The scorching sun blazed, and the cicadas' chirping pierced the sky.
In a classroom on the second floor of Xuri Middle School.
Chen Mingxu stood on the podium, teaching with a teaching triangle ruler in hand. His shirt was mostly soaked with sweat.
The air was so hot it seemed to bubble. The ceiling fan whirred loudly, but under the intense heat, the wind it blew felt scalding.
The students below looked drowsy and lethargic.
He couldn't help but feel irritable.
"Look at the blackboard." Noticing the state of the girl sitting in the third row, Chen Mingxu frowned slightly and slapped the ruler against the blackboard with more force. "Did you hear me? Look at the blackboard!"
A few students on the verge of falling asleep jolted awake, widening their bleary eyes and forcing themselves to focus on the blackboard.
The girl, however, seemed not to hear. She remained bent over, sketching with a pencil on a piece of paper. She had a pretty and harmless face, still carrying a touch of youthful innocence due to her age, making her even more adorable.
Her posture was upright, and her demeanor was quiet and gentle—she looked exactly like the kind of obedient student teachers adored.
—Except for the fact that she was completely ignoring the teacher on the podium.
Chen Mingxu's frown deepened as he continued, "Angle one equals angle two, angle three equals 108 degrees—"
Seeing that he was almost done reading the problem and she still showed no sign of lifting her head, the anger Chen Mingxu had been suppressing finally boiled over. He slammed the triangle ruler heavily onto the desk.
The plastic ruler collided with the wooden desk, producing a loud crash.
The sound made the entire class flinch simultaneously, and the ensuing roar stiffened the atmosphere further.
"Sang Zhi!"
Hearing her name, Sang Zhi looked up and stared at Chen Mingxu for two seconds. Then, she set down her pencil and stood up voluntarily.
Chen Mingxu restrained his temper and asked, "What did I just say?"
Sang Zhi glanced at the diagram on the blackboard and replied calmly, "Angle four equals 72 degrees."
Accustomed to her always acting like the perfect well-behaved student, Chen Mingxu wasn't fooled this time. He slapped the ruler on the desk again and sneered, "I haven't gotten to that part yet!"
"..."
Sang Zhi began to feel a bit troubled. "Then why did you call on me...?"
Chen Mingxu retorted, "What do you think I called on you for?"
Sang Zhi thought for a few seconds and guessed, "You don't know how to solve it?"
Chen Mingxu: "..."
Sang Zhi: "Then did you call on me so I could teach you?"
Chen Mingxu: "?"
"I see." Sang Zhi nodded in understanding and turned to the blackboard. "Since angle one equals angle two, AB is parallel to CD. When two lines are parallel, the interior angles on the same side are supplementary—"
Chen Mingxu couldn't take it anymore. "Since you're so brilliant, why don't you take over my position as the teacher?"
Interrupted by him, Sang Zhi looked slightly bewildered. Her lips parted, and after a few seconds, she hesitantly said, "But I can't steal your job."
"..."
The room fell silent for a moment before the entire class burst into laughter.
Chen Mingxu was furious. "Quiet! All of you, shut up!"
The teenagers were still grinning, and the classroom became as noisy as a marketplace. A few boys in the back even started cheering playfully—
"Teacher, I think it's a great idea! Let Sang Zhi teach our class!"
"Does that mean we don't have to do homework anymore?"
"Can I just skip school altogether?"
Chen Mingxu roared, "Shut your mouths!""Sang Zhi." Chen Mingxu turned his gaze back to Sang Zhi, his breathing heavy as he tried to maintain composure, but he ultimately couldn't hold back his fury and roared, "Bring your parents to school tomorrow!!!"
The class dismissal bell rang.
Chen Mingxu left the classroom with a stern face, not even looking back.
It happened to be the last class of the day, and most students had already packed their belongings and left in groups.
"How did you manage to piss off Baldy Chen again?" Her friend Yin Zhenru approached her as soon as the bell rang. "Don’t you know he loves calling parents over every chance he gets? It’s only halfway through the month, and your mom’s already been here twice."
Sang Zhi stuffed the notebook on her desk into her backpack and yanked the zipper shut. "I don’t even know what I did to upset him."
Yin Zhenru widened her eyes. "You don’t know?"
Sang Zhi looked annoyed and muttered, "Didn’t I answer his question correctly?"
"Wasn’t that answer just asking for trouble?" Yin Zhenru laughed. "Saying something like, 'I can’t steal your job'—even I would want to hit you for that, let alone him."
Sang Zhi snorted softly. "Then you’re just as unreasonable as he is."
"Hey, seriously," Yin Zhenru said, "why don’t you ever pay attention in class? And you keep getting caught."
"Don’t you think Baldy’s voice is like a lullaby?" Sang Zhi slung her backpack over her shoulder and yawned. "If I actually listened without finding something else to do, I’d definitely fall asleep."
"…"
That made some sense.
Yin Zhenru was about to say something else when she noticed a few boys standing at the school gate out of the corner of her eye. She changed the subject. "By the way, are you going to the bookstore?"
Sang Zhi glanced at her. "What for?"
Yin Zhenru explained, "Fu Zhengchu invited you. A few guys from Class Six are going too. We’re all going together."
Sang Zhi asked again, "What for?"
"They said," Yin Zhenru thought for a moment, "to buy Queen Male?"
"…"
What on earth was Queen Male?
Sang Zhi fell silent for a few seconds. "Wang Hou Xiong?"
Yin Zhenru: "Yes, yes! So, are you going?"
Sang Zhi: "No."
"Why not?" Yin Zhenru nudged her shoulder playfully and said suggestively, "Fu Zhengchu is pretty handsome, you know."
The two walked out of the classroom side by side.
Hearing this, Sang Zhi’s expression turned indescribable. "You should go get your eyes checked at the hospital."
Yin Zhenru protested, "What’s wrong with my eyes? It’s not just me who thinks he’s good-looking! Lots of people think so."
Sang Zhi nodded and suggested again, "Then you can all go together as a group."
"…"
After saying that, Sang Zhi took her phone out of her backpack. Opening the message editor, she hesitated for a moment before sending a text to Sang Yan: 【Brother, it’s been so long since you came home. When are you coming back? Can you come back tomorrow? I miss you so much TAT】
Yin Zhenru didn’t notice what she was doing and said disappointedly, "You’re really not going?"
"No."
"They’re all waiting at the school gate…"
"If you want to go, then go." Sang Zhi said distractedly. "I’m not in the mood today."
Yin Zhenru: "Ah, because of the parent-teacher meeting? So what are you going to do? Maybe ask your dad to come this time instead?"
Sang Zhi shook her head. "Neither of them is coming."
"Ah? Why?"
Sang Zhi was still staring at her phone, waiting for Sang Yan’s reply. "I’m not telling them."
Yin Zhenru reminded her, "But if your parents don’t come, Baldy Chen will just call them."
"It’s fine."The words "I'll call my brother over" hadn't even left her mouth yet.
A text message came in right at that moment.
Sang Yan: 【?】
Sang Yan: 【No can do.】
"……"
Arriving at the school gate.
Yin Zhenru bid her goodbye and then walked over to Fu Zhengchu and his group.
Fu Zhengchu's expression turned indifferent as he stared at Sang Zhi's retreating back, asking knowingly, "Sang Zhi isn't coming?"
Yin Zhenru nodded, "She got scolded by the teacher and is in a bad mood."
Fu Zhengchu's brow twitched, "Got her parents called in again?"
Yin Zhenru, "Mm."
"…"
The number of times was almost catching up to his.
Where does that leave his reputation as a delinquent?!?!?!?!
Fu Zhengchu stood frozen for two seconds before suddenly turning to head back toward the school.
Another boy, Liu Weiqi, quickly called out to him, "Hey! Where are you going?! Didn't you say you were going to buy Queen Male?"
Hearing this, Fu Zhengchu turned back and smacked Liu Weiqi hard on the forehead, "I told you to study more."
Liu Weiqi reflexively covered his head, "?"
"It's Queen Male, dumbass."
"…"
Meanwhile.
Sang Zhi continued texting Sang Yan—furiously denouncing his heartlessness and lack of compassion, completely disregarding his thirteen-year-old sister who still couldn't take care of herself, abandoning her just to go to college and leaving her to fend for herself.
She waited a while.
Sang Yan didn't reply.
She waited a while longer.
The heartless Sang Yan still hadn't replied.
Sang Zhi completely gave up hope, boarded the bus home, and began pondering how to explain to her parents that this was the third time this month they'd been called to school.
So what should she say?
Say she was so outstanding the teacher got jealous, so her parents got called in;
Or that something she said in class was misunderstood by the teacher, making him feel professionally threatened;
Or that the weather was too hot, the teacher was too bored, and he just felt like inviting her parents over for tea out of sheer idleness...
Sang Zhi irritably scratched her head.
None of those seemed very convincing.
She looked up and realized she had already reached her stop.
Sang Zhi got off the bus and dragged her feet walking home.
Entering the house and seeing the familiar surroundings made Sang Zhi's scalp prickle, and she found it even harder to speak up.
Right at that moment, her mother Li Ping's voice came from the kitchen, "Zhizhi's back?"
Zhizhi was Sang Zhi's childhood nickname.
Sang Zhi responded and slowly took off her shoes. Preoccupied with her worries, she didn't notice an unfamiliar pair of sneakers on the shoe rack.
Li Ping called out to her again, "Zhizhi, come here for a moment. Help mom with something."
Still thinking about how to confess, Sang Zhi mumbled, "What."
"Help mom take this plate of fruit to your brother's room." Li Ping emerged from the kitchen, adding, "Your brother is back—"
"Mm... Mm?" Sang Zhi instantly perked up, her voice rising several pitches, "Brother's back?"
"Yes."
This unexpected development was hard for Sang Zhi to believe.
Overwhelming joy surfaced in an instant. The cold, annoying nuisance Sang Yan instantly transformed in Sang Zhi's mind into the image of a perfect older brother—cold on the outside but warm inside, saying one thing but meaning another.
Li Ping was still talking, "When you go in, be careful, your brother brought a—"
"Okay okay okay!" Too impatient to listen further, Sang Zhi grabbed the fruit and ran toward Sang Yan's room, "I know! I'll take it to him right away!"
Li Ping's hand was left empty as she watched Sang Zhi's unusually enthusiastic retreating back, muttering to herself, "What's up with this kid today..."Thinking about escaping her parents' scolding, Sang Zhi couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile as she forcefully pushed open Sang Yan's bedroom door.
The room was spacious and bright, flooded with generous streams of sunlight.
Her nostrils were instantly filled with a warm scent. But in the next moment, a strong tobacco smell assaulted her senses, slightly choking her, and Sang Zhi couldn't suppress a cough.
Scrunching up her face, she scanned the room.
In the dimmer area, a lean man was curled up on the sofa beside the computer desk, looking down at his phone. His back was to the light, his figure obscured in shadow. One hand rested on the arm of the sofa, his slender fingers holding a cigarette that still glowed with a crimson light.
His build was somewhat similar to Sang Yan's.
Yet unexpectedly unfamiliar.
Sang Zhi's footsteps halted as she blinked uncertainly, the word "brother" still unspoken on her lips.
The man looked up.
In that moment, she clearly saw his appearance and unconsciously held her breath.
His expression was indifferent, his facial features sharp and distinct. A smile that didn't reach his eyes made him appear gentle yet unapproachable.
His slightly upturned peach blossom eyes held light brown pupils. When he narrowed his eyes, there was a hint of alluring charm.
Completely different from her brother's deep black eyes.
She had expected to see her brother, but instead encountered an unfamiliar person with no sign of her brother anywhere.
For a moment, Sang Zhi's mind went blank, unsure how to react.
The scene seemed frozen in place.
Both remained where they were, without any additional movement.
Not long after.
The man lowered his gaze again, leisurely extinguishing his cigarette with a lazy expression. He didn't seem inclined to speak, silently rising to open the window for ventilation.
Watching his movements, Sang Zhi called out uncertainly.
"...Brother?"
Hearing this address, the man paused his movements and raised an eyebrow. He stared directly at Sang Zhi, his peach blossom eyes carrying a gentle hue mixed with amusement. Then, he curved the corners of his lips and responded in a drawn-out tone.
"Hmm?"
"..."
This response struck Sang Zhi like a thunderbolt.
All the unclear matters instantly formed distinct traces in her imagination.
Her brother whom she hadn't seen for months.
When she finally saw him again, he had become like this.
She couldn't believe it at all, seeming petrified. After struggling for a long time, she finally managed to utter a word: "You... you..."
After a few seconds' pause.
Sang Zhi swallowed with difficulty, cautiously finishing her sentence: "Did you get plastic surgery?"
"..."
OpenNovel