Chapter 6

• When Yang Yu finished his run and reached his aunt’s house, with his hair drenched in sweat and dressed in a tank top and sports shorts, his three cousins were shocked by his appearance. Yang Yu gently shook the sweat off. That action of his was so dashing, and it was so filled with masculinity.
• The third sister, Yunxi, stared dumbly at that cousin of hers who had made her blush. The second sister, on the other hand, did not seem to pay attention to this on the surface, but her eyes still stole a few looks. As for the eldest sister, while she might have had scores of suitors try to win her hand, in the end, her cousin’s masculine charm wound up attracting her attention.
• Even his aunt seemed to be going through those hormones of youth again, what with her husband being no fun at all. It was a thing to be proud and happy of, to suddenly have such a handsome young man in her house who was also a teacher in the village.
• “Yu, hurry up and bathe, then come eat your porridge. Later, you can follow Yunxi to the school, since you two happen to go to the same one. I wonder which class you’ll be teaching. It’ll be great if Yunxi is your student.” Yang Yu’s aunt laughed.
• “It doesn’t matter who teaches her since her grades are so bad. I don’t have any hopes for her to be able to get into high school anyway. I’ve got it all figured out. Once she’s done with her entrance exams, she’s going to come work in the fields.” Yang Yu’s uncle was never one to speak nice things. He was a farmer through and through. Yang Yu had never been able to comprehend just why his beautiful aunt married such a man.
• “No! I want to go to high school.” Yunxi pursed her lips. She did not want to be like Zhang Hua from next door, who was still in the vibrant stage of youth, yet had to work in the fields every day and be covered in mud the whole day.
• However, Yang Yu did not pay any attention to his uncle’s words and went straight to the backyard. Earlier during his run, he suddenly realized there was a black mark on his left palm. No matter how he rubbed at it, the mark would not disappear. Now, all he wanted was to hurry to the backyard to wash it off, but no matter how he tried, the black mark remained. He did not have the mark last night before he slept, but he did now. The only thing that happened between those two time frames was when the old woman grabbed his hand. Could it be?
• The more Yang Yu thought about it, the more he thought that things were not right. This better not be some kind of corpse poison. My luck isn’t that bad, right? Seeing as the mark still would not wash off despite having tried to for ages, he could not be bothered with it anymore. He simply stripped off his tank top and his shorts and began to wash himself.
• The eldest cousin had been looking straight at Yang Yu, the back of his body entering her sight. Broad, sturdy… Yang Yu’s body fit completely with the type of men that Yuanxi liked. Although the eldest sister was already 21, and she had countless suitors, she did not have her eye on anyone in this village and had always remained single. It was completely out of her expectations that her father intended to marry her off to that idiot from the neighboring village. She refused with every fiber of her bring, and she was even more unwilling to give her first time to such a man like that. Absolutely not!
• If only Yang Yu weren’t my cousin… Yuanxi could not help sighing deeply in her heart.
• After their breakfast, Yunxi brought her cousin Yang Yu with her to the school.
• As they walked, Yunxi was unbelievably happy about this. With just a few words, and a few glances, that seed of first love soon sprouted within her heart, and began to grow madly.
• On Yang Yu’s side, his elder cousin’s maturity and the docility of his youngest cousin — these two extremes — were both the type of women that he liked. Yang Yu did not care whether they were his cousins or not, he had his eyes for them now. As for his middle cousin, he had already seen how she was last night. While her looks were not as comparable to her sisters, personality-wise, she was quite strong-willed and a firecracker. Yang Yu did not dare to provoke her, not in the near future.
• “Am I going to walk with you to the school and back from now on?” Yunxi softly asked Yang Yu with her head angled down.
• Yang Yu smiled a slight smile as he peered at the girl before him. Her chest was not quite the size her eldest sister’s, and her behind was small too. She was small and skinny as well. From the looks of it, she was still developing.
• The school was located in the middle of the valley. They could only reach it by passing through half of the village and then going up the mountain via the mountain path.
• Yunxi was rather smart. She did not take Yang Yu through the main path, because she knew that her cousin’s good looks would immediately attract the attention of the girls and women here. Who knew whose arms her cousin would end up in then. This was why she brought Yang Yu through the tangerine orchard by the front mountain. Although this route was a bit longer, they were sure not to bump into anyone on this path. That way, she would have a longer time with her cousin.
• Once they had passed through the tangerine orchard, the school soon came into sight.
• This school was a really rundown one. There was only one block of classrooms, and it only had two stories. Behind the classroom block, there was also another building. From the looks of it, a few people stayed in it. It was probably the teachers’ living quarters and the cafeteria. Then there was the playground. There was nothing at all in it, only yellow mud.
• The school contained both an elementary school division and a middle school, but when you combined the number of students of both divisions, it did not even reach 200 people. On average, there were only ten people in average in one class. And so, they combined two classes together, while the middle school third years had their own class. In total, there were only 5 classes. When the teachers held classes, they each taught half of the classroom. The school not only taught the children of Dame Bather Village, but they took in students from the few other neighboring villages as well. All of them had climbed up the mountain to get to school.
• There were even fewer rural teachers, not even ten in total. No city person would come here, so Yang Yu was a special case, so special that there was even a welcoming banner by the school gate for him.
• Yunxi went to her own classroom while Yang Yu headed over to the teachers’ office. All six of the teachers did their administrative work here. Yang Yu knocked on the door, and following an invitation to enter, he walked into the office politely.
• “Who are you looking for?” An old man wearing presbyopic glasses asked when he saw such a handsome young man. Yang Yu’s eyes swept over the office. Apart from this old fart, there were three other female teachers seated here. Each of these three female teachers had their own differences.
• One of them had short hair and an oval face. She had a crisp air around her, and her expression was cold. She was more or less the same age as Yang Yu. The other teacher was rather womanly and mature. From her appearance, she was slightly older, and she was a mature woman. The last one was younger than Yang Yu, and looked cute yet mischievous, making her give off a cheerful air.
• When Yang Yu entered, these three teachers practically lifted their heads at the same time. The short-haired one lowered her head again after a glance, but the mature one kept her eyes fixed on Yang Yu. Yang Yu gave a small smile and walked up to them. “You must be the principal. I’m Yang Yu, the new teacher who’s here to check in.”
• “Oh, so you’re Yang Yu. We have been looking forward to meeting you. We were just talking about when you might arrive.” The old man instantly lit up.
• “Principal, we were talking about whether he would even show up.” The mischievous teacher rebutted, and she even deliberately strode in front of Yang Yu to look at him. “Haha, he indeed is quite the handsome one. Li Ruoshui, I win. Hand over that apple now.”
• The mature teacher, Li Ruoshui, shook her head, like she was resigned. She took out a large and red apple and tossed it over. “Shut your mouth with this.”
• However, that mischievous teacher caught the apple and handed it to Yang Yu. “For you. But, you have to tell us first, do you have a girlfriend?”
• Yang Yu was overjoyed with this. You’re the one who gift-wrapped yourself, you better not blame me for being enthusiastic. Outwardly, however, he still acted very politely and gentleman-like. “Thank you for the apple, but you should eat it instead.”
• That act of friendzoning the girl made the others laugh loudly.
• Afterwards, Yang Yu took out his teacher’s certificate, his diploma and the report given to him by the county, handing them to the principal. The principal carefully looked at them, and was delighted. “Finally, our school has gotten a highly skilled teacher. Math major, graduate of East China Normal University. You guys, look. That’s like the highest qualification at our school.”
• “You’re being too generous! I’m just a fresh graduate brat who still knows nothing. I still need your guidance.” Yang Yu was still capable of basic manners.
• Upon hearing that, even the short-haired woman lifted her head as well to look at Yang Yu. Coincidentally, Yang Yu had been glancing in her direction. When their eyes met, they suddenly felt something. Both of them simply gave a small smile to the other.
• “Come, let me introduce you to everyone. This is our school’s beauty, Li Ruoshui.” The principal introduced her.
• Yang Yu looked carefully. She was indeed a true beauty. Her mature beauty was different from the maturity of his elder cousin. She was even more womanly, the kind that made men entranced. In more frank terms, she was more of a vixen.
• The principal continued to introduce the rest of the teachers. The mischievous one was Zheng Xinyi, looking like she was born in 2000s. She was lively and forward-thinking, and was unafraid of anything. She would talk about anything and everything, and would constantly crack dirty jokes in the office. She was the most open-minded female teacher of them. She mainly taught the elementary school kids.
• The one introduced after her was the ice queen, Leng Xiaoxue. However, Leng Xiaoxue was icy inside and out. She was typically not one to work together, nor did she like to speak much, even her bones emanated chilliness. No villager dared to pursue her.
• Apart from these three, there were three other female teachers who had already gone to class. It was then that Yang Yu realized that, with the exception of the old man, the other six were female teachers. This made Yang Yu feel pleased. Wouldn’t that make me the sole tree among a field of flowers?
• Right at that moment, the door opened and someone entered. Yang Yu fixed his eyes upon the person. He asked in shock, “It’s you?”
• That person furrowed her brows. Instantly, she remembered that past incident, and she exclaimed in surprise as well. “It’s you!”