Realizing that her thoughts had strayed earlier, Lin Wei was slightly out of sorts for the whole morning study period.
She was mainly embarrassed.
Especially since she mistakenly thought he was going to kiss her and said seriously to him that she didn't have a boyfriend.
Some things are not worth thinking about, the more you think about them the more embarrassed you become, and so Lin Wei didn't dare to glance backwards for the whole morning.
However, at lunchtime in the cafeteria, Bai Jian started talking to Lin Wei again about that peculiar abbreviation-loving classmate behind her: "Jiang Su slept all the way from morning study session till the school bell rang in the noon. Ten times the bell rang in between, and he didn't even budge once..."
"...Impressive, isn't it?" Bai Jian nudged her arm when Lin Wei didn't respond for a long time.
Lin Wei snapped out of her thoughts and replied nonchalantly: "Impressive."
He's got impressive kidneys.
He didn't use the bathroom all morning.
…
The head teacher of sophomore class 1 was Jian Zhangyun. She had been teaching for eight years, and this was her first time as a homeroom teacher.
Jian Zhangyun used to be Jiang Su's Chinese teacher in his first year. After Jiang Su dropped out, Jian Zhangyun took a six-month leave due to her pregnancy. When she came back after giving birth, the school, fearing that she might not be in top condition, didn't let her continue teaching the graduating class Jiang Su used to be in. The homeroom teacher of Lin Wei's class had just moved out of the province with her husband, so the school simply had Jian Zhangyun take over sophomore class 1.
The reason Jiang Su, despite his abysmal scores on the mock tests upon his return, was allowed to join sophomore class 1 was that none of the homeroom teachers of the science stream classes in sophomore year, with the exception of Jian Zhangyun, were willing to take him on.
The first afternoon session was Jian Zhangyun's class. It was easy to get drowsy after lunch, and midway through the lesson, many students could no longer resist the urge to doze off.
Jian Zhangyun picked up a piece of chalk and tapped on the blackboard with force. The drooping heads of the students shot up one after another. Only the one at the very back next to the aisle remained flopped on the desk, as if he had no bones.
Jian Zhangyun stared at Jiang Su for a few seconds, then hesitated before breaking off a piece of chalk and throwing it squarely at his back: "Stand up."
Jiang Su didn't move an inch and continued to rest his head on the desk.
Jian Zhangyun raised her voice: "Jiang Su."
The person lying down finally moved. He first turned his head slightly, then slowly lifted it.
It was only upon realizing that someone was calling for him that he propped himself up and slowly rose to his feet.
"Take off your hat. Since when were you allowed to wear a hat in class?" Jian Zhangyun scolded while picking on Jiang Su's faults. "Didn't you get a school uniform the day before yesterday? Why aren't you wearing it? Where's the disciplinary committee member?"
Lin Wei was silent for three seconds, "..... Yes."
"Not wearing a school uniform, 2 points are deducted from your civility score. Sleeping in Chinese class, 2 points are deducted from your discipline score. Oh, wait. You also slept through four classes this morning. That's a total of 10 points off your discipline score. You only wrote your name for yesterday's homework, which cost you 5 points. That's a total of 17 points off. Don't worry about the punishment right now. Let's accumulate his penalties. I trust that he will reach 50 points soon. At that time, Jiang Su will be responsible for all cleaning duties this term. Keep it up Jiang Su, I have faith in you.
After a pause, Jian Zhangyun asked: "Have you deducted the points yet, Lin Wei?"
Lin Wei took her pen and quietly wrote down Jiang Su's name and the number 17, "..... Done."
"Hm, very good." Jian Zhangyun nodded in satisfaction, then turned her gaze back to Jiang Su: "Take off your hat."
Jiang Su stood there under everyone's gaze, and after a few seconds of silence, he impatiently reached up and took off his hat.
Lin Wei realized that everyone was looking backward, so she also turned her head out of curiosity.
A handsome face caught her eyes.
The boy didn't seem to care, allowing his eyes to droop in an indifferent manner. His eyelashes were long, making it seem as if they were closed.
He had a scrape on his right cheek, and the wound had slightly crusted over.
He wore two small black studs in the two holes on his right ear.
Being slightly short-sighted, Jian Zhangyun didn't notice the studs in Jiang Su's ears so didn't deduct points for his appearance. "Back to the point, the ancient poem we were discussing actually describes a policy adopted towards foreign nations, it was, generally speaking, an ancient diplomatic technique. Jiang Su, can you tell us what the ancient diplomatic method was?"
The blackboard had large characters scrawled on it saying "The emperor's favor descends on people, cutting off love for the sake of diplomatic marriages". Jiang Su lifted his eyelids and said: "Sending princesses."
Jian Zhangyun: "...."
The rumors about Jiang Su were terrible, there were already a lot of people in the classroom who wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. They all lowered their heads, trying hard to suppress their laughter.
Three seconds later, Jian Zhangyun couldn't help herself and laughed: "Alright, I'll count that as the correct answer. Continue standing."
She quickly glanced at the other students: "Anyone else feeling sleepy? If so, just go and stand next to Jiang Su."
All of the students in the class thought to themselves that they'd have to be crazy to go and stand next to that nutcase Jiang Su.
Suddenly, all the students who had been on the verge of dozing off a moment ago, now looked as if they had been injected with chicken blood, full of energy.
Jian Zhangyun was very pleased with this situation. Chalk in hand, she continued with the lesson.
Fourth High School is a key high school with only one double-day off per month.
Today happened to be Friday, and also happened to be this month's double day off, so there were only two afternoon classes.
The first class was Jian Zhangyun's, the second was physical education.
As soon as the bell rang indicating the end of class, Jiang Su, who had been punished to stand for half the class, kicked his chair aside, pulled his hat onto his head, and left early.
The PE teacher took roll call and after calling out Jiang Su's name three times, with everyone in the class knowing that Jiang Su had skipped class, Lin Wei secretly sighed. She thought to herself that after PE, she will have to deduct another 5 points from Jiang Su in the discipline book.
She had just started her job as the disciplinary committee member this term, and the first incident she had to deal with was a big one.
Lin Wei's house was not far from the school, only two bus stops away.
When she returned home, her mother, Song Jin, was already back from work and was washing fruit in the kitchen.
Lin Wei put on her slippers, placed her sneakers neatly on the shoe rack, then, backpack still on, she obediently and gently approached the kitchen entrance and called out: "Auntie Song."
Song Jin looked back and acknowledged her with a nonchalant nod: "Back from school?"
"Yes."
Song Jin remained silent.
Knowing better than to wait for her to speak, Lin Wei pointed towards her room at the end of the hallway: "I'm going to do my homework, Auntie Song."
Song Jin nodded her head.
Lin Wei, still carrying her backpack, entered her room.
Calling it a room was stretching it a bit, as it was actually the storeroom at home. There was just enough space for a small single bed and a desk, leaving very little extra room.
Lin Wei unzipped her bag, pulled out her study materials, and began to work on them right away, leaning against the table.
Halfway through her schoolwork, someone knocked on her door.
Lin Wei put down her pen, stretched back to reach for the doorknob, and opened the door.
It was Song Jin.
Showing her understanding, Lin Wei said: "Auntie Song."
With a placid face, Song Jin nodded: "A new neighbor moved in across from us yesterday. I have washed some fruit. Could you bring this over as a gesture of goodwill to our new neighbor?"
Lin Wei responded with an "oh", then quickly got up to carry the plate of pre-cut fruits and walked to the neighbor's front door.
She rang the doorbell several times, but there was no response.
Just as she was about to give up and return home, thinking that nobody was in, she heard a beep from the digital lock on the door.
Jiang Su opened the door with a sullen face and an impatient look in his eyes.