CoP 23

This weekend, Ji Ling received five short videos from Sui Cannong.

Ji Ling carefully categorized these videos and found that they were mostly funny and positive, with a good number of cute pet videos and occasionally some in-game prank videos.

Although he didn’t know why Sui Cannong liked these types of videos, Ji Ling would always watch them seriously and send his feedback to Sui Cannong.

Ji Ling was always a cautious person.

Whether at work or in life, he would always make a plan before doing anything, and only start when he was eighty percent sure.

But for some reason, whether it was sending flowers or this time swimming, Ji Ling felt that making plans didn’t seem to help much in pursuing Sui Cannong.

Halloween arrived quickly.

On the day of the festival, they had to finish three classes in the morning before they could start preparing for the market and activities in the afternoon. On such a holiday, students’ minds would be restless all day.

So Ji Ling didn’t start any new lessons. He showed the students a movie in the classroom, one he liked very much, “A Beautiful Mind.”

When the bell rang, Ji Ling headed to the gym.

The gym had been occupied by the art department for the past two days, and it was said to have been transformed into a spooky church. When Ji Ling arrived, he saw a sign on the door that read, “Occupied, only art department students can enter.”

Ji Ling stood at the door, hesitating whether to go in, when the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

Seeing Ji Ling, Cindy called out happily, “The bride is here!”

Ji Ling was taken aback, then he saw Sui Cannong standing behind the door.

Sui Cannong helplessly shrugged at Ji Ling.

The news that Sui Cannong and Ji Ling would play the groom and bride made Shirley and Cindy, the two young girls, the happiest.

Their roles were quite unique. They were students in the art department, also took Ji Ling’s physics class, and after school, they would spend an hour as diligent gardeners in Sui Cannong’s classroom.

So Lin assigned the makeup task to this pair of sisters.

“You two will start by hiding behind the curtain. The bride will come out first, mainly to float around and scare people, no need to make a sound, just create an eerie atmosphere,” Cindy instructed. “The groom’s task is a bit heavier, he needs to shout and chase people, which will be more tiring.”

Sui Cannong and Ji Ling fell silent for a moment.

“… When the piano music starts, the groom will take the bride’s hand, they will romantically spin around twice, and then slowly exit,” Shirley added.

Sui Cannong was confused: “Wait, what’s the point of this ghostly bride and groom? Why do they have to chase people and then suddenly stop?”

Shirley: “There’s no point, we just need to keep each round within seven minutes.”

Sui Cannong: “… Is there any logic between the chasing and the final hand-holding and spinning?”

Shirley said innocently, “When it’s haunted, do you need any logic?”

Sui Cannong thought about it and realized she had a point.

The groom’s suit had no clean fabric left. After Sui Cannong put it on and looked at himself in the mirror, he found that the blood effects were quite realistic.

Turning around, he saw Ji Ling also in the modified dress, his back turned, his head lowered, and a small patch of bare skin exposed.

The hem of the dress was sprayed with dark red paint, and Ji Ling was a bit hesitant to touch it. He carefully spread the hem and, when he looked up, saw Sui Cannong watching him.

Shirley and Cindy started applying makeup to them.

Ji Ling’s veil could cover part of his face, so a few splashes of blood on his face and the veil were enough.

However, the process for Sui Cannong was more complex. Cindy and Shirley drew several bloody gashes on his face and neck, and each time they drew a line, the two girls would exchange glances and giggle.

Sui Cannong gritted his teeth, “Teacher Ji, you can assign more physics homework in the future.”

Thomas, who was the ticket checker at the entrance of the haunted house this year, saw Sui Cannong’s face from a distance and let out an exaggerated scream.

With the lighting, music, and everything else ready, the first group of students entered the haunted house at 5:30 PM.

During the first round, the two of them were a bit hesitant, mainly because they felt the students were all their own, so they didn’t dare to go all out. Sui Cannong didn’t chase people too aggressively.

Coincidentally, the first group of students were all from Sui Cannong’s class.

This led to a situation where, when Sui Cannong jumped out, the students didn’t even run. They stood still with their flashlights, staring at Sui Cannong’s face for a while.

Then the students burst out laughing.

“Can you put more blood on my face?” After the first round, Sui Cannong said expressionlessly to Cindy, “As much as you can.”

So in the second round, Sui Cannong went all out.

He almost couldn’t control himself, but the effect was significant. The students screamed and ran out of the haunted house, and Sui Cannong wouldn’t let go of the arm he had grabbed.

Ji Ling couldn’t stand it anymore and walked over to Sui Cannong, hinting that the time was running over. Sui Cannong suddenly came to his senses.

They held hands and ran to the curtain, squatting down. They were both out of breath, but when their eyes met, they couldn’t help but laugh.

Sui Cannong said, “… Sorry, I got a bit too into it.”

Ji Ling shook his head and said, “You did a great job.”

The simulated candlelight flickered ambiguously, and the two of them were very close at that moment. Sui Cannong realized, belatedly, that they were still holding hands.

After letting go, the air became subtly quiet again.

Ji Ling hesitated and said, “Teacher Sui, the paint on your face seems to have gotten on your lips.”

Sui Cannong exclaimed, “Ah,” and reached up to wipe it, but Ji Ling said, “Wait, your hands are dirty too.”

Sui Cannong saw Ji Ling lower his head and take off the veil.

Ji Ling unfolded the veil, found a clean piece of fabric, and then lifted his hand to wipe the paint from Sui Cannong’s lips.

When he looked up again, he found Sui Cannong staring at him. Ji Ling was taken aback and said calmly, “It’s clean now.”

Sui Cannong nodded and said, “Thanks.”

The lights suddenly dimmed, signaling that the next group of visitors was about to enter.

In the darkness, Ji Ling heard Sui Cannong’s voice with a hint of amusement, “But to be honest, scaring people is more fun than being scared.”

Ji Ling hummed and said after a while, “Yeah, being a ghost seems pretty good too.”

Sui Cannong suddenly fell silent.

In the darkness, they could faintly hear Thomas’s loud voice outside, probably starting the next round of ticket checks.

Ji Ling didn’t think much about it. He lowered his head to adjust the hem of his dress, making it easier to run faster, when Sui Cannong suddenly asked, “What’s good about being a ghost?”

Ji Ling was taken aback because he had just said that to agree with Sui Cannong.

Ji Ling realized that Sui Cannong liked to seize on small details in others’ words.

“Being a ghost… maybe there are fewer constraints,” Ji Ling thought for a moment and said. “When people are alive, they have many things to worry about and consider.”

“So, whether alive or dead, there are different kinds of beauty,” Ji Ling said.

Ji Ling felt he had given a profound answer.

But Sui Cannong didn’t say anything more. The lights were dim, and Ji Ling couldn’t see his expression.

The door was opened by the students, and Ji Ling didn’t think much more, re-entering his role.

The market would be open for four hours, and although the haunted house was only open for two, they were both exhausted after receiving several groups of students.

After the haunted house ended, they changed clothes, washed their faces, and then went to the Halloween market on the playground.

It was already dark, and many tents were set up on the playground. The main colors of the market were orange and black, and each stall had beautiful string lights, creating a lively and pleasant atmosphere.

Out of guilt, Ji Ling still went to Lin’s pumpkin lantern stall.

The pumpkins were of different sizes, carved with various ghost faces, with the insides hollowed out and a small candle placed inside.

Ji Ling hesitated for a moment and finally bought a small, fierce-looking pumpkin.

He held the pumpkin lantern and walked to Sui Cannong, saying, “Here, Teacher Sui.”

Sui Cannong was buying candy at a nearby stall. He saw the small pumpkin lantern in Ji Ling’s hand and chuckled, saying, “Perfect, let’s trade, Teacher Ji.”

Sui Cannong stuffed a handful of eyeball candies into Ji Ling’s hand.

These candies were shaped like human eyeballs, with a gummy exterior and a concentrated fruit syrup center that burst in your mouth.

Sui Cannong had tried them last year and remembered almost being酸到头掉.

Ji Ling slowly peeled off the wrapper and swallowed an eyeball. He then lowered his head and chewed expressionlessly for a while.

After a while, Ji Ling looked up and said seriously to Sui Cannong, “It’s good.”

Sui Cannong: “… Impressive.”

The moment the candy burst, it was very sour, but the aftertaste was sweet. Ji Ling felt the aroma of lemon syrup spreading in his chest, and he liked it.

Maybe because he was a bit hungry, Ji Ling ate three in a row, and Sui Cannong watched in amazement.

Perhaps because the light from the string lights was warm, Ji Ling’s cheeks looked slightly flushed, his eyelashes bathed in the warm orange light, giving him a soft, serene beauty.

Sui Cannong heard Ji Ling ask, “Teacher Sui, can we take a photo together?”

Ji Ling took out his phone and lifted his face, “No particular reason, just that I’m very happy today. I’ve never had such a good Halloween before, so I want to commemorate it.”

Ji Ling saw Sui Cannong hesitate for a moment and then nod.

Sui Cannong took the phone, opened the camera, and took a photo of them together.

Ji Ling took back the phone, carefully saved the photo, and smiled slightly. When he looked up again, he found Sui Cannong still staring at his face.

Ji Ling was taken aback, thinking there might still be some paint on his face, so he lowered his head to wipe it, but then he heard Sui Cannong call his name again.

Sui Cannong asked, “Can you eat one more candy?”

It was a somewhat strange request, but Ji Ling nodded, peeled another candy, and put it in his mouth.

Then Ji Ling heard Sui Cannong say, “Teacher Ji, there’s something I want to tell you.”

Ji Ling was taken aback, put down the candy wrapper, and nodded as the sourness slowly spread in his mouth.

“Ji Ling,” Sui Cannong said, “That day you told me that for your future partner, it doesn’t matter if they are male or female, as long as they are passionate, kind, and share your values, right?”

Ji Ling looked at Sui Cannong and nodded blankly.

Sui Cannong hummed.

“Actually, from the day we met at the café, I found myself… always wanting to secretly observe you,” Sui Cannong said. “In my eyes, you are very special, and being with you makes my heart calm.”

“You are a very good, very excellent person. I realized that I always want to know more about you,” he said, “not just as a colleague.”

“I’ve never been in a relationship before,” Sui Cannong scratched his head, looking a bit troubled. “I don’t have any particularly outstanding qualities, but if I have to say… maybe I’m quite warm-hearted, and I have a bit of a talent for gardening.”

“Sometimes I get a bit angry when I get stuck in a game or when a student keeps making the same mistake, but I think I have a pretty good temper.”

Sui Cannong said frankly, “So I will respect all your choices, and you don’t need to have any concerns.”

Ji Ling slowly blinked.

Sui Cannong said, “I know this might be sudden, and Halloween might not be the most appropriate holiday.”

“But the atmosphere seems nice right now,” he smiled. “And you have a candy in your mouth, so even if you want to say no, you’ll have to wait five seconds to say it.”

The lights on the market stalls flickered, and the laughter of the students behind them came and went. They stood in the crowd, looking at each other, and time seemed to stop.

“Ji Ling,” Sui Cannong asked, “Would you like to give it a try with me?”