Chapter 33

“Instructor.”

Zhang Jiuling wasn’t wearing a uniform, just a simple white short-sleeved shirt and black pants. The light from the setting sun and the blood-red glow of the dusk cast a crimson hue.

His hands were casually in his pockets, exuding a bit of laziness. The light brushed past his stern face, highlighting his narrow eyes, with the corners slightly tinted red, turning his usual indifference into something charmingly wicked.

The crimson sunset behind him resembled a wild celebration of countless demons in hell. Wearing white, he looked like a wingless Satan, arrogant, unrestrained, and devilishly handsome.

“Instructor.”

Li Jiao’s thoughts returned, and she lowered her gaze slightly. She had started daydreaming again.

“Mm.”

Zhang Jiuling responded, his tone unreadable.

“Instructor, are you going back to the dorm?”

After night training, for convenience, the school had allocated a few dormitory floors specifically for the instructors.

When Li Jiao first heard this news, she would often wander around that building, hoping to run into Zhang Jiuling. But she never did, until today, by sheer luck?

“Mm.”

Just one word.

The instructor seemed to be like this, sparing with his words. Since the start of training, he hadn’t said much to her.

Li Jiao felt a bit disappointed. Did the instructor not like her?

After asking, her mood suddenly dropped, and her head lowered. She didn’t say anything, but it made people feel she was wronged and needed coaxing.

It was like a ball of soft white dough, deflated and aggrieved.

to coax someone?

In his past twenty-odd years, Zhang Jiuling had never done such a thing. Coaxing—what was that?

However, the little girl did look aggrieved and pitiful.

He was silent for a moment, then spoke.

“Li Jiao.”

“Ah?”

Li Jiao looked up, finding Zhang Jiuling staring at her, his gaze deep and dark.

“Repeat your question from last time.”

Last time’s question?

What question?

Li Jiao thought for a while, then suddenly remembered.

“Instructor, after military training, will I still be able to see you?”

Zhang Jiuling’s thin lips curved slightly, as if in thought, and his voice was low.

“Every morning and evening.”

???

Li Jiao didn’t understand. She knew the meaning of the words, but why couldn’t she grasp it when the instructor said it?

Her small eyes glanced at him cautiously, her tone careful and full of expectation.

“Instructor, can you tell me where you’re going after the training?”

“I… I..I want to find you.”

When she said this, her tone was timid, her voice almost dropping to the ground and with some dirt on it, barely audible and full of helplessness.

Yet, inexplicably, there was a kind of firm determination that made people believe her.

It seemed that as long as Zhang Jiuling told her where he was, no matter how far, she would definitely go to find him.

At that moment, something seemed to hit Zhang Jiuling’s heart—not too light or too heavy, but just enough to affect him.

Suddenly, his deep, dark eyes sparkled with a bit of laughter. He lightly curved his lips and reached out to rub her little head.

His voice was clear, with a rare tenderness, like a lover’s whisper, soft and lingering, like a gentle breeze brushing past after a journey across mountains and rivers.

“You don’t need to come looking for me.”

Because I will come to find you.

…………

After saying this, Zhang Jiuling left, and once again, Li Jiao watched his back fade away, staring for a long time. It wasn’t until the ice cream in her hand had mostly melted that she came back to her senses.

Instructor, what did he mean…?

Back in the dorm, Li Jiao repeatedly pondered those two sentences.

“Every morning and evening,” “You don’t need to come looking for me.”

She wrote the two sentences on paper, lying on the desk, staring at them for a long time, her head tilted, her big, watery eyes showing a few red blood vessels.

“Sigh~”

Blame her for being an art student, not particularly strong in academics. These were just ordinary words, why couldn’t she understand them?

“Every morning and evening,” meaning from morning to night, right?

“You don’t need to come looking for me,” What did that mean? A polite refusal? Was the instructor rejecting her question?

Ah~ No way~

Li Jiao knocked her head on the desk, making a “thud, thud, thud” sound on the wooden surface.

So frustrating~

Does the instructor really dislike her?

But then, Li Jiao suddenly lifted her head and, slowly, with some uncertainty, touched her own head.

But the instructor did pat her head. He shouldn’t dislike her that much…

When he patted her head, it seemed, it seemed he smiled. Li Jiao had never seen him smile before, and at that moment, she was a bit dazed, just feeling that he was very gentle?

Not sure if that’s the right word…

“Jiao Jiao.”

“Jiao Jiao, we’re back.”

Zhang Yue and Su Linlin returned to the dorm, each holding glowing cheer sticks, their faces covered with colorful stickers, still carrying the excitement and thrill.

“Jiao Jiao, it’s such a pity you didn’t go.”

Zhang Yue’s face was full of delight, “You didn’t see it, two super handsome guys from the computer science department, ah ah ah, their slam dunks were amazing.”

“Oh my god, live Echizen Ryoma!”

(T/N:Ryoma Echizen is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga and anime series The Prince of Tennis created by Takeshi Konomi. In the series, Ryoma is portrayed as a twelve-year-old tennis prodigy who won four consecutive Junior Tennis Tournaments in America.)

Su Linlin put the glow stick back on the desk, glanced at her, and laughed.

“Give it a rest; Echizen Ryoma plays tennis.”

“That guy was clearly a copy-paste of Sakuragi Hanamichi; he was so cool when he slammed dunked!”

(T/N: Hanamichi Sakuragi is the main protagonist of Slam Dunk, a sports manga written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue. Hanamichi Sakuragi is a delinquent who is very unpopular with girls, having been rejected an astonishing fifty times.)

The two girls seemed to be in a springtime mood, their faces flushed with pink, completely enchanted.

Li Jiao couldn’t imagine what someone who looked like both Echizen Ryoma and Sakuragi Hanamichi would look like.

Now that they were back, Li Jiao could seek some outside help.

“Boss, Linlin.”

“What do you think it means if someone tells you ‘every morning and evening’ and ‘you don’t need to come looking for me’?”

“Every morning and evening?” Zhang Yue frowned, “From morning to night?”

“Oh, does he want to eat red dates or something?”

Su Linlin gave her a look and said, “Big brother, your straight solution can’t even untie the knot without me telling you.”

Li Jiao looked expectantly at Su Linlin and asked, “Linlin..Linlin, what do you think these two sentences mean?”

“Um…” Su Linlin leaned back in her chair, seriously thinking.

“Every morning and evening, from morning to night, you don’t need to come looking for me…”

“Um…”

“Oh, I get it. These two sentences mean… we will never see each other again in this life!”

“What?!” Li Jiao exclaimed in surprise.

Su Linlin explained, “Think about it, Jiao Jiao, every morning and evening means all day, representing time.”

“Adding ‘you don’t need to come looking for me’ to such a decisive statement means that together we will never see each other again in this life.”

After speaking, Su Linlin asked curiously, “Jiao Jiao, who said that to you? It’s so harsh.”

Li Jiao shook her head with empty eyes, muttering softly.

“Never to meet again in this life…”

She repeated it twice, and the more she said it, the sadder she felt. Finally, she burst into tears.

“Waaahhh—”

Zhang Yue and Su Linlin were dumbfounded.

“What happened, Jiao Jiao?”

“Jiao, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Waaahhh—”

Li Jiao cried while shaking her head, her small mouth babbling unintelligibly.

“Aaaahhh—”

Instructor, how could you be so heartless…

…………

A small street away from Li Jiao’s dormitory, around a corner, was the dormitory building where the instructors were temporarily staying.

White walls, wooden tables and chairs, and blue quilts. The room was simply decorated.

There was no one inside. Zhang Jiuling stood on the balcony, the sky outside gradually darkening. In the distance, he could see the white lights in the teaching building, contrasting beautifully with the red sunset.

“Hey, Haonan.”

“Hey, boss, what’s up? You just thought of calling me now?”

On the other end of the phone, it was noisy. Wang Haonan was probably in a crowd, with lots of chatter around him.

He raised his voice and shouted, “Boss, what’s up? I’m wandering around the snack street here. You wouldn’t believe how many things there are.”

“Hey, boss, how much for this?”

…………

Zhang Jiuling’s handsome sword-like eyebrows slightly frowned, and when he spoke, his tone was a little cold, mixing with the cool breeze in the evening, and it was gentle but a little sharp.

“Haonan, come back and take over the military training.”

“What?”

Wang Haonan exclaimed in surprise. He switched his phone to his left hand and picked up a sizzling skewer with his right hand, tearing off a piece of meat and chewing it.

Blowing on the hot meat, he said, “Boss, what did you say? The wind was too strong, I couldn’t hear.”

“A few days ago, you told me to stay in Jiangnan, where it’s cool.”

“What happened today? What kind of extreme stimulation did you experience?”

Zhang Jiuling ignored his nonsensical questions. His sharp eyebrows and deep black eyes showed no emotion.

“Book a flight immediately. Be at Nanjing University by tomorrow.”

“What? Boss, are you crazy, or am I crazy?”

“Tomorrow?!”

“Am I supposed to fly?!”

Beep… Beep… Beep…

“…………”

Wang Haonan looked at the phone screen, now showing that the call had ended. He lifted the skewer and angrily tore off a large piece of meat, chewing it fiercely, as if the roast meat were Zhang Jiuling.

Shit, is the boss going through menopause recently?!

……

The next day

When a tall, fair-skinned new instructor stood in front of Class 1, everyone was stunned.

“Hello, students.” Wang Haonan stood at attention and saluted, speaking seriously.

“I am your new instructor. From today onwards, I will be leading you in your military training.”

After saying this, he suddenly relaxed. His fair face broke into a bright, sunny smile, the kind of cheerful boy-next-door look often seen in school dramas, instantly likable.

“There’s no need to be too tense, I am not strict.”

The class began to whisper among themselves.

“Hey, why is there a new instructor?”

“I don’t know, where’s our cool and handsome ‘King of Hell’?”

“Maybe something came up and he couldn’t make it?”

“This new instructor is so handsome, I’m in!”

“Ah, he’s so handsome, so handsome.”

“And he seems gentler than our previous instructor. Ah, his smile is so handsome.”

“Whatever, I love this new instructor!”

“…………”

Wang Haonan and Zhang Jiuling were like two extremes, one sunny and cheerful, the other cold and stern, with very different temperaments.

Zhang Jiuling was more like a lone wolf in the night, fixated on the cold moon in his heart. He moved forward alone, calm and rational, aloof and powerful, yet always exuding an icy aura that warned strangers to keep their distance.

Wang Haonan, on the other hand, was like a warm but not blinding sun, always bright. Just standing there, he made people feel comfortable. He was more of a big boy, sporty, sunny, and straightforward.

Some marveled at the new instructor’s handsomeness, while others missed Zhang Jiuling.

“Instructor, where’s our original instructor?” someone asked.

Hearing this, Wang Haonan smiled and replied.

“He had something to attend to and won’t be coming back. I’ll be taking over from now on.”

What?!

The instructor… won’t be coming back…

In the crowd, Li Jiao’s face was dazed, her wet eyes sparkling like water, clearly showing her sadness.

Why… did he suddenly stop coming…

Was it because of the question she asked yesterday?

“Instructor, can you tell me where you’re going after the training?”

“I want to find you.”

He said, “You don’t need to come looking for me.”

What he meant by not needing to look for him, was that he was going away, so she wouldn’t have to look for him?

At the front of the class, students were still surrounding the new instructor, asking all sorts of questions, making it a lively scene.

Standing in place, Li Jiao was dazed, biting her lip unconsciously until it turned pale. A deep sense of loss filled her heart.

It felt like when your parents promised you a big birthday cake when you were a kid, and you were eagerly looking forward to it, only for them to return empty-handed.

The sun overhead was still blazing hot. But Li Jiao felt a chill, hugging her arms to herself, her nose suddenly stinging.

Would she never see him again?