NOVEL NEXT Ch. 4
Chapter 4: Teacher’s Ethics
Bai Lengci’s words, “Alright, Teacher Yan.”
Broke the frozen air, and also woke Yan Junzhu from the chaos of her thoughts.
He withdrew his hand, carefully twisted the cap back onto the Safflower Oil bottle, and placed it back into the medicine box.
Then, he stood up, stretched his stiff body from sitting too long, and his gaze swept over the clock hanging on the wall.
The hour hand was already pointing to 2 a.m.
“Two o’clock.”
Bai Lengci’s voice carried a faint rasp of fatigue as he looked at Yan Junzhu.
“Teacher Yan, let’s go to sleep.”
He pointed at the door of his small bedroom.
“You sleep inside.”
Then he pointed to the not-so-large sofa beneath him.
“I’ll sleep here.”
Yan Junzhu was still lost in the lingering warmth around her ankle and the unsettlingly intimate atmosphere just moments ago.
Hearing this, she instinctively followed his finger to look at that narrow sofa.
For a teenage boy, the sofa seemed cramped, not to mention he was still ill.
Almost instantly, a teacher’s instinct and protective urge overwhelmed all of her embarrassment and awkwardness.
She stood up abruptly, staggering slightly from the pain in her ankle, but quickly steadied herself.
A stern, undeniable authority appeared on her face.
It was the expression Bai Lengci knew well from school—the look that belonged to “Teacher Yan.”
“No way!”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was unnervingly clear, carrying a decisive strength.
“You’re still sick! You just got soaked in the rain, and now you’ve stayed up so late! How can I let you sleep on the sofa? You go sleep in the bedroom!”
Bai Lengci froze slightly, as though he hadn’t expected her to be so forceful.
He looked at Yan Junzhu, his clear, cold eyes lingering on her face for a moment.
He could clearly feel the persistence in her gaze, along with a concern that left no room for refusal.
“Teacher Yan…”
He tried to speak.
“No buts!”
Yan Junzhu cut him off, her tone even firmer, even slipping into the scolding manner she used with students at school.
“Bai Lengci, listen to your teacher! Your health is the most important thing. Now, immediately, go rest in the bedroom!”
She slightly raised her chin, her burning gaze locking onto him, as if silently declaring:
This was a teacher’s command.
Bai Lengci was silent for a few seconds.
In the end—
On his nearly expressionless face, the corner of his lips seemed to twitch upward ever so slightly.
As if it was helplessness, or perhaps… a faint trace of warmth.
“…Mm, okay.”
He gave a light reply and didn’t argue further.
He tidied the medicine box and put it back in place, then went into his bedroom to fetch a blanket and pillow before returning inside.
“Teacher Yan, good night.”
He stopped at the doorway, spoke softly without turning his head, then gently closed the door.
“Click.”
The soft sound of the lock falling shut followed.
In the living room, only Yan Junzhu remained.
The strong aura she had been holding onto collapsed instantly, like a punctured balloon deflating in a flash.
She leaned against the back of the sofa, slowly sitting down, and glanced around the small, silent room that seemed even narrower under the dim, yellow light.
Exhaustion rushed over her like a tide, and the pain in her ankle returned with clarity.
Today… was truly a terrible day.
First, she had a big fight at home, and the long-suppressed grievances and anger erupted.
She had practically stormed out the door.
Then, on the subway, in her daze, her bag—with her phone, wallet, and all her documents—was stolen!
Penniless, she wandered the cold streets in confusion, only to sprain her ankle in misfortune, and ended up huddled at the entrance of a convenience store, looking like a pitiful wretch abandoned by the world…
And then… then she ran into Bai Lengci.
That quiet, pale, sickly but stunningly beautiful teenage student.
How on earth… did she end up following him home on such an impulse?
Yan Junzhu buried her face in her hands in frustration.
As a teacher, sneaking into a male student’s home in the middle of the night, wearing his clothes, and sleeping on his sofa…
This was practically trampling the words “teacher’s ethics” underfoot!
If… if someone found out, how would she ever hold her head up again?
And moreover… moreover…
An even more terrifying thought surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.
If… if Bai Lengci… in the middle of the night…
That thought was too awful, too shameful, too blasphemous.
Yan Junzhu shook her head violently, trying to fling the image away.
No! Impossible!
She screamed inwardly at herself.
Bai Lengci wasn’t that kind of child!
Though he was quiet and reserved, with eyes sometimes so deep one couldn’t see through them, his nature was good!
When he applied medicine and massaged her ankle just now, his gaze was so clean and focused, his actions so proper…
But… he was still an eighteen-year-old boy… at the age of surging impulses…
And right now, she was wearing his clothes, lying defenselessly in his living room…
If he lost control for a moment…
Ahhh!
Yan Junzhu, what are you thinking?!
She rolled over on the sofa in agitation.
She yanked the blanket Bai Lengci had left and wrapped herself tightly from head to toe, as if that could grant her a sense of security.
The blanket seemed to carry a faint trace of his scent—clean, mixed with medicine and laundry detergent.
That faint scent strangely eased her taut nerves slightly, yet also stirred a different, indescribable flutter.
“Mm…”
She let out a muffled whimper, burying her face deeper into the pillow.
One moment she was sure Bai Lengci would never do such a thing, the next she felt like she had walked right into the tiger’s den, foolish beyond measure.
One moment she regretted storming out of her house, the next she worried about what she would do tomorrow…
At some unknown time, the rain outside had already stopped, leaving only the dripping of water from the eaves, echoing especially clear in the silence of night.
A faint, cold moonlight struggled through the hazy window glass, casting a blurry patch of light on the floor.
And so, in the midst of this tangled mess of self-blame and nameless fear, Yan Junzhu’s consciousness sank bit by bit, like falling into a swamp.
Her body’s extreme fatigue finally overcame her mental agitation.
Her breathing grew long and steady, and the fingers clutching the blanket gradually loosened.
Curled up on the teenager’s narrow sofa, wrapped in his blanket, she finally, amidst a mind full of chaotic, dangerous imaginings about him, drifted into a muddled sleep.