Wutong leaves fell, the sun bright and the wind gentle.

The whole office was filled with the delicate fragrance of golden osmanthus.

Zhu Wenshu had been sitting in a daze at her desk for over ten minutes.

Under the bright autumn sun, she rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the golden osmanthus tree swaying outside the window, her face written all over with conflict.

Ling Chen, out of consideration for an old classmate, had given her two concert tickets. She could hardly tell him, “Actually I wasn’t planning to go to your concert, so I was going to give the tickets away.”

That would be a bit too presumptuous, wouldn’t it.

But if she kept one ticket for herself, was she supposed to go together with Zhu Qisen’s music teacher?

That would be too strange—she’d never even met this Xue’er.

As for the option of going with Zhu Qisen, Zhu Wenshu hadn’t even considered it.

After thinking it over for a good while, Zhu Wenshu turned her gaze to WeChat on her phone.

After all, in Ling Chen’s eyes she was already a shameless freeloader mooching tickets off him.

Being a little more brazen… probably wouldn’t make much difference?

Having talked herself into it, Zhu Wenshu quickly typed out a message.

Zhu Wenshu: Thank you for the tickets, I’m so honored [grin]

After sending this message, she waited a long time, but there was no response at all from the other side.

Not until she had finished grading homework for both classes did Ling Chen finally reply with a single word.

How was she supposed to continue this conversation?

This outstanding young Chinese language teacher found herself at a loss for words.

After quite a while, Zhu Wenshu finally managed to squeeze out a direct question.

Zhu Wenshu: Do you have any extra tickets?

It seemed she’d wounded the big star’s pride.

Zhu Wenshu hissed, and hastily recalled her previous message.

Zhu Wenshu: What I mean is, I have a friend who also really, really likes you.

Zhu Wenshu: Infatuated for you, exhausted for you, suffering every hardship for you, all just wishing to be intoxicated by you in person.

A few minutes later, Ling Chen sent over a voice message.

Zhu Wenshu glanced around, and just to be safe, she pulled out her earphones and put them on before playing the voice message.

“How about I give you seven or eight more, then?”

Seven or eight… tickets?

Zhu Wenshu nearly dropped her phone.

Given the market price of Ling Chen’s concert tickets, wouldn’t seven or eight tickets clean her out?

Unable to believe it, she played the voice message again to confirm he really had said seven or eight.

Zhu Wenshu: Are your tickets not selling????

c: Zhu Wenshu

c: Try pushing your luck a little more.

c: One ticket.

c: No extras.

Zhu Wenshu: Got it!

Not expecting Ling Chen to be so easy to talk to, having resolved this problem so effortlessly, Zhu Wenshu typed out a line from the bottom of her heart.

Zhu Wenshu: I’ll definitely bring a huge, huge bouquet of flowers—wishing you eternal fame and success!

c: I hope Teacher Zhu’s blessing comes true.

Just as she set down her phone, someone patted Zhu Wenshu on the back.

“Teacher Zhu, what are you listening to that’s got you smiling so happily?”

“Huh?”

Zhu Wenshu turned around and saw Teacher Wang looking at her with curiosity, only then remembering she still had her earphones on.

“Oh, nothing, I was listening to a Guo Degang comedy sketch.”

Zhu Wenshu took off her earphones and casually touched her own cheek.

Had she really been smiling?

“By the way, I was just talking to you and you didn’t hear me.”

Teacher Wang said, “Do you have a spare red pen? I can’t find mine—I’ll buy you a new one later.”

“Sure, sure.”

Zhu Wenshu hastily handed over the red pen at hand to her senior colleague. “It’s just a pen, no need to pay me back—just use it.”

Digging out another red pen from her drawer, Zhu Wenshu continued grading yesterday’s homework.

After finishing, she moved on to grading the leftover homework from the National Day holiday.

Opening the first student’s composition, Zhu Wenshu’s gaze paused on the cover for a moment, then she suddenly buried her head, flipping through the pile of homework.

Ling Siyuan’s notebook was always easy to find—she just needed to pick out the most tattered, dirtiest ones, and his would definitely be among them.

Sure enough, when Zhu Wenshu spotted the crooked, scrawled characters “Ling Siyuan” on a cover, she took a deep breath and flipped to the first page.

“National Day Autumn Outing”

“The National Day holiday arrived, and Dad took me out to play.”

Seeing this line, Zhu Wenshu’s brow twitched, a complicated mix of feelings welling up inside her.

She both hoped Ling Chen could find time to spend with Ling Siyuan, and worried that if he really took him out, passersby might photograph them.

If that happened, it would be a bloody mess, and who knew how it would end.

Fortunately, upon reading the next sentence, she set aside this worry.

“We went to the countryside to Great-Uncle’s orchard. There were apple trees, persimmon trees, and orange trees.”

An orchard belonging to their own relatives—there shouldn’t be many people around.

“The oranges were bright golden, the persimmons small, the apples big and round. I really wanted to eat some, so Dad climbed a tree and picked two apples, and we sat by the road taking huge bites out of them.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…?”

Ling Chen… climbing trees? Sitting by the road munching apples?

“Then the guard dog spotted us, and Dad picked me up and ran. I’m really heavy, and my dad has a big butt, and when he ran he was panting even harder than the dog.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

…A big butt?

“Uncle Sun went down over the mountain, and Dad held my hand and we hopped and skipped all the way home. That night Dad was so tired he couldn’t straighten his back, and said he’d have to go to the hospital the next day.”

An image of Ling Chen “hopping and skipping” surfaced in Zhu Wenshu’s mind, and she really couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Teacher Zhu, why are you laughing again?”

Teacher Wang, returning from the water dispenser with a cup of tea, saw Zhu Wenshu lying over her desk laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking, and was utterly puzzled. “What kind of comedy sketch is this funny?”

“It’s not a comedy sketch.”

Zhu Wenshu looked up, wiped the corners of her eyes, and pointed at the notebook. “I’m laughing at a student’s composition.”

Having been a Chinese teacher for over thirty years, Teacher Wang quickly glanced it over but couldn’t see what was so funny.

“Isn’t this a pretty ordinary composition? What’s funny about it?”

“Well…”

Zhu Wenshu didn’t know how to explain it to Teacher Wang. “It’s just a bit funny, I guess.”

Teacher Wang shook her head and returned to her seat, wearing an expression that said “I just don’t understand what you young people find funny.”

Zhu Wenshu composed herself, picked up her pen, and earnestly wrote a comment.

—”Very interesting. Also, I wish your dad a speedy recovery.”

Whether it was because Ling Siyuan’s travel essay had such a lingering effect, Zhu Wenshu was in a good mood all day, and sometimes, suddenly recalling it, she couldn’t help but laugh again.

After school that afternoon, once she had handed every student over to their parents at the pickup area, she turned and headed toward the bus stop, and happened to spot Zhu Qisen riding his bike home from work.

“Zhu Qisen!”

Seeing that he was about to cross the road, Zhu Wenshu hurriedly called out to stop him.

“What is it?”

Zhu Qisen hopped off his bike, one foot braced on the ground. “I’m in a hurry to go find Xue’er, so make it quick if you’ve got something to say.”

Lovesick fool.

Zhu Wenshu walked up to him, and with a cold expression, pulled out two tickets.

“Here.”

“What is this thi— holy crap!”

Once he made out the words on the tickets, Zhu Qisen froze for a moment, then held them up to the light and examined them over and over, as if checking for counterfeit money.

“Where did you get these?!”

“My roommate.”

Zhu Wenshu lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers, pretending to sound casual. “She said she scored a great deal on them in a fan group.”

The brawny Zhu Qisen didn’t think twice about it, and excitedly hopped off his bike to grab Zhu Wenshu’s hands.

“You’re like a parent to me reborn—I’ll repay you in my next life.”

“Let go, let go of me, grabbing at me like this—what would people think of a teacher!”

Zhu Wenshu yanked her hands free, not wanting to keep dawdling with Zhu Qisen. “If there’s nothing else, I’m heading home.”

“Wait a second!”

Zhu Qisen pulled out his phone, saying hurriedly, “How much was it? I’ll transfer you the money.”

Zhu Wenshu froze.

If Zhu Qisen hadn’t brought it up, she really would have forgotten about this—

She’d told Zhu Qisen the tickets were bought by her roommate, so of course he’d insist on paying.

“Or… never mind, forget it.”

“No way.” Zhu Qisen patted Zhu Wenshu on the shoulder. “Even between close siblings, accounts should be settled clearly. There’s no way I’ll take these from you for free, and besides, they weren’t cheap. How could I let you foot the bill for me chasing a girl? How would I have the nerve to ask you for help again after that?”

Zhu Wenshu lowered her eyes, glancing at the tickets in his hand.

“Just… just the original price, twelve hundred eighty each.”

“Original price?! No markup?!”

Now Zhu Qisen’s eyes went even wider than when he’d first gotten the tickets. “Is whoever sold these a philanthropist or something?”

“…You can think of it that way, sure.”

“You’re sure these tickets aren’t fake, right?”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

She turned her face away and said with a frown, “They’re genuine. Absolutely genuine.”

“Alright.”

A few seconds later, Zhu Wenshu received a WeChat transfer of 2,560.

On the way home, she kept thinking about this money, feeling like something was off.

At first she’d only wanted to do Zhu Qisen a favor; receiving Ling Chen’s tickets had been unexpected too.

And it wasn’t a good time to tell Zhu Qisen that the tickets were a gift from Ling Chen.

Never mind whether Zhu Qisen would believe her—just imagining everyone around her finding out about her relationship with Ling Chen and pestering her with questions was enough to give her a headache.

But now that Zhu Qisen had given her this money, she felt like some kind of scalper profiting off Ling Chen.

Besides, Ling Chen had given her the tickets purely out of consideration for an old classmate—holding onto this money felt like it was burning her hands; her conscience wouldn’t allow it.

As a teacher of the people, Zhu Wenshu felt she had to be able to face herself with a clear conscience.

So without thinking too much, she transferred the money to Ling Chen as she walked.

Coincidentally, Ling Chen must have been looking at his phone right then, because he replied quickly.

c: What money?

Zhu Wenshu: I thought about it, and I really can’t take your tickets for free.

Zhu Wenshu: This is the money for today’s two tickets.

c: No need.

Zhu Wenshu: There is, there is!

Zhu Wenshu: I’m your child’s teacher—it’s not appropriate for me to take things from you for free.

After sending this, Zhu Wenshu felt more and more that she’d done the right thing.

Better safe than sorry—if anyone ever found out, they might think she was accepting gifts from a student’s parent.

c: So if you weren’t my child’s teacher, you could accept it?

Zhu Wenshu: That’s not what I meant either…

Zhu Wenshu: I know how hard your tickets are to get. If I took them for free, wouldn’t I have to treat you to a meal again?

A long time passed.

Zhu Wenshu got off at her stop, walked through the bustling pedestrian street, and bought a few oranges, picking up the scent of everyday life along the way.

Back home, Ying Fei had just picked up the delivery food.

The fragrant smell of malatang stirred Zhu Wenshu’s appetite again, and the two girls turned on the TV, digging in heartily amid the laughter of a variety show.

The moment Zhu Wenshu’s bedroom light turned on, Ling Chen’s WeChat finally stirred.

Zhu Wenshu opened her phone.

Ling Chen had accepted the money, but didn’t reply with another word.

________________________________________