I Woke Up and Found Myself Married to the Dean - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Ten Years of Time Strikes Her Again.

On Fridays, Wen Qingyan’s schedule was quite packed. Before the third period in the morning, Xu Jinghao sent her a WeChat message saying she had prepared a special lunch and invited her to eat together, followed by a walk on the track.

Xu Jinghao was a few years younger than Wen Qingyan and was her high school alumna. Since joining the school, she had proactively built a relationship with Wen Qingyan, knowing exactly when to push and when to give space. Wen Qingyan found her company very comfortable.

However, their friendship had a rocky start.

Back then, Wen Qingyan had already been with Si Nanyu for several years and was sensitive about same-sex feelings. Since same-sex marriage hadn’t passed yet, she dodged the subject and never discussed it openly with Xu Jinghao. It wasn’t until she stumbled upon Xu Jinghao kissing her girlfriend on the street that they finally had a heart-to-heart.

Xu Jinghao was petite with a baby face, cheerful, lively, and very blunt. Once the air was cleared, she told Wen Qingyan: “Sister Wen, I knew from the first look that you were ‘one of us.’ Hehe~ your face is a total girl-killer!”

“But based on my observations, we have the same ‘role’!”

Xu Jinghao spoke lightheartedly, even wiggling her pinky finger. Wen Qingyan’s face turned various shades of red and white, stammering for a long time without a word.

Her personality was hard to approach a bit cold but she was the type who could be “warmed up.” Xu Jinghao’s enthusiasm always left Wen Qingyan with no choice but to yield.

Over time, they grew closer, but Wen Qingyan never said much about her and Si Nanyu until Si Nanyu joined the school staff. People who didn’t think in that direction wouldn’t suspect anything; they just knew Si Nanyu was her former student. But Xu Jinghao was bold and observant; the interaction between the two didn’t escape her eyes. She figured it out after just one or two instances.

Wen Qingyan had met Xu Jinghao’s girlfriend, and they had shared meals, so she felt no need to hide it. She told her that she and Si Nanyu were married. At that time, their relationship hadn’t soured yet; Xu Jinghao had essentially watched their bond deteriorate step by step.

Walking to a quiet corner of the track, Xu Jinghao stopped and asked, “So, what do you plan to do now?”

“Since you think she’s faking it, why not expose her?”

“Exposing her is useless.”

Wen Qingyan answered instinctively. Then a flash of confusion crossed her eyes. She hesitated several times before finally shaking her head.

Standing opposite her, Xu Jinghao could only sigh helplessly. Then she suddenly remembered something: “By the way, that car Si Nanyu bought for you six months ago—did you ever drive it?”

Wen Qingyan froze. It took her a good while to remember which car she was talking about. She shook her head: “…No.”

After a pause, she added: “I don’t like the color scheme…”

Figures.

Xu Jinghao thought to herself. It wasn’t that their feelings were the problem, it was just… their personalities were too incompatible.

She found Wen Qingyan strange; she looked like she didn’t care about anything, yet she was incredibly stubborn, the type to never turn back until she hit a dead end. Si Nanyu was even stranger—whenever Xu Jinghao saw them together, she could feel that in Si Nanyu’s clear eyes, there was only Wen Qingyan. Her possessiveness was intense.

Si Nanyu loved to play and make noise; Wen Qingyan loved peace and preferred solitude. Wen Qingyan was restrained and conservative; Si Nanyu had no boundaries and played like a maniac.

So, she had summarized it like this: Wen Qingyan wanted an apple, but Si Nanyu wanted a banana. Because Si Nanyu liked bananas, Wen Qingyan could only give her apples. Si Nanyu was sometimes too self-centered. Even her love was self-righteous.

The two walked back to the office building just as the lunch break was ending. Wen Qingyan kept her head down in thought, while Xu Jinghao walked quietly beside her. Though she was loud, she knew how to be still; otherwise, she couldn’t be friends with someone like Wen Qingyan. She wouldn’t interfere too much.

“Hello, Teacher Xu! Hello, Teacher Wen!”

Before they could enter the building, they heard students greeting them from the second floor. A tall girl carrying an easel leaned over the railing to look down.

Both Xu Jinghao and Wen Qingyan recognized her. Wen Qingyan simply nodded, while Xu Jinghao waved with a blooming smile. She taught art, and this was her own student.

Wen Qingyan…

After a nod of acknowledgement, she said to Xu Jinghao: “I have to go to the Academic Affairs Office. I’ll head out first.”

“Okay!” Xu Jinghao waved and waited for her to disappear before heading upstairs.

Xu Jinghao taught art to the seniors and shared an office with Si Nanyu, so she had been in contact with her over the past few days. The other woman seemed a bit dazed and was much more polite than before. She no longer looked at people with eyes full of dissatisfaction. She had softened up completely.

Especially now. Not far from her student stood Si Nanyu, her neck craned, looking longingly and piteously toward where Wen Qingyan had walked away. When Si Nanyu saw her, her eyes darted away, and she ducked back into the office.

A moment later, Si Nanyu emerged again clutching her textbooks and headed down the stairs from another direction to her class.

She had a lot of classes today: one in the morning and two in the afternoon. This was her last one, after which she could prepare to head home.

After a week, Si Nanyu was handling the classes with ease. Music appreciation took up half the time. During this period, she checked her phone three or four times. She seemed to be waiting for something, but when nothing arrived, she finally forced herself to focus on the lesson.

Barely two seconds into her focus, there was a knock at the door: “Report!”

“Come in,” Si Nanyu said softly, trying not to disturb the other students.

She understood now that students in Classes 7 and 8 had professional art/music training and would occasionally leave to consult with their specialized teachers. She guessed the person knocking was likely the student who had just spoken to Teacher Xu Jinghao.

The student who had looked so familiar yesterday.

When the girl walked in, Si Nanyu was dumbfounded.

Si Nanyu was 169cm tall—not short by any means. Because she wasn’t used to dressing maturely, she wore a low ponytail and no makeup, which made her look much younger. But the student in front of her looked like the ideal version of herself. Their features were remarkably similar.

Since this was her first time teaching Class 8, she couldn’t remember all the names, so she didn’t call her out. She just gestured for her to return to her seat.

The girl was very polite and explained herself: “I was asking Teacher Xu some questions, so I’m late. I’m sorry.”

Si Nanyu nodded slightly. As the girl passed her, she couldn’t help but look—she was half a head taller than her. She was beautiful!

And she looked so incredibly familiar…

Class continued, but Si Nanyu was clearly distracted, her eyes drifting toward that girl several times. It wasn’t until the bell rang that she lowered her head and returned to the office.

She was still trying to figure out why the girl looked familiar when her phone buzzed as she sat down. A message from Wen Qingyan:

“Xu Jinghao asked me first.”

Simple and direct. The weight in Si Nanyu’s heart finally lifted. Her nose felt a bit stingy, and her grievances melted away.

So… Wen Qingyan did see me.

Si Nanyu felt that as someone with only eighteen-year-old memories, she probably… had no right to care so much about Wen Qingyan’s affairs. But the sense of disparity was there. No matter what, she was the one who knew Wen Qingyan first.

She couldn’t explain why, but the mood improvement brought by that WeChat message was written all over her face.

Yang Miao asked in confusion: “Nanyu, what’s wrong? Did something good happen?”

Si Nanyu gave an awkward smile: “No… nothing.” She put her head down to tidy her desk. Work was almost over, and she would see Wen Qingyan soon!

“Sister, Teacher Wen told me to tell you that she has to work overtime…”

Before Si Nanyu could even process her joy, she was hit with a message from the girl standing right in front of her. She snapped to attention.

Two pieces of information:

1. Teacher Wen has to work overtime.

2. …She called me “Sister.”

She called me “Sister”????

Si Nanyu stood up abruptly and asked the girl who was half a head taller: “You called me ‘Sister’?”

The girl…

She was the same student who was late to Class 8. She had looked indifferent at first, but seeing Si Nanyu’s expression and hearing the question, her slight smile froze.

The scene was incredibly awkward.

She said in a low voice: “Teacher Si, Teacher Wen asked me to pass the message to you.”

“Because you didn’t reply to her message, and she happened to know I was coming to the office.”

She was very polite. But that wasn’t Si Nanyu’s focus—well, it was. She looked down to reply to Wen Qingyan’s message, then squinted, looking hard at those eyes that were so similar to her own, trying to figure out who this was.

As she looked, her vision went dark. She actually did recognize her. Gritting her teeth, she blurted out: “Si… Jiamu?”

“Yes, Teacher Si, I am Si Jiamu.” Si Jiamu responded politely, though she found the interaction bizarre.

But Si Nanyu couldn’t care about her feelings. Her mind was filled with discomfort. In her memories, Si Jiamu didn’t even reach her chest, but now…

Ten years of time had struck her once again.

Am I… actually on good terms with my stepmother’s daughter now???

Good enough that… Wen Qingyan uses her to pass messages to me???

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