"Ding Kemeng, Ding Kemeng, what's wrong with you? They skipped class, and you joined in their misbehavior?!" Zhao Qian was shocked when he saw Ding Kemeng's name on the truancy list last night.
"One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." He mustn't let Lu Ziyin and his gang ruin the coveted opportunity he'd been waiting for!
Ding Kemeng never expected that she would be caught skipping class for the first time in her life; she was really unlucky.
"Teacher, I know I was wrong." Ding Kemeng lowered her head, showing a good attitude in admitting her mistake.
Zhao Qian wouldn't really have the heart to scold a young girl, especially one as outstanding as her, so he turned his attention to the boys standing next to her.
The boys were still laughing, which made Zhao Qian furious!
"Shut up, Xiaoxiao! Stand up straight!"
The boys stopped laughing and stood up straight.
"Stand outside for the entire class period, then you can start the class!"
"Teacher!" Several boys tried to beg for mercy.
Zhao Qian rolled his eyes and snorted, "This isn't over yet! Before school ends today, everyone has to hand me a 1,000-word self-criticism! They're all going against the grain! Everyone has to hand it in, or you won't be allowed to attend class!"
Everyone: ...
Is the person who wrote the school's self-criticisms still around?
Lu Ziyin and the others were boys, so they were used to being punished by standing in the corner. They were thick-skinned enough and fearless!
But Ding Kemeng is a girl, not only is she shy, but she also lacks physical strength. The others were a little worried about her standing outside with them.
"Mengbao, go back to class, don't stand there." Lu Ziyin nudged Ding Kemeng, wanting her to go back.
Zhao Qian doesn't have classes in the morning, so he won't come to see them specifically. Therefore, no one will say anything if Ding Kemeng goes back.
"It's okay, we skipped class together, so it's fine to stand together as punishment." Ding Kemeng shook her head and didn't move.
A boy next to Ding Kemeng heard what she said and thought she was being stubborn. He said, "Sister Meng, Brother Lu is right. You should go back. Anyway, the teacher isn't here. We can just stand here. You're a girl, you don't need to stand like this!"
"Yeah, Meng-jie. Standing for a whole class period is quite a long time, you should go back!" It's fine if they don't study, but Ding Kemeng is different; she's one of the students in their class who's going to get into a prestigious university!
Several boys were all urging her to go back, which put Ding Kemeng in a difficult position.
"Sweetie, go back. You don't need to stand for a whole class like us." Lu Ziyin ruffled Ding Kemeng's hair, pushed her to the classroom door, and continued, "Old Zhao only intended to punish us, not you. You don't need to stand with us. Besides, the first class today is math, which is very important. If you waste time standing outside as punishment, what if you fall behind in the lesson!"
"No, I..." Ding Kemeng was pushed all the way by Lu Ziyin. She wanted to turn around, but Lu Ziyin didn't give her a chance to react. With a forceful push, she pushed her back into the classroom.
When Li Meilin saw this in the classroom, she quickly reached out and pulled her in, closing the classroom door behind her.
"Mengbao, you're a girl, you don't need to stand as punishment with them. Why don't you come to class with us?" Li Meilin smiled at Ding Kemeng and pulled her back to her seat.
"They're repeat offenders anyway, it won't matter how many times they stand there. You're different, you'd better focus on your studies!"
Ding Kemeng: "Is it really okay to do this?"
"It's okay, it's okay, just focus on your class. You can always make up for this lesson later!" Li Meilin waved her hand dismissively and returned to her seat.
Habitual offenders Lu Ziyin and others: Since the classroom door was already closed, it was actually a bit silly for them to just stand outside like that...
"How about we go to the cafeteria for breakfast?" I came to class early this morning and got caught skipping class by the teacher. I didn't eat a bite of breakfast and I'm starving!
Tang Zhizhou's stomach had been growling for a while.
"I haven't had breakfast either." Xie Sichen hadn't eaten either, and now he was hungry.
"Zhou-ge, Chen-ge, stop chatting, Lu-ge has already left," one of the boys couldn't help but remind him.
Tang Zhizhou looked over and saw that Lu Ziyin had indeed walked quite a distance!
"Damn it, you scoundrel, you're going to the cafeteria without saying a word?" After cursing, Tang Zhizhou stopped standing there dumbfounded and quickly chased after him.
The remaining boys looked at each other and then chased after them.
A moment later, Li Meilin said to Ding Kemeng, "Mengbao, look outside, am I right?" Lu Ziyin and her group are shrewd; they wouldn't just stand there like idiots!
Ding Kemeng: "It seems I was overthinking it." If she hadn't been standing outside and in their way, they probably would have all left by now...
A short while later, Ding Kemeng's phone rang. It was a message from Lu Ziyin, asking her what she wanted to eat.
Ding Kemeng was a little angry and ignored him.
Breakfast window in the cafeteria.
"Brother Lu, is this all you're going to eat?" Tang Zhizhou asked, puzzled, when he saw what was on Lu Ziyin's plate.
"It's okay, I'm not hungry."
"Oh." Tang Zhizhou took a bite of his steamed bun and casually asked, "Has Sister Meng eaten? Do you want to buy her some? Just send her a message and ask what she wants to eat. We can bring it back for her."
"No need, she should be in class. I'll just buy her something to take back later." Lu Ziyin glanced at the time; the first class had already started, so she didn't wait for Ding Kemeng's message any longer. She went straight to the breakfast window and ordered a few of Ding Kemeng's favorite dishes from memory.
When Lu Ziyin returned to the classroom, Ding Kemeng's petty resentment had long since dissipated, so she didn't say anything to him. She obediently ate breakfast and even assigned Lu Ziyin and the other boys a few problems.
The boy who received the question asked: "Are they trading food for suffering?"
After attending classes for two consecutive weeks in September, a class quiz was held, and Lu Ziyin and Tang Zhizhou, along with several other boys who had been forced to receive extra tutoring from Ding Kemeng, all saw their grades improve.
When Mr. Lu received his son's report card, his expression changed. If Lu Tian hadn't told him that his son hadn't cheated, he wouldn't have believed that his son had achieved such a score!
During dinner that evening, Lu's father subtly inquired about Lu Ziyin's grades.
Lu Ziyin didn't hide anything and directly said that his girlfriend had tutored him, his expression and tone were extremely proud!
Father Lu: "..." I just asked casually, and you're already getting proud?
"Ziyin, why don't you find some time to invite that young lady over to your house?" Wen Lan was also a little curious when she saw Lu Ziyin praising his girlfriend so much.
"Brother, I want to see sister, sister is so beautiful!" Lu Zichen had met Ding Kemeng before, so he had a good impression of her.
"Has Chenchen met his brother's girlfriend?" Wen Lan asked with a smile, ruffling her son's hair.
"Yeah, she's super pretty, much prettier than the older sister in Brother Tang's family!" Lu Zichen praised Ding Kemeng while carefully speaking ill of Tang Qiushui. After finishing, he secretly glanced at his father sitting in the main seat. Seeing that he had no expression, he quickly breathed a sigh of relief.
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