It was getting late as Lin Wanxing escorted her students to the bus stop.

The two boys had already sobered from the joy of solving the riddle, though it was hard to tell if they were feeling dejected or something else. Neither spoke a word the entire way.

Two buses had come and gone, yet none of them had boarded.

Lin Wanxing checked the time but was finally unable to hold back. “Which bus are you planning to take?”

Qin Ao returned to reality — “I live close by, I can just walk back.”

Despite saying this, he made no move to leave, still standing at the bus stop with his hands in his pockets, expression thoughtful.

Chen Jianghe was the same way.

Lin Wanxing simply put down her bag and sat at the station.

Surprisingly, the students sat down beside her.

Flanked by her protectors, both taller than 175cm, they seemed to have words stuck in their throats.

Lin Wanxing sighed — “What’s wrong, my babies?”

Qin Ao — “What do you think Fu Xinshu received?”

Lin Wanxing sighed — “How would I know?”

“Then…” Qin Ao trailed off, placing his hands behind his head, and leaning against the illuminated advertisement board.

Another bus stopped at the platform, doors opening.

Chen Jianghe — “Even if it was just a prank, we don’t need to figure it out.”

Though the rebellious student said this, he showed no sign of decisive action, his bottom still glued to the bench.

“That’s true, maybe Old Fu is just messing with us.”

Lin Wanxing listened to her students’ conversation without interrupting.

After muttering to himself a while longer, Qin Ao finally turned his head — “You’re the teacher, shouldn’t you give some advice?”

“Advice about what? Whether you should join the competition?”

“Don’t you want to know who orchestrated this whole thing?” Qin Ao paused, “Besides, taking us to compete is your responsibility, isn’t it?”

“I’m not giving advice,” Lin Wanxing said seriously.

Qin Ao — “Basically because whether we play in the competition doesn’t matter to you. It’s not like you’ll get fired!”

“That’s a bit hurtful,” Lin Wanxing smiled, “But I still want you to decide for yourselves whether to participate.”

“Why?”

“I support your participation, but I also respect your reasons if you don’t want to go.”

“Huh?” Qin Ao was confused, “Why don’t you say something a teacher would say?”

“Like telling you opportunities are rare and you should seize them?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“It’s okay. Everyone misses many opportunities in life. Even if you don’t miss this one, you’ll miss the next.”

“You’re strange,” Chen Jianghe couldn’t help saying.

“Hey, you just noticed?” Lin Wanxing stood up, waving to her students — “If you’re not going home, I’m leaving.”

Qin Ao called after her — “Hey, at least give some useful advice as a teacher.”

Lin Wanxing stopped at her student’s call, the bus stop’s lights casting a dreamy glow.

“My advice is, think carefully, decide freely.”

That’s what she said.

Sunday, at the entrance of Hongjing City’s No. 8 Middle School.

The competition day arrived quickly, but the late summer temperatures continued to rise, making it unbearably hot to stand on the street for even five minutes without being drenched in sweat.

Starting from ten-thirty in the morning, Lin Wanxing sat in the security booth chatting with the old guard. By eleven o’clock, only eight students had arrived at the school gate.

Chen Jianghe had arrived early; despite his tough talk, the prickly student ultimately had a soft heart. Qin Ao and his little follower Lin Lu still hadn’t shown up. Fu Xinshu stood at the edge of the group, continuously watching the end of the sidewalk.

The school bus was unavailable, so Lin Wanxing booked a small shuttle van to transport the students, which arrived right on time. She stood before the students with the registration form — “Let me call roll first. When I call your name, say ‘here,’ then get on the bus.”

“Teacher, there are only eleven people. Can’t you just see who’s missing at a glance?” someone interjected listlessly.

Lin Wanxing smiled — “Don’t you think roll call has a certain ceremonial feeling?”

“No!” The chorus of disagreement was unanimous.

Just then, Fu Xinshu’s eyes lit up.

Lin Wanxing turned around to see Qin Ao and Lin Lu just getting off a public bus, walking over from across the street.

Qin Ao wore a soccer uniform with cleats hanging around his neck. Tall and strong with a fierce demeanor, he crossed the street with his “little brother” carrying a backpack and stood in front of Fu Xinshu.

Qin Ao raised an eyebrow, the scar under his eye shifting — “I’m just curious!” he said to Fu Xinshu.

“I know.”

“You better not be fooling me.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The boys around them saw Qin Ao, and someone shouted — “Wow, Brother Qin looks cool today!”

Qin Ao scanned the group, only then realizing that while most wore T-shirts and shorts, he was dressed the most formally — “Aren’t we playing in a competition? What are you all wearing?”

“Are you dumb? We packed ours in our bags!” Laughter erupted all around.

Qin Ao shoved his hands in his pockets disdainfully, though his face reddened slightly.

Lin Wanxing held her attendance sheet, interjecting at the right moment — “I’ll start roll call now.”

“Fu Xinshu.”

“Here.”

“Chen Jianghe.”

“Here.”

Despite grumbling, each student whose name was called obediently boarded the van.

“Zheng Feiyang.”

“Here.”

As the final student’s name was called, the list came to an end. Lin Wanxing looked at the one unchecked name, feeling surprised.

She put away the form and stepped onto the minibus. The students had already taken their seats, with ten boys making the small compartment look fully loaded.

The only person who hadn’t come was Wen Chengye.

In her understanding, Wen Chengye hadn’t raised his hand in objection that day, so she had assumed he would come. She hadn’t expected him to be absent without any notice.

“Teacher, Wen Chengye isn’t here. Should we wait for him?” Lin Lu asked cautiously.

Qin Ao sat with his legs crossed in a single seat — “He is a dog, isn’t he?”

Lin Wanxing looked around the cabin, approaching Qi Liang, who was close to Wen Chengye — “Did Wen Chengye tell you he wasn’t coming?”

Qi Liang had looked displeased from the start. Hearing this, he said — “I let my guard down. As expected of Wen the Dog.”

“What do you mean?”

Qi Liang gave a cold laugh — “He got me to come, then doesn’t show up himself. Got me all confused.”

“Then where is he?”

“I don’t have such a dog-son.”

“Can you call him?”

“I tried, he’s not answering. Why don’t you call his mom? When I say ‘his mom’ I’m not cursing.” Qi Liang leaned back lazily against his seat.

Lin Wanxing certainly didn’t have Wen Chengye’s mother’s contact information, but as the teacher in charge of this activity, she had a responsibility to ensure her student’s safety.

She had no choice but to ask the students to wait briefly. She then went to the security booth to find the phone number of Wen Chengye’s homeroom teacher, but being the weekend, she couldn’t get through. The security guard suggested she could check the student directory in the teachers’ office, so Lin Wanxing rushed back to the teaching building. After all this running around, she was drenched in sweat.

Panting heavily, she stood by the railing on the fourth floor of the teaching building and dialed Wen’s mother’s number.

When the call connected, the clacking sound of mahjong tiles came from Wen’s mother’s end.

Lin Wanxing tried to keep her voice calm as she explained the situation, but Wen’s mother replied in a soft, thin voice — “Our little Ye has math tutoring today, he can’t go play soccer, sorry about that.”

“But his teammates are all here waiting for him.”

“Oh dear, then please tell his classmates we’re sorry.”

At this point, Wen Chengye’s mother had already hung up.

Lin Wanxing stood holding her phone, feeling the pressure of her job for the first time.