Qianbao

Zhuang Wenqian hadn't expected a single remark from Jiang Nian to set the whole class off, or that Yu Tongjie's attempt to stir things up had this kind of history behind it.

Things had gone this far. There was no taking them back now.

"Quiet!"

"Stop making a scene and sit down!" Qianbao put on her teacher's stern face again and swept her gaze across the class. "Anyone still standing can go stand in Mr. Liu's office!"

Once she invoked their homeroom teacher, Old Liu, the class noticeably quieted down.

Frowning, Qianbao turned to look at Yu Tongjie. The little shit was merely silent. He wasn't acting out or wearing a vicious expression.

Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. She had genuinely been afraid he'd take a leap of faith from the fourth floor.

Well, this little shit was pretty mentally resilient!

Zhuang Wenqian was young herself and could appreciate absurdist internet humor. She had married a small-business owner; while she wasn't fabulously wealthy, she at least lived in comfort.

Seeing nothing unusual about Yu Tongjie, she prepared to finish going through the translation.

At this point, stopping would only seem stranger. It was enough to leave it at that.

The senior-year English office was only so big, and Jiang Nian's former English teacher sat directly opposite Zhuang Wenqian. She knew perfectly well whether Jiang Nian had cheated.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have called on Jiang Nian out of the blue.

Zhuang Wenqian disliked both Jiang Nian's refusal to do his test paper and students who stirred up trouble in class.

"You there, go first. Translate the sentence."

Yu Tongjie lowered his head slightly and gritted his teeth as he began a stiff translation. "Before the earthquake, the sewage rose, but no one realized an earthquake was coming."

He didn't recognize the word "canals" and had forgotten what "wells" meant, so he could only give this vague translation.

"Yes, you've got the general meaning right," Qianbao encouraged him. "For reading comprehension, you don't have to know every word. Working out the meaning through context is also a valid approach."

"If we forget what a word means for a moment, we can use the context to guess roughly what it's connected to. Yes, places sewage flows through, right?"

The summer heat was stifling, and bright sunlight shone outside the windows. The electronic buzz of the English teacher's portable voice amplifier echoed through the classroom.

Some of the girls sitting near the front glanced at Jiang Nian, who stood holding a blank test paper and looking distinctly distracted, and couldn't help secretly suppressing smiles.

In Chinese schools, the good-looking students with good grades were usually the first to enjoy their youth.

Jiang Nian had both. His grades weren't exceptional, but they were respectable enough for the Olympiad Class. And his face was handsome enough to make anything he did seem justified.

Maybe senior-year stress had gotten to them, but they really loved someone who didn't play nice and would hit back right to another person's face.

That felt good.

After explaining the first sentence, Zhuang Wenqian turned to Jiang Nian and tossed out a remark.

"Just translate it."

At that, everyone's eyes involuntarily turned toward Jiang Nian. He lifted the blank test paper, but instead of translating immediately, he flicked it.

"All of it?"

The classroom instantly fell silent. That white sheet of paper looked especially conspicuous in the sunlight.

Qianbao faltered, then said irritably, "If you translate all of it, what am I supposed to teach?"

The class immediately burst into laughter.

Li Hua egged him on. "Miss, he's trying to steal your job."

Amid his classmates' teasing, Jiang Nian began translating the next passage. "In an instant, collapsing stairways, shattered mountainsides, enormous cracks tearing through the ground-life froze at that moment."

Zhuang Wenqian nodded. "That's very accurate. Now, let's look at the vocabulary."

The translation continued like that, alternating between the two sides, one sentence each. Yu Tongjie struggled more and more, getting several sentences completely wrong, their meanings wildly off.

As for Jiang Nian, Qianbao would essentially begin explaining the moment he finished speaking. Before they were even halfway through, Zhuang Wenqian told Yu Tongjie to sit down.

Although Qianbao had encouraged and praised Yu Tongjie throughout, everyone in the class could clearly see who was in the right.

The people around Yu Tongjie were looking at him differently now. He would even spread rumors about someone who had moved up into this class with him. Who would dare hang out with him anymore? Who knew what he'd say behind their backs?

I tell you I can't hold my liquor, and you go around saying I don't have long to live?

Jiang Nian translated for an entire period and stood at the front holding his blank test paper for an entire period, too. Showing off really was addictive. Even after a whole period of it, he didn't feel tired.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

To avoid a direct confrontation, Zhuang Wenqian took Jiang Nian with her as she left. The moment they stepped out of the classroom, a deafening uproar erupted behind them.

Bright sunlight filled the corridor.

With her lesson plans tucked against her chest, Qianbao walked ahead, her footsteps clicking and a waft of perfume trailing after her. Jiang Nian kept pace beside her as they threaded through the crowded corridor.

"Miss, I need to use the bathroom."

"Will holding it a little longer kill you?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Depends how long I have to hold it," Jiang Nian muttered.

Teachers were more tolerant of students who did well in their subject. As for how much special treatment they received, that depended entirely on how high their scores were. A hundred and forty was a clear dividing line.

English was different from the other subjects. A hundred and twenty was merely average. A hundred and thirty made you a top student, while anything above a hundred and forty put you in a league of your own.

"Still being a smart mouth? I haven't settled the score with you for disrupting my class yet." Qianbao turned and glared at him, threatening, "I'll have Mr. Liu give you a scolding in a minute."

"That's a bit much, isn't it, Miss?" Jiang Nian was clearly unfazed. Grinning, he said, "Fine, I won't go to the bathroom. I'll reluctantly hold it another half hour."

"You can't be so impulsive just because you have good grades. You need to get along with your classmates, understand?" Qianbao earnestly counseled him. "The National Day holiday only just ended. You still have another year together."

"Not necessarily," Jiang Nian abruptly replied. "What if he gets dropped after this month's joint exam?"

Qianbao's words caught in her throat.

He really was the same inside and out. Even outside the classroom, was he still this aggressive?

"You said yourself it's a 'what if.' Have you thought about what you'll do if he stays?" Qianbao walked into the office, sat down, and handed him her cup.

"Go fill this with hot water for me first."

Jiang Nian was speechless. Seriously? She's already ordering me around?

"'Kay."

After he filled the cup, Qianbao dropped a few unidentified flowers into it. Steam curled upward, carrying a strange fragrance, and Jiang Nian's nose twitched.

"Miss, you're so young, and you're already getting into health remedies?"

At the word "young," Zhuang Wenqian's eyes curved into a smile. This little shit did know how to say something nice after all.

"Oh, my child's almost old enough for elementary school. I'm hardly young."

Women often said the opposite of what they meant. Normally, the next move would be to keep praising Qianbao's youth, saying you couldn't tell she'd had a child and that she looked practically the same age as her students.

Instead, Jiang Nian stopped just short.

He stared at the unidentified medicinal ingredients in her cup. "This thing that looks like a centipede..."

Under the desk, Qianbao's fist inexplicably clenched. She said nothing, merely staring at him.

Her stare gave Jiang Nian the creeps. Swallowing, he said, "Miss, you look only seventeen."

Qianbao's expression brightened instantly. Covering her mouth, she laughed. "Oh, you flatter me."

Thanks to Uchiha Mirai, The Only Officially Designated Honest Man, Campaigning North and South, Hidden Tight, Little Yellow Chick 86, Da God Mwah Mwah, Dieting Taotie, Reader 1887, and Moonset Still Restless for voting with two monthly tickets each. Thanks to Kong Zi, Reader 0429, Little White 1, Reader 6200, Not Optimistic Enough, Ink Falls Without a Trace, Reader 3287, Six Gods High, Between Mountains and Seas, Reader 3141, Reader 6698, Misfire, Reader 2221, Sword Saint Legend, Wu Hongqie, Gazing North at the Huai, and wei6969 for voting with one monthly ticket each.

Thanks to Guardian LXN for the 100 Qidian coin tip, and Menace HA for the 100 Qidian coin tip.

May all you bosses have strong backs and healthy kidneys.

(End of chapter)