Chapter Forty-One: The Difference Between Senior Brother and Teacher

Dong Yanyan clung to Liu Ying’s collar, letting out a long sigh of relief. She wasn’t tall enough to reach her shoulder, so grabbing the collar was her only option.

The moment she passed the test, chaos broke out among the girls. They immediately clamored for the teacher to reshuffle the groups, making Teacher Liu scratch his head in exasperation.

After barely scraping through the sprint, it was time for the long jump. Now, Dong Yanyan was truly out of her depth. She watched as the rest of her classmates cleared the hurdle and wandered off for free activities, leaving only her and two or three other girls to keep jumping into the sandpit over and over until their legs nearly gave out.

“No need to worry, there’s still ten minutes left. I believe you’ll get lucky at least once. As long as you meet the standard once, I’ll count you as passing!” Teacher Liu wore a relaxed, amiable expression.

Ever since her senior became a teacher, he’d put on an entirely different face! Wasn’t this just bullying? Just last year, you were still being tested by teachers here yourself! Dong Yanyan grumbled indignantly to herself.

To make it worse, Teacher Liu Qing stood by, sighing and clicking his tongue, “Look at your jumping ability—what am I supposed to say? Just look at Song Mingcheng. He can easily achieve an ‘excellent’ score. If any of you could jump even half as far as he does, I’d pass you all! That’s the difference!”

Hearing this, Leng Haoyang, who’d been sighing along, suddenly perked up and eagerly chimed in, “Exactly! Teacher, I’ll go get Song Mingcheng to show them what a real athlete looks like!” With that, he dashed off to find Song Mingcheng.

Soon enough, Song Mingcheng came running over with Leng Haoyang. Before the teacher could speak, Leng Haoyang jumped in, “Song Mingcheng, give it your best! Teacher Liu just said that if they manage to jump half as far as you, they’ll pass!”

Teacher Liu Qing cast a meaningful glance at Leng Haoyang, then said to Song Mingcheng, “Go ahead, show them the prowess of my star pupil.”

Song Mingcheng gave him a shy smile, then effortlessly cleared the sandpit. Teacher Liu crouched down, squinting at the mark: the heel had just passed the line.

The girls, who had been hanging their heads in despair, suddenly cheered and, without any pressure, all managed to land in the sandpit.

“More than half, definitely more than half! Teacher, just let them pass!” Leng Haoyang said with a fawning grin.

Teacher Liu Qing stared at him with silent resentment for two seconds, then exploded, “Leng Haoyang, I see it now—you must be an agent sent by God to mess up my lesson!”

“Teacher—big bro—if you’d come a year earlier, wouldn’t you be my senior? Wouldn’t you have to look out for us? Girls, am I right?” Leng Haoyang slung an arm over his shoulder and winked at the girls. Immediately, Dong Yanyan and Gu Xiaohan’s mischievous streaks surfaced. Teacher Liu Qing, seeing the look in their eyes, sensed trouble. One was already enough of a handful; if all of them swarmed over to act coquettish, how would he survive?

“Alright, I’ll keep my word. You all pass! Go enjoy your free time! Song Mingcheng, come here!” he surrendered grudgingly. Poor Song Mingcheng instantly became his punching bag and was chased around the track until the bell rang.

Leng Haoyang stood by, gloating and marveling at Song Mingcheng’s sprinting skills—even the teacher couldn’t catch up!

Dong Yanyan and Gu Xiaohan sat in the sandpit, clutching their legs, unwilling to move. Yu Xia and Liu Ying had to muster all their strength to drag these two embarrassing cases back to the dormitory.

*

After dinner, Dong Yanyan and Gu Xiaohan returned to the classroom with their books. Zhang Lei and Du Xinmeng sat on the windowsill gazing at the stars, while Liu Qiang played guitar at his desk. Ever since Xiaohan put that band-aid on him the other day, he’d stopped playing “Too Soft-Hearted” every day and switched to singing “Just Love You.”

Sure enough, as soon as the girls walked in, he began serenading again with deep emotion. Gu Xiaohan, as if nothing was amiss, sat at her desk, put on her headphones, and listened to her own music.

Zhang Lei hopped down from the windowsill with Du Xinmeng and circled to the back door. As they passed Dong Yanyan’s desk, Zhang Lei tapped on it. Dong Yanyan understood at once and followed them out to the corridor. Zhang Lei turned back and pointed at the classroom, laughing, “Yanyan, can you say a good word to Liu Qiang for us in front of Xiaohan? He sings in the dorm until midnight every night—our ears are growing calluses.”

“If he doesn’t have the guts to confess, what am I supposed to do? Honestly, he’s not the only guy interested in Xiaohan. If he keeps acting so shy and ambiguous, he’s bound to end up with nothing.” Dong Yanyan shrugged, helpless.

In truth, she really missed Liu Qiang’s shy awkwardness at this time. People all have to grow up eventually, but that innocence of youth only lasts a few years—once it’s gone, it never comes back.

But! She suddenly remembered that the day Liu Qiang’s love finally succeeded was the very day she herself suffered disaster!

Serves him right if he never gets the girl! Hmph!

*

That night, during the dormitory’s pillow talk, Dong Yanyan teased Xiaohan about the whole affair.

“Oh, Liu Qiang hasn’t been singing ‘Too Soft-Hearted’ these days. Now he sings ‘Just Love You’—and he sounds pretty good, too. Why is that, I wonder? Who is he singing for?” She lay on her bed, propping up her head with her hand, lazily.

As soon as she spoke, Lu Tian chimed in, “Exactly, Xiaohan, why is that?”

Gu Xiaohan hugged her pillow and chuckled, “I have no idea. He hasn’t said anything to me.”

“Exactly, Xiaohan isn’t interested in him. She likes someone else!” Dong Yanyan laughed.

“Who else? Xu Gang, right?” Leng Yue joked.

“Ugh! Say that again and I’ll get mad!” Gu Xiaohan, both embarrassed and angry, threw her pillow at Leng Yue’s bed. Leng Yue dodged in the dark and grabbed the pillow, refusing to give it back.

“Third Sister, look! Fourth Sister is bullying me!” Gu Xiaohan complained with a playful pout.

Liu Ying, reading “Boule de Suif” by flashlight under her covers, felt the bed shaking, so she poked her head out and scolded, “Quiet, all of you! Or you’ll bring the teacher down on us! Honestly, our class is something else—less than two months into the semester, and we already have several couples! Hey, who do you all think is the best-looking boy in our class?”

“Of course it’s Song Mingcheng!” Yu Xia, reading by candlelight on the opposite top bunk, perked up immediately at the topic. “Leng Haoyang is good, too, but his temper’s bad; Zhang Lei is alright, but he’s already taken; Lin Feng is fine as well, but he’s taken, too; I think Jiang Fan is not bad!” Her standard was always whoever treated her a little better—such a straightforward nature made her easy to please and quick to find happiness.