The other classmates laughed. Those wanting to borrow a bit of luck pretended to be angry, “You’re too biased. Everyone belongs in class one, why do you only lend Lu YunFei your luck.”
“Because I’m handsome,” Lu YunFei said laughingly as released his hand.
“Aren’t I handsome too?” The classmate pointed to himself.
“Obviously not.”
Everyone laughed, and the classmate had no choice but to accept this outcome. Bian JinYuan saw that the invigilating teacher had walked into the classroom and gently reminded Lu YunFei, “Let’s go back, the exam is about to start.”
Lu YunFei made an affirmative “Oh”, and quickly went to sit in his seat as he waited for the exam to commence.
At 2pm, the bell signalling the start of exams rang, and the invigilator distributed the exam papers. Lu YunFei took a look at the English paper and could only laugh. While this paper wasn’t exactly the same as Bian JinYuan’s mock essays that he had to memorise, it was essentially the same thing. He could find a way to link to one of the mock essays. As to how he could link them, this was exactly what he had been specially practising.
Lu YunFei started as usual on the vocabulary and essay, before commencing on the fill-in-the-blanks section. This time, Bian JinYuan hadn’t handed in his papers early, and instead waited for the bell signalling the end of exams to ring and the teacher to collect the papers, before leaving the classroom with Lu YunFei.
“How was it?” He asked.
“It was okay,” Lu YunFei said honestly, “I remembered everything that you had taught, and I didn’t expect that you would even think of the same exam question. Hahaha Bian Bian, you’re so amazing.”
“What did you call me?” Bian JinYuan was startled.
It was then when Lu YunFei realised that he had subconsciously given Bian JinYuan a nickname. But now that the both of them were on quite familiar with each other, nicknames shouldn’t be a big deal, and so he declared, “I called you Bian Bian. Can’t I?”
It was Bian JinYuan’s first time hearing someone call him in this manner. It felt slightly odd, but it wasn’t unacceptable.
Lu YunFei saw the lack of resistance and continued, “Then I’ll call you this from now on.”
“Up to you.”
Lu YunFei snapped his fingers, “OK.”
Once the English exam ended, the class one WeChat group chat exploded once again.
“Damn! The study god isn’t a study god for nothing, one of the questions from the three sets of mock papers even appeared, we hit the jackpot!”
“The main points that were emphasized also appeared in the exam.”
“The essay as well, I got a shock when I saw it.”
“I think I did exceptionally well this time, this may be my best score all semester.”
“It has to be!” Someone exclaimed, “How are we to show up Zhang YanRong otherwise.”
“That’s right,” everyone agreed, “We just have to wait for the results to be out now.”
They didn’t have to wait long. Three days later, the mid-term exam results were announced. The average score of class one was the highest by ten marks compared to the last monthly exam.
Lu YunFei looked at the bright red 105 written on his paper and hugged Bian JinYuan tightly. Bian JinYuan saw how elated he was and his eyes also shone with a tinge of happiness, as he returned the hug lightly.
On Thursday, Li Li reminded the class, “The parent-teacher meet is tomorrow at 5pm. I’m sure you’ve already told your parents about it, please don’t be late.”
“Understood,” Everyone said brightly — they’d been waiting for this day!
After Lu YunFei’s foot had healed, Bian JinYuan had arranged to tutor him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, he would work part-time at Liu Mo’s shop. Liu Mo didn’t have an issue with this, “It’s good to be a tutor. It pays well and is more relaxing. However you’re still a student, so remember to take care of your health, don’t work yourself too hard.”
“I won’t,” Bian JinYuan replied.
Liu Mo looked at him and thought about how young and energetic he was. She raised her hand to rub Bian JinYuan’s head, but was deftly dodged by him. Liu Mo sighed and muttered, “Not cute at all.”
Bian JinYuan couldn’t agree more with her, and even wondered why boys needed to be cute, but then he thought of Lu YunFei. Lu YunFei was so adorable. And so Bian JinYuan thought that he didn’t need to be cute, but someone like Lu YunFei was fit to be called cute.
The cute Lu YunFei was having a conversation with his sister at home at this time.
“We have a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow, jiejie please attend.”
“Why?” Lu YunShang asked as she ate fruits, “Haven’t you never needed us to attend?”
“There’s an issue this time,” Lu YunFei scooted closer to her, “Jie, let me show you a video.”
Lu YunShang looked at her didi in puzzlement, took a tissue to wipe her hands, and looked at the video on his phone.
At 4pm on Friday, the students weren’t let off yet, and numerous parents were waiting outside the classrooms. At the sound of the bell ringing, Lu YunFei packed his bag and asked Bian JinYuan, “Who’s coming from your family?”
This question was asked out of formality, because Bian JinYuan didn’t have a second person. Nevertheless, Lu YunFei still hadn’t expected Bian JinYuan to reply, “No one’s coming.”
“Huh?” Lu YunFei was shocked.
Bian JinYuan explained, “My guardian is my small aunt, but she needs to go to work and it isn’t easy to take a leave of absence. Furthermore, her attendance doesn’t make a difference to me, so I’ve applied for her absence from teacher Li.”
Lu YunFei nodded. That’s right, Bian JinYuan was already solidly holding his position at number one. Bian Jie would just be listening to Li Li’s praises if she attended, so she didn’t actually need to attend.
“Is anyone coming from your family?” Bian JinYuan asked.
“No one used to attend as my parents were busy and didn’t have the time. However, I’ve asked my jie to attend this time.”
Bian JinYuan had met Lu Yunshang once at his house before. Then, Lu YunShang had worn a white dress as she sat on the sofa to watch the television. Seeing Lu YunFei come back, she had smiled at him, her face bright, a visualisation of the line “Clouds remind me of her apparel, flowers remind me of her countenance. The spring breeze blows against the banister, the dew are splendidly lush.✿”
As expected, when they exited, they saw several boys crowding nearby as they looked in one direction. There stood Lu YunShang, her head bent as she replied to her WeChat messages.
Lu YunFei walked over to her and smiled, “I leave this to you, we’ll head home first.”
“Okay,” Lu YunShang said amiably.
Bian JinYuan greeted her politely and said goodbye before boarding uncle Li’s car with Lu YunFei.
The class representative and those from other classes ushered parents into the classrooms. Lu YunShang sat in Lu YunFei’s seat and waited, before realising that no one had come to sit beside her. That’s right, she thought, their family was already very pleased with Lu YunFei’s scores and allowed him to do as he pleased. What’s more for Bian JinYuan, his family didn’t even have to waste their time on parent-teacher meets.
Li Li started off the meeting with an introduction as the homeroom teacher, expounding on the sincerity and hardworking attitude of the class one students. She expressed that she would be even more vigilant during the next year and a half in order for everyone to score well for the college entrance examinations. In addition, she commended a few students.
The parents were very accommodating and didn’t cease their applause. Li Li let the other subject teachers continue, and then looking at the time, prepared to close off the parent-teacher meeting.
“Wait a minute,” Lu YunShang said at this crucial moment. She sat in the last row, the long red jacket that she wore tapered at the waist, her beautiful eyes seemingly holding an enigmatic smile, “Why isn’t the English teacher here? The other subject teachers have spoken, but she doesn’t have anything to say?”
The other parents in the class looked expectantly at Li Li for her reply.
Li Li hadn’t thought that someone would ask this and was startled. She said, “Teacher Zhang took a leave of absence as she wasn’t feeling well.”
“Not feeling well?” Lu Yunshang scoffed, “Is her body feeling unwell or is her heart feeling unwell? The way I see it, teacher Zhang doesn’t even want to meet us.”
“How could that be, that’s not the case,” Li Li said evasively.
Lu YunShang looked at her and crossed her arms. Instantly, her entire demeanor rose sharply, “Teacher Li, you said that class one scored very well for English, so much that they scored twelve marks higher than the average score of the class which took second place. But as far as I know, this has nothing to do with teacher Zhang, am I right?”
“Teacher Zhang is the English teacher for class one, how could their scores be unrelated to her?”
“They would be related in normal circumstances, but what if the teacher abandoned her responsibility? What if, during this period, someone else other than teacher Zhang had been teaching the students?”
“What do you mean?” Li Li said in befuddlement.
Lu YunShang took out her phone and walked to the stage. She selected a few videos and pressed play.
Li Li watched and couldn’t believe her eyes.
“I believe that the parents here have seen these videos from your children. To tell the truth, before watching these videos, I would never have believed that there could be such a teacher in First High. Yet I have to when faced with such proof. Everyone knows the impact a teacher makes towards their student. Us parents send our kids to First High and pay such exorbitant school fees, putting our full trust in the school and teachers, in order for the kids to receive the best education. But now, First High actually allows a teacher like this to run amok and shrug off her responsibilities. Teacher Li, do you think that’s appropriate?”
Her words seemed to spark a fire within the parents, as they spoke up to express their dissatisfaction, “Change the teacher, you’ve got to change the teacher. We can’t trust such a teacher.”
Li Li quickly tried to assuage the parents, while Lu YunShang stated, “Teacher Li, I know that it’s a big deal to change the teacher. You aren’t able to make this decision alone, and are innocent in this matter. So, please call the principal over. I’ll talk to him.”
Li Li looked at her and could almost see an image of Lu YunFei in her face. But it was very obvious that Lu YunFei’s jiejie was not as easygoing as him.
When Lu YunFei arrived home, he heard the excited updates from the class one group chat: Update!!! My mum just sent me a WeChat to say that the principal has announced that Zhang YanRong will no longer teach us, our teacher will be teacher Zhao from class twenty.
“Hahahaha, revenge is served!”
“Let Zhang YanRong continue to be arrogant. Heh, did she really think that we couldn’t survive without her?”
“Then what about Zhang YanRong’s other classes? Is she still in charge?”
“Should be. Sigh, I’m shedding a tear for the pitiful neighbouring class.”
“It’s too terrible, my heart feels for the neighbouring class.”
“Hahahaha, I don’t care. In any case we’re free from the rubbish Zhang YanRong, good riddance.”
“Hahaha.”
The group chat was filled with joy.
Lu YunFei was happy, “This is great. I remember that Wen MingYi mentioned how teacher Zhao teaches English well, and she has a good temperament. Us switching to her is considered a blessing in disguise.”
“Is that so?” Bian JinYuan said lightly, “I guess it looks like I can retire now. You can study hard under teacher Zhao.”
Lu YunFei: ???
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