mention the teachers, even some students secretly like her."

Before she could finish speaking, the dormitory supervisor came out of the teaching building, holding a long black umbrella.

"Teacher Jin Zhao."

Just as Jin Zhao was about to go straight back, she heard someone calling her again.

The building manager walked over with a smile: "Didn't bring an umbrella? Here's an extra one, please take it."

Jin Zhao was immediately delighted and asked, "What will you do if I use it?"

The building manager smiled and said, "I have an umbrella. This one isn't mine either; it was originally given to the teachers by the school as a spare."

Jin Zhao was hearing about this good thing from the school for the first time, and gratefully accepted it.

This black umbrella is different from ordinary long-handled umbrellas. When closed, it resembles a scepter and feels quite heavy. When open, it's pure black with no logo visible. The handle feels smooth and cool to the touch, giving it a high-quality feel.

Jin Zhao didn't think much of it, thanked the building manager again, and walked into the rain with his umbrella.

The Rolls-Royce slowly drove past Jin Zhao, and Meng Zhuxi peered through the car window at the umbrella.

She didn't say anything. When she got back to the Meng family home, the first thing she did after getting out of the car was to walk around to Meng Yanxi's side. Every Rolls-Royce comes with an umbrella, which is located inside the driver's side door.

Sure enough, Meng Yanxi's car was empty; the umbrella was gone.

"Brother, where's the umbrella?" Meng Zhuxi tilted his head to look at his brother.

Meng Yanxi ignored her, put her hands in her pockets, and stepped into the living room.

Meng Zhuxi looked at him and for a moment felt that his back was extremely lonely, but soon she shook her head.

No, I can't let him fool me. Meng Yanxi has always been cunning; this might just be some kind of high-level fishing technique.

*

Admittedly, Meng Yanxi has many clever methods, but this time Meng Zhuxi has truly wronged her brother.

Even after Jin Zhao returned the umbrella, she didn't discover its secret. Only someone as wealthy and beautiful as Meng Zhuxi could recognize the umbrella that came with the Rolls-Royce at a glance. An ordinary person like Jin Zhao would never have the chance to see it; she would only think that the umbrella felt of high quality and must be expensive, but it was too heavy.

It resembled the umbrella Meng Yanxi would use. — This was the closest she ever got to the truth.

Unfortunately, Meng Yanxi had been appearing in her mind so many times during this period that she didn't pay much attention to this one that occasionally flashed through her mind.

Since their unpleasant parting during the National Day holiday, Meng Yanxi hadn't contacted her again. For over a month, Jin Zhao had opened WeChat countless times, typed many words in the chat box, but ultimately gave up and deleted them again and again.

To her, he was like a star in the sky.

How could someone as mediocre as her possibly succeed?

Just like that day when I got into the wrong car, and the Didi driver shouted from behind: How dare you?

What she didn't know was that Meng Yanxi waited for her for two whole months, and then waited until she finally calmed down.

Admittedly, he initially stopped taking the initiative to approach her, intending to become completely disheartened after seeing her heartless nature. But he didn't expect that before his heart could turn cold, he would lose his temper first.

It was Luo Heng's birthday that day, and all the familiar faces came, including Qiao Mianmian.

Qiao Mianmian was the blind date Meng Shixu had arranged for him. She was tall, beautiful, and came from a prominent family. He stood her up that day. He was always thick-skinned, so he didn't feel awkward seeing her again and just sat on the sofa looking at his phone.

Amidst the glitz and glamour of the surrounding world, he remained as still as an old monk in meditation.

Qiao Mianmian walked over in her high heels, sat down next to him, and went straight to the point: "Meng Yanxi, how about we give it a try?"

Meng Yanxi didn't even lift her eyelids, and said calmly, "It's not appropriate."

Qiao Mianmian chuckled and said, "Why wouldn't it be suitable? Aren't you known for accepting all comers? Perfect, I also want to try different relationships, so wouldn't it be perfect if we were together?"

"I'm sorry, I've reformed."

Meng Yanxi got up from the sofa and slipped out into the brightly lit, bustling city.

*

That day, Jin Zhao had no classes and wanted to go dancing, something he hadn't done in a long time.

Although she's not wealthy now, it's a far cry from the financial struggles of her youth. While packing her things in the afternoon, she saw a dance card from years ago that she'd only used twice and had always been reluctant to use. After a moment's hesitation, she immediately took a taxi to Jinghong Dance Studio.

Ten years have passed. Teacher Yu has risen to management, and Teacher Feng has become the sales director. They have all become the people they once wanted to be. They sat together chatting, and Jin Zhao jokingly said he wanted to top up his card to help Teacher Feng boost her sales performance.

Teacher Feng casually asked, "Did you use the thirty freebies you originally topped up on your card?"

Jin Zhao: "What, thirty times?"

Teacher Feng: "Don't you know yet? Back in high school, your classmate Meng Yanxi topped up your phone thirty times."

In the next classroom, the dance teacher was energetically striking a rhythm, the "bang bang bang" of the drumbeats echoing through the room. Jin Zhao stared blankly at Teacher Feng.

“Young man, you really keep your merits hidden. You secretly spent a lot of money and insisted that I tell you it was a prize from the store anniversary lottery, and that you won it for free. Unfortunately, when I told your dad, he didn’t want to accept it, and you never came over afterward, so I couldn’t tell you. I thought Meng Yanxi had told you, but I didn’t expect that after all these years, he still hadn’t said anything.”

Teacher Feng sighed, it was unclear whether she felt sorry for Meng Yanxi or for Meng Yanxi's money.

Teacher Yu Yu still remembered Meng Yanxi and asked Teacher Feng, "Isn't he that handsome boy? I remember him. Every time he brought his sister to class, she was reluctant and would always secretly argue with him. In the end, she couldn't win the argument and he would force her in. The two siblings were funny. The sister didn't pay attention in class, and the brother just let her be. They were more like they were just slacking off together. But whenever the sister asked me about you, the brother would quietly prick up his ears. After you went abroad, the two siblings never came again."

Teacher Yu Yu said with a smile, "The feelings between young boys and girls are so sweet. Back then, we adults were so envious, and we had to pretend we didn't notice. So many years have passed, and I thought you two were already together. I didn't expect you to have been unaware all this time."

After that, Jin Zhao couldn't hear a word of what Teacher Feng and Teacher Yu Yu said. She sat there blankly for a long time, then suddenly got up, hurriedly left with a "Sorry, I have something to do," and ran out.

Today is Luo Heng's birthday. Si Tian had told her about it, but because the location was too far away and it wouldn't start until 7 p.m., and she had to get up at 8 a.m. the next day, she was worried that the group would play cards and drink until very late. They had money and it didn't matter, but if she was even a minute late, it would be a teaching incident, and the entire Foreign Languages ​​Department would be criticized. So she declined to go.

After leaving Jinghong Dance Studio, she couldn't wait to take the cheapest express taxi. She hailed a cab on the roadside and headed straight for the club that Si Tian had told her about.

Along the way, she thought about many things, from nine years ago to nine years later.

From the sharp, controlled tone of his phone call nine years ago to his aloof indifference on their first meeting after their reunion, she wasn't oblivious. She could sense his awkward resentment and anger towards her after their reunion. But later, he still appeared by her side time and time again, as if he had reconciled with himself and no longer harbored resentment or anger towards her.

Jin Zhao suddenly remembered a sentence he had read somewhere before: "The one who makes peace first is not because he is afraid of losing, but because he cherishes it."

Her eyes suddenly felt hot; she needed to see Meng Yanxi.

Those feelings she had kept hidden for ten years had been carefully suppressed because of the vast difference in their social status. But today, she wanted to disregard everything and take that step.

Even if she was destined to fall miserably and there was no result, she still wanted to try, like a moth drawn to a flame.

Si Tian posted on her WeChat Moments that he was in a group photo; he was still there.

"Sir, could you please drive faster?"

Despite rushing, it was already past eight o'clock when we arrived at the club.

Jin Zhao scanned the code to pay and hurriedly ran inside.

At this moment, Meng Yanxi was planning to forgive her one more time.

After rejecting Qiao Mianmian, he prepared to leave and told Luo Heng. Luo Heng had been drinking and was slow to react; he just kept nodding and humming in agreement as he spoke. But when he reached the door, Luo Heng remembered to catch him.

The two were standing by the door talking.

The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Jin Zhao's eyes darted eagerly inside, and he strode in.

Suddenly, her hand was grabbed and pulled back.

Perhaps it was because she was walking too fast and her body was unsteady, or perhaps it was because the man's strength was irresistible. Jin Zhao was caught off guard and pulled back, crashing into a warm and powerful chest.

The familiar touch and scent made her heart skip a beat.

The next second, she looked up and her gaze met the man's dark, captivating eyes.

Amidst the clamor of the crowd, the two embraced quietly, gazing greedily at each other.

-----------------------

Author's note: Read after me—"A Two-Way Journey!"

From this moment on, it's Teacher Jin and her boyfriend! Of course, the next chapter will definitely be a very flirtatious and heartwarming confession, but we'll need to carefully create the atmosphere. I'm already way too late for 5k words tonight, so I'll post this first. See you tomorrow!

Most importantly: Thank you all for your patience and understanding. I always have trouble keeping up with the word count, either exceeding the word limit or being late, which often disappoints you. I'll be sending red envelopes to the first 66 readers of this chapter. Thank you, muah!