We Can’t Go Back 70

Chapter 70 [Extra]: The First Day Back: Sweet Daily Life

The first workday after the holiday. Jian Wu, a lover of clocking out, painfully extracted himself from Song Shuci’s embrace and went to the bathroom, urged by the alarm.

As he brushed his teeth, looking at his grumpy reflection in the mirror, resenting having to go to work, he suddenly felt Song Shuci’s words about making him work harder weren’t entirely baseless.

After washing up, half-asleep, he came out, greeted Jian Wenming and Wansui, who had already woken up, and unexpectedly saw breakfast prepared on the coffee table in the living room.

Two golden fried eggs with sliced avocado, and his favorite soy milk beside them. The person who prepared the breakfast must have considered he might not have time to eat, so they thoughtfully packed it in a to-go container.

Jian Wu looked at the bedroom with a subtle expression.

He had slept too soundly, he didn’t even know when Song Shuci got up. He attributed his laziness to the comfortable life he had been living these past few days, eating, sleeping, playing, and chatting with Song Shuci. Although he used to spend his holidays like this, being alone and being with someone were two different experiences.

He picked up the container, ready to leave, then thought about it, went back, grabbed a sticky note, and wrote “Thank you,” adding a simple drawing of a smiling sun and a heart.

Arriving at the office and exchanging morning greetings, Ling Meng immediately noticed his unusually special breakfast. She looked at it thoughtfully, then raised an eyebrow: “Are you in love?”

Jian Wu’s expression remained unchanged, his heart not skipping a beat.

“Don’t pretend,” Ling Meng immediately blocked his attempt to deny it, “This breakfast clearly isn’t store-bought, and you wouldn’t wake up early to make breakfast yourself.”

Ling Meng’s words were irrefutable. Jian Wu couldn’t deny it, so he confessed: “Fine, I’m in love.”

Ling Meng covered her mouth, stunned for a moment, then said: “Do you have a photo? Let me see.”

“I’ll ask him,” Jian Wu said.

He hadn’t discussed with Song Shuci whether or not to go public, or how to go public, after they decided to get back together. After finally getting rid of Ling Meng, he opened his phone and sent Song Shuci a message: “Do you think… we should go public?”

As it turned out, no matter how much time had passed, whether mature or not, Song Shuci still had an absolute obsession with declaring his ownership.

Song Shuci replied almost instantly — “Yes.”

Jian Wu stared at his profile picture and the “Yes” for a while, then put down his phone.

After finishing his breakfast, he packed up and prepared to go to class when a homeroom teacher suddenly came over and asked if he could borrow a class period.

Teachers borrowing classes from each other wasn’t uncommon at the affiliated middle school, especially since most main subject teachers were under pressure to produce results, so they often borrowed classes from vice subject teachers to improve their teaching effectiveness.

This homeroom teacher, named Wang Nian, had just joined during the summer vacation and taught math. Jian Wu’s teaching efficiency was high, so he usually agreed when someone asked to borrow a class, but this Teacher Wang had already asked him several times in just one month. Although he wasn’t under much pressure as a vice subject teacher, if he continued to reduce his teaching hours, it would affect the students’ learning.

Wang Nian, rejected, seemed a little displeased and left Jian Wu’s office.

Jian Wu didn’t mind, but the other teachers, returning from their first classes, commented: “Although it’s good for young people to be ambitious, Teacher Wang is a bit too much. He borrowed all my geography classes, and I heard he also borrowed from the art and music teachers. The students can’t handle so many math classes.”

“He borrowed that many classes?” Jian Wu thought Wang Nian had only asked him, he hadn’t expected him to ask so many other teachers.

“Yeah,” the geography teacher said, “But their math scores aren’t even good. They were second in the school in the elementary school graduation exams, but they dropped to second to last in the September monthly exams.”

Jian Wu frowned slightly.

He took his things and went to the classroom, intending to ask the students what was going on before class, but unexpectedly, he saw Wang Nian inside.

He retreated, confirmed he hadn’t gone to the wrong classroom, and looked at Wang Nian again. The classroom was full of students, so he didn’t ask Wang Nian directly. It wasn’t until Wang Nian followed him out that he asked: “Teacher Wang, what’s the meaning of this? I didn’t agree to give you my class.”

“You didn’t,” Wang Nian put his arm around his shoulder chummily and chuckled dryly, “But look, I’m already here,” he shook the exercise book in his hand, “Look at how many mistakes they made, I have to spend more time explaining.”

Jian Wu glanced at the exercise book in his hand. Many questions were marked in red, the error rate indeed appalling.

“Just give me one more class,” Wang Nian promised, “It’ll definitely be the last time.”

“Teacher Wang,” Jian Wu said, “You can’t disrupt my schedule just because of your own progress. And the students also—”

Seeing he wasn’t buying it, Wang Nian’s expression changed, “It’s just a music class, it’s not even part of the high school entrance exam, what’s the—”

“Just because a class isn’t part of the high school entrance exam doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Students still need to learn music. How is it a useless class?”

Wang Nian said: “I’m just asking for two classes, is that so bad?”

“I’ll teach my own classes, no need for anyone to substitute for me.”

“Jian Wu,” Wang Nian’s face darkened, “Don’t be ungrateful.”

Jian Wu, who never responded well to pressure, retorted directly: “You’re always asking to borrow classes, have your students’ math scores improved at all?”

His words hit a nerve. Wang Nian stammered, “It’s precisely because our class’s math foundation is weak that I’m asking for extra classes!”

“And their ranking dropped from second to second to last?”

Jian Wu had checked the system after hearing from the other teacher, he had originally thought it was a bit absurd, but it was actually true. In a way, this Teacher Wang was also quite a “talent.”

Wang Nian: “You—”

“How about this, Teacher Wang,” Jian Wu said, “I’ll teach a math class for you today?”

“Are you kidding me?” Wang Nian’s face was full of disbelief, “You, a biology teacher, understand math?”

Jian Wu walked onto the podium as the bell rang: “At least better than you.”

Seeing him enter the classroom, Wang Nian couldn’t say anything in front of the students. He lowered his voice and said angrily: “Fine, go ahead, I want to see how much you understand.”

Jian Wu flipped through the textbook to the page he had marked and confirmed with him: “You’ve covered this much, right? I’ll continue from here for one class period. You can check the accuracy rate on the exercise book later. If you’re satisfied, you can give me back a math class, and I’ll make up for today’s biology class.”

Wang Nian snorted. Although seventh-grade math was simple, teaching without preparation wasn’t easy. Plus, his class was unruly, the students either causing trouble or sleeping, always whispering, only quieting down after he lost his temper. He wanted to see how Jian Wu would handle them.

He sat down by the door, ready to watch Jian Wu fail, and said with a hint of sarcasm: “Class, Teacher Jian said he’s going to teach you a math class, listen carefully.”

The students clearly didn’t want to listen to him. They had been grumbling since the two teachers entered the classroom, complaining about Wang Nian changing their biology class to math again, their resentment almost palpable. They were relieved when they saw Jian Wu on the podium, only to learn that Jian Wu was also going to teach them math.

Half of them immediately lost interest, the other half were somewhat curious about how Jian Wu would teach math.

But as he taught, they actually became engaged.

Wang Nian was initially dismissive, because he didn’t think Jian Wu’s teaching was anything special, his lesson plan ordinary, the kind that wouldn’t win any awards for open classes. He didn’t incorporate any “student-centered” discussions, nor did he connect the material to real-life applications. It was just a straightforward explanation of the knowledge points, with hand-drawn diagrams and a few examples.

But he quickly realized that the students in his class, who usually couldn’t sit still, were actually listening.

After class, the most boisterous student even said: “Teacher Jian, can you teach our next math class too?”

Wang Nian almost vomited blood.

However, what made him swallow his blood was the exercise books he collected after the last self-study class, with an unusually high accuracy rate. Their homework had never been this good since he started teaching this class.

He told his colleagues about this, still puzzled. He was usually so strict that his colleagues felt pressured and didn’t really like to chat with him. But when he mentioned Jian Wu, a teacher said: “Don’t underestimate Teacher Jian. Although he teaches biology now, he taught high school math for several years. I heard from our leaders that his teaching was very effective.”

“Which school did he teach at before?” Wang Nian asked, “A prestigious school?”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” the colleague said.

Wang Nian said disdainfully: “Then how is he considered effective?”

The colleague said, slightly exasperated: “Fine, if you don’t think that’s impressive, then his 149 out of 150 on the math section of the college entrance exam is definitely impressive, right?”

After a moment of silence, Wang Nian immediately called Jian Wu.

Jian Wu had already finished work, but he didn’t go home immediately. Instead, he went to the main campus—Song Shuci’s office.

Jian Wu couldn’t explain why he came, he just… wanted to see Song Shuci.

Song Shuci’s lab had already been set up and was running. When he arrived at Song Shuci’s office, he was talking to someone. Because it was a female student, Song Shuci hadn’t closed the door, and their conversation could be faintly heard.

It seemed to be a master’s student complaining about being overworked by his postdoc.

Managing a lab was a lot of work. When Song Shuci first decided to come here, he recruited a postdoc to help him with the management and also to mentor students. He comforted the master’s student for a while, and soon, the girl left with red eyes.

Jian Wu nodded at her as they passed each other. He pushed open Song Shuci’s door and saw the man frowning, seemingly about to make a phone call. His expression was serious as he looked up, but the moment he saw him, his brow relaxed.

“Jian Wu—” he stretched and opened his arms towards him.

Jian Wu closed the door, walked over, and hugged him briefly. He was about to pull away when Song Shuci held him, “Sit for a bit.”

“Your chair is too small,” Jian Wu said.

Song Shuci patted his lap, “Then sit on my lap.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being seen?” Jian Wu teased him.

Song Shuci chuckled and, somewhat forcefully, pulled him onto his lap. Jian Wu was initially supporting himself, afraid of crushing him, but Song Shuci pulled him into his embrace. He didn’t struggle, letting his weight settle on Song Shuci.

“Let them see, I don’t care,” Song Shuci lowered his head, held his hand, squeezed his fingers, and played with the ring on his ring finger, “Doesn’t Teacher Jian want to go public with me anyway?”

Jian Wu’s palm felt itchy. He turned his head away: “Did I say I wanted to go public with you?”

Song Shuci said directly: “I want to.”

Jian Wu: “…”

“Okay?” Song Shuci looked up at him.

“…Okay.”

Song Shuci’s lips curled into a smile. He took out his phone, took a photo of their holding hands. Their hands were slender, and holding hands, they looked especially good, the matching Mobius rings a perfect complement.

“Sent it to you.” He sent the photo to Jian Wu, then opened WeChat and, just like he used to love doing, quickly posted it on his Moments, pinning it without hesitation.

Jian Wu saved the photo, thought for a moment, and also posted it on his Moments, then quickly put away his phone.

Although neither of them added any captions, just a photo, their mutual friends would surely understand from the identical photos.

Song Shuci, seeing this, nuzzled his shoulder happily, but said: “A little annoying.”

Jian Wu glanced at Song Shuci. He felt Song Shuci had become increasingly clingy since he said “I love you,” the old Song Shuci rarely acted like this.

“Who annoyed you?” he asked.

Song Shuci took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and complained: “My new postdoc… delegates everything to the students below him, even making them clock in and out every day, from 8 am to 11 pm. The students are all timid, no one told me, and I only found out today. I don’t know how long he would have continued exploiting them if I hadn’t discovered it.”

“Didn’t you used to do the same?”

“Yes,” Song Shuci said, “That’s why I want to create a better environment for them, cultivating scientific thinking requires fertile ground.”

“Mm,” Jian Wu nodded seriously and commented, “Seems like a conscientious teacher.”

Song Shuci was amused, “What, do you think I’m heartless?”

“I didn’t say that,” Jian Wu pretended to play on his phone.

“You didn’t?” Song Shuci leaned closer, hugged him from behind, and snatched his phone, “I heard some gossip today, someone said you’ve been telling everyone my clothes are stained with mouse droppings, that I’m bad-tempered… and that I’m quick.”

“Impossible,” Jian Wu said firmly, “Absolutely impossible.”

“I’ll let the first two slide, but I feel the need to prove the last one.” Song Shuci looked around his office.

Jian Wu, sensing the suggestive look in his eyes, immediately stood up: “Dude, this is your office.”

Song Shuci also stood up and locked the office door.

“Yes, my office, no one will come in without my permission.” He looked down at his desk, “This height should be okay, what do you think?”

Jian Wu swallowed and silently took a step back, then Song Shuci lifted him onto the desk and unbuckled his belt.

Just as the atmosphere was getting heated, Jian Wu’s phone rang.

“What kind of man are you, what kind of man are you—”

Song Shuci clicked his tongue, but still handed the phone to Jian Wu, adding: “Can you change your ringtone?”

Jian Wu, his ears red, said: “I’ll definitely change it next time…”

The caller was Wang Nian.

Unlike his arrogance in the morning, Wang Nian’s attitude was now much more pleasant: “Teacher Jian, are you free tonight? I’d like to treat you to dinner.”

Jian Wu glanced at Song Shuci.

The man looked up from between his legs, made a silencing gesture.

Jian Wu covered his mouth and kicked him, his ankle grabbed again.

“Hello? Teacher Jian, are you there?”

“I’m… I’m here.” He wasn’t in the mood to play games with Wang Nian now and said directly, “No need for dinner, I’ll hang up if there’s nothing else.”

But Wang Nian became polite: “Aiya, don’t be so polite, I was a bit rude this morning, I’m specifically calling to apologize, let’s have a proper dinner and chat.”

Jian Wu struggled to suppress his moans, trying to control his breathing.

“Teacher Jian?” Wang Nian called him again.

Song Shuci became even more forceful.

“Fine, fine, fine!” Jian Wu, reaching his limit, said in exasperation, “Choose a restaurant and send me the address on WeChat, I’ll be there later.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Shuci suddenly changed his technique. Jian Wu’s body trembled, his foot arching. His hand shaking, he bit his lip hard, and before a moan could escape, he hung up the phone, the suppressed sound finally breaking free:

“Ah—”

As he cried out, Song Shuci chuckled lowly, the sound muffled against his skin.

Jian Wu, his face flushed, panted, his hands braced behind him. Hearing the chuckle, he couldn’t help but kick Song Shuci.

Song Shuci grabbed a tissue from the desk, wiped his lips, stood up, and placed his hands on either side of him: “Who told you to agree to have dinner with another man again.”

Jian Wu glared at him, his eyes slightly watery: “Didn’t we agree you wouldn’t be jealous?”

Song Shuci didn’t admit it: “I’m not jealous.”

A notification chimed. Jian Wu received a WeChat message from Wang Nian.

He struggled to sit up and reach for his belt, only to find it in Song Shuci’s hand. He extended his hand towards Song Shuci: “Give it back.”

Song Shuci hid his hand behind his back: “I’m going too.”

“Fine, fine, fine, you can go.” Jian Wu snatched his belt back.

The restaurant wasn’t far. Song Shuci drove, and Jian Wu sat in the passenger seat, replying to messages.

After posting that photo on his Moments, many people had asked about him and Song Shuci, some subtly, some boldly. Ling Meng directly commented, repeating his previous words — “Whoever dates XXX is an idiot.”

He Yong commented with a confused Minion emoji from WeChat, asking “What’s going on?”

Jian Wu hadn’t expected Sister Du from the printing room to be so gossipy, even relaying his words to Ling Meng. No wonder Ling Meng hadn’t asked about him and Song Shuci recently.

He replied to his own comment with “I’m an idiot,” then saw He Yong sending him a bunch of question marks. He decided not to disappoint He Yong and replied with a cute emoji. And Ling Meng directly sent him a large red envelope: “I need to know the story.”

Jian Wu just returned the red envelope when Cheng Xian called. Boss Cheng bombarded him with calls, eager to hear the gossip, but when the call connected, he was speechless.

“Say something, don’t just hang up,” Jian Wu urged.

“It’s not that, bro, you—” Cheng Xian struggled for a while, then let out a long sigh, “Forget it, as long as you’re happy.”

“Who’s calling?” Song Shuci’s voice from the side came through the phone, and Cheng Xian hurriedly said: “I’m hanging up, I’m hanging up, pretend I didn’t call!”

“Hey—” Jian Wu wanted to tell Cheng Xian that he and Song Shuci had already talked things out, but Cheng Xian quickly hung up. He sent him a message and received a thumbs-up emoji with the caption “nb.”

[Translator’s note: “nb” is short for “niubi”, a Chinese slang term meaning “awesome,” “badass,” or “impressive,”]

He couldn’t help but chuckle, then saw messages from Xu Xiu and Jian Yu.

Auntie Xu first sent a bunch of celebratory emojis, then enthusiastically invited him over again. Jian Yu sent him a long message, which took him a while to finish reading.

Although it was a long message, the core message was simple: She hoped he would be happy.

Jian Wu lowered his eyes and replied to his mother with a heartfelt message. When he looked up, they had arrived at the restaurant.

He had told Wang Nian beforehand that he was bringing someone, so Wang Nian wasn’t surprised to see Song Shuci. He first greeted him, then extended his hand politely: “How should I address you?”

“This is—” Jian Wu was about to say “Professor Song from B Medical University” when Song Shuci pointed at him and said: “Teacher Jian’s follower.”

Jian Wu almost choked.

“Mm,” he cleared his throat and corrected him, “Just call him Xiao Song.”

Although he found it a bit strange, Wang Nian still said readily: “Okay… Xiao Song.”

He handed them the menu. Jian Wu shook his head: “Just tell me what you want to say, no need to treat us to dinner.”

“That won’t do.”

“You didn’t think so this morning.”

Wang Nian: “…”

He stopped beating around the bush, “Teacher Jian, I have two things to discuss with you. First… I had them do a quiz on the lesson you taught today during self-study, and you were right, their accuracy rate was very high. I… wanted to ask, how did you do it?”

Jian Wu was silent for a while, then asked him: “If I’m not mistaken, you have a master’s degree, right?”

Wang Nian was taken aback: “Yes.”

“Actually, the focus for open classes during job applications and regular classes is quite different,” Jian Wu said, “Open classes need a lively atmosphere and some performance, but for regular classes, the most important thing is to explain the knowledge points clearly, so they can all understand, then teach them how to solve problems and prepare for exams.”

“And… you have to understand one fact, your students only have the knowledge and abilities of middle school students. You can’t use your graduate school thinking to estimate their comprehension skills. You have to understand their foundation first, then find the most effective way to explain things to them.”

“Are you saying my teaching is too difficult to understand?” Wang Nian seemed to be pondering.

“I don’t know how you teach, but… if you trust me,” Jian Wu said, “I can observe your class next time.”

He had guessed Wang Nian might have this problem because he had also encountered it. Because his own foundation was too strong, he initially couldn’t understand why some students couldn’t grasp certain concepts. Later, he encountered Xiang Zhuo’s class, although they were high school students, their foundation was practically non-existent. He had to review middle school textbooks and teach them from the third-grade material, which was how he became familiar with the elementary, middle, and high school curricula.

“But the students in my class are always very noisy,” Wang Nian said, “It’s difficult for me to even teach properly.”

“Don’t lose your temper at them,” Jian Wu said, “Students at this age are rebellious, yelling at them will only make you look weak, you have to make them truly respect you.”

“How can I make them respect me?”

“Be able to control your emotions, and also make them feel you’re competent, most students admire strength.”

“Speaking of which,” Wang Nian said, “This just happens to be the second thing I wanted to discuss with you.” He asked: “I heard you’re very good at math, would you be willing to… coach the math competition class with me?”

After a moment of thought, Jian Wu said honestly, “I’ve actually thought about this, but I’m used to my current workload. If I spend time on the competition class, I’ll have to reduce my biology classes.”

“I understand,” Wang Nian said, “I’ll discuss it with the school leaders. Although you didn’t accept my dinner invitation, I’m still looking forward to working with you, thank you for today.”

Jian Wu smiled at him, “You’re welcome.”

Coming out of the restaurant, Jian Wu rubbed his slightly empty stomach. Song Shuci asked him: “What do you want to eat?”

“There’s… a good pineapple and meat skewer place near my school,” he glanced at Song Shuci, “How about it, interested in trying it?”

Hearing “pineapple and meat skewers,” Song Shuci smiled, “He Yong and Ling Meng have mentioned it several times, Teacher Jian is finally willing to take me there.”

“It’s to celebrate the preliminary agreement on your collaboration with Senior Jiang.”

After Wu Zhang came, they had another video conference with Jiang Xu, which went very well, and Song Shuci was very happy.

“If I take over his project and successfully commercialize it, it would be a contribution to the medical industry. Although after actually doing research, I realized what I said to you about finding a cure for cancer was just empty talk, but even a small contribution is still fulfilling.”

“Indeed.” Jian Wu held his hand and entered the barbecue restaurant.

Just as they finished ordering, Song Shuci received a work call. Jian Wu listened to his plans and arrangements while expertly grilling the pineapple and meat skewers.

After Song Shuci hung up, Jian Wu handed him a few skewers and suddenly said: “Song Shuci, I’m actually very proud of you.”

He looked at his lover, handling his work with grace and composure, “Thinking about you doing… such important research, I feel like you’re truly amazing.”

Song Shuci looked at him with surprise, his eyes clearly touched.

“I’ve always felt this way,” Jian Wu looked into his eyes, “Maybe we were so used to bickering before, I didn’t like praising you, it felt too mushy, but now I feel I should tell you what I truly think.”

“Although I always tease you about your dirty and tiring work, and how your lab coat isn’t clean at all,” he chuckled, “You do look handsome in a lab coat.”

Song Shuci tried to suppress his smile but ultimately gave up and laughed.

“The way you’re talking,” he said, still a little embarrassed, “I’m tempted to buy a bunch of lab coats and wear them in front of you.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jian Wu warned, “Wearing that thing outside the lab isn’t handsome, it’s a biohazard.”

They laughed for a while, then Song Shuci stopped laughing and, looking at him, said seriously: “Actually… I’m also very proud of you.”

“What’s there to be proud of about me?” Jian Wu said, “I’m just an ordinary middle school teacher.”

“Seeing you teaching, grading papers, explaining problems to students, sharing your experience with your colleagues… it makes me feel proud,” Song Shuci looked at him, his eyes filled with love, “This is the Jian Xiaowu I’ve known since I was one year old, the younger brother I always worried about, wanted to protect, wanted to guide. But now, you’re confidently inspiring others.”

“And…” Song Shuci clinked his beer glass against his, “Even without all that, isn’t living life seriously in this world something to be proud of?”

Jian Wu looked at him with a subtle expression: “I never thought I would hear such words from Song, the involution king.”

“Maybe I’m blinded by Teacher Jian’s love,” Song Shuci joked, “Sometimes I feel that even if I don’t achieve anything, as long as I can live like this with you, I would feel very content, very proud.”

Striving upwards was ambition, but living in the present was life.

Jian Wu suddenly remembered last winter, when it rarely snowed in City B. He entered the classroom, and the students all said they wanted to have a snowball fight. It was such a nice day, it was a waste to be cooped up in the classroom.

Jian Wu originally wanted to dissuade them, but a thought popped into his mind.

Why not?

Life was long. Within one’s abilities, pursuing a little joy, relaxing a bit from the usual tense studies, wasn’t a bad thing.

So, after getting the students’ agreement, he called He Yong and discussed switching classes. This plan quickly received He Yong’s enthusiastic support, so they happily took the children to a PE class where they only needed to enjoy the snow and have a snowball fight, no need for an 800-word essay afterwards.

A teacher’s influence was actually very limited. Even the best teacher couldn’t truly influence most of their students’ lives.

Not harming these young, sensitive adolescents during their most precious youth, not being biased, not showing favoritism, not having prejudices.

Being a good teacher, imparting knowledge and solving their doubts, leaving a good memory in their long lives, whether as a funny anecdote for future chats, a source of warmth during difficult times, or making them remember a formula, a piece of knowledge, a life lesson, and accompanying them through a good time… that was the meaning of being a teacher.

From this perspective, Jian Wu thought, he wasn’t too bad.

And Song Shuci was right, besides all this, hadn’t he and Song Shuci always been living their lives seriously?

This seemed ordinary, yet truly something to be proud of.

So he raised his glass of beer, clinked it against Song Shuci’s, propped his head up with one hand, and smiled at him.

“A toast to two proud people, long live ordinary life.”

-END OF MAIN STORY-