Ten-Year Loyal Dog’s Road to Chasing Her Wife (GL) - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The junior high section of Longting First Middle School was teeming with talent. Even for a first-prize award in a school-wide competition, the rivalry in the junior high section was bound to be fiercer than elsewhere. Consequently, its prestige was also significantly higher.

Compared to Class 11, Class 8 had more students hailing from the Longting First Middle School junior high section. This meant they might more readily recall the terror of being dominated by Qiao Mei. Just thinking about it brought a sense of delight; seeing those people suffer a setback was like watching the funniest play in the world.

Being counter-attacked by the “dregs” of Class 11 and such.

The people of Class 11 were not the best, but naturally, they weren’t the worst either; they occupied a position of being “inferior to those above but superior to those below.” If compared to Class 20 or even later classes, they were actually quite impressive. Otherwise, the school wouldn’t have thought of reassigning teachers from Class 11 to teach Class 8 instead of from other classes.

In a sense, if Class 11 were placed in any other school in Longting, they would be an entity capable of “slaughtering the charts” , the kind that dominates the rankings.

However, was Qiao Mei really that strong?

Xia Hanyin watched helplessly as Gongxi Bitong brought the list down to find Yuan Tianci, and Qiao Mei’s name was indeed written on it. Gongxi Bitong’s handwriting was bold and sweeping, flamboyant and free; that character Mei looked almost identical to the Mei in “younger sister”, but whether it was Mei or Mei, the name was undeniably resting on that list.

She, Ao Manshan, and Qi Jun had all come from the same junior high school, and she knew the strength of those two perfectly well. But did this ugly-looking Qiao Mei truly have the strength to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ao Manshan and Qi Jun? Xia Hanyin cast a puzzled glance in Qiao Mei’s direction, only to meet the latter’s faint smile. In those light-colored eyes, besides the confidence of having victory within her grasp, there was a trace of disdain toward her.

It was as if this person possessed mind-reading powers.

After locking eyes with her for a moment, Xia Hanyin couldn’t help but turn her face away, essentially having grown afraid of Qiao Mei. It wasn’t just because of that face, which was ugly to the point of being terrifying, but also because of those eyes that seemed capable of dissecting the human heart. Light-colored and possessing a soul-stirring power, a single glance from her felt like being bitten by a venomous snake.

Every unsightly thought that couldn’t be brought into the light was fully exposed.

Under such circumstances, what courage did Xia Hanyin have left to meet her gaze?

It was embarrassing to admit, but Xia Hanyin was indeed someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong. She had once gained a considerable sense of pride by comparing herself to Qiao Mei. Xia Hanyin knew this was wrong, but in the entire class, the only person uglier than her was indeed Qiao Mei.

She remembered when she had spoken of Qiao Mei in front of Qi Jun and An Xiaolei, she had said:

“I’m afraid there isn’t anyone uglier than Qiao Mei in the whole school; even if she looks better than Qiao Mei, at least her features are regular.” At that time, neither of her two companions had refuted her words, which meant they had all tacitly agreed.

Qi Jun had even said to her half-jokingly: “You only have one Qiao Mei you can bully, but she doesn’t care about these things at all. Which is to say, even if you say these things to her face, she won’t pay you any mind.” Qi Jun had watched as someone specifically ran up to Qiao Mei to mock her ugliness, but Qiao Mei hadn’t given them even a glance the entire time.

As if the matter had nothing to do with her.

Xia Hanyin simply couldn’t understand what kind of mental wiring this person had; people had already bullied her right at her doorstep, yet she still maintained a calm expression. Could she be so “Buddhist” that she was about to ascend to heaven?

Vaguely, they heard the people from Class 8 downstairs shouting at them:

“Ugly people sure make a lot of trouble!”

“Class 11, why do you have so many issues? Wouldn’t it be fine just to give up the teacher? Anyway, you can’t beat us in exams; otherwise, why would you be in Class 11? If you were that great, you’d be in the Elite class, wouldn’t you?”

“Insisting on letting us win fair and square, hahaha, thank you for your kindness. Come, let’s thank them!”

Then, a world-shaking cry rose from downstairs: “Thank you, Class 11!”

“Childish!” Qiao Wan curled her lip. “It sounds like ancient ministers shouting ‘Long live the Emperor, long live, long live!'”

Qiao Mei didn’t feel much about it, only saying faintly: “Most of the boys in our school are relatively childish and like to show off. Once they pass this age, they will mature a lot. Remembering the childish things they did before might make them feel very embarrassed, but…”

“But what?” Qiao Wan turned to look at her curiously.

“Ultimately, they won’t regret it.” Qiao Mei smiled elegantly, her eyes and brow full of charm. “The things done in high school, even if stupid, are rarely regretted once one grows up. Because everyone knows what they were like back then. On the contrary, being hesitant and restricted after growing up is what makes one feel miserable.”

How can people accustomed to freedom endure the feeling of being constrained?

The people of Class 11 were no cowards either; being young and vigorous, they simply couldn’t endure others loudly challenging their bottom line. So they all went out, leaning over the railing to shout down: “To hell with your grandmothers! You say we have to give the teacher up and we just do it? Are you all some kind of idiots?”

“Who do you think you are? Where did you get such a big face?”

“Wait until the weekend, and we’ll teach you Class 8 how to act like decent human beings, you ‘grandsons’!”

“Class 8 is trash!”

Class 11 seemed to have found its own slogan; they all summoned their breath to shout that Class 8 was trash. After shouting a couple of times and feeling that such a mess wasn’t quite right, they shouted a unified slogan:

“One, two, three Class 8 is trash!!!”

By this time, class was over, and the teachers couldn’t control them. Besides, the school authorities had been unjust first. Class 11’s teacher, Ms. Bu, simply turned a blind eye as if she knew nothing, letting them cause a scene.

When other teachers in the office asked about it, she just smiled and pretended she didn’t know anything. After all… originally, no one could be offended, right? Not the school leaders, and not the students.

If the leaders knew whose children were in Class 11, they probably wouldn’t have made the decision to assign Class 11’s teacher to Class 8. In her words, it was simply a “brain twitch” (moment of madness).

Which student from which class isn’t a student? Aside from those at the very top of the pyramid with extraordinary talent, the remaining students are much of a muchness; these gaps can be completely made up during the three years of high school study. Why must they truly be divided into ranks?

What’s even more tragic is that even dividing them into levels is useless.

When the time comes, every class will produce people qualified to be selected for the Elite or Experimental classes. This fully illustrates that such a method is simply incorrect. As the saying goes, “In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes”; why completely abandon the “poor” ones?

This was completely different from Longting First Middle School’s external promotion of “We will let your child receive the best education.”

However, she hadn’t expected the students of this class to actually dare to revolt against the school’s orders. This was simply too courageous. She knew that if it were her, she definitely wouldn’t have dared to speak out. So, when she heard Yuan Tianci stand up and propose a plan to the school on behalf of the entire class, demanding a fair competition for the teacher’s stay or departure, she was actually very gratified.

A group of students with a spirit of resistance.

Although… Even for her, there was no certainty that this group could defeat Class 8.

The school was naturally biased toward Class 8 and would favor them when setting the questions, even if they wouldn’t go so far as to sordidly leak the problems. It was possible that when setting the questions, they would lean toward topics Class 8 had covered but Class 11 had not.

Class 11 couldn’t win; otherwise, how would they explain it to those wealthy businessmen whose children had paid high prices to enter Class 8? Without even a Physics teacher, where is the “best education”?

Thinking about it, one knew it was a joke.

Ms. Bu sat at her desk, propping her head up and thinking for a long time, but she couldn’t think of any way to help the children she was just a new teacher, and her popularity in the school wasn’t great, let alone knowing the teachers in the Physics department. When the bell for class rang, she instinctively checked the schedule and found it was the self-study class she was supervising. She packed up, took the students’ exercise books, and walked to the classroom.

She usually managed the class very strictly; the students didn’t dare to act out. Before she entered, they were already sitting obediently, though still looking anxious and angry, they had at least quieted down to study.

The young female teacher thought for a moment, cleared her throat, and said: “About what just happened…”

The students looked up, staring at her nervously. Like a pack of Samoyeds who had done something wrong, now that the matter was exposed, they feigned ignorance: “Teacher, just act like this matter never happened. We promise there won’t be a next time. Besides, the competition is on Saturday, so it won’t conflict with normal class time.”

It was said that Grade 12 used Saturdays for exams and Grade 11 used Saturdays for classes, but since they were still in Grade 10, it was only used for self-study—meaning they just sat quietly in the classroom doing homework; if you played around secretly, no one really cared.

“I didn’t mean to blame you.” The class teacher raised her hand and pressed down, as if trying to stop their clamorous explanations. Once the classroom was quiet again, she spoke with a slight smile: “In fact, I think what you did was very correct. We are not inferior to any other class. Whether it’s Class 8, the Elite class, or even the Experimental class, we are not necessarily worse than them.”

The entire class opened their eyes wide, looking at this young class teacher as if she had been placed under some strange spell—previously, this teacher hadn’t spoken like this. She had always been one to uphold the school’s side, eternally serious to the point of being harsh.

Such a teacher was now actually telling them she supported them?

The students remained collectively silent, not speaking. They just treated it as if today were actually April Fool’s Day.

“I know I am just a new teacher and will only teach you for one semester. At the end of this semester, you will choose your tracks, and I don’t know if I will continue with some of you or turn to teach another class. Strictly speaking, we are just chance acquaintances… sorry, I don’t know what I’m saying. I just want to tell you that at least on this matter, the teacher is on your side.”

The class was quiet for a good while, and finally, a burst of enthusiastic applause rang out.

They were certainly capable of fighting alone, but to receive recognition made them, of course, even happier.

Especially support coming from a teacher.

They could be fearless, and they could be invincible, but they were still just children. All children crave support and recognition from adults.

“Ao Manshan, Gongxi Bitong, Yuan Tianci, Qi Jun, Qiao Mei you five, if you need help, please go directly to the office to find our Physics teacher. She said she will definitely try her best to help you.” Smiling, the female teacher added, “Because she feels that teaching Class 8 is just too exhausting.”