Chapter 53 The Duties of a Teacher

At noon, the midday bell rang, and Bai Yuze had just dismissed the class. Countless male students in the classroom transformed into athletic champions, sprinting out the door instantly. Based on his experience as someone who had been through it all, these people could be divided into two categories: one group rushed to the basketball court to grab a spot, while the other consisted of pure foodies running to the cafeteria queue to get their meals. He used to belong to the latter group in the past.

Now, however, he walked out of the classroom unhurriedly, brought his lunchbox, and strolled leisurely up to the second floor of the cafeteria. He bought his meal at the teachers' exclusive counter. In the past, he used to be extremely envious of those who got along well with the teachers and could eat the faculty meals. Leaving aside the difference between student meals and teacher meals, he simply felt that the food at the teachers' counter tasted better and came in larger portions.

Now that he was a teacher, he felt there wasn't much difference between the two after all. The biggest difference was that he no longer needed to fight the teachers for food. Compared to the quiet atmosphere of the second floor, he preferred going down to the first floor to grab a spot and eat among the students. It was lively and full of vigor. When he was a student, he often tried every possible way to sit near the teachers, observing what they usually chatted about during meals. Unexpectedly, after becoming a teacher, he shamelessly squeezed in near the students to eavesdrop on their interesting daily anecdotes.

While eating, Bai Yuze's gaze was caught by a figure nearby—a girl hiding in the corner of the cafeteria, eating with her head down. Her name was Han Xue. Seeing her reminded Bai Yuze of the scene where they met yesterday afternoon. Han Xue was just as Xia Qing had described: introverted, reclusive, and not very good at getting along with others. During the afternoon classes he taught them, both Xia Qing and Bai Youqing would occasionally ask her a question or two. Meanwhile, Han Xue just sat there, listening to the content and taking notes without uttering a single word. If he hadn't looked down and noticed she was still sitting there, he wouldn't even have known such a person was present in his class.

He scratched his head and sighed inwardly. This student had some major issues, but he had no plans to approach her just yet. Doing so prematurely might seem abrupt; he would wait until next semester when he became their homeroom teacher. Then it would be easier to step in, understand her specific situation, and solve the root of the problem.

After tidying up the trash on his table and throwing it into the garbage bin, Bai Yuze took his lunchbox to the dishwashing room. The moment he stood up to leave, the young girl who had been eating with her head down abruptly raised her head. Biting her spoon, her gaze flicked back and forth between Bai Yuze and Han Xue. Without the slightest hesitation, she sprang into action.

"Excuse me, classmate Han Xue, may I sit here and eat?"

Fei Yue, wearing a light blue uniform and holding her lunchbox, walked over to the seat directly across from Han Xue and asked.

Han Xue glanced at this unfamiliar classmate, then lowered her head again, silently sliding her lunchbox a little closer to herself. During this process, she gave a gentle nod.

"Excuse the intrusion."

Fei Yue offered a polite remark, placed her lunchbox on the table, and sat down to eat. The two girls sat facing each other. Perhaps the silent atmosphere between them was simply too heavy, as many people around their table left, and the corner of the cafeteria instantly became much more spacious.

Coming over to Han Xue, Fei Yue certainly wasn't there just to eat. Her gaze lingered hesitantly on Han Xue's lunchbox for a moment before she took the initiative to ask, "Classmate Han Xue, are you dieting lately? Honestly, I want to lose weight too, but I can never seem to shed the pounds."

Han Xue glanced at the other girl's lunchbox, then looked down at her own container filled entirely with vegetables, and nodded gently once again. She didn't know what the other girl's motive was, but she came with ill intentions. In her memory, she had never exchanged a single word with this classmate.

"......"

"......"

Han Xue was like an information recycling bin; no matter what information was sent over, she would never give any reply. The only thing you got was the shadow of a few new folders appearing in the otherwise empty bin, which served as the other person's sole prompt letting you know the message had been received.

Fei Yue picked up an octopus meatball, took a small bite, chewed and swallowed it, and then suddenly spoke up, "A teacher has been watching you the whole time just now, you know."

"......"

Hearing those words, Han Xue silently shoved some greens into her mouth, took a large bite of rice, and after a long while, finally spoke her first sentence, "I noticed."

"Don't you think that teacher is a pervert, staring at female students in broad daylight?"

Fei Yue picked up the remaining octopus meatball, popped it into her mouth, and ate it in small bites. Even while eating, she sat ramrod straight with an elegant posture, yet the words she spoke contrasted sharply with her refined demeanor.

Han Xue placed her chopsticks back into her lunchbox and cast a calm, indifferent glance at the girl across from her.

"Personally, I believe that anyone who can become a teacher at Qiuquan Middle School has no issues with their personal conduct and is fully capable of matching their words with deeds and upholding professional ethics in terms of teacher morality. I've finished my meal, classmate Fei Yue. Goodbye."

Watching the other girl leave in such a clean and decisive manner, Fei Yue's fingers gripping her chopsticks turned faintly pale, but she said nothing. Facing Han Xue, she actually felt a powerless sense of disconnect from being completely ignored.

During the lunch break, seeing that his colleagues were all asleep, Bai Yuze stealthily opened his laptop. He had been using this laptop for four or five years; it was practically an old friend. The computer fan hummed noisily. He typed in the URL for the Magical Girl official website and pressed enter. The next second, a two-dimensional anime cartoon image of a magical girl appeared on the desktop. By searching via ID, users could place their favorite magical girl plushie on the screen. You could feed them, have them work part-time, study, dance... If the front-end web developer wasn't a true anime fan, they could never have pulled off such an effect.

The one Bai Yuze chose was the Kikyo Magical Envoy: jet-black, glossy hime-cut hair, dressed all in white, hopping and skipping around looking utterly adorable. Raise a cyber pet, enjoy a cyber life. He clicked login, entered his password, found the new CCSA member account application form, filled in the identity information for Xia Qing, Han Xue, Bai Youqing, and others, double-checked that everything was correct, and clicked submit.

Leaning back in his chair, Bai Yuze had nothing to do and kept clicking on the desktop mascot with his mouse.

"Teacher Bai, what are you doing?"

The idle, repetitive clicking of the mouse attracted the attention of his desk neighbor, Hoshino Seri.

Bai Yuze's expression stiffened. After pausing for a few seconds, just as she was about to lean over to take a peek, he closed the browser window and looked at her.

Hoshino Seri pointed at the colleagues sleeping around them, feigning displeasure as she looked at him and whispered, "Little Bai, you can't let your personal business disturb everyone else's rest."

She hadn't even called him "Senior Little Bai"—she must have been genuinely angry. Yet looking at Hoshino Seri's hamster-like expression of indignation, Bai Yuze felt no sense of intimidation whatsoever, only how cute she was.

Despite thinking this, Bai Yuze cooperatively adopted the posture of a student who had made a mistake, obediently closing his laptop and lowering his head slightly.

"Teacher Hoshino, I was wrong."

Bai Yuze's demeanor—resembling a student caught acting up in class and admitting his fault—successfully left Hoshino Seri speechless, and most of her initial annoyance dissipated.

"Teacher Bai, pay attention next time."

"Right. I won't do it again next time."

Hoshino Seri stared at him, and Bai Yuze stared right back. After a long moment, the corners of Hoshino Seri's lips finally curved into a smile.

"Teacher Bai, why are you acting just like a student?"

"Teacher Hoshino really has that teacher aura, you know. I couldn't help but play along."

Hoshino Seri blushed slightly, unable to take it any longer. She turned away and buried her face in her desk.

"There's not much time left for the lunch break, Teacher Bai. You should rest too."

"Alright."

Bai Yuze looked at Hoshino Seri's flushed ear tips, realizing once again how adorable this female colleague truly was.

After finishing all his classes for the afternoon, Bai Yuze returned to the office carrying a stack of test papers. These papers were mostly for a small quiz, and his main task was to grade the essays while leaving the rest of the questions for the students to self-evaluate and correct when handed back later.

Whenever this time came, he envied the math teachers. If he were a math teacher, quizzes like this were the easiest to slack off on—after the exam, he could just have the students swap papers and grade each other's work. Coincidentally, Hoshino Seri was a math teacher, but she never did that; she graded every single paper meticulously and conscientiously. The female teacher's diligence and dedication earned Bai Yuze's utmost admiration.

By the time he finished grading the test papers, the sky outside the window had been claimed by dusk. Bai Yuze dropped his red pen, leaned back in his chair, and stretched his sore finger joints while twisting his neck to relax his eyes by looking at the scenery outside the window.