Chapter 10
Perhaps her stomach had become accustomed to this way of eating due to years of eating the same meal, or perhaps she really couldn't eat anything and was only eating to provide for her body's functions.
Numbly, she put the unopened bread into the drawer, along with the note written by Chen Zhoujing.
Afterwards, when Jian Sheng returned from the office at noon, the back door was no longer locked. Once, the bell rang, and she was planning not to go in, but she saw that the front door was half-open. When she went in, most people were chatting quietly, and a few people were huddled in the back row, secretly playing on their phones.
She sat back down, and Qi Jing, who had been lying down, looked up and said in a low voice with her eyes wide open, "Did I disturb you?"
Qi Jing shook her head, gesturing for her to look at her legs. The curtains at her location were drawn up at one corner, shining directly into her eyes. Jian Sheng could see a light green novel on her legs, with two people wearing shirts who looked like students.
"Nobody sleeps at this hour. Most people don't go to sleep until 45. They're all on their phones or doing their own thing." Qi Jing said, then opened the romance novel and started reading.
Jian Sheng looked up and saw the pointer in the middle of the classroom in the dim light; it had just turned to thirty-five.
She nodded slightly and, using the light from the side, reviewed the questions in her hands for a while.
*
The physical education teacher was absent during the first week of school. This Thursday afternoon, he came and immediately took two classes together to test sit-ups and pull-ups in order to catch up on the schedule.
Jian Sheng followed behind the group. There was no ranking; she just found a spot to stand in and tried to hide herself behind the crowd.
There are only two classes on the playground now, Class 13 and Class 7. It seems like many people from both classes know each other. They are standing casually, and everyone is talking noisily. They don't seem serious at all like when they are having academic classes.
"Class 13 is on my right, and Class 7 is on my left." After Xu Shu blew his whistle twice and the crowd quieted down, he continued, "Class 7 will be tested first. Class 13 can go to the side and have some free time. The sports committee member will help me get the list."
The students from Class 7 lined up and stood to one side, while the boys from Class 13 with the ball were ready to run. Suddenly, Xu Shu shouted, "Wait a minute!"
Several boys who had run away came back with the ball, and one of them asked, "What's wrong, teacher?"
“You have a new student in your class? The number of students is not right,” Xu Shu said.
The students in Class 13 were all standing scattered around. Almost everyone's eyes automatically fell on Jian Sheng. There seemed to be an open space around Jian Sheng. She slowly raised her head. The PE teacher also noticed her and whistled: "Hey, a new lad has joined us."
"So fair-skinned?" Xu Shu looked her up and down. "A man can't be afraid of the sun. Wearing so much in this heat, aren't you afraid of getting heat rash? You'll have to take them off for pull-ups later."
Pfft.
Someone in the crowd laughed.
Xu Shu hummed in agreement: "Who's laughing? What's so funny? There's actually a real case. Last year, someone was wearing layers upon layers of clothing during PE class, and in the sweltering heat, he ended up in the hospital from the heat..."
"Teacher," someone interrupted the boy from behind, "Jian Sheng is a girl."
The crowd was bustling, and then burst into laughter.
Xu Shu was taken aback and forgot to speak for a moment. When he realized what was going on, he scratched his head and said, "No one is allowed to laugh. Class 7, turn around. What's there to see?"
"The sports committee member took us to the basketball court." He called to a group of Class 7 students who were watching the commotion, then turned around and smiled sheepishly, "Go play, classmates. I was just joking. I also like wearing long sleeves."
As he spoke, he pulled his sun-protective jacket tighter, followed behind Class 7 with a smile, and then, as if remembering something, turned to Class 13 and shouted, "Tell those four who missed the basketball game to pay attention to the time. After I finish testing, come directly to basketball court number two."
"Okay." Only the sports committee member responded, while the others went off to play in twos and threes to join in the fun.
Jian Sheng stood there, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes; her ears were already bright red.
"Jian Sheng, let's go together." Qi Jing called out. Jian Sheng looked up and saw the three of them standing under the shade of a tree waiting for her. She walked towards them in small steps.
She followed the three of them slowly to the shade of the trees under the No. 2 basketball court, right where they were going to have their sit-up test.
By this time, several students from Class 7 had finished their tests and gone elsewhere. Xu Xiaxia led them to find He Man behind the girls in Class 7. Jian Sheng followed them leisurely, and while they were chatting, she found a quiet, shady spot to sit.
"Damn, do you guys know what? I played that new mobile game with that big guy in your class the other day, and I found it to be pretty fun." He Man plopped down next to Lin You after finishing her test, her eyes shining as she said, "I didn't like playing games before, but he asked me about it, and then I downloaded it on a whim, and found it to be really fun."
"He Xiaoman has successfully infiltrated Class 13's circle." Xu Xiaxia pinched her shoulder and said with a sly smile.
"No, I scared him before, so I asked for his contact information to apologize. Then I didn't expect him to hide his phone too. I thought I could just contact him directly next time I need to find someone else. I'm so smart," He Man said, blinking.
Lin You smiled and shook her head: "You think he's great?"
He Man's eyes widened: "Wow, you think he's no good? You're going to get attacked by a lot of people who like him for saying that."
Lin You was stunned: "He has a little fangirl at No. 7 Middle School?"
"Of course!" He Man nodded frantically. "I don't know about the students upstairs, but a bunch of students downstairs like him. He's good at his studies, handsome, and has a great personality. Who wouldn't like him?"
"That idiot in our class is actually on par with him. Anyway, Chen Zhoujing is better looking than him in my eyes. He's like a male protagonist in a novel. No one in the entire No. 7 Middle School can rival him. He's too dazzling!"
"If that's the case, then wouldn't every one of you be the heroine of a novel?" Lin You said, looking at her shining eyes.
"Huh?" He Man was clearly taken aback and paused for a moment.
“You can appreciate the good qualities in others, which is a kind of beauty in itself. In most novels, the protagonist is not necessarily a character with good qualities, and knowing how to appreciate them is one of them,” Lin You said.
As soon as she finished speaking, a few meters away, Jian Sheng shifted her gaze from the scene of the seventh class's test and silently looked over here. She looked through Qi Jing's shoulder at Lin You, who was half-hidden by the shadows of the trees, and her gaze was inexplicably burning.
"Wow, that's a whole new perspective! You're right, that means I'm also a female protagonist in a novel, hahaha!" He Man hugged her knees and laughed heartily after hearing this.
"Of course, who isn't?"
The summer sun blazed down, and the heat wasn't just from the sunlight, but also from the burning passion in their hearts.
"Our class monitor is indeed very knowledgeable," Xu Xiaxia said excitedly, hugging Lin You's arm.
"Hey." He Man suddenly looked up and met Jian Sheng, who was huddled in a corner not far away, trying to make his presence known.
"What was that sound?" Her voice grew softer as she turned to look at Lin You.
“Simple sound, the simple sound, the sound of sound,” Lin You replied.
"Jian Sheng, why are you sitting so far away?" He Man grinned, trying to be friendly. "Why don't you come sit with me?"
Jian Sheng slowly turned her head and said softly, "I'm fine sitting here."
"That won't do!" He Man's excited voice startled Jian Sheng, who opened his eyes wide and looked up.
He Man wanted to pull her over, but as soon as she lifted her butt up, she saw her full face and sat down again. She was stunned for a moment when she saw her raised head.
"Oh no, Chen Zhoujing's position is in jeopardy..." she murmured.
Looking at her expression, Lin You laughed out loud: "It seems that Chen Zhoujing is not invincible in your heart."
Jian Sheng blushed slightly and turned her head away. It was the first time someone had gotten so close to her and discussed her looks in front of her. In Jeju, everyone said she was a mute idiot and a bottle-collecting beggar. But here, people always liked to stare at her face.
As soon as he finished speaking, the person in question walked in through a side door carrying a basketball, accompanied by six or seven boys from Class 3.
The school uniform of No. 7 Middle School is uniformly orange and white, short-sleeved with a polo collar and straight shoulders in summer. When Chen Zhoujing wears it, he looks tall and slender. Because he was sweating from playing basketball, his sleeves were pulled up, revealing his strong and powerful muscles. The lines of his muscles added strength to his thin body. He was thin but shapely and powerful.
Several girls from Class 7 who had finished their tests but hadn't left yet let out quiet exclamations, which happened to be right next to Jian Sheng's ear, drawing her attention.
She looked at the boy walking in front, a smile playing on her lips as she chatted with He Shang beside her. This added a touch of flamboyance to her usually aloof face when she wasn't smiling. His skin was fair, and his face was slightly flushed from playing basketball. A few drops of sweat slid down his slightly red cheeks, down to his neck, and then down to the depths of his unbuttoned collar.
Jian Sheng's gaze didn't linger for more than a few seconds, but the other person keenly sensed her gaze, stopped their playful antics, and looked over in her direction.
"Holy crap, he's looking over here."
"Is he a giant? How can he be so tall?"
"Who is Chen Zhoujing looking at? Is it He Man?"
Amidst the bustling crowd, Jian Sheng only saw the boy say something to the person next to him, then put down the basketball and walk towards them. Jian Sheng instantly tensed up, slowly shifting her gaze, with a bad premonition that something was about to happen.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the footsteps appeared beside her ears. A pair of white, shiny shoes entered Jian Sheng's lowered eyes. They were flawless, very clean, like brand new. She shrank her feet and slowly looked up at him.
When she raised her head, Chen Zhoujing had already bent down. His school uniform pants were black, and he didn't care if they were dirty or messy. He sat cross-legged opposite Jian Sheng, looking at her at eye level, and smiled at her.
Jian Sheng's pupils widened slightly, and his ears inexplicably felt hot: "W-what's wrong?"
"Holy crap, what's going on with these two?"
What happened to Chen Zhoujing?
Chen Zhoujing's move drew a lot of attention to the two on the basketball court, and several boys who had just come in squeezed in to join in the fun.
"What are you looking at?" Zhao Chengyang asked.
He Shang, sitting in the front row, quietly offered her a seat: "See for yourself."
Through the gap in his head, Zhao Chengyang saw the madman who had just been brutally beating him on the court sitting cross-legged in front of the silent new classmate, the atmosphere quite pleasant. He gritted his teeth: "What's he doing? Has he taken a liking to the new classmate?"
Xu Xiao's eyebrows twitched as he turned to look at him: "Are you crazy?"
“He doesn’t date,” he added.
"It's because I was dumped by my ex-girlfriend, who's always been my white moonlight. It's not like I don't have any other girls..." Before Zhao Chengyang could finish speaking, He Shang punched him in the chest.
"What are you doing?" His anger surged, and he wanted to hit back, but Xu Xiao stopped him. "He's quite wary of this matter. Try not to cause any conflict. You're pretty amazing. You don't like him, but you still play ball with him and always hang around him."
Zhao Chengyang's face darkened as he looked at the suddenly gentle hedgehog-like figure with deep eyes: "What are you pretending for? What's there to be ashamed of? Most of them are from Yanjiang. Who doesn't know about his messy affairs?"
"Don't judge him by your own standards; what you hear may not be the truth." He Shang picked up the basketball from the ground and turned around. "He felt bad for mistaking the new classmate for someone else, and he was trying his best to integrate because the new classmate wasn't very sociable."
"Stop listening to that idiot downstairs spreading rumors."
"Let's go. Xu Shu said the girls will be tested first. We can play another round. Those guys from Class 7 are already fighting up ahead." After saying that, He Shang walked towards the basketball hoop next door.
The boys left, and the sound of basketballs hitting the ground echoed on the court. Most of the onlookers had left.
Someone here is worried.
Jian Sheng didn't understand why Chen Zhoujing kept staring at her without saying anything. Even now, when she asked him what was wrong, he wouldn't answer, just sitting in front of her and grinning foolishly.
"If you don't tell me, I'm leaving." After saying that, she was about to get up when Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise.
"What are you doing?" Jian Sheng was annoyed, and a hint of anger finally appeared on his usually expressionless face.
"I've noticed you're talking more and more." Chen Zhoujing managed to utter this one sentence after holding it in for a long time, leaving Jian Sheng speechless with exasperation.
She sighed heavily: "I'm leaving."
Xu Shu was already whistling when Jian Sheng stood up and looked down at him.
After a few seconds, she realized she had nothing to say, so she slowly looked away and walked toward the sit-up test area.
Lin You and a few others also walked away, but He Man remained where she was.
"That Chen Zhoujing..."
Chen Zhou finally pulled his gaze away from Jian Sheng. He didn't know why he had inexplicably walked over, and seeing her angry made him feel a little excited...
Is he fucking sick?
"Chen Zhoujing..." The girl in front of him called out again, and Chen Zhoujing finally came back to his senses, looking at her with a complicated expression.
He Man smiled sweetly, her dimples making her look adorable. Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes in surprise: "Excuse me, what is it?"
His voice returned to its usual calm, and his eyes were devoid of any emotion, just as they always did when she sought him out.
She was a little frightened and didn't dare to say anything.
"I'm going to play ball now, nothing else." Chen Zhou nodded to her and turned to walk towards the group of people waiting for him next door.
He Man's gaze sank as he turned away, watching his tall figure slowly walk into the commotion and jeers.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
