Kidnapping the Female Teacher's Best Friend - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Mu Hanxi gently patted her lower back, “You can get up now.”

Mo Zibei hummed, supporting herself with her hands to sit up in bed.

Mu Hanxi took the ointment and went outside to wash her hands.

Mo Zibei sat on the edge of the bed, tying her hair with the black hair tie she had just exchanged. She skillfully tied a high ponytail and, in high spirits, swayed her head from side to side, tossing the ponytail.

After laughing to herself for a while, she went to the bathroom door and waited there. She planned to go inside to change clothes after Mu Hanxi came out.

As the two brushed past each other, they exchanged glances, both with smiles in their eyes.

Mu Hanxi walked into the bedroom and sat where Mo Zibei had been sitting. She picked up the blue hair tie and examined it for a while, thinking it looked quite nice…

“Sister Mu,” the bedroom door wasn’t closed. After changing her clothes, Mo Zibei walked straight in, “I need to go home now.”

Mu Hanxi put the blue hair tie away, stood up, “I’ll see you out.”

“Mhm.”

Mo Zibei put on her bag, turned around, and saw Mu Hanxi holding car keys. She thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll ride my bike back.”

Mu Hanxi looked at her from across the space, “Are you sure?”

Mo Zibei nodded gently.

Mu Hanxi respected her wishes and saw her to the elevator door.

Mo Zibei was inside the elevator, and Mu Hanxi was outside the elevator door. Just as the elevator doors were closing, Mo Zibei waved at her. Mu Hanxi also raised her hand, but unfortunately, Mo Zibei didn’t see it.

Once the elevator doors fully closed, Mo Zibei leaned against a corner of the elevator, staring blankly at the constantly changing numbers…

She had arrived ecstatic and was leaving feeling low and sad—two completely different moods. She sighed softly, hooked her backpack strap, and walked out.

On the way back, she listened to Mao Buyi’s Sorrow on her headphones the whole way.

By the end, she could even hum a couple of lines along with it.

Back home, Father Mo hadn’t gone to sleep yet; he was clearly waiting for her.

Mo Zibei rubbed her nose and walked over. Before Father Mo could ask, she volunteered, “I can drink the milk tonight,” she put her backpack on the sofa, “Dad, I’m going to wash up first.”

Father Mo nodded, stood up from the sofa, and went to the kitchen to heat milk for her.

Just as she finished washing up and sat down at her desk, Father Mo brought a cup of milk over.

Mo Zibei held the cup of milk in her hands, “I’ll wash the cup myself after I finish drinking it. You should go to sleep.” It was already past eleven o’clock.

Father Mo hummed, said nothing more, turned, pushed the door, and went back to his own room.

After Father Mo left, Mo Zibei let down her hair and put the black hair tie on her right wrist.

Watch on the left wrist, hair tie on the right wrist. She placed both arms together and, using the light, examined them carefully, thinking they matched quite well.

She refocused and started on her homework, laboring over it with her head down until one in the morning. After finishing her homework, she massaged her sore neck, straightened up, and twisted her waist.

Seeing the cup of milk still sitting next to her, she realized that she had forgotten about it while rushing to finish her assignments. She took the empty cup to the kitchen, rinsed it with hot water, and seeing that it looked clean, she put the cup down and returned to her bedroom.

She drew the curtains, turned off the lights, closed her eyes, and lay face down on the bed, hugging her pillow.

It was pitch black all around, and the only sound was the running of the old wall-mounted air conditioner.

It was very late, but she didn’t feel sleepy.

She rolled over, placed the pillow under the back of her head, and unconsciously traced the shape of a character on her chest with her right index finger. Only then did she realize that she was writing the character for Mu. She smiled silently, hooked the thin blanket at the end of the bed with her toes, covered her lower abdomen, closed her eyes, and began to count sheep: one sheep, two sheep… then it changed to thirty-three Mu, thirty-four Mu… fifty-eight Mu… ninety-six Mu.

In the middle of the night, she talked in her sleep, repeating the phrases: “Mu Hanxi,” “Hanxi,” “morning sunlight.”

The next day, the alarm clock rang, and she woke up as usual, but she felt a bit low on energy, likely from lack of sleep.

She rubbed her face vigorously, pulled a blue hair tie from the drawer, skillfully tied a high ponytail, then put on her school uniform and went to wash up, followed by eating breakfast.

The weather today was crisp and refreshing, with small breezes occasionally sweeping past.

Under the gentle morning sunlight, she cycled all the way back to school, feeling fairly good.

After the third English class in the morning, Lin Xiaoran walked to Qu Junzhi’s desk, but her gaze fell on Mo Zibei.

Qu Junzhi nudged Mo Zibei with her elbow, whispering a reminder, “Teacher Lin is here.”

Mo Zibei shifted her attention from her English textbook and looked up at her.

“Come with me to the English office.”

“Oh.” Mo Zibei put down her book, stepped out, and followed closely behind Lin Xiaoran.

When they arrived at the office, Lin Xiaoran instructed her, “Go water my succulents for me.”

Mo Zibei followed the instruction, took Lin Xiaoran’s cup, filled it with cold water at the dispenser, then walked back, bent down, and poured some onto the succulent plant on her desk.

Lin Xiaoran walked to the window and drew the curtains open, letting the sunlight stream in.

Mo Zibei finished watering, put down the cup, and stood quietly watching her.

Lin Xiaoran narrowed her eyes, bathed in the sunlight for a moment, then turned around and sat down in her chair.

“In light of your recent good performance,” she paused slightly, “I plan to take you out for lunch.”

“Huh?”

Lin Xiaoran took out a tissue and wiped her desk, “I got paid yesterday, and I want to treat Hanxi to lunch today, and reward you at the same time.” Her little class representative had been very diligent and hardworking lately, which greatly pleased Lin Xiaoran.

A windfall! Mo Zibei was thrilled, ecstatic, and jumping with joy on the inside!!! However, she remained composed on the outside. She reached out to gently touch the recently watered succulent, joking, “Teacher Lin, taking out the words ‘at the same time’ would make you seem more sincere.”

Lin Xiaoran was startled at first, then laughed, going along with her joke, “Alright, alright, I sincerely want to reward you.”

Mo Zibei nodded with pursed lips.

“Go tell your friends quickly,” she then added, “It’s not that I don’t want to take them along, mainly because I don’t know them well.”

“Mhm, mhm, mhm, got it.” Mo Zibei turned and ran off immediately after speaking.

She huffed and puffed up to the third floor, stood at the front door of Meng Yuanhao’s classroom, and waved to him.

“I won’t be eating with you two at noon,” her happy expression was undisguised, “I’m going out to eat with our Teacher Lin.”

“Wow, your beautiful Teacher Lin is treating you to a meal?”

“Mhm,” Mo Zibei patted his shoulder, “This is a perk of studying hard.”

When Mo Zibei mentioned the perk, the image of their short, chubby, greasy male English teacher with a full beard wanting to treat him to a meal involuntarily popped into Meng Yuanhao’s mind. His body uncontrollably shivered. Forget it, he couldn’t enjoy that kind of perk…

Mo Zibei checked her watch. She also wanted to go to the restroom, and time was a bit tight, “Tell Ruoxin when you get back; I won’t go to her classroom.”

“Okay, okay, you go back.”

Mo Zibei entered the classroom just as the class bell rang. This was Chinese class. She had been caught daydreaming by this teacher once before, so to avoid repeating the mistake, Mo Zibei sat up straight, listening to the lecture and diligently taking notes.

The first half-hour was fine, but she started feeling restless during the last fifteen minutes. She kept checking her watch, and every time she looked, her bottom shifted…

She made these small movements repeatedly, making it difficult for Qu Junzhi not to notice.

Taking advantage of the Chinese teacher turning to write on the blackboard, Qu Junzhi leaned her head over and asked in a low voice, chuckling, “What’s wrong with you? Did you grow a nail under your butt?”

Mo Zibei glanced at her, reached for her cup, took a sip of water, and said nothing.

After a while, Qu Junzhi pushed her notebook in front of Mo Zibei. Written clearly on it were the words: I HATE IT WHEN YOU IGNORE ME!!!

A pig head emoji was drawn after the sentence, and this pig head even had a high ponytail…

Mo Zibei secretly peeked at the podium, covered her mouth, and laughed, then wrote back: I have to go out for lunch, and I’m a little restless.

Du Chenxing was listening to the lecture intently, but accidentally saw their interaction. Curiosity led him to lean toward Mo Zibei, wanting to see what was written in the notebook. Upon seeing the comical pig head drawing by Qu Junzhi, he instantly lost control and burst into loud snorting laughter…

Mo Zibei’s eyebrows twitched. She swiftly shoved Qu Junzhi’s notebook into her desk drawer. Sure enough, the Chinese teacher turned around the next second. He first pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, then looked sternly toward Mo Zibei and Du Chenxing. Everyone else in the class also stifled their laughter and cast curious glances their way.

“Du Chenxing, what were you laughing at just now?”

Du Chenxing, whose name had been called, subconsciously glanced at Mo Zibei, then stood up. He was still trying to figure out how to pull off a lie… Just then, Zhu Dong suddenly let out a loud burp!!!

Everyone was first met with awkward silence, and then a few seconds later, they collectively erupted in thunderous laughter…

The Chinese teacher’s face darkened, and he used his pointer to rap on the podium repeatedly, “Stop laughing, all of you!”

The students tried hard to control their laughter. Some couldn’t hold it in and laughed a couple more times. This laughter was contagious like a yawn, and others heard it and uncontrollably started laughing again…

Amidst all the laughter, the class bell rang.

The Chinese teacher, holding the pointer and a book, left with a dark expression.

As soon as he was gone, everyone laughed more freely, then streamed out of the classroom, making noise as they headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

Du Chenxing bowed his head with folded hands to Zhu Dong, “A great favor has been done; words cannot express my gratitude! Lunch is on me!”

“No need, no need, I didn’t mean to help you,” Zhu Dong waved his hand dismissively, embarrassed, “That was a hungry burp just now.”

Qu Junzhi couldn’t help but chuckle softly when she heard this, and Mo Zibei laughed along.

After laughing, Qu Junzhi turned and tapped Mo Zibei’s shoulder, “Give me back my notebook.”

Mo Zibei pulled it out of the desk drawer and gave it to her, then headed to the office to find Lin Xiaoran.

Lin Xiaoran picked up her bag and walked out with her, “Time is tight, so we’ll eat at a restaurant near our school this time.”

“Okay.”

The two went downstairs. Lin Xiaoran continued to tell her, “We’ll go directly to the restaurant to meet your Sister Mu.”

“Mhm, mhm, mhm.” Mo Zibei nodded eagerly.

“You’re in a very good mood?” The class representative seemed more lively than usual today.

“It’s okay.” Mo Zibei kept her joyful emotions in check.

Lin Xiaoran drove her, and they arrived in a few minutes.

Mu Hanxi was already waiting at the entrance when they arrived.

As soon as she saw the person, Mo Zibei’s lips curved up unconsciously, and she even raised her right hand and gave Mu Hanxi a small wave. Her original intention was just to say hello… But because of this movement, Mu Hanxi noticed the small black hair tie on her wrist.

The three entered the restaurant and sat down. Lin Xiaoran put down her bag and said to the two, “You two order first; I need to use the restroom.”

Mu Hanxi and Mo Zibei were sitting on the same side. Mu Hanxi didn’t look at the menu; she looked down at Mo Zibei’s wrist, “Why are you wearing this hair tie on your wrist?” She had used the blue one to tie her ponytail.

Mo Zibei froze, her small face reddening. She awkwardly put her left and right arms together, “I thought this black hair tie matched my watch very well, so I wore it.” Her watch was also black.

Mu Hanxi reached out, gently moved the hair tie on Mo Zibei’s wrist, and smiled, “Then wear it.”

“Mhm.”

Mu Hanxi was about to pull her hand back, but Mo Zibei held it instead.

“Sister Mu,” Mo Zibei’s gaze fell on Mu Hanxi’s wrist, pretending to be admiring the watch, “I think your watch looks quite beautiful.” It was an exquisitely crafted rose-colored ladies’ wristwatch, with a delicate flying bird pattern painted inside.

“Mhm, my parents gave it to me the year I went to study in the UK.”

Mo Zibei didn’t understand watches at all. She simply thought Mu Hanxi’s fingers were beautiful—slender and pale like scallion sections, with clean, rounded fingertips that had a faint pink hue, extremely lovely… She couldn’t resist holding it for a moment, and she subconsciously rubbed it twice with her thumb pad.

Mu Hanxi’s heart trembled. She looked up at her.

Meeting her eyes, Mo Zibei felt a tightness in her throat and instinctively squeezed the finger again with a slight force…

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