Chapter 36 No Dating in My Class

With the combined effects of massage and medication, Ji Tong's stomach pain subsided the next day.

For several days in a row, from the start of the official sports meet to its conclusion, Ji Tong was exceptionally clingy. So clingy that when Tu Jing and the others couldn't find Ji Tong, their first reaction was to call Gu Lin.

"That's enough, Ji Tong." On the day of the closing ceremony, Tu Jing caught Ji Tong alone for the first time. She thought he had finally decided to leave Gu Lin to "play" by himself for a while, but when she asked again, Gu Lin had just gone to make a phone call.

Tu Jing was speechless.

"No, Gu Lin's ID card and passport are with you, aren't they? How could he run away? You're keeping such a close watch on him."

“I’m not afraid he’ll run away, I’m—” Ji Tong lowered his eyes, sitting in the chair, staring at a paint stain on the steps.

a long time.

"I was just a little scared."

Tu Jing almost thought Gu Lin was going to reveal his true colors.

On second thought, it doesn't seem like it.

She paused for a few seconds and then sat down next to Ji Tong.

"What scared you?"

Everyone was busy during the sports meet, so Ji Tong had no chance to talk, and no one else could either. But when she saw Tu Jing, all the words she had been holding back for days seemed to burst forth.

"This is the first time I've heard him say something like that."

first?

Tu Jing: "What did you say?"

Ji Tong braced himself on the bench with his hands behind his back.

He asked me if he was being too nosy.

"I don't know why he asked that."

"Like he's angry."

"But there have been no other signs of life these past few days."

Tu Jing: "?"

Too much interference?

Although it is true, how dare Gu Lin say it so directly?

Tu Jing was puzzled, but seeing Ji Tong's distress, she still spoke up: "It's not that you're angry, is it?"

Ji Tong looked at her, signaling Tu Jing to continue.

“Should it be called…reflection?” Tu Jing said. “When people realize their mistakes, they will usually change at both the physical and psychological levels.”

Ji Tong nodded: "I know, I've been reflecting on it these past few days."

Tu Jing: "Yes, there is reflection... no, wait a minute, who is reflecting???"

“Me?” Ji Tong said matter-of-factly, “I shouldn’t have bought the medicine without telling him.”

Tu Jing was speechless to the point of despair.

"Ji Tong, Gu Lin is interfering with you too much. Why are you the one reflecting on this?!"

Ji Tong looked puzzled: "Gu Lin is interfering too much with me? When?"

Why do they all say that Gu Lin is too controlling?

Ji Tong: "No, he didn't interfere too much. We've been like this since high school."

Tu Jing: "…………"

Is it possible that he's been controlling of you too much since high school?!

"Senior, do you think Gu Lin is still angry? I should... Senior, where are you going? I haven't finished speaking yet."

Tu Jing pressed her temples and turned her head to look at Gu Lin, who had been standing behind Ji Tong ever since Ji Tong said, "I've been reflecting on this these past few days." Unable to utter another word, she pinched her philtrum and turned to leave.

Tu Jing was extremely disappointed in him.

Only Ji Tong, that idiot, couldn't see that Gu Lin was doing it on purpose.

Deliberately retreating as a tactic to advance.

I'm already completely under your thumb before I've even started dating.

Is Gu Lin still angry?

Dude, if you just turned around and looked at that person's face, you'd know he wasn't angry at all, he was practically gloating!

Having lost a conversation partner, Ji Tong sighed and sat down to check the time.

Gu Lin has been on the phone for 13 minutes.

It's been a long time.

He opened WeChat and sent him a message.

[JT: Did you make the call?]

"All done." Gu Lin's voice came from behind.

Ji Tong turned around abruptly: "?"

When did you get back?

"When you were chatting with Tu Jing," Gu Lin said, walking down the steps and sitting down beside him.

"What did you talk about?" Gu Lin asked.

Ji Tong didn't really want to bring it up, so she vaguely said, "It happened a couple of days ago."

He paused for a moment, his hand idly gripping the handrail.

Are you still angry?

"Did I do something wrong that made you think I'm angry? ...The handrail is dirty, don't grab it."

Gu Lin removed Ji Tong's hand and casually placed it on his knee: "Tell me."

"No," Ji Tong said honestly, "it's just that what you said that day was a bit..."

Ji Tong picked at the stripe on the side of Gu Lin's trousers: "Anyway, I'm not very comfortable."

Gu Lin knew.

He did it on purpose.

Intentionally make him feel pain, that's the only way he'll remember.

But Gu Lin only wanted to administer a quick-acting injection and did not intend to make it a routine punishment.

Gu Lin knew that Ji Tong had been unusually clingy these past few days, but he never expected that this was what Ji Tong had been thinking about all along.

It was his fault.

"I'm not angry."

"I won't be angry with you."

Gu Lin was silent for a few seconds, then spoke again.

"You said you'd let me take charge, does that still count now?"

Upon hearing that Gu Lin wasn't angry, Ji Tong immediately breathed a sigh of relief and released his grip on Gu Lin's trousers, saying without hesitation, "It counts, it always counts."

Gu Lin looked at him.

A few seconds later.

"Then you'll never get angry."

-

It seems like Anjing University chose the exact date of the sports meet; as soon as the sports meet was over, Anjing experienced its largest drop in temperature to date.

Even if the sports meet is postponed for two more days, the opening and closing ceremonies will still have to be held in the cold wind.

When the season of dew and frost has passed, and the sun reaches 225° ecliptic longitude, winter officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere.

The temperature in Jiangcheng is still around 15 degrees Celsius, which is the most comfortable temperature, while Anjing has cooled down rapidly.

In early November, before the start of winter, Ji Tong took Gu Lin to the welfare home.

Zhou Lin has been picked up by his parents.

Ji Tong felt a little regretful, but only a little; she was mostly happy for him.

Song Jiahe not only donated supplies to the Little Sun Welfare Home, but also established a scholarship fund.

After hearing from the dean that the Women and Children Protection Association might make a follow-up visit, Ji Tong asked the dean to keep an eye out and add Zhou Lin to the scholarship list if needed.

The dean agreed, and perhaps knowing that Ji Tong was quite interested in Zhou Lin, he asked another question: "The protection association might keep your address, should we send it to you?"

Ji Tong thought about it and ultimately refused.

His connection with that little boy also included "separation".

Ji Tong understood and accepted it, but he bought an extra set of "Encyclopedia of Major National Instruments for Children" and a model airplane assembly toy and placed them at the welfare home, asking the director to send them to him if he could get their contact information.

The book was bought together with Gu Lin.

When paying the bill, Ji Tong asked the owner for a pencil and wrote a poem on the "Aerospace" page.

It's by Xin Qiji—

"Riding the wind, soaring through the vast sky, looking down upon the mountains and rivers."

After Ji Tong finished writing, he turned around and handed the pen to Gu Lin.

Ji Tong didn't tell Gu Lin what he wanted him to do, and Gu Lin didn't ask either. He took the pen and wrote a line directly and naturally under the phrase "Go with the wind".

"I fly low, and there are directions everywhere."

Ji Tong read the two sentences over and over again, then closed the book and packed it into the box along with the model toy.

As the two walked out of the orphanage, Ji Tong suddenly nudged Gu Lin with her forearm and asked, "Do you think it's possible for us to fly on Captain Zhou's plane in thirty years?"

"Us?" Gu Lin asked calmly.

“Yeah, and nobody else knows Linlin,” Ji Tong found it more and more amusing. “In a fairy tale, we’d be considered ‘fairy godmothers’ by some extent.”

"Thirty years seems like a bit too long."

He remembered that the youngest commercial airline captain was around 28 or 29 years old.

"Not long," Gu Lin replied slowly.

“We’ll have the answer in thirty years,” Gu Lin said, adjusting Ji Tong’s hat. “Now it’s time to go, Fairy Godmother.”

Ji Tong was so ashamed that she quickly covered Gu Lin's mouth and dragged him away.

-

By the end of November, some students in the class had started wearing down jackets. By December, the cold air in Anjing had fully revealed its ferocious nature.

Ji Tong's least favorite season has arrived, and even her desire to "dress up" has diminished. The coats in her wardrobe are gradually taking on a "Gu Lin" feel, dominated by black, white, and gray.

It's not that there aren't any brightly colored winter clothes, but once the bright colors are amplified, they become too conspicuous. In Ji Tong's words, walking on the street is like walking on a moving reflector.

Even without the intention to "dress up," her aesthetic sense was still there. Even a down jacket would be screened by Ji Tong, and with that face as a backdrop, it would still stand out excessively.

Ji Tong had chosen a silver-gray deconstructed short cotton jacket today. But when she opened the master bedroom door and saw the black windbreaker on the sofa, Ji Tong's face immediately fell.

"I'd rather you freeze to death."

After the two finished breakfast, Gu Lin picked up his windbreaker and was about to put it on when Ji Tong snatched it away, threw it into the wardrobe, and pushed it to the bottom. Then she opened another wardrobe and took out an identical silver-gray deconstructed short cotton jacket.

Gu Lin only brought autumn and summer clothes and coats back to China. Most of his clothes for winter were bought by Ji Tong, "two sets of each".

"It's not cold," Gu Lin said.

"Who cares if you're cold?" Ji Tong said coldly. "That outfit is ugly, put it on properly."

The classrooms at Anhui University had their heating on, but the science building was on the north-facing, shady side, so even with the heating on, the classrooms were only a dozen degrees Celsius.

Moreover, the heating system at Anhui University is quite strange. I don't know if there's a problem with the wiring or if the heating system is old and in disrepair, but even in the same building, some classrooms are so hot that you only need to wear a long-sleeved sweatshirt, while others are so cold that you have to wear a jacket.

Unfortunately, the computer science department is located in one of the few low-rise, unpopular classrooms.

A Monday filled with classes.

After the first long lecture, everyone who was catching up on sleep in the classroom was gone.

"Why is it still so cold even though we changed classrooms?"

"Stop talking. I dozed off for ten minutes after linear algebra get out of class and when the bell woke me up, I thought I was sleeping in the underworld."

"I strongly suspect that the school deliberately made the heating system like this to prevent us from getting sleepy."

"Do you know what I most want to hear from the teacher right now?"

"What?"

"Let me roast you."

"..."

"I'll give you ten yuan if someone helps me go to the toilet."

When Ji Tong is cold, she doesn't want to move and just sits in her seat, spacing out. She doesn't even notice when the surroundings suddenly become quiet.

The classroom had a barely adequate heater on; it wasn't warm, but it was dry. Ji Tong picked up her thermos, intending to take a sip of water, but when she opened it, it was empty.

Ji Tong: "..."

What does it mean when it rains most?

Ji Tong sighed and was about to get up when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his face. He turned his head in response.

She looked past the bottle of Da Hong Pao Oolong Light Milk Tea next to his face and saw Gu Lin.

"What are you doing here? Class is about to start." Ji Tong's eyes lit up.

Gu Lin didn't answer, only saying, "The cup."

Ji Tong handed him the thermos.

Gu Lin walked to the water dispenser at the back of the classroom, filled his cup with hot water, and then turned back.

Li Yuan and the others had already given up their seats as soon as Gu Lin stepped into the classroom.

Gu Lin sat down next to Ji Tong.

Ji Tong glanced at her phone; there were only a dozen minutes left before the next long class. So she nudged him, "Isn't your next class Discrete Mathematics? Hurry up, or you'll miss it."

The courses for Computer Science 1 and 9 almost overlapped, and Ji Tong remembers that Mondays were also full of classes for Computer Science 9.

Gu Lin remained unmoved and said after a while, "It's been moved to Wednesday."

Before Ji Tong could speak, Ge Guang and the others spoke first.

"Oh, Brother Lin, you've come to accompany me to class."

"That's great, I also want to drink some piping hot Da Hong Pao tea."

"Looking for a girlfriend?"

"That's me, Ge Guang, who went over mountains and rivers to deliver Da Hong Pao tea. I'm definitely not the kind of scumbag who makes his girlfriend brave the wind and snow to bring him warmth!"

Ji Tong, sensing the implied meaning, was left with a blank stare: "???"

A group of people around him laughed heartily.

With eight minutes left before class, Ji Tong took a sip of her milk tea and said softly, "I didn't ask you to come to class with me."

"The classroom is too cold, why don't you... go back to your apartment first?"

He told him to go back to his apartment first, but his knees were pressed tightly against the table.

Gu Lin pretended not to notice his little actions.

"Together."

Ji Tong lowered her head to tidy up the drawer, pursed her lips and secretly smiled. After smiling, she took out the tablet, randomly picked a Fruit Ninja game, opened it, and placed it on Gu Lin's desk: "Fine, if you insist on waiting, then wait."

"If you're bored, play some games."

Gu Lin gave a lazy "hmm," leaned back in his chair, and scribbled on the tablet screen with his long fingers.

Even a game like Fruit Ninja, which is suitable for children, is enjoyable to play for him because of his beautiful fingers.

Ji Tong was bored and, thinking that there were still a few minutes left, decided to lean back on the bench and play dual-screen games with him.

So, Mr. Huang, who taught ideological and political education to nine classes in the computer science department, arrived two minutes early. Upon entering, this was the scene he witnessed—

Ji Tong and Gu Lin were wearing the same coats and sitting in the back row of the classroom. They were leaning on each other, with their hands touching. Ji Tong was almost leaning half of her body against Gu Lin.

Teacher Huang: "?"

This is a Computer Science class, right?

Teacher Huang scanned the classroom again and confirmed that it was indeed Ji Yi.

Teacher Huang walked to the podium, opened the courseware, opened the thermos, drank water, and closed the thermos in one smooth motion.

Just when the class thought the teacher hadn't noticed Gu Lin, Teacher Huang leaned over to show a PowerPoint presentation, then suddenly glanced in a certain direction and said casually, "No dating in my class."

The people below were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Only Ji Tong looked up from the tablet and looked at Li Yuan beside her with a puzzled expression.

"Are there any people in our class dating?"

"who?"

Li Yuan: "…………"

Or should I borrow a mirror from the row in front?

Ji Tong was about to ask another question when Gu Lin's voice rang out leisurely.

"We're going to lose, ninja."

Ji Ren immediately buried his head and continued cutting his fruit.

Even after the end of the Ideological and Moral Education course, Ji Tong still didn't know who the person the teacher was talking about "being in a relationship" was.

I had lunch at the cafeteria with Li Yuan and the others.

As they chatted, Li Yuan and the others asked about their plans for New Year's Eve.

Ji Tong hadn't figured out how to spend her time yet.

Li Yuan wasn't in a hurry and said, "It's okay, we have another month to think about it."

Just as Ji Tong was still thinking about New Year's Eve activities, Song Jiahe, who was processing documents at Haiyuan, suddenly received two WeChat messages.

—From Song Zhenshu.

[Xiao Shu: Sis, I might go back to China after New Year's Day.]

[Small book: Old man eating bananas.jpg]

[Song Jiahe: ?]