CHAPTER 483: 225. RESTLESS VALENTINE’S DAY (4)_2

"What exactly happened last May? I really want to know. Don’t worry, Kiyono, I won’t laugh, and I won’t tell anyone else."

"It was just a small incident. Yuzao, if you want to know, you might have to wait for Mr. Dubian’s autobiography."

"But he’s only sixteen now." Yuzao Haomei pointed at Dubian Che, who was lining up.

"The life expectancy published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare shows that the average life expectancy for women is 87.26 years, and for men, it’s 81.09 years, so you don’t need to worry too much, Yuzao student."

"..."

After buying popcorn, they just made it to the cinema.

The seats for Dubian Che and his group were not great; they bought their tickets last minute and could only sit in the back row.

Mayi Asuka and her group had bought their tickets in advance. Their seats were not the best but were close to the prime viewing area.

Red chairs—Dubian Che used his school jacket as a cushion for Jiutiao Meijie.

The movie was about to start, and there were only the three of them in the back row.

Just as the advertisement against pirating films started, Lady Kiyono was ceremoniously about to start eating her popcorn when three people hurried into the cinema entrance.

Without looking at their tickets, they headed straight to the back row where Dubian Che was sitting.

"I told you not to drive; it would definitely be jammed at this hour!"

"Bad judgment."

"Alright, don’t disturb others, sit down quick... Dubian?"

"Tokyo isn’t big, but it isn’t small either, why..."

Before Dubian Che could finish his line, the movie suddenly increased the volume, and Xiaoquan Aonai quickly sat down next to Dubian Che.

And it wasn’t over yet. At the moment the three teachers took their seats, a small commotion occurred in the front.

Ichiki Aoi and her group, holding their bags and hugging their popcorn, apologized to the people around them as they walked over.

Dubian Che cast a puzzled look.

"It’s more fun when everyone watches together," Ichiki Aoi explained.

As she explained, Mayi Asuka stared intently at Xiaoquan Aonai.

"What’s wrong, Mayi student?" Xiaoquan Aonai felt uncomfortable under her emotionless gaze.

"...Nothing."

"You guys." Blocked from her view, Jiutiao Meiji looked at them with a piercing gaze.

"Senior, let’s sit down," Ichiki Aoi, pulling Mayi Asuka who was still staring at Xiaoquan Aonai, quickly took their seats.

Well, now they could finally start watching the movie.

Dubian Che popped a kernel of popcorn into his mouth, ready to see how "365 Days the Earth Stood Still" turned into a romance.

His hand, unconsciously, rested on the armrest on the side away from Jiutiao Meijie.

But instead of the firm feel of the armrest, his hand encountered something soft.

Dubian Che and Xiaoquan Aonai simultaneously withdrew their hands.

Dubian Che made a ’teacher, please’ gesture, and Xiaoquan Aonai responded with a ’student, please’ gesture.

Then, Dubian Che ignored the armrest.

Xiaoquan Aonai had her own stance.

The armrest was sadly neglected.

The movie officially began, starting with a young man getting into an accident while saving an elderly person.

He was a senior high school student who had to take a year off from school on the first day of the new school year.

Coming from a poor family, his single father took all the subsidy money they received and spent it on alcohol, and the boy himself had almost turned completely delinquent.

Piercing ears, drinking, smoking—he did everything an underage wasn’t supposed to do. The day he saved the person, his body reacted faster than his brain, leading him to do something he normally wouldn’t.

After a brief introduction of the background, the story officially began.

In the new year, when it was time for the boy to re-enter school, having already poor grades, he just gave up and didn’t enroll, spending his days swindling pocket money from children at game centers.

Then, the senior class teacher appeared, a young woman who was actually quite attractive but set in the movie as a prim and charmless aunt.

Persuading, accompanying the boy to play games, even waiting at his front door, she begged him to return to school.

April passed, and the boy ignored her, thinking she was only concerned about her own performance and reputation as a teacher.

In early May, the boy’s father fell down the stairs while drunk and was hospitalized, and the teacher covered a significant amount of money for him.

The next day, returning from the game center, the boy still found the teacher waiting at his front door, but the usual high-quality bento had been replaced by rice balls.

The boy entered the house and, across his own door, decided to go back to school.

"This teacher is really amazing," Dubian Che whispered to Xiaoquan Aonai as they watched.

"Mmm." Xiaoquan Aonai’s eyes were moist with emotion, "Students can be willful, but teachers cannot. Even if you cannot make all students like you, you cannot let any of them hate you. Because there are genuinely students who hate the subject because they hate the teacher."

Were those her own professional ethics? It seemed she resonated quite a bit.

The movie continued.

The boy returned to school and encountered various problems, such as being ostracized by classmates and looked down on by the head teacher, who wanted to force him out of school.

Under the teacher’s relentless guidance, the boy decided to show those who looked down on him—by aiming to get into Nagoya University!

What followed was his desperate study, with the teacher doing her utmost to tutor him.

There were setbacks, there were progresses, teacher and student gradually became friends, singing and drinking together in the streets at night.

Watching the teacher get drunk, her hair disheveled, cursing her leaders and ex-boyfriend at the sky, the boy suddenly felt a stir— he fell in love with the teacher...

Yes, he fell in love.

The boy began to study even harder; he wanted to become a man worthy of his teacher.