Carrying My Senior's Coffin (GL) - Chapter 14

“Director Tong doesn’t seem to be thirty yet.”

With her chopsticks between her lips, Fang Yiyi did the math.

“She seems about the same age as you, Senior. Do you know that classmate she mentioned?”

“I don’t. Eat your food.”

“Oh.”

Li Ting clearly had no interest in the subject and did not want to say more, so Fang Yiyi obediently stopped asking and concentrated on eating.

After finishing her meal, Fang Yiyi lay on the bed and fiddled with her phone.

She accidentally opened a video.

A sudden moan rang out through the silent dormitory.

Li Ting: “…”

Fang Yiyi: “…”

Li Ting flexed her wrist and approached with ill intent.

“You duplicitous little thing. So you were lying when you said it hurt.”

Fang Yiyi’s face flushed bright red.

She became completely incoherent.

“No, no, no! I wasn’t! I didn’t… Mm!”

Li Ting thoroughly subdued her.

Fang Yiyi was tormented until very late, and several more blue-purple marks appeared on her body.

The next day, Director Tong came again.

At the time, Fang Yiyi was memorizing vocabulary words when the door suddenly shook with a series of loud, urgent knocks.

Bang, bang, bang!

The sound was especially jarring in the quiet room.

Caught completely off guard, Fang Yiyi jumped so badly that she nearly dropped her book.

Fang Yiyi: “…”

Li Ting concealed herself.

Fang Yiyi sighed.

Practically radiating resistance, she went to open the door with an expression of utter despair.

“Good morning, Yiyi.”

Compared with the previous day, Director Tong seemed to have dressed up carefully.

She wore a white dress and light makeup. Her long hair had been curled slightly and fell over her shoulders.

She looked like a university student in her early twenties—beautiful, fresh, and innocent.

The moment she saw Fang Yiyi, she greeted her cheerfully.

Perhaps because Li Ting was not human, Fang Yiyi could not appreciate anyone else’s beauty, whether male or female.

She only gave Director Tong a brief glance and concluded that the woman had dressed to look very young today.

That was all.

Out of politeness, Fang Yiyi stepped aside and said insincerely, “Good morning, Director. Please come in.”

As Director Tong walked past her, Fang Yiyi’s face immediately fell behind her back.

The instant Director Tong turned around, Fang Yiyi raised the corners of her mouth again.

She was becoming remarkably worldly.

“Please sit, Teacher.”

Fang Yiyi carried over the room’s only chair.

Director Tong did not sit.

Instead, she took out an exquisitely packaged box of Lansen skincare products and handed it to Fang Yiyi.

“A gift from your teacher.”

Fang Yiyi was overwhelmed by the favor.

Rather than looking pleased to receive a gift, she appeared alarmed.

“How could I accept this? Teacher, I can’t take it. You spent far too much. There’s no need.”

Lansen cosmetics were a long-established domestic brand regarded as a source of national pride and sold both at home and abroad.

When Fang Yiyi was little, she had seen the brand on her mother’s dressing table.

One could say that the products were as expensive as they were famous.

Given her relationship with Director Tong, what had Fang Yiyi ever done to deserve something like this?

When someone showed kindness for no reason, they were either plotting something immoral or planning a theft.

She absolutely could not accept it!

Alarm bells rang loudly in Fang Yiyi’s mind.

She stared at the square package decorated with a cute little blue bird as though it were a time bomb.

Director Tong froze for a moment.

Then she covered her mouth and giggled.

The sound was like a little chick that had never grown up.

Fang Yiyi: “…”

Director Tong teased, “Yiyi is even shy about this. Don’t worry. It didn’t cost much.”

“It’s a little embarrassing to admit.”

Her eyes curved with a smile. Each eyelash, thickly coated with mascara, was clearly defined like the bristles of two stiff brushes.

“I bought it to meet the minimum amount for a promotion. I was in a hurry and didn’t spend much.”

“Afterward, I realized I had purchased the wrong one. I have oily skin, while this set is for combination-to-dry skin.”

“I thought it would suit you quite well.”

Fang Yiyi said, “It must still have been expensive. Wouldn’t it be better to return it?”

“Oh.”

Director Tong cut her off.

“I only added it to use a discount voucher. If I return it, I’ll have to repay the difference. That would be troublesome and not worth it.”

“Besides, I’ve already brought it here. How can Yiyi make me take it back?”

“That would be so embarrassing for me, wouldn’t it?”

Fang Yiyi scratched her head.

She did not understand how refusing the gift would cause Director Tong embarrassment.

“Take it. Girls should take care of themselves. Look at how dry your skin is.”

Without allowing any further argument, she stuffed the box into Fang Yiyi’s hands.

“But this… Teacher…”

Director Tong deliberately hardened her expression.

“If you still refuse, I’ll get angry.”

…

Fine.

Fang Yiyi, who had apparently died young when it came to verbal skills, failed to refuse and reluctantly accepted it.

Director Tong nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s right. What an obedient child.”

“Teacher, I’m already an adult. I’m not a child anymore.”

Goose bumps rose across Fang Yiyi’s skin, and she could not stop herself from objecting.

Director Tong blinked.

The look in her eyes gradually became meaningful as she slowly said, “That’s right. You’re nineteen this year. You’re no longer a child.”

“You’re even a year older than we were back then.”

Fang Yiyi could not decipher her meaning.

She nodded innocently and said something completely irrelevant.

“Oh… yes. Time passes pretty quickly.”

“Mm-hm.”

Director Tong behaved as though they were already close.

She walked around the room and carefully examined every corner.

“It’s the same as before. It hasn’t changed much.”

It was a dormitory room.

Unless the university renovated it, how much could it possibly change?

Fang Yiyi complained furiously in her mind.

But when she actually needed to speak, she had no words at all.

Since remaining silent also seemed rude, she began filling the air with meaningless conversation.

“Teacher, were you also a student at Zhengling Women’s University?”

“That’s right. The three of us chose this university together, and all three of us were admitted.”

“That’s nice.”

Fang Yiyi blinked.

She did not ask who the three people were.

They were Director Tong’s friends, and Fang Yiyi would not know them even if she was told.

At those words, however, Director Tong’s smile faded.

Her lips twisted faintly.

“What was so nice about it? It would have been better if we’d all gone our separate ways.”

“Isn’t it nice for close friends to stay together?”

Although Fang Yiyi had no relatives or friends to speak of, she longed deeply for friendship.

Unfortunately, her social anxiety was terminal.

She could only watch other people call out to groups of friends and envy them from afar.

“Two people are enough. With three, one is unnecessary.”

Director Tong pursed her lips.

“Uh…”

Fang Yiyi did not know whether she should respond.

This subject was completely outside her area of knowledge.

Director Tong glanced at her and smiled.

“When there are three people, and two of them start dating, doesn’t the third become unnecessary?”

“Don’t you think so?”

“…”

Fang Yiyi considered it and decided she could understand.

“I suppose they would become something of a third wheel.”

“If the other two both went out with their boyfriends, the remaining person would have no one to spend time with.”

Director Tong’s smile did not change, but she shook her head.

“It would have been fine if things had continued like that.”

“Unfortunately, people always change.”

Now Fang Yiyi was entirely out of things to say.

“Time truly passes quickly,” Director Tong said again.

Fang Yiyi knew how to respond to this one.

“Mm-hm. The days just pass one after another.”

“Yes…”

Director Tong looked into the distance at the tall buildings outside.

A trace of sorrow appeared between her brows as she sighed.

“Something so enormous happened, yet we foolishly believed it was only another ordinary day among countless days and nights.”

That statement was maddeningly difficult to answer.

“What happened?”

Fang Yiyi’s eyes had gone blank.

She gave up trying to understand the context and interpreted only the literal words.

“What happened that day?”

“Mm…”

Director Tong repeated softly, “What happened that day…?”

Fang Yiyi: “…”

Director Tong slowly surveyed the room, then closed her eyes as if recalling the past.

In a soft voice, she said, “That day, the person I loved left me.”

“Oh…”

Fang Yiyi froze.

She remembered that Director Tong seemed to still be single.

“That’s such a pity. Didn’t you confess?”

“No.”

Director Tong smiled and shook her head.

“I should have told her long ago, but I was too cowardly then.”

“I was afraid she would reject me.”

“If we couldn’t even remain friends afterward, then wouldn’t that have been…”

“I’m very happy that I could finally say it here today.”

Fang Yiyi scratched her hair.

“Teacher, did you never contact him again afterward?”

Director Tong did not answer.

She only shook her head.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Fang Yiyi felt as though tears were glimmering in Director Tong’s eyes.

Oh no!

Fang Yiyi panicked.

The tiny figure inside her mind screamed and tore at its hair as she ransacked her vocabulary for comforting words.

“Um… um… Teacher, don’t be sad. He was the one without good fortune. You…”

Director Tong burst out laughing.

Looking at Fang Yiyi’s helpless expression, she said, “You’re so adorable.”

“All right, I’ll stop teasing you.”

“It’s getting late. I have a faculty meeting soon, so I should head back.”

“You’re leaving, Teacher?”

Fang Yiyi sounded delighted.

“Mm. Were you studying, Student Yiyi? Study hard. Keep it up!”

She made an encouraging gesture.

“I’m going now. Bye-bye.”

Fang Yiyi escorted Director Tong to the door, her voice practically dancing with happiness.

“Bye-bye!”

After closing the door, Fang Yiyi released a long sigh of relief.

When she turned around, she saw Li Ting sitting on the edge of the bed with one leg crossed over the other.

Li Ting looked up at her with an unfriendly expression.

“Senior?”

Fang Yiyi froze.

A question mark seemed to slowly appear above her head.

“That director of student affairs…”

Li Ting frowned.

“Try not to bring her here again.”

“Oh…”

Realizing Li Ting’s displeasure was not directed at her, Fang Yiyi relaxed.

However, seeing Li Ting’s expression, she wisely chose not to ask any questions.

“Okay. I understand.”

“Mm.”

Li Ting nodded without expression.