Liu Wei

Biodata

Appearance

• Build: Plump and full-figured 7 91.
• Glasses: Wears thick prescription glasses, which she frequently adjusts while addressing students 6 7.
• Presentation: Wears light makeup for the first senior-year parent-teacher meeting, treating it as an important occasion 64.

Personality

Liu Wei is stern, quick-tempered, and openly partial to high-achieving students. She treats Bai Qingxia with exceptional warmth while frequently scolding Lu Yuanqiu. Her contrasting reactions are especially conspicuous at the shot-put competition: she smiles whenever Bai Qingxia comes into view, then immediately turns stern when Lu Yuanqiu steps in front of her 7 47.

Her competitiveness extends to both examinations and school sports. Bai Qingxia’s usual results can raise Class 28’s average by seven or eight points, making her especially valuable to Liu Wei. After Bai misses the previous semester’s final examinations and the class falls out of the year’s top three, Liu Wei becomes determined to recover its standing. Her long-running rivalry with Class 29’s homeroom teacher, Cao Yan, intensifies this ambition 40.

Despite her harsh treatment of Lu Yuanqiu, she recognizes genuine improvement. At the parent-teacher meeting, she publicly praises the style and depth of his Chinese essay and admits that his progress has astonished her 65.

Abilities & Skills

Chinese Instruction

• Essay assessment: Identifies the quality of Lu Yuanqiu’s writing despite his weak performance elsewhere on the Chinese paper; his essay loses only five points 65.
• Public-speaking practice: Introduces compulsory five-minute speeches before Chinese class to prepare students for college presentations 109.
• Flexible speech topics: Allows students to speak on any subject, provided they address the class for the full five minutes. Her schedule gives each student two or three turns before graduation 109.

Classroom Management

• Performance-based seating: Assigns deskmates according to examination results and later organizes another seating change after the monthly examinations 7 91.
• Close supervision: Monitors students from the doorway, classroom window, and lectern, repeatedly catching Lu Yuanqiu distracting Bai Qingxia 7 9 28 60.
• Discipline: Uses reprimands, threats of parental intervention, and physical measures such as grabbing Lu Yuanqiu’s ear. She also charges at him with a stick after he deliberately pokes Bai Qingxia 7 92.
• Exercise enforcement: Requires students excused from group running to attend at the trackside rather than remain upstairs 108.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Start of Senior Year

• Reprimands Lu Yuanqiu for arriving late on the first day of school 6.
• Seats him beside Bai Qingxia in the back row. She explains that Bai’s poor recorded ranking resulted from missing the final examinations because of trouble at home, and offers to move her forward if she cannot see 7.
• Warns Lu Yuanqiu not to interfere with Bai’s studies and tells Bai to report any bullying 7.
• Before the monthly examinations, urges Lu Yuanqiu to escape the bottom ten and promises him a thumbs-up if he succeeds 31.

Autumn Sports Meet

• Organizes Class 28’s procession preparations, announces the requirement for girls to wear knee-high socks with their skirts, and selects Bai Qingxia as placard-bearer 12 30 37.
• Enters Lu Yuanqiu in five events without consulting him, arguing that he should contribute athletically if he cannot contribute academically. She exempts Bai Qingxia from the same expectation because Bai needs time to study 31.
• Moves Lu Yuanqiu into the procession’s first row after realizing that Bai Qingxia will not release his wrist until he is allowed to stand near her 38 39.
• Leads the class in cheering during his 3,000-meter race and tolerates his finish-line clowning because he is defeating a runner from Cao Yan’s class 41.
• Secures a later throwing slot when he is missing before the shot-put event, then demands five gold medals after his first victory 45 46 47.
• Pressures him to defeat Class 29’s Mao Sheng in the 800 meters and smiles smugly at Cao Yan after he wins 49 50.

Parent-Teacher Meeting and Hospital Visit

• Announces red-flower awards for the highest score and greatest improvement in each subject. Bai Qingxia wins the Chinese award with 139 points 64.
• Allows Su Xiaoya to accept Bai’s award and carefully pins it to her, saying she can receive the honor on Bai’s mother’s behalf 64.
• Awards Lu Yuanqiu greatest improvement in Chinese for his score of 75 and publicly praises his essay 65.
• Later brings two police officers to Class 28, after which Bai Qingxia is taken to Lucheng City First People’s Hospital 74.

Seating Changes and Basketball Tournament

• Agrees to let Lu Yuanqiu remain Bai Qingxia’s deskmate after he promises to help Class 28 surpass Class 29’s average. She makes the arrangement conditional on Bai’s consent, which Bai immediately gives 91.
• Checks on the boys’ basketball uniforms, discusses adding embroidered names, and recruits students for cheerleading practice 92.
• Shouts for Lu Yuanqiu to win when Class 28 faces Class 29 in the tournament 103.

Relationships

• Bai Qingxia — Her favored student. Liu Wei protects her study time, accommodates her wishes during the procession, and repeatedly intervenes when she believes Lu Yuanqiu is harassing her 7 31 39 92.
• Lu Yuanqiu — A frequently disciplined student who becomes an important athletic representative for her class. His academic improvement earns her praise, while his promise to surpass Class 29 persuades her to reconsider his seating 31 47 65 91.
• Cao Yan — Rival homeroom teacher of Senior Class 29. Their longstanding grudge fuels competition over examination averages and sports results 40 41 50.
• Su Xiaoya — Lu Yuanqiu’s mother. Liu Wei lets her accept Bai Qingxia’s award before presenting her with her own son’s improvement award 64 65.
• Zheng Yifeng — A student whose lack of effort exasperates her. She repeatedly scolds him as he takes a full minute to complete the hundred-meter race 42.

Notable Quotes

“Lu Yuanqiu, do you really think you’re the main character? Late on the very first day of school?” 6

“Take the class placard. You’re the face of Senior Class 28 today.” 37

“All in all, this boy has improved tremendously—so much that it astonished me.” 65