DCTMOAS Chapter 18

Dctmoas:
Talking with Yu Siting was far more pleasant than Chu Cheng had imagined.

Maybe it was because his thinking was also youthful and modern, yet he knew how to seek common ground while respecting differences, making their conversation particularly enjoyable.

From everything that happened today, it wasn’t hard for Chu Cheng to see that in real life, Mr. Yu wasn’t a rigid person. He was open-minded, free-spirited, and even carried a trace of untamed wildness.

If they hadn’t met through work, perhaps they would have gotten along even better.

By the time they finished the small pot of fish soup, the owner, who had gone out to watch the commotion, still hadn’t returned. Meanwhile, a few other cycling enthusiasts had come in.

One of the newcomers seemed to be a regular—he casually opened the fridge and grabbed a can of beer, and as he passed their table, he glanced over with curiosity.

“What new dish is old Zhao experimenting with now? Smells pretty good.”

Chu Cheng replied kindly, “It’s soup he made. Tastes great.”

“Fish soup, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.”

After getting a confirmed answer, the fellow traveler tilted his head back and took a big gulp of beer, then began counting on his fingers with the air of someone who knew it all. “Man, this guy only has two hobbies—cycling and fishing. Don’t be fooled by the fact that he runs a restaurant. He can’t actually cook that many dishes.”

Chu Cheng was a little curious. “Then his shop…”

“He’s not relying on it to make a living,” the guy replied casually. Maybe he was tired from cycling and wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He pulled over a chair and sat down as if they were already familiar, launching into gossip about the owner.

“I heard that Old Zhao used to be an automotive engineer. Worked for ten years, never bought a car or a house, saved up a decent sum, then quit to set up this little courtyard and semi-retire early. He’s also a cycling enthusiast, likes to travel all over the place, and when he’s free, he just offers this place as a rest stop for other riders.”

It really did sound like a kind of contented and self-sufficient life.

After hearing all that, Chu Cheng fell into thought. “Engineers probably earn a pretty high salary.”

Someone like him, just a low-ranking teacher… wouldn’t he have to save up his whole life?

The fellow traveler clicked his tongue. “Yeah, but it’s exhausting. Takes a lot out of you. Old Zhao only made the decision after he ended up in the hospital from pushing his body too far. If that hadn’t happened, he probably wouldn’t have made up his mind either.”

Across from him, Yu Siting seemed to pick up on Chu Cheng’s “from others to myself” line of thinking and suddenly said, “Work hard on getting promoted—it’ll help your retirement benefits.”

“Mhm~” Chu Cheng nodded in agreement, then a few seconds later suddenly reacted and looked at Yu Siting in surprise. “Mhm?”

Why did it feel like that was… aimed at me?

The other man just smiled, his expression relaxed, not pursuing the topic further. So neither of them said anything more, instead listening to the other guy ramble on.

Most encounters on the cycling road are fleeting. Outside, the sound of rain had gradually stopped. After chatting and resting for a while longer, the three parted ways and continued on their respective journeys.

The clear mountain rain deepened the colors of everything it touched. The moist air was incredibly fresh, carrying the earthy fragrance unique to post-rainfall, blended with the scent of camphor trees and other unknown species in the mountain—it was soothing and refreshing.

Chu Cheng stood in the courtyard, taking a deep breath, eyes closed as he embraced the crisp autumn breeze, and couldn’t help but sigh, “This is so nice… I feel like I’ve gotten a few years younger.”

“Getting out now and then is good,” Yu Siting said as he wiped the rainwater off his bike seat, his tone steady. “But it doesn’t actually make you younger.”

“You’re just naturally young.”

“That was just a figure of speech,” Chu Cheng grinned, catching up with him. “Math teachers really are precise.”

The rain-slicked ground was still slippery. For safety’s sake, the two of them pushed their bikes slowly along the slightly uneven path. Walking side by side like this gave them more time to talk.

Looking at the upright figure ahead, clearly familiar with the mountain roads, Chu Cheng asked, “Mr. Yu, do you travel a lot?”

“Only when I have time,” Yu Siting replied simply.

“That makes sense. You do have the kind of look that says you’ve seen all the famous mountains and rivers.” Having spent a lot of time around his big brother, Chu Cheng had picked up quite a bit of his verbal sass. “But my life’s pretty plain and dull. So it’s not surprising that I’d be genuinely awed by these ordinary sights—I haven’t seen much.”

Yu Siting picked up on the teasing undertone and didn’t take it seriously. “You don’t seem like the kind of person you’re describing.”

“You wouldn’t know. Back in school, my roommates were extreme homebodies. They either buried themselves in literary research or were glued to online games. Whatever they played, they were always capped out by the game’s ranking system—there were never ranks they couldn’t reach, only ones that hadn’t been released yet.”

Yu Siting glanced sideways at him. “So… you were the one they pulled into it?”

“Mhm. To be honest, we had similar interests…” Chu Cheng said with a bright smile, then added honestly, “But you probably wouldn’t be interested in hearing all this.”

Although that was the case, Yu Siting had been listening patiently the whole time.

The phoenix trees and red maples had been battered by the rain, their leaves scattered on the ground, dressing the valley in a stunning new garment. After walking for a while, the path leveled out, so the two of them got back on their bikes and started heading back the way they came.

When they returned to the entrance of the valley where they had parked, Yu Siting took off his cycling gloves and began disassembling the bike wheels again, putting everything back into the trunk. Worried that Old Zhao’s soup wouldn’t keep Chu Cheng full for long, he took out some snacks from the car and placed them on the front seat.

“Mr. Yu, if you’re feeling tired, I can take over driving on the way back,” Chu Cheng said as he got into the passenger seat. He paused while fastening his seatbelt, then turned to glance at Yu Siting. “I can’t afford a car, but I do have a license.”

“No need,” Yu Siting replied casually, eyes still on the electronic screen he was adjusting. “If you’re really worried about the dangers of me driving tired, you can just talk to me along the way as a form of supervision.”

Seeing that Yu Siting didn’t show any visible signs of fatigue, Chu Cheng grinned and said, “Alright, I’ll do some random checks.”

“Buckle up. Let’s go.”

Yu Siting turned the steering wheel and backed out of the mountain road, driving as steadily as he had on the way in.

The road was already seldom traveled, and now that evening had fallen, it was even more deserted—so quiet they rarely saw another vehicle. They could leave the high beams on at will.

Yu Siting kept his eyes fixed on the stretch of pale road lit ahead, focused on driving. After a while, he suddenly noticed the silence beside him and glanced over.

The one who had just declared he would supervise the whole way was now wrapped in his jacket again, just like earlier, sleeping soundly. His clear, handsome jawline gently swayed with the movement of the car, completely unaware.

Yu Siting was left truly speechless. He casually rolled up the window on the passenger side to prevent the cold night wind from making Chu Cheng catch a cold.

Chu Cheng had indeed been tired—he slept not only deeply, but for quite a while. By the time he opened his eyes, the car had already entered Tingzhou.

“You’re awake again?” Yu Siting’s tone wasn’t much different from that morning, though he added, “Satisfied with the result of your supervision?”

Chu Cheng, still not fully awake, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t go back to sleep. Get yourself together—we’re almost there,” Yu Siting said as they drove near Yuncheng Garden.

“Thanks for the invitation, Mr. Yu. Don’t forget to tally up the expenses later,” Chu Cheng said as he put on his coat, grabbed his backpack, and got out in front of the residential area.

Beep—

Just a few steps away, a sudden honk came from behind.

Chu Cheng turned back, puzzled.

Yu Siting lowered the car window and handed over the tube of ointment from earlier in the day. “Seems like it worked—you didn’t scratch at all during the drive. You should take the rest with you.”

“Thanks.” Chu Cheng took it with a smile and bent slightly to wave at him from the window. “Enjoy your holiday.”

Yu Siting nodded. “Mm.”

Only then did Chu Cheng turn and head inside.

When he got home, Zhou Jin’s bedroom door was closed—he was probably already asleep. Chu Cheng washed up quietly and returned to his own room.

He pulled out his phone, which he hadn’t touched all day, from his backpack and saw a missed voice call from Xu Chuan. As he tidied up his bed, he tapped to call him back.

“Whoa, the missing person has returned. I was just about to file a report after 24 hours,” came the familiar voice on the other end of the line.

“It’s just a couple of missed calls. No need to exaggerate,” Chu Cheng said, putting the call on speaker as he busied himself.

Xu Chuan joked, “Dude, it’s been a whole day—from morning to night. Every time I called, it said the network was bad and then it’d hang up. I thought you got kidnapped and taken to some remote mountain village.”

Chu Cheng snorted, “Well, I was in a mountain village, but I went willingly.”

“Oho, off running around during the holidays instead of chilling at home. Made some new friends, huh?” After seven years of being classmates, Xu Chuan knew Chu Cheng pretty well.

Although this guy usually acted a bit lazy, he was someone who could easily blend into any atmosphere. As long as he clicked with someone, everything else would just fall into place.

“New friends? Not quite,” Chu Cheng mused, Xu Chuan’s words prompting him to reflect. “It’s more like I suddenly realized that a colleague I already knew wasn’t actually that bad to be around.”

“That’s how people get to know each other, isn’t it?” Xu Chuan didn’t think much of it. “Like when I first met you and our dorm head, I thought you were two cheerful, sunny guys.”

“What did you say?” Chu Cheng instantly pushed back and took the chance to compliment himself. “I don’t know about the dorm head being some deep, dark weirdo, but you can always count on the guy in the bunk opposite you—me—to be gentle, optimistic, and full of positive energy.”

Someone who didn’t know him well might easily be fooled by his innocent, high-school-boy looks, but on the other end of the line, Xu Chuan didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

“You think the ten thousand poor souls you sacrificed in the arena because of your new job stress can hear that?”

Chu Cheng, still feeling relaxed from his outdoor trip, was clearly in a good mood. He boldly set up a flag: “Maybe starting today, I’ll be a mature Chinese teacher who knows how to manage his own emotions.”

Xu Chuan let out a laugh, ambiguous and skeptical.

Chu Cheng didn’t bother with him. Stretching his limbs, he said, “Alright, I’ve been worn out by the mountains all day. Gonna sleep early and stop wasting words with you.”

“Mm.” On the other end, Xu Chuan had probably just started a new game match and gave a half-hearted reply.

Chu Cheng knew all about Dr. Xu’s schedule. He was always busy, only having time to feed his gaming addiction late at night. So he let it go and ended the call first.

After having slept for quite a while in the car, Chu Cheng wasn’t mentally sleepy anymore—just physically tired. He lay on his side in bed scrolling through his phone to catch up on the messages he’d missed.

Sure enough, there was a new academic announcement in the school’s year group work chat.

[The monthly exam results have been compiled. Both teachers and students can log into the Campus Manager app to check. After the holiday, homeroom and subject teachers should review and prepare for the parent-teacher conference. Lastly, we wish all teachers a happy National Day holiday!]

That was fast. Looks like some teachers really were working overtime.

Chu Cheng switched screens to open the mini program and tapped on the “Teacher Portal” to access the grade inquiry function.

A line of small text appeared on the system: Welcome, Teacher Chu Cheng! You can now view the average scores for your class [Grade 11, Class 7].

After clicking the “Confirm Inquiry” button, the screen flickered.

Grade 11, Class 7 – Subject Average Scores & Rankings:

[Chinese] Ranking: 9

[Math] Ranking: 1

[English] Ranking: 1

[Physics] Ranking: 1

[Geography/Biology/Chemistry/Politics] Composite Ranking: 1

?

Chu Cheng froze.

This wasn’t just a performance warning—this was an outright power move!

The Chinese exam was obviously super easy, and the students all looked so confident. The math paper, on the other hand, was like a battlefield—students scratching their heads and pulling their hair out.

And yet this is what I get?!

With results like this, they were still going to hold a post-holiday class teacher debriefing. You think Yu Siting is going to let me off the hook?!

Staring at just a few short lines of data, Chu Cheng locked his eyes on the screen for five seconds, a surge of nameless heat rising in his chest—he felt like he might cough up blood any moment now.

He immediately abandoned the “peace & love” mindset he’d just promised Xu Chuan on the phone, shot up from the bed, and began frantically digging through a month’s worth of lesson prep and feedback reports.

If he couldn’t find the cause and a solution before school started, then the next anonymous letter he submitted to his big boss would absolutely be a resignation letter!

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Author’s note:

Big bro, fresh out of the shower and getting ready for bed (glancing at the results briefly):
“Math still needs work, English needs memorization, Physics needs reinforcement, Geo and Chem need more focus… Huh? Chinese actually improved.”

(Because every other subject has always ranked first, so no one noticed—meanwhile Chinese used to be ranked 10th.jpg)