Chapter 23
The front door of the house was finally opened again when Qiao Yan was about to go to work at school.
"I'll be back on time after get off work," Qiao Yan said to the person standing at the door. "There are no classes in a couple of days, so let's take Shuyin to the check-up together."
Nan Yayin clutched her clothes, looking somewhat reluctant as she replied "okay." Only after watching Qiao Yan's car drive away did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He knew perfectly well that Qiao Yan had always been good to him, but he had kept his distance back then. Now, Qiao Yan seemed to share whatever came to mind with him, as if he were truly a member of the family.
Too much good can cause hallucinations, Nan Yayin covered her ears, which were starting to burn again.
Qiao Yan returned to school after a long absence. Thinking about her schedule for the next two months, she felt that her period of high susceptibility, which had been delayed with great difficulty, was about to break out early again.
She hadn't been back for just a week, and her mailbox was already overflowing.
Nowadays, most people don't use paper products much, but because their sources are almost impossible to trace, some small advertisements still spread in this way.
The school's original intention in setting up email addresses was to encourage students to give teachers feedback, but in the end, the email addresses were not very useful. There were surveillance cameras right in front of the corridor, so who would dare to do that?
As a result, the contents of this mailbox became a jumbled mess, and Qiao Yan would only glance at them and then throw away the useless ones.
She walked into the office with the stack of papers in her hand. The teacher, who also didn't like to get up early, simply looked up and greeted her when she arrived.
Qiao Yan tidied up the envelopes, which were mostly advertisements or small cards stuffed in by bold students. At the very end, she found a creased envelope.
Nowadays, few people use envelopes; they are mostly used for important matters, such as invitations.
Qiao Yan thought that since the house hadn't been opened much lately, the mailman assumed no one was home and sent the letter to her school instead.
She tore open the envelope; inside was only a single sheet of paper with the vaguely written words: "Do you remember what you did?"
To avoid revealing the handwriting, the messenger used printed paper.
A prank? Qiao Yan put the letter away along with the pile of flyers and planned to throw it away on her way to class.
The teacher next to me had just finished making coffee and was walking over. "Is Ms. Qiao wearing perfume?"
Qiao Yan realized it was Nan Ya Yin's pheromones. These past few days at home, they had either been hugging or sleeping together, so she hadn't been able to detect her own pheromones much, and now she could barely smell the creamy scent.
"It's not perfume," Qiao Yan replied without saying anything more, then grabbed her things and prepared to go to class.
As I walked out the door, I happened to see some students coming to the mailbox. They were startled to see a teacher there so early, so they turned around and quickly ran away.
As he turned around, Qiao Yan noticed a white object in his hand. Was it an envelope? She didn't think too much about it; class was more important right now.
Many students knew that Qiao Yan had been stranded on Da Han Star, and they were surprised to see her return after only a week.
"The Great Cold Star has entered its storm season early. The infrastructure there won't be ready for a month before we can get back," a student said. "How did they manage to get back so early? Did they brave the blizzard alone?"
After hearing the chatter, Qiao Yan patted the table and said, "We were originally supposed to have one classroom session followed by one practical session, but now that we have enough time, I'll finish teaching all the classroom knowledge before we do the practical training."
The students in the audience complained when they heard that the time was tight enough. The course, which was originally four months long, had been shortened to three months, and the exams had even been moved up.
"Look on the bright side, at least I haven't forgotten it by the time of the exam." Qiao Yan turned on the device and started the lesson. "I don't have to worry about this subject when I take the other exams."
That makes sense, but it can't stop the wailing of students who are about to have to work 8 a.m. four days a week.
Qiao Yan's course will cover topics related to alien monsters, and that part is quite interesting. Even after two sessions, not many people have been making a fuss.
During the break, Qi Haiwei came up to her and asked, "Teacher, have you received anything recently?"
"For example?" Qiao Yan asked, noticing her strange expression, and became somewhat curious.
“Threatening letters or intimidating objects, inanimate objects, or things containing artificial blood.” Qi Haiwei frowned; she clearly knew something.
"No," Qiao Yan replied, then asked, "What are you trying to say?"
Qi Haiwei showed her a webpage. "Someone contacted me before, asking for my help. I don't even know how I got their contact information. They said you were their enemy, that you killed their father."
Qiao Yan was stunned. She would never kill anyone. The reason why this person said that was obvious. This person was in her former team.
“I don’t know who she is, and I don’t want to do these things with her. I’m afraid she might do something bad to the teacher.” Qi Haiwei pursed her lips. “I used to think I would always hate you, but the more I know, the more I realize that I just have no one to hate, and I just want to see my sister one more time.”
Qi Haiwei was about to leave after saying this when Qiao Yan stopped her, "Can I have her contact information?"
"That's a virtual number; she's the only one who can contact me, and I can't contact her." Qi Haiwei shook her head. "Anyway, teacher, you should pay more attention to what's happening around you these next few days."
Qiao Yan nodded. "Thank you."
The first thing she saw when she returned to her office was the stack of papers on her desk that she had forgotten to throw away. Qiao Yan pulled out the letter inside and read its contents again.
Do you remember what you did?
It turned out it wasn't a prank. Qiao Yan put the paper away. She wasn't worried about what might happen to her, but she was afraid that someone else might get involved.
The letter was deformed from being pressed down by other advertising papers, so it must have been there a long time ago. If what she said was true, then her second step wouldn't have been delayed for long.
After finishing the routine meeting in the afternoon, Qiao Yan rushed home, but before she even got home, she received a message from Nan Yayin.
"You have a letter, but you don't know who sent it."
Qiao Yan quickly called him, saying, "I'm coming home right away."
The person on the other end didn't understand why they were being called suddenly, and mumbled, "I know, no one's rushing you."
"Is there anything else besides the letter?" Qiao Yan asked him, then took over the hovercar and sped home.
"Hmm? What else?" Nan Yayin looked around at the front door. "But someone just said they had something else to deliver. Did you buy anything?"
Qiao Yan frowned and said, "No."
"You won the lottery?" Nan Yayin walked into the house.
Qiao Yan was initially worried about what methods the other party would use to take revenge on her, but after hearing Nan Ya Yin's words, she couldn't help but smile wryly, "Perhaps she's won the lottery."
Nan Ya Yin felt uneasy when she heard her say that. It was one thing for this kind of person to have both face and money, but she was also lucky enough to win the lottery.
"Don't open the door if a stranger comes." Qiao Yan heard the sound of the door closing on his side.
Nan Yayin snorted, "I'm not a child. Go tell Shuyin what you're saying."
Qiao Yan wanted to explain to him, but she didn't know how to start. She was worried that if she told him, he would run away even further. But if she didn't tell him, he wouldn't know if he was in danger.
She sighed. "I don't treat you like a child. I'm driving now, I'll explain when I get back, okay?"
For some reason, Nan Yayin's ears turned red again. "I know, I know, don't talk like that."
Ugh, this is so annoying!
What's wrong with me?
"Don't speak! Go drive your car."
Qiao Yan drove fast, and there weren't many people on the road in the afternoon, so she arrived home in no time.
"You're too fast!" Nan Yayin saw her come in from the door. "The one who told me something was being delivered hasn't been gone for long."
Qiao Yan looked him over carefully, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Do you remember what he looks like?"
“What can a man look like? Just a human being.” Nan Ya Yin handed him the letter, then suddenly remembered, “Oh right, he has a very shallow scar on his wrist. He was wearing gloves, but I saw it when he handed me the things because he didn’t cover it up.”
He looked smug. Qiao Yan glanced at him but didn't say anything. After a while, when he glanced over, Qiao Yan clapped his hands and said, "You're really amazing. Noticing this detail will definitely be a big help."
Nan Ya Yin snorted, "So what were you trying to explain in the car?"
Qiao Yan pulled an opened envelope from her clothes and put it together with the one Nan Yayin had given her.
"Sent by the same person?" Nan Yayin asked, as it was rare even in the old town.
Qiao Yan opened the new letter, which was also printed on paper and read, "You are so lucky."
Nan Yayin frowned. "What is this all about? It's all so vague and nonsensical."
Qiao Yan gave him the one he had received before. "I once led a team exploring a desert alien planet. We were almost leaving when we discovered that the spaceship was unusable, showing insufficient energy. I thought it was impossible at the time. The fuel used for the journey was designed to be more than enough. Someone went up to check and found that there had been a leak. By the time he came out, the spaceship had blown up along with everyone else. We originally thought there were no living things on that planet, but we were wrong. There were."
"This is the first person to die," Qiao Yan said slowly. "A living thing that can cut through a spaceship, we don't even know how strong it is. We have no means to return, and apart from protective suits, we have nothing to protect ourselves. The only thing we can be thankful for is that we can still send out distress signals, but even if we are rescued, it will take a day, and we don't even know which planet's day it will be."
Although Nan Yayin had researched Qiao Yan's past and knew roughly what she had gone through, this was the first time she had heard these details.
“That planet has its own inhabitants. After we came out, some people called them Sandwalkers, which doesn’t sound very agile. But they are huge yet agile and very intelligent. Their forearms are almost like blades, about a meter long.” Qiao Yan recalled the monster, which was like a skeleton and a ghost. “That was the unknown. I found that it was protecting its waist. I killed it by accident, but it was too late. I only managed to save myself and my broken leg.”
Nan Yayin didn't know what Qiao Yan was fighting against during his previous expedition, but now she felt that even if she couldn't see it, just hearing her retell the story was enough to send chills down her spine.
“My student told me that this letter was sent by one of the orphaned daughters from back then.” Qiao Yan glanced at the letter again. “I think she probably wanted me to die too.”
"Stop talking nonsense!" Nan Ya Yin said angrily. "What does this have to do with you? You're a survivor! You only survived by luck, why should you die?"
Before Qiao Yan could reply, the doorbell rang.
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