Fallen
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🕑 Added 2025-10-04 20:31:50 +0000 UTCChapter 38 Part 1
After school, I was in the office, humming a little tune as I gathered my things to go home.
Suddenly a girl appeared at the door.
Looking up, I saw it was Qin Yu.
She was hugging the notebook she’d snatched from me at noon, standing there at the door, looking a little shy.
Curious, I asked: “Qin Yu, what brings you here? Looking for someone?”
She blushed. I waved her over, and she finally came in.
“What’s up? Something wrong?”
She handed me the notebook and asked, “Mr. Yu~ did you mark this?”
I thought she was mad after all, correcting someone else’s essay without asking could seem pretty rude. A little apologetic, I said, “I just did it idly, hope you don’t mind, uh… congrats on winning the prize, by the way…”
I tried to change the topic.
But she suddenly said, “Teacher you corrected it so well I thought I wrote it great Ms. Xing also said it was great but seeing your comments, I realized I’m still far from good enough Teacher, can you keep helping me edit? I was wrong at noon sorry”
I was taken aback; she’d blurted it all out, all excited, and was getting closer and closer to me. I hurriedly pushed her back: “Of course, of course I can.”
“Really? Thank you, teacher!” She was delighted, her eyes shining, then threw her arms around me.
The fresh, clean scent of a girl rushed all over me, making me lightheaded.
Just then, Ding Yuqian coughed unexpectedly. I glanced at her she knit her brows and shook her head lightly.
She had never expressed herself like this to me before. I knew she never joked, so my heart skipped; hastily, I pushed Qin Yu away.
Qin Yu quickly took two steps back, stood properly, her face red and head lowered, “S-sorry I got carried away ”
I had no idea what Ding Yuqian’s shaking head meant. Honestly, there was much I didn’t know, and I wanted to ask her, so I said to Qin Yu, “Alright, go back to class. You’ve got another lesson coming up.”
But Qin Yu said, “It’s still early I came straight here after class Mr. Yu~ can you help me finish editing the rest?”
“I can, but it’ll take some time. You go ahead, come get it tomorrow.”
“Thank you, teacher!”
“Mmm, you go first…”
She cut me off: “Teacher, what was the poem you recited at noon? I searched for ages and couldn’t find it, even asked Ms. Xing, but she hadn’t heard of it.”
No wonder if she’d heard it I’d have dropped dead on the spot!
“Oh, just something I made up, don’t mind it, hurry back…”
“You wrote it? Could you write it out for me? Is there a complete poem or just that couplet?” She grew excited again, edging closer I retreated a couple steps under the pressure of her enthusiasm.
I turned for help to Ding Yuqian, but she ignored me.
I had no choice but to say, “There is uh, just stop crowding me, stand back and I’ll write it out for you.”
She blushed again, hurriedly stepped back and stood still.
Heaving a sigh of relief, I sat down and wrote out Bai Juyi’s poem.
Qin Yu stood bent at my side, reading each line as I wrote it out.
When I got to: “In February, hard frost kills the peach and plum; next year, she’ll wed, this year she dies,” her voice choked up.
I looked up the girl who’d just been so excited, face still red, now cried big fat tears.
That scared me. I hurried to comfort her.
She clung to my sleeve, wiping tears away as she said, “Why? She was so good, why did it have to be her…”
I dabbed her tears and sighed: “Not all beauty can last. Regret is part of life. That’s why we…”
I sat back down and finished the last lines.
She gripped my shoulder tightly; I could feel her fingertips trembling as she whispered: “Most good things… don’t last, bright clouds scatter… colored glaze is fragile…”
When I finished, she snatched the notebook and read it again and again. I offered some tissues: “Enough, dry those eyes. Such a sensitive girl.”
She gazed at me: “Teacher~ did you write this?”
I didn’t want to admit it, just said, “I dreamed it.”
“A dream?”
“Uh… yeah.”
She cocked her head: “Then that means you wrote it?”
Whether I admitted or denied it, it was hard, since this was the first time I’d introduced that poem to this world. With no way to evade, I fell silent.
She pursed her lips. “Teacher~ Can you give me this poem?”
“What?”
“Not in that sense, just can you tear out this page and give it to me?”
“Oh, of course, of course.” I hurriedly tore it out for her.
“Title! What’s the poem called?”
I wrote down the title, “Simple Song” (《简简吟》). She murmured it, a little sadly.
I couldn’t help a sigh: “Alright, get going class is starting soon.”
She bowed slightly, finally satisfied, and skipped off.
I breathed out in relief, brewed myself a coffee, and brought it to Ding Yuqian, offering the cup, “What’s the matter?”
She pushed her glasses up, face expressionless as ever, tasted the cup, “She’s Xing Yi’s student.”
“I know that,” I said, confused.
She turned, rolled her eyes at me. I was speechless.
After a sip, she added, “Don’t you know how fierce Ms. Xing is?”
I really didn’t. But, from what I’d heard Gong Yue had called her an old witch, and even Ding Yuqian said she was fierce her reputation clearly preceded her.
Ding Yuqian rolled her eyes again. “Qin Yu is Xing Yi’s darling.”
That, I understood immediately.
Though I only knew Xing Yi from photos, she was certainly a stern teacher. She was just over thirty and an already a “special-grade” teacher.
Unlike Zhu Ying who had only just been named special-grade, and was a genius, finishing her doctorate at twenty-six, now in her seventh year at the job Xing Yi was another level.
She finished her master’s at twenty-five and, within four years, was already special-grade, making the star faculty of this top school nervous.
Most impressive of all no one disputed her qualifications.
Qin Yu was to Xing Yi what Keke was to me. For Xing Yi, seeing Qin Yu get close to me must feel like betrayal! That would sting the way Su Wan cuckolded me.
I broke into a cold sweat.
Ding Yuqian saw I’d caught the gravity of this and delivered the coup de grâce: “Nobody in this school dares cross Ms. Xing. She even scolds the principal in meetings. Qin Yu is in her final year if you get involved with her now… hmph!”
That “hmph” sent a chill down my spine.
Even though the notorious “old witch” made me nervous, I’d promised Qin Yu, and a name alone wouldn’t frighten me out of helping her. I spent the evening carefully editing her essay.
That night, at last satisfied, I put down my pen and stretched.
Shen Li appeared with a plate of peeled fruit, followed by Keke who wormed into my arms and picked up my notebook to flip through.
Shen Li stood behind me, kneading my shoulders. I looked up she met my eyes, smiled sweetly, flicked her hair, bit a pear slice, and kissed my lips.
With one arm around Keke’s waist and the other cradling Shen Li’s chin, I swallowed the pear and then took my time tasting her tongue.
After a moment, I let go. “So sweet.”
