### 587. Special Treatment
The class teacher had thinning hair, a beer belly, and wore a white shirt—he looked a bit like the internet-famous Teacher Li Yongle.
He used to mainly teach math and had always gotten along well with his students. His dull math classes would often turn into sessions where he’d brag for half the class, talking about everything under the sun, giving hot takes that, in hindsight, seemed a bit extreme and a little whiny. Yet, he was adored by students who hadn’t quite outgrown their teenage angst.
But now, even though he still wore that familiar white shirt and black pants, he had turned into an ordinary street vendor, and it was hard to see the former, spirited teacher in him.
Lin Nan sat on a small stool, watching the teacher stand up, his face lighting up with a grin as he approached a customer, and she felt a pang of discomfort in her heart.
The last time she saw her teacher was at last year’s summer reunion, where she, shy as ever, had only watched the teacher drink and chat boisterously with other students from a distance.
A year had passed, and her once-familiar teacher was someone Lin Nan struggled to recognize.
She turned to Chen Yao next to her, her expression glum.
“Now he’s making nearly ten thousand a month,” Chen Yao said with a smile.
“…”
Lin Nan was left speechless. If she were him, she’d definitely choose to sell snacks too; after all, money makes the world go round.
The pay for teachers in a small county isn’t high, and there’s no way their teacher’s salary was close to ten thousand. Plus, he wasn’t the type to run tutoring sessions on the side.
The teacher’s latest venture didn’t quite work out, but he returned holding a watermelon and plopped down across from them.
He slapped it with a loud bang, splitting the thin-skinned watermelon into pieces, took out two slices for each of them, and beamed at Lin Nan, “See? Your teacher is still impressive, right?”
“Old teacher, you’re getting younger every day!” Chen Yao bragged without holding back.
Lin Nan took a slice, rolled her eyes, and said, “It’s just a thin skin; I could do it too.”
“You’re still terrible at talking! You should learn from Chen Yao; otherwise, when you graduate from college, you’ll be left eating dirt.” The teacher smiled, his eyes crinkling with wrinkles as he munched on his watermelon, looking affectionately at the two. “You two are the most memorable students I’ve had in all these years.”
“Really?” Chen Yao looked skeptical.
“It’s mostly about Lin Nan. She’s clearly a good kid but insists on following you around and picking up bad habits.” The teacher regarded Chen Yao with disdain. “If it weren’t for you dragging Lin Nan down, she could have easily gotten into a 211 university.”
“Not my fault…” Chen Yao muttered, turning away, “It’s not like I forced her to skip class and play all night. I only took her to the internet cafe because no one was home to keep her company!”
Sure, he had plenty of excuses now, but back then, he just genuinely liked playing games with Lin Nan—after all, there were hardly any other supports that coordinated as well with him.
Thinking back to when they were sophomores, they’d stay up all night, plowing through games, taking down streamers left and right. Their gaming IDs even made it into video compilations online! Naturally, he overlooked his reality.
Too bad playing video games won’t pay the bills; at least his skills weren’t at a professional level.
“Back then, I was really surprised to find out you were a girl,” the teacher said, chomping down on watermelon as he grinned at Lin Nan.
Lin Nan lowered her head, munching on watermelon, reflecting on how surprised she was when she first became a girl.
“But thinking about it now, you always had a girl’s personality, and you look good too. I’d believe you were a girl all along.” The teacher continued with his cheerful chatter, “If I’d known you were a girl, I would’ve had my boy chase after you, but now he’s stuck with this Chen Yao brat.”
Given how back in high school he’d always call Lin Nan to his office for heartfelt chats and toss her some fruit now and then, he was really the closest person to her besides Chen Yao.
Sometimes, co-workers even joked that Lin Nan was his lovechild.
“Right, right, I’m the lovechild,” Chen Yao sighed heavily, “And just now you said Lin Nan and I are perfect for each other!”
The teacher completely ignored Chen Yao’s lament and continued to chat with Lin Nan, “I heard your parents divorced?”
“Yeah,” Lin Nan nodded, looking troubled. “My dad doesn’t give my mom any money, and then he racked up his own debts and disappeared.”
“Don’t worry, the court will get you justice,” the teacher said, squinting with a smile, “Your mom is still young; she’ll find a good man.”
It should have been so, but of course, that other family’s daughter didn’t approve.
Now, Lin Nan’s mother and that uncle seemed to have no connection anymore. If they did, inviting that uncle’s daughter out would enable Lin Nan to use her ‘magic’ to convince her to agree.
But Chen Yao felt something was off: “Hey, teacher, you aren’t crushing on Lin Nan’s mom, are you? What the heck? You think being Lin Nan’s class teacher isn’t enough? You wanna be her dad too?!”
The teacher smacked him on the head, making Chen Yao grimace in pain.
His mom wouldn’t hit him that hard, but the teacher was different—she hit with full force, since Chen Yao had thick skin.
Meanwhile, Lin Nan pondered: “If you married my mom, that could actually be pretty nice.”
“Why are you in such a rush to find your mom a partner?” Chen Yao rolled his eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed by Lin Nan’s eagerness.
“You know what my mom’s situation is!” Lin Nan sighed, forcing a smile. “She spent nearly twenty years with my dad, and now she doesn’t even have a place to stay.”
The group fell silent.
She looked down, worrying about her mom’s future: “After twenty years, divorced, and walked away with nothing. She doesn’t even have retirement insurance or a place to live. At forty, she still has to stay in a factory. If I give her money every month for her old age… what happens if something happens to me?”
So it’s best if her mom finds another man to marry.
That last uncle had been a good option; they hadn’t been lovey-dovey but at least had feelings for each other. Too bad that uncle’s daughter had messed things up.
And she had known the teacher for three years now; she trusted his character.
Lin Nan stared straight at the teacher, suddenly grinning and asking, “Teacher, you really aren’t interested in my mom, are you?”
“Stay out of adult matters, you kids!” The teacher playfully smacked Lin Nan’s head again, but this time she didn’t use much force.
