Back to Auntie’s School Days - Chapter 13

The next day, as she dropped Tan Yanqing off at the school gates, Jian Hao happened to run into Jian You, who was carrying Zhu Xinsui.

All four of them dismounted at once.

Jian Hao looked at Zhu Xinsui. “Xinsui, I’ll go lock up the bike. You head upstairs.”

Zhu Xinsui stole a glance at Jian You and said shyly, “Let’s go together.”

Jian You didn’t notice Zhu Xinsui’s look. Her gaze was fixed on Jian Hao; after sweeping a glance over Jian Hao and a certain someone, she let out a snort. “You said you were staying at someone else’s house, and you actually did it.”

She clicked her tongue. “Jian Lai, you’re certainly a woman of action, aren’t you?”

Who’s the “someone else”? Jian Hao glanced at Tan Yanqing, who looked calm and expressionless as if she hadn’t heard a word of Jian You’s remarks.

Jian Hao pushed the bike toward Jian You and whispered, “Doesn’t that count as helping you out?”

Jian You’s eyes flickered as she looked away. “Otherwise, why do you think you’d still be allowed in my house?”

Jian Hao smiled. “Anyway, it was just this once. You two should have cleared things up by now, right?”

“Mhm.” Jian You realized something and frowned. “What do you mean, ‘just this once’?”

Jian Hao didn’t answer, asking instead, “You went to pick up Xinsui?”

“Yeah.” Jian You had woken up extremely early and was exhausted. “Hurry up. I still have to copy homework; I want to sleep after I’m done.”

“I finished mine,” Jian Hao said. “The Class Monitor taught me.” She didn’t lower her voice for this; she emphasized the words “Class Monitor” with a unique, lilting tone that reached everyone’s ears.

Tan Yanqing, who hadn’t been paying attention to their conversation, turned her gaze at that moment and gave them a flat look.

Seeing the smile on Jian Hao’s face, Jian You felt an inexplicable pang of annoyance. “No spine at all!”

“Who needs a spine? Having grades is enough.”

Jian You: “…”

Zhu Xinsui walked over and comforted Jian You. “I can teach you, too.”

Jian You turned her head unnaturally and replied in a low voice, “Okay.”

Zhu Xinsui suddenly realized her intent might be a bit too obvious and quickly added, “We can write it together.”

The atmosphere among the four suddenly went quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

They had reached the corner where the path split toward the building and the bike shed. Tan Yanqing didn’t say a word and walked straight toward the teaching building.

Jian You watched her back. “Her? Really?”

As the three of them pushed their bikes toward the parking area, Jian You looked at Zhu Xinsui and said, “Jian Lai gives her a ride to school, yet she doesn’t even wait to walk up with her. You think she’d write homework with us?”

Zhu Xinsui opened her mouth to defend Tan Yanqing, but another voice beat her to it.

“Not ‘us,’ it’s ‘you’.” Jian Hao said softly and helplessly. “Can you not be so hostile toward her? It’s all a misunderstanding.”

Jian You was left speechless.

Zhu Xinsui’s gaze darted between the two, and she asked curiously, “What misunderstanding?”

Jian Hao quickened her pace to distance herself, leaving Jian You to do the explaining.

Jian Hao spent the first two classes of the morning staring at Tan Yanqing’s ponytail.

Alright, sitting behind Tan Yanqing meant her gaze was permanently glued to her.

Tan Yanqing’s posture was perfect, like a model from a textbook illustration. She could maintain a straight, rigid back for an entire lesson. She had a slender build, and sitting so upright caused her shoulder blades to become faintly visible. They weren’t sharp “butterfly bones,” but rather a soft, rising silhouette—like the distant, rolling mountain ranges one sees merging with the horizon.

Whenever she stared at Tan Yanqing, Tan Yanqing became the world.

Not just her world.

Rather, seeing Tan Yanqing made every beautiful, imaginative thing in the world resemble her. She was a world unto herself.

But Jian Hao could only appreciate this thought in private.

No one knew she liked Tan Yanqing. Even her best friend only knew she had a secret crush, but not who it was. She didn’t dare tell.

She was afraid of hearing: “Huh? You actually like your Auntie? That’s so creepy!” or “I suggest you give up; your Auntie would never be with you.”

Even if there was a slim chance of a supportive answer—“So, have you confessed to her?”—she was still too terrified to speak.

From fifth grade through middle school, she stayed silent because she was young and feared her mother’s scolding. By high school, she stayed silent because she suddenly realized that even if they lived on the same soil, they were in different dimensions.

The distance between her and Tan Yanqing was far too vast.

Tan Yanqing was an adult—successful, financially independent, and emotionally stable. When Jian Hao wondered why she fell for her, she realized it was perfectly normal to be attracted to Tan Yanqing’s competence and charisma.

Anyone could fall in love with Tan Yanqing, but Tan Yanqing wouldn’t fall in love with anyone.

Tan Yanqing’s kindness to her was just the care an elder gives a junior; it didn’t mean she would accept being her girlfriend…

So, what gave her the courage to confess?

Thinking of the look Tan Yanqing gave her after that confession, Jian Hao slumped weakly onto her desk. Her eyes were still fixed on Tan Yanqing’s back.

Then, she poked it with her pen.

A gentle poke, but enough to make Tan Yanqing’s back stiffen.

The mischievous puppy was bored in class.

On the podium, the teacher was talking incessantly. Tan Yanqing—who, in the eyes of every teacher, never drifted off—paused for a moment and tilted her head slightly to the side. She couldn’t see Jian Hao, but she felt her pass something against her back.

“What?” she whispered.

“For you,” Jian Hao said.

Tan Yanqing assumed it was something ordinary. She turned slightly to take it and found it was a note folded into a small square. When the teacher turned to write on the blackboard, Tan Yanqing lowered her head and unfolded it with both hands.

[Can I come over to do homework with you again tonight?]

By the time she looked up, the teacher had turned back around. Tan Yanqing, who had never passed notes in class, didn’t reply.

A moment later.

Her desk mate handed her another note. “From Jian Lai.”

The note was tossed onto her desk. Tan Yanqing didn’t touch it. About a minute later, Tan Yanqing moved the arm she had been propping on the desk. She inconspicuously took the note, lowering it to the edge of the desk drawer, her gaze dropping to the unfolded paper.

[Are you afraid I’m lying to you?]

She still didn’t reply.

Another minute passed, and her desk mate handed her yet another note, giving them both a weird look before whispering a complaint: “You’re sitting so close, can’t you pass it yourselves?”

Tan Yanqing’s expression remained calm. After the teacher turned around again, she opened the note.

[Does that mean you’re planning to date me?]

It was hard to even look at.

Tan Yanqing crumpled the note in her hand. Her palm felt inexplicably hot, the sweat almost soaking through the paper. Just as she stuffed the note into her pocket, the teacher’s stern voice rang out from the front: “What are you doing?!”

A prickle of heat spread across Tan Yanqing’s back.

“Jian Lai.”

The teacher called out a different name.

Tan Yanqing didn’t feel a sense of relief; instead, her hand in her pocket tightened.

“Stand up!”

The teacher stepped down from the podium and stood beside Tan Yanqing. The paper ball in Tan Yanqing’s hand was already wrinkled with sweat, but her back remained perfectly straight; no one could see any sign of guilt on her surface.

However, no one was paying attention to her. Everyone’s focus was on Jian Hao.

The teacher looked at Jian Hao. “You’re in your senior year and still passing notes?”

“Who is the note for?” the teacher asked.

Jian Hao: “It’s mine.”

The teacher held out a hand. “Hand it over.”

Tan Yanqing couldn’t see Jian Hao’s face, but she heard her soft, muffled voice from behind.

“Please don’t, Teacher~”

“If you don’t give it to me, should I call your homeroom teacher over?”

Tan Yanqing heard the rustle of clothes behind her. Then, from her peripheral vision, she saw the teacher take something—a note folded into a small square, just like the ones in her pocket.

The teacher opened it. Upon seeing the first three words, the teacher gave Tan Yanqing a surprised glance. Then, reading the rest, she let out a chuckle.

“Tan Yanqing…”

As the three words were read aloud, the whole class went silent. The note was for Tan Yanqing?! Everyone was dying to know what it said!

Only Tan Yanqing remained expressionless, her face icy.

The teacher continued reading: ” ‘Teacher, I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ “

The whole class burst into laughter.

Their expectations were shattered; they thought they were about to hear some juicy gossip about Tan Yanqing. But then again, only “Jian Lai” was new here. Everyone else knew Tan Yanqing was an ice block; in two years of being classmates, most people hadn’t said fifty words to her combined. Passing notes or love letters was something Tan Yanqing usually ignored; even if they were put right in front of her, she wouldn’t spare them a glance.

Passing a note to Tan Yanqing to say you didn’t understand the lesson? You might as well just raise your hand and ask the teacher.

The teacher put the note back on Jian Hao’s desk and said gently, “If you don’t understand, why don’t you raise your hand? Why pass notes?”

She assumed Jian Hao was just too shy as a new student. “Which problem didn’t you understand?”

Jian Hao: “Just… the last one.”

The teacher turned back toward the podium. “I’ll explain it one more time. Listen carefully.”

“Understood, thank you, Teacher.” Jian Hao sat down.

Tan Yanqing’s desk mate leaned in and whispered, “So you pass notes just to ask questions?”

Notes for top students are so boring.

She sat back to continue listening. She didn’t notice that Tan Yanqing’s shoulders remained tensed the entire time.

End of Class

Zhu Xinsui went to the restroom, and Jian Hao accompanied her. As they passed Tan Yanqing, Zhu Xinsui asked, “Yanyan, are you going?”

Tan Yanqing gave a quiet “Mhm.”

Jian Hao thought for a moment and turned to shout toward the back: “Jian You, you going to the restroom or what!”

Jian You was about to collapse onto her desk for a nap. Hearing the shout, her instinct was to refuse, but looking up and seeing all three of them standing in the aisle waiting for her, she stood up as if possessed.

Even-numbered floors had male restrooms; odd-numbered floors were for females. The four of them headed down from the fourth floor to the third. They ran into many people who knew Jian You; seeing her actually going to the restroom with Tan Yanqing, many gave them surprised looks.

Four people went downstairs, but only Zhu Xinsui entered the restroom.

Jian You looked at the other two and crossed her arms. “If you’re not using the restroom, why did you come?”

Jian Hao smiled. “Didn’t you come without needing to go, too?”

Jian You: “That’s because you guys called me.”

Just as Jian You finished speaking, a girl came out of the restroom and pulled her aside, saying she had something to chat about. Jian Hao marveled at how many friends Jian You had.

Jian Hao watched Jian You leave for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Tan Yanqing’s face. She wore a sweet smile. “Why didn’t you reply to my note?”

In contrast to her soft whisper, Tan Yanqing was perfectly serious. “Don’t give me these things during class in the future.”

Jian Hao waited. “That’s it?” She was still smiling. “I asked three questions, you know~”

But she was met only with Tan Yanqing’s stern, cold gaze.

“Jian Lai, you have no discipline whatsoever.”