The Silent World And Him - Chapter 08

The next morning at 6:10, Pu Chen got up with dark circles under her eyes. She had lain in bed until 11:30 last night, tossing and turning until 1:30 in the morning. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, her WeChat conversation with Qin affected her sleep.

She had fewer than ten contacts on WeChat, and besides Lu Baisheng and « Uncle Zhao » Zhao Shu in school, Qin was the third person she had added. Her dad and aunt hoped she would try to socialize with her classmates. Had she… achieved that? Distracted, Pu Chen thought about it.

She hadn’t squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush for a long time until her dad walked to the door to see what was going on and why she hadn’t finished washing up yet. « Almost done, » Pu Chen said to her dad using sign language. Pu Wanli stared at his daughter; the dark circles under her eyes were very serious. He asked her, « Did you have a lot of homework last night? » It wasn’t much; the dark circles had nothing to do with homework.

Pu Chen couldn’t tell her dad the truth; it was the first time in years that she had told such an unkind lie to her dad. She replied, « I finished my homework last night and spent an hour reviewing English. » Pu Wanli felt sorry for his daughter. He had no demands for her grades; as long as she was happy, that was enough.

« Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just take the exams as you can, and your health comes first, » Pu Wanli said. Pu Chen smiled guiltily and started brushing her teeth in front of the mirror. Even though she had only slept for a few hours, she wasn’t tired at all. Her appetite was better than before, and she enjoyed her breakfast.

Mood is really something hard to figure out. It was dim outside, and the cold was biting. Today, Pu Wanli was going to the early market to buy vegetables and take Pu Chen to school. He occasionally glanced at his daughter, afraid that the wind would blow the hat off her down jacket.

When they reached the entrance of the alley, Pu Chen saw a familiar figure, Qin, walking from the other side of the apartment building. Pu Wanli saw that his daughter was staring at the boy in school uniform. « A classmate of yours? » Pu Chen nodded and told her father that Qin was a new transfer student.

Qin also saw Pu Chen. He didn’t avoid the parents’ presence and greeted her openly, exchanging greetings with Pu Wanli as well. Pu Wanli stopped and reminded his daughter, « He’s new here, and you’re the English class representative. Be nice to the new classmates. » Pu Chen understood her father’s intention, hoping she would communicate more with her classmates. She nodded again.

Qin couldn’t understand sign language, so after they finished speaking, he crossed the road with Pu Chen. Pu Wanli watched the two children enter the school gate before turning to the market. Pu Chen didn’t know what to talk about with Qin. She followed him, walking in his shadow.

He was tall, and he blocked the cold wind blowing from the front. Unable to see her, Qin turned to look for her. Thinking he was walking too fast, he slowed down and asked her, « Do you always do homework so late every day? » Pu Chen took out her phone and typed, « Yes, sometimes even later. » She explained, « I don’t understand many questions, so I have to check them one by one. »

Sure, here’s the translated paragraph with spaces between each paragraph for better readability:

Qin forgot for a moment that she needed to use her phone to communicate with people. It was so cold outside that most people couldn’t bear it. He nodded, indicating that he understood, and then stopped trying to talk to her. The two returned to a state of no communication. They walked side by side, and Pu Chen glanced at him from the corner of her eye, following his steps cautiously.

Facing the cold wind, Pu Chen unconsciously tucked her hands back into her school uniform sleeves. Over the years, she had become accustomed to solitude, even enjoying immersing herself in her own world where no one disturbed her. She didn’t like interacting with others, especially strangers, but now she wanted to talk to Qin a little. Walking with someone who couldn’t speak must be torture, she thought. But there was too little they could talk about.

« Are you good friends with Peng Jingyang? » she asked, handing her phone to Qin. She realized she had asked a meaningless question. Qin replied, « Yeah, I met him at a summer camp in junior high. » The next few questions she asked were all about Peng Jingyang, seemingly wanting to find out everything about him from Qin. Qin glanced at Pu Chen. Did she have a crush on Peng Jingyang? It seemed so. Even though she had no contact with Peng Jingyang, she had a good impression of him, relying on Peng Jingyang to prove his character. Even if she had a crush, it wouldn’t be surprising. Zhao Shu, who sat behind him, said that Peng Jingyang was the school’s academic star, and girls liked him from freshman to senior year. Some girls even became rivals with their former friends for Peng Jingyang.

When they reached the classroom door, Pu Chen put away her phone, her fingers almost freezing. It was not yet quarter past six, and there were not many people in the classroom. She entered through the front door, while Qin went to his seat from the back door. Pu Chen took out a hand warmer from her bag, holding it to warm her hands, which were cold and numb. She opened her English book and silently memorized vocabulary words. When morning self-study ended, Pu Chen started collecting English assignments, going to the back rows. Qin was sleeping with his head on the desk, whether he fell asleep after class or when he entered the classroom, she didn’t know. She stood by his desk for a few seconds, hesitating whether to wake him up.

« Pu Chen! » someone called her from the front door of the classroom, the voice loud enough for her to hear clearly from the back door. It was a familiar voice, and Pu Chen suddenly looked up, seeing that it was indeed Peng Jingyang. Peng Jingyang’s appearance in the class caused quite a stir. Wherever Peng Jingyang went, he was the focus of discussion among girls. He was used to it long ago, holding up several books in his hand, « Director Sun asked me to bring you some books. » Pu Chen couldn’t care less about collecting English assignments and hurried over.

Qin was awakened by the noise, watching Pu Chen run towards Peng Jingyang like the wind. He took a bottle of drink from the desk hole and went to the corridor to wake up. He had stayed up late last night, doing a math competition problem, and didn’t sleep until two-thirty. At the front door of the classroom, Pu Chen was puzzled, taking the book from Peng Jingyang’s hand. Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Peng Jingyang explained, « Director Sun met me at the school gate this morning and asked me to give these to you. It seems he had to go to a meeting in the city in a hurry. He said you’re on winter break and can take a look, the content inside is very good. Director Sun doesn’t need these books now, so you can return them whenever you want. » He conveyed Director Sun’s instructions word for word. Pu Chen looked at the cover of the top book, which was about how to face challenges. The book cover was almost falling off, taped with a layer of tape, old yet precious. Since the beginning of the school year, Director Sun had been very considerate of her, asking about her studies every time he saw her on the way to school.

« Thank you and Director Sun, » she said. « You’re welcome, » Peng Jingyang replied, taking a few steps and then turning back to call Pu Chen, « Let me add you on WeChat. Let me know when you finish reading them, and if you can’t reach Director Sun, I’ll return the books for you. I live in the same neighborhood as Director Sun. » In fact, Director Sun was his uncle, but few people in the school knew their relationship. His uncle might be transferred next semester, and others didn’t know this news yet. If his uncle really got transferred, and Pu Chen couldn’t find anyone to return the books to, it would be troublesome. These were books that his uncle had cherished for decades; he loved books dearly. If it weren’t for Pu Chen’s special circumstances, his uncle probably wouldn’t have lent out so many books. Peng Jingyang handed the QR code to Pu Chen. Reluctantly, Pu Chen scanned it to add him on WeChat. She would definitely return the books to Director Sun in person later and thank him face to face, but she still appreciated Peng Jingyang’s kindness.

On the other side of the back door, Qin was leisurely drinking his beverage, glancing several times at the two people exchanging contact information at the front door of the classroom. Peng Jingyang added WeChat and came to Qin, asking, « Do you have any more drinks? »

Sure, here’s the translated paragraph with space between paragraphs:

Peng Jingyang added WeChat and came to find Qin Yu, asking, « Is there any more drinks? »

Qin Yu: « Even if there is, I won’t give you any. »

Peng Jingyang knew that Qin Yu wouldn’t just bring one bottle of drinks, he didn’t consider himself an outsider, so he entered Class Ten from the back door and walked a few steps to Qin Yu’s seat. He took a bottle from under the desk and opened it to drink.

He accidentally brushed against Zhao Shu’s desk, causing a book on top to tilt.

« If you don’t apologize, do you think you can just leave? » Zhao Shu grabbed his school uniform collar and pulled him back.

Peng Jingyang frowned, « What did I do? Do I need to apologize? »

Zhao Shu raised her chin, « The English book is tilted. »

Peng Jingyang didn’t argue with her, he straightened the slightly tilted English book, « Is this okay? »

Zhao Shu still didn’t let go, squinting at him, « Your dog passed by my house yesterday and peed in my garden. »

« …Then go find my dog, what do you want from me? » He pulled his uniform back from her and quickly left the classroom.

Qin Yu leaned against the railing and whispered to Peng Jingyang, « Yesterday, Pu Chen couldn’t solve a math problem, so I gave her the answer and said I asked you and you solved it. »

The implication was for him not to give away the secret in front of Pu Chen, to keep it confidential for him.

Peng Jingyang took a few sips of his drink and asked, « Are you planning to keep loafing around? »

« Don’t know, » Qin Yu shrugged.

Peng Jingyang shrugged.

Two math classes and two English classes in the morning, he had already studied all the content, so it was boring. Qin Yu read an English novel all morning.

After Lu Baisheng finished teaching, there were still ten minutes left.

A classmate joked, « Teacher, can we tidy up and go to the cafeteria? »

Lu Baisheng said, « You have two minutes to tidy up, I’ll rearrange the seats. » He took out a pre-arranged seating chart and asked, « Does anyone have a particular preference for sitting with someone? You can speak up. »

He had rearranged the seating twice since the beginning of the school year, and he generally accommodated the requests of the students, unless he felt they were unreasonable.

A male student stood up nervously, « Teacher Lu, can I move to the fourth row on the south side? »

Lu Baisheng glanced at the fourth row on the south side, pondered for a few seconds, « It’s not impossible, but on one condition: if you can’t get into the top 100 in the next exam, I might have to take disciplinary action. »

The others laughed.

His relationship in the class was an open secret; his girlfriend was in the same class, sitting in the third row on the south side. If he moved to the fourth row, he could sit in front or behind her, making it convenient to discuss questions during breaks.

The student’s ears turned red; he never expected the homeroom teacher to know about his relationship, let alone mention it openly, but it didn’t seem like he was going to criticize him.

« Thank you, Teacher Lu, I’ll make sure to do it. If I can’t, I’ll move back on my own. »

Lu Baisheng nodded slightly, indicating for him to sit down.

He began calling out the name of another male student in the class, Zhao Shu’s desk mate, Yin Hao.

Yin Hao stood up with a grin, eagerly anticipating, « Am I getting a new desk mate? »

Lu Baisheng said, « You like to talk, right? Move to the podium and sit next to it, take Pu Chen’s seat. If you want to talk during English class, you can talk to me; I’m quite humorous. »

« Hahaha. »

The class laughed again.

Yin Hao’s test scores were either second to last or third to last, failing English every time. Apart from being good at basketball, he wasn’t good at anything else. He scratched his head, « Brother Sheng, give me some face. »

« Less talk, move after lunch, » Lu Baisheng said.

Pu Chen was dumbfounded; if Yin Hao sat in her seat, where would she sit?

Lu Baisheng continued to rearrange the seats, changing the seats of more than ten people. Then it was Qin Yu’s turn, and he said to him, « Move up one row and sit inside. »

Qin Yu didn’t mind; the fifth row was right by the window, with a clear view.

Lu Baisheng continued, « Pu Chen, sit in the fifth row and be desk mates with Qin Yu. »

Pu Chen looked at Lu Baisheng in disbelief; she would be desk mates with Qin Yu?

Lu Baisheng said, « Try it for a month. If you really can’t adapt, I’ll change your seat next semester. »

Pu Chen nodded inwardly.

What she thought was that she wouldn’t need to change seats again; she would definitely adapt.