ATIBESLM 7

However, as for the fact that Fei Lan didn’t dislike Ye Lingwei right now, his attitude toward him was just like his attitude toward a cute and pretty kitten on the roadside. Knowing Ye Lingwei’s plight in Class 7 was poor, he felt a rare spark of compassion.

So even though Ye Lingwei was being self-familiar and bold now, Fei Lan viewed him just like a rowdy child and didn’t read anything else into it.

Five minutes before morning self-study, the rows of people standing there were finally released by Lao Di. Even as they were about to enter the teaching building, they could still hear Lao Di’s endless stream of nagging from behind.

Ye Lingwei lagged a few steps behind Fei Lan, watching as he was stopped up ahead by the homeroom teacher. Fang Kemeng furrowed his brows and tapped the boy’s head with the test paper in his hand. “In this diagnostic exam, you ranked in the four hundreds again…”

Ye Lingwei stood right at the corner where the two people up ahead couldn’t see him. There were over seven hundred students in the grade, and Fei Lan was in the four hundreds. Actually, that was alright. After all, this was under the purgatory-like conditions of No. 3 High.

Fei Lan chuckled, with not a hint of shame visible. “I’ll definitely pay attention next time.”

Fang Kemeng was terribly troubled. “In the past, you…”

“Teacher.” Fei Lan glanced at that broken pane of pale green glass upstairs, his gaze as icy as the wind pouring in. “That’s all in the past, isn’t it?”

Ye Lingwei held his breath. He felt as if he were eavesdropping on some secret that was never meant to be known.

Fang Kemeng watched as Fei Lan walked up the stairs with ease, and sighed helplessly. Fei Lan’s father had asked him to properly work on his son’s mindset at school, but with Fei Lan’s totally uncooperative attitude—playing “Tai Chi”¹In a conversational or business context, this idiom refers to the art of deflection. Just as Tai Chi moves redirect force gently without direct confrontation, “playing Tai Chi” means giving vague answers, passing the buck, or circling around a topic to avoid responsibility or commitment, all while remaining polite. even more skillfully than those old foxes on the school board, he simply couldn’t do this job.

Ye Lingwei said good morning teacher without batting an eyelid. Fang Kemeng had something on his mind weighing him down heavily, so he responded with a forced smile.

Ye Lingwei glanced back repeatedly as he walked, lost in thought. To be honest, he hadn’t expected Fei Lan’s grades to be like this. Because for someone like Fei Lan, he should either be standing at the apex of the pyramid looking down on everyone, or down in the mud of the abyss reigning as a demon king. However, Fei Lan was so mediocre.

Ye Lingwei’s seat was in the very back. Fei Lan sat diagonally in front of him, separated by an aisle, and to Ye Lingwei’s left was Gao Linhao.

After Ye Lingwei sat down, Gao Linhao handed him a bag of milk candy. “Morning. Here, for you. From now on, you’re my good buddy.”

Ye Lingwei looked at the bag of milk candy with its cool, blindingly flashy packaging. He took it and softly said thank you.

Unlike Fei Lan, who was unrestrained and wouldn’t give anyone the time of day when in a bad mood, Gao Linhao was very popular in the class. Everyone was happy to be friends with him, but Gao Linhao only orbited around Fei Lan. Anyone with eyes could see that his status was essentially that of a sidekick.

Fei Lan seemed indifferent to everything—he didn’t care about studying, didn’t care about friends. When he was in a good mood, he could chat a bit with anyone; when he was in a bad mood, he could go a whole day without speaking. He came and went as he pleased, handling everything with ease.

Clearly, he had an eye-catching appearance. However, because of his low profile, or perhaps because everyone valued grades more than looks, Fei Lan wasn’t like the protagonists in other novels with a character setting destined for a sensational and dramatic high school story.

At least, not right now.

Gao Linhao was hanging off Fei Lan’s shoulder, talking to him. “Are you in a bad mood? Did Pokémon²This is a pun on the teacher’s name, Fang Kemeng (方可蒙). “Fang-Ke-Meng” sounds very similar to “Bao-Ke-Meng” (Pokémon). come looking for you again?”

Fei Lan didn’t say yes, nor did he say no, but naturally, Gao Linhao understood.

“Fuck,” Gao Linhao cursed under his breath. “Pokémon is great and all, but this is his one flaw—he’s too responsible. If he took all that time he spends nagging you and went to nag those straight-A students instead, our class average might actually go up a bit.”

He had originally wanted to say, “Lan-ge, just humor Pokémon and snag a first place in the grade to scare him to death.” Under normal circumstances, he would have dared, but right now, he didn’t have the dog guts³A rude/slang way to refer to audacity or courage. to provoke Fei Lan while he was in a foul mood.

Every family has a scripture that is hard to recite.⁴It is a very famous proverb meaning that every household has its own private problems that outsiders cannot understand. Gao Linhao always believed that Fei Lan had some unspeakable secret holding him back.

Ye Lingwei sat obediently with his chin propped in his hand, flipping through the math textbook page by page. His grades had always been good, but having already completed a year of university, many high school concepts had become a bit blurry to him. He wasn’t expecting to stun everyone in the next monthly exam; it would be too abrupt, and he probably couldn’t pull it off anyway. Besides, he still had his weakness in science subjects to contend with.

Ye Lingwei also happened to overhear what Gao Linhao and Fei Lan were saying.

So they call Fang Kemeng Pokémon? Ye Lingwei laughed out loud.

Gao Linhao paused, looking at Ye Lingwei. “New classmate, why are you laughing?”

“…” Ye Lingwei slumped onto the desk and said languidly, “I’m laughing at how you guys call Teacher Fang ‘Pokémon’.”

“Psh.” Gao Linhao waved his hand. “It’s just a homophone, that’s all.”

After speaking, Gao Linhao pointed at the math book pressed under Ye Lingwei’s arm. “Hurry up and look through the book. Our progress is a bit slower than your old class, so you should have reviewed all this already. The ‘Little Old Man’ loves calling on students like you who look so fair and fresh-faced. If you can’t answer, you will have to take your book and go stand in the hallway.”

Ye Lingwei wanted to say that he could answer. As long as it didn’t exceed the syllabus, he shouldn’t have much of a problem.

Just as they were speaking, Fei Lan had already slumped down to sleep. The class bell rang at the same time, then Ye Lingwei asked Gao Linhao, “Aren’t you going to wake him up?”

Gao Linhao grinned and said, “It’s fine. The school teachers don’t dare to discipline my Lan-ge. As long as he doesn’t disturb other students, Lan-ge can do whatever he wants in class.”

Gao Linhao then watched wide-eyed as the new classmate’s expression shifted from a confused “Why?” to a “That’s allowed? That’s amazing!” Gao Linhao heard a bang explode in his brain. So there really is someone who can make any expression look natural and good-looking!

Fei Lan was sleeping. Because of Ye Lingwei’s lack of pretension, Gao Linhao’s favor toward him doubled. He leaned across the aisle and introduced the class situation to Ye Lingwei.

“Pokémon is our homeroom teacher. He’s a good person, just a bit naggy. But overall, he’s a decent man.”

“…”

“Those with good grades are all in the first five rows; the bad ones are just our two rows here.”

“There are a few cliques in the class. On the surface, the boys are led by that dark-skinned guy by the window, but actually, he’s most afraid of my Lan-ge.”

Ye Lingwei was confused. “Why?”

Gao Linhao gave a sly grin. “Lan-ge handled him once. Broke one of his arms and took months to heal.”

“Then why does everyone still listen to him?”

“It’s because Lan-ge can’t be bothered with that kind of stuff.”

Ye Lingwei realized that Fei Lan’s detachment wasn’t limited to his studies. In every aspect of school life, he had turned himself into a transparent observer.

“Moving on—the girls. Be careful when you walk past them. Don’t knock over their stacks of books, or watch out, they will tear your head off.”

“Occasionally, you will also need to pass along mirrors, toilet paper, water bottles, hair clips, and every other little thing you couldn’t imagine but they somehow always have on hand.”

“You are not allowed to refuse. Our class has a special organization dedicated to protecting vulnerable groups.”

Gao Linhao’s eyes lit up. “But rest assured, you are now a protected member too. We voted in the class group chat last night. Because of your physical condition, everyone unanimously decided to classify you into the protected group.”

Due to Gao Linhao’s expression being just too solemn, Ye Lingwei stifled a laugh. “Besides me, who else is being protected?”

“Um… we have one classmate with some intellectual disabilities from taking too many antibiotics as a child, and another who has trouble walking.” Gao Linhao said, “That’s it…”

The smile slowly faded from Ye Lingwei’s face. Although Gao Linhao had said it in a relaxed tone, the atmosphere in their class was very good. Even though last time on the podium he noticed that some people didn’t quite welcome him, likely due to his grades, everyone still had their own principles and sense of propriety.

“Also, I know you like Lin Chudong, but I don’t know if you know.” Gao Linhao’s voice dropped very low. “His mom is the grade head for the second year. She keeps him on a very tight leash. Before, when she caught someone slipping Lin Chudong a love letter, she scolded them right until they cried and then slapped them with a disciplinary penalty.”

This, Ye Lingwei truly didn’t know. He wasn’t actually very clear on many details within the book. He just knew the original host liked Lin Chudong, and that the original host wasn’t liked by anyone, including his two older brothers.

Ye Lingwei nodded. “Thank you.”

His tone was incredibly sincere, making Gao Linhao feel embarrassed immediately. Gao Linhao waved his hand. “It’s nothing, we’re all classmates, after all. You just got here and don’t know any friends. If you don’t mind, just hang out with me.”

Ye Lingwei paused slightly, then immediately smiled. “Okay.”

Gao Linhao was very good at chatting. Every now and then he would crack a joke. Ye Lingwei, lying slumped on the desk, was amused enough to laugh out loud repeatedly.

Gao Linhao didn’t have any improper thoughts about Ye Lingwei. The guy was indeed extremely good-looking—the best-looking person Gao Linhao had seen in his seventeen years of life. However, he had no romantic designs on him but he subconsciously tried to coax the person in front of him into being happy, just, just like the feeling of taking care of a kid.

Maybe it was because the other looked so tender and was in poor health, easily triggering one’s protective instincts. Thinking about Ye Lingwei’s bad health and how he was always bullied by people in his old class, Gao Linhao felt even more justified in wanting to treat Ye Lingwei well.

Ye Lingwei didn’t know any of this. He exchanged WeChat with Gao Linhao. Just after adding him, a fifty-something-year-old teacher walked in. He was short, wearing a dark blue cotton-linen short jacket and black trousers, with small eyes that looked quite shrewd. He stood on the podium empty-handed. Even before he had entered the classroom, the room had already quieted down in anticipation.

The students sitting near the corridor had stuck a small mirror on the window to spot military intelligence⁵It is the use of military terminology humorously. Using a mirror to spy on the teacher’s approach is treated like spotting enemy movement in a war. in advance and tip everyone off.

Little Old Man nodded with satisfaction. He picked up a piece of chalk from the podium and quickly wrote a few problems on the blackboard. He then tossed the chalk aside and stepped off the podium as he paced slowly. “I’ll pick a few students to come up and solve them.”

After he finished speaking, his gaze happened to sweep over Ye Lingwei’s face. He paused. “New student?”

Ye Lingwei withstood the teacher’s scrutiny with composure, ready to be hauled up there. However, the next second, Little Old Man spoke again, “Today, let’s let the new student get familiar with our class style first. I won’t pick you, don’t panic.”

Some students in the class started stifling their laughter.

Gao Linhao was panicking like crazy inside, but he didn’t forget to whisper to Ye Lingwei, “As long as I pretend to be totally confident, acting like I dare him to call on me, Little Old Man definitely won’t pick me.”

Ye Lingwei shared this view and nodded in full agreement.

However, just as Gao Linhao finished speaking, Little Old Man’s eyes stopped on him. Little Old Man cleared his throat. “Gao Linhao…”

Gao Linhao’s face turned deadly pale. “Fuck!”

“…Fei Lan, in front of Gao Linhao. You come up and solve the first problem.” Little Old Man slowly finished the second half of his sentence. Gao Linhao breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, but then immediately started worrying about Fei Lan.

Gao Linhao nudged Fei Lan’s shoulder. “Lan-ge, Little Old Man is calling you to go up and do a problem.”

It took a few seconds before Fei Lan lifted his head. He leaned back against Gao Linhao’s desk, took a moment to gather his wits, then stood up and said, “Teacher, I don’t know how. Sorry.”

Little Old Man didn’t get angry. He had said during their very first lesson that if they don’t know, it doesn’t matter—just say so, then find someone to help you do it. As long as the student you find solves it for you, it counts as you having done it.

Fei Lan’s expression didn’t change a bit. Ye Lingwei looked at his back. He just felt that asking someone for help was not something Fei Lan would ever do.

Regrettably, Gao Linhao didn’t know how to solve this problem either. He and Fei Lan were ‘half a catty versus eight taels’⁶This is a famous Chinese idiom meaning “six of one, half a dozen of the other,” or that two people are equally matched—Fei Lan was the eight taels, and he was the half-catty.

Just as Ye Lingwei had predicted, Fei Lan paused, picked up the book from the desk, and prepared to go stand at the back.

Everyone was used to this and found it unsurprising, but then they suddenly heard the loud noise of a desk and chair scraping against the floor from the last row.

It was that new student from yesterday, Ye Lingwei.

Ye Lingwei had stood up with quite a commotion, incidentally knocking over the cup on his own desk. He didn’t even bother to set it back up as water dripped down the side of the desk.

“Teacher, I’ll help him do it,” he said.

• 1
  In a conversational or business context, this idiom refers to the art of deflection. Just as Tai Chi moves redirect force gently without direct confrontation, “playing Tai Chi” means giving vague answers, passing the buck, or circling around a topic to avoid responsibility or commitment, all while remaining polite.
• 2
  This is a pun on the teacher’s name, Fang Kemeng (方可蒙). “Fang-Ke-Meng” sounds very similar to “Bao-Ke-Meng” (Pokémon).
• 3
  A rude/slang way to refer to audacity or courage.
• 4
  It is a very famous proverb meaning that every household has its own private problems that outsiders cannot understand.
• 5
  It is the use of military terminology humorously. Using a mirror to spy on the teacher’s approach is treated like spotting enemy movement in a war.
• 6
  This is a famous Chinese idiom meaning “six of one, half a dozen of the other,” or that two people are equally matched