"Su Jinning! Shen Moyu! You still know how to come back!" A sharp, slightly raspy female voice called out their names from afar, echoing throughout the first floor, and all the students' eyes turned to them.
I knew it...
Shen Moyu resignedly closed her eyes and silently hid the ball behind her back. Now she could only pray that the ball would behave for a little while longer.
"Damn it." Su Jinning buried her face in her hands, unwilling to face the cruel reality.
"Where did you two run off to?! Huh?!" Jin Shuoshuo strode angrily from afar in her high heels, accompanied by Chen Hang, whose face was equally grim. Passing students could smell the thick stench of gunpowder; it seemed like if a bucket of gasoline were poured on the school right now, it would be finished.
Su Jinning glanced at Shen Moyu and Gunqiu, then instinctively stood behind him, smiling ingratiatingly, "Hello, teacher..."
"Good my ass!" Jin Shuoshuo went up and slapped Su Jinning on the back of the neck. The sound was loud, and you could tell how much force he used.
Su Jinning jumped up in pain, but still managed to shield Shen Moyu completely. He looked down at Jin Shuoshuo's flushed face, knowing he was in the wrong this time, and humbly lowered his head: "I'm sorry, teacher."
Shen Moyu also stepped forward to admit her mistake: "Teacher, I'm sorry for making you worry."
Their words were sincere, and they obediently lowered their heads. Jin Shuoshuo was somewhat surprised that they admitted their mistakes so quickly.
Seeing that Jin Shuoshuo's attitude had changed, Su Jinning mustered up her courage and asked, "I was wrong, teacher. Look, class is about to start... so... how about we let it go?"
Jin Shuoshuo was furious. He grabbed Su Jinning by the ear and pulled him in front of him: "Let me tell you, if it weren't for me and Director Wei making excuses, your parents would have been called in, you know?"
Su Jinning quickly lowered his head and obediently said, "Yes, yes, thank you for your hard work. I won't do it again next time!" After saying that, he pitifully rubbed his ears.
Seeing their remorseful expressions, Jin Shuoshuo knew they genuinely knew they were wrong. She sighed, "Skipping class without a reason during school hours is a very serious matter, you know?" Jin Shuoshuo poked their foreheads, clearly quite angry.
"Yes, yes, yes." Su Jinning knew that she had to be completely obedient at this time.
"I don't care what your reasons were for skipping class, you'd better write a 3,000-word self-criticism when you get home today!"
"Huh?" Su Jinning pouted reluctantly.
"What the hell!" Jin Shuoshuo was about to slap him again when a voice suddenly came from behind him, seeing that he still hadn't stopped.
"Teacher Jin, are you disciplining a student?" Liu Chunyan swayed her hips and walked towards them in her ever-present black leather high heels. Jin Shuoshuo could smell the sour stench from a distance and couldn't help but frown.
"Damn it! Liu Chunyan!" Chen Hang suddenly shoved Su Jinning, as if reminding him of the coming apocalypse.
Because no one wanted to bother with this teacher whom they disliked throughout the entire school year. Having a troublesome son like Zhao Yu was already enough to annoy others, but she herself didn't uphold professional ethics, accepting gifts from students, running unauthorized tutoring classes, and harassing students who didn't offer gifts. She was reported to the school several times, but what's infuriating is that she had connections there, and no one could get rid of her. Because of this, she was extremely arrogant, and many teachers disliked her.
"Damn it." Su Jinning glared at her, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes.
The sound of high heels approached from afar, and the pungent smell of cheap perfume suddenly hit them. Several people quickly covered their noses.
Jin Shuoshuo forced a smile and said politely, "Oh, it's Teacher Liu. Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Teacher Jin," Liu Chunyan replied sarcastically, her eyes clearly showing disdain. But Jin Shuoshuo ignored her, turning to quickly dismiss the group: "Alright, you guys hurry back..."
"Isn't this the one who's first in your grade?" Liu Chunyan crossed her arms and gestured with her chin toward Shen Moyu.
Jin Shuoshuo, who had the word "class" stuck in his mouth, took a breath, as if he was holding his breath.
Shen Moyu knew that the words sounded like a compliment, but Liu Chunyan's tone betrayed her dissatisfaction. He turned his head away dismissively, ignoring her.
But Liu Chunyan didn't notice the cold stares from the others at all. She raised her chin and glanced at Su Jinning: "I really didn't expect that the top student in the grade would also stand with hooligans and get scolded."
Her sarcastic words struck a nerve with Su Jinning. His face turned pale, and he lowered his head, clenching his fists slightly. Even Chen Hang and Shen Moyu were disgusted and gave her a cold look.
Jin Shuoshuo felt uncomfortable seeing Su Jinning's cold expression. With a forced smile, he reminded her, "Teacher Liu, I remember you still have to teach Class Two. If there's nothing else, I'll teach them a lesson."
Liu Chunyan wasn't stupid; she understood what those words meant, but she was shameless. She lifted her fifty-yuan counterfeit LV bag, grinned, and said, "If you ask me, Teacher Jin, since there are different levels among these students, we should stop them from interacting. What if..." She paused deliberately, then snorted, "What if they get corrupted and Cui Liang from our class surpasses them? That would be terrible."
The atmosphere suddenly stopped. Shen Moyu ignored what she said and turned to look at Su Jinning's profile.
Although a hint of resentment lingered on his face, there was also a sense of helplessness. After all, no matter how harsh Liu Chunyan's words were, they were the truth. One was first, the other last; if they were to stand together as punishment, any teacher would say the last-place student would corrupt the first-place student. This had nothing to do with whether she was deliberately making things difficult; that was simply how different they were in everyone's eyes.
Su Jinning acknowledged his excellence and hoped he could become even more outstanding, while also selfishly wishing they could look more compatible.
Chen Hang couldn't hold back any longer and opened his mouth to say a few words: "Teacher Liu, you say that..."
“Teacher.” Shen Moyu suddenly took a step forward and stared at Liu Chunyan. “Don’t worry, Su Jinning is a very good person. He won’t lead me astray, and I won’t let that…” He chuckled and frowned, pretending not to remember, “that Cui Liang who was ranked several times above me.”
Liu Chunyan's hand tightened, and she sat down speechless. She glared angrily over.
A sudden glint of ruthlessness flashed in Shen Moyu's eyes: "I got first place the first time, and I always will. Even if I drop, I won't drop to Cui Liang's position. Thank you for your concern, teacher." Shen Moyu smiled slightly, appearing quite sunny at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one could always sense a chill.
Jin Shuoshuo couldn't help but chuckle softly, the praise in her eyes impossible to hide. Ignoring Liu Chunyan's already darkened face, she coughed and changed the subject: "Alright, you two should go back now."
Su Jinning nodded and turned to look at Shen Moyu, who was smiling.
He paused, then lowered his head, smiled helplessly, and shook his head. Whether it was just his imagination or not, he did feel a little reassured.
"Woof!"
Su Jinning's eyes widened instantly. She glanced at the ball that was fidgeting in Shen Moyu's arms, then grabbed it and started to run.
"Wait a minute!" Liu Chunyan took two steps forward, frowning as she looked them up and down. "Did I just hear a dog barking?"
"What?" Su Jinning turned around stiffly: "Teacher, you must have misheard... No, you didn't." After saying that, he quickly patted Shen Moyu on the back and told him to leave.
"My ears don't lie," Liu Chunyan said, her tone slightly raised. After all, she had just embarrassed herself, and now that she had something on her hands, she naturally didn't want to let it go.
Shen Moyu tilted her head, somewhat anxious. Liu Chunyan's ears were known throughout the entire school to be incredibly sharp; she could catch even the sound of a note being passed in class, let alone a dog barking.
Chen Hang reacted quickly and hurriedly took responsibility: "No, teacher, I just burped, you might have misheard!" After he finished speaking, he couldn't keep up the act anymore, so he turned around and scratched his head.
Jin Shuoshuo couldn't stand her persistent pestering any longer, so he stepped forward and patted Liu Chunyan on the shoulder: "Teacher Liu, please don't take it so seriously, I will handle it."
"What do you mean by this, Teacher Jin?" Liu Chunyan seized on this opportunity, and her momentum surged instantly: "Aren't you just showing favoritism towards your own student? Doesn't Teacher Jin know that the school doesn't allow pets on campus?"