Therefore, Zhou Yong couldn't really get angry at Losi's indifferent remark.
Everyone sat down on the living room sofa to pass the time, and soon Zhang Lingling came out carrying dishes one after another. The weather hadn't gotten too cold yet, and the dishes were still steaming hot when they were placed on the table.
By the time Cheng Qing finished tidying up, everyone was already seated.
Cheng Qing came over with a smile. When Luo Xi saw that she was going to sit next to Zhou Yong, she simply stepped forward and pulled Zhou Yong away, switching seats with him.
Cheng Qing watched the whole thing from the side, but after pausing for a moment, he still chose to sit down next to Luo Xi.
Seeing that she didn't avoid it, Luo Xi smiled brightly and then toasted Cheng Qing, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Cheng."
Cheng Qing smiled at her and said, "You've worked hard too." Then, the two of them shared their drinks.
Seeing this, the others also toasted the teacher.
Politely say, "Thank you for your hard work, teacher, during this time."
The three teachers raised their glasses in return, saying, "Thank you too."
After a lively opening, everyone finally relaxed. They ate and drank, occasionally getting up to pick up some food, and sometimes being offered a toast. The noise was so loud that the two people sitting next to each other couldn't hear each other.
Losi was still unwilling to give up. She liked it so much, so much, how could she be content if she didn't try her best?
Thinking this gave her some more courage, and Luo Xi finally leaned closer to Cheng Qing and whispered, "Teacher, are you really not going to give me your WeChat ID?"
Cheng Qing looked at Luo Xi, who was approaching, at the whiteness of her neck, and at her eyes that shone like stars.
Cheng Qing's heart skipped a beat. He could only lower his gaze, avoiding her sincere expression, before he could utter the cruel words: "Luo Xi, it's just been two weeks of teacher-student relationship. Once we're separated, we're separated. We may never even have a chance to meet again."
Losi raised her chin slightly, unconvinced: "Who said that? I can come see you then!"
Cheng Qing sighed: "You guys are very busy, you don't have that time."
Losi was taken aback, then said angrily, "Even if I really don't have time, can't I even have your contact information?"
"What use is your contact information to me?" Cheng Qing was also anxious! "You're in the prime of your career right now, so..." He paused again, "Your contact information is useless to me."
She didn't know if Cheng Qing understood or what she really thought.
However, Losi didn't want to miss out on this opportunity.
She stared blankly at Cheng Qing, gritted her teeth, and finally asked in a low voice, "Who said it wasn't used? Besides, don't you know why I need it?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Qing did not reply immediately. Her dark eyes, as if immersed in an icy spring, responded rationally in a chilling voice:
"It is precisely because I know this that I cannot give it to them."
It's precisely because Losi is so pure—so pure that she displays courage and recklessness—that Cheng Qing cannot emulate her and be as reckless as she is.
Of the two people, one of them always has to keep an eye on the road.
Cheng Qing's words dealt a devastating blow to Losi. Being rejected time and time again would be unbearable for anyone.
Moreover, what Cheng Qing meant was that she was avoiding him in order to refuse him.
These words made Rossi feel like her feelings were a... joke.
Her face slowly turned cold, and her gaze gradually lost its warmth, her stare at Cheng Qing almost becoming tangible.
She couldn't express the heart-wrenching, excruciating pain she felt. Her hands, hidden under the table, trembled slightly.
She couldn't sit here, and she couldn't look at Cheng Qing.
Luo Xi took a deep breath, preparing to get up and leave. But just then, Cheng Qing reached out and pulled Luo Xi back, whispering, "You stay here. I'm the one who should leave."
After saying that, Cheng Qing stood up and said with a smile, "Thank you all for taking care of me during this time. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'd like to raise a glass to everyone here. I have some things to do tonight, so I won't eat. I'll go upstairs to rest first."
Without waiting for Liu Suoyu and the others to stop her, she got up and left.
Everyone watched Cheng Qing's hurried departure. Her resolute determination as she went up the stairs without ever looking back seemed to carry a hint of disheveled escape.
Everyone's first reaction was to look at Losi on the other side, only to see that Losi had her head down and was not saying a word.
Although no one knew what the two had said, the meal fell silent again.
***
When Luo Xi returned to her dorm after finishing her meal, she discovered that Cheng Qing wasn't in the room at all. The dorm room, where she and Cheng Qing had lived for two weeks, only had a lonely suitcase beside the bed, a sign that its owner was about to leave.
Lossie turned her head and glanced at the staircase leading to the top floor. She knew Cheng Qing was up there, but she also knew that going up now would only get her the same answer.
Hmph! Besides, she didn't want to go up there and fawn over her cold shoulder.
But you think this little setback will make her give up? Cheng Qing underestimates me.
Losi clenched her fist tightly. She could sense that Teacher Cheng liked her. Teacher Cheng, for some reason, had been avoiding her.
But if Cheng Qing avoids the situation and he gives up as well, then the two of them will never have any contact.
It was as if the two had never met before this show.
Losi rallied and told herself she could do it.
It was just Cheng Qing's phone number!
Losi clenched her fist. "How could I not get it? What is Teacher Cheng thinking?! I'll find a way to get it!"
Author's Note:
Chapter 68
However, since Cheng Qing was about to leave, he certainly wouldn't let Luo Xi take advantage of the situation.
The two had a little disagreement, and Losi went to bed fuming.
Wednesday was another day of overcast and rainy weather.
When Luo Xi opened her eyes in a daze, she found that Cheng Qing was no longer beside her.
She rubbed her eyes and got up. The scenery in the room gradually became clearer. The suitcase that had been placed at the foot of the bed yesterday was gone.
Losi froze, a bizarre guess forming in her mind. She hurriedly got out of bed, not even bothering to grab her coat, and rushed to the door, ignoring the coldness of the wooden floor beneath her bare feet.
She didn't know if the director would pull this trick, or if Teacher Cheng would really be willing to leave without saying goodbye. Although she wouldn't be unable to find her, just thinking about her leaving without saying a word made Luo Xi's eyes well up with tears.
She flung open the bedroom door and froze, tears welling in her eyes, as she looked at Cheng Qingluoxi, who stood outside the door in astonishment.
The thought of running to her vanished, and her whole body went limp, almost collapsing to the ground.
Cheng Qing was taken aback and quickly reached out to hug her. Feeling that Luo Xi's entire weight was almost entirely in his arms, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "What's wrong?"
Losi was both angry and embarrassed. Too ashamed to tell Cheng Qing that she thought Cheng Qing had left, she could only say fiercely, "I had a nightmare."
Cheng Qing then noticed that Luo Xi looked like she was about to cry, her cheeks were white with a hint of red, and her whole person was like a flower on a summer morning, with tears like the morning dew on the petals.
Its budding appearance makes one want to get closer.
Cheng Qing took a deep breath and helped her sit up straight: "If you're scared in the future, just buy a night light."
Having received this lukewarm consolation, Losi was already prepared. She twitched her lips and said, "That's it?"
Cheng Qing: "What else? They're already preparing for the competition. Get up and go change your clothes!"
Losi rolled her eyes at her and then turned and headed towards the bathroom.
Cheng Qing followed her back to the room and put on the light jacket that had been prepared and placed on the table. Luo Xi, who was getting her toothbrush in the bathroom, glanced at it out of the corner of her eye and angrily punched herself on the head. Her clothes were clearly still on the table; how come she hadn't seen them?
Cheng Qing didn't notice anything wrong with her. Before leaving, she remembered to tell Luo Xi, "It's a bit cold today, don't forget to put on some clothes when you go downstairs."
Luo Xi mumbled a reply from inside, and only after Cheng Qing closed the door and left did she peek out. Her eyes darted around furtively.
***
On Wednesday, the official competition began. The staff cleared out the kitchen and living room, and after everyone had breakfast, they gathered in the living room.
Holding the card, Kong Mingyan said with a serious expression, "Today we are going to hold a fair and impartial competition to test the results of our learning over the past two weeks."
The nine students applauded. For the sake of convenience in recording, the first and second matches were arranged as dessert and fencing, respectively. No additional venue was rented, and the matches were held directly in the place where they usually practiced.
All the competition tools are readily available, so there's no need to buy any extras. The dessert competition format is a three-person competition, with each person making three cakes. One cake is for the three teachers, one for the guests, and one for the staff. The first, second, and third place winners for each round are determined by the approval ratings given by everyone who eats the cakes.
The three teachers remained uninvolved throughout the process, simply sitting in the living room chatting while waiting for the cakes to be ready. During this time, they had no idea which cake was made by which student. The entire process was done by blind tasting, with participants simply choosing the cake they thought was the most delicious. The same applied to the guests and staff; the highest score won.
The entire process lasted 3 hours.
When the final answers were announced, Cheng Qing was surprised to find that, apart from Ye Lingyun being the first place winner, Luo Xi had unexpectedly become the dark horse and surged to second place.
The scores of the others were not much different, so Cheng Qing only focused on Luo Xi.
Then came the second round of competition, fencing.
Fencing is relatively simple. Each person competes in two rounds, with 15 points scored per round. The person with the most points wins.
Those who were not participating in the competition could watch from the sidelines. At this time, Cheng Qing had nothing to do, so he and the three teachers sat in the living room to watch.
Luo Xi's opponents were Ye Lingyun and Zhao Baibing, neither of whom were particularly strong. Liu Suoyu had originally been placed in position three to compete against the weaker opponents from the other two teams, in order to gain points for the team.
But the other two teams, for some reason, assigned their weakest players to the shooting guard position, which resulted in them running into Losi.
Lin Shandie took to the stage, competing against both Li Mingyao and Lin Zichen. Lin Shandie performed admirably, winning against Li Mingyao by a single point.
The second match was by Losi, which Cheng Qing watched quite attentively.
Wearing her distinctive fencing uniform and mask, Losi used a standard lunge and quickly secured the first victory with an absolute advantage of 8-4.
Then, in the second match against Ye Lingyun, Zhao Baibing, who had only practiced for two days, was still no match for Luo Xi. Ye Lingyun, whom he had only briefly clashed with, was of course no match for Luo Xi.
Luo Xi had always been fond of Cheng Qing, and although her skills weren't great at first, she studied very diligently throughout the entire process for Cheng Qing's sake.
The best result was on the field, where it almost became her own personal stage.
Cheng Qing sat on the outer edge, watching Luo Xi draw and retract her sword with one hand, moving like a dragon weaving through the air, each strike whistling through the wind, advancing and retreating with effortless ease.
This is no longer the actress who hid in the background because of her inferiority complex, or who was disliked because of her gloom.
Cheng Qing didn't know how to describe her feelings. Perhaps it was like the feeling of watching a child you care about and love grow up?
Losi won beautifully, dominating Ye Lingyun in this round.
Watching her remove her mask, her eyes sparkling with a smile, full of pride and self-satisfaction, and her gaze shining like stars as she looked at him.
Cheng Qing couldn't help but return her a smile of approval; she was proud of her. Words she dared not say to her face, words she dared not acknowledge in her heart, Cheng Qing silently blessed and encouraged her.
Lossie! Be a bright and cheerful girl! In this world, you may encounter many things that are pleasant or unpleasant, but that's okay. Finding the most beautiful scenery in adversity will always bring you more joy than seeing darkness in good times.