With Teacher Zhang's approval, Cen Jin and Li Wu walked out of the office one after the other.
In the hallway, students scattered like little sparrows rushing back to their nests, disappearing into their classrooms in no time.
Cen Jin stopped by the white railing, and Li Wu halted beside her.
The woman turned around, her expression stern: "You’ve really outdone yourself now."
Li Wu remained silent, none of the composure he had shown in the office, as if he were a different person.
"Going home," Cen Jin scoffed lightly, "Did you really go home?"
Li Wu murmured softly: "No."
"Where were you last night?" Cen Jin looked at him, her gaze inadvertently drawn to the boy's eyelashes—they were so long and thick, especially with his eyes half-lowered, revealing two dark, feathery fans.
Li Wu still didn’t speak.
Cen Jin stared calmly and spoke calmly: "Class has already started. I still have to go to the company. How much more of your time and mine do you want to waste?"
The teenager finally lifted his eyes: "I was in the dormitory the whole time."
"Then why did the teacher come looking for you?"
He confessed truthfully: "I covered for my roommate."
Cen Jin was slightly taken aback: "Why?"
Li Wu said: "No reason."
"..." Cen Jin was speechless for a moment, then gave him another chance: "Why?"
The exact same question, three words, but with twice the pressure.
His throat moved slightly, and Li Wu was slowly coaxed into speaking: "Because my roommate didn’t come back."
"If your roommate didn’t come back, you covered for him?" Cen Jin didn’t even know how to respond: "Are you some kind of do-gooder? Is this the kind of obligation or service you provide to make friends?"
"The situation was special." He still resisted explaining the specific reason.
Cen Jin pursed her lips for a moment, too annoyed to look at this stubborn wall of a person, and turned her eyes toward the balcony outside: "Back in the office, were you implying you wanted me to help you cover up your lie?"
Li Wu neither confirmed nor denied it: "Mm."
"Do you think I’d be willing to?"
Li Wu instinctively wanted to say no, but the words took a turn at the last moment. He said: "I don’t know."
Cen Jin instantly felt frustrated: "If I were really your parent, I’d probably be yelling at you right now. Do you believe that?"
"Mm." He obediently accepted the criticism.
It was precisely this attitude that left Cen Jin with nowhere to direct her anger, leaving her frantic and ultimately exploding in pointless venting: "You’re going to be the death of me. Did I bring you to Yi High School so you could do things like this to upset me?"
Li Wu neither explained nor retorted, only saying: "I’m sorry."
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, tousling both their hair.
A strand of hair clung to Cen Jin’s lips. She brushed it away, about to tuck it behind her ear, when a second breeze blew, and the strand stuck to her lips again.
Cen Jin had applied lip gloss today, her lips glossy and full. Unfortunately, the wretched weather rendered the embellishment useless, even counterproductive.
Especially when she lifted her eyes and met the boy’s slightly amused gaze.
Her accumulated authority crumbled instantly, and Cen Jin grew thoroughly irritated: "What are you looking at?"
Li Wu quickly averted his eyes, the tips of his ears gradually turning red.
"What does it feel like to kiss a girl?"—his mind was suddenly filled with Cheng Rui’s words from yesterday.
Li Wu felt increasingly uncomfortable all over.
Afraid of encountering such an awkward situation again, Cen Jin gathered a strand of hair from the back of her head and swiftly tied it into a low ponytail.
Just as she was about to speak, the sound of reading came from a nearby classroom. Cen Jin’s heart softened and settled at once, worried that Li Wu might fall behind in his studies. She hurriedly asked, "What class do you have this period?"
Li Wu said, "English."Cen Jin sighed inwardly and glanced at the office door: "Let's stop here. Tell Teacher Zhang and hurry back to class."
"Okay."
...
Zhang Aiqin wasn't the type of teacher who enjoyed making things difficult for others to prove her professional worth. After Li Wu lowered his head and apologized a few times, the matter was considered closed.
Watching Li Wu leave the office, Cen Jin exchanged a few pleasantries with Teacher Zhang and inquired about Li Wu's situation at school.
Fortunately, according to the homeroom teacher, aside from this minor incident, his performance in all other aspects—whether academic or daily life—was impeccable.
Feeling somewhat reassured, Cen Jin was about to say goodbye when she thought again and, still uneasy, asked the teacher: "Teacher Zhang, could Li Wu be moved to a different dormitory?"
Teacher Zhang looked surprised: "Why?"
"From what I've observed recently, his current dormitory environment isn't conducive to his studies or growth. As you know, Li Wu's situation is different from other children's. He came from the mountains, and many things are new to him, even tempting. I'm not his real family, so I can't supervise him all the time, let alone support him for life. The college entrance exam is one of the few fair paths available, so I hope he can have fewer distractions and focus wholeheartedly on completing it, without regrets when he looks back."
Cen Jin spoke calmly, thinking that her implied meaning had been conveyed clearly enough, hoping Li Wu's homeroom teacher would understand.
Teacher Zhang pondered for a moment, then smiled and looked back at her: "Miss Cen, that's not quite right to say. Every child is unique, but in your eyes, your own child seems especially special. Children are all independent and individual, even if their backgrounds, personalities, and academic performances differ. To us teachers, they all have only one identity: students. I will look into the situation you mentioned and consider it carefully, but I must correct your perspective. Not just now, but in the future, when Li Wu goes to university and enters society, the environment will be even more mixed and unpredictable. What will you do then? Miss Cen, don't stress yourself out so much. Overly restricting your child won't do him any good and might even strain your relationship."
Cen Jin was taken aback and gently retorted: "Li Wu isn't my child." Teacher Zhang said: "I know. But in the future, you might have one, so consider this practice in advance."
Cen Jin was left speechless.
...
Rushing back to the company, Cen Jin had a thin layer of sweat on her nose. She quickly took off her overcoat, revealing a fitted, snow-white wool sweater, like a lychee stripped of its shell, leaving only the soft, moist flesh.
Sitting and scrolling through Weibo for a while, Teacher Zhang's words still lingered in Cen Jin's mind. She decided to get a cup of coffee to change her mood.
Coincidentally, Zhang Jue was there too. He had just finished pouring his coffee and casually took out a black capsule: "Will you do it, or should I help you?"
Cen Jin glanced at him. Zhang Jue wasn't wearing glasses today, making his eyes appear even smaller, but with his thick eyebrows and straight nose set off by a gray sweater, he still looked quite handsome.
Unaccustomed to troubling others, she held out her hand: "I'll do it."
"Bad mood?" Zhang Jue handed her the capsule. True to his role as an HR professional, his perceptive eyes were like emotion detectors.
Cen Jin deftly inserted the capsule into the machine: "Try working overtime every day and see how you feel."Zhang Jue held his cup with a smile: "I heard from Qiqi that you guys have finally made it through the tough times." "Don't listen to her. Until the day it goes live, nothing is certain," Cen Jin sighed: "Yesterday, Yuan Zhen contacted the client at 5 AM to review materials. Guess what they replied."
"Hmm?"
Cen Jin imitated perfectly: "'What time is it? Are you hinting that we should work overtime?' followed by a smile emoji, the original expression one."
Zhang Jue chuckled too, then looked at her seriously for a moment: "Jin Jie, you don't seem like you've been married at all."
"That's because I don't have children." Cen Jin's smile suddenly dimmed a few shades, like strong coffee diluted with water.
Zhang Jue shook his head, then shook it again: "No, it's because there's light in your eyes."
"My eyes are just big."
"Now that's a personal attack." Zhang Jue feigned displeasure.
Patiently waiting for her coffee to finish brewing, Cen Jin picked up her cup and turned, only to find Zhang Jue still hadn't left.
"Are you that free?" she asked curiously.
"Probably because I'm not in creative or an Account Manager." He said leisurely.
Feeling as if struck by an arrow, Cen Jin forced a smile and turned to leave.
Zhang Jue quickly caught up: "Why don't you flatter yourself a bit."
Cen Jin frowned slightly: "Flatter myself about what?"
Zhang Jue said casually: "Flatter yourself that I'm waiting for you."
"Please, no, thank you. That would put pressure on me." Cen Jin declined with a shake of her head.
Returning to her desk and opening the group chat, their client executive—the former Account Manager, Ms. Yuan Zhen—was once again ranting in the group. She seemed to be in a state of bipolar disorder every day, and the word she used most to describe clients was "idiots."
Cen Jin was suddenly tagged.
Aoxing-Yuan Zhen: @Aoxing-Gin, write a Christmas Moments caption.
Cen Jin: Didn't I already submit it? You'll see it all over Moments next week.
Yuan Zhen: A personal one. Cen Jin: I have to write that too? This insults Gin.
Yuan Zhen: Yes, absolutely ridiculous, completely ridiculous. They even want us to come up with Christmas Moments captions for their marketing director. What kind of stupid request is that? They even told us to search our hearts and ask ourselves what we would post if we were the director. How are we supposed to search our hearts? If I fucking could be the director, I wouldn't be here cursing them out. How can someone like that even become a director?
Cen Jin: I can write it, but what about the fee? This is extra work.
Aoxing-Teddy popped up: I'll handle the reporting.
Cen Jin: Thanks.
Teddy took the opportunity to announce the dinner plans: Dinner on Saturday, it's Cen Jin's welcome meal. We've been busy lately, so it's been delayed for a month. Come if you're free.
He then posted the same message in the company's main group.
He also tagged Cen Jin: The leading lady shouldn't be busy, right?
Cen Jin replied with a smile: Probably not.
—
Today's evening self-study for Class 10 was physics. The homeroom teacher arrived early and didn't teach, just let everyone study on their own.
The entire classroom was silent, with only the faint sound of pen tips scratching against paper. The second period was the same, with Teacher Zhang sitting behind the lectern like a stern, unsmiling Buddha.
Halfway through, the homeroom teacher suddenly stood up and called out: "Cheng Rui."
The boy with black-rimmed glasses, who had been whispering, jolted and lifted his head.
Hearing the name, Li Wu also turned to look at him.
Lin Honglang and Ran Feichi also glanced over.
For a moment, the four members of dormitory 0206 shared brief eye contact.
Teacher Zhang walked down the steps: "Come out." With that, he left the classroom.
Cheng Rui, his heart pounding, got up from his seat and followed.The classroom door closed, and the teacher leaned against the railing while Cheng Rui stood with his back to the window.
As darkness enveloped the surroundings, their voices remained low, making it impossible to hear a single word.
A strange unease stirred in Li Wu’s heart.
He furrowed his brow, forcing himself not to dwell on it, and lowered his head to solve the problem.
But everything that followed almost confirmed his worst fears.
A few minutes later, Cheng Rui returned, and Lin Honglang was called out next.
After a similar interval, Lin Honglang came back into the classroom, and Ran Feichi took his turn.
This time, the teacher’s discussion with the boy dragged on endlessly, his tone gradually sharpening and rising in volume. The entire class could faintly hear phrases like "I’ve turned a blind eye before" and "Do you take responsibility for yourself?" mixed in.
The bell for the end of class rang, and noise erupted instantly. Ran Feichi stormed back into the classroom, his eyes red and fixed straight ahead as he began packing his books.
The teacher returned to the room, collected his materials, and left with a cold expression.
Lin Honglang slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to Ran Feichi’s desk, frowning as he asked, "What happened?"
Cheng Rui hurried over eagerly, "What’s going on? What did Aiqin say? I swear I kept my mouth shut—I definitely didn’t betray you!"
Ran Feichi paused, as if trying to calm himself, and after a moment asked, "It wasn’t you two, right?"
"Nonsense!" Lin Honglang snapped back, "Do you think I’m that kind of person?"
Li Wu stood at his seat, feeling concerned. Just as he was about to approach, Ran Feichi pointed at him fiercely, gritting his teeth, "Ask him."
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Students in the class turned to look—some tugged at each other to leave, while others lingered to watch the drama unfold.
Lin Honglang also turned his gaze to Li Wu, scrutinizing him. "What did you do?"
Ran Feichi sneered, "And here I thought he was so loyal. Turns out he sold us out the first chance he got."
Li Wu stopped in his tracks and said firmly, "I didn’t say anything."
"You didn’t? Your family’s already trying to get you moved to another dorm. They were probably just waiting for a chance to screw us over. I always thought you were putting on an act—seems I was right." As he spoke, Ran Feichi roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, shouldered his bag, and left.
Lin Honglang and Cheng Rui followed closely behind, using their body language to console him.
As he passed Li Wu, Cheng Rui shot him a complicated glance but said nothing.
Li Wu chased them down the stairs, raising his voice slightly, "Can we just talk this through?"
Lin Honglang abruptly turned back and blocked his path, grabbing his jacket with a hostile tone, "Fine! Talk to me then. Leave Ran Feichi alone, okay?"
His collar tightened, but Li Wu didn’t pull away. He stood straight, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Talk about what? What’s there to say? In such a hurry to clear your name after playing the good guy yesterday?" Ran Feichi spun around, his eyes bloodshot, "Thanks to you, Gu Yan and I have to face our parents tomorrow! Happy now?"
His voice was choked with anguish, thick with unshed tears.
A biting wind swept across the boys’ faces, stinging with cold.
Li Wu fell completely silent, a part of his heart collapsing as a sudden gust of wind seemed to pierce right through him. He stood motionless under the bleak night sky.
So that’s how it was.
So she really hadn’t covered for him.
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