New teacher

In the blink of an eye, it was already the second year of high school. The classroom had moved from the first floor to the third, and the sycamore tree outside the window had grown thicker. Gu Hanzhi gazed at the pile of exercise books piled high on her desk, her pencil tip tapping lightly on the title "General Formula for Sequences." Suddenly, she remembered the headache she'd had last year tutoring Jiang Wanning on her junior high school homework.

The March sun slanted through the branches of the camphor trees, casting dappled golden specks on the asphalt. The cicada's chirping, wrapped in a wave of heat, flooded the classroom, but suddenly softened the moment it touched the young man at the window. Song Yuhuan stood at the door, clutching a lesson plan. His white shirt was neatly worn, his light blue trouser legs swaying gently in the draft. The faint blue metallic sheen on the tips of his ears resembled the glimmer of light leaking through the cracks in the dark clouds before a midsummer rainstorm.

The moment the cicadas chirped outside the window, a murmur of discussion reached the back of the classroom. Sunlight filtered through the dusty glass, casting a flickering spot of light on Gu Hanzhi's open workbook. Her hand, clutching the red pen, hovered in mid-air when her deskmate, Jiang Wanning, poked her shoulder.

"Do you know, our school has a trainee teacher recently, he's very handsome, and it seems like he's going to be our trainee head teacher!" The girl with a ponytail in the front row suddenly turned around, her eyes shining as if they were filled with stars.

The boy next to her pushed up his glasses and said with a hint of excitement, "How could our class be so lucky to have such a good-looking teacher?" The short-haired girl in the third row propped up her chin and sighed, "I really hope he comes soon. I can't imagine how handsome he'll be..."

Chalk dust pattered onto the draft paper. Gu Hanzhi lowered her eyes as she continued to work on the number series, her pen nibbling in smooth arcs. Jiang Wanning came over, chewing potato chips, crumbs clinging to the corner of her mouth. "Sure enough, you only have Shen Zhihe in your heart. You don't care about other handsome guys at all."

Shen Zhihe lowered his head and eyes, his hair covering his red ears, and the sweat on the back of his neck soaked the collar of his school uniform. He pretended to be concentrating on calculations, even his knuckles were tense and white from turning the pages, but when he heard footsteps approaching, the tip of his pen uncontrollably drew long ink marks on the paper.

The exercise book was heavily circled with errors in red pen. When Gu Hanzhi raised her eyes, there was a cold look in the corners of her eyes: "If you keep talking nonsense, I don't mind rewarding you with a workbook. What I care about most is the grade ranking." Jiang Wanning immediately fell silent, puffed up her cheeks and shrank back into her seat, but still secretly observed the slight blush on the tips of Gu Hanzhi and Shen Zhihe's ears.

Suddenly, brisk footsteps echoed down the hallway. Blue and white sneakers treaded the intersection of sunlight and tree shadows, and the hem of light blue trousers brushed the doorframe, creating a gust of wind. Song Yuhuan entered the classroom, lesson plans in hand. With a stern face, he flipped open the roll call, his voice soft as if soaked in morning dew: "Hello, students. I'm your new homeroom teacher, Song Yuhuan."

Gu Hanzhi's pen suddenly stopped on the paper, the ink spreading into tiny ripples. She heard the suppressed gasp of the girl in the front row, and in her peripheral vision, she could hear the crisp rustling of Jiang Wanning's potato chip bag. The cicadas outside the window had stopped chirping at some point, and the sun slanted across the boy's delicate brow, casting a gentle shadow on the podium.

The bell for the end of class rang out like a crushed silver bell, clanging and exploding throughout the classroom. Jiang Wanning quickly stuffed the bag of potato chips into her desk and practically collapsed onto Gu Hanzhi's desk, her eyes sparkling like two drops of wet dew. "Hanzhi! This teacher is so handsome, with the white shirt, blue pants, and those rings and earrings! I really want to rush over and add him on WeChat!" The wind from her words brushed Gu Hanzhi's hair, startling the green ivy leaves by the window.

Lu Chenzhou happened to pass by with a basketball in his arms. Upon hearing this, he supported Gu Hanzhi's desk with one hand, and with the other hand he took off his sweat-soaked headband and shook it, revealing the slightly curly hair on his forehead: "What's the use of being handsome? You're just an embroidered pillow." He deliberately dragged out the last word, with a cunning curve at the corner of his mouth. The basketball made a thud on the ground, shaking the desk slightly.

Jiang Wanning's face flushed crimson, and she grabbed her textbook, threatening to smash it. "I won't let you say that about the new teacher!" She chased him around two rows of desks, her ponytail swinging in a lively arc, drawing the attention of the surrounding students. Lu Chenzhou screamed exaggeratedly as he ran, finally hiding by the water dispenser, raising his hands in surrender. Sweat dripped from the ends of his hair, leaving dark stains on the ground.

Gu Hanzhi rested her elbows on the table, twirling a red pen between her fingers as she chuckled softly. The sunlight filtered through her eyelashes, casting fine shadows under her eyes, tinting her profile with a warm golden hue. "Seeing them laughing and playing so happily, I'm starting to think they're a couple." Her voice, mingled with the sweet scent of osmanthus wafting from the corridor, gently fell upon Shen Zhihe's ear.

Shen Zhihe's knuckles were white as he gripped his mechanical pencil, and the formulas on his workbook were distorted and distorted. He stared down at the crumbs of paper left by the eraser tip, his Adam's apple rolling twice before he managed to speak: "Yeah..." The cicadas outside the window suddenly became deafening. He stared at the dancing light spot on Gu Hanzhi's head and suddenly felt the urge to kiss her. The draft paper had been covered with overlapping "Gu" characters, and the repeated eraser rubs had left the paper with frayed edges, a perfect reflection of his panicked and aching heartbeat.

The lunch break sun scorched the corridor. Jiang Wanning slurred the last bite of her scrambled eggs and tomatoes, slamming her lunch box down on the table. Her ponytail swung out in a sharp arc. Facing the window, she smoothed her frizzy bangs, pulled out a small mirror, and touched up her strawberry-flavored lipstick. Clutching a pink envelope folded into a heart shape, she rushed to the sophomore's office, her sneakers scraping harshly against the tile floor.

In the classroom, Lu Chenzhou slammed the basketball onto his desk, startling the parabola she drew so much that it twisted into an earthworm: "Where is Jiang Wanning? You said you wanted to see the exciting scene of my shooting." The boy's neck was still stained with sweat from physical education class, and the soaked vest stuck to his back, revealing the smooth lines of his muscles.

Gu Hanzhi didn't even raise her head, and the tip of her pen drew a striking equation on the wrong answer book: "At this moment, I'm afraid he is handing a love letter to Teacher Song." Before she finished speaking, Lu Chenzhou's basketball rolled to the ground with a "bang", and the echo in the empty classroom was particularly clear.

"Handing over a love letter?" Lu Chenzhou froze mid-air as he bent over to pick up the ball. The tips of his ears instantly turned red with suspicion. "Does that little girl really like Teacher Song?" When he stood up, he knocked over his deskmate's pencil case, sending the metal pens scattering all over the floor. "Teacher Song is just dressed more respectably, what's so great about that? I look much more handsome when I dunk!"

At this moment, the faint scent of jasmine tea wafted through the sophomore office. Song Yuhuan was marking key points on a lesson plan with a fountain pen, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a dark blue leather bracelet. The ring-shaped earrings on his ears swayed slightly as he lowered his head, casting subtle shadows on his lesson notes. It wasn't until the sweet aroma of strawberries suddenly filled the air that he looked up and saw Jiang Wanning, her face flushed. Her hair was tangled in sweat, crinkling the edges of the envelope.

"Teacher Song!" Jiang Wanning clutched the corner of her clothes and took a deep breath. "I like you." She suddenly leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "Can I add you on WeChat?"

Song Yuhuan paused, his hand gripping the pen, a gentle smile playing on his lips. He moved his chair slightly back, leaning over to gesture for Jiang Wanning to come closer. A faint scent of mint and cedar pheromones drifted across the air. "Sorry, classmate." His warm breath brushed against the girl's burning earlobe. "I don't have WeChat, and I don't like girls."

Jiang Wanning froze in place, the pink envelope clattering onto the table. "You don't like... girls???"

Song Yuhuan nodded, her eyes fixed on the wall clock, the hands of which were slowly ticking towards the first afternoon class. She turned toward the figure at the door, her tone mildly tentative, "Classmate, you're in our class, right? I gave you a math test for homework at noon, so it seems you've already finished it?"

Jiang Wanning's cheeks flushed slightly, and the courage she had rashly knocked on the door to ask questions instantly dissipated. She quickly lowered her head, her voice so soft as if she wasn't going to disturb the air. "Sorry to bother you, teacher. I, I just happened to be passing by and wanted to ask. It's not necessary now. Goodbye, teacher." With that, she turned and hurried away, forgetting to close the door gently behind her.

When she wandered back to the classroom, tears still clung to her eyelashes. "Hanzhi! I'm heartbroken!" She threw herself into her friend's arms, her hair soaked with strawberry-scented shampoo and salty tears.

Gu Hanzhi touched her head. "We haven't even started dating yet, so how can you say you're heartbroken? What you lost is the confirmation that a handsome teacher doesn't love you; what you gained is the chance to take his heart back."

Lu Chenzhou silently hid the dusty basketball behind him, his Adam's apple rolling up and down: "Don't cry, he's just a teacher..." He was suddenly bumped back by Jiang Wanning's straightened body. Jiang Wanning pointed at her hand, her red eyes shining surprisingly brightly: "Lu Chenzhou, do you have the courage to date me?"

The boy's heartbeat almost broke his chest, and even the red mark of the new sunburn behind his ear spread to his neck: "Ah? You...are you serious?" He hurriedly loosened the collar of his school uniform, but saw the dimples on Jiang Wanning's face when she smiled.

"Of course I was just kidding!" Jiang Wanning patted him on the back and turned to look through Gu Hanzhi's snack cabinet. "You're such a fool, you actually believed it." She didn't notice Lu Chenzhou quietly turned his face away, covering his burning ears with his palms. It was only then that he realized the "I do" he had almost blurted out was hotter than a basketball under the scorching sun.

The sun outside the window was still scorching, and this little episode in the classroom was like a breeze in the summer, blowing gently and creating different ripples in everyone's heart.