Chapter 40: Husband Asks for Comfort
After the third class ended, Yang Zhongwei didn’t ask the students to hand in their papers. “Go to the restroom if you need to. Next period, we’ll go over the answers directly.”
Wen Xia had been wanting to go to the restroom for a while. Her period had started, and she rummaged through her bag for a sanitary pad. After searching for a long time, she suddenly remembered that she had left the pads on her bed this morning and had forgotten to put them in her bag.
She looked at Qin Mo, her voice pitiful and soft. “Husband, I forgot to bring any pads. Did it leak?”
Qin Mo gestured for her to stand up. After she stood, he glanced at her and, seeing no red stains, shook his head. “Go to the restroom first. I’ll buy some and bring them to you.”
At that time, the mall restrooms were still unisex public facilities.
After Wen Xia left the classroom, Qin Mo headed to the mall’s small supermarket. He scanned the rows of sanitary pads and picked the brand Wen Xia usually used the most.
At the checkout, the cashier, a young woman, glanced at him several times before awkwardly lowering her head to complete the transaction, her ears turning red.
After paying, Qin Mo walked to the restroom. “Xia Xia,” he called.
The door of the innermost stall knocked twice. Qin Mo walked over and slid the pad under the door from below.
As he straightened up, he found himself face-to-face with Zhou Xu, the homeroom teacher’s son.
Qin Mo: “…”
Zhou Xu, still in shock, had just witnessed the top student loitering near the restroom. His face turned bright red.
“I-I-I didn’t see anything!” Zhou Xu stammered before running off without even using the restroom.
Qin Mo: “…”
I want to ask, what did you think you saw?
Turning his head, he looked at Wen Xia, who had just walked out of the stall. “Wife, I need comfort.”
Wen Xia: “…”
…
Fourth Period
“Exchange your papers with your deskmate for grading,” Yang Zhongwei instructed. After confirming that everyone had swapped, he began announcing the answers.
Wen Xia looked at Qin Mo’s perfect score paper with jealousy, then glanced at her own, which had an 86—bonus points from the last question included.
Feeling a bit discouraged, Wen Xia focused intently on listening to the teacher explain the solutions to the test questions.
When the teacher got to Question 9, Yang Zhongwei noticed that some students in the classroom seemed distracted. Deciding to get their attention back, he announced, “I’ll pick a student to explain why the answer to this question is 7.”
He scanned the room and his gaze landed on the boy and girl sitting in the last row. The boy was resting his chin on his hand, openly watching the girl beside him, while the girl was diligently copying the solution from the blackboard.
With years of teaching experience, Yang Zhongwei thought to himself, Hmm, must be a crush.
“The girl in the black sweater in the last row, stand up and answer the question.”
Caught off guard, Wen Xia instinctively glanced at Qin Mo before picking up her test paper and answering, “x and y must satisfy the constraint conditions, x + y ≤ 1…”
“Very good, sit down. Everyone, focus your attention on the teacher,” Yang Zhongwei said, making a point of glancing at Qin Mo before continuing to explain the question.
…
When lunchtime came, Wen Xia and Qin Mo left the classroom together. The tutoring center was adjacent to another cram school, and both dismissed students at the same time. The hallway was crowded and chaotic.
The boys around Wen Xia were eager to head to the internet café.
“We’ve got an hour—enough time for two games!”
“Damn, why’s it so crowded?”
“Move aside!”
In the chaos, Wen Xia was accidentally shoved by one of the boys and stumbled into Qin Mo. Her forehead bumped hard against his shoulder, making her tear up from the pain.
Qin Mo immediately steadied her, noticing the redness on her forehead. He cast a sharp look at the boy in the red jacket who had pushed her.
The boy, oblivious to what he had done, continued shouting, “Move aside, move aside!”
Qin Mo pulled Wen Xia to his other side to shield her before grabbing the red-jacketed boy’s arm. “Apologize.”
The boy froze for a moment at Qin Mo’s sudden action but quickly regained his composure and spat back angrily, “Apologize my ass!”
The commotion caused the crowded hallway to come to a standstill as everyone stopped to watch the unfolding drama.
The boy had several friends standing nearby. Worried that Qin Mo might get hurt, Wen Xia tugged on his arm. “Qin Mo, let it go.”
“Apologize,” Qin Mo repeated, his face cold as he stared at the boy.
Those who knew him understood: Qin Mo was angry.
He rarely got upset, but when he did, someone always paid the price.
Teenage boys are often impulsive and hot-blooded. The boy, feeling humiliated at being grabbed, yanked Qin Mo by the collar and spat, “Apologize to your damn mom!”
Qin Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly. Turning to Wen Xia, he said calmly, “Step aside.”
Then, tightening his grip on the boy’s wrist, he applied pressure, forcing the boy to let go with a pained gasp.
Before the boy could react, Qin Mo shoved him out of the crowd and into the wall with a dull thud. The boy groaned, winded.
Using his elbow to pin the boy by the throat, Qin Mo raised his eyes lazily. “Apologize.”
The boy’s friends looked ready to step in, but before they could act, teachers from both institutions came running, having heard the commotion.
A teacher in a white shirt shouted, “What’s going on? Let him go!”
The teachers moved to separate them, and Qin Mo released the boy. However, his voice remained icy as he warned, “If you don’t apologize, you’re not leaving here today.”
The boy, now held back by the teachers, was still fuming and hurled a string of profanities at Qin Mo. “Apologize to your damn mom, you piece of trash, you bastard!”
Even Wen Xia, who always tried to stay composed and respectful, couldn’t hold back her anger. Without thinking, she threw the bottle of water she had been holding at the boy. “What’s so great about you? I didn’t want to argue with you, but do you really think you’re untouchable?”
“One insult after another—does your mom know how foul your mouth is? Does she even know what kind of person you are?”
In the end, all three of them were escorted to the Pearson’s office, where they waited for their parents to come and mediate the situation.
Wen Xia hesitated to call her dad, Wen De, knowing he had mentioned he’d be out of town for work that afternoon. Instead, Qin Mo made the call to his father, Qin Ande.
Qin Ande arrived quickly, showing up within about ten minutes.
He glanced at Qin Mo and Wen Xia before addressing the teacher. “Hello, I’m the guardian for both Qin Mo and Wen Xia.”
“Hello,” the teacher replied warmly, inviting him to sit down. She briefly explained the situation, concluding, “That’s what happened. We’d like to have both sets of parents here to resolve this.”
Turning to the middle-aged woman with short, curled hair and light makeup, the teacher continued, “Wang Jun’s mother, this is Qin Mo and Wen Xia’s father. Please discuss this between yourselves.”
Qin Ande, aware he had other matters to attend to that afternoon, spoke up first. “I’ve heard the situation. Let’s resolve this with an apology.”
“What do you mean, an apology? Do you think that’s enough? Your daughter threw a water bottle at my son, and his shoulder is bruised!” Wang Jun’s mother glared angrily, refusing to back down.
“I believe you’ve misunderstood,” Qin Ande responded calmly. “Your son pushed someone first. It’s your son who owes an apology.”
He frowned slightly but didn’t give her a chance to argue further before continuing, “You apologize, and we’ll cover the medical costs.”
Having the situation framed so clearly, Wang Jun’s mother couldn’t push back too much in front of the teacher. She reluctantly instructed Wang Jun to apologize.
After the apology, Qin Ande paid 300 yuan for medical expenses and took the two kids out of the office.
Once they were some distance away from the Pearson Center, Qin Ande looked at Wen Xia, his tone gentle. “Xia Xia, are you hurt anywhere? If you are, Uncle will take you to get checked out.”
Wen Xia felt a pang of guilt. “Uncle Qin, I’m fine. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
Remembering something, she reached into her bag, pulled out 300 yuan, and handed it to him with an apologetic look. “Thank you, Uncle Qin.”
Qin Ande chuckled softly, glancing at Qin Mo before looking back at Wen Xia with an even warmer expression. “Keep it for yourself. If you need anything, just ask Qin Mo. And if there’s ever a problem, don’t hesitate to call Uncle.”
