Try Saying You Don't Like It - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

It was the second half of the final year of high school.

The Chinese New Year had passed, the winter break was over, the weather was gradually warming up, and high school seniors were all returning to school with their backpacks to begin the final sprint.

Logically, at this stage, the outcome for poor-performing students was generally determined. Teachers of all subjects would choose to focus all their energy on the top students to boost the promotion rate.

In fact, most class teachers did this.

Except for Class 14 of Senior Three.

Perhaps the class teacher had become overconfident because Class 14 had consistently been at the top of the monthly exams. So, on the first day of school, he proposed that good students should help poor students. He suggested that some of the better-performing students in the class should tutor the students whose grades were poor but still had a slight chance of improvement.

After the class teacher finished speaking at the podium, a chorus of groans rose from the students below.

“Teacher, why waste the effort? It’s not guaranteed that they will learn anything,” a good student raised a hand to complain.

This comment immediately drew a chorus of counter-arguments from ‘them’ (the poor students).

“You’re not necessarily capable of teaching us, are you?”

“Exactly! Even the teacher can’t teach us well. Who do you think you are?”

“Are you better than the teacher?”

The excellent students formed one camp, and the poor students formed another. The two groups quickly became two opposing teams and nearly started a quarrel right there in the classroom.

The class teacher frowned, looking at the students who were at loggerheads.

He didn’t want to do this annoying thing just to look capable, but the passion in his heart hadn’t cooled. Seeing those students who had given up on themselves always caused him deep anguish. He wanted to do something, even if it couldn’t change much. Every little bit helps.

His gaze swept over the noisy crowd. Suddenly, a tall figure came into view.

She seemed like an anomaly among these students. In such a noisy environment, she was still diligently calculating a math problem, completely oblivious to the outside world.

It was Yin Qiuman.

How could he have forgotten Yin Qiuman?!

“Quiet.”

The class teacher shouted.

As a class teacher, he still had some deterrent power. The noisy crowd immediately quieted down, everyone looking at him anxiously, with a hint of fear.

The class teacher coughed and then called out: “Yin Qiuman, what do you think?”

Yin Qiuman, who was called by name, subconsciously looked up when she heard the teacher’s voice, her eyes filled with confusion.

Her mind was still stuck on the problem she had just solved.

What was the final answer again?

Yin Qiuman frowned. The teacher’s sudden call had completely interrupted her train of thought.

Yin Qiuman wasn’t the type to blame others, and she merely regretted her lack of concentration.

As for the teacher’s question, Yin Qiuman replied: “Whatever you decide, Teacher.”

Yin Qiuman’s immediate support instantly made the class teacher beam with joy.

She truly was his favorite top student. Her words were so supportive.

The class teacher felt his back straighten significantly compared to before when facing the opposing students.

His gaze swept over the students in the classroom, the good and the bad, looking at every single one without exception. After ensuring fairness, he spoke again: “Look, look at you! Students like Yin Qiuman are the future pillars of the country! Where did you put the ‘joy of helping others’ and ‘unity’ that your textbooks taught you? Helping your classmates study is also helping yourselves. Deepening your memory of familiar problems is a good thing. Solving unfamiliar problems again means you can write like a genius during the exam!”

“Everyone should learn from Yin Qiuman. Learn her excellent qualities and learn what unity means.”

While the class teacher was speaking eloquently at the podium, Xiao Hua, sitting next to Yin Qiuman, gently nudged Yin Qiuman’s elbow: “Manman, why did you agree?”

Xiao Hua frowned. They were already in the countdown to the college entrance examination. As a high school senior, Xiao Hua wished she could stretch one minute into two. She even wanted to resign from her position as class monitor just to have more time to review and practice problems. Yet, Yin Qiuman actually supported the class teacher’s decision.

Yin Qiuman had recovered from her confusion. Listening to Xiao Hua’s complaint, Yin Qiuman’s face showed no unusual emotion. She simply said: “It won’t delay much.”

“It won’t delay much?” Xiao Hua considered Yin Qiuman’s time management and her reputation as a top student. Perhaps the issue, which would take up some of their energy, truly wasn’t a big deal for Yin Qiuman.

“Then who are you planning to tutor?”

As Xiao Hua asked this question, the class teacher on the podium also happened to ask.

“Yin Qiuman, which student do you choose?”

As soon as the teacher spoke, the classroom instantly fell silent. The students who had been arguing fiercely, both good and poor, held their breath and nervously looked at Yin Qiuman.

The good students hoped Yin Qiuman would choose them, holding onto hope even though they knew it was unlikely.

The poor students felt that if Yin Qiuman personally tutored them, perhaps they could try to endure the hardships of studying.

There was one exception among these students: the person lying on the desk asleep in the back corner of the classroom.

She, like Yin Qiuman, became the focus of the students.

Because only she was sleeping.

She was so bold, as if enclosed in a space separate from the rest of the world.

The class teacher narrowed his eyes at her, and a thundering roar echoed in the classroom.

“He Xinglan.”

His tone was clearly gritting his teeth, expressing his deep disappointment and frustration.

Look, look! Other poor-performing students in the class became enthusiastic when they heard about tutoring from Yin Qiuman.

They were all eager to be tutored by Yin Qiuman, but He Xinglan was the exception.

Having been He Xinglan’s class teacher for three years, she understood He Xinglan very well.

Other students might have poor grades because they were slow, but He Xinglan was definitely because she was lazy.

Her brain wasn’t slow, but she was too lazy to study. She either slept or slept during class every day.

She didn’t pay attention in class and didn’t do her homework. How could her grades be good like that?

He Xinglan was sleeping soundly. She had stayed up until 3 a.m. the night before watching a GL drama and had only slept for just over two hours before getting up for school. So, the first thing she did when she arrived in the classroom was lie down on her desk to catch up on sleep.

Before the class teacher’s thunderous shout, He Xinglan was dreaming that she was one of the female protagonists in the GL drama she watched last night, about to kiss the other protagonist, when her beautiful dream was shattered.

He Xinglan squinted her eyes, subconsciously looking for the culprit. Upon meeting the class teacher’s unfriendly gaze, He Xinglan coughed violently twice.

“Teacher, I wasn’t deliberately sleeping. I caught a cold, and my headache is severe, so I just wanted to lie down for a while.”

The excuse to fool the teacher came right out of her mouth.

The class teacher sneered. If she believed He Xinglan’s words, she had been a class teacher for three years for nothing.

But the class teacher only gave a cold laugh and had no intention of arguing with He Xinglan.

Ignoring He Xinglan, the teacher directly addressed Yin Qiuman:

“Yin Qiuman, you will tutor He Xinglan.”

“He Xinglan, move next to Yin Qiuman after class. You two will be deskmates for the rest of the semester.”

“What? Teacher, I disagree!” The first person to raise her hand in opposition was neither He Xinglan nor Yin Qiuman, but the class monitor, Xiao Hua, who had been Yin Qiuman’s deskmate for two and a half years.

“Teacher, Yin Qiuman being my deskmate has helped my grades greatly. She always helps me when I encounter difficult problems that I can’t solve. I…” Xiao Hua tried to appeal to the teacher’s emotions and reason to convince him to change his mind, but she was ruthlessly interrupted before she could finish.

“Excellent! Even the class monitor recognizes Student Yin Qiuman’s ability. It seems I didn’t choose the wrong person. He Xinglan, don’t wait until after class, move now!” The class teacher directly ignored the reluctance in Xiao Hua’s eyes and made the decision right then and there.

He even walked off the stage to personally help He Xinglan move.

The class teacher understood He Xinglan too well. If he didn’t supervise her move, she would use all sorts of excuses later to delay, talking about other things—in a word, fudge.

Fudging the students, fudging him.

Supervised by the class teacher in person, He Xinglan frowned. Even if she was unwilling, she had to move.

She had very few things in her desk, just a backpack, and the backpack didn’t even contain books, but rather snacks, spicy sticks, bread, and so on.

She spent most of her class time sleeping, but she would also get hungry while sleeping, so she would find something to eat.

Seeing He Xinglan toss her backpack onto her back and walk toward Yin Qiuman, looking utterly unburdened, the class teacher was so angry his face almost turned green.

“He Xinglan, where are your books? Your test papers? Your practice problems?”

“Books? Test papers? Practice problems?” He Xinglan stopped and thought about it, but couldn’t come up with an answer. She shook her head at the teacher: “Forgot them.”

The class teacher: “…”

Seeing the teacher so angry that he couldn’t speak, He Xinglan kindly suggested: “How about I just don’t move then?”

Anyway, since she didn’t have any books, test papers, or practice problems, moving would just mean changing her sleeping spot.

But the class teacher seemed determined to butt heads with He Xinglan.

“Go to my office after class and get a set. I have spares.” The class teacher glared at He Xinglan, grinding his teeth in frustration, but he would not let He Xinglan have her way.

Since the plan failed, He Xinglan shrugged helplessly, mumbled ‘Oh,’ and slowly walked to Yin Qiuman’s desk.

Xiao Hua was packing up her books. Suddenly shrouded in a shadow, she knew who it was and didn’t even lift her head, letting out two sounds of dissatisfaction.

He Xinglan acted as if she hadn’t heard anything. She stood aside, quietly waiting for Xiao Hua to finish packing. Then, she plopped down in Xiao Hua’s original seat, stuffed her backpack into the desk compartment, and prepared to lie down on the desk to continue sleeping.

However, just as she lay down, her arm was poked.

The force wasn’t strong, but it caused a slight pain.

He Xinglan frowned, then straightened up and looked toward the culprit.

“Yin… Qiuman?” He Xinglan said hesitantly.

She wasn’t familiar with her classmates and could barely name anyone. The only reason she knew the classmate who poked her with a pen was named Yin Qiuman was because the class teacher had said the name several times, which finally stuck in her mind.

Her new deskmate, Student Yin Qiuman.