The Ruler

Nobody x Strict Teacher

Tang Xue had always been the one people overlooked. She studied hard, but she wasn't especially quick-witted, and her grades stayed around the middle of the class.

She was an extra, one of the handful of students whose names their teachers often couldn't remember.

Her friend Pan Ye was her complete opposite.

Pan Ye was kind and did well in school. Her classmates and teachers all liked her, including their homeroom teacher, Shao Zhengping, a stern, mountain-like woman of unyielding resolve.

And so, for a very, very long time, Tang Xue became a bystander to their story.

What was Tang Xue? A silent little shadow, an invisible girl Shao Zhengping never noticed.

Eventually, Tang Xue grew tired, tired enough to let go.

Shao Zhengping, I hope you have a future together.

That year, Shao Zhengping finally “saw” Tang Xue...

[As a scholar, defy convention]

[As a teacher, discipline yourself and uphold propriety]

Little Scene One:

The ruler in Shao Zhengping's hand had struck the chalk-covered blackboard and the desks of students who weren't paying attention. She had never once hit a student.

Until the day Tang Xue, eyes red, said to her, “Teacher Shao, don't you know why I turned out this way? I...”

Afraid Tang Xue would say what came next, Shao Zhengping, usually calm and efficient, lost her composure and brought the ruler down on Tang Xue's palm.

“Be quiet.”

“Teacher Shao, I...”

“Be quiet!”

“I...”

Every time Tang Xue opened her mouth, Shao Zhengping struck her palm, forbidding her to cross the line and warning her to follow the rules.

Shao Zhengping possessed an innate authority and sanctity as a teacher, born to impart knowledge and teach.

Little Scene Two:

-- They shared a pair of earphones on the rooftop, listening to the same song.

-- Tang Xue watched from the sidelines.

-- On a romantic rainy night, they threw away their umbrellas and ran into the rain without a second thought, embracing as they danced.

-- Tang Xue watched from the sidelines.

At the hotel entrance, Shao Zhengping's passionate kiss landed behind Pan Ye's ear. Tang Xue looked up at the stars in Shao Zhengping's eyes that did not belong to her, crumpled the movie ticket she could never give her, and stumbled away with tears streaming down her face. Still, she smiled as she offered her blessing to the two women walking hand in hand into the hotel--

“I hope you have an absolutely wonderful night.”

Little Scene Three:

That year, what ended for Tang Xue wasn't just the college entrance exam. It was also her dogged pursuit of Shao Zhengping.

To escape the shadows of her past, she tried accepting the advances of other people around her.

One late night.

Tang Xue stumbled into a room, drunk, and saw a woman with a seductive silhouette standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, a cigarette between her fingers.

She wore slender high heels and a long dress that clung to her waist. Her long, satin-black hair cascaded over her shoulders.

Tang Xue called out, “Aunt Liu.”

The woman's back trembled slightly, and ash fell from her cigarette. She turned around. Her red lips looked even more vivid against her sorrowful expression.

Tang Xue's eyes widened in shock. “Tea... Teacher Shao, why have you become like this?”

Shao Zhengping's hand shook slightly as she brought the cigarette to her lips. A broken smile curved her mouth. “Isn't this the kind of woman you like?”

Little Scene Four:

Years later, when Tang Xue saw Shao Zhengping again, she was no longer as timid as before. She was poised and confident, much more mature.

She was no longer as passionate about love as she had been when she was young. She had learned to take many things in stride.

Back at her alma mater, standing at the teacher's lectern, Tang Xue introduced herself to the students. “Hello, everyone. My name is Tang Xue. Tang, as in the Tang dynasty, and Xue, as in falling snow.”

Shao Zhengping sat below the lectern, watching her with tears in her eyes.

Shao Zhengping: “Teacher Tang, would you be free to meet me sometime?”

Tang Xue: “I'm sorry, Teacher Shao. I have plans.”

Shao Zhengping: “May I ask what they are?”

Tang Xue smiled faintly, her words carrying a deeper meaning. “I'm helping a very well-behaved student study ‘Ode on the Red Cliffs.’ I like her very much.”

Shao Zhengping stood rooted to the spot as memories of the past surfaced.

She still remembered that night, years ago, when Shao Zhengping coaxed Tang Xue into bed, only for Tang Xue to make her recite “Ode on the Red Cliffs” all night at ruler-point.

But the next day, all Tang Xue was left with was a letter.

They never saw each other again.

Those were Shao Zhengping's own words.

Reading Guide:

1. Happy ending, bittersweet story, both are each other's only ones, switch roles in bed, with the older partner more often on top.

2. This story isn't for readers with extreme character preferences. The blurb is told from the younger character's point of view. There is no romance while the teacher-student relationship continues; intimacy takes place after the younger character graduates and becomes an adult.

Theme: Believe in the power of love