“Yan Mu?” The teacher assumed that Yan Mu was also prejudiced against Yu Yuan like the others, so he was a bit displeased. Upon hearing her words, Yu Yuan’s body stiffened and he looked at her with an unreadable expression.
With just a look, Yan Mu knew that they had misunderstood, so she awkwardly laughed and acted shy. She softly said, “Teacher, I want to sit with Yu Yuan.”
At those words, everyone was in an uproar.
Yu Yuan was dumbfounded too. He was stunned for a while before he coldly said, “Do you know what you’re saying?” His gaze was dark and gloomy while his fingertips slightly trembled.
“Yan Mu, why do you want to sit together with Yu Yuan?” Teacher also realised that he had misunderstood Yan Mu and his tone greatly softened.
The young girl gave a big smile and sincerely said, “Teacher, Yu Yuan and I are neighbours. He’s never attended a private school before, so if he sits with me, I can help him out a little.”
Although what she said wasn’t wrong, taking into account traditional propriety between men and women[1], normally Teacher would definitely disapprove.
However, the person they were discussing was Yu Yuan. The teacher glanced around at the other male students. As they looked at Yu Yuan, their eyes contained disgust and rejection.
If he arranged Yu Yuan’s seat next to the other students, he would definitely be bullied and might even prompt a fight. With such thoughts, Teacher sighed somewhat helplessly and nodded in agreement to Yan Mu’s suggestion.
Teacher asked the student who originally sat beside Yan Mu to move to Zhang Goudan’s seat and arranged for Yu Yuan to sit next to her.
A firework seemed to explode in Yan Mu’s heart. She tried to suppress the corners of her mouth that were curling upwards and quietly greeted Yu Yuan. He glanced at her, and after a long moment, just when she thought that she was being ignored, he softly responded.
Yan Mu’s spirit lifted and she immediately started chattering.
“Yu Yuan, why did you come?”
“Yu Yuan, do you want to go home together after school?”
“Yu Yuan, do you want to come over and see my chicks?”
“Yu Yuan……”
“Class is starting.” Yu Yuan turned his head away and spoke as if he couldn’t stand being bothered. What he implied was very obvious, for Yan Mu to quickly shut up.
“…… Oh.” Yan Mu suddenly wilted and shut her mouth in resignation.
Teacher had already begun lecturing with the textbook, but Yu Yuan still hadn’t taken his out. Only then did Yan Mu realise that he didn’t have a book bag at all.
“Yu Yuan.” Yan Mu lowered her voice, “Don’t you have a textbook?”
Yu Yuan looked at the textbook in her hands, pursed his lips and said, “Zhang Goudan didn’t give his to me.”
Yan Mu glanced at the empty desk in front of Yu Yuan and then at her own desk that was almost full, unable to fit anything else. She handed her textbook over.
Yu Yuan looked slightly stunned and didn’t take the textbook even after a long while.
It was just the “Three Character Classic”. She had memorised it in elementary school, so she could follow the lesson without the textbook.
Besides, her main purpose was to kiss Yu Yuan to replenish her life, plus accompany him through the entire plot. It wasn’t like she was really here to study.
“…… Books are expensive.” Yu Yuan said in a deep voice after a long silence.
“Then just give it back when you’re done.” Yan Mu seriously said.
Yu Yuan looked at the book that was practically brand-new along with the small hands that were holding it. The young girl’s hands were fair and tender, with pink petal-like nails embedded in her fingers, it was world’s apart from his own scarred hands.
No matter how he looked at it, he and Yan Mu belonged to two different worlds. Bitterness filled his mouth. Yu Yuan didn’t take the textbook, but simply turned his head away in silence.
He straightened his back, trying hard to listen to every word the teacher said.
The sun rose high in the sky, cicadas were chirping outside the window and from inside came the sound of reading aloud.
Teacher was excitedly lecturing with the textbook when he asked a casual question to his students. Unexpectedly, there was only silence below, and no one answered.
Just as the teacher was about to give up, the students began clamoring.
“Teacher, why don’t you let Yu Yuan answer.” The one who started the commotion was the same student who had switched seats with Yu Yuan earlier.
Everyone burst out laughing at his suggestion.
Yu Yuan had a poor foundation, and just listening to the teacher’s lecture wasn’t easy, let alone answering questions. A hint of embarrassment crossed his face as he was suddenly called out.
“There are many types and ranks of people, and not everyone is fated to take the imperial examination.” Seeing that Yu Yuan couldn’t answer, the student immediately became more bold.
How infuriating! Yan Mu was shaking with anger because of him. She was about to refute, but she started to cough just as she opened her mouth.
Perhaps because she was too angry, Yan Mu’s coughing fit took a while to subside. But she didn’t care about that and turned around to look at Yu Yuan instead, worriedly saying, “Don’t listen to him, he’s just talking nonsense!”
“Yeah.” Yu Yuan responded after a while, his face sinking. He lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.
Fortunately, Teacher was a sensible person. He didn’t expect Yu Yuan, who was just attending school for the first time today, to be able to answer his question. Instead, he severely reprimanded those troublemakers and the crowd subsided.
************
During lunch time, the students got a short break to relax and rushed home one after another.
Within this period, another matter was discovered. The student who led the previous uproar had reached out his hand for a book in the desk drawer and ended up touching a slippery ice-cold snake.
The jet-black snake wrapped itself around his hand, still hissing and showing its forked tongue. The student was so scared that he shouted for his mother. He even wet his pants, and his previous arrogance in the class was nowhere to be seen. Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
However, after all, they were all children who grew up in the village. There were a few who weren’t afraid of snakes and were prepared to go up to help, but Yan Mu hurriedly dissuaded them when she saw.
“Don’t go, that snake is poisonous.” Yan Mu purposely frightened them.
The male students were dazzled by Yan Mu’s appearance. They froze for a moment before saying, “But that snake looks like a non-poisonous one……”
“It’s true!” Yan Mu’s eyes widened and she swore that she was telling the truth, “Several of my chickens have been bitten to death by it!”
Yan Mu’s house was indeed raising a few chickens, plus she had a rather deceptively weak appearance, so when the crowd heard her words, they were mostly convinced.
For the moment, no one dared to step forward to help. The student who was entangled by the snake had no one to help him for a long while, when unexpectedly, his eyes rolled back and he immediately passed out from shock.
The crowd immediately panicked. Yan Mu took advantage of the chaos to pull Yu Yuan with her and slipped away.
“Yu Yuan, let’s go home together.” Yan Mu’s eyes were bright as stars. Yu Yuan didn’t say anything, but his hurried pace had secretly slowed down a lot.
With just a glance, Yan Mu immediately understood Yu Yuan’s intent and happily followed him.
The sunlight shone on the teenager’s overly outstanding facial features, making Yan Mu a little mesmerized.
“Did you already know that there would be a snake?” Yu Yuan unexpectedly asked.
“Actually……” Yan Mu looked left and right. Only after seeing no one was around did she whisper, “I was the one who put the snake there.”
“I was going to scare Zhang Goudan.” Yan Mu honestly admitted.
“…… That’s why you wanted to sit with me.” Yu Yuan pursed his lips and suddenly felt that his footsteps were a little heavy.
“That’s right.” Yan Mu spoke frankly, “I didn’t want you to be frightened.”
“……” Stupid girl.
The tiny bit of displeasure in his heart dissipated, replaced by a strange emotion that inexplicably welled up. Yu Yuan didn’t want to let Yan Mu see the expression on his face, so he increased his pace.
“Hey! Wait for meeeee——”
Yan Mu was left behind and shouted after him.
[1] 男女授受不亲 (nánnǚshòushòubùqīn) – men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things (citation, from Mencius)