After hanging up the phone, he stood up and said, "Let's go, Director Tang from the grade level wants us to go downstairs."
The dean spoke in a friendly tone, patted Xiang Yu on the shoulder, and said softly, "Don't be afraid just because it's the director calling. Director Tang likes to have people meet in person for everything. I guess you're too outstanding, so he called you over to talk about the future." The last part of his sentence was quite joking.
The dean kept mentioning excellence in his sentences, which shows how excited Xiang Yu was about transferring to this school.
Seeing him laughing happily to himself, Xiang Yu remained silent. He could already foresee the bewildered and gloomy expression on the other person's face after he learned that the man had subdued the armed thug.
The school bell rang. The second and third periods of the morning were English classes taught by Ms. Cao, whose full name was Cao Xin. She was beautiful and fashionable, with big waves, Dior red lips, and a lace shirt and pencil skirt. However, she had a fiery temper and was a mother of two. She didn't allow students to call her "Sister Xin".
Before class, Sister Xin routinely glanced at the class to check attendance. Seeing that there were empty seats in the back row, she asked habitually, "Class monitor, where are the students who are absent from the back row?"
No one spoke until the class monitor, Jiang Wensong, replied, "My deskmate asked for leave. The class monitor and his deskmate are both not here. I don't know where they went."
"Oh, I see," Sister Xin said, adjusting the small megaphone clipped to her waist, as if asking casually, "Could one of you contact the class monitor to find out what's going on?"
Even without her saying it, Wang Zehao thought the same thing and had already secretly opened WeChat.
Mouse: Brother Chen, where are you? Class has started. [Panda smiling face] jpg
-Gu Chen: The cafeteria recharge window is empty during the Mid-Autumn Festival. My deskmate hasn't gotten his meal card yet, so I'm here to help him get one.
"Hey, do you have to pick a time when you're in class to get a meal card?" Wang Zehao laughed and shouted, "Sister Xin, Brother Chen said he's getting a meal card at the cafeteria!"
"What's wrong with you? Why do you have to go during class time to get a meal card?" Sister Xin muttered, glancing at him before continuing, "Hand over your phone. Who gave you permission to bring your phone to school?"
"?" Wang Zehao was shocked by this action. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and refused to hand it over no matter what. The boy in the back row who was playing on his phone didn't care about pushing towers or playing PUBG anymore. He turned off his phone, stuffed it into his desk pocket, and started acting like a coward.
Xin-jie saw this little commotion clearly from the podium. Seeing this, she didn't force the issue, but tapped the blackboard and said, "It's okay if you don't hand it in. When your class monitor comes back, we'll start a dictation test on the words. It's only two units, not many." She then pointed to a few people: "Wang Zehao, Yang Shuhuan, Zhang Boyuan, Zhang Zitong, and your class monitor, come up to the blackboard together. If you get them all right, you don't need to hand it in. If you get one wrong, go to your dean to get your cell phone."
Those who were called out were all people who had just been using their phones.
Zhang Boyuan glanced at the latest model he'd been pestering his parents for all summer to finally get, swallowed hard, and raised his hand to ask, "What if the class monitor doesn't come back?"
"If you don't come back, we won't have a dictation test. If you don't have a dictation test, you'll have to hand in your phone right after class. No discussion." Sister Xin's tone left no room for doubt. She turned around coldly and began writing on the blackboard.
Gu Chen, on the other hand, received many messages at the same time.
-Mouse: Brother Chen, come back quickly! My phone is in your hands! [Panda Man crying] jpg
-Huanhuan: Urgent, reply immediately. [The Empress frowns.] jpg
-Brother Yuan from the underworld: Squad leader, my life is in your hands, come back quickly. [Stickman kneeling] jpg
- Boss Tong: Bad luck! I just glanced at the time... Sigh, never mind, come back soon. [Smiling yellow-faced man] .jpg
"Huh?" Gu Chen didn't know what had happened in the class, but seeing that his brothers needed him, he still sent a group message saying "received," but there was no reply from the other side.
The auntie at his cafeteria window had just started work and was leisurely turning on the computer and card reader. She wasn't in a hurry and asked as she did so, "Why did you come to get a card so early? Why didn't you wait until lunchtime?"
After saying that, he stretched his hand out of the window.
Gu Chen handed over the student ID the dean had given him, and replied, "Hey, aren't there a lot of people after school?" He added, "Sis, top up 200."
Upon hearing this address, the auntie handling the cards was overjoyed and her work sped up considerably, which brought a smile to Gu Chen's face.
"Excuse me, is your name Xiang Yu?" the card-issuing auntie said, taking down the information. "You don't look like him in the photo."
“That’s not my name. This is my deskmate. He just transferred to this school and is unfamiliar with the place, so I’m helping him get a card.”
"You're a really good deskmate," the auntie said, handing over the student ID. "He's handsome too, and everyone likes him."
“My deskmate is handsome and lovable, but he doesn’t like to talk or smile.” Gu Chen flipped to the first page of his student ID, where a blue-background one-inch ID photo was pasted.
In the photo, Xiang Yu is wearing a white suit, which makes his skin appear even whiter against the blue and white background. His short, wispy hair reveals his arched eyebrows, and his eyes are light brown. His slightly pursed lips give him a shy look. At first glance, he looks like a well-mannered and sensible child.
My classmate is so cool—he's so well-mannered and sensible.
Gu Chen couldn't help but smile when he thought about what happened yesterday afternoon. He was so excited about it that he barely slept all night. His excitement was mixed with a slight sense of loss. He was excited about the chance encounter, but disappointed because he was too excited and forgot to exchange contact information. He thought that since the other person was so kind-hearted in helping the public, they would definitely become the most like-minded friends.
Although he usually does good deeds without expecting anything in return, he couldn't help but think that doing good deeds often does have a positive effect.
"Hey, hey, student, your card is ready. What are you doing?" The auntie handling the card looked at Gu Chen, who was grinning foolishly at his student ID, with a complicated expression.
Gu Chen snapped out of his daze, took the meal card from the window, and smiled as he said thank you.
The auntie who was processing the card had planned to watch a popular idol drama while she was at it, but seeing that the young man outside the window still showed no sign of leaving, she couldn't help but urge him, "Student, hurry back to class after you've finished processing your card."
Gu Chen wasn't in a hurry. He had completely forgotten about the four brothers from before. He stroked the cover of his student ID with his fingers and started talking.
With a solemn expression, she said, "Sister, are you aware of the armed thug stabbing incident that happened yesterday afternoon at Shengshi Shopping Mall?"
Gu Chen has a problem: once he starts talking, he can't stop. Wang Zehao even tried to keep track of his longest speaking time, but the record kept getting broken. The most recent one was at the opening ceremony. The ceremony, which started at eight in the morning and was supposed to last for an hour, was dragged out to half an hour before school ended at noon by Gu Chen, the outstanding student representative. He spoke off-script, talking at length, from his self-introduction to his daily studies, then to the class placement exam, and finally went straight to how to become an outstanding person.
The students below were so shocked by what they heard that they almost fainted on the spot and decided to drop out of school to repeat their studies.
The key point is that when Director Tang of the grade level went on stage to give the closing remarks, he didn't think Gu Chen was wrong for running out of time. Instead, he was beaming and uttered a lot of praise.
"That's so well said! I've never seen a student so dedicated to everyone's well-being before! Everyone should listen to what Gu Chen said today and learn from him!"
The audience rolled their eyes, whether from the morning sun or from being angered by Director Tang's remarks, it was hard to tell.
The bell rang twice. The morning passed quickly, and before we knew it, half of the third period had begun. The class monitor and his deskmate from Class 2 of the Arts Department still hadn't returned to the classroom.
Damn it, I'm going to die. Brother Chen is going to kill me.
The boys in the back row were frantically messaging Gu Chen under the constant death stares of Sister Xin on stage, but he wasn't replying. Just when the boys thought there was no hope of turning the tide, a familiar report came from the doorway.
A heavenly sound.
The four boys stared at Gu Chen at the door with tears in their eyes. Gu Chen sensed their gaze, waved to them, and smiled brightly.
Sister Xin blocked Gu Chen from entering, and instead of bringing up the dictation, she asked, "Is the meal card so important that you have to skip my class to get it? Isn't my class worth you going hungry?" Sister Xin asked this with a smile on her face, and anyone with eyes could tell how to answer.
Gu Chen didn't realize that he was oblivious to the situation.
"I got a meal card for my deskmate, he can't go hungry." After saying that, amidst the murmurs of the whole class, she glanced at the back row and found that the cornered seat was empty.
Sister Xin was amused by his answer and wasn't angry. Instead, she joked, "Then your deskmate must be quite pretty, right?"
That's why Chinese culture is so profound. The use of "he," "she," and "it" is so varied that without context, you can't tell if it's referring to a man or a woman, or even if it's a person at all. What's more, Gu Chen gave the answer directly without even creating any context.
Xin-jie, unaware of Xiang Yu's situation, mistook her deskmate for a girl.
When Xiang Yu and the dean were returning from the grade level and passed by the classroom, they happened to hear Xin Jie's joke. The dean smiled and was about to tell Xin Jie the truth when, before he could speak, he heard Gu Chen, who was blocking the door, shout loudly.
To make the best of a bad situation, she exclaimed, "Beautiful! My deskmate, Wen 2, is the most beautiful!"
Xiang Yu, who was standing behind him, suddenly felt dizzy upon hearing this.
"..."
[Author's Note: Gu Chen: We are like-minded friends!]
Chapter Four: Gu Chen - We Must Resist Feudal Superstition
Chapter Four: Gu Chen: We Must Resist Feudal Superstition
Xiang Yu, who was described as "the prettiest girl in Class 2," was so angry that he didn't want to talk to his silly deskmate all morning.
During this time, Gu Chen struck up a conversation with him.
Silent in the corner.
Gu Chen told him a joke.
Silent in the corner.
Gu Chen handed him the meal card.
Xiang Yu hesitated for a moment, said thank you, and remained silent.
Seeing that he had a chance, Gu Chen pressed his advantage, bringing back all the textbooks that Xiang Yu had forgotten to collect, tidying them up, and stacking them on the other person's table.
After tidying up, she quickly added, "You're welcome."
System: He's such a nice person!
The system praised Gu Chen all morning, but Xiang Yu had already proactively blocked out these compliments.
Gu Zi sighed, breaking the silence, and said helplessly to Gu Chen, "What exactly do you want?"
What do you want to do?
"To become like-minded friends with you." Gu Chen's eyes sparkled, and his friendly demeanor gave Xiang Yu the illusion that he had a tail wagging behind him.
"Is this all?"
"Yes, I love helping others the most. Yesterday, when I saw how you bravely subdued the thug, I knew then that—"
"Alright then." Xiang Yu couldn't stand Gu Chen's nagging, and since the other party just wanted to make friends, she agreed without suspicion, thinking she could finally have some peace and quiet.
Clearly, they didn't carefully consider why they were "like-minded" friends.
It is indeed quiet.
During the last math class, there was a softcover notebook on the table next to him. Gu Chen was writing furiously with his head covered, his pen flying across the paper. Having learned from his previous experience, Xiang Yu glanced at the notebook, afraid that the other person might suddenly show him something that would raise his blood pressure.
It didn't work.
Xiang Yu sat upright, and from this distance, all you could see was scribbles on the notebook, densely packed, and you couldn't recognize a single word.
Oh well, let it be.
Xiang Yu held a white-printed black ballpoint pen between his fingers. The pattern on the grip had been worn white over the years. Xiang Yu had no intention of replacing it. Several pens in his pencil case were in the same condition. Some even had cracked caps that couldn't be closed, but he had wrapped them with tape and put them away.
It's not that he's short of money; in fact, he gets quite a bit of pocket money. His father, who lives abroad, and his mother, who lives in another province, send him a substantial sum every month. He hasn't touched any of it. These pens were bought for him by his grandmother the day before his high school entrance exam, and he's been using them ever since.
Thinking of his grandmother, Xiang Yu became somewhat lost in thought.
The old lady who I remembered as always smiling and loved dancing and practicing Tai Chi had tears in her eyes for the first time on the day he transferred schools.
“Xiao Yu,” Grandma Hou said, pulling him along and using one hand to straighten his T-shirt, which was wrinkled from being pressed down by his backpack strap. “Grandma had no idea that so many things had happened to you at school.”
“It’s good that you’re going to X City. Your aunt lives there, and your cousin is about your age. You can look after each other.” She paused for a moment, then continued, “Your mother called last time and said she thinks she can be transferred back to X City this time, so she’ll have time to take care of you then.”
Grandma Hou started to cry as she spoke, and Xiang Yu wiped away her tears while comforting her.
"I'm fine. Take care of yourself. I'll come back to see you when I have time off."
"I won't force you. I just can't bear to leave these neighbors. Otherwise, I would have gone with you."
"I know"
"My deskmate, my deskmate? Little hero?"
Xiang Yu was brought back to his senses by the hand in front of him; the math teacher was no longer on the podium.