Deng Hanyu's expression froze the instant he saw Teacher Shang. He instinctively twisted away, trying to bury his face like an ostrich unwilling to accept what he had seen, but neither of the two people outside the door was paying him any attention.
The two stood silently for a long time, seemingly trying to digest what they had heard. Finally, as they raised their eyes and met each other's gaze, they spoke at the same time:
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
The two apologies rang out together.
At the sound of that apology, tears spilled from Xie Zhi's eyes like water through a broken dam. As though she had never expected to lose control like this, she frantically reached up to wipe them away, only to find that no matter how much she wiped, they kept coming.
In that moment, Li Xian suddenly understood. The final straw that had crushed Xie Zhi had not been hatred.
It had been guilt.
"I... I..."
There was so much Xie Zhi wanted to say that the words caught in her throat, leaving her unsure where to begin.
Xu Loubai took a packet of tissues from her pocket and offered it to Xie Zhi with some trepidation.
Xie Zhi accepted it, but did not immediately wipe her tears. Instead, she silently clenched the packet in her hand for a couple of seconds before drawing out a tissue with trembling fingers. As she pressed it to the corner of her eye, broken sobs escaped her throat.
This time, her sobs no longer held the anguish and bitterness of before. They carried the relief of a long-standing knot in her heart finally coming undone.
Teacher Shang tilted his head back and sniffed twice. When he lowered it again, there were no tears on his face, but his