After coming out of the playground, the group of people relaxed after a long absence. Between "continuing to rush into the library in one breath" and "running to the student supermarket downstairs of the dormitory not far away to recharge their energy for two days", they decisively chose the latter.
This student supermarket occupies half of the first floor of the dormitory building. It is not only spacious, but also has a huge inventory. From snacks to clothes to general merchandise, it is no longer the shabby small store it once was.
Most importantly, the boss was not there. Maybe the boss just happened to be out, or maybe the boss had turned into a half-human monster like the school staff they had seen. In any case, now there was a place to rest without anyone watching over them, which was a huge comfort to everyone.
The others went in first, and Mingqiao and Shixin walked around the dormitory building. They didn't meet any students, probably because they were in class when the incident happened.
As soon as Shi Xin entered the small supermarket, he felt the cool breeze from the air conditioner above his head blow on his face, and all the sweat he had just produced was blown back immediately.
"Don't stand under the air conditioner. It's easy to get a headache." Mingqiao came over from behind and patted Shi Xin's shoulders twice: "Come here, let me take a look at your legs first."
Shi Xin hurried to catch up with him, but after taking two steps, he deliberately said in a coquettish manner: "My legs hurt, walk slower." He originally just wanted to walk slower so as to occupy some of Mingqiao's time, but Mingqiao, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped after hearing him.
Then Shi Xin found that his ears turned red.
"...Teacher Ming." Shi Xin looked at him guiltily.
"Does it hurt?" Ming Qiao turned and walked to his side, her pretty eyebrows furrowed, and her hand had already supported his arm: "I'm sorry, I always thought it was a minor injury."
"Yeah." Shi Xin responded in a low voice. He was a little taller than Ming Qiao, and if he turned his head slightly, he could see the other's round and full forehead, two delicate eyebrows, and then eyes like black gems. A bloodstain that had dried to black ran down from his left eye, across his fair cheek, and buried itself in his neck.
He seldom observed Mingqiao at such a close distance. Now they were so close that his deliberately controlled breathing could easily ruffle Mingqiao's hair.
Shi Xin didn't even dare to breathe.
"Why are you holding your breath?" Mingqiao looked up at him in confusion: "Do I smell?"
"No." Shi Xin was caught off guard and bumped into Ming Qiao's deep pupils. He held his breath even harder and his face turned red.
Mingqiao looked at him and immediately laughed.
This kid is kind of cute.
"Teacher Ming, stop laughing." Shi Xin's face was still red, and for a moment, the two of them seemed to be in a blushing competition.
There was still a smile on Mingqiao's face. He took down two small stools from the shelf, sat on one himself and left the other for Shi Xin.
"Stretch your legs out for me," Ming Qiao patted his bent legs and said, "Come on."
Shi Xin had long legs, so sitting on the stool was like squatting. He leaned his back against the shelf to support his center of gravity so that he could stretch his legs to Mingqiao.
Mingqiao held Shi Xin's ankle and pulled his pants up to his knees. "Let me rub it for you. It shouldn't be broken. It's probably just a muscle injury from the fall. Just take it easy."
He pinched Shi Xin's calf with both hands, rubbing it upwards inch by inch. Normally his hands were not very strong, but this time he used a little force, causing Shi Xin to gasp in pain.
"Hold on for a while." Mingqiao pressed the flexible calf muscles under his hand and found that Shi Xin's calves were in pretty good shape. His calves were not thin, but there was no excess fat anywhere, and the muscles were just right, probably because he was always running around as a reporter.
"Mr. Ming, you are such a nice person."
Mingqiao smiled and said nothing, continuing to rub his legs: "Change to the other one."
Shi Xin propped himself up and put his other leg up.
"Do you think I've changed a lot?" Shi Xin didn't say anything, but Ming Qiao spoke first: "It's just an experience in the casino, why do you suddenly dare to kill those monsters?"
The force on Shi Xin's legs became lighter and lighter, and finally stopped.
"I've said before that places like casinos shouldn't exist, at least not in schools. Minors are mentally immature, and if they accidentally get into a place, the least that can happen is that they get addicted." Ming Qiao's voice was low, and his mood was low as well: "I really can't guess what the ultimate purpose of this escape game is now. If the entire game is set in a school for selection or learning, then there's no point in having a casino."
"Could it be that this casino is just a small part of the game, but we've made a big deal out of it? Or maybe the casino was forced to open for some other special reason." Shi Xin said, "But we went from being unable to figure out the logic and clues in the restaurant at the beginning to being able to deduce clues step by step and escape based on the hints now. Isn't this a good change? So don't worry or be afraid."
Mingqiao nodded seriously and said, "You are right."
"Teacher Ming, I still say the same thing, don't think too much. You can't talk about science and reason with these unscientific things. It's good for us to let nature take its course and take it one step at a time."
"Yeah." Mingqiao started to massage him again: "You young people are really open-minded. I should learn from you."
"You're only four years older than me." Shi Xin pulled his legs back and lowered his trouser legs. He didn't like Ming Qiao's attitude of always treating him like a child. "According to what you said, I'm not young anymore. Your students are the young people."
Mingqiao's hands were suddenly empty. He was stunned for a few seconds before he said, "Yeah, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Shi Xin rolled up his trouser legs again and held them out to Ming Qiao: "Press them again."
Mingqiao was a little helpless. He put his hand on Shi Xin's calf again: "Okay, I'll be gentler this time."
When Zhang Wanqiao came to them with two boxes of instant noodles, Mingqiao had just helped Shi Xin put down his trouser legs. Both of them were sweating profusely, one was tired and the other was in pain.
"Teacher Ming, eat something first." Zhang Wanqiao handed them two boxes of instant noodles, but Mingqiao stuffed his own box into Shi Xin's hand: "You guys eat first, I'll go check on Wang Dada, I just felt that he was not right, maybe he was scared, or maybe he bumped into something."
Seeing that he was about to leave, Shi Xin quickly stood up and said, "Then I'll go with you."
"No need." Mingqiao pressed his shoulders and asked him to sit back on the stool: "I'll be back soon."
After Mingqiao walked away, Zhang Wanqiao smiled and whispered to Shi Xin: "Reporter Shi, you are so sticky to Teacher Ming."
Shi Xin had a mouthful of instant noodles in his mouth and couldn't speak, so he could only nod.
"Are you..." Zhang Wanqiao's voice became even quieter: "Do you like Teacher Ming? Even though I'm older than you, I understand all this. Tell me about it?"
Shi Xin finally swallowed a mouthful of noodles. Zhang Wanqiao said this and he almost choked. After catching his breath, he coughed twice and said awkwardly, "Ah, yes, I like it."
He felt that Zhang Wanqiao was too considerate in terms of logistics. She worried about this and that, including food, clothing, housing and transportation, reading and newspapers, and now she has to worry about his secret crush on Mingqiao!
Zhang Wanqiao couldn't help laughing and said teasingly, "Our teacher Ming is very popular. If you want to make a move, you have to hurry up."
"But he, he's not gay."
"Ah?" Zhang Wanqiao's eyes widened: "You still care about this."
"We have to consider him." Shi Xin's expression darkened. "He comes from a family like that, so he must be of good origin and won't be contaminated by or accept these weird and niche things. If I tell him that I like him, we might not even be able to be friends. Just like you, Teacher Zhang, if your female friend suddenly tells you that she likes you, can you accept it?"
Zhang Wanqiao thought about it carefully with her straight girl brain and felt that what Shi Xin said made sense.
"Mr. Ming is four years older than me, so he must have considered things more carefully than me. Even if he knew that I liked him, he might think I was fooling around. Or, even if he believed that what I said was true, he might try to persuade me to let it go." Shi Kunyi laughed, "He just treats me like a child."
"I don't treat you like a child." Mingqiao came over at some point, and he suddenly spoke, startling Shi Xin and Zhang Wanqiao: "What are you talking about, you are so secretive."
"Nothing." Shi Xin guessed that he probably didn't hear it, so he looked up at him and tried to change the subject: "Is Wang Dada okay?"
"Yeah." Mingqiao sat back on his own stool, picked up a bowl of instant noodles and drank a sip of hot soup first: "I got hit, and there's bruise on my chest, but the bones are fine, just like you, it will be fine in a few days."
Shi Xin finally felt relieved when he saw that there was nothing unusual in his expression. He winked at Zhang Wanqiao, and Zhang Wanqiao left tactfully.
"Mr. Ming, how about you change your clothes?"
"Yeah." Mingqiao looked at the white shirt that he had washed clean in the restaurant and was almost stained with blood. His mysophobia couldn't stop acting up: "I want to take a shower."
"Is there water here?" Shi Xin asked.
"Yes." Mingqiao ate his noodles and swallowed them before saying, "There is a bathhouse on the first floor. Turn right from the back door of the supermarket. You can get shampoo and other things from here. When everything is restored, I will pay the boss to make up for the loss."
"Is it a big bathhouse?"
"Yes, the school is reluctant to spend money to install partitions." Mingqiao finished the last mouthful of instant noodle soup, "So what were you talking about just now?"
After all, the topic could not be changed. Shi Xin looked at Ming Qiao and said seriously: "Mr. Ming, do you remember that in the casino before, I had a question to ask you, but I never had the chance to ask it."
"Remember."
"I want to ask you, can I..."
"Ming Qiao?" A man's voice came from the right of the two. Shi Xin and Ming Qiao turned their heads together and saw a man in pajamas, with a similar figure to Ming Qiao, standing there, looking at them in surprise.
Mingqiao was the first to react: "Wenjia? Why are you here?"
Shi Xin sat where he was, looking up at the man who had a female name and yet insisted on interrupting him at such a critical moment.
He has a special temperament, very similar to those little 0s in the circle.
"I just wanted to ask you something." Wen Jia ran two steps and came to Ming Qiao. They both wanted to hug each other, but they withdrew their hands at the same time.
"I'm teaching here." Wen Jia took two steps back and moved a small stool to sit down.
"Me too, in the junior high school department," Ming Qiao said.
"I'm in the high school department. No wonder I haven't seen you before." Wen Jia looked at Ming Qiao, then at the person sitting next to him: "Is this... your boyfriend?"
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