Chapter 01: The Tyrant's Gaze
Their teacher was a middle-aged man with a large belly. His last name was Wu, he wasn't tall and didn't talk much. Since it was the first PE class of the semester, after briefly introducing himself and summarizing the course content for all the new students, he taught them a few basic warm-up exercises, then had them run a few laps around the field. He was merciful and dismissed the class, allowing everyone to do whatever they wanted.
The boys in the class cheered when they heard they could have free time. They called out to each other and ran towards the basketball court.
As Xiang Yang and a few girls left the field, she heard one of them, a girl with long hair, say, “Oh no! It's actually him who’s our PE teacher!”
Since it was only a few days since the start of school, Xiang Yang only remembered a handful of classmates' names. Although on the first day of school, during the first class, the head teacher, based on academic performance, gave her, the top student in the grade, a glorious and arduous task. Even though Xiang Yang secretly doubted whether she could handle it.
But when the teacher, wearing glasses but still with sharp eyes, asked her with a stern face, “Xiang Yang, do you have any objections to being class monitor?”, she, who had never known how to refuse others since she was little, didn't dare to shake her head, nor did she dare to say no.
The teacher waited for a while, seeing her not answering, she said happily, “Since there are no objections, then you agree. Okay, the class monitor of Class 1-2 is Xiang Yang. Everyone, give her a round of applause!”
The applause erupted, loud and enthusiastic.
Xiang Yang was still standing because she had just answered the teacher's question, so even though she didn’t dare to look at the other students with her peripheral vision, she could feel their gazes on her.
Those gazes held a multitude of meanings: strange, curious, envious...
Amidst the applause, Xiang Yang's ears turned red, and her cheeks burned. She lowered her head slightly, not daring to move, her heart pounding rapidly.
This nervousness and embarrassment only subsided when the teacher noticed her still standing there, waving her hand to sit down. She finally dared to let out a barely audible sigh of relief.
As soon as Xiang Yang sat down, her deskmate, smiling, pushed her arm and leaned close, whispering, “Wow, you're amazing! I, as the last person to arrive today, the only seat left, my deskmate is the top student in the grade! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!”
Hearing this, Xiang Yang's embarrassment, which had just dissipated, surged back.
On the first day of school, she arrived at school early, found her classroom, and sat quietly, waiting for the arrival of other unfamiliar classmates and teachers.
But strangely, many girls came in, but no one was willing to sit next to her.
Xiang Yang was once very sad, thinking that she must be the kind of person who was not particularly favored by female classmates.
“Hey! Xiang Yang!”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, Xiang Yang's deskmate, Hou Xingrou, pulled her out of her daze.
“Xiang Yang, why are you so slow?” Seeing that she was still lagging behind everyone else, Hou Xingrou reminded her, “Didn't the head teacher ask you to take the homework to her office after class? It's been over ten minutes since class started, if you don't hurry, be careful the teacher gets angry!”
Hou Xingrou's words made her tremble involuntarily.
Their head teacher taught their class Chinese, and even after a few days of class, Xiang Yang was a little afraid of her, whether in class or out of class. Because she always had a dark face and never smiled once.
“I’ll go right away!” Xiang Yang said, and then she ran alone towards the west teaching building.
As she left, she heard the girl who had lamented about unfortunately having this PE teacher say, “Teacher Wu is known as a devil teacher in the school. His PE classes are intense, not comparable to other teachers in the school!”
Xiang Yang didn't have time to listen to what the other students said, she just vaguely felt that her freshman year would be difficult.
Actually, there was another major reason why she felt it would be difficult - she was on the same floor as him. Even though their classrooms were at opposite ends of the corridor, the distance still made her uneasy.
Yes, Fu Guanxian, that little tyrant, was also at No. 1 Middle School.
Xiang Yang returned to the classroom and counted the number of homework notebooks, making sure she had them all.
She had planned to take the homework to the office after class, but before she could even pick up the notebooks, she was stopped by the last two boys in the group next door, “Class monitor, wait a minute, wait a minute! Let me borrow one to copy first! I'll hand it in later!”
Xiang Yang was about to say something, but another tall and thin boy directly grabbed the top two notebooks, “What are you talking about! Just take it and copy! And you, don't leave! Wait here!”
Xiang Yang was stunned, she looked at them awkwardly, and finally had no choice but to compromise.
So when she carried the notebooks into the office, she heard the head teacher, with a stern face and an unpleasant tone, ask her, “Didn't I tell you to bring it over after class? Why are you just handing it in now?”
“Teacher, I... they...”
The teacher, through her glasses, looked at her sharply for a moment. Seeing her stammering and unable to explain, she said impatiently, “Okay, okay! Next time, remember to hand it in when I say so, don't delay.”
Xiang Yang's face was a little embarrassed, she paused for a moment, then lowered her head and weakly replied, “Teacher, okay.”
“Well, you can go back now.”
Xiang Yang felt an indescribable feeling, a breath stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down. As she was about to turn around and go back, she heard a female teacher in the same office, with a loud voice, scold, “Fu Guanxian, I'm talking to you, where are you looking! Are you paying attention?”
Xiang Yang, almost as soon as she heard the three words “Fu Guanxian”, instinctively looked towards the source of the voice.
The teachers' offices at No. 1 Middle School were spacious, so there were many teachers in the same office, and it was normal for teachers from different grades to be in the same office.
Xiang Yang saw a boy wearing a white short-sleeved shirt standing two black desks away from her. It was Fu Guanxian.
Fu Guanxian’s hair was a little messy, but with his slightly upturned lips, he looked even more carefree and unrestrained.
Xiang Yang didn't know how it happened, but she suddenly met his gaze.
Beautiful phoenix eyes, Fu Guanxian's eyes were so black and bright that they drew you in.
Xiang Yang stared blankly at him, seeing him slightly raise his chin, looking down at her arrogantly, then looked away. Then, with a full smile, he said to the young female teacher who had just criticized him, “Teacher, it's not my fault, he started it, I was just defending myself.”
“You're still arguing! You can't beat someone up like that in self-defense! Fu Guanxian, if it weren't for your semester-end grades last semester, I would definitely call your parents over this time.”
Fu Guanxian turned his head, glanced at the boy who was crying, and said impatiently, “A big man! Why are you crying! It's just a bruised elbow!”
Xiang Yang clearly saw the boy in the wrinkled school uniform, his shoulders shaking, his voice weakening.
Xiang Yang took a step or two forward, wanting to see the boy's face more clearly, but before she could, she suddenly received a warning glare.
Xiang Yang's heart skipped a beat, seeing him turn sideways, his gaze fierce, his lips moving. Xiang Yang couldn't see the first few words, but the last lip shape, “Get lost!”, she understood.
Although she was curious to know the ins and outs of the situation, and although she was curious to know how the young and beautiful teacher would deal with Fu Guanxian, she still, under his intimidating gaze, couldn't help but flee in disgrace.
As she ran, she didn’t pay attention to the road and almost bumped into the desk by the door. The pile of homework luckily didn't collapse.
But the noise attracted the attention of her head teacher, “Xiang Yang, why haven't you left yet?”
“Teacher, I'm sorry! I'm leaving now!”
Xiang Yang hurried out of the office, she vaguely heard her head teacher's voice, seemingly discussing her with the teacher next to her, “This Xiang Yang, although her academic performance is good, she's just too honest and quiet. I'm really worried about making her class monitor.”
And the young female teacher with a thin and high voice said earnestly, “Fu Guanxian, if you have any conflicts with your classmates, just talk it out. Violence is not the way to solve problems...”
Xiang Yang stood a few meters away from the office door, waiting until she couldn't hear the voices anymore, then she stopped. There was a class nearby having Chinese class, and the sound of reading aloud came from inside.
Xiang Yang raised her head and looked at the sky. The azure sky was dotted with a few white clouds, the sun shining brightly.
Just as she was thinking about how to deal with the days ahead, she saw two boys walking out of the teachers' office. One was wearing the school's white uniform, the other was wearing black pants and a white shirt, tall and slender, a whole head taller than the boy in the uniform.
She couldn't help but look at them, hearing Fu Guanxian say with a warning, “Next time you dare to provoke me, I'll beat you up even worse! Don't believe me? Go ahead and try!”
The boy clenched his fists angrily and raised his head defiantly, “Fu Guanxian, this is the teacher’s office, if you hit me again, I'll tell the teacher right away!”
“Oh? You think I, Fu Guanxian, care where I beat someone up?”
He reached out his long arm, put his arm around the boy's neck, and pulled him forward a few steps, saying with a smile, “Do you believe me? I'll beat you up in the bathroom later?”
“Teacher! Tea... Ugh ugh ugh...”
Xiang Yang watched as Fu Guanxian tightly covered his mouth, her face froze, then turned pale.
Fu Guanxian took two steps, raised his head, and saw a slender figure in blue school pants and a white uniform standing at the entrance of the corridor stairs.
Fu Guanxian narrowed his eyes. “That uniform,” he said, “it's ugly.” Look, the oversized uniform looked even worse on her thin frame.
Fu Guanxian's eyes lingered on her thin arms, the fabric of her short sleeves seeming to highlight the way her bones protruded. He saw the paleness of her face, and a low chuckle escaped him. “What are you looking at?” he demanded, “If you keep staring, I'll deal with you too!”
The last class on Thursday afternoon for Class 1-2 was PE.
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