colleague's provocation
After the two slept together, Xu Tangmian made a three-point agreement with Yu Chunsheng that he could not touch her without her consent. However, considering the future direction of their relationship and his contributions in daily life, she basically acquiesced to some of Yu Chunsheng's touching behavior.
After making breakfast, Yu Chunsheng took off his clothes and went back to bed, pulling her into his arms. His hands automatically went to where they were supposed to go until it was almost time, at which point he used a little more force to wake her up.
Xu Tangmian impatiently slapped away a large hand that was covering her chest, and slowly stood up, saying, "Is your hand all better now? Is it time for your follow-up appointment?"
Yu Chunsheng sat up, grabbed and released the object with his left hand, and shook it a couple of times to test the recovery. He wasn't very satisfied: "It's alright. I'm going for a follow-up check-up next Monday. Are you coming with me?"
"I'm very busy with work and don't have time to spend with you." Xu Tangmian grabbed the newly bought sweater next to her and put it over her head, muttering, "That Director Huang, I wonder what kind of trouble he's going to cause me."
"I told you long ago he's no good, why are you getting so close to him?" Yu Chunsheng said casually as he smoothed out a loose thread from her sweater.
"Isn't it you who told me to be down-to-earth and work hard!" Xu Tangmian was furious. "Work hard, and you've turned me into a lecherous old man!"
Yu Chunsheng seemed helpless in the face of her accusations: "When I told you to do your job well, I meant to do your job well, to think from other people's perspectives, and to help your colleagues as much as you can. I didn't tell you to show off in front of the leaders."
"In short, I've lost a lot of money." Xu Tangmian got out of bed and checked the textbooks and lesson plans she needed to bring before washing up.
While eating breakfast, she couldn't help but complain: "Why am I so unlucky? I gave the principal a gift hoping he would change his mind, but he was all high and mighty; I tried to impress Director Huang hoping he would say a good word for me, but he was just a lecher. How can these two kinds of people become friends?"
“There are many kinds of friends.” Yu Chunsheng placed the peeled egg in front of her and said patiently, “Some are just fair-weather friends, the first to run away when you’re down on your luck; others are true friends, who ‘seek common ground while reserving differences’ even if they have some disagreements. Maybe they are the latter?”
Xu Tangmian remained silent.
Yu Chunsheng added, "From what you've said, your principal isn't a bad person. As long as you do your job well, he'll approve your application sooner or later."
"How sooner or later is 'sooner or later'?" Xu Tangmian said with a wry smile. "If I just go to work and wait for the principal to approve it, when will I ever get it?"
"All I know is that this is the safest method. If you blindly pursue efficiency, be careful that 'haste makes waste'."
"Alright, alright, alright." Xu Tangmian waved her hand. "Why do people in their twenties talk like my grandparents, parents, etc. all the time?"
I almost let it slip!
"Didn't you say you were an orphan?" Yu Chunsheng asked her, frowning.
"Is that so?" Xu Tangmian chuckled twice to brush it off. "Slip of the tongue. I always mistake other people's things for mine."
"You claim to be an orphan, yet you insist on visiting relatives in Beiping. Which of your relatives in Beiping do you actually have?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?" Xu Tangmian said, somewhat displeased. "We are only husband and wife in name only. I don't pry into your personal life, and you shouldn't ask me either."
Yu Chunsheng also put down his chopsticks. "Since you put it that way, I have a question for you."
"you say."
When can we be a real couple?
Xu Tangmian: "..."
"I'm a normal man, I have needs too." He looked at her seriously, as if they were discussing what to eat for dinner.
"What do I care about your needs? We didn't get married because we had feelings for each other."
"After all this time, you still have no feelings for me at all?" Yu Chunsheng asked, somewhat disappointed. "Am I not good-looking enough, or is there something about me that you dislike? Won't you even give me a chance to improve?"
Xu Tangmian didn't know how to reply to him. He was very handsome, and there was nothing about him that she disliked; in fact, she really liked him.
But liking someone can't put food on the table. Sleeping with such a handsome guy every day, she certainly wanted more than just kissing! When hormones were high, the two were once intimate and almost went too far.
It was only because of her strong will and firm attitude that she wasn't abducted by this person.
In her view, her consent would inevitably send a signal to Yu Chunsheng that she had fully accepted the marriage, accepted the idea of becoming his wife, and had children with him.
No, this can't be! She only came here by chance, trying to investigate her grandfather's past, and had no intention of settling down in this village she had never even heard of.
But both of them were in their prime, neither was unattractive, and they had legal identification. Even she sometimes found it hard to restrain herself, let alone Yu Chunsheng. Having shared a bed with him, she knew how much Yu Chunsheng restrained himself.
Betting that he'll remain a virtuous man forever is unrealistic, especially given the rampant gossip in the village. If he can't make it to a big city, maintaining a life of celibacy in this small town is also unrealistic; most single women, regardless of age, will be taken advantage of by them.
Yu Chunsheng was her fallback plan.
Xu Tangmian thought that they shouldn't take sex so seriously. Both of them could enjoy it, right? If giving Yu Chunsheng a little sweetness could earn her the freedom to pursue what she wanted, and if he didn't hold her back or even helped her, then it would be worth it.
So she said, "Once your arm is alright, we'll..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, and the tips of her ears turned red at a visible speed.
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Yu Chunsheng assumed that the conversation would end there as before, or that she was listing a hundred accusations against him in her mind. He was overjoyed to receive such a response:
"Are you serious? Did I hear that right?"
"You heard me right..." Xu Tangmian didn't want to meet his naked gaze, so she just stared at the table and said with her head down, "Don't think I'll feel sorry for your arm. You still have to do the housework, but I said you can wait until it gets better..."
Before she could finish speaking, he lifted her chin and gave her another long, wet kiss.
The two had become quite adept at kissing these days, and Xu Tangmian had lost her initial resistance to him and could now accept his "surprise attacks" with ease.
But after it was over, she still pretended to be disgusted and wiped her mouth: "I said I could only kiss on the cheek, and this needs my permission. Why do you always do this?"
Yu Chunsheng gently pinched her chin with two fingers, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons as he urged, "Hurry up and finish eating so we can go to school. Do you want me to take you today?"
"No." Xu Tangmian said with a look of disgust, "Your car is so tight it'll pinch my butt."
——
Although she offended Director Huang, she didn't miss any of the tasks she was assigned, and they were all still in Xu Tangmian's hands, just like before.
With fifth-grade math classes, sixth-grade music classes, and her own third-grade Chinese classes, Xu Tangmian was gradually finding herself overwhelmed.
That day, she was grading Chinese homework in the office when, with a "thud," a stack of books was thrown onto her desk.
Xu Tangmian looked up, puzzled. "Teacher Geng?"
Geng Hao, the math teacher for the first and second classes of fifth grade, stood in front of her impatiently tapping his book with his five fingers, then casually pulled over a chair and sat down.
"I just heard that some people like to do dirty tricks behind people's backs. No wonder they became an excellent teacher after only a few months here."
There is only one outstanding teacher in this school who has received this honor in just a few months, and she is sitting right in front of him. Geng Hao's words are clearly referring to her, Xu Tangmian.
Sending gifts behind someone's back isn't honorable, so Xu Tangmian could only feign ignorance and ask, "What are you trying to say?"
"As expected of a Chinese teacher, he really knows how to keep you in suspense." Geng Hao smiled, stood up, put his hands behind his back, walked around the office, exchanged glances with each of the teachers who were watching the spectacle, and then launched into a long explanation:
"I am Geng Hao. I graduated in the 1970s and entered the education industry. I have been teaching for more than ten years now. My students range from department store clerks to government officials. I have been teaching at Hongxing Elementary School for three years, but I have never been selected for any awards."
"The school is full of talented people, so I won't say anything, but now you, a little yellow-haired girl, have gotten there first. What makes you think you're so superior just because you're from the city?"
“Teacher Geng!” Li Yutao couldn’t help but stand up and speak up for Xu Tangmian: “Teacher Xu’s teaching quality is obvious to all. Although she was complained about by parents at first, she has made significant progress after improvements. Her classes are the most popular among students, and we can’t deny that. You don’t need to bring up the ‘city people’ thing.”
"Teacher Li," Geng Hao said with a forced smile, "I know you're from the city too, and you're close to Teacher Xu. I won't hold it against you for speaking up for her, but I hope you understand one thing."
"Even the great ancient Greek educator Aristotle said, 'I love my teacher, but I love truth more.' I hope you won't be blinded by the friendship between you women and turn black into white."
"Teacher Xu gave Principal Ding gifts after class and even took the initiative to ask Director Huang to take over my fifth-grade math class. This is obvious to everyone. Can you guarantee that these things have nothing to do with her being selected as an outstanding teacher?"
Seeing that Xu Tangmian remained silent and tacitly agreed, Li Yutao's face gradually darkened as she returned to her original seat.
Geng Hao walked to the end of the office, took out a brand new piece of chalk from the chalk box on the ground, and quickly wrote a few numbers on the blackboard. After finishing, he smashed the chalk on the ground, and the broken pieces of chalk rolled to Xu Tangmian's feet.
"Everyone says your classes are lively and engaging, which makes us old-fashioned folks feel worthless. But I believe that real, substantial teaching is what parents care about most, rather than just trying to please them with flashy displays."
"Well said!" A resounding shout suddenly came from outside the door.
“Principal…” The other teachers in the office all looked towards the door, not knowing when Principal Ding had arrived.
"It's quite lively here. I could hear it from the next office. What topic are you discussing?"
Geng Hao composed himself, pursed his lips, nodded to the principal, and said in a gentle tone, "I have some disagreements with Teacher Xu about teaching methods, and I apologize for the loud argument."
"Oh, it's about teaching methods." Principal Ding raised his hand and waved in Xu Tangmian's direction. "Xiao Xu, Teacher Geng is a veteran teacher at our school. You can listen to many of his suggestions. Don't work behind closed doors."
Seeing that someone was backing him up, Geng Hao arrogantly returned to the blackboard and pointed to a few lines of numbers, saying:
"I'm not trying to bully you. This is a very simple math problem; it doesn't even require multiplication or division. Tomorrow in math class, I hope you can explain this problem to your students. If you can't even explain this properly, I don't think Teacher Xu has the face to continue misleading students here, right?"
Xu Tangmian looked up at the numbers on the blackboard and replied in a muffled voice, "Okay."
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