Mistaken Canary Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Ying Tongchen had been swamped with work lately.
Between teaching two English classes and guiding the team on the National Day project, he was constantly busy.
That day after class, his class representative, Zhuo Zi, arrived with a stack of completed assignments.
"Mr. Ying, all the homework has been collected," Zhuo Zi said with a smile.
"Very good," Ying Tongchen looked up. "What about the students who were struggling? Did they manage to submit their work?"
"Yep, they did! They’re all in awe of you and hang on your every word," Zhuo Zi grinned innocently. Who would dare skip handing in their assignments with her around? She enforced discipline with an iron fist!
"Great," Ying Tongchen flashed her a smile.
Zhuo Zi: OMG, what an evildoer*!
(TLN: It’s a compliment, just saying how demonically seductive he is.)
"Tonight, there’ll be a test on this unit’s lecture during evening self-study," Ying Tongchen said as he pulled out a stack of new papers, smiling warmly like a spring breeze. "Please distribute them when class starts."
Zhuo Zi: OMG, retreat! Retreat!
As Zhuo Zi turned to leave with the stack papers, her eyes lingered on Ying Tongchen's shirt. "Mr. Ying, why aren’t you wearing the tie I gave you? Is it not to your liking?"
Ying Tongchen lightly tugged at his collar and smiled. "Thanks for the gift, but it’s too nice for class."
Zhuo Zi continued to probe, "So, do you like it?"
Ying Tongchen: "I do. I’ll wear it next time I attend an important event."
"Got it! And not just important events—you could wear it when meeting important people, too!" Zhuo Zi grinned, showing a smile full of mischief. "I secretly cast a spell on it. When you wear it, Mr. Ying, everything will go smoothly, and you’ll have a bloom of good fortune!"
Ying Tongchen chuckled. "Thanks for the good wishes."
Youth truly was a wonderful thing—spending time with these kids was making him feel younger. Now he understood why his old man had always preached about the rewards of teaching.
When the weekend finally arrived, Meng Gong, equally relieved for a break, pulled him along on a rock-climbing excursion.
Zhen Mingxin joined them as well.
"You two have been inseparable lately," Ying Tongchen teased.
Zhen Mingxin smiled shyly. "Meng ge is incredible. I've been working out with him lately, and I'm finally seeing some muscle definition. I get sore sometimes, though."
Meng Gong smiled and patted his shoulder. "Remember to stretch. Don't overdo it."
"I've got this," Zhen Mingxin said, effortlessly throwing his leg up into a perfect standing split.
Meng Gong: "Impressive, bro!"
Ying Tongchen: "......"
The climbing gym was teeming with climbers that weekend, so they had to wait in line for a while before their turn.
It was Zhen Mingxin's first time trying rock climbing, and he was a bit slow getting his gear sorted. By the time he'd finished the safety briefing, Ying Tongchen and Meng Gong had already disappeared onto the wall.
Zhen Mingxin pushed himself to the limit, finally reaching the summit, utterly spent. When he was finally lowered down, he collapsed, drenched in sweat, his limp body and faint sour smell reminiscent of a pickled vegetable.
If his new manager saw this, she'd definitely take a picture and made a meme of him online.
"Don't just lie there, get up, and stretch," Meng Gong said, offering a hand.
Zhen Mingxin grabbed his hand to stand, his bones protesting with every movement, feeling like they'd been rearranged. He leaned heavily on Meng Gong, unwilling to take a step. "You guys are way too good at this. Don't you need a breather? Where’s Ying ge?"
"He went for another round."
"What?!" Zhen Mingxin exclaimed, looking up to see Ying Tongchen already halfway up the wall, effortlessly assisting another climber.
"Ying ge looks so lean, but I never knew he was this strong," Zhen Mingxin marveled.
"Yeah, he's got a lot of skills, and he's tough as nails," Meng Gong said, looking over with a mysterious grin. "He once went toe-to-toe with three hulking guys from the Physical Education Department. It was three versus one, but they still couldn’t take him down. He became a legend after that."
"Is that for real?" Zhen Mingxin thought about his own scrawny frame and felt a little self-conscious. "Why did he even fight them?"
Meng Gong sighed deeply and sat down on a nearby bench, seemingly transported back to the good old days of youth. "It’s a long story—those days were a wild mix of chaos, turbulence, and glory. We were so innocent, full of hope, longing for..."
Zhen Mingxin: "Get to the point."
Meng Gong: "Those three idiots called him effeminate."
"Those trash-talking bastards! Serves them right!" Zhen Mingxin spat, his eyes blazing. "So what if he’s a bit scrawny? That doesn't give them the right!"
Having encountered similar situations before, Zhen Mingxin turned his gaze back to Ying Tongchen, filled with awe and admiration. "From today on, Ying ge is officially my brother from another mother!"
"So, what happened next?" Zhen Mingxin asked eagerly, still full of curiosity.
"Well, our department heard the Foreign Language Department had someone like him…so they introduced us."
"Poof—" Zhen Mingxin stared at him in disbelief. "So you two actually... had an affair?"
"We didn’t even get to the A of affair." Meng Gong said with a regretful sigh, his gaze distant as if he was transported back to those chaotic, turbulent, and glorious days.
Back then, he hadn't hidden his sexual orientation. He had been quite open, strongly hinting to friends and classmates that he was like a spring animal, ready for mating season.
Soon enough, Senior Sister Lu Zongcai from the Foreign Language Department had secretly approached him, saying she knew someone handsome and extraordinary and asked if he wanted to meet him.
Meng Gong asked for the name, and lo and behold, it was a name he’d been hearing a lot lately in the Physical Education Department.
He was said to be very Alpha!
Naturally, Meng Gong, full of boyish heart, eagerly went to meet him at the café.
But he hadn’t gotten his hopes up. He didn’t believe for a second that theForeign Language Department student would actually show up—he was just there to try out the new coffee.
He was halfway through his drink, enjoying the quiet, when a very handsome, very extraordinary guy sat down across from him.
Meng Gong nearly died choking on his coffee.
The man wore formalwear, the sunlight warming his figure. Light danced on the lenses of his glasses, drawing attention to his clear, bright eyes. His expression was composed, though a small, unhealed bruise marked the corner of his mouth.
He projected an air of aloofness tinged with rebellion.
That was his first impression of Ying Tongchen.
"Hello, you must be..."
"Yes, I'm Meng Gong!" Meng Gong said excitedly.
Ying Tongchen looked him up and down. "You do look quite meng."
Meng Gong smiled shyly. "You're quite handsome yourself."
...
"What happened next? What happened next?" Zhen Mingxin asked eagerly, "Did you two hit it off?"
"No."
Meng Gong still vividly remembered the exact expression Ying Tongchen wore when he said those words—
"Senior Sister said there was a meng gong (tough fighter/attacker) in the Physical Education Department, and I was curious to see just how meng (tough) this gong (fighter) was." As he said this, Ying Tongchen took off his glasses and placed them on the table. "So, tell me, where do you want to brawl? Here?"
"..." Zhen Mingxin froze for a beat, then erupted in laughter. "So, Ying ge thought you were going around calling yourself a meng gong? Or maybe he thought you were challenging him to a fight?"
"Yeah." Meng Gong took a sip of water. "A bunch of people from my department went to harass him back then, claiming they wanted revenge. He probably thought I was just another troublemaker."
Zhen Mingxin laughed, nearly breathless. But as he tilted his head back, he stopped abruptly, turning to Meng Gong in horror. "So you're not a meng gong (tough top)?"
Meng Gong: "...!"
Meng Gong: "I'm NOT!!!"
Just because of his muscular build, he's been single all this time—does anyone think that's easy for him?
His good xiōngdì, Ying Tongchen, who seemed like the epitome of an abstinent alpha, was single for a long time too. But now, even Ying Tongchen found himself a friend-with-benefit while he remained a virgin!
Boohoo.
Zhen Mingxin stared, dumbfounded.
Ying Tongchen came down from the mountaintop and searched around, finally spotting them tucked away in a corner.
As he approached, he saw Meng Gong, clinging tearfully to Zhen Mingxin’s waist, his arms almost as thick as Zhen Mingxin's thighs. Zhen Mingxin, unbothered, patted his back comfortingly.
Ying Tongchen: "..."
Ying Tongchen executed a swift about-face and melted into the crowd, pretending he'd seen nothing.
"Tongchen!" Meng Gong hollered, loud enough for everyone within a five-meter radius to hear.
Ying Tongchen played deaf and kept walking.
"Ying Tongchen, stop right there!" Meng Gong yelled, his voice thick with unshed tears.
Passersby eyed Ying Tongchen with suspicion.
He was the splitting image of a scumbag who abandoned his friend!
Ying Tongchen sighed helplessly and turned back, nudging the tissue box on the table toward them. "What happened?"
Zhen Mingxin: "A tale so sorrowful it moves listeners to grief and onlookers to tears."
Meng Gong wiped his eyes. "It's nothing. I was just reminiscing about our chaotic, turbulent, and glorious days."
Ying Tongchen looked at Zhen Mingxin and asked, "Did he bring up our blind date again?"
"Yeah." Zhen Mingxin turned to the other party involved. "Ying ge, how did you figure out Meng ge wasn't a meng gong back then?"
"Like this." Ying Tongchen pointed at Meng Gong's current state. "When I got to the café, they were playing a K-drama, and he sat there, completely broken down crying."
Zhen Mingxin was once again left speechless.
After the three of them had dinner together, they went their separate ways.
Ying Tongchen parked his car and, noticing the bookstore downstairs, went in. He spent some time browsing the study guides, eventually choosing a high-quality one.
At the checkout, his gaze paused as he pointed to a book tucked behind the cashier. "I'll take that one too."
The cashier turned around and retrieved a cookbook, adding it to the total.
Later, at home, Ying Tongchen sat at his desk and flipped through the cookbook for two minutes.
Nvm.
The study guides were far more interesting.
After browsing through the material and confirming its usefulness, Ying Tongchen took a photo and sent it to the parents' group, suggesting they consider purchasing it without making it mandatory.
The parents' group immediately came alive with discussion.
{Buy! It’s a must! My kid spends all day at home playing games!}
{My daughter keeps praising Mr. Ying’s class. The explanations are thorough and easy to understand, and the class is fun. Thank you, teacher!}
{My daughter is saying the same thing! I was worried she wouldn't adjust well since she just started high school.}
{My son’s English unit test score is almost 20 points higher than his baseline test!}
Ying Tongchen graciously replied to each parent, offering kind words about their children and fostering a positive atmosphere.
Suddenly, an odd message suddenly popped up.
[Zhuo Zi's Parent]: I'll be back in the country within two days. Make sure you're washed up and waiting at the hotel.
[Zhuo Zi's Parent] retracted a message.
Other parents: "!!!"
How thrilling, unexpected, and explosive! Father Zhuo is really something!
Ying Tongchen: "..."
The person behind [Zhuo Zi's Parent]: "............"
[Zhuo Zi's Parent] started frantically slapping their own hand.
They even considered gouging their eyes out, but managed to hold back.
After finally finishing a long and exhausting day of work, Zhuo Shu found himself alone in a vast, expensive hotel room, feeling inexplicably lonely and cold, yearning for someone to warm the bed.
Now that he'd experienced sweetness, the hardship of being alone seemed even more stark.
He opened his phone, intending to give Ying Tongchen a heads-up.
But as his eyes flickered across his phone screen, he saw a message from [Teacher Ying] in his chat history. Without thinking, he sent a message...
To avoid making the same mistake next time, he quickly changed [Teacher Ying]’s nickname to [Homeroom Teacher].
Just then, [Homeroom Teacher] messaged him privately.
[Teacher Ying]: Mr. Zhuo? When will you be back? I’m not sure if you’re available, but I’d like to do a home visit.
Zhuo Shu froze for a moment, his eyes lighting up.
That's right, he's still in disguise! He can have his father take the blame!
[Zhuo Zi's Parent]: Sorry, I’m unavailable, can’t do it.
[Zhuo Zi's Parent]: Uh... I mean, I’m unavailable for a home visit.
Ying Tongchen: "..."
If you hadn’t corrected yourself, I wouldn’t have even understood the other implication!