Chapter 1045 – Calamity Like an Invisible Hand

　　Two lonely and gentle people healed each other as they sat together on this night of torrential rain.

　　The rain hit the windows as if it were a messy drumbeat, and the inside and outside of the hut seemed like two different worlds.

　　While the stormy winds vented their discontent and anger, inside the house was quiet, the clock ticking and the black tea still steaming on the table.

　　”I should have been the one to comfort you, but when I mention those things, I can’t control myself a bit, and every time I think I’ve gotten used to it, but in reality, I’m just fooling myself.”

　　Zhang Ya was an adult after all, and she quickly adjusted her emotions. Chen Ge also immediately retracted his hand, he knew how to control the situation, he knew how to grasp the distance to get along, so that both of them could comfortably stay together, neither too distant, nor too intimate.

　　”This rain is probably not going to stop tonight.” Zhang Ya got up and checked the windows before pulling the curtains closed, she sat down on the other side of the sofa: “The teacher’s matter has already been said, from today onwards I won’t run away anymore, you also need to take steps forward before you can do so.”

　　She said taking out her own cell phone, “Give your dad a call, he must be worried about you, besides I want to have a good chat with him, the teacher won’t let what happened to him repeat on his own students, if there are any problems, the teacher will try her best to help you solve them.”

　　Being rumored, ostracized, and talked about by everyone when she was in school, Zhang Ya tried her best to go through those and knew the pain, so she took very good care of her student.

　　All the scars etched on her body made Zhang Ya gentle and strong.

　　Instead of becoming a dancer, she became a teacher.

　　Perhaps she had thought in her heart that that day if that teacher hadn’t lied, but chose to come forward and set the record straight, everything might have been different.

　　She couldn’t change the past, so she chose a different path, at least in her class, and she would never let something like that happen again.

　　Everything was moving in a good direction, but uneasiness slowly welled up in Chen Ge’s heart, wanting to make a person experience despair, then let them have all the good things first, and then shatter all of those good things without a single one left.

　　”You still don’t believe in teacher?”

　　Encouraged by Zhang Ya, Chen Ge dialed his father’s phone, and the phone was answered after only two rings.

　　”I’m now at our teacher’s house …….”

　　A simple and warm conversation without any impropriety, the relationship between the two fathers and sons was harmonious, and there was mutual respect and understanding, and there was no such thing as I’m your parent and you have to listen to me.

　　After Chen Ge finished speaking, Zhang Ya also chatted with Chen Ge’s father, and both sides discussed Chen Ge’s education for a long time.

　　Around eleven o’clock at night, Chen Ge hugged Zhang Ya’s quilt and lay on the sofa, burying his face amongst the quilt, “So soft.”

　　”Pay attention at night, cover the quilt well, don’t catch a cold.” Zhang Ya stood at the door of her bedroom, her house was not big, there was only one bedroom.

　　”You’re the one who should pay attention, remember to lock the bedroom door.” Chen Ge waved his hand.

　　”No need for you to remind me, good night.”

　　”Good night, sweet dreams.”

　　After the bedroom door closed, Chen Ge lay alone on the sofa, his mind empty, “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten so happily and rested comfortably, I can’t believe this is the world behind the door.”

　　His body was in a state of complete relaxation, Chen Ge even suspected that he would simply fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, “We can’t be careless, the Underworld Fetus and Yu See should have been looking for an opportunity.”

　　He turned off the lights and waited until zero midnight, entering the bathroom to change into his own clothes, although they were not completely dry, they were no longer that uncomfortable to wear.

　　”It’s time to leave, there are no clues related to Yu See in Zhang Ya’s house, staying any longer is just a waste of time.” Reason told Chen Ge that he should leave now and use the night to search in Liwan Town, but whenever this thought arose in his mind, his body would try its best to resist, as if there was another voice in his brain urging him to stay.

　　”I came over this time because I wanted to see if I could find clues in Zhang Ya’s house, there shouldn’t be such an opportunity in the future, which means that this might be the last time I come over, the last time in every sense.” As he walked to the door, Chen Ge stopped, he looked back at Zhang Ya’s bedroom door, “Eighteen year old Zhang Ya became a red dress, twenty-five year old Zhang Ya became a dutiful teacher, these two of her combined are a true her.”

　　Frankly speaking, when Chen Ge first received Zhang Ya’s love letter, there was only fear in his heart, and death seemed like a cloud hanging over his head.

　　The first time he appeared to change his mind about Zhang Ya was during the Midnight Escape live broadcast, when he and the murderer met in the hut of the forest keeper in the back of the mountain, and Zhang Ya’s reminder saved his life.

　　Later on, he mustered up enough courage to go to the West Side Private Academy, and when he saw what happened to Zhang Ya in the dance studio, although he was still afraid of Zhang Ya, there was more than a hint of heartache amidst the fear.

　　It is because of this trace of heartache that he goes to help Zhang Ya track down the murderer of that year.

　　The scene where the two met seemed to have happened yesterday, the time span wasn’t too long, but the experience in between couldn’t be made clear in a few simple words.

　　”In the past, I only saw Zhang Ya as the red dress, and this time behind the door I was able to truly understand her.” Chen Ge walked to the bedroom door, his palm gently resting on the door panel, he didn’t know whether Zhang Ya inside the door was asleep or not, and after hesitating for a long time, he whispered, “It’s my good fortune to have met you.”

　　Lifting his backpack, Chen Ge took away the black umbrella under the coffee table and left the red umbrella behind.

　　Secretly opening the door, Chen Ge didn’t choose to spend the night at Zhang Ya’s house, he left in the rain.

　　According to the original plan, Chen Ge started his search from the eastern part of Liwan Town.

　　The town in the rainstorm was completely different from usual, there were no streetlights, no light, and not a single car could be seen on the road.

　　”It feels like I’m alone in the whole town after nightfall.”

　　Chen Ge had long since gotten used to the darkness, he checked building by building without any luck, nor did he see a single silhouette.

　　”It feels like this place is becoming more and more depressing, but I can’t tell what’s wrong with it, obviously everything and everyone hasn’t changed significantly.”

　　The rainstorm stopped in the early morning, Chen Ge returned to the school early, he scaled the wall and entered the school grounds, opened the classroom window and returned to his seat.

　　Students were arriving at the school one after another, the first class of the day was English, Chen Ge took advantage of the teacher’s arrival and asked Du Ming to borrow his homework, and got it done in ten minutes on the fly.

　　”Thanks, I’ll invite you to visit the haunted house sometime later.” Chen Ge returned the homework to Du Ming, he was a little surprised to find that Du Ming, who was usually very wordy, actually didn’t say a word this time, and seemed to be in a bad mood, “Are you okay?”

　　Du Ming still didn’t say anything, just lowered his head, as if he didn’t dare to look at Chen Ge.

　　……

　　After finishing the morning class, Chen Ge stretched his waist, he was about to chat with Du Ming for a couple of minutes, but this little fatty carried his school bag and left by himself.

　　”Something’s not quite right, have to ask.” Chen Ge walked very quickly, and as soon as he left the classroom door, he directly collided with two other male students.

　　”Sorry.” Chen Ge didn’t want to invite trouble, so he took the initiative to apologize.

　　”What bad luck.” One of the male students patted his clothes, he seemed to hate Chen Ge and cursed in a low voice.

　　His voice was not loud, just loud enough for Chen Ge to hear, probably meaning that Chen Ge had a mother who gave birth to him and didn’t have a mother to raise him, attacking Chen Ge with a single parent family.

　　”Classmate, cursing is wrong, I’ll come back in a while to tell you why cursing is wrong.” Chen Ge had a smile on his face as he memorized the looks and voices of the two male students and left in a very spontaneous manner.

　　This wasn’t to say that Chen Ge could hold a boat in his prime minister’s belly and could accommodate other people’s insults, he just didn’t feel the need to generalize with people who were about to die.

　　The two boys thought Chen Ge was easy to bully and had disdain on their faces.

　　Chen Ge, on the other hand, noticed some bad signs from them, the calamity had already descended, and this world behind the door was starting to target him.

　　”Can’t the Underworld Tire and Yu See wait?” Chen Ge eventually didn’t find Du Ming, he turned around in the school building for a while and carried his bag to the roof.

　　Pushing open the iron door, Zhang Ya was sitting alone in the same place as before, with a lunchbox next to her, as if she was waiting for someone.

　　”Teacher Zhang?”

　　”I didn’t expect you to actually come over.” Zhang Ya waved, “When did you leave this morning?”

　　”I left as soon as the rain stopped, it’s my first time spending the night at someone’s house, it’s weirdly embarrassing.” Chen Ge sat down next to Zhang Ya, not knowing why his heart started to beat faster.

　　”Have you eaten?”

　　”No.”

　　”It’s not good for you to keep not eating at noon.” Zhang Ya opened the stacked lunch boxes, “I coincidentally typed in an extra serving of food today.”

　　……

　　The lunch break ended, Chen Ge returned to the classroom, and Zhang Ya returned to the office.

　　The second period in the afternoon was still Zhang Ya’s class, and Chen Ge was quite happy, but who knew that just as Zhang Ya started to speak in that class, the classroom door was pushed open.

　　Director Shi stood outside and waved at Zhang Ya, as if he had something very important to say to her.

　　Before going out, Zhang Ya still had a smile on her face, but when she came back, her eyebrows were furrowed together, but they soon stretched out again, she would not let her bad mood affect the students.

　　Working very hard, she finished the class and then she left the classroom in a hurry.

　　”Did something happen?”

　　Chen Ge carried her backpack and followed her out, and just as she arrived in the corridor, she heard two students talking in whispers.

　　”I heard that the new teacher was reprimanded by the director, it seems like it’s because of being close to the students.”

　　”Being close to students is nothing, right?”

　　”Who knows? She used to have a bad reputation and was very immoral, that’s why she came to our town to teach English.”

　　”Really? Fake? Don’t you dare say that.”

　　”I just heard it from someone, but it’s probably true.”

　　”I told you, what better job for such a beautiful woman than to be a teacher in a small town?”

　　”Yeah, you know what you’re getting into.”

　　Where the source of the rumors was Chen Ge didn’t know, even if he told the few students in front of him to shut up, more rumors would appear.

　　”Underworld Tire and Yu See are probably just waiting for me to make a move.”

　　After everyone had left, Chen Ge stood not far from the office and looked out the window at the rain that was slowly getting heavier.

　　Zhang Ya was again the last one to leave the office, and she saw Chen Ge, who had been waiting not far away, and Chen Ge saw her at the same time.

　　Chen Ge didn’t know if he would cause trouble for Zhang Ya if he went over now, and after he made sure that there was no one on the floor at this time, he still walked over.

　　”Why aren’t you home yet?” Zhang Ya revealed the exact same smile as usual, no sadness could be seen on this face alone, it was as if nothing had happened to her.

　　”Don’t let yourself be aggravated because you’re concerned about my feelings. Anything you need me to do, you can tell me.” Chen Ge held the black umbrella that he had brought from Zhang Ya’s house, and he didn’t return that umbrella to Zhang Ya: “Beside me, the only person who can talk like this is you.”

　　”I know.” Zhang Ya came closer to Chen Ge as she softly repeated what Chen Ge had just said, “Beside me, the only person who can talk like this is you.”

　　She held the red umbrella open, still wearing a light smile on her face, “Actually, there are many things I need you to do, such as I want you to study hard, not to have conflicts with your family, to be happy, and to have a good relationship with your classmates.”

　　”I will work hard to do all of these, I will do all of your requests, I just hope you can promise me one thing.” Chen Ge looked at Zhang Ya very seriously.

　　”What is it?”

　　”If one day you can’t bear the pressure and want to leave, before you go, I hope we can meet again.”

　　”How could I possibly leave?” Zhang Ya shook her head, “You’re thinking too much.”

　　”Don’t you care if I’m thinking too much, just say whether you’ll agree or not.” Chen Ge repeated the words like a child.

　　”Promise, if I was preparing to leave, I would definitely tell you in advance.” Zhang Ya returned rather helplessly.

　　”That’s fine.” Chen Ge instantly became happy.

　　”You’re really a little kid.” Zhang Ya’s smile at this time wasn’t as deliberate, it was a real smile, “You have an umbrella today, go home by yourself, and remember to send me a message when you get home to report that you’re safe. If you and your family are still having a hard time communicating, you can call me, I’ll help you communicate with them.”

　　”Don’t worry.” Chen Ge followed the agreement and really didn’t run around today, he waited for Zhang Ya to leave before he scaled the wall and left the school, saving the gatekeeper from gossiping.

　　Chen Ge deliberately kept his distance and returned to his house early.

　　”Brother, brother ……,” Luo Ruoyu was happy to see Chen Ge and ran over to open the door, but Chen Ge didn’t go in.

　　”Ruoyu, are you alone at home?”

　　”Enn, Dad, didn’t, get off work.” Luo Ruoyu was puzzled as to why Chen Ge didn’t enter the house, her big flashing eyes kept looking at Chen Ge.

　　”Then I’ll wait for him here.” The door to the room was left open and Luo Ruoyu didn’t go back, so Chen Ge simply sat in the hallway and told her a story.

　　As the only member of the Weird Tales Association, Chen Ge’s stockpile of stories was very large, and he deleted certain dark things and only told the good part of human nature.

　　I don’t know how long it was, but Chen Ge’s father came back, his face full of fatigue, and visible black threads appeared on the back of his hand that was carrying the groceries.