Chapter Seven: Class Twenty-One

“Hey, man, you’ve really made progress—so fast that you’re no longer among the bottom ten. Tell me honestly, what was your rank this time?”
Li Nan slung his backpack over his shoulder as he came out of the classroom, walking arm in arm with Zhang Wenhao up to the third floor. On the way, Li Nan asked curiously.

“Eleventh from the bottom,” Zhang Wenhao replied.

Li Nan didn’t question it; instead, he sighed, “You really lucked out. But what just happened in there—that was satisfying! Old Bald Ma must be about to cough up blood from anger. Serves him right!”

Zhang Wenhao nodded. “Without his annoying face around, life might actually get a bit easier.”

Li Nan curled his lip. “Don’t be so sure. The remedial class usually gets the fiercest homeroom teachers. For all we know, they might just assign some muscle-bound, hot-tempered gym teacher to look after us for the semester.”

“That’s true,” Zhang Wenhao said with a wry smile. “No normal teacher would want to take over the remedial class. Who knows what kind of homeroom teacher we’re going to get?”

Chatting as they went, the two of them, along with a few other students, arrived on the third floor. They all knew about the storage room up there—it had always been used for piling up miscellaneous junk. That alone showed what the school thought of the students in this class.

They had expected to find a homeroom teacher waiting inside, someone built like a bear. But as soon as they entered, both Zhang Wenhao and Li Nan were stunned. Standing before them was a beautiful young woman in a beige business suit, her black hair falling in soft waves, features both delicate and captivating, and a figure every bit as alluring as any celebrity.

“Are you two students in Class Twenty-One?” she asked. She looked about twenty-three or twenty-four, and her voice was enchanting, gentle without a trace of affectation.

Li Nan quickly smiled and said, “Teacher, my name is Li Nan.”

The beautiful teacher looked down, found Li Nan’s name on her list, and ticked it off. Then she turned to Zhang Wenhao. “And you? What’s your name?”

“Zhang Wenhao,” he replied, then added, “I probably won’t be on the list, since I volunteered to transfer into Class Twenty-One.”

“Oh?” The teacher looked at him in surprise. “Are you the same Zhang Wenhao who placed eighth in the entire grade—the one Mr. Ma and the other teachers were talking about today?”

Li Nan burst out laughing as if he’d heard the world’s funniest joke. “Teacher, you must be kidding. Wenhao, eighth in the whole grade? Either you’re drunk, or I’m still dreaming…”

He laughed for a long while, but when he saw the teacher’s and Zhang Wenhao’s unchanged expressions, it suddenly struck him like lightning. He blurted out, “Teacher, what did you say? Wenhao actually ranked eighth in the whole grade?”

The teacher nodded. Li Nan looked at Zhang Wenhao, who also nodded.

Li Nan stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Wenhao by the collar, and shouted, “You little punk! I always thought you were my best buddy, and yet you never shared your brilliant cheating methods with me?”

“I didn’t cheat,” Zhang Wenhao replied, exasperated.

“Bull!” Li Nan clearly didn’t believe him. “I see through you now—a traitor! You just toss your friends aside when it matters most!”

Zhang Wenhao gave a helpless smile. “Am I not here in Class Twenty-One with you now?”

Only then did Li Nan feel slightly comforted. He let go of Zhang Wenhao’s collar and muttered, “At least you’ve got a bit of conscience left.”

At this, the teacher’s expression turned a little awkward. “Zhang Wenhao, you’re not on the list for Class Twenty-One, so I’ll need to confirm this with Mr. Ma. If he gives the go-ahead, then you can stay.”

She hesitated for a moment. “But are you sure? Staying in Class Three might offer a better learning environment.”

Zhang Wenhao shook his head. “I won’t return to Class Three. If Class Twenty-One won’t have me, I’ll just study at home and prepare for the college entrance exam on my own.”

“Well…” The teacher hesitated, then said, “Go find a seat for now. I’ll talk to Mr. Ma and let you know.”

Zhang Wenhao and Li Nan took seats at the back row. Li Nan couldn’t wait and asked, “Come on, tell me—how did you cheat under such strict supervision? Share your tips with your buddy!”

Zhang Wenhao answered seriously, “I didn’t cheat, so I don’t have any tricks to share. But if you want advice, here’s one: study hard.”

“Are you serious?” Li Nan frowned at him, as if he suddenly didn’t recognize him.

After a moment, Li Nan realized Zhang Wenhao wasn’t lying. They’d been in the same class since their first year and had even been desk mates in Class Three; they knew each other inside out. Whenever Zhang Wenhao got that serious look, he never lied.

“Damn it…” Li Nan muttered sadly. “Ma Qianyong always said we were a couple of bad influences. Now you’ve turned over a new leaf, and you expect me to follow suit?”

…

For Song Yanni, today had been a rough day as well. On her very first day interning at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, she’d been assigned as the homeroom teacher for the remedial class. Normally, an intern could at best be an assistant teacher, and even then, a fully qualified teacher would be present to supervise. Yet here she was, immediately handed the role of homeroom teacher—a first in the school’s history.

The reason was obvious: not that her resume from Beijing Normal University had particularly impressed the administration, but rather that no one wanted to take charge of the remedial class. After several rounds of shirking, the responsibility fell squarely on her shoulders.

Song Yanni couldn’t refuse. Getting an internship at Jiangcheng No. 1 was already a great opportunity. The school was known for its outstanding academic standards—on par with the best in Southern Jiang Province, rivaling even Huanggang. An internship certificate from here would be a huge boost to her future career. Becoming a homeroom teacher was also a challenge, and if she succeeded, her internship record would be even more impressive.

That was how she comforted herself as she accepted the heavy burden of leading Class Twenty-One, a group made up of students considered “hopeless” by their former classes. She had no idea what challenges awaited her.

When she found Ma Qianyong, the infamous “Bald Ma” was still fuming, sitting in the office with several fallen hairs on his desk. He even worried that thanks to Zhang Wenhao, he might soon be as bald as a billiard ball.

When Song Yanni asked if Zhang Wenhao could be accepted into Class Twenty-One, Ma Qianyong snapped, “That troublemaker! I absolutely don’t want him back in Class Three!”

With Ma’s decision clear and Zhang Wenhao’s willingness to transfer, Song Yanni breathed a sigh of relief. While the other teachers were all convinced that Zhang Wenhao’s test scores were the result of cheating, Song Yanni had her own view.

First, Zhang Wenhao had scored a perfect mark in mathematics—the only student in the entire grade to do so. That alone would have been nearly impossible to achieve by cheating.

Second, his language and comprehensive test scores were excellent, yet his English was barely passing. If he’d cheated, why wouldn’t he have done so in English as well?

Song Yanni preferred to believe that Zhang Wenhao’s results reflected his true ability. If he could improve his English, he might be able to rise to the very top of the grade.

The appearance of Zhang Wenhao gave Song Yanni a faint glimmer of hope for Class Twenty-One.