Push Me Away When I Come, Don't Hold Me Back When I Leave - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Xiao Qinghan’s Misunderstanding

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“Is it really okay like this? If you had agreed with the flow, you might have sparked something with her. Even if you chase after her now, it might still work, Ruoming.”

Watching Xu Fengwu’s lonely figure walking away alone, Chu Suhe couldn’t help but speak to Xia Ruoming with concern. The usually extremely introverted Chu Suhe was now acting like a caring mother.

She originally thought Xia Ruoming and Xu Fengwu were just having a typical lovers’ quarrel, but now it seems that wasn’t the case?

“My heart is full of you, Class Monitor Chu, so how could I spark anything with Classmate Xu?”

Hearing these words, Chu Suhe’s face turned red again, and she lightly patted Xia Ruoming’s hand.

“Stop it! If you make jokes like that again, I’ll… I’ll ignore you!”

“Alright, Ruoming, stop teasing Suhe. Look, her face is about to burn up,” He Ya said half-jokingly, then covered Chu Suhe’s face, almost burying it in her chest. She naturally understood Chu Suhe’s feelings, if Xia Ruoming’s words weren’t just a joke, they only needed a chance to break through that final barrier. But such things couldn’t be rushed; letting feelings develop naturally over time was the best way. So she stepped in to smooth things over.

Being as perceptive as she was, He Ya could see that Xia Ruoming was always intentionally or unintentionally creating space between herself and Ji Chuan, and worried about leaving Ji Chuan alone with her awkwardly, that’s why she brought Chu Suhe along. Although she didn’t know how Xia Ruoming knew about her feelings for Ji Chuan, smart women never say too much, so she naturally returned the favor by helping foster a connection between Chu Suhe and Xia Ruoming.

Beautiful moments always pass quickly, and amid the playful banter and studying, the sun was soon setting.

In the twilight, watching Ji Chuan riding his bicycle with a rear seat, leaving together with the smiling He Ya, Xia Ruoming’s face showed a motherly smile.

In this life, she hoped they would stay together forever.

As she was unlocking her own bicycle and preparing to leave, a delicate hand grabbed her.

Xia Ruoming looked back and found it was Xiao Qinghan.

“What is it, Teacher Xiao? Did you need something from me?” Xia Ruoming asked puzzled.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? If you exceeded my expectations in the exam, I would treat you to a meal. Have you already forgotten, you busy person?” Xiao Qinghan dangled her car keys, and when Xia Ruoming nodded thoughtfully, she directly pulled her into her car.

Xiao Qinghan took Xia Ruoming to a Southeast Asian restaurant, ordered seafood bacon rolls, curry chicken, and tom yum kung, then handed the menu to Xia Ruoming to order freely.

Xia Ruoming didn’t want to make Xiao Qinghan spend too much, so she just ordered small portions of spicy tuna, sweet and spicy shrimp, and Thai pineapple fried rice.

Then after thinking for a moment, she added four cans of beer.

“What’s this, when your teacher rarely treats you to a meal, you only order this little?” Xiao Qinghan raised her eyebrows slightly. She was quite surprised, someone who was so wild in class was actually quite reserved when eating out in private.

“Sister Qinghan has always taken such good care of me, how could I let Sister Qinghan spend too much? Don’t you agree?” As Xia Ruoming spoke, she unconsciously played with her hand, her newly trimmed nails looking quite nice. She had never liked keeping long nails or getting nail art done, feeling it was quite affected.

But this glance sent Xiao Qinghan’s mind wandering, eating pineapple, trimming nails, brushing teeth, tying hair.

Xia Ruoming seemed to have done everything except brushing teeth!

What was she planning to do?

Then when Xiao Qinghan’s eyes met with Xia Ruoming, she felt even more awkward.

“What are you saying, being so informal.” Xiao Qinghan directly tapped Xia Ruoming with her chopsticks to hide her embarrassment, then blamed herself in her heart, it’s just a meal, yet she’s thinking so much. The person sitting opposite is her student, she shouldn’t be thinking such strange things.

After the food was served, Xia Ruoming wasn’t shy at all, frequently reaching her chopsticks toward the dishes Xiao Qinghan had ordered.

She even took a spoonful of pineapple fried rice with her spoon and offered it to Xiao Qinghan.

“Teacher, the pineapple fried rice here is really delicious, would you like to try some?”

Xiao Qinghan really didn’t know whether to eat it or not. If she ate it, in her mind it would be like an indirect kiss with a student, she couldn’t get past that mental barrier. Moreover, eating pineapple had a certain unique implication… But if she didn’t eat it, wouldn’t that mean her own mind wasn’t pure enough, that she had ulterior thoughts? Isn’t it normal for a student to want their teacher to try something delicious during a meal together?

After an internal struggle, Xiao Qinghan resigned herself, closing her eyes and repeating in her mind “just a student, just a student,” then ate all the pineapple fried rice from the spoon.

“How is it, teacher? Not bad, right?”

“Mm, indeed.”

Finding that the tone was really just inquiring about the taste of the food, Xiao Qinghan actually felt a tiny bit disappointed.

They exchanged their various dishes while chatting about different topics.

Eating with this special student, Xiao Qinghan felt her mood improve considerably.

“Why did you want me to treat you to a meal? Can you be so casual talking to a teacher like this?” As they chatted, Xiao Qinghan asked the question she most wanted to ask.

“Sister Qinghan is so beautiful, all students would want Sister Qinghan to treat them to a meal, right? It’s just that I’m bolder and got ahead of the others. Besides, am I not allowed to like Sister Qinghan?” Xia Ruoming said unclearly with a shrimp tail in her mouth.

Xia Ruoming’s words made Xiao Qinghan’s heart flutter. She knew many students liked her, but Xia Ruoming was the first student to be so direct about it.

“Don’t be so informal, call me teacher! You can only say these things to me. If other teachers heard this, lecturing you from morning until school ends would be getting off lightly.” Xiao Qinghan could only pretend to be stern while scolding Xia Ruoming.

“Sister Qinghan is so beautiful, what’s wrong with liking Sister Qinghan? It’s precisely because it’s Sister Qinghan that I’m like this. Besides, who would say such things to those other teachers?”

Looking at the talkative Xia Ruoming, Xiao Qinghan fell into memories of the past.

She always ate at restaurants alone, no one would sit opposite her at the dining table. Her life path had all been arranged by her parents, enter the system, become a teacher, find someone of equal social status through arranged marriage before 30, have a child, live a peaceful and uneventful life. She even felt her youth had disappeared before she had the chance to experience it.

Her parents only cared whether she completed life according to their plan, never caring about her feelings.

If Xia Ruoming were the same age as her, if Xia Ruoming had met her instead of Xu Fengwu, would things be different?

In Xia Ruoming, she actually experienced for a moment the feeling of love she had never experienced before.