Chapter 25: Exclusive on Jinjiang  2/2

Song Fuzhi sat by the window, drinking coffee, and asked Shi Zhang what dishes he wanted for dinner.

Shi Zhang mentioned a few home-cooked dishes and asked, “Are you bored at home?”

Song Fuzhi felt a bit guilty but replied truthfully, “Not bored, quite fulfilling.”

That night, when they went to bed, Song Fuzhi still had some lingering concerns, worried that he hadn’t cleaned up properly.

But as usual, Shi Zhang sat by the bed, took off his glasses, turned off the lights, and fell asleep. His movements were steady, and there were no wrinkles on his long pajamas. He lay down beside Song Fuzhi in an orderly manner, allowing his somewhat anxious heart to settle.

Song Fuzhi had been alone at home for a long time, so he fell asleep particularly quickly and soon entered the dreamland.

In the quiet bedroom, just before Song Fuzhi fell asleep, he vaguely thought, “Mutual respect” and “raising the case to meet the eyebrows” were the best descriptions of his married life with Shi Zhang.

Although it was plain, it was probably lacking in passion in the eyes of young people, but Song Fuzhi actually enjoyed this kind of steady daily life. The other party would not excessively invade his space.

–

However, this calm and leisurely summer vacation life did not last long, and Song Fuzhi was about to return to school.

Seeing Song Fuzhi flipping through textbooks at the desk at eleven o’clock in the evening, Shi Zhang asked, “Is school starting?”

“Yeah.” Song Fuzhi tapped the pen holder. “I plan to prepare the lesson plans in advance. There are still a lot of meetings to attend before school starts.”

“Is college starting too?”

“It should be a bit later than high school.” Shi Zhang pulled up a schedule from the computer. “This is my new class schedule.”

Song Fuzhi took a photo and told him, “Our schedule hasn’t been finalized yet. I’ll send you one when it’s done.”

After getting married, their work schedules were merged. Originally, there was only one color marking on the calendar, and now there is another.

When Song Fuzhi earnestly looked at Professor Shi’s schedule, Shi Zhang, on the side, glanced lightly at the bottom drawer of Song Fuzhi’s bookcase.

A small lock was added to it.

The lock had been there since last week, and Shi Zhang had keenly noticed it that night.

But he didn’t ask.

No need to ask; it was impolite.

Being able to marry Song Fuzhi, live together, and sleep on the same bed was something Shi Zhang never dared to imagine before.

Professor Song usually looked cold and mature, but when he slept, he was quite unrestrained and liked to turn over, and his legs would drape around randomly.

Perhaps because he had a cool temperament, he would subconsciously approach the heat source when he slept, and his breath often brushed against Shi Zhang’s ears.

In the first few days, Shi Zhang could hardly sleep through the night, stuck in the shallow sleep like a slow-cooked fire, nerves repeatedly tugging at the border between impulse and restraint.

In the late night, when he couldn’t bear it, Shi Zhang thought about sleeping in the guest room alone and returning to bed at dawn. However, after hesitating for a long time, he still couldn’t bear to do it.

His lover was sleeping beside him; how could he bear to sleep in the next room?

Every morning, Shi Zhang would get up very early to avoid potentially awkward situations and go to school early. If time allowed, he could take a short nap in the office.

 Every night in the quietness, he knew too well what he most wanted to do but also knew too well that he couldn’t do it.

Even if it was just an unnoticed, stolen kiss, Shi Zhang was not willing to take advantage of the situation.

Because it was evident that Song Fuzhi hadn’t reached that level of intimacy with him. He even put a lock on his own drawer.

Shi Zhang, on a rational level, didn’t mind. He understood that every adult had things they didn’t want others to pry into, including himself.

But the desire to explore the person he cared about was hard to extinguish, and Shi Zhang felt tormented.

The lock on Song Fuzhi’s drawer was like a straightforward signal: “I haven’t decided to share everything with you without reservation. I need some independent space.”

Shi Zhang could only sleep next to him with even more restraint, being a stable and responsible husband.

–

Teachers returned to school earlier than students, all in a state resembling late-stage holiday syndrome, staring blankly while the leaders spoke, forcing themselves not to doze off.

After a while, students officially returned to school, and the once quiet campus became lively again—people moving things, cleaning seats, loudly chatting after a long separation, hiding below, copying summer homework frantically—chaos everywhere.

Song Fuzhi entered the classroom half an hour early, standing tall at the door and observing the situation below.

He started calling names directly, calling out five or six people. Song Fuzhi knocked on the table and said, “Stop copying, put down your pens, and give me your homework directly.”

The chaotic class fell into complete silence in an instant. Song Fuzhi walked around the class, collecting the notebooks of those who were copying homework.

“It’s okay if you can’t finish the homework. It’s okay if you don’t know how to do it. But copying someone else’s answers is not allowed.”

With a bang, the stack of homework in Song Fuzhi’s hands hit the podium, startling everyone in the class.

After saying this, Song Fuzhi left. He only stayed in the class for five minutes, but the impact lasted the entire morning of self-study; no one dared to speak loudly.

Fan Tong lamented, “Oh my god, Teacher Song scared me. He’s already taking action before the school even starts.”

His deskmate, who had just been gloriously handed in homework, still held a pen in his hand, now lifeless. “I’m dead.”

Cheating and plagiarism were absolutely not allowed in Song Fuzhi’s class; it was a strict red line. Knowledge could be lacking, but behavior had to be honest.

The students caught cheating were called out by Song Fuzhi during break, and when they returned, each had a serious expression.

During the class meeting, Song Fuzhi announced the activity for the new semester—the “First Class of the Semester”—a visit to a prestigious university.

This was an activity the school planned to start this year, taking high school sophomores to visit prestigious universities. The aim was to show them what excellent university life was like, inspire their fighting spirit, and encourage them to set goals.

Due to the imposing presence of Teacher Song, no one cheered loudly, but the children were all happy.

This university was one of China’s famous “most beautiful campuses,” and the visit was expected to be similar to an autumn outing.

When the grade-level team discussed the activity, Song Fuzhi realized that this was the university where Shi Zhang worked.

But Song Fuzhi didn’t tell Professor Shi in advance because their high school mainly coordinated with the admissions office and administration, not with the professors teaching the classes.

Professor Shi was probably very busy, staying in the non-public laboratory and rarely crossing paths on the vast campus.

Let’s not disturb him.