Kidnapping the Female Teacher's Best Friend - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

While the two were pinky swearing, Mu Hanxi’s phone rang.

Mo Zibei saw the situation and withdrew her hand, “Sister Mu, I’ll wash the dishes.”

“Mhm.” Mu Hanxi stood up, swiped the screen to answer the phone, and walked towards her bedroom.

Mo Zibei took the bowls, plates, and chopsticks to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” The person on the other end of the phone was Lin Xiaoran.

“Nothing,” Mu Hanxi sat on the edge of the bed, turning her head to look out the window, “Just finished dinner.”

“Mhm,” Lin Xiaoran leaned against the bedside table, pulling a cushion into her arms, “I’ve been busy these past few days, and there’s one thing I haven’t told you yet.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t I mention it to you before, about that Liu Wenjian constantly bothering me at the office.”

Mu Hanxi hummed, then followed up by asking, “How is that now?”

“It’s resolved,” Lin Xiaoran placed the cushion behind her waist, “Speaking of which, I owe it to my little class representative.”

“You mean Mo Zibei?”

“Mhm, the kid is very clever,” Lin Xiaoran then recalled that Mo Zibei hadn’t mentioned the matter in front of her colleagues but had written her meaning on a piece of paper, and she couldn’t help but smile, praising her, “She’s also very meticulous.”

Mu Hanxi was curious, “What did she do?”

Lin Xiaoran briefly explained the general process of the matter to Mu Hanxi.

Mu Hanxi smiled upon hearing it, guessing that the person must have taken it to heart after Xiaoran mentioned it at the dinner table that day.

The two chatted for a while longer about other things before hanging up.

Knowing that Mu Hanxi might still be on the phone, Mo Zibei didn’t go into the bedroom after washing the dishes. She turned on the TV, sat on the sofa in the living room, and watched the rest of the animation she hadn’t finished in the afternoon, My Neighbor Totoro, a work by Hayao Miyazaki.

Mu Hanxi came out of the bedroom and went straight to the kitchen. She washed an apple, cut it into small pieces, and brought it to the living room in a fruit plate.

She glanced at the screen. The person was still watching the same animation from the afternoon, Hayao Miyazaki’s Totoro.

Mu Hanxi sat down next to her, placed the fruit plate on the coffee table, and offered her a wooden skewer, “Have some fruit.”

“Mhm.” Mo Zibei turned to take the skewer, skewered an apple slice, put it in her mouth, and found it quite crisp.

Mu Hanxi casually asked, “Do you like Hayao Miyazaki’s work?”

“I do,” Mo Zibei kept her eyes on the screen, holding the skewer with her right hand and poking another piece, “I feel like his works are very pure and can heal people’s hearts.”

Mu Hanxi nodded in agreement, “When I was in college, I watched them with my roommates. They all loved his animations and even bought character figures online.”

Mo Zibei hummed, then suddenly asked, “Did you study in B City for university?”

“Yes.”

“Which school?”

Mu Hanxi was a little surprised, “Don’t you know which school your Teacher Lin graduated from?” She and Lin Xiaoran went to the same school. Of course, the two were not only classmates but also roommates and got along well, which is why their relationship remained so close.

“I didn’t ask.” Her communication with Lin Xiaoran was limited outside of normal academic questions.

“XX Foreign Language University.”

Mo Zibei nodded, “That’s a good school. Many of the students in our class who are good at English and enjoy learning languages want to go there.”

Mu Hanxi skewered an apple slice, “What about you? Do you have a preferred school yet?”

“I haven’t decided yet, but,” Mo Zibei gazed into Mu Hanxi’s eyes, her tone serious, “I want to go to university in B City in the future.”

“That’s nice.”

Mo Zibei scrutinized her, carefully observing every subtle change in her expression, and finally concluded that the person hadn’t taken her words too seriously.

Mu Hanxi really hadn’t thought much of it. After all, B City was geographically advantageous and a bustling economic metropolis; countless people wished to study there.

Mo Zibei looked away, feeling slightly down.

Mu Hanxi didn’t notice. After shifting her gaze from the screen, she gently nudged Mo Zibei’s arm with her elbow, “Have some more.”

Mo Zibei lowered her eyes, picked up another apple slice with the skewer, and put it in her mouth.

She suddenly remembered Mu Hanxi saying last time that her name was chosen by her mother, and since she couldn’t find any other suitable topic, she asked, “What does your mother do?”

Mu Hanxi was a little surprised, wondering why this person suddenly asked about this, but she still told her truthfully, “My mother teaches at a university.”

“Oh, which university?”

Mu Hanxi found it amusing and deliberately teased her, “Why do I feel like you’re checking my family’s details?”

Mo Zibei’s small face turned red, and she awkwardly rubbed the tip of her nose, “I’m just purely curious…”

“XX Normal University,” she added, “She teaches Chinese Language and Literature.”

“Oh, the English major at that university is also quite good. Why didn’t you apply for it back then?” She had previously researched all the better universities in B City and had a general understanding.

Mu Hanxi glanced at her, her face slightly flushed, “Because my mother was there.” When she was applying for college entrance exams, although she wasn’t exactly rebellious, like most high school students, she wanted to escape parental control and be a little farther away.

Mo Zibei seemed to understand the meaning behind her words, and the corners of her lips slightly lifted.

Seeing the smile on her face, the blush on Mu Hanxi’s face deepened a bit. She pushed the fruit plate toward Mo Zibei and playfully chastised her, “Eat the rest of these apple slices. Don’t leave any.”

“Oh.” Mo Zibei obediently complied, thinking, Why is she so cute even when she’s scolding people? This is totally unfair!

After finishing the apple, Mo Zibei checked the time on her wrist. It was already past nine, and she should head back.

“Sister Mu,” Mo Zibei stood up, “I need to go home now.”

“I’ll drive you.” Mu Hanxi stood up too.

“No need, it’s not that hot in the evening. I can cycle back. You should rest early.” Mu Hanxi had been tutoring her from about 2 PM until 7 PM, and she had also cooked dinner for her. Mo Zibei felt too guilty to ask her to drive her home.

“Then I’ll see you to the entrance of the residential area.”

“Mhm.”

Mo Zibei took her backpack, and Mu Hanxi took the house keys. The two walked out together.

“Before the National Day holiday starts, could you come to our school sometime?” Mo Zibei was pushing her bike, and Mu Hanxi was walking beside her as they reached the entrance of the residential area.

“Hmm?”

“Teacher Lin already promised me that the next time you come to our school, she will take me with you to eat at the faculty dining hall.” She wanted to see the person again before Mu Hanxi went home.

“Is the food there really that good?” Is this person still thinking about it now?

Mo Zibei was too embarrassed to admit her true inner thoughts, so she could only follow Mu Hanxi’s words, “My classmates have sneaked in to eat there and said it’s quite good,” she then added, “The main thing is that I’ve never been, and I want to try something new.”

Mu Hanxi wanted to laugh but held back, “Even if I don’t go, if you ask your Teacher Lin, she will still take you.” Xiaoran had praised Mo Zibei on the phone; if Mo Zibei asked her, she would certainly agree.

Mo Zibei’s brain worked rapidly, bringing the conversation back around, “It’s better if you’re there. After all, she is my teacher, and I’d feel a little awkward being alone with her.”

Mu Hanxi nodded, indicating she understood.

“I’ll see. If I have time next week, I’ll go over.”

Mo Zibei affirmed, “Then I’m going home now.”

“Okay, take care on the way.”

After returning home, Mo Zibei went to the study, opened her computer, and started searching for information. She carefully browsed the relevant majors at the university where Mu Hanxi’s mother taught.

One of the Physics majors was a national characteristic major. Physics was one of her favorite and strongest subjects. She wrote it down in her notebook, considering making this major at this university her first choice when filling out her university application later.

Although she hadn’t decided which university to attend before, she was more inclined toward science, engineering, and chemical engineering schools, and she had mostly ruled out Normal Universities.

Today, hearing Mu Hanxi say that her mother taught at a Normal University, the scale in Mo Zibei’s heart suddenly tipped, and she felt that Normal Universities seemed quite good too.

She also checked the admission scores for this university in previous years’ college entrance exams and felt faint—the scores were frighteningly high. With her current weak academic standing, she couldn’t even dream of getting into that school.

Mu Hanxi’s mother being a teacher at that school was too impressive!

In fact, Mu Hanxi had only mentioned it briefly and hadn’t mentioned that her mother was a professor in the School of Humanities and also the associate dean.

Mo Zibei bit her knuckle, staring at the score line on the computer screen. After pondering for a while, she started writing numbers on a piece of paper.

She added up the highest scores she thought she could possibly achieve through effort, and she was still short.

The main problem was her weak English, and her Chinese also didn’t give her an advantage, let alone the fact that her science scores weren’t absolutely excellent either.

For the first time in her life, she felt this kind of real pressure.

She sat in front of the computer in the study for a long time and didn’t go to bed until two in the morning.

She lay in bed, tossing and turning, completely sleepless.

When she woke up the next day, there were dark circles under her eyes.

“Did you stay up late last night?” Father Mo plated the fried eggs and placed them in front of her.

“Mhm,” Mo Zibei took a sip of milk, then suddenly asked, “Dad, do you think I can get into XX Normal University?”

Father Mo was stunned upon hearing this. Zibei rarely talked to him about academic matters, and her grades had always been decent. Father Mo himself was a man of few words, so he had never asked much.

“You want to study in B City?”

“Mhm.”

“B City is a great place,” Father Mo pushed the plate closer to her, “The school you just mentioned is also a good university.”

Mo Zibei nodded, picked up a fried egg from the plate, took a bite, and chewed slowly.

“Don’t worry about the outcome yet,” Father Mo said earnestly, “Put in the effort, do your best, and even if you don’t succeed in the end, you won’t have any regrets.” There is a saying in the Ming Dynasty’s Expanded Collection of Wise Sayings: Just do good deeds, and don’t ask about the future. Father Mo’s words were similar in meaning.

Mo Zibei’s expression brightened upon hearing this, and she looked up and smiled, “Got it, Dad.”

After breakfast, Mo Zibei went back to her bedroom to do her homework. Before starting, she sent Mu Hanxi a WeChat message: Sister Mu, I have a preferred university now.

An hour later, the reply came: Which one?

Mo Zibei smiled as she looked down, then composed a message: I can’t tell you yet.

Mu Hanxi sent a string of question marks.

Mo Zibei replied with a string of grinning face emojis.

A few seconds later, Mu Hanxi called her, “What are you doing?”

“Studying.”

“That diligently?”

Mo Zibei rubbed her nose and chuckled softly, “Not bad,” she then asked, “Sister Mu, how is your Chinese literature?”

Mo Zibei first heard a burst of pleasant laughter, then heard the person ask mischievously, “Kid, you’re not trying to get me to tutor you in Chinese, are you?”

“No,” Mo Zibei’s face turned completely red, “I was just… asking casually.”

As her words fell, another string of melodious laughter rang out in her ear. Mo Zibei’s ears felt hot, and she subconsciously reached up to touch her reddened and heated earlobe…

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