Chapter 127: Longevity Lock

“How could that be? In my heart, Teacher Li will always be the most beautiful. No one can compare.”

Gu Chen was a bit confused, not understanding why she suddenly asked such a question, but quickly recovered and began to assure her.

Moreover, her looks were already top-tier; no other teacher in the school could compare to Li Yanqiu.

The class wouldn’t be envied by other classes or grades to the point of red-eyed jealousy, dreaming of having such a good-looking homeroom teacher.

“Is that so?”

“What if a prettier teacher actually comes later? What would you do then?”

Li Yanqiu was clearly struggling to suppress a smile, but she insisted on pressing the issue.

Like a jealous little girl, completely incomprehensible. Gu Chen hesitated.

‘If such a thing really happened, I’m not a saint; I’d definitely be attracted, but it wouldn’t affect my feelings for Li Yanqiu.’

But after only a two-second delay, the other pointed at him in anger.

“Fine! You did hesitate! I knew you were ungrateful. From now on, we’re done!”

With that, she stomped her foot and left in a huff.

“What the heck! Teacher Li, listen to me, it’s really not—”

“I’m not listening, not listening! Hmph!”

Li Yanqiu didn’t stop at all, acting like she was in a Qiong Yao drama.

“Don’t go.”

Gu Chen panicked, quickly chased after her, and in his haste grabbed her hand, swearing solemnly:

“Teacher Li, you’ve taught me for two years. No one can replace your position, really!”

“Pfft—”

Li Yanqiu was amused by his frantic explanation.

How could she possibly get angry over something like this?

She was just messing around.

She tilted her head and laughed:

“Also, how long are you planning to hold the teacher’s hand? Aren’t you afraid of being seen?”

“Sorry!”

Gu Chen realized it was inappropriate in public and quickly let go.

Luckily, they were near the office building and there weren’t many people around, or it could have been easily misunderstood.

“I get it. Go to the classroom now. Evening self-study has already started.”

Li Yanqiu licked her lips and looked thoughtfully at Gu Chen’s retreating back.

Time quickly arrived at Friday; the first monthly exam would be next week.

The tasks assigned by the teachers were especially heavy.

Each of the nine subjects had a set of test papers; just yesterday’s work would take a whole day to finish, and it was a headache to look at.

But there was no choice. Senior year three was the final sprint.

In the past, not to mention a two-day weekend, there wasn’t even a single day off.

If the Ministry of Education hadn’t issued a burden-reduction order, it would have been even more miserable.

But basically, it was just studying in a different place, not much difference.

After school in the afternoon, Gu Chen yawned as he walked out of the campus.

As usual, he went to the parking lot, unplugged the charger, put it in the trunk, and then rode his bike home, finally able to enjoy the weekend.

When he got home, no one was there as expected.

Dad didn’t know where he had gone to be busy.

He remembered Dad said he was going to rent a warehouse these two days; he must be handling that matter.

I wonder how it’s going.

Sure enough, the person in question appeared just when you think of him.

Just as he was about to go to his room to play a couple of games, Dad called.

“Xiao Chen, you’re off school now, right? When did you get home?”

“Already home. What’s up?”

Gu Chen suddenly had a bad feeling and frowned.

“Good, you’re home. Um, can you bring me my ID card? It’s in my room. I found a warehouse here—good location and price, suitable for storing goods. We’ll ship from here.”

Dad replied from the other end.

The results of the last live stream sales had come out; the numbers were decent.

The company pushed traffic, the streamer promoted hard, and together with the “deceptive photos” models on the online store, they actually fooled quite a few people into buying.

So they directly increased the purchase volume.

There was certainly no room at home, and it would be even more awkward if guests came.

Finding a suitable place to store things had been planned from the start.

They had originally planned to see how sales went; if it was sustainable, they would proceed to the next step.

“Okay, got it. Where is it?”

Gu Chen knew there was no good news and asked weakly.

“In the drawer under the second wardrobe. Unfortunately, this warehouse rental requires a real-name ID, and I forgot to bring it when I left.”

“Yeah, I’ll take a look.”

Gu Chen nodded and hung up.

He pushed open Dad’s room and scanned around.

First, he opened the second large wardrobe.

There really was a drawer underneath, and he rummaged through it before opening it.

There were all sorts of odds and ends inside.

“This should be it.”

After searching, he found Dad’s ID card in a box.

He specifically checked to make sure the ID wasn’t expired to avoid mistakes.

At the same time, Dad sent the warehouse address—a full dozen kilometers away.

“Hmm?”

Just as he was putting things away and about to close the wardrobe door, something suddenly rolled out from the clutter under the wardrobe and hit his shin.

Gu Chen bent down to pick it up and found it was a cloth doll.

It felt strangely familiar, and memories instantly took him back to childhood.

When he was six years old, he liked a koala plush toy in a toy store and pestered Dad to buy it.

After persistent pleading, he finally got it.

But as he grew up, he felt that a man was past the age of playing with dolls, so he just threw it away.

Unexpectedly, Dad had picked it up and kept it in the wardrobe.

“Phew, this really brings back memories.”

Gu Chen looked at the worn-out plush toy and sighed.

Looking back on his childhood, it seemed like most of his memories were gone.

As he squeezed the toy, he suddenly felt a very hard place on the doll’s back, as if something was hidden inside.

“What’s this?”

Out of curiosity, he pulled the zipper and sure enough, he felt it.

It was a silver object, very classical in design, with a long chain hanging an old-fashioned bronze lock.

Gu Chen’s pupils contracted.

‘Isn’t this the longevity lock I wore as a child? When did it get stuffed inside the doll’s belly? Dad said he didn’t know where it went, but it was unexpectedly found now.’

Although it was useless, it was still a childhood possession with some sentimental value.

So he put the items in his room, occasionally taking them out to reminisce about his childhood.

After taking care of everything, he took the ID card downstairs, got on his bike, and headed to the destination.

With rush hour traffic, it took nearly a full hour to reach the warehouse entrance.

This area was already suburban, looking a bit desolate.

The last stretch was all dirt road, jolting his rear end painfully.

Looking up, it was just a storefront with nothing but a rolling shutter door.

Dad was there discussing something with the landlord.

“I’m here.”

Gu Chen parked the bike and walked in.

“Xiao Chen’s here! Hard work, hard work.”

Dad smiled broadly and took the ID card.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.”

“Wait, don’t rush. But Dad suddenly called him back.”