Hong Kong films: Starting from Shaolin Temple

Page 244

As the school bell rang, students, holding umbrellas, poured out of the school gate in twos and threes, quickly disappearing into the rain and mist.

Zhou Xingxing had already slipped away to contact his colleagues at the police station at an internet cafe. Only Long Yan remained in the large F-class classroom. He had no umbrella and wasn't in a hurry; he simply sat quietly by the window, watching the rain pattering on the banana leaves outside, his gaze distant, as if contemplating some Zen wisdom.

The rain poured down harder and harder, showing no sign of stopping. The sky gradually darkened.

Long Yan stood up, ready to walk back to the Pi family mansion in the rain. In his view, braving the wind and rain was also a form of self-cultivation.

However, when he arrived at the entrance of the teaching building, he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure.

Teacher He Min stood gracefully at the bottom of the steps, holding a light blue umbrella. She seemed to have been waiting for a long time, her exposed calves splattered with mud. Upon seeing Long Yan, a gentle smile immediately appeared on her face.

"Long Yan, I knew you didn't bring an umbrella." Her voice sounded especially clear and warm against the backdrop of the rain.

For the first time, Long Yan paused in his steps. He looked at the female teacher who had waited for him in the rain, and his once calm heart was stirred once more.

"Teacher, you..."

"Stop talking, come here quickly." Without waiting for a reply, Teacher He Min took a few steps closer to him, held the umbrella over his head to shield him from the wind and rain, and said, "I'll take you to the bus stop."

The umbrella is small and needs to accommodate two people at the same time, so the distance between them inevitably gets closer.

Long Yan could even smell the faint, pleasant scent of shampoo emanating from He Min's hair. He could feel the warmth emanating from her arm and her slightly rapid breathing.

This was a warmth he had never experienced before, a warmth full of the simple joys of everyday life.

The two of them walked silently in the rain, sharing an umbrella. Raindrops pattered rhythmically on the umbrella, like a gentle serenade. Everything around them seemed to blur, except for this small world under the umbrella, clear and warm.

“Long Yan,” Teacher He Min broke the silence first, her profile appearing exceptionally beautiful in the dim light, “Congratulations on doing so well on this exam.”

"The sea of ​​knowledge is boundless; I've only just begun," Long Yan replied calmly.

Teacher He Min chuckled softly: "You're always like this, talking like an old man. Actually... I've always been curious why you chose to study at Sheng Yuqiang. With your intelligence, you would have a bright future no matter which prestigious school you went to."

Long Yan fell silent. He couldn't tell her that he had come to find the stolen sacred artifact.

Seeing that he didn't speak, He Min thought she had asked another inappropriate question, and quickly explained, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your privacy. I just feel... I feel that it's a bit of a waste for you to stay here."

She paused, seemingly mustering a great deal of courage, and finally asked the question that had been lingering in her mind.

"Long Yan, are you... really planning to remain a monk forever?"

Her voice was soft, trembling slightly with a hint of anticipation. She looked up, her beautiful eyes behind her glasses shining brightly in the dim light, fixed on Long Yan.

At that moment, Long Yan's heart trembled.

He looked into her eyes, which were filled with concern and some other complex emotion, and into the few strands of her hair that were wet with rain and stuck to her forehead. For the first time, he didn't know how to answer.

"Taking refuge in the Buddha is my lifelong wish." He finally gave that standard answer. But for some reason, this time, he sounded somewhat less confident.

A hint of disappointment flashed in He Min's eyes. But she quickly rallied and gave him a gentle smile: "No matter which path you choose in the future, your teacher will support you. I just hope that you can follow your heart and not regret it."

As we were talking, we arrived at the bus stop.

A bus happened to arrive and stopped in front of the two of them.

"The car is here, hurry up and get on." Teacher He Min pushed the umbrella completely towards Long Yan, but half of her shoulder was instantly soaked by the rain.

Looking at her wet shoulders and then at her gentle eyes, Long Yan felt a crack quietly appear in a corner of his heart.

(Zhao Hao) He didn't get into the car immediately, but suddenly asked, "Teacher, are you... going home alone?"

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to care about someone else.

He Min paused for a moment, then smiled even more broadly and nodded: "Yes, no."

"Be careful on the road." After saying this, Long Yan turned around and boarded the bus.

The car doors closed and it slowly drove away. Through the misty car window, Long Yan saw that Teacher He Min was still standing there, holding that light blue umbrella, waving gently at him until his figure completely disappeared into the rain.

That night, during his meditation, Long Yan experienced his first moment of turmoil. What kept replaying in his mind was no longer the profound Buddhist scriptures, but rather that pale blue umbrella and the pair of gentle, watery eyes beneath it.

Chapter 243 Cindy's attempt to kiss was caught by Teacher He Min.

The tenderness of the rainy night, like a pebble thrown into a lake, rippled through the hearts of Long Yan and He Min.

He Min's care for Long Yan became increasingly meticulous. She often prepared study materials for him or kept him after class to chat about trivial topics.

Long Yan was no longer as resistant as he had been at the beginning. Although he didn't say much, at least he no longer used Buddhist scriptures to block any possibility of conversation.

The ambiguous atmosphere between the two, which was more than teacher and student but less than lovers, grew stronger day by day.

All of this was observed by two other students in the class, who were anxious about it.

One of them was Stephen Chow. He felt a pang of jealousy watching Teacher He Min's undisguised "favoritism" towards Long Yan. He thought that with his own humor, he should have been more likable than that wooden monk.

The other is Cindy, who has a fiery personality and is passionate and decisive in love and hate.

Cindy disapproved of Teacher He Min's slow, insidious approach. In her opinion, if you like someone, you should say it out loud and take the initiative! Hesitation is the behavior of a coward.

So, on a sunny afternoon, she decided to take action.

During the break between classes, at 7:30, she blocked Long Yan at the entrance to the stairs leading to the rooftop.

"Long Yan, come with me for a moment, I have something to tell you." Cindy's tone was forceful and left no room for refusal.

Long Yan glanced at her, thought for a moment, and then followed her. He felt that it was best to clarify some things as soon as possible to avoid any complications.

On the rooftop, a gentle breeze stirred, ruffling the girl's neat short hair. Cindy crossed her arms, her back to Long Yan, gazing at the distant, towering city buildings.

"Long Yan," she began, her voice lacking its usual arrogance, but instead carrying a rare seriousness, "I'm asking you, what do you think of me?"

"You are a straightforward and honest person, and you dare to act on your own initiative. You are a person of strong character," Long Yan gave a fair assessment.

"Heh, you know how to talk." Cindy turned around, her bright eyes staring straight at Long Yan, her gaze so intense it seemed she wanted to melt him. "Then do you know? I, Cindy, like you."

Her confession was so direct and sudden, without any preamble or embellishment.

Long Yan frowned again. He felt that his worldly ties had been too strong lately.

“Benefactor Cindy, this humble monk…”

He was about to use the standard line he used on Anne when Cindy rudely interrupted him.

"Stop! Don't talk to me about 'this humble monk,' 'benefactor,' or 'Amitabha'!" Cindy took a step forward, closing the distance between them to less than half a meter. "I don't care if you're a monk or a Taoist priest, all I know is that when I see you, my heart beats very fast! I want to talk to you, I want to see you, I want... I want to be with you! It's that simple!"

Her cheeks flushed slightly with excitement, and her eyes burned with an indomitable flame.

Looking at her like this, Long Yan was momentarily speechless. He had dealt with assassins and faced crises before, but he had never dealt with such intense and direct emotions.

He took a deep breath, preparing to sever this worldly ties with an even more resolute attitude.

“Cindy, listen to me, I…”

However, just as he opened his mouth, about to utter a word of refusal, Cindy made a bold move that surprised everyone.

She suddenly stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and pressed her soft, warm lips hard against Long Yan's slightly parted lips, which were wide open in surprise!

Time seems to stand still at this moment.

Long Yan's mind went blank. He felt the soft, unfamiliar touch on his lips, and the girl's rapid, hot breath. His Zen mind, which he had cultivated for more than ten years and thought was as solid as a rock, collapsed at this moment.

This was a shy, clumsy, yet fearless and courageous surprise kiss.

What's even more dramatic is that this scene was witnessed by someone who shouldn't have been there.

Teacher He Min came to the rooftop because Long Yan had forgotten his homework. As soon as she stepped onto the rooftop, she saw a scene that made her heart stop and her breath catch in her throat.

She saw that rebellious and unruly girl bravely kissing the special boy in her heart. And that boy didn't push her away!

"Clap."

The thick stack of homework books in Ms. He Min's hand slipped and fell with a soft sound, startling the two people who were still immersed in shock.

Cindy, like a startled rabbit, immediately released Long Yan, her cheeks flushed red as if they were about to bleed, but her eyes showed no remorse, instead carrying a hint of provocation as she looked at He Min at the door.

Long Yan finally came to his senses. He subconsciously raised his hand and touched his lips, where the girl's warmth and fragrance still seemed to linger. He looked at Teacher He Min, who was pale-faced and filled with shock and disappointment at the door, opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward.

He Min gave Long Yan a deep look, her eyes filled with complex emotions. There was shock, disappointment, and sadness, but more than anything, there was deep regret and resentment at her own inaction.

She didn't say anything, but silently squatted down, picked up the scattered notebooks, then turned around and walked away quickly, looking lost and dejected.

Watching Teacher He Min's forlorn figure, Long Yan felt that things seemed to be getting out of control.

Chapter 244 Teacher He Min's Concern

The kiss on the rooftop was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up towering waves in the hearts of Long Yan, He Min, and Cindy that were difficult to quell for a long time.

The atmosphere at school became subtle and awkward the next day.

Cindy walked with the air of a victorious general. Every now and then, she would cast a smug and possessive glance at Long Yan, as if announcing to the whole world that this man had been "signed" by her.

Long Yan was caught in an unprecedented predicament. He realized for the first time that some things were far more complicated than simply exorcising demons. Cracks appeared in his supposedly unwavering Zen mind. When he meditated, he couldn't shake the image of Cindy's burning lips and Teacher He Min's eyes filled with loss and sorrow.

He wanted to explain to Teacher He Min, but he didn't know where to begin. What could he explain? That it was a misunderstanding? But it really was a kiss. That he had no feelings for Cindy? But was his relationship with He Min truly just that of a teacher and student?

Even he himself couldn't answer that question.

Zhou Xingxing keenly sensed the strange atmosphere. Looking at Long Yan's absent-minded appearance, and then at Cindy's smug expression and Teacher He Min's obviously depressed mood, he guessed what was going on.

"Holy crap! Monk! You're serious?" He sidled up to Long Yan, his face full of admiration. "You're amazing! You didn't make a move until you did, and now you've taken down our F-class's female demon! Teach me a couple of moves, how did you do that?"

Long Yan glanced at him, then sighed deeply, a sigh filled with a weariness and worry that belied his age.

Everyone thought that after suffering such a "blow", Teacher He Min would turn cold towards Long Yan, at least keep her distance, and maintain her dignity as a teacher.

However, her reaction surprised everyone.

She wasn't cold or distant, and she didn't even deliberately avoid Long Yan's gaze in class. She was still the gentle and responsible teacher He Min. Only, there was a hint of barely perceptible, heartbreaking weariness in that gentleness.

When Long Yan was distracted, she would gently tap the table and remind him with her eyes to "pay attention."

When handing out homework, she would still gently place Long Yan's copy in front of him, but no longer with a warm smile as before.

When she saw that Long Yan's plate only contained vegetables and tofu while getting food at the cafeteria, she would take the initiative to put the chicken leg from her plate into his bowl, and before he could refuse, she would quickly turn around and leave.

This silent and unrequited concern, like fine, gentle needles, pierced Long Yan's heart softly yet with unparalleled clarity.

He couldn't understand why she could still be so kind to him after seeing that scene. This kindness confused and unsettled him, and for the first time, it stirred feelings of "heartache" and "debt" in his already chaotic heart.

He began to subconsciously observe her.

He noticed that although she was still attentive in class, she would occasionally write the wrong words on the blackboard.