“Siji, how have things been lately? Teacher seems to have heard that you rejected a classmate’s invitation again. Can you tell me why?”
Inside the first-year teachers’ office at Taogu High School, Zhong Siji looked at the professional woman with a sharp short haircut in front of him with a slight headache.
As expected, the old ginger is still the spiciest.
Even though he had prepared to vanish at light speed the moment class ended, he still got predicted and captured by the Poké Ball she threw.
“You even managed to dig that up, Teacher Wu Di. What kind of secret agent are you?”
“Hehe, Teacher is a double-specialized senior agent, you know.”
“Uh, double-specialized in what?”
“Affordable home cooking and discount buffet cooking… Wait, wait, you led me off track. Why is a boy like you so sharp-tongued?”
“You’re the one who picked up the thread, Teacher.”
Wu Di patted her smooth forehead.
“You’ve got plenty of words when talking to Teacher, so why do you keep avoiding your peers?”
“Mm… Maybe because Teacher and I are the same type? Both lone wolves lingering on the edge of the pack?”
“Lone wolf my foot. Teacher is very popular, okay? If we have to make a comparison, Teacher is the wolf king of the pack, enjoying the reverent gazes of all the female wolves and the admiration of the male wolves.”
“Then why are you still single to this day?”
“That’s because… Wait, no, no, you’re leading me by the nose again.”
“Siji, do you have some kind of hardship…”
“Teacher!” Zhong Siji put away his joking expression. “Sorry. Just let me stay like this for now.”
“……….”
Wu Di sighed. “Of course Teacher won’t force you. It’s just…”
Her eyes seemed to carry a trace of reminiscence.
“Some moments, once you let them slip away, even if you can make up for them later, the feelings of that time can never come back, you know?”
“…………..So that’s the reason Teacher is still single to this day?”
“You little brat really… Forget it, forget it. Go home after school. Don’t come crying to Teacher later when you regret it, okay?”
Really now. Why are the kids with strong personalities these days all so difficult to handle?
Back when I was studying, the teachers of that time would never talk about respecting individuality.
The ruler they used to hit people with really hurt like crazy.
“Teacher…”
“What is it this time? Single jokes can’t hurt Teacher anymore, you know?”
“It’s not that. I just wanted to say…” The boy’s smile was so bright and sunny.
“I’m really glad that you’re my teacher.”
With that, the annoying little brat vanished from the office in the blink of an eye.
“……..When you smile, it actually looks pretty nice. Why do you always keep a straight face?”
***
On the way home after school, students walked in groups of three or five, either playing around or laughing and chatting, fully radiating their youth.
It formed a sharp contrast with the lifeless person walking alone to the side.
“Teacher Wu Di is right. Some moments slip away, and the feelings of that time can never come back either.”
For him, that sentence could not have been more accurate.
Only… what should I do?
Just getting used to Grandpa and Grandma’s complete change was already hard enough. Heaven knew how long it would take to adapt to all of this.
But that girl Xinya, surprisingly, doesn’t seem to have changed much?
Is it because she’s still young and the influence of gender is still a bit vague, so the effect is smaller?
It doesn’t seem like it either.
After all, when I walk around bare-chested, even though she says ‘do not look at what is improper’ and covers her eyes with her hands, she still secretly opens a small gap to peek.
Mm, looks like she’s entered puberty too. How nice. My little sister should properly enjoy her youth while she’s young.
Otherwise, when she gets older, she’ll become one of those pitiful adults staring with a miserable expression at the high school couples on the roadside.
Carrying these rather disrespectful thoughts about his little sister, Zhong Siji unknowingly turned into an unfamiliar alley.
“This is really troublesome. I already got delayed a bit because Teacher called me over for a talk, and now I’ve somehow wandered into this place. My phone is also out of battery.”
“Tsk, Xinya is going to nag me again.”
This little sister of his had always respected her older brother, except when he came home late without reporting it. Then a round of nagging was unavoidable.
“Hey! Stop joking around and hand over the money!”
An angry shout suddenly came from the corner of the alley not far away.
Judging from the content, it was probably the delinquents from Momoi shaking down students from another school again.
They often did this kind of thing. Zhong Siji had caught distant glimpses of it a few times, but this was the first time he had come into such close contact.
“Sigh, how pitiful. If you have money, just hand it over quickly. At least you can get beaten up less.”
Pitiful as it was, Zhong Siji had no intention of stepping forward.
After all, if he stepped in and still couldn’t win the fight, wouldn’t it just turn from one person getting beaten into two people getting beaten?
Extremely not worth it.
“I… I really don’t have any money left. I spent it all on novels. Please just let me go.”
Hiss… This voice, why does it sound a little familiar?
Wait! It seems to be classmate Xu Runhui! It’s that Xu Runhui who kindly helped me when I forgot my textbook! In that case, things are different now.
The delinquent leader who was grabbing Xu Runhui suddenly felt as if her arm had been clamped by an iron vise.
“Let go!”
Although she didn’t know whose kind reminder that was, right now she would let go even without being told.
Who could still hold onto someone when clamped by an iron vise? Seriously!
Only, for some reason, the moment she let go, that sensation of being clamped by an iron vise on her arm suddenly loosened and disappeared.
“Boss? Are you okay?”
“Hey, who the hell are you?”
Hearing her underling’s sharp rebuke, the delinquent leader who had taken two steps back finally noticed that there seemed to be one more person in front of her.
“Was it you who just clamped me with pliers?”
Zhong Siji ignored her and only comforted Xu Runhui.
“Are you okay, Classmate Runhui?”
Xu Runhui was a little dazed at first.
When she clearly saw who had come, instead of feeling relief at surviving the disaster, she became anxious.
“Classmate Siji, why are you here? Run! Don’t worry about me!”
“Boss, that guy seems to be a guy.”
“A guy? Does a guy have that much strength in his hands?”
According to her underling, her hand just now hadn’t been clamped by pliers, but by that guy’s hand?
The delinquent leader’s face suddenly flushed red. A guy… Fuck, a guy! She had actually been scared into letting go by a guy’s grip strength! Shame! Absolute humiliation!
She shoved away the underling supporting her and charged at Zhong Siji with a roar. Her already pockmarked face, which looked like the surface of the moon, became even more ferocious and terrifying from the anger.
“Fuck, men learning to stick their necks out for others? Men should just hide at home and play with their dolls!”
The delinquent leader swore that this roaring punch was absolutely her peak punch.
Even those few from Class 1 would never choose to take this punch head-on.
Only… Smack!
The expected feeling of sending someone flying with one punch never came. Instead, it felt like she had struck something thick and heavy.
“Hey, you…”
For some reason, this man’s pleasant voice actually made her whole body tremble.
“What did you say… is useless?”
That was the last sentence she heard before losing consciousness.