Studying life was monotonous, and the atmosphere in the key high school was exceptionally intense. After a period of diligent study, Xiao Wenqiang, with her excellent memory, had basically grasped the comprehensive subjects like Chinese, English, and History. However, she still struggled with subjects requiring comprehension, such as mathematics and physics.
During math class today, Teacher Xu entered with a stack of test papers from yesterday’s exam. She was in her forties, wore black-rimmed glasses, and had a very stern expression.
After distributing the papers to the students, Teacher Xu held one back. “Everyone got their papers? I still have one here. Who is Mao Qingyan? Stand up and let us get to know you!”
Xiao Wenqiang had a bad feeling, but she still cautiously stood up.
Upon seeing her, Teacher Xu smiled sarcastically. “So it’s you. The one who often hangs out with those two boys from the second year. No wonder you got such good grades!” She spat out the last six words with gritted teeth.
The classmates could tell Teacher Xu was being sarcastic, and Xiao Wenqiang also knew her math grades were probably not good, but she hadn’t expected them to be this bad.
Teacher Xu icily declared, “49 points!” She then showed the paper to everyone, and in front of them all, tore it to shreds. “Can a normal person score this badly? Are you out of your mind? What kind of garbage is in your head at such a young age? Are you thinking about seducing men every day? Do you think you can relax just because you got into our key high school? Do you think seducing rich boys will lead to good grades and a good future?”
Xiao Wenqiang, who had initially felt bad about her score and planned to silently accept the criticism, couldn’t help but speak up when she heard this. “Teacher Xu, what you’re saying is really too much!”
“I’m too much?” Teacher Xu was so angered by the student daring to talk back that her nostrils flared. “Did I say something wrong? More than one student has seen you hanging out with those two boys from the second year every day. Also, I saw your previous records, your grades were decent. How did they become so bad now? Let me tell you, I’ve seen plenty of girls like you who are disreputable and only think about taking shortcuts. None of them have had a good ending!”
“Teacher Xu, firstly, the two boys from the second year, one is my cousin, and the other is my brother’s friend. We are not in any disreputable relationship. Secondly, I didn’t do well in math this time, but you can’t personally attack me and say such hurtful things. Please apologize to me; finally, a poor performance this time doesn’t mean my future will be bad. I hope you won’t judge every student based on one exam score.” Xiao Wenqiang’s dignified attitude won over most of the students present.
However, Teacher Xu was an exception. She declared, “Fine! I’ll keep an eye on you. If you score above 130 out of 150 on the midterm math exam, I will apologize to you in front of the entire class and faculty. If you don’t, then you will transfer out of this class. I don’t want one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel and lower our class average.”
“Deal, it’s a promise!” Xiao Wenqiang was not one to back down and directly challenged Teacher Xu.
Math class finally ended. Teacher Xu tidied her teaching materials, adjusted her black-rimmed glasses with her hand, gave Xiao Wenqiang a disdainful look, and then strutted out of the classroom in her high heels.
Shortly after, the class monitor came to find Xiao Wenqiang, saying that homeroom teacher, Teacher Ni, wanted to see her. The talk lasted nearly ten minutes, almost making her late for the next class.
During lunch break, Xiao Wenqiang thought about what the homeroom teacher had said, “Mao Qingyan, teacher knows you’ve been through a lot of family changes recently, which might affect your mood. I’ve also seen your performance in several subjects recently, and your grades have declined significantly in some. You must remember, you are a student now, and the most important thing is to study. Teacher hopes you will work harder in the coming days and not let other things interfere with you, okay?”
Teacher Ni’s words were much gentler, and for the same purpose, Xiao Wenqiang found them more comfortable to listen to. However, she had her own difficulties. The midterm tests were about a month away, and the bet with Teacher Xu was still fresh in her mind. Xiao Wenqiang was worrying when the cultural and recreational committee member, Zhou Lili, approached her with a form.
“Mao Qingyan, there’s a welcome party next week. Are you skilled in any musical instruments or have other extracurricular talents? Would you like to perform something?”
“Musical instruments?” Xiao Wenqiang looked up from her test paper. “What have others signed up for?”
“Lots! Piano, violin, cello, and so on. Many students are also performing songs, dances, skits, etc. You can also choose to join them!” Zhou Lili looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Seeing her expectant gaze, Xiao Wenqiang nodded and agreed, “Then I’ll sign up for a suona solo!”
Zhou Lili hesitated for a moment and then asked doubtfully, “Is it... the suona I know…?”
“Yes, it’s the instrument you often hear at funerals.” Xiao Wenqiang smiled brightly.
“You’re amazing!” Zhou Lili gave her a thumbs-up and quickly filled in the information, as if afraid she would change her mind.
Although it was Friday, Yunbei City No. 1 High School only let students go home every other week. During the intervening week, there were no evening self-study sessions from Friday to Sunday evening. Therefore, after classes ended in the afternoon, Xiao Wenqiang returned to the dormitory.
Bai Lu saw Xiao Wenqiang and started to speak sarcastically again, “So, people who hang out with boys every day can’t get good grades. I just didn’t expect you to decline so quickly! I even suspect whether those previous grades were actually yours.”
Although Bai Lu’s words were harsh, her last sentence surprisingly hit the mark.
However, Xiao Wenqiang knew she couldn’t continue like this. The original owner was a promising student who studied hard. If she continued like this, she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her wishes. After much thought, she decided to find an expert to tutor her. Soon, a candidate came to mind.
Speaking of the devil, Xie Yinuo called her at this moment. “Hello, Qingyan sister, want to go out for a meal tonight? The three of us, as usual.”
Xiao Wenqiang, who was already planning to ask for a favor, readily agreed.
At a small restaurant near the school, after the meal, the three of them chatted as they left. Xie Yinuo teased, “I heard you signed up for a suona solo today?”
“You know that too?” Xiao Wenqiang was very surprised.
“Of course! Don’t you know you and us two school heartthrobs are the talk of the school right now?” Xie Yinuo was a regular lurker on the school forum.
“Will it cause you trouble?” Zheng Xiao, who had been quiet, suddenly asked.
“Haha, no, no. I’m just riding on your coattails,” Xiao Wenqiang didn’t care much about others’ opinions. After all, when she was an actress, even more people paid attention to her!
Zheng Xiao finally relaxed, not knowing why, but he didn’t want to bring any negative influence to this girl.
“Oh, right, Qingyan, when did you learn the suona?” Xie Yinuo asked curiously.
“I was interested before and just learned it randomly online.” Xiao Wenqiang certainly wasn’t telling the truth. She had learned the suona when she was an actress to play a musician in a funeral band. At that time, the director had hired a professional musician, and Xiao Wenqiang only needed to pretend to play along. However, she was immediately captivated by the suona’s unique timbre and began learning to play it from that musician during her downtime. After the play, she specifically found a teacher and learned it seriously. Her most proficient piece was “Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix.”
“You signed up just by learning it randomly? Aren’t you afraid of embarrassing yourself!” Xie Yinuo was worried for this sister.
“It’s okay, I’m confident about this, and I still have time to practice. The most important thing now is my science grades, especially math. Yinuo brother, can you…”
“Qingyan sister, I can learn by myself, but teaching others is something I really can’t do!” Xie Yinuo begged for mercy as soon as he heard about tutoring, but he still asked, “So you made a bet with your math teacher and were thinking of getting me to tutor you?”
Xiao Wenqiang didn’t even want to ask how he was so well-informed. She lowered her head and mumbled, “But other than you, brother, I don’t know who else can help me… Do I really have to transfer classes?”