Back to Auntie’s School Days - Chapter 1

What does it feel like to wake up and see the Grade Dean?

Jian Hao woke up, blearily opening her eyes, only to see a face that made her shudder. Her sleepiness vanished instantly, and she bolted upright. Clutching her thumping chest and thanking her lucky stars she hadn’t died of fright, she called out obediently, “D—Dean.”

Gao Jing chuckled. “I haven’t reached that rank yet.”

Gao Jing glanced at Jian Hao’s clothes. Finding nothing that identified her, she asked, “Are you a student at No. 1 High?”

Jian Hao: “…?” Confused, she asked, “Dean, you don’t recognize me anymore?”

Just the day before yesterday, the woman had caught her playing on her phone during self-study and made her write a self-reflection essay.

“You look a bit familiar,” Gao Jing said with a cough to hide her uncertainty, quickly changing the subject. “Then why aren’t you wearing your school uniform?”

“It’s a holiday, I don’t need to wear it, right?” Jian Hao watched Gao Jing scrutinize her. “Dean, why are you at my house? A home visit?”

Students at No. 1 High were allowed to bring phones; the rule was just that they couldn’t use them in class. Being caught during self-study only required an essay—surely it didn’t warrant a home visit?

Gao Jing assumed the student was drunk and confused. She tucked her hands behind her back. “Home? Ha! It’s good to treat the school like home, but collapsing drunk at the school gates? Student, you’ve got nerves of steel. Weren’t you afraid of being picked up by some bad person? It’s lucky I found you and had the guard carry you to the infirmary. Old Zhang checked you over and said you were just drunk and asleep. Otherwise, do you know how much trouble this stunt would have caused the school? Also, how old are you? Why are you drinking? Do you have any idea…”

Gao Jing lectured earnestly, not noticing that Jian Hao had frozen.

The fear and panic of seeing “Dean Gao” upon waking had prevented Jian Hao from noticing her surroundings. Looking around now, she realized she was indeed in the school infirmary.

But why did the infirmary look different from her memory? Why did it look so… old?

And Gao Jing—why did she look so much younger? She had white hairs the day before yesterday, but today her hair was jet black? She’d even gotten a perm? Even her glasses were different.

As Jian Hao stared, Gao Jing finally finished her nagging and asked, “What year are you in? Which class?”

Jian Hao already felt something was wrong. Gao Jing was her math teacher; there was no way she wouldn’t know her grade and class.

Jian Hao hesitated before replying, “Senior Year, Class 2.”

Gao Jing frowned. “I am the head teacher for Senior Class 2. How come I don’t know there’s a ‘you’ in my class?”

Jian Hao’s head began to throb. She couldn’t understand what was happening.

She’d just slept for a bit—how did Gao Jing forget her? And… she remembered she had fallen asleep at home after drinking. Had she run to the school gates in a drunken stupor? Why would she run to school? Was she that dedicated to her studies?

— Zzzt

— Zzzt

Two sharp, piercing bursts of static from an old-fashioned loudspeaker grabbed Jian Hao’s attention. Then, a high-pitched, bright female voice rang out across the campus.

“The Olympic spirit lives forever in our hearts! We celebrate the success of the Beijing Olympics! We are proud of our athletes’ outstanding achievements! In response to the Olympics, the school will hold an Autumn Sports Meet. We hope all students will sign up enthusiastically…”

The Beijing Olympics?

Wasn’t that… 2008?

Jian Hao’s eyes scanned the room and landed on a calendar on the infirmary wall. She glanced at it, looked away, then snapped her head back in a double-take. She climbed out of bed, paced to the wall, and stared intensely at the year printed there.

2—

2008?!

“I’m telling you, don’t lie about your class… I won’t tell your head teacher this time, but there won’t be a next time. If I catch you again, I’m calling your parents.” Gao Jing’s voice sounded from behind her, but Jian Hao was in no state to reply.

Gao Jing waited. Seeing the girl staring at the calendar as if she’d never seen one before, she guessed the student realized her mistake and was reflecting. Gao Jing walked up and patted Jian Hao on the shoulder. “Alright, go to class.”

Gao Jing left the infirmary.

Jian Hao was left standing alone, dazed in the air thick with the smell of disinfectant. She pinched herself hard; the pain told her this wasn’t a dream.

Was it possible there was just an old 2008 calendar on the wall? Was Gao Jing just pranking her?

She needed proof.

Jian Hao left the infirmary and stepped into the school. She was a student here; she could tell at a glance if anything had changed.

The residential complex next to the playground was gone; in its place were rows of red-brick bungalows. The library was gone, the Second Teaching Building was gone—only the large banyan tree in front of the First Teaching Building remained. Even the uniforms the students wore weren’t the 2025 style.

Jian Hao sat under the banyan tree, her fingers twisting together.

Fine. She had traveled through time.

Back to the year 2008!

Having read plenty of rebirth and time-travel novels, she could accept the concept, but the suddenness of it was overwhelming. How could something she’d fantasized about actually happen? Was it magic or just luck? And what was she supposed to do now? Buy real estate in Beijing? But by the 2008 Olympics, prices had already skyrocketed…

What else? Live streaming? Open a Taobao shop? Found Tencent or WeChat? Research smartphones? Or sell crepes at the school gate?

Jian Hao ran through the options and realized none of them were feasible for someone who scored a 60 in math.

So why did the heavens send her here?

And back to the year before she was even born—Jian Hao stood up abruptly.

She wasn’t lost anymore. Given the situation, she needed to find her mom, Jian You.

When Jian Hao was preparing for high school entrance exams, Jian You had said more than once that she had been a student at No. 1 High, which was why she wanted Jian Hao to go there too. Jian You graduated in 2009. That meant right now, Jian You should be a senior.

With that thought, Jian Hao ran into the teaching building. The First Teaching Building, which was old and worn in 2025, was brand new in 2008. Fortunately, the layout was the same. Jian Hao ran toward the stairs, but in her haste, she couldn’t brake in time. At the stairwell landing, she collided head-on with someone coming down.

The stack of workbooks the person was carrying scattered all over the floor.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Jian Hao apologized repeatedly while crouching down to pick them up one by one.

As she picked up one of the books, her gaze accidentally brushed past the name on the cover. The familiar name made her heart skip a beat, and her vision locked onto it.

In the next second, the workbook was pulled from her hand.

Jian Hao lifted her eyes, following the movement of the book.

Light is a different kind of sea; shadows are wandering fish. The sunlight painted the shadows of trees onto the corridor. Amidst the flickering, dappled light, Jian Hao saw the face of the person crouching in front of her.

Even across a distance of seventeen years, and even though this version lacked the maturity of the woman she knew, with her youthful face and eyes like unripened apricots, Jian Hao recognized her instantly.

“Auntie Tan… Tan Yanqing?” Jian Hao murmured.

It was Tan Yanqing.

Her Auntie Tan.

Tan Yanqing flicked her eyes up. Confirming she didn’t know the person in front of her, she silently lowered her head, gathered the last workbook from the floor, took the rest from Jian Hao’s hands, and stood up to walk toward the office.

She walked right past Jian Hao.

Carried by the faint scent of laundry detergent lingering on the woman, Jian Hao’s head turned slowly, her gaze following Tan Yanqing’s cold, retreating back. She stood frozen for a moment before quickly jumping up to follow her.

Her mother, Jian You, and Tan Yanqing were best friends; she heard they had met in high school. For as long as Jian Hao could remember, Tan Yanqing had been a constant in her life. From hospital stays to school pick-ups, Tan Yanqing was like a second mother, taking care of her meticulously.

Technically, Tan Yanqing was her godmother. But Jian Hao preferred to call her Auntie Tan. She felt that if she called her “Mom,” she wouldn’t be allowed to harbor “different” feelings for her.

And those “different” feelings… Jian Hao had known since the fifth grade that they were called “love.”

That was also the reason she had gotten drunk yesterday.

Before the fifth grade, she thought she clung to Tan Yanqing simply because the woman was incredibly good to her. But as she matured, she noticed classmates getting into relationships. When she heard about people being together, the first thought in her mind wasn’t shock, but: It would be great if Auntie Tan and I could date.

Just like that, she realized her love for Tan Yanqing in an instant.

She knew her love for Tan Yanqing was different from her love for her mother. She wanted to date Tan Yanqing. She wanted to hold hands and hug like lovers.

This was her secret.

And yesterday, on her seventeenth birthday, she had revealed it.

Jian You was away, so Tan Yanqing had spent the birthday with her. In the past, Tan Yanqing would fulfill any wish Jian Hao made. She had even promised to make every wish come true this time. Jian Hao had her own little scheme and took charge of the schedule. She arranged everything to feel like a date: a movie, dinner, the amusement park at night, and watching fireworks at the castle.

At the moment the fireworks exploded, she looked at Tan Yanqing and summoned her courage: “Tan Yanqing, let me be your girlfriend!”

Tan Yanqing heard her and looked back. The brilliant fireworks were reflected in her glasses, but beneath the lenses, a dark shadow flickered in her eyes.

Predictably, she was rejected. The Tan Yanqing who usually granted her every wish did not comply this time. Instead, she told her to go home and do more exam papers to “clear her head.”

Back home, with Jian You absent, the more Jian Hao thought about it, the sadder she got. She secretly drank Jian You’s red wine. The more she drank, the more she wanted to cry; the more she cried, the more she drank. She drank until she was wasted, finishing a whole bottle. And when she woke up—

Jian Hao stared at Tan Yanqing’s back.

Right now, Tan Yanqing wore a high ponytail and black-framed square glasses. It was a look Jian Hao had never seen. In her memory, Tan Yanqing either wore a low ponytail or had her long black hair loose around her shoulders, with rimless glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Those lenses partially hid the coldness in her eyes, but whenever she looked at Jian Hao, Jian Hao could always see a different emotion.

She didn’t know what that emotion was, only that the woman her mother described as cold, arrogant, and ice-like was uniquely patient and gentle with her.

But the moment Jian Hao met those ice-cold eyes, she suddenly recognized the Tan Yanqing her mother spoke of.

Tan Yanqing turned sideways to look at the person following her, a clear flash of impatience and coldness in her eyes. “Do you need something?”

“I…” Jian Hao had never been spoken to in that tone by Tan Yanqing. She froze, her throat so tight she couldn’t make a sound.

After about three seconds, Jian Hao found her voice. “I’m looking for Jian You.”

“Don’t know her.” Tan Yanqing turned to leave.

Jian Hao followed, asking in confusion, “Aren’t you two in the same class?”

Tan Yanqing looked back coldly. “And?”

Jian Hao opened her mouth, then opened it again, finally settling on: “…Oh.”

Seeing the girl’s eyelashes droop in grievance, Tan Yanqing’s gaze lingered on her for a fraction of a second, almost imperceptibly. But it was only a glance; she ignored her and continued walking forward.