Chapter 31: Class Monitor, Why Do You Keep Looking at Me?

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[STARTER UNIT 1 - Hello!]
[SECTION A - How do you greet people?]

In the English classroom of Class Five, Senior Grade Two, the English teacher stood at the podium, reviewing the monthly exam papers. Chen Shian held a reading pen, flipping open the seventh-grade English textbook, tapping wherever he didn’t understand, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Lin Mengqiu: “……”

Her deskmate, who had scored a hundred and forty on the English exam, watched him slide the reading pen across the textbook, utterly confused as to where she was right now…

Ah, having a new deskmate was fine, but why did hers have such a different style from everyone else’s?

Now, as someone who had already been through this, Lin Mengqiu stared at the seventh-grade English textbook, which seemed more like a primer, uncertain whether to laugh or feel helpless. It seemed Chen Shian had appeared specifically to shatter her cold and aloof persona.

Chen Shian, deeply engrossed in studying English, suddenly turned his head, meeting her gaze. Lin Mengqiu felt a wave of embarrassment, as though she’d been caught spying.

“Class leader, why are you looking at me?”

“…Keep your voice down.”

“Hm?… Oh, sorry.”

Chen Shian paused, then lowered the volume on his reading pen even further.

This gadget could connect to Bluetooth earphones, but he didn’t have any, so he played the sound out loud, albeit very quietly. It shouldn’t have disturbed anyone, but since Lin Mengqiu said it bothered her, he adjusted it even lower.

[Look…]

With the volume now so low, Lin Mengqiu couldn’t hear a single sound—what little she’d caught before was quieter than a mosquito.

“…What’s wrong? Is it still bothering you?” Chen Shian turned around, and Lin Mengqiu found herself staring at him again.

“No,” she replied, unable to resist asking, “With the volume so low, can you even hear it?”

“I can.”

“……”

Whether his hearing was truly that sharp or he was bluffing, Lin Mengqiu decided she’d stop watching him.

It was strange—clearly, she was someone who paid little attention to others, yet she couldn’t help but be curious about what he was doing…

Perhaps it was the look in his eyes, eager to beat her and claim first place, that unsettled her. She wanted to see where his confidence came from.

As if! How could that be possible?

If he, the perennial underachiever, actually took first place, then wouldn’t all the students of Yunqi First High, who’d studied diligently for twelve years, have become a joke?

Lin Mengqiu couldn’t resist glancing at him again.

Chen Shian was now in the flow, using his nearly silent reading pen to trace each word in the seventh-grade English textbook. In the brief moment she’d been lost in thought, he’d already finished half a page.

Lin Mengqiu genuinely doubted he could absorb the material at such speed… Yet, inexplicably, she felt a sense of pressure and urgency because of it.

She finally turned her attention away, focusing on her own studies.

…

The double English period ended, and the lunch bell rang.

“All right, everyone go eat now~ Remember to hand in your essays tonight.”

“Thank you, teacher—!”

“Thank you, mom—” someone yelled, a cry quickly drowned out by the crowd’s enthusiasm and noise as they rushed for lunch.

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Never dragging out lessons—this was, besides Teacher Ye’s gentle and amiable nature, what everyone loved most about her.

If Old Liang’s class were the last period, he wouldn’t let anyone go without holding them back an extra three or five minutes!

He was the homeroom teacher, yet never discussed class management during his Chinese lessons, always saving it for after class, deliberately prolonging the session—a clear sign of his scheming ways!

Lack of enthusiasm for eating means you have issues with your mindset!

Student days were truly hungry times!

Just how hungry? The candies, biscuits, and nuts piled high on the coffee table during Spring Festival went untouched, but when brought to the classroom, they became gourmet delicacies.

At home, eating mom’s cooking was met with complaints and reluctance, but pack a lunchbox of crispy pork to the dorm, and an entire room would take turns calling you “dad.”

After hours of intense mental exertion, anyone who wasn’t hungry either had physical or psychological problems.

Look at Lin Mengqiu beside him—unless she left her seat to fetch water or use the restroom, she remained perfectly still. Yet now, hearing the lunch bell, she moved quickly.

Though not as chaotic as the group of “monkeys,” her actions were decidedly different from her usual demeanor.

Chen Shian was hungry too. Like her, he packed up his things methodically but with increased speed.

Though he possessed spiritual abilities, he still needed to eat and drink like everyone else. His master once said that there were legends of people reaching the true state of fasting.

[Master, if you reach that state, does that mean I’ll have to cook for one less person?]

[…No, you’ll still need to cook for me.]

[Tch, I thought you could go without eating or drinking. Turns out even fasting requires food and drink?]

[Being able to abstain is one thing; eating and drinking is another. Joy, anger, sorrow, hunger, thirst, sight, and hearing—all are real experiences that connect us to the world. That is life. If there is no emotion, desire, fear, or need, what difference is there between life and death?]

[Enough, enough, I’ll go cook. What’s for today?]

[This year’s toon sprouts are growing well…]

There was a toon tree at the edge of the Taoist temple’s courtyard wall.

Every spring, the gentle breeze would awaken the tree from its winter slumber. Clusters of dark red buds with a hint of green would appear on the branches, and at such times, stir-fried toon with eggs became one of the few seasonal delicacies the master and disciple indulged in.

Fei Mo, who spent the winter hiding away and grew plump, would nimbly climb the tree and hook down the tender toon shoots with its paws. Chen Shian’s job was to collect them in a bamboo basket below. Once enough for a meal, he’d fetch eggs laid by the mountain chickens. His uncultured master would sit cross-legged on a large stone, gazing at the green mountains in the distance, reciting his self-composed spring poems, pretending to be busy but really just waiting to eat…

Thinking of this, Chen Shian felt a craving for stir-fried toon with eggs.

Unfortunately, it was now September—no toon sprouts, and even if there were, the school cafeteria certainly wouldn’t serve them. And even if they did, it probably wouldn’t taste like the memory.

“Did you get a meal card at the cafeteria?” Lin Mengqiu asked, slipping her water bottle into her backpack without looking up.

“Uncle Lin gave me one—said it’s for staff.”

After answering, Chen Shian grew curious and asked, “Do you have one?”

Lin Mengqiu: “……”

The girl was speechless, wondering whose father this really was.

She remembered when she first entered high school, Lin Ming told her not to use his meal card to avoid gossip, but then turned around and gave it to Chen Shian?

Luckily, she was already living in the teacher’s dorm assigned to her father. There was only one room—if there were more, would they have brought Chen Shian over to live with her?

If this were ancient times, wouldn’t they have wanted to marry her off to this young Taoist as well?

Lin Mengqiu’s expression grew stranger; she became more convinced her father was acting oddly…

Her father had always repaid kindness. Back in his university days, the villagers scraped together money for him, five or ten yuan at a time. Now that he’d made something of himself, it was understandable the cafeteria workers, cleaners, and security guards were all from his hometown. But had Chen Shian’s master saved his life? Why was he treating him so well?

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With this thought, Lin Mengqiu couldn’t help but ask Chen Shian, “Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know what happened between your master and my father years ago?”

“No.”

“You never asked my dad?”

“If my master never told me, either he didn’t want me to know or it was too trivial to mention. If you’re curious, you could ask Uncle Lin.”

Chen Shian paused, then added, “And let me know what you find out.”

Lin Mengqiu: “……”

She’d thought he wasn’t curious! If her dad told her, would she still need to ask him?

“Uncle Lin said you live alone in the teacher’s dorm?”

“Yes.”

“So where do day students like me rest at noon?”

“In the classroom. You’re the only day student in the class.”

“Want to eat together?” Seeing her finish packing and preparing to leave, Chen Shian stood up, pushed his chair under the desk, and moved aside for her.

“I’m taking food back to the dorm.”

Lin Mengqiu rose and left the classroom first.

Class ended at noon, and afternoon lessons began at one-thirty. There was only an hour and a half for lunch and rest.

Since day students could only rest in the classroom, Chen Shian went without his backpack, took his meal card, and walked out.

At this unified dismissal time, both staircases of the teaching building were packed tight. No wonder the students rushed out so eagerly…

Fortunately, Class Five was only on the second floor, so queuing to go downstairs didn’t take long.

Yunqi First High was vast, and the cafeteria was some distance from the teaching building. As he walked through the spacious campus, he saw many people running.

Chen Shian mused that if everyone’s uniforms were replaced with famine relief outfits, the scene of the court distributing aid grain would look much the same.

He wondered if Fei Mo’s cat food had run out; starving it for half a day might help with its diet…

Just as he was thinking this, a small hand tapped his shoulder.

“Hey! Taoist!”

Chen Shian turned around, and upon seeing the girl’s face, a smile naturally appeared—

“Little Cicada, it’s you again!”

.

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