Lin Jinran, sitting beside him, twitched the corner of her mouth. Good one, quoting Confucius' "Isn't it a delight?" She had thought that when his head hit the desk, it would have woken him up.
But looking at his dazed and vacant eyes now, Lin Jinran realized that he was still fast asleep.
Muffled laughter filled the classroom. The Chinese teacher slammed the podium forcefully, signaling for silence. She squinted her eyes and continued to ask, "What's the next line after 'The cowherd boy rides back on the ox's back at leisure'?"
Su Qinian replied, "The cowherd boy rides back on the ox's back at leisure, then sharpens his knife and heads for his parents."
The Chinese teacher: "..."
She endured it for a while longer. Her sharp gaze slowly landed on Su Qinian. After holding back for a while, she finally couldn't help but retort, "What do you mean? Does the cowherd boy go back and kill his own parents?"
"Ah?" Su Qinian blinked his eyes gently. His beautiful phoenix eyes were full of innocence and clarity.
Lin Jinran covered her forehead and sighed. Her right hand secretly slid under the desk and slowly hooked onto Su Qinian's hand hanging by his side. She pinched it hard, trying to wake him up.
The Chinese teacher took a deep breath and calmly said, "I'll give you one last chance. If you still can't answer, you have to stand outside and sober up."
"I'm asking you, in 'The Thatched Cottage Unroofed by Autumn Gales', after 'In eighth moon the autumn gales are raging high, They roll up three layers of thatch from my roof', what are the next three lines?"
Lin Jinran started to get anxious. She glanced at the Chinese teacher on the podium and then at Su Qinian, who was still groggy. She gritted her teeth and dug her nails hard into his palm.
Su Qinian let out a hiss. Some of his consciousness slowly returned. He looked down at Lin Jinran, looking a bit lost and helpless.
Lin Jinran let out a slight sigh of relief. She tried hard to glance in the direction of the Chinese teacher, signaling him to answer the question quickly.
The Chinese teacher repeated the question.
Su Qinian heard it clearly. He thought for a moment and then replied, "The thatch flies across the river and scatters on the riverbank. Some is caught high in the treetops, some sinks into the pond..."
It seemed that he was really awake. His answer was quite fluent.
Lin Jinran relaxed. She looked up at the Chinese teacher. The Chinese teacher's expression gradually softened. She nodded in satisfaction. As she nodded, her face suddenly changed and darkened.
"The whole village's gays bully me for being old and weak. They can bear to act like thieves right in front of me."
What was going on? Lin Jinran couldn't figure it out. But when she read out what Su Qinian had just recited word by word, she immediately realized something was wrong.
It wasn't "The whole village's gays bully me for being old and weak", but "The boys from the southern village bully me for being old and weak".
Lin Jinran twitched the corner of her mouth again. She silently withdrew her hand. She clasped her hands together under the desk and piously murmured, "Amitabha. May the Buddha bless you, Master Su, to get through this smoothly."
The whole village's gays and the boys from the southern village. If you weren't careful, you wouldn't notice the problem.
The students in the class burst into laughter again. Lu Youchuan, sitting in the front row, whistled and said flippantly, "Class monitor, 'When they come out to see their comrades, Their comrades are all shocked and amazed: For twelve years we've fought side by side, But never knew Mulan was a vixen.' Am I right?"
"Lu Youchuan, shut up! Are you itching to copy the textbooks?" the Chinese teacher roared. Lu Youchuan immediately zipped his mouth shut and pretended to be dead.
"Su Qinian, go stand outside. Don't come back until class is over!" the Chinese teacher said coldly.
Su Qinian didn't move. Instead, he yawned.
Seeing the Chinese teacher's face getting darker and darker, Lin Jinran panicked and stomped on Su Qinian's foot hard. Su Qinian gasped in pain, and his eyes gradually cleared up.
Lin Jinran immediately raised her hand to explain for him.
"Teacher... Su Qinian studied very late last night, so his state is off today. It's just an accident!"
"But didn't you and Su Qinian skip class last night? Three evening self - study sessions! Did you go studying secretly? Trying to outperform us?" A half - mocking voice came from the middle group. Lin Jinran looked in the direction of the voice. It was Zhang Qiaozhi.
Before she could refute, Su Qinian's voice followed, as cold as if soaked in ice water.
"Yes, we were outperforming you. We were afraid that you would get back into the top three of the grade and snatch my first place. What would Lin Jinran, who's second in the grade, do then?"
In the last provincial joint exam, Su Qinian was first, Lin Jinran was third, and the second - ranked student was from another school and not counted in the grade ranking.
And Zhang Qiaozhi unexpectedly fell out of the top five in the grade.
The head teacher specifically talked to her.
This was really a harsh comment. It directly hit Zhang Qiaozhi's sore spot.
Lin Jinran smiled innocently and naively, echoing Su Qinian, "Yeah, it's my first time outperforming you. I have to work hard to maintain my position. What if you surpass me next time? After all, I only focus on my studies."
"You!" Zhang Qiaozhi could clearly tell that they were mocking her for not doing anything serious and always doing sneaky and petty things.
She stamped her foot angrily and turned to complain to the Chinese teacher, "Teacher, look at Lin Jinran. She's scolding me!"
The commotion made the Chinese teacher frown.
"Where did you hear me scolding you? I didn't even say a single dirty word. Teacher, you have to judge fairly. Zhang Qiaozhi is unjustly accusing me." Lin Jinran pretended to wipe away non - existent tears, looking extremely aggrieved.
She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what Zhang Qiaozhi was up to.
"Stop arguing!" The Chinese teacher slapped the desk. The class immediately fell silent. "All three of you, copy 'The Record of Yueyang Tower' three times. The class representative will check! Su Qinian, sit down. I'll forgive you for dozing off this time, but don't let it happen again."
Su Qinian sat down and couldn't help but yawn again.
Lin Jinran looked at the red mark on his forehead with concern. He had hit it when he was sleeping in a crooked position just now.
Lin Jinran rummaged through her desk and found a bottle of bruise medicine. She silently pushed it over and said guiltily, "I didn't expect you to be so bad at staying up late. There definitely won't be a next time."
"It's okay. I'll be fine after a good sleep. It's not a big deal." He smiled faintly, his black pupils filled with tenderness.
However, Su Qinian didn't get the chance to catch up on his sleep. As soon as the Chinese class was over, the two of them were called to the head teacher's office.
The head teacher didn't scold them or punish them. Instead, as if he was considering something, he earnestly pointed out the harms of skipping class.
Su Qinian and Lin Jinran insisted that they had gone to study last night.
The head teacher almost choked on his tea. He didn't know what to say. So he waved his hand and started to shoo them away, "Alright, alright. As long as you know what you're doing. It's almost time for class. Hurry back."
Just as Lin Jinran was about to step out of the office, she seemed to hear the head teacher mutter, "Zhang Qiaozhi is being a bit too nosy about other people's business."
Lin Jinran's heart skipped a beat.
It was Zhang Qiaozhi again.
She casually glanced at the head teacher behind her and then calmly returned to her seat.
After days of gloom, many things suddenly became clear.
Lin Jinran sat sideways and opened her phone. A message from Qiao Songyue popped up. She sent a screenshot of a chat.
[Qiao Songyue]: "Zhang Qiaozhi is so shameless! I've already left Wannanshi, but she still sends me these weird messages. Does she think I still have feelings for Su Qinian?"
Lin Jinran clicked on the screenshot.
[Zhang Qiaozhi]: "Alas, since you left, Su Qinian has started to skip class."
There was also a screenshot of the evening self - study. In the photo, their seats were empty.
Qiao Songyue immediately retorted.
[Qiao Songyue]: "What? Am I his mother, grandmother, or maternal grandmother? Why do I have to care so much? Or have I given you too much face? Do you think you're someone now???"
Zhang Qiaozhi didn't reply.
[Qiao Songyue]: "By the way, how are you and Su Qinian lately? Did you two skip class together last night?"
Qiao Songyue had just gone abroad not long ago. She was facing a lot of problems in her life and studies and didn't have time to keep up with the news in China. Naturally, she didn't know what had happened to Lin Jinran recently.
[Lin Jinran]: "Yes. I was in a bad mood, and Su Qinian skipped class with me. I didn't expect Zhang Qiaozhi to tattle on us."
[Qiao Songyue]: "How shameless! It's none of her business. When I was in Wannanshi, she used me as a shield. Fine, I didn't bother to care. Now that I'm gone, she can't find anyone to use as a shield, right?"
Lin Jinran looked at the message and thought for a moment.
[Lin Jinran]: "Do you want to clear your name? Everyone in No. 1 Middle School thinks you're an overbearing and self - indulgent rich young lady."
But in fact, after getting to know her, Qiao Songyue was not such a person. She was more of a person who did things as she pleased and followed her heart.
[Qiao Songyue]: "I want to, but it's not realistic. I'm so annoyed at my past self. Why did I just let her do whatever she wanted? No matter how much I explain, no one in No. 1 Middle School will believe me. Zhang Qiaozhi is in the top five of your grade. Most people would rather believe her."
Lin Jinran smiled slightly and typed.
[Lin Jinran]: "It's easy. Just let her expose herself. Now that you're gone, she has no shield. She can't instigate others with her words, so she has to do it herself."
[Lin Jinran]: "Qiao Songyue, let's set a trap and make her show her true colors. When everyone knows what she has done in the past, your name will be cleared."