Chapter 37: Looking for Trouble Again

A male student grinned shamelessly. Jiang Meili and I both felt annoyed, assuming he was trying to take liberties, and were just about to snap at him.

One of the female students glared and scolded, "Get lost! What’s your problem?"

"I wasn't even talking to you; none of your business!" the male student retorted, quickly shifting his gaze toward her.

"Anything that concerns them concerns me! What are you going to do about it?" The female student was furious, gritting her teeth and refusing to back down.

"Another fight is brewing!" Students watching the scene began to gossip and gawk, some even shouting loudly.

"A real man doesn't fight with women!" the boy said, giving himself an excuse to back down.

"Yeah right! If you were a real man, you wouldn't be showing off here. You talk a big game, but when the moment of truth comes, you fold. If you’ve got the guts, then fight!"

It seemed many people were eager to see a fight, and there was no shortage of instigators. Jiang Meili linked her arm with mine, uninterested in dealing with them, and we prepared to leave the classroom...

The bell rang, accompanied by the sweet voice of the adult female announcer.

Students rushed in from outside, scrambling to their seats, looking nervous and keeping their eyes fixed on the door.

A woman in a teacher's uniform walked in. She was average-looking, around twenty-six, and stood 1.63 meters tall. She stood at the podium and said, "Students, I am your new English teacher, Ma Ailian. You can just call me Teacher Ma!"

The students giggled, and one male student even shouted, "Teacher Ma, I love you!"

I expected Teacher Ma to be furious and scold the boy harshly, but I searched for a reaction for a long time and found none. I quietly asked Jiang Meili, who knew exactly who it was without even looking...

Teacher Ma didn't seem to care what the students were shouting. She looked around for the boy, then turned her gaze to everyone and said, "I love you all, too. From now on, let’s be like good friends, okay?"

"Great, awesome!" a few of the boys shouted the loudest.

The girls remained silent, and the classroom was filled with a chaotic mix of voices.

Teacher Ma picked up a sheet of paper from the desk, waved her hand, and said, "Let’s get to know each other. When I call your name, answer, stand up, and let me see you." She stared intently at the names on the paper and called the first one: "Mei Linlin." She shifted her gaze toward the students' faces.

Mei Linlin stood up in a panic and shouted, "Here!"

Teacher Ma looked around, found her by the sound of her voice, nodded, and waved for her to sit down. "Very good. Everyone should be like her!" She looked at the paper again and called, "Xin Zhengtai."

I hesitated, wondering if she was calling my name. I only knew 'Zhengtai,' not 'Xin Zhengtai.'

Teacher Ma looked left and right, then called out again, "Is Xin Zhengtai here?"

Jiang Meili nudged me quietly and asked, "What are you thinking about? She called your name!"

I finally came to my senses, raised my hand high, stood up in a fluster, and shouted, "Here, I’m here!"

Teacher Ma frowned. Seeing that I was quite tall and had blue eyes, she said, "You need to pay better attention in the future, or you won't be able to find your own name!"

The students burst into laughter; some sounds were sycophantic, some contemptuous, and others indifferent...

Teacher Ma waved for me to sit down. After finishing the roll call in the usual way, she wrote two large English words on the blackboard, turned around, and looked at the students. "What is English? Which student would like to stand up and answer?"

"Is it really that hard to know what English is?" It sounded so simple.

Hands shot up everywhere. I was the only one who chose to avoid it. Even Jiang Meili raised her hand high, whispering, "Zhengtai, why aren't you volunteering?"

I didn't say anything, just shook my head, letting others take the lead while I listened.

Teacher Ma looked around and fixed her eyes on me. "Xin Zhengtai, please stand up and answer!"

It was unexpected. With so many hands raised, she chose me.

The other students sat down, leaving me to face the crowd alone. Feeling flustered, I looked at the English words on the board and improvised, "Since it's called English, it must be the language of the British people."

Teacher Ma gave no indication of whether I was right or wrong. She waved for me to sit, then looked around and called on a girl whose hand was raised high: "You answer!"

The girl, Bi Juanyan, stood up. She was neither nervous nor hurried, answering slowly, "So-called English should be the language of the Americans. We see it on TV all the time; they all speak English."

Teacher Ma waved for her to sit down and said, "Both of you answered part of it correctly. Actually, the correct answer is: English is the language of Britain, America, and their colonies and autonomous territories, promoted throughout the world. Learning English is very significant. I hope you will pay attention in class. This is one of the core subjects and cannot be ignored!" Teacher Ma continued with a long lecture, as if she wanted to finish everything in one period. When the bell rang, she hadn't even assigned homework before gathering her books and hurrying away.

Teacher Ma left a deep impression on me. It’s rare to find a teacher who can openly say they love their students and actively try to be friends with them. She was remarkable! Although young, she had clearly mastered certain teaching methods.

Jiang Meili didn't care how many people were around; she always linked her arm with mine. It was obvious to anyone that we were a couple. Anyway, we were famous in Class 3 of the second year, so that was that.

As we walked out of the classroom, I didn't expect Gao Xiongkui to be standing at the door. As soon as he saw me, he shouted, "Hey, Zhengtai! I want to talk to you!"

Students walked past us, pretending not to see.

Only Jiang Meili, still holding my arm, said, "We are best friends; whatever you have to say, you can say to me."

I had seen with my own eyes that Gao Xiongkui had been in a fight earlier. A guy like that wanted to talk to me? Get lost! I had thought his martial arts were just for show, and it turned out I was right; he couldn't even beat a clumsy guy like Jia Wuren, and he dared to hang around me?

"Get lost, will you? Look at yourself—what kind of state are you in? What is there for us to talk about?"

Gao Xiongkui looked disappointed and deeply aggrieved, almost on the verge of tears. He complained, "I helped you out, and I got beaten up! I’m covered in injuries! My stomach hurts like hell!"

I was utterly annoyed! I couldn't stand such a spineless person telling me these things. I shouted, "You deserve it! You were the one who wanted to show off, claiming you knew martial arts, only to be knocked down by someone who doesn't. How embarrassing!"

"Ah!" Jiang Meili let out an exaggerated sound of shock. "Someone who knows martial arts got knocked down by someone who doesn't? What did you study? How come I didn't see it earlier?"

"Go away, just go!" Gao Xiongkui pulled a long face, ignoring Jiang Meili, and said, "This doesn't concern you. Stay out of it!"

Jiang Meili, of course, wasn't having it, especially with me by her side. She wouldn't let him talk down to her.

"How does it not concern me? Zhengtai's business is my business! Everyone knows we’re a couple!"

"So what if you're a couple? You’re annoying! I’m pursuing Zhengtai, not you! Stop with the couple act; it's disgusting!"

I couldn't stand it anymore. His words were so ugly, and Jiang Meili was actually flaunting it? And Gao Xiongkui dared to say he was pursuing me? What right did he have? Was he good at martial arts? Did he have good grades? I didn't want to deal with him anymore. I put my arm around Jiang Meili's shoulder and said, "Fence-sitter; are you daydreaming about eating swan meat? Let’s go!"

Jiang Meili pulled at her face, opened her mouth wide, stuck out her tongue, and made a garbled "ah-ah" sound, triumphantly linking her arm with mine as we walked away.

Gao Xiongkui was left with no dignity at all. He had hoped to use his injuries to win my sympathy, but this was the result. Feeling unbalanced and anxious, he shouted, "Wait, I still have more to say!"

"Get lost! I don't have time for your nonsense!" I was fed up and didn't even want to look at him.

"I love her, what a handsome young man!" the Zhengtai inside my body sent me a message.

I looked inward and said with my mind, "You love a guy like this? He’s pathetic! Aren't you embarrassed to be with him?"

The Zhengtai inside replied, "There are secrets you don't know yet. He isn't..."

"This is baffling. How is it possible? Is everything completely reversed?" I furrowed my brow for a long time, still unable to make sense of it.

Jiang Meili, standing beside me, hadn't heard a word. She watched my face and asked, "What are you talking about?"

I couldn't offend her, so I brought my inner vision back and whispered something in her ear. She was stunned!

"How could it be like this? Unless..."

"If you dare to spout any more nonsense, see if I don't beat you up!" Gao Xiongkui, thinking we were bad-mouthing him, glared and grunted.