Qi Yan is slightly taller than Lu Zhiqiao; hugs her from behind, and kisses her ear with a tilt of her head. Her soft ear is delicate and white, it turns red with a gentle touch, and even her whole body trembles uncontrollably. Only she knows how sensitive it is there.

"Anger hurts the body."

"Anger creates wrinkles."

The warm breath lingered and reverberated, swirling in her ear sockets, Lu Zhiqiao clenched her teeth to resist the instinctive reaction, her feet went  limp, and half of her body weight was leaning on Qi Yan's arms, but just didn't speak.

Qi Yan had already seen through her, pretending not to know, pecked her earlobe, and said, "I'll tell you a joke."

T/N: Sorry, I don't understand the joke enough to explain how it is funny. Just take it as some of Qi Yan's useless anecdotes.

"I raised a mouse and it got sick. I gave it rat poison. So hopefully it can get better."

"..."

"One day when I was riding a bicycle on the street, I passed by the intersection, I let go of the handle bars with both hands, and the traffic enforcer saw it and shouted: 'Your hands!" I happily rushed to the enforcer and waved and Said: 'Sir have worked hard!'." After Qi Yan finished speaking, she couldn't help laughing.

Lu Zhiqiao asked subconsciously: "And then?"

"Then—" Qi Yan paused, "I fell into the pit."

Lu Zhiqiao frowned, trying to restrain her emotions, then the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, and finally couldn't hold back, she burst out laughing.

"Is it so funny that I fell into the pit?" Qi Yan pretended not to be happy.

"Yeah, hahaha." It was the first time she saw her laughing. She is in her early thirties, her face had no wrinkles, like a delicate flower in full bloom, and her eyes were full of stars. Qi Yan moved her feet, looked at her with her head tilted, and burned her smile deeply into her mind. At that moment, she wished that she could use time magic to stop this moment forever.

Lu Zhiqiao smiled for a while, noticed the burning gaze around her, restrained her smile, and sighed softly, "I'm not angry."

"Smile more." Qi Yan stretched out her hand to tuck the broken hair from her forehead behind her ears, and leaned over to kiss her, "You look so pretty when you smile."

"You get wrinkles when you smile a lot."

"But, you'll look ten years older if you don't smile."

"..."

Qi Yan touched her face with the tip of her nose, turned her around and pressed her back against the wall, she said in a low voice: "You have always regarded me as your daughter's teacher. Of course you will feel awkward in your heart, but teachers are also human, and this is just a job. Doing your own thing and keeping the bottom line is enough. Now, in private, I am Qi Yan, not Teacher Qi."

The cedar-scented shampoo smells light and pleasant, and it lingers for a long time.

Lu Zhiqiao sniffed lightly, her eyelids half drooped, and followed the scent of Qi Yan's hair, her neck stretched forward slightly, only a few feet away from the corner of the other's lips.

When Qi Yan wasn't paying attention, she almost kissed her.

"Okay." She hurried back and answered in a low voice.

Qi Yan picked up a strand of her own hair, brushed the end of it gently against her lips, and scratched it maliciously: "Do you like it?"

Well-maintained hair, the quality of the hair is very good, black and smooth, less split ends, volume rich and thick, like a rare like expensive silk thread. Lu Zhiqiao couldn't help reaching out to touch it, her fingertips smooth against it, so she nodded.

"Come here often if you like."

She didn't answer, blushing.

....

There was the sound of water in the bathroom. Lu Zhiqiao put the ironing board and iron back in the study After that, she collected the clothes that were drying on the balcony, and sat on the sofa to fold them slowly.

Her daughter has a lot of clothes, a long-sleeved blouse, thin sweaters, trousers with pigtails, school uniforms... She looked at the short pigtails on her trousers, and slowed down, suddenly thinking that Lu Wei is growing up but she was still wearing this kind of clothes at her age. She hasn't paid attention to her daughter's situation. For example, is it time to buy an undershirt for the child?

Time really flies, and the thought gave her indescribable emotions.

The little baby who couldn't walk in her hands back then turned twelve years old in the blink of an eye, but she doesn't even know her daughter's exact height and weight.

How can she be called a mother?

Lu Zhiqiao fell into self-blame, her thoughts were in a mess, and she didn't even know when the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

"Mom..."

There was a very soft cry from behind, she woke up in her trance, turned around, and saw her daughter was standing there in Pikachu pajamas, looking at her timidly, as if she didn't dare to come over. She raised her smiling face and beckoned to the child: "Niuniu, come here."

The little girl obediently stepped forward, Lu Zhiqiao couldn't wait to stretch out her hand, and pulled her to sit next to her: "It was mom's fault just now, I shouldn't have lost my temper with you..." While talking, she kissed Lu Wei's face.

Just after taking a shower, the kid's face is flushed; smooth and tender.

Lu Wei bit her lip and said nothing. She was wrong before dinner until now, thinking that her mother thought she was ignorant, and the more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Now she was finally relieved, so she took the initiative to sit on her mother's lap and put her arms around her neck.

"Ah, girl, you are so heavy—" Lu Zhiqiao wailed, but held the child in her arms.

"Hmph."

"I'll crush mom to death."

"I won't come down." The little girl pouted.

Lu Zhiqiao touched her daughter's head and smiled, "Does the school measure her height and weight in physical education class?" She measured her once last year at this time, and she was 1.47 meters and 75 catties. She should have gained a lot in a year.

"I'm 1.53* meters tall.

*a bit over 5"

"What's your weight?"

Lu Wei suddenly whispered, "82 catties*...Mom, I've gained a lot of weight."

*108 lbs

"Fool." Lu Zhiqiao kissed her, "You are exactly the right weight now. As you grow up, it’s normal to gain weight, because you also grow taller.” “

But it’s not good to be too fat. There is a girl in our class who weighs 100 catties and is fat. The boys always laugh at her, saying that she is a fat winter melon."

"..."

Lu Zhiqiao's complexion changed slightly, she coughed twice, and said, "Niuniu, I don't care what others do, but you can't laugh at fat classmates, that's very rude, you know?"

"I didn't, I just think she is miserable, boys are too much."

"So you can't imitate boys."

The little girl nodded.

Lu Zhiqiao's eyes fell in front of her daughter, the outline of the big Pikachu pattern was faintly visible, she stared at it for a few seconds, her pajamas were loose and she couldn't see anything, so she pinched the corners to pick it up.

"Um, Mom, what are you doing..." Lu Wei was quick to hold it down and looked at her

"Let mom take a look." She said impatiently, "Does it usually hurt? Is there—" She was at a loss for words for a while, and couldn't say anything.

Lu Wei blushed immediately, feeling very embarrassed, hummed twice, and tightly protected Pikachu with both hands, refusing to let her see it.

"Okay, I won't look."

It is human nature to be shy, and so do children. It is said that mothers and daughters should be close, but it is probably because she neglected to accompany her. Her daughter is shy in front of her, and does not regard her as a trustworthy person.

Lu Zhiqiao felt a little frustrated, sighed helplessly, and changed the subject: "What time will the party start tomorrow?" "

Two o'clock." Lu Wei whispered, "Mom, will you go?"

"I will."

The next day was cloudy, the past few days, the sky was either clear or cloudy. Lu Zhiqiao left work early at noon, had a casual meal in the company cafeteria, then assigned the afternoon work to her assistant, and drove to school.

Half an hour had passed since school ended, and there were only a few students wearing school uniforms at the school gate. She parked the car, checked-in with the security guard at the gate, and entered the campus. The junior high school of the attached high school covers a large area, which is larger than the high school. Last parent-teacher meeting, she wandered around and almost got lost.

She found the classroom, but no one was there.

Lu Zhiqiao took out her mobile phone and was about to call her daughter when a voice came from the other side of the stairs. She looked up and saw Qi Yan and two female teachers coming out of the office, talking and laughing.

"Teacher Qi."

The three of them looked over at the same time. Qi Yan was wearing a smoggy gray long sweater, with a slender and tall figure, which was quite eye-catching at first glance. She said something in a low voice, the other two nodded and walked away, she walked towards this side with long legs.

Her long black hair flowed freely.

"It's still early." The woman came to her, raised her eyebrows, and said in a low voice, "Could it be that you miss me?"

Although there was no one around, Qi Yan knew how to be modest and didn't get too close. They are at school after all. She stood upright, but with a teasing smile in her eyes, cold, charming, and playful.

Lu Zhiqiao stared at her hair, and said in a moment: "Niu Niu is not in the classroom."

"Their last class is English." Qi Yan looked at the classroom of Class 1-2, and then looked at the phone, "It's almost breaktime, have you called her?

"Not yet, I'm afraid she will be seen by her classmates."

Qi Yan raised her hand to brush her hair, and said with a smile: "It's okay, her classmates all have mobile phones. These kids play games in secret, I'd confiscate and hand them over to their parents, and the parents will give the phones back to them again, it's a headache."

"..."

Thinking of the last time her daughter's mobile phone was confiscated, Lu Zhiqiao pursed her lips and said nothing, but her heart wanted to laugh.

Usually, she only sees Qi Yan in 901 or 902. She can see clearly what this person looks like in private, but that's about it. Now she is seeing Qi Yan at school, where the woman works. This person naturally has a different look. How she walked towards her, half-familiar, half-distant, which got her want to explore, with somewhat an inexplicable feeling, unable to move her eyes.

Maybe because it's something new, maybe she's just curious.

Lu Zhiqiao didn't think about it, she lowered her head, opened the phone's address book, and dialed her daughter's number.

This will pass soon.

"Niuniu, where are you? Mom is at school."

"Okay, don't worry, take your time. Mom will wait for you in the classroom."

"Hmm, goodbye."

Sure enough.

The junior high school does not have a boarding system. There is no student dormitory, but there is a canteen, which is convenient for students who cannot go home at noon to eat at school. Since this semester, except for the few days when she was sick, her daughter has been eating lunch at school.

She talked to Lu Wei with a gentle and doting tone, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth, while Qi Yan watched, her heart seemed to be soaked in lemon juice soda, gurgling and bursting into sour bubbles.*

*expression implying jealousy, same as "drinking vinegar"

"Have you eaten yet?" she asked.

"I've eaten."

Qi Yan opened her mouth, wanting Lu Zhiqiao to go out to eat with her, but if someone sees them, it will inevitably lead to gossip, and if it is said that she accepts gifts and bribes, then she won't be clean even if she jumps into the Yellow River.*

*it will be hard to prove her innocence 

Sometimes, being a teacher is an invisible shackle.

She swallowed her words, smiled, and a dark emotion flashed in her eyes: "Niu Niu's seat is in the middle of the fourth row next to the corridor window, you can sit inside and wait, I'm going to eat."

"Okay."

Qi Yan turned around and walked up the stairs. Lu Zhiqiao stared at her receding back, her waist-length black hair swaying slightly, her pace seemed to be slower than when she just came, but no matter how slow, the alley can only be so long, and soon the woman disappeared around the corner.

Author's Note:

Lu Mama: I think...