My palms were sweating from nervousness, and I kept wiping them on my pants. Jiang Qingqing seemed to notice my movements out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly turned her stunningly beautiful face toward me and asked, "Why are you so nervous?" I argued, "I'm not nervous!" She replied, "Oh, really?" I said, "Yes," and she said, "Then look at me." I had no choice but to muster the courage to meet her gaze.
Jiang Qingqing's eyes seemed to have some kind of magic, completely mesmerizing me. Then I heard her ask softly, "Zhang Cheng, do you think your teacher is pretty?" Dazed, as if under a spell, I nodded and said, "Yes, you are."
Suddenly, Jiang Qingqing pushed me away. The smile on her face vanished, replaced by a stern expression, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.
At that moment, I finally understood—everything, from bringing me to the hotel, to the shower, to asking if she was pretty, had all been a trap. She had set it up, waiting for me to fall right into it. My heart instantly turned cold.
Jiang Qingqing was now furious, her face twisted in anger, her expression terrifying.
I was so scared my face turned pale. I hurriedly explained, "At the slow-dance bar, everyone was wearing masks. I didn't know it was you, Teacher Jiang! If I had known, I wouldn't have dared, not even with a hundred guts!" Hearing this, Jiang Qingqing sneered and said, "Do you take me for a fool? If you didn't know it was me, why did you come up with all those excuses like throat polyps surgery? You knew it was me, and you were afraid I'd recognize you—that's why you pulled all that nonsense!"
She went on to scold me, saying, "Zhang Cheng, I know exactly what kind of filth is in your head. This matter will be dealt with seriously. You can just wait to be expelled!"
When Jiang Qingqing threatened me with expulsion, I got angry. I hate being threatened more than anything, and on top of that, she had just deliberately set me up. Still, I suppressed my anger and said, "You're just a counselor. At most, you can kick me out of your class. If you don't want me, I can transfer to another class. What right do you have to expel me?"
Jiang Qingqing seemed caught off guard by my defiance, and her face grew even angrier.
She said that after what happened today, she could slap me ten times and it still wouldn't be enough. I replied, "Think whatever you want." Then I told her, "You stay here and rest. I'm leaving." After that, I walked out. Luckily, even though it was late at night, it was easy to hail a taxi. By the time I got home, Yan Shi was already asleep. Earlier, I had sent her a text, lying that it was a classmate's birthday and I'd be staying over at their place.
Back in my room, I lay quietly on my bed, replaying everything that had happened today. It all felt like a dream.
I figured Jiang Qingqing probably wouldn't respond to that WeChat account I used to tease her anymore—after all, I had stood her up tonight. Thinking it over, once we were back at school, she would definitely handle this matter seriously. I decided that as soon as I returned, I'd go straight to the grade leader and request a class transfer. Instead of waiting for Jiang Qingqing to kick me out, I'd apply to switch classes myself.