Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

The afterglow of the fireworks slowly dissipated in the night sky, and the shattered light turned into countless tiny sparks, falling over the snowfield like an inverted meteor shower.

Su Chengyun stood with his hands in his coat pockets, looking up at the last purple chrysanthemum firework unfolding high in the sky.

"I haven't felt this way in years."

Lin Wanyi held her husband's arm.

"The last time was when we set them off at the beach right after we got married."

Su Chengyun recalled that distant scene and remained silent for two seconds.

"Your skirt almost caught fire that time."

Lin Wanyi smiled and patted his arm.

In the distance, from the direction of the residential area, scattered fireworks began to rise into the sky.

The skyline of the entire suburbs was gradually illuminated by fireworks rising from all directions.

Thousands of lights illuminate the night, and fireworks light up the sky.

The residents who were setting off small fireworks in front of their homes noticed the giant fireworks rising from this wasteland.

Groups of two or three people began to walk in this direction.

An elderly woman in a red cotton-padded coat was taking pictures of the sky from a distance with her phone, while calling out to her husband behind her to come and see.

Several teenagers ran through the snow to a spot not far from them, craning their necks to scream and clap at the fireworks that were still intermittently rising into the sky.

"Wow, it's so beautiful! Mom, take a picture!"

The last firework burst out of the cardboard box, as bright as day.

A cheer erupted from the crowd.

The golden afterglow slowly faded in the air, and night once again swallowed up the vast snowfield.

Su Chengyun shrank his neck from the cold wind and turned to look at the two young men standing behind him.

"Alright, alright, you've had your fill of watching. Let's hurry back; the wind is making my old bones creak."

Lin Wanyi smiled and gave Su Chengyun a push.

"Are you an old man? You're only forty-eight."

The four of them walked back through the compacted snow, their feet crunching underfoot.

As they passed by the residents who were still excitedly taking photos and sharing them, the woman in the red cotton-padded jacket suddenly called out to them.

"Young man, did you set off these fireworks? They were so beautiful, adding so much festive cheer to everyone."

Xie Wang stopped and nodded politely.

Happy New Year, Auntie.

The woman kept saying "Happy New Year, Happy New Year," then turned around and continued sharing the video she had just filmed with her husband.

Back in the villa's courtyard, Su Chengyun stomped the snow off the soles of his shoes at the doorway.

"Alright, you've had a great New Year's celebration today. You young people should get some rest too."

Lin Wanyi changed into indoor slippers in the entryway and glanced back at Xie Wang, who followed her in.

"Xiao Wang, there's some hot red date and white fungus soup in the kitchen. You and Qinghe can each have a bowl to warm your stomach before going upstairs."

Xie Wang obediently replied, "Thank you, Auntie."

Su Chengyun and Lin Wanyi went up to the second floor one after the other.

Only two people remained in the living room.

Xie Wang walked to the sofa and sat down, taking out his phone from his pocket.

The moment the screen lit up, his gaze fell on the red notification on WeChat Moments.

Su Qinghe was serving up white fungus soup in the kitchen.

Xie Wang clicked on Su Qinghe's post on WeChat Moments.

The two people in the photo stand side by side under a sky full of fireworks; his eyes and brows are filled with a carefree smile, while her smile is clean and bright.

The accompanying text consists of eight characters: "Undeterred by green mountains, we will accompany each other."

The comments section has exploded.

Xu You: Wow, Su Su and you guys set off these fireworks! They were so sweet! Happy New Year!

Lu Wen: Just wait, next year I'll release one ten times bigger than yours.

Shen Hao: Holy crap, my sister-in-law finally posted on her WeChat Moments.

Su Yu's WeChat account, registered with a cartoon avatar, also popped up, saying "Happy New Year, sister! Happy New Year, brother-in-law!"

Xie Wang continued to slide his thumb down.

His finger stopped when he saw the next comment.

Old Li.

This is bad.

Happy New Year! Remember to get some rest, you'll have exams when school starts.

Xie Wang raised an eyebrow.

He then flipped through the pages.

Miss Chen's profile picture followed closely behind, with a thumbs-up emoji and the English phrase, "Happy New Year, you two."

Xie Wang walked to the kitchen doorway with his phone in his hand and leaned against the door frame.

Su Qinghe was carefully and attentively serving the white fungus soup into two white porcelain bowls with a ladle.

"Teacher Su."

Xie Wang's tone carried a drawn-out quality, clearly brewing a wicked laugh.

"Um?"

Su Qinghe didn't even look up.

"Old Li and Miss Chen both saw your post on WeChat Moments."

"What?"

Xie Wang flipped his phone screen over to show her the comments section.

"Old Li wished us a happy new year and reminded us that we'll have exams when school starts."

Su Qinghe put down the soup spoon and took three steps in two to walk up to him, snatching his phone away.

Her gaze swept quickly across the comments, and when she saw Lao Li and Miss Chen's avatars appear in the comment list, her usually cool and reserved face turned red from the roots of her ears at a visible speed.

"Oh no, I didn't block them!"

Su Qinghe's voice rose half an octave.

She reached for her phone on the counter with one hand and frantically tapped into her WeChat Moments settings.

Xie Wang leaned against the door frame, watching her helpless expression, and let out a low laugh.

Su Qinghe spent a long time going through the settings and finally discovered that his Moments were completely public to all his contacts.

She stomped her foot while holding her phone, the dull thud landing on the kitchen tiles.

"never mind."

Su Qinghe turned off his phone and put it in his pocket.

"But it doesn't really matter, they already knew anyway."

"It's rare to see Teacher Su so frank."

Su Qinghe rolled her eyes at him, picked up two bowls of white fungus soup, and went out.

The two of them sat quietly on the sofa in the living room and finished their bowl of sweet soup.

After going upstairs, they each returned to their rooms.

Xie Wang picked up his phone and went back to Su Qinghe's WeChat Moments.

Apart from this one post tonight, Su Qinghe's WeChat Moments is completely blank when scrolling up.

Hmph, I can't lose to Teacher Su either.

Then he exited Su Qinghe's page and opened his own WeChat.

The Moments feature is also a barren land that has never been used.

Xie Wang's thumb hovered above the screen for three seconds.

He opened his phone's photo album and found the photo he had secretly taken one afternoon in the Xinghuo Network office.

In the picture, Su Qinghe is sitting at her desk by the window, writing an English test paper with her head down. The winter sun shines obliquely in from the French windows, outlining a soft halo on her profile and shoulders.

Xie Wang selected the photo and clicked to send it to his WeChat Moments.

He typed a line in the caption input box.

Happy New Year to Ms. Su, the most beautiful teacher in the world!

send.

He tossed his phone next to his pillow, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling.

In less than thirty seconds, message notification sounds began to blare incessantly.

Xie Wang smiled as he read everyone's comments.

A moment later, the door to the guest room was pushed open.

Su Qinghe stood at the door wearing a loose white nightgown.

She stood with her hands on her hips, her hair still slightly damp from washing, with a few stray strands clinging to her neck.

"Xie Wang! You took pictures of me without my permission again!"

Xie scratched his head in frustration.

"Teacher Su is so beautiful, I couldn't resist."

Su Qinghe walked quickly to the bedside.

"Delete that post on your WeChat Moments."

Xie Wang leaned back onto the pillow and hid his phone on the other side of his body.

"I won't delete it."

"I didn't delete what you just sent."

Su Qinghe bent down to reach the hand hidden behind his back, and his entire body inevitably slumped onto the bed.

Xie Wang deftly shifted his body, easily dodging her attack.

The two of them tugged at each other several times on the large bed.

Su Qinghe was no match for him in strength, but her tenacity and indomitable spirit kept the farce going for quite some time.

"Teacher Su, please calm down. It's not good to hit someone during the Chinese New Year."

While dodging her arm that reached out to grab the phone, Xie Wang used his other hand to firmly protect her waist to prevent her from sliding off the edge of the bed.

Su Qinghe tried for a long time but failed.

She propped herself up on her arms to sit up from him, her breathing slightly rapid, a few strands of wet hair clinging to her flushed cheeks.

She lifted her foot and, through the blanket, lightly but firmly kicked Xie Wang's shin with the back of her foot.

Then she rolled out of bed, walked barefoot on the wooden floor, and quickly headed towards the door.

"I'll take pictures of you secretly tomorrow too."