Chapter 2. Fang Minzhou really didn't like her...
Fang Minzhou really didn't like her new deskmate.
First of all, he took the seat inside without consulting her, which meant that she had to stand up to give him her seat every time he came in or out. Moreover, he was the kind of person who couldn't sit still and would go out almost every time class ended. He didn't know what he could do during the ten-minute breaks.
Even when he didn't go out, he couldn't find peace and quiet; people would always come to chat with him, including two boys in the back row. One was named Wu Cheng, who was quiet, but his deskmate Zheng Yanhang was very talkative.
Zheng Yanhang is a sports student and also the male sports committee member. He talks about the NBA all the time and demonstrates his shooting form all the time. A group of boys chat about basketball, games, and where to go on the weekend, making a lot of noise. Sometimes the bell rings and they still aren't stopping. Fang Minzhou has warned them with her eyes several times.
However, Fang Minzhou also considered that if she were to sit inside, she would need Wang Kan's permission to enter and exit. There were pros and cons to both, so Fang Minzhou decided to let it go.
However, she was still very dissatisfied with Wang Kan's self-determination at the time.
Secondly, Wang Kan neither studied after class nor during class.
This was originally none of her business, but after the seating arrangement was changed that day, Teacher Zhan talked to her, explaining why she had arranged the seats that way.
Some homeroom teachers let students with good grades choose their seats first, while others arrange all the students with good grades together. Teacher Zhan does not approve of this approach. She hopes that her class atmosphere is harmonious and that students help each other. Therefore, although Wang Kan's grades are average, Ouyang Qian and Jin Baihao in front of her have good grades, and Wu Cheng in the back row is very good at biology.
Fang Minzhou fully understood what Teacher Zhan meant. She hoped that Fang Minzhou could improve herself while helping her classmates, something she had been asked to do in elementary and middle school. Fang Minzhou wasn't particularly fond of helping others, but she always tried her best to meet the requests of her teachers and parents.
She thought that if Wang Kan asked her questions, she would answer them, but after a week, they barely exchanged a few words, let alone asked any questions.
Fang Minzhou felt that Wang Kan's attitude towards learning would eventually make him the last in his class.
As for whether Teacher Zhan would have a bad impression of her, Fang Minzhou couldn't care less.
However, one unpleasant thing after another happened.
Wang Kanjing has become the focus of attention for all teachers after the opening exam. His grades have dropped too much compared to the final exam of the first semester. Every teacher will call on him to answer questions from time to time in class. If he can answer, that's fine. If he can't answer, the teacher will shake his head and call on Fang Minzhou to answer the question the next second.
Fang Minzhou disliked this situation. It felt like she was there to clean up Wang Kan's messes. And although she knew the answers, her popularity among teachers and classmates had increased. What if she couldn't answer a question one day? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Once, Wang Kan was caught daydreaming in English class. The teacher punished him by making him prepare an English song to perform on stage this week. He readily agreed, but when it came time to do it, he looked blank and obviously forgot about it. He just grabbed a book and went up to the podium: he rolled up the textbook to use as a microphone, and with red marks on his cheeks from catching up on sleep during break, he opened his mouth and sang a love song with an excessive number of words like "love" and "baby".
Amidst the roar of laughter and jeers, the teacher, both amused and exasperated, waved him off, urging him to "Go back to your seat."
Wang Kan shrugged and stepped off the stage with ease. Dozens of eyes watched him return to his seat, and Fang Minzhou blushed on Wang Kan's behalf as all eyes were on him.
There was a third reason why Fang Minzhou disliked Wang Kan, a hidden issue that was laid during the school registration period, long before the seating arrangement was changed.
That day, she had just finished reporting for duty when other teachers called for Teacher Zhan. There were very few people in the class, so Teacher Zhan asked her to supervise the students who came later to sign in.
She sat in front of the podium, waiting for her prey. Besides a class roster, a few boxes of chalk, a blackboard eraser, and a new dictionary, she casually picked it up and started flipping through it. She was truly bored and had nothing better to do. She had only looked up a few unfamiliar characters on the class roster when one of the students happened to see her and proudly introduced himself.
At that time, Wang Kan had an unhealed abrasion on her forehead, and her hair was plastered to her scalp, making her look like a hoodlum. Although No. 1 High School was the best high school in Zhangcheng, there were bound to be some slackers. She thought this person was so narcissistic; what was there to brag about?
By the time they changed seats, Wang Kan's forehead injury had healed, and her hair had grown a bit longer, making her look somewhat kinder. However, first impressions are always hard to change.
While chatting in the front and back rows, someone mentioned Wang Kan's name, I think it was Jin Baihao. He recognized an uncommon character and felt that knowledge was everywhere in life. Then someone casually asked who gave him the name, and Wang Kan said it was his grandfather. He was then asked how the name was given.
Fang Minzhou, who was tidying up her desk at the time, clearly felt Wang Kan looking at her out of the corner of her eye. Before she could look back, Wang Kan looked away and said lazily, "I just picked it randomly from the dictionary."
Fang Minzhou remained silent, piling up books until they were high enough to partially block Wang Kan's view when he sat down.
Ouyang Qian blinked, then turned to the troubles her name brought her. When introducing herself, she had to say, "Hello everyone, my name is Ouyang Qian, yes, that Ouyang."
If someone asks, "Hey, your surname is Ouyang?"
She should respond: "Yes, my surname is Ouyang."
"Hey, is this character pronounced 'qiàn' or 'xī'?"
It is pronounced 'qiàn'.
Fang Min smiled gently.
None of these were major issues, so she chose to endure them.
At the end of September, after the autumnal equinox, the goldenrain trees were in bloom, their pink fruits and green leaves contrasting against the clear blue sky.
The No. 1 Middle School is located next to the Lakeside Park in the city center, offering a quiet retreat amidst the hustle and bustle. After sunset, the campus, which still retains several blue-brick and white-tiled buildings and small Western-style buildings, takes on a touch of autumnal coolness. However, even in winter, the south remains lush and green. Standing on the playground, you can see the ancient pagoda on the opposite hilltop, nestled behind a verdant mountain.
That evening, Fang Minzhou had dinner with her high school friend, Yuan Yue.
In January, she was in the humanities class 8 next door. She did fairly well on the opening exam, but she said that if she hadn't taken extra classes during the summer vacation, she would have failed miserably by now.
"It's just the entrance exam, don't worry," Fang Minzhou comforted her.
"Sigh." Yuan Yue was still a little depressed.
After dinner, the two walked around the playground twice before heading towards the teaching building.
Whether you did well or poorly on the exam is already set in stone. Whether you're happy or not will only last for a couple of days after the results come out. Once the wind blows, everyone starts looking forward to the National Day holiday. Moreover, this year National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival are consecutive holidays, so the air these days smells restless and relaxed. The basketball courts I passed by were very lively.
Seeing that Yuan Yue was still in a low mood, Fang Minzhou thought of talking about something happy and asked her what her plans were for the holiday. Unexpectedly, this touched on Yuan Yue's worries. She said that her brother was going home for National Day and she would probably have to stay home for tutoring for seven days.
Even Fang Minzhou couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!"
Yuan Yue had told her some things about her family. The brother she mentioned was her neighbor's brother, who had taken good care of her after Yuan Yue's own brother passed away. He also graduated from the same high school and was now a junior at a prestigious university in a neighboring province.
During the winter break of his first year of high school, Yuan Yue took Fang Minzhou to his house for tutoring.
I shouldn't have bothered him, but Fang Minzhou was quite proactive in her studies and curious about the teaching quality of the top student, so she only went twice in the end.
The reason is that Yuan Yue's brother taught the class based entirely on Yuan Yue's level, and Fang Minzhou was not within his scope of care. Moreover... he is a very serious person. Fang Minzhou was surprised that he was a little afraid of him, and even more surprised that Yuan Yue was not afraid of him.
"I'm scared," Yuan Yue said.
Fang Minzhou said she couldn't tell.
Now that I've heard that we'll have to make up classes for the entire National Day holiday in January, Fang Minzhou feels sorry for her.
Yuan Yue's grades were average, but she had good luck in exams. According to her, it was her brother who dragged her along so that she was able to get into the junior high school of No. 1 Middle School.
"I'm afraid my brother will be disappointed..." Yuan Yue muttered.
"No, it won't happen," Fang Minzhou said. "You can come to me if you have any problems."
"Mm." Yuan Yue nodded gratefully, then took a deep breath, cheered herself up, and asked Fang Minzhou a little embarrassedly, "Never mind, I've been the one complaining the whole time, what about you, Minmin?"
"What about me?"
"Yeah, it seems like you don't have any worries."
Fang Minzhou smiled and said, "How could that be?"
January cast a surprised and concerned glance my way.
Having sat next to Yuan Yue for a year in the first year of high school, Fang Minzhou noticed that Yuan Yue seemed to be increasingly outstanding in her eyes, even though that wasn't actually the case. But Fang Minzhou unconsciously started to feel burdened by this.
Just as Yuan Yue was worried that her brother would be disappointed in her, she was also worried that her image would be shattered in Yuan Yue's eyes, so she casually said, "It's nothing, it's just that it's a new class and I'm still a little unaccustomed to it."
“Me too,” Yuan Yue said. “I wish we were still in the same class and sitting at the same desk.”
Fang Minzhou: "...I want to too."
As they spoke, they had already reached the foot of the teaching building. The school has an equal number of day students and boarding students, but all are required to attend evening self-study sessions. However, since it's Friday, there's one less self-study session, so they can go home earlier.
In January, she mentioned that she had just changed seats; her new deskmate was a gentle and cheerful girl who dreamed of becoming a teacher. "What about you?" she asked.
"It's been changed too."
But what about Wang Kan's dream? She didn't know.
"Boy or girl?"
"Boy."
In January, she said "Oh," and then asked, "How was it?"
"What do you mean, how about it?"
"For example... how is your relationship? How are his grades?" Yuan Yue asked innocently.
Fang Minzhou almost laughed, "His grades aren't very good, and our relationship isn't very good either."
"Why?" Yuan Yue felt that Fang Minzhou seemed to have some issues with this boy. Although she knew Fang Minzhou as she did, she knew that Fang Minzhou wouldn't look down on people because of their grades, but Yuan Yue still couldn't help but think of herself and felt a little embarrassed. "...My grades aren't very good either."
Fang Minzhou said that wasn't the case. Her new deskmate just had a bad attitude towards studying. As for the rest, "nothing much, it's just... I don't really like the look of him."
She didn't want to speak ill of others, but now that things had come to this point, she felt compelled to vent her emotions. After speaking, she couldn't help but wonder who she liked.
Hmm...like Yuan Yue, she liked her the moment she saw her.
A sudden thud of a ball hitting the ground startled Fang Minzhou and Yuan Yue. Turning around, they saw Wang Kan catching the rebounding basketball with one hand.
Fang Minzhou: "..."
The first floor of the teaching building was dimly lit, and in the silence, the nearby trees were cast eerie shadows. Wang Kan's face was blurred, and his expression was unreadable, but that smash of the ball had already struck Fang Minzhou's heart.
Yuan Yue was also embarrassed. She didn't recognize the boy in front of her, but Fang Minzhou seemed to know him... She nervously looked at this and that. The boy carried the ball upstairs with a cold face, while the two of them stood there for a while before walking over.
In January, Fang Minzhou asked cautiously, "...Your classmate?"
Fang Minzhou was afraid of scaring Yuan Yue, so she paused and replied, "My deskmate."
Yuan Yue was stunned for a moment, and after realizing what had happened, she was indeed frightened. Her eyes widened, and she almost couldn't walk straight. "Ah, what about what we just did?"
"It's nothing, we didn't say anything."
I stuttered in January. Is this what you call not saying anything?
"He probably doesn't really want to sit at the same table as me."
Yuan Yue didn't understand, "Did you two have a fight?"
"No." Fang Minzhou shrugged. "We just don't get along very well. We don't usually talk to each other. Anyway, I plan to ask the teacher to change seats after the midterm exams."
"Can I exchange it?"
"Sure."
January: "...What if the teacher doesn't allow it?"
Fang Minzhou hadn't really considered this possibility, because she felt that if things continued like this, Wang Kan would definitely do even worse on the midterm exam. Even if Teacher Zhan wasn't worried that him sitting next to her would affect her grades, she would still have a reason to suggest changing deskmates.
“But it’s only the beginning of the semester. Even if you’re not deskmates anymore, you’re still classmates…” Yuan Yue was still worried. Thinking of something, her tone became serious, “…Is he bullying you?”
"How could that be?"
She was amused by Yuan Yue, but Yuan Yue still looked worried. Fang Minzhou found her cute and was also a little touched. "Don't worry, it's really okay. If he's angry, I can just apologize to him."
After hearing this, Yuan Yue said, "...But you really didn't say anything."
Fang Minzhou wanted to laugh inwardly; Yuan Yue probably didn't even realize she was being overly protective. She gestured with her chin towards the front door of Class 8 across the room, indicating that Yuan Yue should go back to her classroom. "Don't worry."
Yuan Yue's lips pursed slightly, and she nodded like a little goldfish.
Her seat was in the second largest group closest to the door. Fang Minzhou watched her sit down, waved, and then turned around. Standing at the back door, a quick glance across the classroom revealed that Wang Kan was not in her seat.
A note from the author:
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