Forcibly Taken by My Student’s Mother - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Teacher Tao, Then… Pay Me Back With Your Body…

Tao Yao slept extremely deeply that night, perhaps due to the effect of the medicine, or perhaps due to the complete relaxation that comes after total physical and mental exhaustion.

A young body has a good foundation, and a low-grade fever comes quickly and leaves just as fast.

When she woke up the next morning, except for a slightly dry throat, her head no longer felt dizzy.

She opened her eyes and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for a few seconds before remembering where she was.

The guest room curtains were tightly closed and the light was dim. Tao Yao sat up in bed and touched her forehead; her temperature was normal. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, which were somewhat crumpled after a night’s sleep.

She got out of bed quietly and pushed open the door. It was silent outside, with only a faint sound coming from the kitchen in the distance. Tao Yao glanced at the time: 7:30 AM.

Must leave quickly.

As soon as this thought popped up, she immediately made up her mind: slip away quietly first, then come back during the afternoon class time, and she must try her best to avoid bumping into Lu Xuelan.

With Lu Xuelan being so direct, she really couldn’t handle it. More importantly, she didn’t dare to have a falling out.

Lacking money and afraid of being fired, this “ox and horse” corporate laborer was being held firmly by the throat.

However, just as she reached the first-floor living room, she bumped into Su Xiaowan, who was coming out of the dining room.

“Teacher Tao?” Su Xiaowan still had half a piece of toast in her mouth. Seeing Tao Yao looking ready to head out, she asked indistinctly, “Are you leaving?”

Tao Yao’s footsteps paused, and she nodded somewhat awkwardly: “Mm, the fever broke. I’m going back to change my clothes first and will come back in the afternoon.”

“Oh, why go back?” Su Xiaowan swallowed the toast in a couple of bites and walked over to grab Tao Yao’s arm. “Just stay here. You have class this afternoon anyway. Your face still looks a bit pale; don’t exert yourself.”

“No, no,” Tao Yao waved her hands repeatedly, “I’m really fine now, and…”

Su Xiaowan didn’t give her a chance to refuse, turning toward the kitchen to shout: “Auntie Zhang, prepare a portion of breakfast for Teacher Tao too!”

“Student Su, I really have to go back…”

“Teacher Tao.” Su Xiaowan straightened her expression, her tone becoming uncharacteristically serious. “Are you still angry at me for pushing you yesterday? I really know I was wrong, and I promise I’ll be totally well-behaved during class from now on. Just don’t leave. My mom went to the company early this morning, so it’s just me at home. It’s so boring.”

Hearing that Lu Xuelan had left, Tao Yao felt a strange sense of relief in her heart. But then she felt this was even worse: even if Lu Xuelan wasn’t there, as a tutor, staying at a student’s house all day felt inappropriate no matter how she thought about it.

She explained patiently, “I’m not angry at you, I really just need to go back for a bit.”

“What could be more important than recovering from an illness?” Su Xiaowan blinked her eyes. “Teacher Tao, are you… afraid of seeing my mom?”

Tao Yao’s heart tightened, but she forced a calm face: “What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I be afraid of your mom?”

“Because you two were acting weird yesterday.” Su Xiaowan tilted her head with an expression that said she saw through everything. “My mom had a doctor come to see you, and you seemed especially nervous. Did she secretly scold you? Or threaten you?”

Tao Yao was momentarily speechless.

Lu Xuelan wants to turn her gay—how was she supposed to explain this misunderstanding?

She could only follow Su Xiaowan’s lead: “No, your mom is quite nice, it’s just… I’m a bit unaccustomed to it.”

“Oh, you also think my mom has been acting weird lately, right? let me tell you, she’s just like that—cold on the outside, warm on the inside.” Su Xiaowan pulled Tao Yao toward the dining room. “Don’t feel pressured. Come, come, eat breakfast first. The shrimp dumplings Auntie Zhang makes are delicious.”

Tao Yao was half-pushed and half-coaxed into a seat at the dining table. Soon, two steaming baskets of shrimp dumplings, two bowls of lean meat congee, and several plates of exquisite side dishes were placed before her.

The hospitality was truly hard to refuse, so she finally picked up her chopsticks.

Halfway through the meal, Auntie Zhang came in from outside holding a square gift box tied with a deep blue velvet ribbon and walked over to Tao Yao.

“Teacher Tao, Director Lu ordered this to be given to you.”

Tao Yao froze, her chopsticks suspended in mid-air. The shrimp dumpling in her mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

The gift box was extremely exquisite. The deep blue velvet surface shimmered with a delicate luster, and the ribbon was tied impeccably. Even without knowing what was inside, one could tell just by the packaging that it was worth a fortune.

“This… what is this?” Tao Yao’s voice was a bit dry.

“Director Lu said that you’ve worked hard teaching classes, and this is a gift for you.” Auntie Zhang gently placed the gift box by Tao Yao’s hand. “Director Lu also said she hopes you like it.”

Tao Yao stared at the box as if it were a hot potato.

Su Xiaowan leaned over, looking curiously: “Wow, my mom gave you a gift? Quick, open it and see what it is!”

Tao Yao didn’t move.

Her mind was a mess: What does Lu Xuelan mean by this?

After that near-transgressive kiss last night, she sends a gift first thing in the morning?

What is this? Compensation? Or… a further probe?

“Teacher Tao?” Seeing her dazing off, Su Xiaowan waved a hand in front of her eyes.

Tao Yao snapped out of it and managed a smile: “Let’s eat first. I’ll look at the gift… in a little while.”

She ate this meal without tasting anything.

After eating, Tao Yao used the excuse of needing to prepare for class and hurried back to the guest room clutching the gift box.

Closing the door, she leaned against it and took several deep breaths before carefully untying the ribbon. Inside the gift box was a dark gray suede jewelry box. Opening it, a fountain pen lay quietly on a black velvet lining.

The barrel was made of deep blue resin with a warm luster, and the clip and decorative rings were star-silver, with a simple and elegant design. The top of the cap was inlaid with a small deep blue gemstone, which shimmered with a low-key brilliance under the light.

Even without much research into luxury goods, Tao Yao could tell this pen was incredibly expensive.

She flipped open the compartment of the jewelry box, and sure enough, there was a card inside.

The card was plain white, with only a single line of handwritten words: “Teacher Tao has worked hard; please accept this small token of my appreciation.”

The handwriting was sharp and fluid, carrying a distinct personal style—it was Lu Xuelan’s own hand. Tao Yao stared at those words for a long time, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the card. Her heart beat a little fast, filled with panic.

Tao Yao put the fountain pen back in the box and closed it, as if afraid it would burn her hand.

No, she couldn’t accept it.

She had to make her stance clear.

Tao Yao took out her phone and found Lu Xuelan’s number, which she had saved before to facilitate communication regarding Su Xiaowan’s situation. She hesitated for a few seconds before finally pressing the call button.

The phone rang three times before being picked up.

“Hello.”

Lu Xuelan’s voice came through the receiver. the background was quiet, perhaps she was in her office.

Her voice was lower than usual, carrying the coolness of a professional state.

“Director Lu.” Tao Yao tried her best to make her voice sound natural. “It’s me, Tao Yao.”

“Mm, I know.” Lu Xuelan paused. “Teacher Tao, are you feeling better?”

“Much better, thank you for your concern, Director Lu.” Tao Yao quickly finished the pleasantries and cut to the chase. “Um… I received the gift you had Auntie Zhang deliver. But it’s too valuable; I really can’t accept it.”

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

“Don’t you like it?” Lu Xuelan asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s…” Tao Yao chose her words carefully. “It’s too expensive. I’m just doing my job; there’s really no need to be so polite. And I’m a teacher; it’s not appropriate for me to accept such a valuable gift from a student’s parent.”

“It’s just a pen.” Lu Xuelan’s tone was very calm. “It’s just to make it convenient for you to prepare lessons and grade homework; it’s not valuable.”

Tao Yao: “…”

A luxury brand fountain pen inlaid with a gemstone isn’t considered valuable?

“Director Lu, it really won’t do.” Tao Yao’s attitude was firm. “I’ll leave the pen in your study. Please take it back when you return.”

“Teacher Tao.” Lu Xuelan’s voice lowered slightly. “Are you afraid of me?”

Tao Yao’s heart jumped, and she blurted out a denial: “No, I just feel…”

“If you don’t like fountain pens,” Lu Xuelan interrupted her, her tone as natural as if they were discussing today’s weather, “I can send something else. A necklace? Jewelry? A bag? Or you can tell me what you like.”

Tao Yao was practically going crazy.

What is wrong with this person? Does she not understand a refusal?

“Director Lu!” She raised her volume a bit. “That’s not what I mean! My point is that between us… there shouldn’t be this kind of gift-giving. You are the employer and I am the tutor; it’s not appropriate.”

“What exactly is inappropriate?” Lu Xuelan asked directly.

Tao Yao was choked up.

She couldn’t exactly say: Because you want to chase me and I don’t want to be chased by you, so it’s inappropriate, right?

“Anyway… it’s just not appropriate.” Tao Yao felt a bit powerless. “Director Lu, I still need to prepare for class, so I’ll hang up now. I’ll put the pen in your study.”

With that, she didn’t wait for Lu Xuelan’s response and hurried to hang up the phone.

Clutching her hot phone, Tao Yao let out a long breath.

This phone call had left her physically and mentally exhausted.

Lu Xuelan’s pressuring attitude made her feel like a mouse being eyed by a cat; no matter how she hid, the claws would pin her down with precision.

She rested in the guest room for quite a while before taking the gift box downstairs.

Su Xiaowan had already gone back to her room to play games, and only Auntie Zhang was cleaning in the living room.

Tao Yao walked quickly up to the second floor and arrived at the door of Lu Xuelan’s study.

The door wasn’t locked, so she pushed it open gently.

The study was still as tidy as yesterday, and a faint woody fragrance floated in the air. Tao Yao walked to the large solid wood desk and placed the gift box squarely in the center of the desk.

After doing all this, she felt like she had completed some major task and let out a sigh of relief.

For the rest of the day, Tao Yao was restless.

While teaching Su Xiaowan, she couldn’t help but glance toward the study, and her ears were perked up, listening for any movement downstairs. She was both afraid that Lu Xuelan would suddenly return and secretly hoping for some kind of closure.

This contradictory mood left her suffering.

Fortunately, Lu Xuelan seemed truly busy; she didn’t appear until the afternoon class ended.

“Teacher Tao, what’s wrong with you today?” When class ended, Su Xiaowan finally couldn’t help but ask.

Tao Yao snapped out of it and packed her teaching materials as a cover: “Nothing, I’m just a bit tired.”

“Oh…” Su Xiaowan was half-doubting. “Then go back and rest early. By the way, the pen my mom gave you, do you like it?”

Tao Yao’s movements paused: “I… didn’t take it.”

“Huh? Why?” Su Xiaowan’s eyes widened. “That pen was so pretty, my mom picked it out specifically! She asked me yesterday what color you liked, I said blue, and she ordered this one.”

Tao Yao’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Lu Xuelan even specifically asked Su Xiaowan about her preferences?

This kind of care might be touching coming from a regular pursuer, but in their current complicated relationship, it only made Tao Yao feel as if a mountain of pressure were crushing her.

“It’s too valuable.” She repeated the reason. “A teacher can’t accept such a valuable gift from a student’s parent.”

Su Xiaowan curled her lip: “You adults just have too many rules. If it were me, if I liked it, I’d take it.”

Tao Yao gave a bitter smile and didn’t explain further.

She packed her things, said goodbye to Su Xiaowan, and walked quickly out of the villa.

The evening breeze carried a chill. Tao Yao got on her mountain bike and pedaled hard, as if trying to leave all those messy emotions behind her.

When she got home, she ordered some random takeout and finished it while preoccupied with her thoughts.

Then, out of habit, she opened her computer to prepare to write today’s update.

The document opened, the cursor blinked, but she couldn’t write a single word.

Her mind was entirely filled with today’s events.

In her state of agitation, she somehow found herself clicking on the document for that Yuri web novel.

She had written quite a bit intermittently over these days, and on an impulse, she posted it.

Originally, it was just to vent her emotions, but she didn’t expect the data to be surprisingly good. The comment section was filled with “Ahhh the author writes so well,” “The CEO lady is killing me,” and “Begging for more.” The collections and comments were much higher than the book she was writing seriously.

Tao Yao looked at the backend data with complex feelings. On one hand, it proved she wrote well; on the other hand, the fact that this kind of stuff had such good data gave her a guilty sense of doing something bad and being afraid of getting caught.

She hesitated for a while, but eventually, unable to resist the temptation of the data, she created a new chapter and started typing.

This time she wrote about Leng Yue taking Lin Ye to a high-end restaurant. The two were discussing work with calm faces, but Leng Yue was gently brushing against Lin Ye’s ankle under the table. She leaned close to Lin Ye: “Assistant Lin, with such a bitter face, do you have some kind of grievance?”

Just as she reached the ambiguous part, her phone suddenly vibrated.

Tao Yao glanced at it, and her heart stopped.

It was a message from L.

She took a deep breath and clicked it.

L: “She returned my gift. Does she not like this one? Is it too formal? Or would it be better if I sent a necklace or jewelry?”

Tao Yao stared at this line of text, her temples throbbing.

She could almost imagine Lu Xuelan’s expression when she sent this message—brows slightly furrowed, gaze serious, truly confused about what to give to make her accept it.

Tao Yao’s fingers hovered over the screen for a long time before she started typing rapidly.

She had to make things clear; she had to make Lu Xuelan understand that it was impossible between them.

Tao Zhi Yao Yao: “Sister, I think you shouldn’t send her gifts anymore right now.”

Tao Zhi Yao Yao: “You aren’t in a romantic relationship yet; sending gifts that are too valuable will give her a lot of pressure. She returned it probably not just because of the gift itself, but because she feels the relationship hasn’t reached that stage yet.”

She sent it, felt it wasn’t enough, and added:

Tao Zhi Yao Yao: “And think about it, if you give such an expensive thing, how can she return the favor? She definitely doesn’t have that much money. This will make her feel unequal and want to run away even more.”

After sending this paragraph, Tao Yao suddenly felt something was wrong.

Wait, isn’t she teaching Lu Xuelan how to use a more “thoughtful” way to chase herself?

Sure enough, L’s reply came quickly:

L: “You’re right, I was inconsiderate. I shouldn’t have only thought about sending expensive things to show my goodwill.”

Just as Tao Yao breathed a sigh of relief, another message jumped out:

L: “I will send some more heart-felt gifts, so she won’t have this kind of pressure but can also feel my intentions.”

Tao Yao: “…”

That’s not what I meant, hey?!

Tao Zhi Yao Yao: “Sister, my point is… maybe you should stop worrying about sending gifts for now and take a good look at how she actually feels about you. Maybe you’ve misunderstood… she really doesn’t like you.”

L: “She has feelings for me.”

This sentence was stated with certainty, brooking no doubt.

Tao Yao practically wanted to throw her phone.

Where did she get this confidence?

Tao Zhi Yao Yao: “How do you know? Did she say it herself?”

L: “I can feel it. Her reaction when I get close… is definitely not indifference.”

Looking at this paragraph, Tao Yao’s cheeks inexplicably turned hot, and she instantly felt less righteous.

Instinctive reactions indeed couldn’t lie to people.

But that doesn’t represent anything! That was just a physiological reaction, the work of hormones, it was…

Beauty leading people astray!

Tao Yao scratched her hair in frustration.

It couldn’t be explained, it simply couldn’t be explained clearly.

She simply gave up on arguing with Lu Xuelan, even having an impulse to block her. She always felt that dream might be foreshadowing her future: Lu Xuelan discovers the truth, finds out she is “Tao Zhi Yao Yao,” and then she dies a horrible death.

But she was also extremely cowardly and didn’t dare to test Lu Xuelan, fearing that the other party didn’t know yet, but her testing would instead give her away and lead to an even worse death.

That night, Tao Yao was so worried she didn’t sleep well again.

In her dream, Lu Xuelan caught her and forced her into a corner to demand the truth.

The sensation of her back pressed against the cold wall was so real, and Lu Xuelan’s approaching figure was before her.

In the dream, Lu Xuelan was even more oppressive than in reality. She was wearing a red velvet nightgown, the belt tied loosely, revealing clear collarbones and a full, snowy-white cleavage. Her long hair was slightly damp, scattered over her shoulders, and a few strands at the ends still held undried water droplets, shimmering with tiny sparks of light in the dim light.

“Teacher Tao.” She spoke, her voice lower and huskier than usual, carrying the faint intoxication of having just bathed. “Why are you running?”

Tao Yao wanted to escape, but her legs felt like they were filled with lead, nailed to the spot. She could only watch helplessly as Lu Xuelan reached out, her fingertips gently brushing across her cheek; the touch was icy, yet it triggered a shiver.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Tao Yao’s voice was trembling.

“Don’t know?” Lu Xuelan gave a soft laugh. The sound was like a feather brushing past her ear, and her warm breath was almost against Tao Yao’s earlobe: “Then why are you running? Teacher Tao, you have a guilty conscience.”

“I don’t!” Tao Yao denied it flatly, but she was so guilty she couldn’t even convince herself.

Lu Xuelan straightened up unhurriedly, but her gaze was still locked on her: “Then who is… ‘Tao Zhi Yao Yao’?”

There was a buzzing in Tao Yao’s head. It was over.

She began to beg for mercy incoherently: “Director Lu, Sister Lu… I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have talked nonsense on the internet, shouldn’t have given random advice… please spare me. I’ll resign tomorrow, I promise to get as far away as possible and never appear in front of you again—”

“Resign?” Lu Xuelan raised an eyebrow and suddenly reached out, her finger gently pressing against her chin, forcing her to look up. “Teacher Tao, when you do something wrong, you always have to pay a price.”

Tao Yao’s heart pounded wildly: “…”

Lu Xuelan’s fingertip slid slowly down her jawline, stopping at the slightly thumping pulse at her neck, giving it a light tap: “Then…”

She paused, her voice tinged with a few hints of playful ambiguity: “Pay me back with your body.”

Tao Yao’s eyes widened suddenly—

Pay back with her body? Is it the “body” she’s thinking of? Ahhh?!

She shuddered with fright and suddenly woke up from the dream.

In the darkness, Tao Yao gasped for air, her heart still jumping wildly in her chest.

She grabbed her phone and looked: 2:50 AM.

“…D*mmit.”

She collapsed back into the pillow, staring at the ceiling, thinking despairingly:

I can’t live like this anymore.