The commotion caused by Jiang Ren standing up in class caught everyone’s attention.
A girl who was still touching up her makeup put down her powder puff and whispered, “What’s wrong with Jiang Ren?”
“No idea,” her desk mate snickered, “but Teacher Fu’s nose is about to twist off in anger.”
The Chinese teacher’s face alternated between shades of green and white.
The main issue was that school leaders and the principal were inspecting outside. With such a disturbance in his class, should he scold Jiang Ren or not? Not scolding was certainly out of the question – what kind of teacher would be intimidated by a student? But previously, Jiang Ren had struck the homeroom teacher and faced no consequences. The school had even replaced that homeroom teacher, an incident that left all teachers feeling uneasy.
Teacher Fu steeled himself and said, “Jiang Ren! We’re in the middle of class. Are you going to follow the rules or not? Stand outside and listen!”
Jiang Ren remained silent for a long moment and didn’t move.
Teacher Fu said, “Since you’ve decided to stay in the classroom, listen properly and don’t disturb other students.”
Jiang Ren took his translation paper and dictionary and went out.
He Junming was bursting with curiosity about what was written on that paper, so he followed Jiang Ren out.
The principal was in the corridor, hands behind his back, admonishing them, “What’s going on here? Do you still take this school seriously or not?”
He Junming grinned, “Hello, Principal. Hello, Dean. Hello, teachers. We know we were wrong and are being punished by standing here, deeply reflecting on our mistakes.”
The principal eyed them suspiciously. Jiang Ren curved his lips slightly and said in a loud voice, “I’ll reflect right away!”
The principal finally left, and Teacher Fu breathed a sigh of relief.
He Junming leaned in to look, “Ren-ge, what are you reading?”
Jiang Ren said, “Move away. Go back to your classroom.”
He Junming had never seen Jiang Ren be so petty, “Come on, it won’t hurt to take a look.”
“Hmm.”
He Junming had no choice. He didn’t dare peek secretly, so he had to return to the classroom. Through the window, he and a few others saw Jiang Ren standing in the corridor, seriously flipping through the dictionary and writing something.
He Han said, “What did Ren-ge see just now that made him react so strongly?”
He Junming said, “I only caught a glimpse of some chicken scratch.”
Fang Tan pondered, “Maybe it’s homework from Meng Ting?”
None of them could come up with a good explanation.
He Junming, however, reflected on how it had been almost a year since Jiang Ren arrived. When he first came, he had struck a teacher in class, causing a huge uproar. Jiang Ren hadn’t explained anything. When the disciplinary office came, he continued to sleep on his desk.
Only He Junming, who sat next to him, had seen what happened.
That teacher liked to put his hands on girls’ shoulders during class, under the pretext of explaining problems.
In Jiang Ren’s first week at Li Cai Vocational High School, that teacher’s fingers had brushed against the chest of the most timid and naive girl in their class. The girl’s eyes had reddened, but she didn’t dare make a sound.
Jiang Ren, who had been chewing gum, stood up immediately and swung a chair at the former teacher.
They had been having a self-study session, and reading books, and the whole class was stunned.
No one knew what had happened, and even the girl Jiang Ren had helped didn’t speak up.
Jiang Ren didn’t care. He probably couldn’t even remember that girl’s name now, but He Junming was deeply impressed by this incident. That teacher had a poor ethical record before, and most of the class was jubilant when he left.
When the principal was handling this matter, Jiang Ren had only sneered, not explaining a single word, his eyes cold and gloomy.
He Junming had explained the cause of the incident, and only then was the original homeroom teacher dismissed.
The principal had apologized awkwardly, but Jiang Ren had just draped his jacket over his shoulder and left without looking back.
But just now, when Jiang Ren had loudly said he would reflect, his eyes seemed to be filled with fine, sparkling light. Completely different from the cold and gloomy youth who had come to the vocational school over half a year ago.
He Junming couldn’t help but marvel at the power of love.
Jiang Ren quickly finished translating a few lines of English poetry. Having seen the “answer” in advance, everything bore traces of that “answer.”
For the first time, Jiang Ren carefully read through all the English in a poem.
They weren’t that difficult after all.
By the time school was out, the sky had turned completely dark.
The lights in the teaching building were going out one by one.
Meng Ting was solving problems in the classroom. The class monitor, Guan Xiaoyie, felt particularly threatened. The top student in the class was working so hard, it had made her nervous and unable to sleep lately, and they were only in their second year of high school.
“Meng Ting, remember to close the windows,” she said, worried about rain coming in during summer.
“Okay.”
Meng Ting was halfway through solving a problem when all her classmates had left.
Only the light above Meng Ting’s head was still on in their classroom.
She wore the white uniform of the Seventh Middle School, with an artistic “7” on the sleeve, as she worked out the final step. The coolness from the air conditioner hadn’t dissipated yet as her black pen wrote the answer x2 on the paper.
A pair of hands gently covered her eyes.
Meng Ting reached up to pry them away. “Jiang Ren.”
He couldn’t help but laugh, “How did you know it was me?” He let go and rested his arms on her desk.
Meng Ting’s eyes curved in a smile, “I heard your footsteps.”
“I’m here to turn in my homework.”
Her eyelashes fluttered as she remembered that poem, feeling a bit embarrassed. “You… you don’t need to turn it in. It’s fine as long as you wrote it.”
Jiang Ren chuckled, “Little teacher, you said there would be a reward if I got it right. Are you trying to trick me?”
The teaching building was quiet, with just the two of them.
His pupils were pitch black, filled with countless smiles.
Meng Ting bit her lip, “Then give it to me.”
He handed her the paper.
Jiang Ren’s handwriting was messy and large, much like his personality. In the beginning, just as she had initially taught him in math, he had written “Answer” for the translation.
He hadn’t realized that English translations didn’t require this, and had dutifully written “Answer” on his translation as well.
After the answer was his handwritten love letter in Chinese.
Meng Ting’s ears burned as she read it.
Jiang Ren lowered his gaze, “You said I could have anything if I got it right.”
The cicadas in the phoenix trees chirped incessantly.
A teacher checking the teaching building was inspecting the doors and windows with a flashlight. The footsteps were still downstairs.
Yet in the night, they seemed particularly clear.
His eyes were too bright. Meng Ting stood up, not daring to look at him, her little face burning. “The teacher is coming. Let’s leave, okay?”
Jiang Ren curved his lips, “Alright.”
He closed the last window and then walked to the door. “Come here.”
Meng Ting breathed a sigh of relief and walked over with her backpack.
Jiang Ren reached up and turned off the last light. The classroom fell into complete darkness.
With a tug of his hand, the door closed in front of him.
The teacher had reached the third floor, the flashlight beam flickering. In the darkness, Meng Ting felt unusually nervous.
Jiang Ren held her hand as they took the stairs on the other side.
They finally avoided running into the teacher.
Even when they reached the bus stop, with the night breeze gently caressing their faces, her heart was still racing.
The bus Meng Ting needed to take home hadn’t arrived yet.
Their eyes met, and he didn’t bring up the reward he wanted again. Instead, his eyes held an unusual seriousness. “Why did you write that poem?”
He was very agreeable tonight, but also very difficult to deal with. Meng Ting nervously gripped her fingers and didn’t lie to him. “Last night, I saw you standing for a long time.”
She lowered her gaze to look at her shoe tips, her tone soft. “You haven’t been sleeping well for a long time.”
His heart felt both sweet and soft, finally tinged with a hint of bitterness. Jiang Ren lifted her chin. “Look at me, Meng Ting.”
She raised her eyes to look at him, her almond eyes moist. The light from the street lamp by the bus stop cast a warm glow on her fair cheeks.
“Don’t say things like that so easily in the future, and don’t write like that either,” his tone was gentle, but his eyes were solemn. “I’ll take it seriously. Do you understand?”
If he took it seriously, but she didn’t like him that much, Jiang Ren really couldn’t bear it.
He didn’t require her to love him the way he loved her. Once people have hope, they constantly demand more, never satisfied.
She pressed her lips together, not saying a word.
Meng Ting was so angry.
For the first time in her life, she had mustered the courage to write a love poem for someone, hoping he would be happy, hoping he would sleep well at night, not have an episode, not feel uneasy. But he was lecturing her, telling her not to write carelessly.
How little must he think of himself, and how little must he trust her?
She was angry, so she just looked at him with her clean, transparent eyes. Not saying a word, not answering whether she understood or not.
Jiang Ren smiled and said, “But I solved the translation problem. You said you’d grant me one wish, so will you hug me and say goodnight?”
He opened his arms, hoping she would throw herself into his embrace.
The night breeze was cool. Meng Ting blinked, feeling utterly wronged.
She wanted to tell him that she hadn’t written carelessly.
She had secretly read many, many English poetry collections under her blanket before writing those few lines of poetry with a young girl’s heart. Even for a top student, puppy love wasn’t without its effects. She was so troubled that Jiang Ren had entered her life.
She couldn’t help but smile during class, wanting to know his reaction when he was translating.
Then she worked even harder to make up for the time occupied by Jiang Ren.
But when he faced her, he had so little confidence. He was probably happy for just a moment before frowning hard again.
He still wanted her to hug him. Well, she wouldn’t!
Jiang Ren sensed that she was unhappy. Her bus home slowly approached. He stroked the girl’s soft hair. “Alright, if you don’t want to hug, then don’t. Go home. I’ll come see you again on Friday night.”
Friday was the day Meng Ting tutored him.
He had said earlier in the day that he would try not to come to her school to find her in the future. It seemed he intended to keep that promise.
“Jiang Ren.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t look down on you,” she tugged at the hem of his shirt, her eyes bright. “You can come whenever you want, just preferably not during class. I’m not afraid of people knowing we’re together.”
Jiang Ren looked at her, surprised.
When he was in elementary school, there were also well-behaved girls with good grades in his class. They would just be made to stand as punishment or be called out, which seemed like no big deal to Jiang Ren. But their faces would turn bright red, and they would end up crying from extreme embarrassment.
“If this is wrong, I accept the punishment,” she said. “But I promised you long ago that I would never give up on you easily.”
In all her years, this was her one act of rebellion. If there was to be punishment, so be it. She wouldn’t break up with him anyway.
The bus drove up, the leaves overhead rustling slightly.
Jiang Ren had memorized many poems and classical texts back then, and in return, he received this promise. He was used to giving without a word, whether it was when he seriously injured Wen Rui, fell out with Director Jiang, or hit that unethical teacher. He didn’t care about others’ opinions, nor did he bother to explain.
But this was the first time someone had so earnestly said they would never easily give up on him.
Meng Ting crumpled the hem of his shirt in her grip, letting him know she was angry. Even when angry, she was excessively cute.
Her voice, however, was soft and sweet. “Besides, you’ll protect me, won’t you?” As she said this, her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes sparkled.
Her little face was serious. “I’m not afraid at all.”
Because you’re here, so I have armor.
He was silent for a long time, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Mm.”
The bus driver called out in a loud voice, “Are you getting on or not, young lady?”
Jiang Ren was still looking at her.
She hurriedly responded, “Yes, I am.”
She shouldered her backpack and walked several steps. Jiang Ren was still watching her, and a bus full of people was watching them. Ah, youth.
Under the streetlight, the young girl looked incredibly beautiful.
That boy was both cold and prickly.
Had he believed her or not?
Stubborn boy, so annoying!
Meng Ting bit her lip.