Ten-Year Loyal Dog’s Road to Chasing Her Wife (GL) - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Qiao Wan had not expected her seat to be exactly next to Qiao Mo.

She could see it now the head teacher had arranged the seats according to the pinyin order of their names. Even those with the same surname might not sit together, but why was it that when it came to her, she simply could not escape being desk mates with that person?

It wasn’t that it was bad, she just didn’t know why she didn’t particularly want to be Qiao Mo’s desk mate.

In the distant future, when Qiao Wan recalled this interlude, she always felt that in the dark, she might have known long ago that she would be “bent” (turned gay) by Qiao Mo, which was why she resisted her approach so much. Of course, it was also possible that Qiao Mo was truly too ugly. Qiao Wan was a member of the “Appearance Party” , someone who only stayed close to those with high visual value throughout her life. Qiao Mo was probably the first exceptionally ugly person she had ever approached.

The letter ‘Q’ is positioned near the end of the alphabet. By the time Qiao Wan entered, more than half of the classroom was already occupied. People were busy tidying their spots or chattering away at their desks. Some naturally social types had already thrown their arms around their desk mates’ shoulders as if they were long-lost siblings.

Qiao Wan disliked people who were so familiar so quickly. Fortunately, the Qiao Mo beside her didn’t seem to have any intention of forcing a “we are very close” vibe; she just kept her head down, quietly wiping her desk. This had originally been the classroom for Grade 11, Class 11 of the previous year. Those people should have been promoted to Grade 12 and moved to the College Entrance Examination Building, so the vacated room naturally became the classroom for the Grade 10 freshmen.

By calculation, from the time they moved out in June until the start of school in September, this classroom had been empty for a full three months, so the dust on the desks was particularly thick.

There were many students at Longting No. 1 High School.

Because it was the best local high school in Longting, all those who passed the exams came. Those who didn’t pass also tried every possible means to get in through connections or by paying directly; it was just that the number of spots was limited.

It cost roughly 20,000 yuan to buy a seat at Longting No. 1. This sum was not a small amount in Longting, but most parents felt it was worth it. Who would dare gamble with their child’s future? Hearing that stepping into Longting No. 1 was equivalent to having one foot in the university gate, they felt at peace once they bought it.

This also resulted in a mix of student quality at No. 1 High School; there were the exceptionally outstanding ones, and those with mediocre grades who were purely there to drift through their days.

Soon, the remaining few students were also assigned. There were exactly five groups, with an equal number of people in each group; none had too many or too few, looking quite pleasing to the eye. Qiao Wan sat at the fifth desk of the fourth group. The boy she had noticed earlier sat at the fourth desk of the fifth group.

As soon as Qiao Wan looked up, she could see the boy’s fluffy head. There was a small tuft of hair perhaps pressed that way from sleeping sticking up, looking completely different from the obediently flat hair of his companions. Qiao Wan stared at that little discordant note for a long time, really wanting to reach out and press it down.

The girl in front seemed to be a social butterfly. She was just about to turn around and greet her new neighbor behind her when she caught Qiao Wan staring blankly at Yuan Tianci. She laughed: “My name is Qiu Liannan. Do you like Yuan Tianci?”

Hearing this, Qiao Wan felt as if she had heard words of insult. She turned her face away: “Taking one look means I like him? Am I not even allowed to look?” Her voice wasn’t very loud, as if she was afraid of being heard by Yuan Tianci sitting not far away.

“You’ve been looking for a long time,” the girl in the front seat pouted. “Besides, even if you like him, it’s no big deal. This guy is just good-looking. Since junior high, there have been many girls in our class chasing him… Hey, hey, hey, listen to me finish.”

“Why should I listen to things with no nutritional value?” Qiao Wan said. Turning around, she saw Qiao Mo looking at her without blinking. Remembering what Qiu Liannan had just said about her liking Yuan Tianci, she opened her mouth to sneer: “This person has also been looking at me for a long time. Do you want to say she likes me?”

Qiao Mo was startled for a moment, then smiled slightly, not arguing with her. “The teacher is coming.” Even if she didn’t answer the question, Qiao Wan knew that it was impossible for Qiao Mo to like her. No one would ever like Qiao Wan; she was arrogant, conceited, stubborn, and liked to argue with people, so no one would like her at all. Qiao Wan knew this, she knew it perfectly well.

Perhaps there truly wouldn’t be anyone in the world who genuinely liked her.

She didn’t need the affection of these people anyway. In this rural place full of poor ghosts, she wouldn’t stay for long.

Qiao Wan rubbed her hands, her gaze crossing the fifth group and falling on the tree canopy visible outside the corridor. Her mother would probably come to pick her up and take her back… right?

…Maybe.

How much of a failure must a person live to be, to reach a point where they couldn’t even count on their own biological mother?

Who could she count on? Who could she count on to give her love?

“We will distribute the textbooks now. After they are handed out, you can start reading and previewing. Later, I will have someone post the class schedule there ” the head teacher pointed to the blank space on the left side of the blackboard, “Go see what classes we have tomorrow. Tomorrow is Monday. A few boys come up to distribute the books. Don’t be noisy; anyone who is noisy can go straight home and never come back to class again.”

Upon hearing that last sentence, the noisy classroom fell silent instantly. Although they wanted to go home, who wanted to leave and never have to come back?

Longting Town was very characteristic. After entering high school, the number of boys in the class began to drop sharply. Most of the few boys went to Longting No. 2, No. 3, or No. 4. In any case, boys at No. 1 High School were truly few. After the division into Arts and Science streams, they became even fewer. Arts classes had always treated boys as more precious than girls, not daring to use them for labor easily.

The boys also knew they were “precious,” so they had to be begged and pleaded with to move a bit, as if carrying some books would make them lose an arm or a leg. Moreover, this preciousness seemed to be a natural instinct. The head teacher called twice, but no one came up. She began to get angry: “What is wrong with the boys in this class? It’s only the first day and you’re already this delicate? Do you want me to bring in a Dragon Bed for you to lie on during class later?”

“We already moved the textbooks to the classroom. If we’re responsible for distributing them too, everything is being done by us boys. What are the girls doing? This is unfair, Teacher,” one person spoke up, and others followed suit: “Yeah, Teacher.” “Exactly, Teacher, why does everything have to be done by us when our numbers are so small?” “Girls aren’t completely unable to carry things with their hands or shoulders. You can’t be biased, Teacher!”

Amidst the chorus of opinions, Yuan Tianci was the first to stand up: “Enough. We are men; it’s just distributing some textbooks, yet you make it sound like you’ve suffered a great grievance. Isn’t it embarrassing?” Originally, the boys in the class were divided into two factions—those who wanted to help and those who didn’t. Once one person steps out, it’s easy to gather the whole faction. So after Yuan Tianci stood up, the others willing to help also stood up and went to the podium to count the books and distribute them.

Yuan Tianci was handsome and had taken the spotlight, so naturally, the girls in the class more or less had a good impression of him. Looking at him a few more times, the more they looked, the more they felt this person was tall, long-legged, and had an exceptionally handsome face. He was simply like a male lead walking out of an idol drama.

Qiu Liannan in the front seat turned around again and said, “I was in the same class as him in junior high. Yes, Yuan Tianci. He was already very handsome then and was our school hunk. His fame was so great that it even drew people from other schools to crowd around our classroom door just to see him. I didn’t expect to be in the same class as him in high school.”

Qiao Wan’s expression was indifferent, as if she couldn’t hear the gossip here, but Qiao Mo saw that her ears were clearly perked up. If others didn’t know better, it would be fine, but to those who knew, it was clearly the awkward appearance of being curious but unwilling to show it.

Fortunately, Qiao Mo saw through it but didn’t speak of it. She left her some dignity.

Everyone sincerely doubted that the school had distributed all the books at once. When the head teacher wrote the words “Total: 50” in large characters on the blackboard, everyone in the class widened their eyes. My god, the desks obviously couldn’t hold that many books, which meant they would have to take a large portion back tonight.

Soon, the desktops were piled with textbooks of varying thickness. Some people began to organize the books to keep them in the desk drawers as much as possible, but more people just piled them randomly on the desktop. After all, it was easier to take a book from the desktop than from the drawer. Qiao Mo also put hers directly on the desktop. It’s just that the desktop wasn’t very large to begin with, and now with so many books, there was hardly any space left. Although Qiao Mo was ugly, she was a tall, large person with long arms and legs, so she felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Here.” She suddenly heard Qiao Wan, sitting beside her, speak. She turned her face and saw Qiao Wan placing a hand on the gap between the two desks to measure: “This boundary line doesn’t cross it.” After thinking, she added, “I won’t care what you do normally. Although we are desk mates, I also hope you don’t disturb me if there’s nothing important.”

The desks weren’t a single piece but were formed by pushing two individual wooden small writing desks together. No matter how flat the two desks were made, there would always be a seam when pushed together. Two people with a good relationship could treat this seam as non-existent, but the “Double Qiaos” were clearly not in the category of having a good relationship, so this seam became a natural boundary line, restricting the behavior of both.

Qiao Mo thought about it and pulled her elbow back, separated from Qiao Wan’s elbow by about ten centimeters.

In the ten years that followed, on most days, she maintained this kind of distance from Qiao Wan. Not so far as to not be able to look after Qiao Wan, and not so close as to make Qiao Wan uncomfortable.

She was like a conscientious knight, always guarding by Qiao Wan’s side, neither too far nor too near. She used her hard armor to shield her from wind and rain, and her soft heart to accept all of her negative emotions, never approaching suddenly, and never suddenly distancing herself. She used long years and tenderness to guard by her princess’s side, even if the princess never gave her any promise.

From the moment she saw Qiao Wan, this pact of guardianship had come into effect. Even Qiao Mo herself didn’t know how long she would have to guard Qiao Wan.