Mistaken Canary Chapter 42 (Part 1)
Chapter 42.1
"Ge! Hurry up! Everyone's already in the classroom!" Zhuo Zi urged outside the men's restroom.
"Coming." Zhuo Shu folded his love letter, checked his expression in the mirror, and walked out with a cold, aloof demeanor. Upon seeing Zhuo Zi, he nodded slightly, then turned to head upstairs.
"Where do you think you're going? It's this way!" Zhuo Zi rolled her eyes and pointed to the other staircase.
Zhuo Shu calmly walked back, and as he passed her, he warned, "You better behave, or I’ll tell your teacher you're slacking off at home."
"Better watch out, or I’ll tell the homeroom teacher you’re terrible at this too," Zhuo Zi retorted, not backing down.
After a moment of silence, Zhuo Shu suddenly said, "Don’t you like crabs? I'll take you to eat some later."
Zhuo Zi: "You can’t bribe yourself out of this."
The two of them bickered their way to the classroom door, then immediately switched to their most charming smiles as they faced the full room of students, parents, and homeroom teacher.
"Sorry, Mr. Ying, we're late," Zhuo Zi said apologetically. "There were too many people in the ladies' room."
"Come on in," Ying Tongchen said from the podium.
Zhuo Shu whispered, "Nice."
"Don’t forget about the crabs," Zhuo Zi said in a hushed voice, then headed straight for her seat.
Zhuo Shu followed right behind her, barely stepping into view before the room erupted into exclamations.
While the students had already glimpsed his face during the sports competition, seeing him up close again made them inevitably "fangirl" over his looks.
But their reactions were nothing compared to the louder gasps from the parents.
The parents started whispering among themselves—
"Is this the infamous Zhuo Zi's Parent?"
"Ah, Wh–Wh–Who is this?"
"I was hoping to talk business and life with Mr. Zhuo…could this be Zhuo Zi's bodyguard... or maybe her boyfriend?"
"Word on the front row is that this handsome lad is Zhuo Zi's older brother."
"Is it her brother or her dad who ordered a booty call to the hotel?"
"An unsolved mystery of the Zhuo Family."
"That fella is pretty handsome, perhaps a marriage alliance is worth considering."
"Wow, how did you know exactly what I was thinking? I don't care, I call dibs on Zhuo Zi’s big brother. I've been fretting over my eldest daughter not having a partner!"
"Zhuo Zi’s elder brother, please sit in your seat now," Ying Tongchen said without any visible change in expression.
Zhuo Shu had already walked to the middle of the first row and, when he looked up, met Ying Tongchen’s gaze. With a hint of amusement, he gave an intimate smile. slightly. "Alright."
Ying Tongchen had the impression that something about his gaze was strange, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. After all, this person’s thought process was entirely out of his league.
As soon as Zhuo Shu sat down, the surrounding parents started engaging him in conversation. Zhuo Shu answered briefly while glancing at Ying Tongchen every now and then.
Ying Tongchen surveyed the room and counted the people. "Where’s Ban Zhang?"
"I don’t know. I didn’t see him during the collective meeting," someone replied.
Ying Tongchen furrowed his brows. During the collective meeting, Ban Zhang had suddenly said he was going to pick someone up, and he still hadn’t returned.
"Please wait a moment, everyone. We’re just waiting for one more student," Ying Tongchen said as he walked outside the classroom to call Ban Zhang.
Zhuo Shu’s gaze naturally followed him.
"Your name is Zhuo Shu, right?" a parent beside him asked.
"Mm." Zhuo Shu slowly returned his attention to his neighbours, but as he casually glanced across the room, he noticed the blackboard was filled with today’s schedule and a welcoming slogan.
He took a closer look, and his heart skipped a beat. The handwriting was an exact match to the one on the love letter!
It was confirmed—Ying Tongchen had written that love letter after all!
Moments later, Ying Tongchen returned to the classroom and said, "Ban Zhang will be here shortly, so let’s officially begin today’s session. I’ll start with a brief introduction. I’m Ying Tongchen, the homeroom teacher for Class 2, and I also teach English. You’ve all had a chance to chat with me in the parent group."
"We've chatted, but we didn’t expect our teacher to be this handsome," Yu Diansha’s mother exclaimed excitedly. "Wow, this parent-teacher meeting is totally worth it, feels like I’m looking at a big celebrity!"
The room filled with laughter, but Zhuo Shu wasn’t pleased. He glanced over at the woman, noting her husband was sitting beside her, which made him feel a bit more at ease.
Ying Tongchen then proceeded to introduce the school’s situation to the parents.
Zhuo Shu leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, his mind seemingly blocked off from hearing anything. His eyes were fixed on Ying Tongchen’s face, wandering from his features to his shoulders, collarbones, and Adam’s apple... This man’s appearance is literally designed to my exact taste.
This isn’t fair.
Maybe if he just gestured with his finger, I’d fall for it right away.
That would be too much loss of face.
On the surface, Ying Tongchen remained calm, but inside, he was silently wishing for Zhuo Shu to be sent outside for a timeout. The gaze from Zhuo Shu was far too intense—positioned less than a meter away, giving the unsettling sensation of being caught in a secret affair.
At that moment, two figures appeared at the door, one tall and one short. Ban Zhang called out, "Reporting."
Everyone turned to look and saw a slender boy with black-rimmed glasses, holding the hand of a four- or five-year-old girl.
The crowd: "???"
Ying Tongchen was also a bit surprised. He walked over to them, squatted down, and tilted his head to glance at the little girl.
"Who is this?" he asked.
"This is my younger sister, Ban Xiaomei," Ban Zhang wiped his sweat nervously. "Grandpa and grandma went to the hospital, and there’s no one to take care of her. Can she attend? She’s my guardian now."
Ying Tongchen looked at the little girl and gently patted her head. "Of course, welcome, Xiaomei."
The little girl blinked her big, watery eyes, then suddenly stretched out her arms and hugged his neck. "Hee hee hee."
"Xiaomei, stop that!" Ban Zhang was startled.
"It's fine," Ying Tongchen said as he picked her up and returned to the podium. He then instructed, "Zhuo Zi’s gege, could you please switch seats with Ban Zhang? It will be more convenient for him to take care of her here."
Zhuo Shu naturally agreed, following Zhuo Zi to the back row of the classroom.
The little girl seemed particularly fond of Ying Tongchen. She hugged his neck, looking around and giggling non-stop, which made all the parents swoon with adoration. They all secretly wished they could join in and ruffle her hair as well.
Ying Tongchen held Ban Xiaomei with one arm while using his other hand to flip through the forms on the desk. "Now, let’s move on to the midterm exam award ceremony. This time, the overall performance was great, and everyone contributed equally. Of course, there were some particularly hardworking students. The following students, please come up when I call your name: Ban Zhang, Cheng Jihao, and Zhuo Zi."
"Now, we invite the three guardians to come up and personally present the awards."
Zhuo Zi proudly raised an eyebrow at Zhuo Shu, only to find that Zhuo Shu was staring absentmindedly at the little girl in Ying Tongchen's arms. "What are you spacing out for? Let's go."
Zhuo Shu snapped out of it, stood up, and walked to the podium. He glanced at the little girl, giving her a smile.
The little girl blinked her big, watery eyes, then suddenly burst into tears.
Zhuo Shu was immediately met with the disapproving stares of everyone around him.
"Oh dear, Brother Zhuo, you must have been too harsh!" one parent said.
"My goodness, how could you be so stern with such a cute little thing?" another one chimed in.
Zhuo Shu felt wronged.
Ying Tongchen quickly comforted the little girl, then turned to give Zhuo Shu a look, a faint, helpless smile flashing in his eyes. "Be a bit gentler."
Zhuo Shu: "How was I not gentle?"
"You're not being gentle right now, relax your expression a bit."
Zhuo Shu complied.
"Smile."
Zhuo Shu grinned, exposing eight teeth.
"Come on, Xiaomei, do you think he looks like Stitch now?" Ying Tongchen asked, pointing at Zhuo Shu and addressing Ban Xiaomei.
As soon as Ban Xiaomei heard "Stitch", she burst out laughing, looking at Zhuo Shu.
Zhuo Shu: Too cute, too cute, too cute, too cute, too cute, too cute!