He’s So Sweet After Class

After that day when Mo Lingqiu received the WeChat of the alpha for the blind date, University A notified him that he was going on a business trip to another province to deliver a speech about the Chinese Language. He suddenly became busy. He was writing the speech while needing to also give lectures. 

Meanwhile, Jiang Chenming threw himself into training. Although everyone around him naturally thought that his presence on the PE Department’s basketball team would definitely bring them the school’s championship, he didn’t dare take it lightly. 

On Sunday night, Jiang Chenming held a meeting about the internal basketball competition after training. He jotted down the time and location of the competition and drew lots to determine the group division.

When he reached home, it was already very late. Mo Lingqiu had just finished bathing and was sitting in his room editing his speech’s script. 

Jiang Chenming went into his room. “Teacher Mo, you’re leaving for a business trip tomorrow?” 

“Yes, at 9 in the morning.” Mo Lingqiu looked at Jiang Chenming standing at the door. 

Jiang Chenming hugged himself. He thought for a while and, with a pitiful look, said, “Then, Teacher Mo, remember to come watch my competition after you come back.” 

“En.” Mo Lingqiu was a person who would keep his promises and he had promised to go watch his basketball competition. 

The edge of Jiang Chenming’s lips rose at the confirmation. “Teacher Mo, do you need help? With your speech.” 

Mo Lingqiu looked at the script in his hand and thought about how the speech would be delivered the next night in a hall of a thousand people. He nodded. “I’ll read this once according to the script. Help me check if there are any problems.” 

“Sure.” 

Afterwards, Jiang Chenming kept Mo Lingqiu company, practising his speech until a little past 11. Then, one after another, they went to wash up and sleep.

On Monday morning, as Mo Lingqiu was heading to the neighbouring province in his car, University A’s internal basketball competition was in full swing. As expected, Jiang Chenming led their team to a crushing victory in the first match. Meanwhile, in the afternoon, Mo Lingqiu safely arrived at the hotel booked by the school.

Once he reached the hotel, he rushed to have dinner, confined himself to his room to read his speech a few times over, changed into a suit, and then punctually appeared in the huge hall full of a thousand people.

The staff were still adjusting the equipment needed and the curtains on the stage were closed. Mo Lingqiu entered from backstage. After talking to the staff about the speech arrangement, he walked towards the stage and tested the microphone. 

“Is the sound okay?” The staff member used a walkie talkie to communicate with the teacher standing at the back of the audience who was in charge of controlling the event. 

“En, it’s fine. If Teacher Mo is fine with this, then there will be no problem.” 

“Teacher Mo, do you think…” 

The person who had organized this speech was a high-position leader in the province. The province had always regarded cultural development as something very important, with the Chinese Language as one of the most crucial parts. Therefore, they really valued this event. Mo Lingqiu, who had been invited as the only guest speaker, would naturally be treated with special care. 

“It’s fine, thanks.” Mo Lingqiu hadn’t dabbled with this kind of professional equipment before, but since the professionals had said that there weren’t any problems, then he wouldn’t have any problems either.

“So let’s leave it like this. Then, Teacher Mo, please rest for a while backstage. We’ll call you when we’re starting.”

“Okay.” Mo Lingqiu followed the staff member to the resting room backstage. Then, the staff member thoughtfully closed the door when he left. 

He sat in the resting room alone. The soundproofing of the room couldn’t be considered good; he could clearly hear the footsteps outside. Mo Lingqiu wanted to practice his speech again, but he was embarrassed reading it out loud, so he only mouthed the words. 

At that moment, the phone on the table vibrated twice. 

Mo Lingqiu froze. He picked up his phone. The screen showed Jiang Chenming’s message, and there was another friend request.

Mo Lingqiu glanced at the friend request. It wasn’t someone he knew and it didn’t come with any notes, so he immediately decided to ignore it. 

He took another glance at Jiang Chenming’s message which showed how much Jiang Chenming wanted to please him.

Xiao Jiang-tongxue1 : Teacher, we won our first match in the group stage today! A great start!

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: [Crayon Shinchan wiggles.jpg]

Mo Lingqiu saw that humorous emoticon and his tense expression relaxed a little. 

Qiu: En. 

Qiu: Congratulations. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: ! Teacher, you’re going to deliver your speech soon right?

Qiu: There’s still 20 minutes. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: Good luck! 

Qiu: En. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: What time are you coming back tomorrow? I’ll go fetch you. 

Mo Lingqiu saw his words and suddenly didn’t know how to answer. Jiang Chenming’s zeal made him, a person who had never been so close to anyone, feel strange. However, he knew that he didn’t hate how he cared for him. 

Qiu: The ticket is for 9.30 so I should reach around 2 in the afternoon. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: Okay, see you at the station.

Qiu: …En 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: Is your throat still uncomfortable? 

Qiu: No. 

Mo Lingqiu’s sudden flu from a few days prior went away as fast as it came. Even though he’d recovered, he still felt an itchiness in his throat. Jiang Chenming was worried about his condition, so he would ask about it from time to time. 

He didn’t know if God was doing him a favor, but his throat wasn’t uncomfortable, making him ready for the speech. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: Then that’s good. 

After that, Jiang Chenming continued pestering Mo Lingqiu and they chatted about unimportant things. Jiang Chenming didn’t only tell him about what he faced during the basketball competition, he even told him about what he had eaten for lunch and dinner. Jiang Chenming only said goodbye unwillingly when someone came to remind Mo Lingqiu that it was time for the speech. 

The speech went smoother than Mo Lingqiu imagined. The audience applauded from time to time due to his wonderful script. Even though it lasted for half an hour, it wasn’t boring at all. 

After the speech was done, Mo Lingqiu ended with some final words with the event organizer and went back to the hotel alone. 

He lied on the bed after cleaning up, and picked up his phone again. As expected, it hadn’t been too long since Jiang Chenming had sent him some more messages.

He asked about how the speech was, asked if he had already returned to the hotel, and asked if he was bathing. 

Mo Lingqiu suddenly had a wicked impulse; if he didn’t reply to Jiang Chenming, would he send him a ‘goodnight’ with a cute and sad emoticon? 

However, it was just an impulse, and Mo Lingqiu still replied to him. 

Qiu: I’m done bathing. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: You’re on the bed? 

Qiu: En. 

Qiu: The speech was really smooth. 

Qiu: I’m really happy everyone had their attention on the Chinese Language’s development. 

Qiu: My mood is good. 

Jiang Chenming, on the other side of the screen, saw Mo Lingqiu sending that many messages in one go. His joy was beyond words, and he sent a few ‘Good’ stickers. 

Xiao Jiang-tongxue: I’m interested as well, will Teacher Mo tell me about it next time? 

Qiu: If you wanna listen, of course. 

Jiang Chenming thought, Not only do I want to hear it, I’ve also been thinking about Mo Lingqiu, who spoke Chinese, for a long time.

Mo Lingqiu and Jiang Chenming chatted for a while before they started to feel sleepy. Jiang Chenming didn’t force him to stay up for the whole night with him, and thoughtfully said, “Good night.” 

When Mo Lingqiu wanted to put down the phone and sleep, the phone vibrated again. It was another friend request. 

He frowned, pressed open the friend request notification, and saw the other party’s note: Blind date.

-tongxue is a way to call a student.