Ten-Year Loyal Dog’s Road to Chasing Her Wife (GL) - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The bouquet of sunflowers in Qiao Mei’s arms was growing exceptionally well; although they were short-stemmed and had already been picked, they still displayed a vigorous and lush appearance. There were about ten or so of them, wrapped in a large sheet of black-and-white newspaper covered in text; that eye-catching bright yellow made Qiao Mei appear even more unpleasant to the eye by contrast.

Qiao Wan: “…”

She truly didn’t understand why this person always liked to stand in the midst of beautiful things; it clearly made her look even uglier. Did she really not have a single clue (a “B-count”) in her heart? Qiao Wan felt that this could practically be established as one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of Longting First Middle School.

One could tell that the middle-aged teacher who had been suddenly interrupted was not very happy, but he had no reason to stop a student from another class from presenting flowers to their teacher as a bouquet of love for Teacher’s Day.

Flowers are actually the most useless things, but they are truly beautiful.

Being beautiful is the entire purpose of their existence. Just like the student named Qiao Wan. She didn’t know Physics, and she heard she didn’t study other subjects very well either, but she was truly beautiful. It was the kind of beauty that looked exquisite and elegant, like a…

Pure white lily.

Faint, carrying a fragrance, and possessed of a pride akin to “admiring one’s own fragrance in solitude.”

He really wanted to tear that pride into pieces and throw them on the ground. This student was practically a human version of Tomie, enticing people to strip off her pure white outer garment, crush that fragile pride underfoot, and appreciate a flower that was no longer whole.

Even though that flower was so beautiful while it was still intact.

It was with great difficulty that he shifted his gaze back from the student with the long, curly hair and dropped it back onto the exercise books in front of him. Before Qiao Wan entered, the books were covered in flamboyant “Reviewed” marks; after Qiao Wan entered, they were “Reviewed” marks written with gritted teeth.

Compared to this inexplicable male teacher, Qiao Wan was naturally more willing to stay with Qiao Mei; at least she knew this desk-mate of hers was trustworthy.

Furthermore, no matter how ugly Qiao Mei was, she couldn’t be uglier than a balding, pot-bellied, and strange teacher. “Where did your flowers come from?”

As Qiao Mei arranged the flowers into the large mineral water bottles she had brought, she said, “There’s a flower shop on my way to school.”

“You bought them in passing?” Qiao Wan took the remaining large mineral water bottles from her and hurried over to the sink to fill them with water. Qiao Mei stood beside her; once a bottle was full, she would stick the sunflowers in and place them on the teachers’ desks. While doing this, Qiao Mei’s movements were quite gentle, looking like those young ladies of ancient times who spent their leisure time at home playing chess and arranging flowers. Her eyes and hands were filled with a leisurely and refined air. “Not really. It’s so early, the flower shop wouldn’t even be open yet, silly.”

Her use of the word “silly” (shagua/dummy) was very light; she didn’t truly mean Qiao Wan was stupid. To Qiao Wan’s ears, it sounded more like a special nickname Qiao Mei had for her, and it felt rather amusing. But Qiao Wan, of course, wouldn’t show the “amused” emotion on her face, so she tried to keep a stiff face and said, “Who are you calling silly? Believe it or not, I’ll slap your crooked face?”

She was just like a cat raising its paws saying it was going to hit someone.

Suppressing the faint smile at the corners of her lips, Qiao Mei squeezed her hand and put it back. “Speak nicely, don’t use your hands; what a fine lady you are. I bought these flowers at the shop on my way home last night, then kept them in the garage for a night. Isn’t today Teacher’s Day? So I brought them. When the parent-teacher meeting happens this semester, you must never tell my mom; if she knew I spent so much money on flowers, she would definitely beat me to death.”

Qiao Wan glanced at her sideways. “I’m definitely going to tell her, let her beat you to death, and see if you still have a glib tongue.”

Qiao Mei smiled, pretending she hadn’t heard. “Remember not to tell her; consider it as me owing you a favor.”

“Why did you think of buying flowers anyway?” Qiao Wan filled the last mineral water bottle and handed it to Qiao Mei. “Aside from being good-looking, do flowers have any other use? Besides… who gives sunflowers to teachers?”

Qiao Mei was focused on lowering her head to tidy her precious flowers. “It’s enough that they look good. I’ve always hoped to see flowers at home every day; seeing beautiful things when waking up in the morning should put one in a very good mood.” After a pause, Qiao Mei quickly glanced in her direction. “It would be the same if I could see you every morning when I wake up. You are as beautiful as these flowers; you can bring a good mood for the whole day.”

After saying this, she smiled first and whispered, “I was very happy to see you this morning. You are still so beautiful. If I could see you every morning when I wake up in the future, it would be wonderful. I would definitely be happy all day long. Even if it’s not the morning, let it be the evening then I’d be so happy I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

As she took the last bottle of flowers away, she smiled at Qiao Wan again as if to corroborate the accuracy of her words; her smile was exceptionally genuine. Although such an exaggerated smile appearing on her face which looked almost disfigured was indeed a bit startling.

Qiao Wan was stunned.

In her memory, it seemed no one had ever praised someone like this.

Praising someone’s beauty by saying it would bring them a good mood for the whole day. “Aren’t we… going to sit together for three years anyway. During these three years, you’ll see me every day. I just hope one day you won’t get tired of looking at me.”

“Perhaps I will.”

Qiao Mei also smiled, then added, ” But definitely not while I am still alive. I am a very devoted person; if I like something, I like it until I die. No matter when I possess it, I feel incomparably happy.”

“Then that’s truly unfortunate, my friend.” Qiao Wan shrugged. “I am exactly the opposite of you. I always like fresh things; once I possess something I particularly wanted, I quickly become bored and throw it away.”

“That is being ‘fickle in love’ (liking the new and loathing the old),” Qiao Mei remarked.

“That’s right. Fickle in love you aren’t wrong.”

Qiao Mei added, “If I were your boyfriend, then after you proposed a breakup, I would definitely chase you back. That way, to you, I wouldn’t be an ‘old’ boyfriend, but a ‘new’ one.”

“What kind of logic is that! Old is old. I already know you well; even if you chase me back, I won’t be able to feel that sense of freshness from you anymore.” She thought of her father again, remembering he had said the same to her mother. He said that no matter how many times he lost her, he would start a new romance with her. But what happened? What happened? Of the people who said such things, who actually followed through?

The person currently proposing a divorce to her mother because of a young and beautiful mistress wasn’t that the same person who had made those solemn vows? Thinking of this, Qiao Wan’s voice unconsciously became bitter. Rather than asking Qiao Mei, she was asking herself, or asking her father who hadn’t shown his face for a long time: “…How much patience do you have, and how many times could you chase me back?”

Faced with such a questioning tone, no sign of impatience appeared on Qiao Mei’s face. She said warmly, “Until there is no more emotion left.” As if knowing what her next question would be, Qiao Mei quickly added the so-called deadline, “Perhaps until one of us dies.”

In other words, as long as both people were still around, she would try to chase Qiao Wan back no matter how many times it took.

“Even if I frequently stab (hurt) you?” Qiao Wan asked seriously, almost standing from her mother’s perspective. She remembered her mother was a hot-tempered person who often said very hurtful things when she was angry, but she forgot that Qiao Mei was not her father.

Where would her father have Qiao Mei’s tenderness and deep affection?

Qiao Mei nodded and smiled. “Maybe if pushed too far, I would leave too. But being able to push me away is also a kind of skill. Besides, things that sound nice might not be so in practice; ‘what is learned from books feels shallow in the end; one must practice it personally to understand it fully.’ If you really want to know the answer to this question, wouldn’t you know if you dated me?”

“You’re crazy!”

Qiao Wan gave her a fierce glare and turned to leave.

How could this person be so wicked, using feelings to amuse herself at others’ expense? How could two girls date? Surely she was joking?

And yet, inexplicably, she really wanted to try and see what a relationship where the other half never leaves or gives up was actually like.

Perhaps her brain had been kicked by a donkey.

Otherwise, how could she have such an absurd thought? Dating a girl? What is there to date between two girls?

Qiao Mei still had a mischievous, cheeky smile as she said to her, “That sentence of mine has a source in a book.”

“I’ve already read through the textbooks once and didn’t see that sentence of yours.”

“It’s not there now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be there in the future. One of the Grade 12 Politics textbooks is specifically about philosophy; check if there’s a line that says ‘true knowledge comes from practice.’ You might as well borrow someone else’s Grade 12 Politics book to see if that line exists. If it doesn’t…”

“If it doesn’t?”

Qiao Mei bared her small white teeth and acted like a rogue. “Even if it doesn’t, you can’t hit me. Who hasn’t made a little mistake, right? I don’t think my crime warrants death.”

Qiao Wan snorted coldly. “You say it as if it’s real; I almost believed your nonsense.”

“You haven’t gone to ask yet, so how do you know what I said isn’t true?”

“I’ll find someone to ask this afternoon,” Qiao Wan said coldly. Just then, all the flowers had been placed on the teachers’ desks, so she followed Qiao Mei out, not noticing the unwilling gaze cast by the male teacher behind them.

What she didn’t know was that Qiao Mei hadn’t originally planned to come in so early; by nature, she was someone who didn’t like to disturb others. It was only because she saw that the male teacher’s gaze was off that she summoned the courage to knock and enter.

What difference is there between one girl who doesn’t know how to fight and two girls who don’t know how to fight in front of an adult male? Simply because it was Qiao Wan, Qiao Mei ultimately delivered herself into the tiger’s mouth as well. The good thing was that both of them ultimately escaped unscathed. And these things, Qiao Mei did not plan to tell Qiao Wan.