Chapter 92: Life is hard to get drunk once (02)

  Yesterday evening, Chen Haonan invited his good brother Li Donglin to come and help him move his luggage this afternoon. At this moment, Li Donglin arrived as promised and happened to bump into Chen Haonan on the road. So, the two of them walked into the dormitory building chatting and laughing all the way.

  But just as he was about to leave the dormitory with his luggage, Chen Haonan suddenly exclaimed: "Oh no, it's bad!" Because he suddenly remembered something very important: early this morning, Xiao Nie teacher had "notified" him that after finishing the exam in the afternoon, he should go to her place for a visit, saying there was something very important to tell him. However, looking at his pile of luggage and then at Li Donglin, Chen Haonan became worried.

  "It's okay, Haonan, you go ahead - I can just take this luggage to my place for now...” Li Donglin suddenly sensed Chen Haonan's predicament. He knew his old friend had a very good relationship with that little Nie teacher, maybe there was something important going on!

  "Uh, uh..." Chen Haonan muttered to himself, feeling quite embarrassed. He had moved his books and other things to Li Donglin's house the night before, and now all that was left was a quilt to carry. Although the quilt wasn't very heavy, he still felt uneasy about letting Li Donglin carry it back by himself.

  "Stop being such a nag," Li Donglin pushed Chen Haonan and hastily said, "You hurry up and go, don't keep your teacher waiting - I've got this under control here! After you're done, come to my place right away, I'll be waiting for you!"

  "Alright, I'll go first then - you be careful, don't strain your back......" Chen Haonan grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the dormitory...

  The school assigned a one-bedroom apartment to Xiaoni teacher on the ground floor of the new teacher dormitory. Although the conditions were not very good, for a new teacher, this was already a very good condition. Xiaoni teacher also affectionately called her little world "Yaxinzhai", meaning "a place of leisure and happiness". This seems to have a bit of the flavor of Mr. Liang Shiqiu, a master of prose, calling his humble abode "Yashu".

  Chen Haonan has been to "Yaxinzhai" many times, sometimes alone to find Xiao Nie teacher, sometimes with Ouyang Yiweng, and sometimes with Ouyang Yiweng, Lin Yuwei and several others to gather together...

  Good heavens, he suddenly thought of Lin Yufei again and Chen Haonan's heart ached all at once. "Where is that beautiful and kind girl now? Is she doing well in heaven? Does she have any friends accompanying her?..." Chen Haonan muttered to himself silently. Unbeknownst to him, he had already arrived at Little Nie teacher's doorstep, he quickly gathered his sorrowful heart, rubbed his eyes, and then knocked on the door.

  "Who's there?" A voice came from inside the house.

  Chen Haonan immediately recognized the voice as Xiao Nie's, but upon closer listening, it seemed like there were other people present too. "It's me, Teacher Xiao Nie - I'm Haonan!" Chen Haonan replied loudly.

  The door opened immediately, but it was not Xiaoni Teacher who opened the door, but Ouyang Yiweng. Chen Haonan saw her and smiled to ask: "Yi'er, how did you come too?"

  However, Ouyang Yiweng did not answer Chen Haonan's question. She opened the door for him and sat back down on the sofa.

  "Yi'er, what's wrong with you? Why are you so quiet?" Chen Haonan was busy changing his shoes and didn't notice Ouyang Yiweng's expression. Instead, he jokingly said, "Who has offended our Miss Ouyang? Tell me, I'll be like Zhao Zilong from Changshan, and I'll stab him off his horse with one spear..."

  "Hao Nan, don't be ridiculous! --- Yi Er is not in a good mood right now!" At this time, Teacher Xiao Nie walked out of the inner room with a smile and interrupted Chen Hao Nan's words.

  "What's wrong with you?" At this moment, Chen Haonan had already changed his shoes. He walked to the front of Ouyang Yiweng, lowered his head and looked at her, asking softly.

  "What else can I do? Go ask Xiao Nie teacher!" Ouyang Yiweng pouted, looking very angry.

  "Can't even bully you, little Nian's teacher?" Chen Haonan said with a smile, seemingly still unaware of the subtle and somewhat abnormal atmosphere in the room.

  "Let me tell you myself..." Teacher Xiao Nie pulled over a chair next to her, sat down, and motioned for Chen Haonan to sit on the sofa.

  "What's wrong, Little Nie teacher?" At this time, Chen Haonan finally felt that the atmosphere was a bit off, and he also became somewhat anxious.

  "There's nothing big, really—" After lowering her head and thinking for a moment, Teacher Xiao Nai finally spoke up, "It's just that... next semester I won't be able to be your language teacher..."

  "What's going on? Are you being transferred next semester? Or..." Chen Haonan's heart suddenly tightened, and he abruptly interrupted Teacher Xiao Nie. His eyes stared fixedly at her face, his voice extremely loud. To be honest, in all these years of studying, Chen Haonan had encountered many diligent and kind-hearted teachers, but among them, only Teacher Xiao Nie was someone with whom he could open up his heart and be friends. So as soon as he heard that Teacher Xiao Nie wouldn't be teaching him anymore, that she would be leaving, his heart suddenly felt anxious.

  "Hao Nan, calm down!" Teacher Xiao Nie shouted.

  "OK! OK! I'm calm, I'm calm...... Sorry, Teacher Xiao Nie——" Chen Haonan tried his best to calm himself down.

  When Chen Haonan calmed down, Teacher Xiao Nie spoke again: "Actually, this matter has been settled for a while. I was afraid it would affect your final exams, so...so I didn't tell you immediately. Last week, my university professor called me and asked me to return to school to attend a study class and prepare for the graduate exam in the second half of the year. I had wanted to pursue a master's degree before, but I didn't get in last year, so I came here to teach instead. Originally, I wasn't planning to take the exam again, but my professor insisted that I give it another try, and my parents also supported me, so after thinking about it for a while, I decided to give it another shot! After all, I'm still young now, if I don't strive hard when I'm young, won't I lose my ambition when I get old?" Before she finished speaking, Teacher Xiao Nie couldn't help but laugh. She wanted to liven up the somewhat gloomy atmosphere.

  "Teacher Xiao Nie, you're leaving tomorrow, how can you still smile? ... Don't go!" At this point, Ouyang Yiweng, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't hold back anymore. She jumped up from the sofa with a "whoosh", ran behind Teacher Xiao Nie, shook her shoulders and said. But Ouyang Yiweng's appearance looked like it was going to make people laugh, she looked just like a little kid begging an adult for something to eat.

  "What? Little Nian teacher, you're leaving tomorrow?" Ou Yang Yiweng's words suddenly made Chen Haonan anxious again, he hastily asked, hoping that Little Nian teacher would deny Ou Yang Yiweng's words.

  "Yes, I'm taking the 9:30 train tomorrow morning. The professor said on the phone that the number of people admitted to the study class is limited, and told me to go early, or else there might not be any seats left. So, last week I went to the school's general affairs office to complete the formalities, if it weren't for waiting for you two to finish your exams, I would have left a few days ago... It's just, unfortunately..."

  "What's wrong, Teacher Xiao Nie? I see that your complexion is a bit off, has something happened?" Chen Haonan asked with concern, noticing the subtle change in Teacher Xiao Nie.

  Mr. Xiao sighed and said: "Unfortunately, Yu Fei has left and she can't come back... otherwise I could also bid farewell to her and have a chat..."

  Sometimes, a sentence can really stir up a thousand waves and resonate with tens of thousands of people; while sometimes, a sentence may be a coagulant that can freeze many people's originally hot hearts in an instant. Mr. Xiao Nie's sentence was like a coagulant, instantly solidifying the calm atmosphere just now.

  The room fell silent all of a sudden.

  Time was quietly passing by, minute by minute, second by second, which made Ouyang Yiweng somewhat anxious. She kept giving Chen Haonan meaningful glances, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only respond with equally meaningful glances...

  Finally, Ouyang Yiweng puffed out her cheeks and blew, but the air was let out. However, this clever girl refused to stop, her brain spinning rapidly as she tried to find a special topic to disperse the somewhat dull atmosphere. Suddenly, she jumped up from the sofa, smiling slyly and shouting: "Haonan, Teacher Xiao Nie is leaving tomorrow, why don't we have a drink tonight - what do you say?"

  "Ah, ah, ah, that's a great idea!" Chen Haonan also jumped up from the sofa and hurriedly smiled in agreement. Then, he busied himself by going over to Teacher Xiao Nie and asking for her opinion, "Teacher Xiao Nie, how about we go drinking tonight? Let's get drunk! - You've been at S University for so long, but I still haven't had a drink with you yet. Today, let's take advantage of Yier's words and get drunk together, what do you say?"

  "Alright, let's go drinking tonight! Who cares about anything else?!... It's been ages since I've had a drink, and tonight I'll even risk my life to keep you company!" Little Nie teacher also laughed and stood up, saying this in a loud voice. Her demeanor was really quite like that of a heroic female knight from martial arts novels - straightforward, refreshing, and full of vigor.

  "But----" Chen Haonan suddenly remembered his appointment with Li Donglin last night.

  "What's with the 'but'? Chen Haonan, you're also being vague. If there's something on your mind, just say it!" This was Xiao Nie's voice, and she patted Chen Haonan's shoulder while smiling.

  "Tonight we're going out for drinks, and it looks like there's going to be one more person...” Chen Haonan said with a slightly embarrassed smile, “Last night I made plans with an old buddy, saying that tonight we'd get drunk together!”

  "Who is it?" Ouyang Yiweng's mouth slightly curled up.

  "His name is Li Donglin, he's my buddy from class 211 - Ai Er, haven't you seen him before?"

  "Oh, it's that slightly fat guy!" Ouyang Yiweng deliberately tilted her neck, looking at the ceiling, "Last time you had a birthday, he went too, and he was quite humorous... Later, later in the campus, I met him several times, and he was quite polite!"

  "Alright, since he's your good friend, he should be easy to get along with; besides, having one more person is great, it'll be more lively - otherwise, if you got drunk, how could I and Yuer carry you?" Little Nie teacher said with a laugh, teasing Ouyang Yuer into laughing so hard she was bent at the waist.

  "Oh my! It seems that Little Nie's drinking capacity is quite good, trying to get me drunk! Looks like tonight I'll be 'dying with a smile'!" Chen Haonan also burst out laughing.