“I’m Ling Siyuan’s teacher.”

After saying this, Zhu Wenshu thought for a moment and added, “I just transferred here this semester to teach Ling Siyuan’s class.”

There was no response from inside for a long while.

This was a video doorbell, so whoever was inside could definitely see what was happening outside.

She pressed her lips together, not knowing what else to say, and could only lower her head to ask Ling Siyuan, “Why isn’t your dad opening the door?”

“Huh?”

Ling Siyuan blinked rapidly, but couldn’t hide the panic all over his face.

He stammered for a good while, and just as he was about to say something, the door finally opened.

A gust of cold air from the air conditioner rushed out, hitting Zhu Wenshu’s face.

She frowned instinctively, thinking, with a child in the house, how could they set the air conditioner so low.

She looked up, and the opening line she’d prepared got stuck dead in her throat.

The interior was dim, with almost no lighting.

Only a small lamp hung in the entryway, barely illuminating a corner of the hallway.

A thin, lean man stood beneath the light, seemingly just woken up, his white T-shirt a bit wrinkled and his hair slightly disheveled.

Wrapped in the gentle warm light, his sharp, clean features were dusted with a faint halo, lending him an added softness.

His eyes were cast in an almost transparent amber under the light, and as he looked straight at her, Zhu Wenshu’s breath suddenly caught.

Ling… Chen?!

Zhu Wenshu stared at him, stunned, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

But that face.

This was a face seen on every street and alley, one there was no second of in the entire world.

The scene before her eyes collided rapidly with her memories. Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, uncontrolled, one after another.

In truth, ever since graduating high school, this classmate with whom she’d had little interaction had quickly faded from Zhu Wenshu’s memory.

After starting college, she’d almost completely forgotten about him.

Until five years ago, when the singer Ling Chen had burst onto the scene out of nowhere.

He’d shot to fame like a rocket, his original songs sweeping the major charts, and every year’s major award ceremonies always had a seat reserved for him; his advertising endorsements nearly blanketed every visible surface.

Zhu Wenshu wasn’t one to chase celebrities and didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry, but news of him could be seen and heard everywhere.

As Ling Chen’s image on screen changed over time, Zhu Wenshu had, from a distance, watched his features grow ever more sharply defined—his once thin, boyish frame gradually straightening into something as upright as a pine tree, and even his once perpetually downcast eyes had grown sharp and confident under the glittering spotlight.

Zhu Wenshu had gradually come to accept that Ling Chen was the superstar Ling Chen, not the classmate who always sat in the last row of the classroom.

Yet she never imagined that on such an ordinary, unremarkable day, she would run into him again, utterly unprepared.

Zhu Wenshu just stood there dumbly, unable to come back to her senses for a long while.

Until a crisp voice interrupted her train of thought.

“Dad!”

Zhu Wenshu: “?”

Who are you calling??

She lowered her head sharply to look at Ling Siyuan, then raised it to look at Ling Chen. After going back and forth twice, her pupils constricted.

D-dad?!

With the light behind him, Zhu Wenshu couldn’t quite make out Ling Chen’s expression. She only heard him say, “Who are you calling—”

Before he could finish speaking, the little one suddenly darted in front of him and threw his arms tightly around his leg.

“Dad! I missed you so much!”

“?”

Zhu Wenshu’s pupils practically split apart.

She looked at Ling Siyuan again, then at Ling Chen.

Then at Ling Siyuan once more.

Then she spoke, unable to believe it.

“You… you already have a child this old?!”

Ling Chen had originally been trying to pry off Ling Siyuan, who was clinging to him tightly.

Hearing what Zhu Wenshu said, he paused, his gaze flickering slightly, and looked up at her.

The corners of his eyes lifted slightly, one eyebrow half-raised, his tone not exactly friendly. “You’d better not go around saying nonsense.”

It was like a bolt of lightning striking straight down.

It took Zhu Wenshu a good while before she turned her face away, at a loss for words.

“Don’t worry… I won’t say anything.”

“…”

The corner of Ling Chen’s mouth twitched.

Zhu Wenshu looked at him again, no longer knowing what expression to wear.

Dad was extremely busy.

He never showed his face at school.

He’d become a big superstar.

The surname “Ling” really wasn’t that common.

It seemed like everything made sense now.

Wait.

She suddenly lowered her head to look at Ling Siyuan again.

Calculating by age…

No way???

Zhu Wenshu sucked in a sharp breath.

In her memory, Ling Chen back in high school had been a very solitary person.

He’d always kept to himself, had few friends, rarely spoke, and always sat in the last row.

On top of that, his temper hadn’t been great—he was either silent or perfunctory.

The boys had liked him even less. Zhu Wenshu had occasionally overheard people talking behind his back, calling him some poor nobody who didn’t know why he acted so full of himself.

Later on, he’d sometimes come to school with injuries, and no one knew why. Rumors spread, but he never explained himself.

Eventually all curiosity died down, and classmates gradually got used to his isolation—no one had the persistence to pry open that cold lock.

What’s more, Zhu Wenshu, who always sat in the front row because she didn’t want to wear glasses, was separated from Ling Chen by the whole diagonal length of the classroom.

The two of them had been classmates for three years, and the words they’d exchanged could be counted on ten fingers—among which were probably a few instances of “excuse me” and “thanks.”

In high school, Ling Chen’s existence to her had just been a name, fixed on the class roster, with no other presence beyond that.

So she’d always thought Ling Chen was just an ordinary high schooler who happened to be a bit better-looking and a bit worse-tempered.

Looking at it now, she’d clearly been too hasty in that judgment.

So it turned out that during the later part of senior year, when he’d rarely come to school, it was because he’d become a father??

Zhu Wenshu stood there as if turned to stone, motionless, just standing there in a daze.

Ling Siyuan, still hugging Ling Chen tightly, quietly turned his head, opening one eye a crack to glance at Zhu Wenshu.

“Teacher… it’s already dark out. If you don’t go home soon, your mom and dad will worry.”

“?”

This sentence finally pulled Zhu Wenshu back to her senses.

She lowered her eyes, her emotions churning, but she hadn’t forgotten the main purpose of her visit today.

“Teacher isn’t going home right now. I need to… with you—” She really couldn’t bring herself to say the word “dad,” so she simply looked directly at Ling Chen instead. “Let’s talk.”

Ling Chen, as if he hadn’t noticed the meaningful look in Zhu Wenshu’s eyes, said indifferently, “Sure.”

This time it was Ling Siyuan’s turn to be stunned.

He furrowed his brow tightly, his eyes rolling as he thought about what to do next, when someone patted the back of his head.

“Go pour the teacher a glass of water.”

Sigh, he had no idea what to do anymore.

Ling Siyuan said “Mm,” and ran off to the kitchen without even changing his shoes.

Then Ling Chen tilted his chin slightly, gesturing for Zhu Wenshu to follow him inside.

“Please, come in.”

In this prime, extremely valuable location, Ling Siyuan’s home was surprisingly large, a duplex at that.

The décor looked simple at first glance, but had actually taken considerable thought—and, presumably, considerable money.

Of course, one could also tell there was a child in the house.

The spacious living room was actually crammed full of toys, so much so that it was hard to even find a place to set foot, let alone sit on the couch.

Ling Chen apparently hadn’t kept this in mind at all.

He’d already walked into the living room before realizing there was nowhere to sit. He paused for a moment, then turned and headed in another direction.

“Let’s go to the study.”

The study wasn’t much better than the living room.

Except what was piled up here wasn’t toys, but all sorts of miscellaneous odds and ends.

And there was no hint of any musical or artistic atmosphere—it was entirely saturated with the smell of business.

Several of Ling Chen’s album covers hung on the walls, and beside the computer desk stood a whiteboard that seemed to be covered in schedules and announcements.

The room’s only light source was a floor lamp beside the sofa.

After Ling Chen came in, he glanced around cursorily, then walked over to the sofa and swept all the paper documents on it into a corner with one motion of his arm.

Then he turned back and said, “Please, sit.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

Feeling both a bit put off and a bit curious, she sat down at the edge of the sofa, hands tucked against her thighs, restraining her urge to look around this superstar’s home.

Ling Chen, by contrast, was much more at ease. With one hand in his pocket, he bent over and picked up a sheet of paper from the sofa to glance at, apparently not quite understanding what it was, and casually tossed it aside before finally sitting down.

“You’re Ling Siyuan’s homeroom teacher?”

“To be precise, I’m Ling Siyuan’s Chinese language teacher.”

As she spoke, Zhu Wenshu quietly studied him several times.

Yet she truly couldn’t detect anything unusual in his expression.

Did that mean… he hadn’t recognized her?

“Since the previous homeroom teacher is on maternity leave, I’m temporarily taking over the role.”

Ling Chen still showed hardly any change in expression, nodding at her with a calmness that bordered on indifference.

“Hello.”

Should she remind him?

But what if she reminded him and he still didn’t remember her as an old classmate—that would be far too awkward.

Zhu Wenshu hesitated for a moment, then said, “My surname is Zhu.”

She deliberately emphasized the word.

Ling Chen did indeed look up at her.

“Mm—”

“Teacher Zhu.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

If even that didn’t jog his memory, he’d probably forgotten her completely.

Never mind.

Better to get down to business first.

Zhu Wenshu tucked the hair that had fallen over her eyes behind her ear, sat up a bit straighter, and looked at Ling Chen seriously.

“Sorry for disturbing you so late, but I never get to see you normally, so since I brought him home today, I thought I’d take the chance to talk to you about how he’s doing.”

Unlike Zhu Wenshu’s earnestness, Ling Chen leaned back loosely against the sofa and said offhandedly, “Go ahead.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

Sigh, what an attitude.

“First of all, no one came to pick Ling Siyuan up from school today. Did you know that?”

Ling Chen’s eyes lifted slightly.

“Doesn’t he have a nanny to pick him up?”

Zhu Wenshu: “Nannies can run into situations too—like today, when the child was left waiting alone in the classroom, and none of his guardians could be reached.”

She paused. “If I hadn’t happened to check the classroom, and the child had wandered off alone and something had happened, what then?”

Hearing this, Ling Chen finally showed a bit of seriousness. “Understood.”

Zhu Wenshu shook her head slightly and sighed. “I understand your work is extremely busy and it’s not very convenient for you to pick him up, but even so, you shouldn’t forget your most basic responsibilities.”

“All right.” Ling Chen nodded. “I’ll talk to him…”

Before he could finish, Ling Siyuan carefully pushed open the door and came in holding a cup of water.

“Teacher, please have some water.”

Zhu Wenshu took the cup, nodding with a smile. “Thank you, Yuanyuan, you’re such a good boy. Go do your homework now. Turn off the air conditioner and put on a jacket.”

Ling Siyuan nodded in agreement, but instead of leaving right away, he looked toward Ling Chen.

It took a good while for the man on the sofa to notice the child’s gaze; he belatedly looked up and caught his signal.

“Oh, go on then.”

Ling Siyuan winked at him quietly, then turned and dashed out of the room.

Once she was sure Ling Siyuan was out of earshot, Zhu Wenshu said earnestly, “You should spend more time with him and show him more care, not just make him afraid of you all the time.”

Ling Chen smiled. “Does he look like he’s afraid of me?”

He’d only dared to leave the room after getting your nod of approval—if that wasn’t fear, what was?

But this wasn’t the most urgent issue right now, anyway—after all, how many children in this world weren’t afraid of their fathers?

Zhu Wenshu: “Also, regarding his grades…”

Ling Chen: “What score did he get?”

“…”

Zhu Wenshu took a couple of sips of hot water with an expressionless face, to keep her emotions in check. “Scores aren’t the ultimate goal—what we need to look at is the learning state reflected by the exams. It’s clear Ling Siyuan is very smart, excellent at math, but his study habits aren’t great, especially with subjects that require memorization. He’s simply too careless.”

Ling Chen nodded. “That’s true, he’s a lot like me.”

Zhu Wenshu grumbled inwardly, and you’re actually proud of that, when you start making up lyrics on the spot the moment you’re away from the teleprompter?

“You should pay more attention day-to-day to cultivating his study habits—that’s something that will benefit him for life, rather than crudely fixating on scores.”

“Oh, all right.”

Without realizing it, Zhu Wenshu had laid out quite a lot of ideas on the subject of learning, and she’d nearly finished the water in her cup before she remembered another, more headache-inducing matter.

“Oh right, Ling Siyuan also got into a fight at school today.”

Ling Chen looked somewhat shocked. “He’s only in first grade and he’s already fighting?”

Zhu Wenshu’s hands, holding the cup, froze mid-air, and the corner of her mouth twitched unnaturally.

“You… don’t know he’s in second grade?”

“…”

Without Ling Chen needing to say anything more, Zhu Wenshu understood.

She looked away, trying hard to adjust her own mindset.

If Ling Chen had recognized her, with a bit of old-classmate rapport between them, communicating would have been somewhat easier.

But right now it was entirely a stranger facing a superstar, and Zhu Wenshu had no idea what attitude she should adopt.

After all, she’d never dreamed that one day she’d be sitting in a superstar’s home, talking with him at such close range.

And the conversation would have to revolve around his never-publicly-acknowledged child born out of wedlock.

After a moment’s thought, she said very gently, “The reason for the fight was that another student said his mother didn’t want him anymore, and that his father was about to abandon him too.”

Hearing this, the color in Ling Chen’s eyes gradually deepened.

The nonchalant look on his face finally faded away, and he looked at Zhu Wenshu with genuine seriousness.

This, in turn, made Zhu Wenshu a little nervous.

She avoided his gaze this time, looking away, and said, “I think it’s like this—he’s at an age where he really needs his father’s companionship. Is there any way you could balance work and family a bit better?”

“Oh.”

Ling Chen said, “I understand. I’ll set aside more time for him from now on—”

An abrupt phone ringtone sounded.

Ling Chen patted his pants pocket, didn’t find his phone, then looked around the sofa, and finally pulled the source of the ringing out from that pile of documents.

“Hello.”

As he answered, he sat up a little straighter. “Mm, I’ll head there right—”

He suddenly paused, glanced at Zhu Wenshu, then said, “I’ll stay with Ling Siyuan while he does some homework first, then come over.”

The moment he finished speaking, he hung up.

Zhu Wenshu felt somewhat satisfied.

But she also knew Ling Chen probably had things to attend to soon, so she stood up and said, “Then I won’t disturb you any further today. Let’s stay in touch if anything comes up.”

“Sure.”

Ling Chen stood up along with Zhu Wenshu. “Thank you for—”

He suddenly got stuck again.

It was obvious he’d forgotten her surname.

Did he really not have the slightest impression left?

“My name is Zhu Wenshu.” Zhu Wenshu looked at Ling Chen, enunciating each word. “Zhu as in blessing, Wen as in warmth, Shu as in book.”

Ling Chen did react a bit differently this time.

He raised his brows slightly, his gaze gradually focusing and settling on Zhu Wenshu’s face.

After all, sitting across from her was a superstar at the height of his fame.

Being looked at like this made Zhu Wenshu a little nervous; her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her skirt.

Surely now… he must have remembered her?

Besides, even if she hadn’t had much interaction with Ling Chen in high school, surely she wouldn’t be forgotten so completely.

Just last year, she’d run into a classmate from a neighboring class in middle school, and that person had recognized her at a glance.

Ling Chen: “Your name…”

Zhu Wenshu stared at him, blinking her big eyes, encouraging him with her gaze.

—Yes, this is the name.

—Think carefully.

—Does anything come back to you?

Ling Chen: “It’s quite a nice name.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…Thanks.”

Ling Chen tilted his head slightly, looking at Zhu Wenshu from a different angle, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile.

“It’s the same as a classmate of mine from high school.”

After two seconds of silence, Zhu Wenshu let out a breath and met his gaze evenly.

“Have you ever considered.”

“That perhaps.”

“I might just be that high school classmate of yours?”