She had not expected for Lin to agree to Shao Xun’s invitation. Thinking of her cunning smile, it occurred to Yue that Shao Xun might have a hard time during the dinner. Though he was a teacher, Lin was the famous hard-to-deal-with student on campus. Besides, once she got her heart set on playing a joke on him, there was no way for him to escape.
Little Whistle—she thought of the nickname she’d given him, and could not help but laugh out loud. Anyway, he was a teacher, and this nickname made him lose all his dignity.
Someone knocked at the door; she looked at it. It was time for their dinner already, and he was a punctual person. Thinking of his handsome face, her heart felt something strange. She calmed herself down and went to open the door. A bunch of red roses appeared before her eyes. She was surprised. Then his typical smile, and a set of formal black suit. “Flowers for you, Yue.”
“Teacher . . . Shao . . . ” Her face turned red, since he was her teacher.
“Do you not like it? Or does it not rise to meet your expectation? Or . . . ?” He noticed her little frown, and entered the room, closing the door behind him.
“Yue?”
“Stop it.” She turned around to hide her sadness. For so many years, the brother had not given her any presents, let alone red roses—representing love. The roses in his hand looked as beautiful as blood bleeding from her heart.
“Yue, did I do something wrong?” He was curious why she had her back turned to him.
“Nothing, Teacher Shao.” She tried to keep calm, still not wanting to face him. Her most vulnerable side could not be seen by him. Though she had eventually understood and tried to accept that the brother would not appear anymore, she could not forget him immediately.
He took a look at the roses in his hand, suddenly understanding that she must be thinking of something unhappy. For such a girl to choose another female, she must have been badly hurt by some guy. He tried to embrace her from behind, but she suddenly turned back with her body trembling, her eyes full of tears.
“Teacher Shao. . . ”
He smiled and shrugged, as if nothing had happened. “Yue, I told you I don’t care about your past. But I don’t want you to keep lingering in your bitter memories. During class, I am your teacher. But now, after class, I hope to be a friend.”
Yue was looking at him, knowing his heart, but having no way to fix her own.
“Teacher Shao. . . ”
A surprising kiss fell on her forehead. To Yue it felt like an electric shock, and her heart could not stop beating hard. He pulled her into his embrace.
“Yue, would you call me by my name after class?”
She did not know how to answer him, for she was falling into the warmth of his embrace. Though she was being teased by him again, she felt comforted by it, perhaps even liking it.
Like him? She was shocked by this idea and struggled to escape from him.
“Sorry, Teacher Shao. . . I forgot myself just now,” she tried to explain.
“You are welcome.” He took a deep breath; though he didn’t say it, he was disappointed by her sudden change. “So, have you accepted me as a friend?”
“I. . . ” Yue tried to deny this, but he offered the roses to stop her from saying any sort of rejection. “Take your time. I won’t force you to. You can still treat me as your teacher in class, and . . . and only as a friend after class.”
Yue was stunned by his determination. The brother and their past was like an illusion compared to the fresh roses and his touchable smile.
“Why not call Lin now? I don’t want her to misunderstand my sincerity, or think that I am treating you badly.”
She felt some happiness with him. Maybe she should forget the brother and accept him. But the fact that he was her teacher wasn’t something she could just overlook. Not to mention, he already had so many fans on campus.
“What’s wrong? You are absent-minded again. Anything you would like to share with me?”
“Nothing.” She smiled politely, to cover her own thoughts. But he was shocked by this smile. What a beautiful smile! He could not stop falling for her. Why didn’t she smile often?
Yue did not notice his strangeness and took out her phone to call Lin. She heard the familiar song from her phone service, but she suddenly turned off the phone call. What’s wrong with her? Still sleeping? She had the habit of sleeping more on the weekends.
“What? She didn’t answer?” Shao Xun asked.
“Yup. Maybe she’s still sleeping. . . ” Yue nodded.
“Let’s go to the restaurant first. It isn’t very far. My car is downstairs.”
Car? She was surprised. Oh, yes, she remembered that he was a rich boy, so of course he had a car. But she could not stop feeling the distance between them and being unhappy with it. He caught her hand and stuffed the flowers into it. “Homework! You must take them and forget the idea of trying to return them to me.”
Though he was forceful, his smile was like a naughty child. She nodded and accepted the flowers. This was the first bouquet of roses she’d accepted in the sixteen years since her birth—and, from her teacher.
He was so excited and took her hand to rush out. “Hurry up! I’ll take you to a place where we can view the sea.”
The sea? What a big surprise! Her hometown was across the sea. A rooftop view of the sea would be nice indeed.
Seeing her undisguised happiness, he knew that he made the right choice and she was moved by him. Though she would not accept him immediately, he became more confident. Thinking of the coming future, he was so happy, and ushered her out. The sun of spring was shining on the lovely morning that felt all their own. Winds stopped blowing, and the clouds were few and far between.