Part Two: New Teacher

On the first day of school—Zhang Chen's first day of ninth grade—he was happier than he had ever been. This summer had been the only time he hadn't copied his homework, and also the happiest sixty days of his life. He only needed to report to school that morning, hand in his homework, pay the fees, and complete the paperwork, so there was no need to get up early.

Still, Zhang Chen got up as soon as the sun rose. He didn't go to school to train today because he had discovered a great spot: not far behind his home was a huge forest. Jinxi County planned to develop this woodland into a Forest Park, appealing to the public with its green, environmentally friendly image and earning the full support of Jinxi County's residents. It could also attract wealthy people from big cities to settle in their little county.

Construction had not officially begun yet, so the place had become Zhang Chen's training ground.

Running through the woods, he could leap onto one tree trunk, then leap again to the next. It felt like something out of Naruto. After finishing his running and jumping exercises, Zhang Chen jumped down from a tree and found the largest century-old tree in the area. Its trunk was so thick that five people could barely wrap their arms around it. It was covered in countless fist marks left by Zhang Chen's past training. Some were shallow, only one or two centimeters deep, while the deepest had sunk a full five centimeters into the trunk.

Zhang Chen took a side step back and copied the moves he'd seen on television, driving a heavy right hook into the trunk. Thud! A deep, weighty sound rang out, and a three-centimeter fist mark appeared in the wood. Then his left fist shot out. His fists alternated, leaves fluttered down, and birds and animals fled in alarm. After more than thirty punches in a row, Zhang Chen could no longer keep going. Both fists had reached their limit.

"Alright, time to go back and take a shower."

Zhang Chen took off his sweat-soaked tank top. His old belly was gone, and the faint outline of abs could now be seen. After casually grabbing breakfast outside the neighborhood, he returned home and headed straight for the bathroom. Water at just the right temperature streamed over his body, leaving him indescribably comfortable.

After drying and blow-drying his hair and changing clothes, he looked at his still-sleeping parents, picked up the several thousand yuan in tuition money they had left for him on the dining table, and went out.

Right, I don't need to get to school early today. I wonder when Wang Yizhi is going. Maybe I should text her. With that thought, Zhang Chen pulled out his phone and sent: "When are you going to school? I just left home. Want to go together?"

After waiting a little while with no reply, he was about to get on his bicycle and head to school.

"Beep beep beep~~~" His phone suddenly rang, and Zhang Chen nearly threw his bicycle aside. He pulled it out and saw the message.

"Hurry up. I'm waiting for you at the neighborhood entrance."

Zhang Chen put away his phone, slung his little backpack over his shoulders, and shot out of the neighborhood on his bicycle. Plenty of students were already heading toward school. Rather than following the crowd, he rode along the river. As Wang Yizhi's neighborhood gradually came into view, he spotted her standing alone by the roadside. She wore blue jeans and a pink T-shirt, with a light gray backpack on her back, waving at him.

They had known each other for so long that they were no longer as nervous as before. Zhang Chen stopped his bicycle in front of Yi Zhi, looked her over, and asked,

"Why aren't you riding today?"

Wang Yizhi paused before saying, "I barely rode it all summer. When I checked it this morning, I found it was broken. Give me a ride, okay? I was originally going to take a taxi."

Good. Great. Zhang Chen was overjoyed that her bicycle had broken down, but he put on a surprised expression. "Ah, it broke? I'll take a look tonight after evening study and see if I can fix it. Get on first."

Zhang Chen shifted his backpack from his back to his front. Once Wang Yizhi was seated, he set off. The feeling of taking his goddess to school for the first time was truly incomparable to riding side by side.

After riding for a while, Wang Yizhi, sitting sideways on the back of the bike, said softly,

"That bicycle doesn't need to be fixed for now. My parents are away on business recently, so I'll probably be staying at my cousin's place for the next two months."

Zhang Chen froze. He had never heard Wang Yizhi mention a cousin before, and hurriedly asked, "Your cousin? Does she live around here?"

"No, in the old town," Wang Yizhi said.

This time, Zhang Chen was genuinely stunned. After thinking for a long time, he didn't know whether he would still be able to take her home. He fell silent for a moment before saying, "Then..."

Just as he got out that one word, a voice came from behind him.

"If you don't think it's too much trouble, you can still give me a ride."

Zhang Chen almost let go of the handlebars. He immediately said, "No... no problem. If I don't take you, you'd have to spend so much on taxis. I don't have anything to do at night anyway."

Then a hand slowly reached around his waist and wrapped around him. If a pedestrian had appeared in front of them now, he definitely wouldn't have been able to brake.

But that wonderful moment did not last long. Zhang Chen saw a woman in her forties riding an electric scooter out from a small path on the left. She wore sunglasses, had curly shoulder-length hair, and black high heels planted on the scooter. It was none other than their homeroom teacher, Teacher Lu. And she seemed to have seen the two of them.

The arm around Zhang Chen's waist instantly withdrew. When the electric scooter drew near, they both said at once, "Hello, Teacher Lu!"

Zhang Chen thought, It's over, it's over. I'm dead. Last time, a boy and a girl were caught by Lu Ba just for walking together at school, and she tore them apart in her office. They never dared be together again, and even kept far apart between classes. Damn it, she can scold me all she wants, but if she scolds Wang Yizhi too, I'll fight her.

Lu Ba looked the two of them over, making Zhang Chen's heart rise into his throat. Yet she only asked in her usual tone, "Have you finished your homework?"

Zhang Chen hurriedly nodded. "We completed it according to the daily schedule. We're heading to register and hand it in now." Wang Yizhi, seated behind him, nodded as well.

Unexpectedly, Lu Ba nodded and said, "Mm, not bad. Hurry and register." Then she accelerated away from them.

Once Zhang Chen could no longer see their homeroom teacher, he slowly stopped the bike and looked back at Wang Yizhi. They met each other's eyes and smiled faintly before riding on toward school.

Actually, that makes sense. I've improved so quickly that our homeroom teacher probably credits Wang Yizhi for it. Besides, Wang Yizhi rose from sixth place to third place in the final exams. Sigh, grades really are important. They're like an all-purpose pass—useful everywhere.

After arriving at school and registering, Zhang Chen and Wang Yizhi quietly waited in the classroom. First, because they needed to receive their textbooks; and second, more importantly, because ninth-grade students would be starting a new subject—chemistry. The new teacher would come by that morning to meet everyone. There were still relatively few people in the classroom. As for Tan Fei and Er Wa, they might still have a test paper left to copy.

Zhang Chen flipped through the newly issued books, then looked at Wang Yizhi beside him. She was studying her new textbook seriously, so he opened his new English book and began previewing it as well.

An hour passed, and the classroom gradually became noisy. From the corner of his eye, Zhang Chen saw that Wang Yizhi was no longer reading. She had begun chatting with a group of girls in front of her, probably talking about how they had spent their vacation. He stood up, wanting to get some fresh air outside and check whether those two guys had arrived.

Leaning against the railing outside the classroom, Zhang Chen looked at the azure sky and felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

While Zhang Chen was spacing out, a hand landed on his shoulder. He instinctively turned around, only to see Er Wa and Tan Fei.

Huh? These two actually came to register without long faces, and they even look excited. Zhang Chen stared at them in disbelief.

Tan Fei patted Zhang Chen's shoulder twice more and said excitedly, "Brother Chen, we're in luck this semester. Do you know we're getting a new chemistry teacher?"

"Who doesn't know that? If you've got something to say, hurry up. Stop keeping us in suspense," Zhang Chen said.

"Er Wa and I were the last ones to hand in our homework at the office. Guess what we saw? A female teacher around twenty-eight, with an amazing figure and unbelievably beautiful looks. She was talking to Lu Ba and holding a chemistry textbook. If we're right, she's our chemistry teacher." The more Tan Fei spoke, the more excited he became.

"Er Wa and I have decided that even if we fail everything else this semester, we have to get full marks in chemistry."

"Click, click, click..." The sound of high heels interrupted the three of them. Without another word, they ran back into the classroom and sat up perfectly straight. The room instantly fell silent.

Before long, Lu Ba walked in. Someone else stood outside the classroom, but Zhang Chen's view was blocked. He could only see that she wore a white shirt and a black pencil skirt—a typical professional outfit.

"Students, you will be starting a new subject this semester—chemistry. The teacher who will be teaching you is Ms. Xie Wen." After speaking, Lu Ba stepped down from the podium.

A new teacher with long hair draped over her shoulders, a curvy figure, long slender legs, and high heels walked in. Everyone's eyes immediately turned toward the front. Zhang Chen was no exception. He noticed that her face bore a slight resemblance to Wang Yizhi's, though she possessed more presence and sensuality.

Quite a few boys' eyes lit up, while the girls also looked at her happily. But Zhang Chen felt something deeply unsettling about this new teacher. Most striking of all were the ten bright red nails on her fingers.

"Hello, students. I am your new chemistry teacher, Xie Wen." She then began writing on the blackboard. Not only was she beautiful, her handwriting was beautiful too. Yet those ten red nails made Zhang Chen increasingly uncomfortable the longer he looked at them.

"I graduated from Pingnan Normal University with a master's degree in Applied Chemistry and Education. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me." The moment she finished speaking, the classroom erupted in murmurs.

"Why is a graduate student teaching at our middle school?"

"Why doesn't she teach at a university? She should be able to find a pretty good job too."

"Other than that director, I don't think our school has any other teachers with graduate degrees."

The chatter rose one wave after another. A beautiful, young, highly educated woman with elegant handwriting had actually come to teach at a junior high school. Hardly anyone would believe it if they heard about it. Yet it had really happened in Zhang Chen's class. While everyone was immersed in extreme excitement, Zhang Chen was thoroughly shocked. He didn't believe something as unlikely as winning five million from a lottery ticket could happen around him without there being a problem.

"Quiet!" Lu Ba roared, and the classroom immediately fell silent. "Alright, classes officially begin this afternoon. Those who should go home, go home. Be back on time this afternoon."

After that, everyone crowded around the new teacher, asking her all kinds of questions. Tan Fei and Er Wa naturally charged in first. Zhang Chen packed his bag and noticed that Wang Yizhi was sitting there packing hers too rather than joining the crowd, so he walked over and asked,

"Why aren't you going over there to join the fun?"

"Why aren't you?" Wang Yizhi smiled.

"I... I'm not interested. But did you notice that the new teacher looks a little like you?" Zhang Chen paused at the question and immediately changed the subject.

"Of course she does. She's my cousin." Wang Yizhi's words nearly made Zhang Chen faint.

"Your cousin? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Zhang Chen scratched his head.

"I just wanted to surprise you. And you're the only one who knows about this, so don't tell anyone else, okay?" Wang Yizhi said cutely.

Zhang Chen's face reddened slightly. "Your cousin's Red Fingernails are pretty nice."

"Red Fingernails? Are you stupid, Zhang Chen? My cousin isn't wearing nail polish. What red fingernails?" Wang Yizhi said, patting Zhang Chen's firm arm.

Zhang Chen was a little surprised, but Wang Yizhi didn't seem to be joking. He turned around and looked again at the new teacher surrounded by the crowd. Her ten red nails swayed seductively through the air with her fingers...