Hiding the Heart

"Teacher Gu."

Yan Manjia retreated to the stairs and politely greeted Gu Zhi, then turned and walked down the stairs.

The evening self-study has been over for almost half an hour, and the teachers in the office are also preparing to leave and go back to the dormitory to rest.

"It's safer to walk in crowds."

Gu Zhi said gently in a deep voice.

Yan Manjia was stunned at the entrance of the stairs. She never thought that Teacher Gu would respond to her. Her eyes stayed on the ground. She recalled that in Teacher Gu's class before, he would also ask questions to herself. If he didn't answer, he would ask her questions carefully.

Explain to himself that other teachers are indifferent to him and only take care of students with good grades, but Yan Manjia realizes that he seems to be different from other teachers. Not only is he rigorous and realistic in class, but he also makes mistakes after class.

The students explained the questions carefully and patiently.

Yan Manjia looked up at the empty corridor and recalled what happened last night. She ran up the stairs and looked at Gu Zhi's back in the corridor. After a while, there was no one in the teaching building.

"I...can I trust you?"

This sentence seemed not to have been well thought out, but its meaning had been buried deep in her heart for a long time.

This was the only time she expressed it directly. She didn't understand why she asked such a sensitive question, but this was the safety she needed most.

Yan Manjia looked around and found that there was no one, so she raised this question to Gu Zhi cautiously. Yan Manjia tensed her face, pursed her lips slightly, held her schoolbag tightly with both hands, her eyes were blurry with tears, and she blinked continuously.

The eyes are tense and distracted.

Gu Zhi slowly stopped, raised the corners of his mouth slightly without any obvious curvature, pushed up his glasses, turned around and slowly walked towards Yan Manjia.

"Before you asked this question, you already had the answer."

Gu Zhi stopped at a safe distance three steps in front of Yan Manjia and said in a gentle tone.

"I...want to leave...this."

The bright moonlight highlighted her fair face, and endless tears shed from the corners of Yan Manjia's eyes. At this moment, all she wanted to do was leave this place that made her hate and fear her. She didn't want her brain to recall the unbearable memories.

Before that, she pinched her right arm hard with her left hand.

"Then make yourself stronger."

Gu Zhi noticed Yan Manjia's behavior, stepped forward, and gently grabbed Yan Manjia's right hand.

"Do not beat me."

Yan Manjia subconsciously backed away from the outstretched hand and huddled at the entrance of the classroom, her hands tightly protecting her head. Her whole body was trembling and her eyes were closed tightly.

Gu Zhi frowned and opened his lips slightly. He looked at Yan Manjia who was curled up in a ball in surprise. He looked around and saw that all the teachers and students had left. He slowly squatted down and carefully opened his hands to help Yan Manjia up.

good.

"I won't hurt you, trust me."

Gu Zhi said gently, his indifferent expression becoming warm.

Yan Manjia gradually eased her emotions, calmed down and listened carefully to Teacher Gu's magnetic and gentle voice, not her mother's overbearing and ferocious voice. She slowly opened her eyes, put down her hands, and stood up slowly.

"Teacher Gu, I...I'm fine."

Yan Manjia looked around. It was not a closed and narrow space. There were bright lights and fresh air. It was not completely black that could not be seen or touched. There was no stinky smell. She squinted her eyes and felt deeply.

He took a deep breath and walked down the stairs again.

"It's so late, teacher will send you back."

Gu Zhi walked past Yan Manjia and walked in front of Yan Manjia. He looked back at Yan Manjia with a smile and said.

Although Gu Zhi is usually very humorous and full of smiles in class, Yan Manjia felt that it was the first time she saw Teacher Gu's pure smile, and a long-lost smile emerged, and her cute dimples could no longer be hidden.

"good."

Yan Manjia said with a smile.

The street is very quiet at night. Only the barbecue restaurant opposite the school entrance is a little lively. There are a few tables and a few small benches outside, and they are all full of people. After the boss grilled a plate of skewers, another person came to put it in the freezer.

I got a handful of skewers, grilled wings, grilled sausages, and ribs.

The proprietress took it and skillfully sprinkled the seasonings behind the grill. There were a few drinking men in the store, eating skewers, cheering, and drinking beer. Soon they would fall unconscious.

Gu Zhi walked to Yan Manjia's right, looked at the boys happily eating skewers outside the barbecue restaurant, and cleared his throat.

"Wouldn't it be nice to sleep on a comfortable bed?"

Gu Zhi looked stern and scolded several male students in other classes he taught in a cold tone.

Several students suddenly felt a slight chill. As soon as they heard this strict and deep voice, they knew it was the chemistry teacher. Without looking back, they quickly grabbed their companions and fled in a hurry.

Gu Zhi looked at the backs of several students running away in panic and smiled helplessly.

When it's time to be strict, Gu Zhi is also very strict.

Although Yan Manjia lives not far from the school, it still takes ten minutes to walk.

The only sound beside the street was the buzzing of bees flying under the streetlights, and the stray dogs looking for unpalatable food discarded by others. There was no one around.

"What was your name yesterday morning."

Gu Zhi quickened his steps, walked in front of Yan Manjia, and said in a lowered voice.

Yan Manjia stopped and froze on the spot, looking straight at Gu Zhi. She couldn't believe what Gu Zhi said, and she didn't want to admit that someone knew her difference.

She pretended not to hear and continued walking in front of Gu Zhi as if nothing had happened.

"If you don't tell the teacher, how can I distinguish you from her?"

Seeing that Yan Manjia didn't respond, Gu Zhi continued.

Yan Manjia stopped under the streetlight. Under the light, she had bright, shoulder-length short hair. The chilly evening breeze blew gently on her cheeks. The strands of hair passed over her perfectly layered facial features, beside her ears.

A piece of broken hair could not help but caress her moist mouth and did not leave. She swallowed nervously, and the curve of her jaw was clearer than the mountain in the painting.

She frowned and blinked continuously.

She hesitated, not knowing how to face Teacher Gu's question. She gently brushed the strands of hair on her lips behind her ears.

Seeing Yan Manjia's delay in responding, Gu Zhi took his long legs and walked to a safe distance three steps in front of Yan Manjia.

"The first step to trust is to have nothing to hide."

Gu Zhi's attitude was very sincere and he spoke very gently.

Yan Manjia looked up and saw Teacher Gu's eyes were kind and sincere under the street lamp, and her heart began to waver slowly.

"She... doesn't have a name, but she will be named later."

Yan Manjia pursed her lips gently, her eyes gradually disappeared from the anxiety, and looked at Teacher Gu with expectation. Her expression seemed a little timid, and the worry of adversity was still lingering in her heart.

"I'm home now."

Yan Manjia walked to the stairwell between several stores and stepped on it. The dim yellow light on the top of the corner of the stairwell came on.

"Okay, the teacher will wait for you to come up for a while and then leave."

The streetlight behind him highlighted Gu Zhi's slender legs, and he looked like a model in front of the light.

Yan Manjia took out the key from her schoolbag and turned it slowly. After all, the door was too old.

No matter how carefully Yan Manjia opened the door, the door still made a sound. Yan Manjia stepped in lightly and closed the door gently, but the door was disobedient and had to make a sound before it would obediently close the door frame.

Although the sound of the door was not loud, Gu Zhi's ears were more sensitive. As soon as Gu Zhi, who was leaning against the wall, heard the sound of the door closing, he put his hands in his trouser pockets and took a calm and calm step to leave.

He walked alone in the center of Pingning Street. As he walked, he kicked his feet and danced. As he danced, he regarded this street as his stage, and thoughts came to his mind.

Back to the time when we performed on the lively stage pool.

He was dazzling on the stage, and his gorgeous dance clothes made his handsome and upright figure even more powerful. His confident and unique dancing posture on the stage attracted the attention of many girls in the audience, especially one girl whose eyes never left his body.

, the sweat from his swing on the stage soaked the strands of his hair, and he never stopped for a moment.

When the dance ended and applause erupted, he was exhausted and sweat soaked through his dance clothes. The applause still didn't stop when the curtain came. He bent down and bowed in thanks, and the sweat on his hair kept dripping on the stage drop by drop, and left.

At that moment, his smile unexpectedly burst into the girl's eyes.

What Yan Manjia said just now further proved that Gu Zhi's speculation was correct, which made Gu Zhi even more determined that his decision was correct. However, he recalled Yan Manjia's behavior in the teaching building, which made his own

He was very confused and puzzled in his heart. He seemed to have guessed that maybe the relatives in her life were not treating her well, but he was helpless. He could only let his guess disappear and silently pray that his guess was wrong.

But his guess was never wrong.

"If you don't want to kneel down as punishment, wash the dishes quickly."

Yan Manjia's father opened the door, and the menacing eyes in the crack of the door were extremely scary. The father yelled at her, and after saying that, he closed the door with a bang.

The sound of the door frightened Yan Manjia, who trembled all over. She stood there and did not dare to move. She took a deep breath to calm down, quickly returned to the room, put her schoolbag gently on the chair, and then entered the kitchen cautiously.

I washed the dishes on the floor, not daring to make any noise to disturb my sleeping father.

In the room, the father opened the drawer and took out a wrinkled photo. It was a photo of himself and his wife with a little boy in the middle. His rough hands trembled and he touched the little boy in the photo, and his expression became deep.

A scene from a long time ago appeared in my mind. The sunny park was filled with laughter and laughter. It was a playground for children. There was a sunny and delicate little boy sliding down the slide from beginning to end.

The little boy stopped where he was, then ran to someone who hugged his thigh tightly, and said with a smile: "Dad, I was very good today."
To be continued...