Kidnapping the Female Teacher's Best Friend - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The alarm clock woke Mo Zibei instantly on the second day.

She had set the alarm half an hour earlier than usual last night. When she opened her eyes, the surroundings were still pitch black, making it hard to see clearly.

She lay there for a while, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, before quietly and carefully making her way to the bathroom.

After a simple wash and a trip to the toilet, Mo Zibei hunched over and gently pushed open Mu Hanxi’s bedroom door. She walked over, bent down, and peered closely: Mu Hanxi was still sleeping. She gently brushed the strands of hair away from her forehead and said softly, “Keep sleeping. I’m going to school. See you tonight.”

Mo Zibei had memorized Mu Xuanya’s phone number yesterday. After leaving the apartment complex, she ate breakfast at a nearby stand, then used her own phone to call Mu Xuanya. The call was answered quickly.

“Sister Xuanya, it’s Mo Zibei.”

“Oh, Xiaobei,” Mu Xuanya’s voice was a bit hoarse; she probably hadn’t woken up yet. “Is Hanxi alright?”

“She’s fine; she’s still sleeping,” Mo Zibei pushed her bike toward the exit. “But today is a workday…”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll head over to her place in a bit,” Mu Xuanya threw off the blanket and got up. “You go to school first.”

“Okay.”

Hanging up the phone, Mo Zibei cycled back to school quickly. She arrived at the classroom quite early. She dropped her backpack and immediately started rushing to finish her homework.

Mo Zibei woke up early today, but surprisingly, so did Qu Junzhi, who arrived only about ten minutes after her.

As soon as she entered the classroom, Qu Junzhi spotted Mo Zibei working hard with her head down. She walked over smiling, lightly patted Mo Zibei’s shoulder, and asked cheerfully, “Well, look who’s busy?”

Mo Zibei spared a glance upward: “Why are you here so early?”

Qu Junzhi pouted: “Why do you think I’d get up so early instead of sleeping in my soft bed?”

Mo Zibei understood, lowered her head to continue her work, and casually asked, “Which subject didn’t you finish?”

“English.” English was Qu Junzhi’s strength, yet she left it for last.

Mo Zibei smiled but didn’t say anything.

“What are you laughing at?” Qu Junzhi snorted at her. “We’re the same.” Mo Zibei was currently working on math homework. Both were relying on their strength in their respective subjects, so they left them until the end, being a little too nonchalant.

By hustling, the two finally managed to finish their homework before the formal morning reading class began, sighing in mutual relief.

Today was Monday. The third period was still P.E. After the free activity time, Mo Zibei and Qu Junzhi strolled aimlessly around the track.

“I heard the girls in my dorm say that a Grade 11 Physics teacher is pursuing Lin Xiaoran.” Qu Junzhi’s dorm had been secretly gossiping about this last night.

“Oh.” Mo Zibei’s reaction was distant, showing little interest.

“You go to the English office so many times. Didn’t you see that male teacher looking for her?”

“Didn’t notice.”

“Fine, I won’t talk about this with you anymore.” This person was always indifferent to gossip.

Mo Zibei continued walking forward with her hands in her pockets, and Qu Junzhi followed close beside her.

“Zhou Ruoxin’s dad is really something,” Qu Junzhi said when they reached the pull-up bars, resting her hands on the horizontal steel tube. “Liu Yang was such a stubborn nuisance, and her dad still managed to get rid of him.” The news of Liu Yang transferring schools spread everywhere this morning, causing quite a stir.

Mo Zibei leaned against the steel pillar, looking up at the sky, not offering any opinion. To be precise, she barely heard what Qu Junzhi was saying.

She was very worried about Mu Hanxi, wondering if she had gone to work or was still sleeping.

Her phone was locked in her locker. She couldn’t call Mu Hanxi now and could only wait until the evening.

She let out a soft sigh, feeling time pass so slowly. She wished she could close her eyes now and have it be nighttime.

“What’s wrong?” Qu Junzhi looked at her confusedly. “Frowning and sighing…”

“Nothing. Let’s go. Class is about to end.”

They walked to the assembly point. After class was dismissed, everyone headed toward the classrooms.

As usual, after P.E. class, Mo Zibei had to go to the English office to fetch the corrected homework from Lin Xiaoran.

After taking the homework, Mo Zibei didn’t leave. She stood in place, her eyes fixed on Lin Xiaoran’s phone on the desk, feeling an urge to act.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Xiaoran looked up at her, taking a sip of water.

“Teacher Lin, I want to make a phone call.”

Lin Xiaoran raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who are you calling?”

Mo Zibei licked her lips and cheekily said, “My older sister.”

“Your sister?” Lin Xiaoran was surprised. “Aren’t you an only child?”

“Well… my uncle’s older sister. I have something I need to talk to her about.” This wasn’t entirely wrong. Technically, Mu Hanxi’s father should be older than her father.

Lin Xiaoran unlocked her phone and handed it to her, not asking any more questions: “Alright, go make the call over there.”

Mo Zibei put down the homework, took the phone, and went to a relatively secluded corner of the office.

Although Lin Xiaoran’s contacts surely contained Mu Hanxi’s number, Mo Zibei didn’t search; she manually entered the number. She had known the string of digits by heart for a long time.

The call connected but wasn’t answered. Mo Zibei bit the back of her hand and dialed again, wondering if Mu Hanxi had gone to the company and was busy.

Just as she was thinking this, the call was answered: “Xiaoran, why are you calling me at this time?”

Mo Zibei glanced at Lin Xiaoran, who was still preparing lessons diligently with her head down, and a slight curve appeared on her lips: “It’s me.”

Mu Hanxi looked at the screen again—it was indeed Lin Xiaoran’s phone number.

“Where are you calling me from?”

“The English office,” Mo Zibei glanced at her watch. Class was about to start. “Did you go to work?”

“No, my second sister got me the day off.” Mu Xuanya had called Liu Chuqing directly.

“Does your head hurt?”

“Not much, just a bit sleepy.”

“Did you eat?”

“Yes, my second sister brought me breakfast.”

“Mhm,” Now that she had asked everything she wanted to know, Mo Zibei felt relieved. “I need to go to class now. See you tonight.”

“Okay.”

Mo Zibei hung up and deleted the call record.

Handing the phone back to Lin Xiaoran, Mo Zibei carried the homework and said seriously, “Teacher Lin, I’m going back to class.”

“Go ahead.”

After making the phone call, Mo Zibei felt much better.

At noon, Mo Zibei ate lunch in the cafeteria with Zhou Ruoxin and Meng Yuanhao.

“That bastard Liu Yang has transferred schools,” Meng Yuanhao laughed heartily. “Everyone in our class is ecstatic today. They want to throw a party in the classroom and celebrate with singing and dancing.”

“Do you know where he transferred to?” Mo Zibei asked casually.

“No, our teacher didn’t say.”

Zhou Ruoxin didn’t want to hear about Liu Yang. She changed the subject: “Zibei, what did you do last night?” Mo Zibei hadn’t left with them after evening study hall, saying she had something to do and left first.

“I went to see Sister Mu.” She didn’t say much else, nor did she plan to.

Zhou Ruoxin poked at her rice with her head down, looking a little glum. Since Mo Zibei was injured, Mu Hanxi had basically been picking her up at the school gate every night to take her back for medicine. Only last night did she not come to pick her up, yet Mo Zibei went to find her anyway.

Meng Yuanhao, on the other hand, had a good impression of Mu Hanxi. He said with emotion, “Sob, I’m so jealous of you. That gentle and sweet sister helps you apply medicine every night!”

Mu Hanxi was drunk last night and didn’t apply medicine, but Mo Zibei didn’t want to explain: “Hurry up and eat. It’ll get cold.”

Meng Yuanhao quieted down for a moment, then suddenly chewed on his steamed bun, slapped the table excitedly, and exclaimed, “I just remembered! That time we went for hot pot, you went outside to meet someone. Was that Sister Mu?”

Mo Zibei was startled, surprised that Meng Yuanhao suddenly brought this up.

Meng Yuanhao excitedly slapped the table again: “It must have been Sister Mu. That person’s figure and back view looked very much like her.”

Mo Zibei neither confirmed nor denied it.

Zhou Ruoxin quietly extracted the key information and looked at Meng Yuanhao: “When did you go out for hot pot?”

“Just… the short break two weeks ago.”

Zhou Ruoxin’s mood darkened a little more upon hearing this. So, the two of them had already known each other back then, and she was completely unaware…

She stared blankly at Mo Zibei, her mind elsewhere, various complex worries intertwined and tangled, impossible to break free from or untangle.

Mo Zibei looked up and met her distracted eyes, a little confused: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Zhou Ruoxin lowered her gaze and ate her rice, but it tasted like chewing wax.

After eating, the three walked out together.

Since the fight and their injuries, Meng Yuanhao and Mo Zibei hadn’t been to the basketball court. Now that their injuries were almost healed, Meng Yuanhao was eager to play. He motioned to Mo Zibei: “Come play ball with me?”

Mo Zibei shook her head: “I need to go back and do practice problems.”

“Why do problems during such great weather?” Meng Yuanhao was persistent. “We should be out on the basketball court, spreading our youth and sweat. We absolutely shouldn’t waste life.”

Mo Zibei’s attitude was firm; she wouldn’t go: Mu Hanxi had promised her a gift once she passed English…

Meng Yuanhao drooped his head, looking dejected: “If you’re not going, I won’t go either.”

The moment he said this, he heard Yan Xiaoshuai across the way shouting for him while holding a basketball and waving vigorously.

He glanced guiltily at Mo Zibei. Mo Zibei looked straight ahead: “If you want to play, go.”

Hearing this, Meng Yuanhao took off running, incredibly fast, as if his feet were oiled.

Zhou Ruoxin hadn’t spoken the entire way, her face tight, her lips pursed, looking upset.

“Zibei,” Zhou Ruoxin suddenly stopped when they were close to the teaching building. “Where do you want to go to college later?”

Mo Zibei pondered for a few seconds and answered honestly: “B City.”

“Oh.” Zhou Ruoxin’s mood brightened slightly. That destination coincided with her own plans.

“Have you decided on a major?”

“It should be in the sciences, but I haven’t decided on the specifics yet.”

Zhou Ruoxin nodded, then added: “I want to study a language-related major.”

“That’s nice.”

Zhou Ruoxin tugged Mo Zibei’s sleeve, looking earnestly at her, her tone sincere: “I hope we can still go to the same place for university.”

Mo Zibei hummed and gave her a slight smile.

Zhou Ruoxin was dazzled by her smile, her expression momentarily dazed, forgetting to let go of her arm.

“Ruoxin,” Mo Zibei reminded her softly, “I want to go back to the classroom.”

Zhou Ruoxin’s face flushed slightly. She released her sleeve: “Mhm, you go ahead.”

From the moment lunch ended, Mo Zibei began to wait, first waiting for the four afternoon classes to finish, and then waiting for evening study hall.

After hoping and waiting for what felt like ages, the bell for the end of the second evening study hall finally rang.

She had packed her backpack beforehand and asked Qu Junzhi to move aside. The moment the bell rang, she bolted out the back door.

Qu Junzhi and Du Chenxing exchanged a look of mutual understanding, both seeing surprise in the other’s eyes, wondering what was wrong with Mo Zibei.

After meeting up with Meng Yuanhao and Zhou Ruoxin, Mo Zibei started urging them to hurry. The three raced toward the bike shed, then quickly cycled out of the school gate.

Mo Zibei cycled incredibly fast today, feeling like she was about to take off. The other two struggled to keep up behind her, especially Zhou Ruoxin, whose face was red from pedaling so hard.

“What’s up with Zibei today?” Meng Yuanhao was panting, his forehead covered in sweat. “She’s like she’s on an energy drink.”

Zhou Ruoxin was too busy pedaling to talk to him.

At an intersection, Mo Zibei shouted back at them: “I’m leaving! See you tomorrow!”

Zhou Ruoxin hit the brakes, slowing down to a stop, watching Mo Zibei’s retreating figure, taking a long time to recover.

Entering the apartment complex, Mo Zibei locked her bike and immediately ran with her bag toward Mu Hanxi’s building.

She pressed the elevator button. The moment the door opened, Mo Zibei quickly slipped inside, breathing heavily, her chest violently rising and falling. Her eyes were fixed on the constantly changing numbers. The closer the number got to the goal, the harder her heart thumped.

When she reached the correct floor, the door opened, and she rapidly squeezed out, only slowing her pace when she was nearly at Mu Hanxi’s door. She paused for a few seconds to catch her breath, then reached out and pressed the doorbell.

Her face was completely flushed from the intense cycling and running, radiating heat non-stop.

Mu Hanxi came to open the door. She froze when she saw the red-faced Mo Zibei…

“Sister Mu…”

Mu Hanxi instinctively reached out, gently placing her palm on Mo Zibei’s cheek: So hot.

Everything Mo Zibei wanted to say was forgotten by that intimate touch…