Chapter 8
I want to swear.
That brat.
I stomped on his foot hard. "Why did you bite me?"
Wu Qi lowered his eyes: "I don't know, maybe he's a little angry."
"If you're angry, then be angry. Why are you throwing a tantrum at me?" My lips twitched, causing a sharp pain all over my face. "If you didn't want him to touch you, you should have come earlier."
Those words only gave me a brief moment of relief.
In the third second, I realized something from the silence between the two of us and was taken aback.
I heard Wu Qi laugh, it sounded nice, but I felt like he was laughing out of anger.
“That’s interesting. I remember some people promised to wait for me after school, right?” Wu Qi asked.
These "some people" are obviously me.
"I...I have something to do today." I tried to appear calm.
Wu Qi didn't ask me what was wrong, he just said, "This is the second time."
I know I'm in the wrong, but I still want to try: "Actually, I waited for you at the school gate after school, but you didn't come by yourself..."
"A good excuse."
Wu Qi nodded. "If I hadn't followed your scent to find this place, you wouldn't just be getting your cheeks pinched by now. Besides, instead of going home after school, forgive my poor eyesight, but I didn't see what kind of work the Old Man of the Moon could be doing here."
"..."
"You don't even know how to dodge, and you think you can use a little red rope as a whip?" Wu Qi said in a low voice, "I'm asking you, what else have you learned since coming to the human world besides 'acting on your own'?"
I was baffled by the scolding and couldn't understand where Wu Qi's anger came from, which made me feel even more frustrated.
"It's clearly you who's late," I retorted. "You're always out having fun, I never see you. If you're busy, then go ahead and do your thing. When did I say I needed you to pick me up?"
I blurted everything out without realizing that this argument was about to erupt.
Wu Qi frowned at me, his expression extremely gloomy.
I shook off his hand: "Being demoted didn't mean we had to live together. You don't need to interfere too much. From now on, we'll each live our own lives, which will save us a lot of trouble!"
That night I walked home by myself. I knew Wu Qi was only ten meters behind me, but I just didn't want to turn around.
Once I got upstairs, I couldn't help but look down, and there I saw Wu Qi standing under the streetlight, looking up at me.
His gaze was too gloomy, and his figure too frail... he looked utterly alone. I couldn't bear to look him in the eye, so I turned and drew the curtains.
Wu Qi and I have argued, argued, argued a lot... but most of the time it was me who was furious.
Is it my fault? I get annoyed whenever he's around me, and when he's angry, he says whatever comes to mind without thinking.
However, what I said was indeed a bit harsh.
Actually, I don't mind him picking me up from school, perhaps because he never comes empty-handed.
Sometimes he would bring me an ice pop, or a piece of glutinous rice cake... or even rice cake. He would watch me eat it all and then casually ask me, "Is it that delicious?" The next day he would bring me the same thing again.
I have to say, walking home from school with him allowed me to temporarily forget the dread of going to school.
The more I thought about it, the more agitated I became. I tossed and turned in bed like a pancake, not knowing how much of that rubbish Wu Qi had actually listened to.
I didn't sleep a wink all night this month.
I think it's because the air in the room is too dry or too hot. And since I prefer cold weather, I'm not used to it right away.
Want to see Wu Qi?
That's ridiculous. How could that be? How could I be unable to sleep because of self-blame? I care about him? How could that be?
...
Okay, I do care about him.
I slept in the classroom with my eyes glazed over, and the whole morning passed by. In the afternoon, my homeroom teacher couldn't stand it anymore. She slammed her hand on the podium and told me to get out and go to sleep.
I got up, moved the table out, and went to sleep outside.
What woke me up again was the noise from the playground.
The school classrooms are located on an open-air platform. Two teaching buildings are flanked by a sculpture plaza. To the left are a football field and a basketball court, and to the right is a pavilion and a tranquil lake for relaxation.
The sound was coming from the football field.
I was dragged down by Meng Xiaoqiong to join in the fun. I was feeling sleepy and hadn't even finished learning how to apologize in my dream when I saw Yunqi standing in the middle of the playground.
She cleared her throat and was about to say something.
"Classmates, I want to..."
She was a little nervous, her face flushed, but she still insisted, "I want to expose the evil deeds of history teacher Li Fan!"
I was startled and immediately came to my senses.
Yesterday I simply told her to "gather the crowd and condemn them," but this child actually acted impulsively.
There were too many people, and I wanted to go up and stop her, but I couldn't squeeze in.
Yunqi continued, "He harassed female students, toyed with their feelings, and had no intention of taking responsibility. First, he flirted with them on WeChat, and then he started groping and touching them in real life. He has a serious lack of professional ethics. Before me, there were many other female students who were victimized, but they didn't dare to speak out, so I'm speaking for them."
She took a deep breath, mustered all her strength, and almost shouted, "I hope the school's approach is... to dismiss Teacher Li Fan!"
After he finished speaking, the playground fell completely silent.
I secretly felt a chill run down my spine. She was being far too reckless. Exposing her actions was a good thing, but if the school didn't do anything, she could easily get herself involved as well…
Suddenly, a hand was raised in the crowd.
"I agree. Teacher Li Fan once spanked me during class."
I:"……"
How come the girls here dare to say anything?!
Before I could even finish expressing my surprise, a second hand was raised as well.
“I agree. I went to his office before, and he said I smelled nice.”
Then, a third, a fourth, a fifth... more and more people joined in, raising their hands in approval.
Not only the girls, but the boys also stood up for the injustice, and the crowd was filled with indignation, which eventually escalated into a collective outburst.
"We have to take him down! Why is he messing with us girls?!"
"That's right. It's one thing if the lectures aren't very good, but it's another if the person has such poor character."
"A mass uprising! They usually get a lenient sentence!"
"Teacher Li Fan must be dismissed!"
"He must be expelled!"
I was stunned by the noise and excitement, at a loss for what to do.
Ancient books describe ordinary people as cowardly and selfish. Now, seeing this, I realize that I, who am trying to stop them, am actually closer to the "ordinary people" described in the books.
I silently withdrew from the crowd, and for the first time, I felt...
Something seems different about this world.
The head of the teaching department intervened and stopped the farce, allowing the students to return to their classrooms and focus on their studies.
The next day, a new notice appeared on the bulletin board—a report from Nancheng No. 1 Middle School regarding teacher Li Fan's harassment of female students.
Yunqi succeeded.
This is not surprising.
The gods are generous to the brave, and so am I. I didn't immediately take back the red string on Yunqi's wrist, but instead gave it to her until she turned twenty and met her true love.
Meng Xiaoqiong and Yu Yuan watched together, but I wasn't interested anymore. The sunlight on campus was nice, spilling all over the ground, and I shrank my eyes to avoid looking out of the shadows.
As I walked towards the classroom alone, I thought of Wu Qi again. I hadn't seen him all day yesterday, and there were no snacks left after school. He really is like I said, never to care about me again.
It was my fault.
He was really angry this time.
...He's never been this obedient before.
Why.
I couldn't figure it out, but when I looked up, I saw someone who looked exactly like Wu Qi passing by on the other side.
After calming down, I realized it was impossible.
I'm a little obsessed; everyone looks like Wu Qi to me.
Life goes on, and since Wu Qi doesn't care about me anymore, I can only adapt to my own life. I plan to catch up on the homework from the past two days and then finish the quiz I missed last night.
Never mind, self-disciplined women are the most beautiful.
Meng Xiaoqiong came back with the "spectator" group and sat down next to me. She started talking to me: "Sang Yue, I just heard some super big news. Do you want to hear it?"
"In no mood."
"Wow, you're such a spoilsport," Meng Xiaoqiong said, her braids swung at me. "It was really super exciting."
I could only agree by asking, "What?"
Meng Xiaoqiong: "We're getting a new student in our class! I hear he's super handsome!"
Me: "Wow."
"...Sister, could you be any more perfunctory with your surprise?" Meng Xiaoqiong was completely disappointed and started copying homework. "Let me see yesterday's physics homework."
I scribbled two lines on the scrap paper: "One last question left, just wait."
Five minutes later, the physics class representative finally outwitted Meng Xiaoqiong and snatched two crumpled test papers with identical contents from her hands.
While separating the two, he grumbled, "Can't you rely on yourself?"
Meng Xiaoqiong responded with a series of "Nah neah neah".
Just then, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom carrying books, followed by the long-faced head of discipline.
"Put your work aside for a moment, the director has something to announce."
Those who know the inside story—specifically referring to Meng Xiaoqiong—have already begun exchanging meaningful glances.
The man with the long, narrow face straightened himself up and then made way for the doorway: "We have a new student coming to our class. Come on, introduce yourselves."
I had just put down my pen to show my full support when, as soon as I looked up, I was completely paralyzed.
"Report--"
The person at the door had a striking figure. On his first day wearing the school uniform, he made it look like he had been around for many years, with one button undone on his collar.
His gaze slowly swept across the classroom, finally settling on me, a casual smile playing on his lips.
Then he slowly walked up to the podium, picked up the chalk and wrote down the two characters "邬启".
The brushstrokes are sharp and powerful; the right ear radical of the character "邬" is drawn very long.
"Wu Qi".
Two words concluded his brief and concise self-introduction. The whole class fell into a silent slumber, unsure of what to say. The man, however, was quite self-aware and walked behind me with his backpack slung over his shoulder.
We really do have a telepathic connection; this was the first time I chose a spot, but I got a scolding from that guy with the long face.
He was different; for some reason, his long, narrow face made him look cheerful, a stark contrast to his appearance. So no one really paid him any attention.
Wu Qi pulled out a chair: "Is this empty?"
Meng Xiaoqiong was flattered and said, "No, no, no, no one."
I've completely forgotten how the guy with the long face walked, and how the homeroom teacher started the lesson. I only remember feeling someone kick my chair with their toe when I came to my senses.
I instinctively leaned closer, resting my back against the table.
“New front desk mate, let’s set some rules,” Wu Qi said in my ear.
"What rules?"
"Rule number one—"
Wu Qi took it very seriously, but his gaze lingered for a long time before he finally chuckled softly, "...Let bygones be bygones."
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