]" href="#" cla.s.s="btn-wi btn-next disabled" dpmb="yes">Yang Wei took in a deep breath of fresh air. Thinking back upon her actions of the past few days, she felt faintly ridiculous.
Upon returning to the school, she proceeded to Cla.s.s 2 of the fifth grade and peered in. He Can sat inside alone, intent on her math test. Having given her next move a little thought, Yang Wei walked over to the front row and sat down next to her.
Hearing her entrance, He Can looked up in surprise. "Teacher Yang," she greeted.
Smiling at her, Yang Wei looked over the math papers on her desk. "Even though studying hard is great, taking care of yourself is also important. You shouldn"t neglect PE cla.s.s; only with both work and rest can you get twice the result for half your efforts."
Biting her lower lip, He Can stared at the pencil in her hand. "Entrance examinations for No. 2 Middle School start next month. It"s the very last one."
A few well-known schools in A City organized their own entrance examinations, and would refuse any student who failed. Reaching out her hand to the little girl in front of her, Yang Wei brushed her bangs to one side. "But you"re still only in fifth grade, He Can. You needn"t worry about that yet."
He Can lowered her head even more. "I failed the exams for No. 1 and No. 7 Middle School by just a little bit. My mom was so disappointed."
Although she couldn"t see her face, Yang Wei knew that tears must surely be filling her eyes.
She stroked He Can"s head comfortingly. "Talk to your mother - she"ll understand."
He Can was silent a moment, then with tears in her voice, said, "My mom will just ask how many practice tests I took and how many points I got..."
Yang Wei watched her tears pattering onto the math test full of scribbles. The dark gray writing slowly blurred into an unrecognizable smudge.
Reaching into her pocket, she realized that all her tissues had already been used up by Lin Shi and Zhang Jingyi, so she raised her hand and wiped away He Can"s tears with her fingers. "Then next time, ask her what prizes she won in this year"s year-end awards."
Through her tears, He Can broke into laughter. Patting her head one last time, Yang Wei stood up from her seat. "Don"t forget to attend roll call later. Remember, sports is also worth doing well in."
He Can nodded as she wiped away her tears. "Yes, Teacher Yang."
Yang Wei nodded before walking back to her office. After work, she went straight home. She had to teach an ill.u.s.tration cla.s.s that night, and because it was the first official cla.s.s, she had made thorough preparations. According to the syllabus, the first lesson should be on the structure of a head. Wait for Three More Minutes" request for a portrait came to mind, and she decided to use it as her example for the lecture, killing two birds with one stone.
At 7:30 sharp, Yang Wei entered her online cla.s.sroom, seeing 21 students at the bottom of the screen. It was no longer winter or summer vacation, so she was quite satisfied with the number. "h.e.l.lo everyone, I"m your teacher for this session, Flower Buns. A warm welcome to everyone here to partic.i.p.ate in my painting lesson~"
Hearing her greeting, the dialog box below leaped with responses in every colour.
Future Mr. Perfect: h.e.l.lo Teacher Flower Buns! ~ (^o^) / ~
Nine Nine Eight: Teacher Flower Buns" voice is so gentle~ ~ ~
Cocoa: Teacher, I"m hearing a delay on my end.
Li Gou Dan: :)
Yang Wei opened the painting software while keeping an eye on the dialog box. She recognized cla.s.smates Future Mr. Perfect and Li Gou Dan. Creating a new canvas, she said into the microphone, "Don"t worry about any delays, they won"t affect the cla.s.s. If you entered using a card, try quitting and logging in again. Now, I"m going to start the lesson. Today we will study drawing the head. Although gender and age influence the aspect of a head, general proportion remains unchanged. For instance, we often use the ratio of three divisions and five eyes..."
Drawing the outline of a head on the canvas, Yang Wei began to explain human head proportion. For her own convenience, she drew a short-haired lady with gla.s.ses and added another with long black hair - the former would be for Wait for Three More Minutes, and the latter for a new avatar.
Having covered the proportions of women, she launched into those of men. Almost subconsciously, she added longish curly hair to the drawing of her model.
Nine Nine Eight: How handsome~ <>
Cocoa: #LickingTheScreen
Qi Qi"s Meow: Well, this is obviously Teacher"s ex-husband!
Yang Wei: "..."
This is what you get for allowing students from previous cla.s.ses to attend this one for free!
Glancing at the portrait Yang Wei had just painted, Qi Xiao Yan gently smiled a smug little smile.
Future Mr. Perfect: Teacher, though ex-husbands are technically still alive, they"re actually already dead to you. Look to the future!
Qi Xiao Yan"s smile froze on his lips.
Having said that, Liang Ming Hao sighed just like an adult. He was breaking his own heart for his uncle"s happiness.
Yang Wei frowned upon seeing the most recent sentences that popping up. Ignoring cla.s.smate Future Mr. Perfect, she continued the lecture in an orderly manner. At the end of the three-hour course, she quickly washed up and collapsed on her bed.
There was a dull ache in her stomach, and Yang Wei tried to figure the date in her head. Was it that time of the month again? She blew out her cheeks, covered her belly, and slept.
It was the pain that roused her from sleep the next morning. Having not had cramps for a long time, they hit her like an earthquake. She gave up on taking the bus and caught a taxi to school, but by the time she walked into the office, she felt like death warmed over. Teacher Yao saw her pale face and leaned over. "Too much s.e.x?"
Yang Wei raised an eyebrow. "Cramps."
Enlightened, Teacher Yao offered, "I have brown sugar in a drawer somewhere. Add it to hot water and drink it."
Yang Wei nodded, made her way to her seat, and collapsed motionless into it. Teacher Luo, in the middle of considering showing his concern, was halted in his tracks Teacher Yao. "It"s a lady"s affair. You wouldn"t get it."
Teacher Luo: "..."
Yang Wei had two cla.s.ses that day, and first period had just begun. Glancing around at the empty office, she retrieved Teacher Yao"s brown sugar and drank it with hot water. It didn"t help. At the end of first period, Teacher Yao spotted her lying half-dead on her desk and helped her to the school nurse"s office.
The nurse gave her painkillers, and after taking them Yang Wei lay down for a little before feeling better. Somehow making her way through her first cla.s.s, she managed only a few mouthfuls for lunch. Before her afternoon cla.s.s, she made her way to the cla.s.sroom to take roll call, then floated back to the office. Liang Ming Hao saw her go and texted a message to Fang Cheng Ran, "Uncle, Teacher Yang seems to be ill. She"s looking super dead today."
Fang Cheng Ran"s slim fingers were at that very moment slamming on the keys of his mechanical keyboard. His new series, had been warmly welcomed by readers right from the very start. He received many comments and reminders every day, and taking advantage of the tailwind from , he had planned to write 20,000 words that day to please his readers.
The phone lying on his desk flashed. Fang Cheng Ran polished off the chapter he was working on, then turned to his phone to check it. His brow wrinkled slowly. Turning off the computer, he picked up his car keys and left.
Though Yang Wei still had a cla.s.s that afternoon, she asked for the day off and left early. The painkiller"s effects seemed to have pa.s.sed, and cramps were striking her once again, one after the other. She crawled to the school gate at the speed of a turtle, when she found herself suddenly supported by someone. "What"s wrong?"
Caught off-guard, Yang Wei registered the person who had suddenly appeared before her startled eyes. "Fang Cheng Ran, how are you here?"
Fang Cheng Ran took one look at her pale face before lifting her into the car with a frown. "I"ll take you to the hospital."
Suddenly shy, Yang Wei muttered, "No, it"s just... cramps."
Fang Cheng Ran"s actions were delayed only by a moment before he started up the car smoothly and drove out. Only the slightly unnatural tilt of his eyebrows revealed his embarra.s.sment. "Do you need to buy anything?"
Though laughter bubbled up inside her all of a sudden, she fought back the impulse to send Fang Cheng Ran in to buy sanitary napkins by himself. "I"ve probably got some painkillers at home. You can just send me back that way."
Although she said so, Fang Cheng Ran still dropped by a pharmacy, coming back with a small packet of medicine in his hand. Holding her stomach, Yang Wei couldn"t help but inquire, "What did you tell the clerk?"
Fang Cheng Ran fastened his seat belt and smiled at her, head c.o.c.ked to one side. "That my girlfriend has period cramps."
Yang Wei had to turn away. The fact that he was so matter-of-fact about it perversely made her even more embarra.s.sed.
When Qi Xiao Yan came out of the cla.s.sroom, he received a message from Calabash Babies Art Cla.s.s. "Dear cla.s.smate, I am a member of the Calabash Babies art faculty. As Teacher Flower Buns is feeling under the weather, tonight"s cla.s.s will be postponed to tomorrow night. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience to you."
Qi Xiao Yan thought for a moment, then frowned, as if understanding something.