The Overzealous PE Teacher

The Breeding Body sat before Senior Qing, his expression sheepish and head bowed. “Senior Qing, how old are you?”

Senior Qing: …

In the government facility’s monitoring room, the Colonel shot Yuan Anqing a helpless look. “You actually introduced him to Senior Qing?”

“I just wanted you to help keep an eye on the kid,” Yuan Anqing sighed, his tone weary. “I hate children with no sense of boundaries.”

“You’re the Savior. You shouldn’t have such strong biases against the young.”

“I don’t have biases,” Yuan Anqing pushed up his glasses, his face a mask of corporate indifference. “Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t have children in my life at all. But now they claim to be my dependents, and it’s incredibly annoying.” The other orphans were none of his business, and he didn’t need to bother with them.

“There’s nothing annoying about children,” Chen Jiao interjected from the side, smoothing her newly cut, short hair.

Zhuo, upon seeing Chen Jiao’s short hair, quickly darted to the other side of Yuan Anqing, using his body as a shield. But considering the size difference between the two, Yuan Anqing couldn’t provide any real cover. Zhuo’s frantic movement was conspicuous and clumsy.

“Can you help me take care of them?” Yuan Anqing asked Chen Jiao.

“I’m just a teacher. I only handle academics, not their messy personal lives,” Chen Jiao refused outright.

“You’re a teacher—don’t you care about students’ mental health?” Zhuo retorted from behind Yuan. When Chen Jiao looked at him, he quickly hid again.

“Why are you so cautious? I’m not blaming you,” Chen Jiao said, feeling utterly helpless.

“I just tied your hair into a butterfly bow, and you went and cut it all off—that’s too extreme,” Zhuo muttered, still hiding. “If it bothered you that much, you could have just let me undo it.” He had genuinely thought Chen Jiao had chopped off all her hair in a fit of pure, impulsive rage.

“It’s easier to just keep it short,” Chen Jiao replied.

“As for mental health—sorry, I’m just a math teacher. It’s not my job description,” Chen Jiao added, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

“No smoking!” Zhuo yelled, though he stayed safely behind Yuan.

Chen Jiao exhaled a sigh. She looked at Yuan Anqing. “Your little boyfriend is such a pain. Have you considered swapping him out?”

“I’ve already quit smoking,” Yuan Anqing replied, deftly dodging the question.

“Keep talking bad about me, and I’ll swat you!” Zhuo hissed, though he no longer mentioned biting.

“Has that aura been affecting you recently?” Yuan Anqing asked Chen Jiao.

“Kind of,” Chen Jiao said, putting a cigarette in her mouth but not lighting it. “I’m usually a cold person, but yesterday I dreamed about the kids I used to teach.”

“Dreamt they got scared crying by math homework?” Zhuo asked.

“Not that. Just… dreamed about a couple of… well, not-so-healthy students,” Chen Jiao said. “And a former colleague who quit.”

Yuan Anqing frowned. He worried Chen Jiao might be entering her first stage of Awakening.

Chen Jiao squinted. “Honestly, I think people with too much empathy shouldn’t be teachers.”

“Oh! I get it!” Zhuo straightened up, grinning at Chen Jiao. “You’re a cold bastard!”

“I am.” To their surprise, Chen Jiao nodded.

Yuan Anqing lightly tapped Zhuo’s back as a warning. “Were you dreaming about those kids who jumped?” He remembered Chen Jiao had discussed that tragedy before. Zhuo had been sitting there then, too. Based on his memory, the atmosphere had been suffocating, like being in a graveyard.

“Ah, not just that. Also a few with severe psychological issues who hadn’t gone that far yet,” Chen Jiao sighed. “Dreaming about them didn’t feel good.”

“You should sympathize with what they went through,” Zhuo said, looking at Chen Jiao. “Not blame them for making you uncomfortable.”

“Sympathy is useless, so there’s no need to show it,” Chen Jiao met Zhuo’s gaze. “So I only need to care about myself.”

Zheng Xiao’an, standing by, didn’t understand the nuance, but they didn’t ask rashly. They just obediently stayed on the sidelines.

“Those young, compassionate teachers—they’d agonize over their own helplessness. They were full of emotion, burning with passion. So they always ended up breaking down. In severe cases, they’d quit,” Chen Jiao said, taking a drag from her unlit cigarette. “It was just because they cared too much.”

“You suddenly bringing this up now—is it also because you care too much?” Yuan Anqing looked at Chen Jiao. “Would you mind stepping out with me to find another place?”

Chen Jiao raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

“To intervene a little,” Yuan Anqing explained. “Let off some steam.”

“I don’t need to let off steam.” Chen Jiao frowned.

“People who don’t need to vent don’t talk about this in public,” Yuan Anqing felt Chen Jiao was still having issues, just more subtle ones.

Chen Jiao pulled the cigarette from her mouth, pressing it hard into the ashtray. She had a feeling that even if she refused, it wouldn’t work. Yuan Anqing was stubborn.

From the first time she saw him, Chen Jiao hadn’t liked him. The guy was too depressing. And now, he was annoying. Annoying enough, and he had a giant monster by his side.

Chen Jiao and Yuan Anqing stared each other down.

Yuan Anqing placed his hand on Chen Jiao’s head. “Try releasing your power.”

“I want to come too!” Zhuo immediately spoke up.

“What’s it to you?” Chen Jiao asked.

“But I’m curious!” Zhuo widened his eyes.

That trick didn’t work on Chen Jiao. “Why should I care if you’re curious? I have no obligation to satisfy your curiosity.”

“Yuan Anqing.” Zhuo pitifully sought help. “If you don’t take me, I’ll be really upset.”

Yuan Anqing had no choice either. It was Chen Jiao’s consciousness, after all. If she didn’t want Zhuo to see, Yuan Anqing couldn’t decide for her.

Zhuo read Yuan Anqing’s expression and knew he wouldn’t be joining.

“Wait, wait!” Chen Jiao interrupted. “I’ll let him join.”

Zhuo shot up, beaming.

Chen Jiao continued, “But you have to promise not to flaunt your affection in my consciousness.”

“What counts as flaunting affection?” Zhuo didn’t know the boundary.

“Hugging, kissing.” Chen Jiao said.

“What about unconsciously?”

“Then please consciously control yourselves.” Chen Jiao’s mouth twitched.

“Not even touching? How about holding hands? Can I wrap my tail around Yuan Anqing?” Zhuo pressed on.

“You won’t have a tail in there,” Chen Jiao said. “Because you need to blend in. You have to become a teacher.”

“I’m going to be a teacher?!” Zhuo was shocked. “I’ve never even been to elementary school!”

Chen Jiao looked at Yuan Anqing. “I know one more illiterate person now.”

“But my boyfriend has a Master’s!” Zhuo threw an arm around Yuan Anqing’s shoulder. “Pretty impressive, huh?”

Chen Jiao took a deep breath. “You’ll be a PE teacher.”

“Do PE teachers have an office?” Zhuo didn’t understand these things.

“Yes,” Yuan Anqing nodded.

“Oh, that works.” Zhuo hugged him. “I’ll be your personal PE teacher.”

Chen Jiao: …

Was that a love confession?

His pupils turned gold in an instant. In less than a second, the three appeared in a large office.

Zhuo glanced at Yuan Anqing’s suit and whistled. “Wow, you look so handsome!” He remembered Yuan Anqing wearing a suit the first day they met. But that was for a high-stakes business meeting. Most of the time, his clothes were loose and comfortable.

“Please don’t get excited,” Chen Jiao coughed lightly. “I don’t want to catch you two being lovey-dovey in the woods.”

As she spoke, the bell for class rang.

Chen Jiao frowned.

“It’s Zhuo’s class,” Yuan Anqing said. “I made a few adjustments. You’ve retired, so you need some time to adapt.”

“Huh?!” Zhuo was stunned.

Yuan Anqing stood up and pointed at the schedule on Zhuo’s desk. “Look here to see which classroom you should go to.”

“Ah, okay, okay.” Zhuo bent down to read. “PE teacher takes the students to the playground for exercises, right?”

“First, take them for a run, then do some pull-ups or sit-ups.” Yuan Anqing nodded.

“Alright! I’m off!” Zhuo was confident. He was lively himself, so blending in with high schoolers wouldn’t be a problem.

After Zhuo left, Yuan Anqing spoke to Chen Jiao. “It’s not that you don’t care.”

“What?” Chen Jiao didn’t follow.

“It’s just that you need to stay calm,” Yuan Anqing continued. “Calmness and stability are what you need to maintain.”

This time Chen Jiao understood. She let out a soft laugh. “You really have changed.” He was even capable of comforting people now.

Chen Jiao fell silent.

Yuan Anqing went on. “You can’t change their parents. Those sentimental teachers can’t change their parents either. You just haven’t broken down from it.”

Chen Jiao didn’t respond. After a long while, she took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. Then she flipped open the books and lesson plans on her desk. In this vividly realistic dream, she needed to do her job properly. “Next class is mine. I’ll just wing it.”

Yuan Anqing said nothing more. He let Chen Jiao take the lead. He trusted that she knew better than him what to do.

But Chen Jiao was wrong. There was no next class.

Forty-five minutes later.

“The entire second year of high school’s Class Ten went to the infirmary?” Chen Jiao frowned. “Huh?”

Zhuo, who had just finished class, scratched his head apologetically. “I was really serious about taking them through exercises. Then they suddenly collapsed on the ground.”

Yuan Anqing suddenly realized his instructions might have been too vague. Zhuo’s concept of exercise was completely different from those kids’. “…Did you take breaks?”

“Taking breaks is slacking off!” Zhuo grinned cheerfully. “Weren’t I supposed to take them for exercise?”

“After running them for twelve laps, I started them on pull-ups.” Zhuo added. “But those girls couldn’t seem to do even one.”

“Wait, wait!” Yuan Anqing sensed something wrong. “Female students don’t have to do pull-ups.”

“Huh? Really? I thought they were just trying to slack off and lying to me.” Zhuo suddenly realized. “I even threatened a couple of them to get up.”

Yuan Anqing froze.

“And it’s thirty-four degrees outside!” Chen Jiao’s voice was almost distorted with suppressed rage. “You kept them exercising all this time in the heat?!”

Zhuo suddenly felt Chen Jiao wasn’t so bad. “Don’t worry! The heat didn’t affect me!”

“Who cares about you!?” Those kids clearly had heatstroke!