The Silent World And Him - Chapter 03
Qin Yu leaned against the homeroom teacher’s desk, his school uniform still unzipped. His long legs naturally crossed, while he played with a red pen belonging to Lu Baisheng. Lu Baisheng was looking at his test papers, his brow slightly furrowed. There were only two test papers, and he quickly finished reading them. He looked up and asked, « Just brought two? »
« Yeah. » Qin Yu wasn’t foolish; even if he stayed up all night, he wouldn’t necessarily finish eight English test papers. He glanced at the questions when copying the papers yesterday. Since these practice papers were somewhat difficult, he only brought two this time to hand over to Lu Baisheng.
With a swish, Lu Baisheng folded the test papers and threw them on the desk, leaning back. He kicked Qin and ordered, « Stand properly, look more like a student. »
Qin Yu remained indifferent, not moving at all, still looking lethargic.
Lu Baisheng handed him a cup of water, motioning towards the direction of the water dispenser with his chin.
Qin Yu stood up reluctantly, went to pour a cup of water, and came back. The water was hot. Lu Baisheng picked up the cup, blew on it, and asked, « Did you copy Pu Chen’s test paper? »
Qin Yu looked up at Lu Baisheng, his eyes filled with doubt, as if asking Lu Baisheng: How did you know? He was sure Lu Baisheng only glanced at the multiple-choice questions and didn’t read his essay.
He had heard that Lu Baisheng taught English to two classes. Correcting thousands of test papers over the past two months, he couldn’t possibly remember which questions Pu Chen got wrong on her test paper a while back.
Qin Yu didn’t admit it. « You’re trying to add to the charges. »
Lu Baisheng sneered, « Trying to add to the charges? I’m not wronging you in the slightest. »
« What evidence do you have? »
« The questions you got wrong are exactly the same as Pu Chen’s. »
Qin Yu was skeptical. « You remember Pu Chen’s test paper? »
Lu Baisheng said, « I do. »
Because she’s the class monitor?
Apart from that, Qin Yu couldn’t think of any other reason.
Lu Baisheng asked, « Did you finish copying all eight? »
« Well… I should have. »
Lu Baisheng took a sip of water and reprimanded, « Qin Yu, look at your attitude now. Is this acceptable? »
Qin Yu retorted, « You made it difficult for me first, then blame me for copying? Who can finish eight test papers in such a short time? You’re not the only one who assigns English homework. »
Lu Baisheng looked at him and said, « In the past, you could. »
Qin Yu suddenly fell silent.
Lu Baisheng said ‘in the past,’ not referring to the current him, so passive and perfunctory about everything.
Qin Yu turned to look out the window. The office was on a low floor, and there was a desk between him and the window. He couldn’t see anything but a hazy sky.
« Qin Yu, I’m your homeroom teacher now, not your uncle. Self-pity won’t work with me. »
« If I had known you were going to be a teacher here, I wouldn’t have transferred. » From Beijing to Jiangnan’s Sucheng, who would have thought they’d encounter a fellow townsman? Lu Baisheng wasn’t just a fellow townsman anymore; he had watched him grow up.
His grandfather’s house was next door to Lu Baisheng’s, about ten meters apart. Whenever he got into trouble at school, he would ask Lu Baisheng to clean up the mess.
He had always thought Lu Baisheng was abroad, and Lu Baisheng had told him so.
Qin Yu asked him, « Does Grandpa Lu know you’re teaching here? »
Grandpa didn’t know, and no one in the family knew. Lu Baisheng replied, « I’m thirty years old. Choosing a profession is my freedom. It’s none of anyone else’s business. »
Qin Yu could sense the underlying meaning; Lu’s family didn’t know about this.
It made sense.
If Lu’s family knew that Lu Baisheng had come to Sucheng to be a high school teacher, it would probably infuriate a good portion of them.
Qin Yu curiously asked, « Was your ex-wife’s hometown Sucheng? » Otherwise, he had no reason to come to Sucheng to teach.
Lu Baisheng’s movement of drinking water paused, but he didn’t say anything.
Qin Yu understood without denial; Lu Baisheng tacitly agreed.
Lu Baisheng met his first love in college. They got married secretly right after graduation, but since Lu’s family didn’t agree when they found out, despite having the marriage certificate, they had to divorce.
Everyone in their circle knew that Lu’s family had high standards, and ordinary people couldn’t step in. Besides, Lu Baisheng’s ex-wife came from an ordinary family.
Qin Yu kindly said, « Your former mother-in-law probably doesn’t know you’re teaching here, right? If you don’t say it, how would others know what you’re thinking? »
Lu Baisheng put down the cup and stood up, took the textbook, and knocked Qin Yu on the head. « Children shouldn’t meddle in adult matters. »
« I didn’t mean to meddle in your affairs. It’s just rare that you and my dad aren’t the same kind of people. I still hope for the best for you. »
Qin Yu’s parents divorced when he was four years old. After the divorce, they each remarried. Including the first marriages, his father had three marriages and divorces, while his mother had two marriages and divorces. His mother had planned to marry her third husband this year, but unexpectedly, something happened to Qin Yu .
Later, the marriage plans fell through.
Lu Baisheng didn’t want to discuss his own matters further. He continued with the two English test papers, « Your attitude now is a problem for yourself. Qin Yu, you’re only sixteen. You’ll face much more complicated things in the future than you think. What’s wrong? You don’t want to live anymore? »
Qin Yu took the two English test papers that had been despised by Lu Baisheng. After all, he had spent time copying them, and it was a pity to lose them. He folded the papers neatly and put them in his coat pocket, retorting, « You still remember that I’m sixteen. Then don’t use your so-called life experience of being thirty to lecture a sixteen-year-old student. I know about toxic chicken soup; I’ve had plenty and almost been poisoned to death. » Lu Baisheng smiled helplessly and remained silent. These little brats nowadays, young in age but with big tempers.
Lu Baisheng closed the lid of his water cup; the next class was the English class of Class Nine, and he went downstairs with Qin Yu. They no longer discussed heavy topics. Qin Yu walked beside Lu Baisheng with his hands in his pockets and said, « Actually, you’re not bad as a teacher. I heard that in our class’s monthly exam, the average score in English was second only to two intensive classes. » Lu Baisheng glanced at him, « Thanks for the compliment. » Qin Yu could sense the teasing in his words, but he also smiled rarely. Lu Baisheng didn’t lecture him anymore; he turned into Class Nine, while Qin Yu stepped into the classroom of Class Ten. The next two classes were mathematics classes.
The mathematics teacher was already standing at the podium, having taken off his down jacket and put it on the desk, wearing a gray cashmere sweater. The math teacher was in his forties, with a spirited crew cut, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, looking serious with sharp eyes. Qin Yu’s peripheral vision caught sight of Pu Chen, who was looking down at her phone. This kid had some guts, actually playing with her phone right under the teacher’s nose. No wonder there were so many mistakes in the English test paper, and she hadn’t even corrected one of the questions properly. The bell rang for class.
Qin Yu sat down at his desk, took out the two English test papers from his pocket, and stuffed them into his backpack. The rest of the time was his free time; he could sleep on the desk. No one dared to sleep in the math teacher’s class, let alone whispering. Even Zhao Shu, the only girl in the class who didn’t like studying and failed the English test, sat upright during math class. Whether you listened or not was one thing, but you had to show the right attitude. Zhao Shu sat behind Qin Yu, gently tapping his chair with her foot, indicating that he must not fall asleep, or else the days ahead would be difficult. Qin Yu didn’t take it seriously at all; he just did whatever he wanted. Zhao Shu didn’t bother to interfere anymore; she pretended to listen attentively in class, but her mind was on the novel she had read last night. During this time, she had been following a serialized novel and didn’t know if she could read the climax she wanted today. On the podium, the math teacher glanced in Qin Yu’s direction at least ten times. He didn’t want to waste class time, so he endured Qin Yu’s behavior of sleeping in class. After one class, Qin Yu was sound asleep on the desk. When the bell rang for the end of class, Pu Chen hadn’t figured out the problem the teacher left on the blackboard just now. She flipped over the scratch paper and started checking from the beginning. She didn’t know where she went wrong; she hadn’t even filled half a sheet of scratch paper for one question. There should be a simple algorithm, but she didn’t know it, so she could only use the dumbest method.
« Thanks. » With a word of thanks, she found a stack of English test papers on her desk. Pu Chen looked up, and Qin Yu was already two steps away. Before she could respond, he had already left. The math teacher glanced at Qin Yu without saying a word. Not many dared to sleep in his class. « Pu Chen. » Pu Chen looked up, just touched the corner of the desk with her hand, and the math teacher asked, « What’s the name of the new male student who transferred to your class? » She typed and handed the phone to the teacher: [Qin Yu]. The math teacher nodded, indicating he knew. Pu Chen sighed silently. The teacher was so angry; it was probably because Qin Yu slept in class but suddenly became energetic after class, not wasting a second to play around. The second class was still a math class. The math teacher called Qin Yu’s name and asked him to come to the blackboard to solve the problem he had just left. Except for Pu Chen, everyone in the class looked at him with sympathetic eyes. Sleeping in math class was really asking for trouble.
Qin Yu was not nervous at all. He calmly walked to the podium, without even looking at the chalk box, casually picked up half a piece of chalk. By the time he walked from his seat to the blackboard, he had already calculated the answer in his mind. Standing in front of the blackboard, Qin Yu felt as if he were back in his class in Beijing. The difference was that he used to stand on the podium to explain problems to his classmates, but now, he was dragged to the blackboard by the teacher to solve problems. His transfer to Sucheng to study was an accident. Copying someone else’s English test paper was also an accident in his life. From childhood to now, it has always been other people copying his homework. Qin Yu was lost in thought for half a day and only wrote the word « solution » on the blackboard. He didn’t know who he was competing with, but it certainly wasn’t intentionally against the math teacher now. In the end, he didn’t do the math problem. Seeing that he couldn’t write it out, and there was no time to waste, the math teacher said sternly, « Go back to your seat and pay attention to the lesson. » Qin Yu turned around, threw the chalk directly into the chalk box, and was still immersed in some unpleasant memories from the past. He didn’t control the force of throwing the chalk well, and the blue chalk hit Pu Chen’s nose. « Sorry, » he apologized.
In the morning, Pu Chen shook her head and picked up the chalk that had fallen on the table, putting it back in the chalk box.
During break time, she put her phone in her pocket, took her water bottle, and went to the water room to refill it.
In the corridor, Qin Yu leaned against the railing, facing the classroom, absorbed in his phone. As she approached him, he happened to look up. The two locked eyes.
Since transferring to this class, aside from her desk mate and the girl in the back row, Qin Yu only knew Pu Chen. He glanced at her; she had chalk dust on her pale skin, particularly noticeable on her nose. It must have been his earlier mistake of leaving chalk dust on the podium, which she hadn’t cleaned off.
« You have chalk dust on your nose, » Qin Yu reminded her. Pu Chen paused, then realized Qin Yu was speaking to her. She involuntarily stopped and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. Not in the right spot; the chalk dust remained.
Qin Yu said, « Higher up. » Pu Chen felt embarrassed and simply wiped her entire nose. One speck of chalk dust remained. Qin Yu pinched her sleeve, lifted her hand towards the speck of blue chalk dust, and wiped it away. « Now it’s gone, » Qin Yu released her sleeve and continued playing games on his phone as if nothing happened.
Pu Chen didn’t know if her face was red, but her heart raced as if she had just finished an 800-meter run. Fortunately, she had her phone with her.
« Thank you, » she held her phone out to him. Qin Yu thought she was handing him her WeChat QR code to add him, but he glanced at her phone screen and then back at her. In her haste, Pu Chen had already taken a big step forward.
Watching her retreating figure, Qin Yu realized that this class monitor was quite interesting; she insisted on expressing gratitude with her phone, being economical with words even in such situations.
