You Like The Smart Ones? You Should Have Said So Sooner! - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: A Middle Aged Love Story

Song Ying’s lips trembled slightly. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He suddenly felt a warmth in his eyes that startled him, and he hurriedly lowered his head, blinking frantically.

Fearing that Qin Mian would notice something was wrong, Song Ying cleared his throat. “I suddenly have an idea for this problem. I’m going back to work.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn’t dare look up to see Qin Mian’s reaction. With a swish, he turned himself and his workbook back around. He stared blankly at the jumble of numbers and letters on the page, thinking irrelevantly:

This time, I really can’t solve the problem.

When Qin Mian came to his senses, he realized the person had already turned back. He belatedly sensed that Song Ying’s mood just now hadn’t seemed quite right. However, at this moment, his own heart was pounding wildly.

Staring at the clean back of Song Ying’s neck, Qin Mian wanted to open his mouth to call him back, but his intuition told him not to move. After all, he felt that whatever he said now wouldn’t fit the current atmosphere and wouldn’t make Song Ying feel any better.

Ahhh! Why did things suddenly turn out like this?!

Qin Mian stood behind him, silently scratching his head in frustration.

Just then, Ding Zi appeared at the door and called Qin Mian out. When he was called, Qin Mian let out an inexplicable sigh of relief. With an energetic attitude that Ding Zi had never seen before, he bolted straight for the office, fleeing the classroom.

The wind whistling past even blew the strands of hair on top of Ding Zi’s head. Ding Zi stared blankly at the departing back, dumbfounded. “…What the hell?”

Seeing him so proactive for once, Ding Zi felt a little flattered.

However, Song Ying’s head tilted silently. His gaze swept over the empty back door where no one was passing anymore, a flicker of disappointment crossing his eyes.

The Office.

Ding Zi lightheartedly handed a stack of documents to Qin Mian. “Why are you so proactive today? It’s nothing like that lifeless look you usually have. I’m almost not used to it.”

Although Qin Mian had escaped the classroom, his mind was still on Song Ying. For a moment, he didn’t hear what Ding Zi said.

“Huh? What did you say?”

The wide grin on Ding Zi’s face vanished instantly.

Fine. It was indeed his own wishful thinking. He unceremoniously slapped the assignment sheets against Qin Mian, whose mind was clearly elsewhere.

“These are the assignments for the National Day holiday. Take them back and hand them out.”

Qin Mian scrambled to catch the papers. Sensing Ding Zi’s annoyance, he muttered a complaint without thinking: “Why the big temper? Aren’t you afraid Teacher Zhang will get sick of you…”

He lowered his voice for the last part, but Ding Zi heard him anyway.

“Hey! You little brat, what are you talking about?!” To be gossiped about regarding him and Zhang Ruting—this could not be tolerated.

Seeing Ding Zi starting to roll up his sleeves, Qin Mian immediately admitted his mistake: “I was wrong! I was talking nonsense, just nonsense!”

“Hmph, consider yourself lucky.” Ding Zi rolled his eyes, not truly intending to get into it with Qin Mian. He looked at Qin Mian, who was standing there as if lost in deep thought, and said with disgust: “Alright, if there’s nothing else, get lost.”

But Qin Mian clearly had no intention of moving. He hesitated for a moment and spoke up tentatively: “Old Ding…”

“What?”

“Can I take the liberty of asking… how did you and Teacher Zhang get together?”

Ding Zi didn’t expect such a startling question. “…That is indeed quite ‘taking the liberty.'”

His first reaction was that Qin Mian wanted to make fun of him again, but seeing the boy’s quite serious expression, Ding Zi couldn’t tell. He studied Qin Mian, his brain working at high speed. In a flash of insight, he remembered the night he handed out the snacks.

Instantly, Ding Zi’s gaze became meaningful.

Qin Mian “tched” and said with disgust, “Old Ding, can you not look so creepy? Your eyes aren’t big to begin with, and now you’re squinting.”

Ding Zi remained unmoved.

“…Aren’t you afraid Teacher Zhang will see you and get disgusted?”

Ding Zi’s eyes snapped wide open, projecting an image of righteous integrity—a man of the people. Seeing that the man didn’t seem willing to share his story, Qin Mian prepared to leave.

“Hey, wait!” Ding Zi called him back. “Didn’t you want to hear the story of me and your Teacher Zhang? No problem, I’ll tell you. Listen carefully.”

Ding Zi felt it was necessary to slip in some “private goods” into this story to educate the student on how to correctly handle matters of the heart. He only had these two star students; if something went wrong, he might as well drop dead on the spot.

Qin Mian’s eyes brightened slightly. He pulled over a chair and sat in front of Ding Zi, looking all ears.

“Aren’t you going to hand out the assignments?” Ding Zi asked.

“No rush. Are assignments even a good thing? It’s fine to hand them out later.”

Hearing this, Ding Zi felt it made sense. But only Qin Mian knew that he was trying to stall for time. It was close to the end of school; perhaps by the time he went back, Song Ying would have left already.

Ding Zi nodded and gave a sweet smile. “Alright then. Next, I’ll tell you how I became linked with your Teacher Zhang.”

Then, Ding Zi talked from high school to university, from university to work, and from work to love.

Qin Mian was dumbfounded. “Old Ding, you’re around thirty-one or thirty-two now, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You and Teacher Zhang met when you were fifteen, and you only confessed last year?”

“That’s right.”

“And the key is, Teacher Zhang actually said yes?”

“Exactly.”

Qin Mian looked at the matter-of-fact Ding Zi and fell into doubt and deep thought.

Is falling in love… really like this? Is it normal to confess at thirty?

Though Qin Mian lacked common sense regarding romance, he could sense something was slightly off. Especially since Chen Miao had just told him recently that he liked a girl in university and was agonizing over whether to confess or not.

Ding Zi considerately didn’t disturb Qin Mian’s contemplation. Young boys, it’s normal to have the first stirrings of youth. If there’s a problem, just explaining it clearly is enough.

“Old Ding, if you and Teacher Zhang went so long without a confession, in what capacity were you spending time together?” Qin Mian asked out of genuine curiosity.

“As friends. Teacher Zhang and I were friends since high school, often helping each other with studies. In university, even though we were free to date, there were actually many things to be busy with—competitions, papers, courses, GPA, internships, and so on.”

“Anyway, it was very busy. If you want to take those things seriously, you more or less can’t focus on romance.” Ding Zi spread his hands and sighed. “If two people confirm a romantic relationship, many things change compared to being friends. But looking back at me and Teacher Zhang, we maintained a friendship, helped each other with university academics, and it was much more convenient when it came to finding jobs later.”

Qin Mian asked: “Then why did you think of confessing last year?”

Ding Zi: “I always felt I should establish my career before starting a family. By thirty, I had saved enough money, my job was stable, and I had enough ability and capital to give Teacher Zhang a high-quality life. Since I liked her, why wouldn’t I confess?”

“So, there’s no need to rush these things. ‘More than friends, less than lovers’ is actually very good. Doing the right thing at the right time is also very good.”

“…” Qin Mian clicked his tongue, finding it quite logical for a moment.

“Then… weren’t you afraid Teacher Zhang would end up with someone else in the meantime?”