Two lonely, gentle people comforted each other, sitting together on a stormy night.
Rain battered the windows like a disorderly drumbeat. Inside and outside the little house felt like two different worlds.
The storm raged, venting its discontent and fury. Inside, all was quiet. The clock ticked, and steam rose from the black tea on the dining table.
"I'm supposed to be the one comforting you, but whenever I bring those things up, I can't quite control myself. Every time, I think I've gotten used to it, but really, I'm just fooling myself."
Zhang Ya was an adult, after all, and she quickly composed herself. Chen Ge immediately withdrew his hand, too. He was good at knowing where to draw the line and keeping a comfortable distance between them, so they could be at ease together—not too distant, but not too close, either.
"Looks like this rain won't stop tonight." Zhang Ya got up to check the windows, then drew the curtains and sat down at the other end of the sofa. "I've told you what happened to your teacher. Starting today, I won't run away from it anymore. You need to take a step forward, too."
As she spoke, she took out her phone. "Call your father. He must be worried about you. I'd also like to have a proper talk with him. A teacher can't let what happened to her happen again to her students. If there's a problem, I'll do my best to help you solve it."
Zhang Ya had been the target of rumors and ostracism at school, and had been the subject of everyone's gossip. She had endured all of it and knew how painful it was, so she took especially good care of her students.
The scars engraved on her had made Zhang Ya