Wencheng Middle School was the city’s best middle school. In previous years, to boost university admission rates, the school schedule was packed from morning till night. However, in recent years, there had been some improvements, with many music, physical education, and arts courses added.
For example, during morning self-study sessions, students could choose to study or do other things, as long as they didn’t disturb their classmates.
For Jiang Xuli and his friends, the natural choice was to skip class and sleep or go play basketball on the field.
But this morning, when Chen Xunliang walked into the classroom from the back, yawning and bleary-eyed, the first thing he saw was Jiang Xuli sitting obediently in his seat.
“Holy crap, Brother Li, are you sleepwalking? You’re here so early!”
He sat down in his seat with a puzzled look, then turned around to speak. Even when the class monitor in the front row coughed a few times, he paid no attention. “Wang Wen from Class Four challenged us to a basketball game on the west field. When are we heading over?”
Jiang Xuli replied expressionlessly, “Oh, not going.”
Not only that, he even shifted slightly to the right, somewhat annoyed. “Don’t block the light.”
Chen Xunliang was baffled and couldn’t help but rack his brains. “Why aren’t we going? Do we have something else today? How come I don’t remember anything?”
“Nothing else.”
“Huh? Then why aren’t we going?”
“Not going means not going. Why so many questions?”
Jiang Xuli frowned irritably. Could he say it was because he had accepted a favor and now had to hold up his end of the bargain?
Right now, he was in a bad mood—a very bad mood.
The cookies were indeed delicious, especially when he was hungry. A few crunchy bites filled him up more easily than bread.
But while eating them was satisfying in the moment, now that he was at school, Jiang Xuli was struck by a belated sense of regret.
He had always done whatever he wanted, and even the teachers couldn’t control him. His father, on the other hand, simply didn’t care. But now, Jin Ran had forced him to stay in the classroom with just a few cookies—though he hadn’t planned on skipping class anyway, there was still a difference between staying willingly and being forced to stay.
In a bad mood, he found everyone annoying. “Can’t you use your brain? The final exams are coming up. Do you want to stay at the bottom of the class and repeat the year?”
Chen Xunliang, inexplicably scolded, felt more wronged than Dou E. Being called brainless by his own buddy, his temper flared up instantly. “Seriously, I was just asking. Was there a need to blow up like that? Suit yourself, I’ll go alone!”
He had thought Brother Li was upset about something at home and had kindly invited him to play basketball to unwind. Now, it seemed unnecessary.
With a pout, Chen Xunliang ran to the field and played until he lost track of time. Only when the bell for the first class had been ringing for a while did he leisurely make his way back.
Through the window, a clear, melodious voice flowed out like music.
“This problem uses spatial geometry and analytic geometry. We can approach it from these angles…”
Chen Xunliang pushed open the back door and sneaked into the classroom, trying to slip quietly back to his seat. But then he accidentally caught sight of the woman on the podium.
He almost blurted out “stepmom.”
Wait, it was Brother Li’s stepmom!
Hearing the noise, Jin Ran glanced over and saw her stepson’s friend standing dumbfounded in the middle of the aisle, with Jiang Xuli looking utterly embarrassed beside him.
She raised an eyebrow. “Not bad, you actually remembered to come to class.”
Chen Xunliang’s face instantly flushed red.
Now he finally understood why Brother Li had blown up. No one would be happy to have their stepmom come and be their teacher.
Regret washed over him, but in reality, he couldn’t say a word. Seeing him like this, Jin Ran didn’t press further and let him take his seat.
However, she repeated the key points she had just explained and urged some students who “hadn’t quite understood” to jot them down in their notebooks.
A good memory is not as reliable as a written record. She couldn’t make everyone understand within the limited time, so she could only try to help them figure it out after class.
Chen Xunliang took advantage of the moment when the person on the podium wasn’t looking and quickly turned around to give Jiang Xuli a sympathetic look.
Jiang Xuli: “…”
In fact, he wasn’t as “miserable” as Chen Xunliang imagined.
From the moment she appeared in the Class Three classroom, Jin Ran had won the admiration and welcome of almost all the students—except Jiang Xuli.
The reason was simple: she was too beautiful. So beautiful that wherever she appeared, everyone else seemed to fade into the background.
She was also cheerful and optimistic, with graceful and poised manners. Using a few internet memes, she easily bridged the generation gap with the students.
But Jin Ran wasn’t just lenient. When she saw a student slapping the desk absentmindedly, she would immediately sternly stop them and explain how such behavior could affect others.
To be fair, even Jiang Xuli couldn’t find anything wrong with her.
Her classes were full of vitality and energy, with a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. He even saw a few students who usually never paid attention in class pricking up their ears, completely drawn in—only to suddenly snap back to their senses at some point, faces filled with regret.
How did they end up listening without realizing it?
What’s more, Jin Ran had firmly remembered even the “stranger” rule he had mentioned.
To avoid suspicion, she hadn’t once looked in his direction…
His mood was inevitably a little complicated.
His fingers accidentally brushed against the metal box in his schoolbag, its surface icy cold. Jiang Xuli coldly withdrew his hand, yet it was as if he could still hear her smiling voice asking him that question in his mind.
The rest of the class was listening just as attentively.
Anyone who could get into Wencheng, regardless of their current grades, had once been a top student at their previous school. Jin Ran’s teaching cut straight to the core, and she was especially good at solving problems from the perspective of weaker students, breaking knowledge points down into extremely fine details. For students who were already smart, understanding came naturally the moment they listened.
Wang Shuya felt that concepts which had once left her utterly confused suddenly became clear.
Her math wasn’t bad, but just as Chen Xunliang had said, it wasn’t the best either. Compared to the boys in the class, her math scores could only rank around fifth.
Although Wang Shuya liked Jiang Xuli and acknowledged his excellence, that didn’t mean she agreed with the prejudice that “girls are bad at math.”
It was just that no matter how hard she tried before, her grades wouldn’t improve. Coupled with the constant reinforcement of this idea by people around her, she had almost been persuaded to believe it herself.
Until today—when she saw that the new math teacher was a beautiful woman!
She was young and cheerful, her lectures humorous and engaging. Even the hardest math problems became as simple as braiding rope in her hands—just follow the steps and unravel them one by one. In that moment, Wang Shuya was so moved she couldn’t put it into words.
So girls can be good at math!
So girls can stand in front of everyone, confident and upright, expressing their own views!
The long-standing gloom in her heart was suddenly pierced by sunlight. In just one class period, Wang Shuya was completely won over by Jin Ran’s personal charm and became her devoted fan.
She even couldn’t help thinking a little darkly that Jiang Xuli’s stepmother definitely wasn’t this impressive.
Harboring some unclear motive, after Jin Ran announced that she would choose one student to be the math class representative based on the final exam results—
As soon as class ended, Wang Shuya hurried over to the two boys who were huddled together whispering. “The new math teacher is really amazing—she’s even better than Class Four’s math teacher! I heard Class Four’s teacher is the head of the math group!”
“I asked Class Four’s teacher about that problem before, and he could only explain it by following the answer key. I can read the answers myself. But Teacher Jin is different—she only said a few things and I immediately understood.”
Her words were full of enthusiastic praise for Jin Ran. Then her tone shifted as she casually asked, “Jiang Xuli, is your stepmother’s math better than Teacher Jin’s?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Jiang Xuli and Chen Xunliang both reveal expressions that were hard to describe.
Not understanding why, she pressed on without restraint. “Maybe your stepmother can solve some math problems, but in my opinion, only someone at Teacher Jin’s level can truly be considered good at math. Teacher Jin is simply a role model for us girls. I’m determined to become her math class representative.”
Even though Brother Li had already warned him not to reveal Jin Ran’s identity, Chen Xunliang still couldn’t hold back. “Even if Teacher Jin is good at math, it has nothing to do with you. Brother Li is still the top math student in our class.”
Those words were like a sudden blow to the head, snapping the overly excited Wang Shuya back to her senses.
She looked at Jiang Xuli warily, unusually free of any other thoughts. “You also want to be the math class representative?”
Of course Jiang Xuli didn’t want to.
He had been deliberately keeping his distance from Jin Ran. If he became the math class representative, wouldn’t that mean interacting with her every day? After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low voice, “Then… how about I deliberately do worse on the next exam?”
Before he could finish, Wang Shuya exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Who needs you to hold back! I’ll compete with you fairly for the math class representative position. If I lose, it means I’m not as good as you. If I win, then I earned it with my own ability!”
With that, she turned and left. In that moment, she suddenly felt that even her favorite Jiang Xuli had annoying sides.
Sure enough, no one is perfect.
The two boys were left with cold shoulders. They exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.
“Forget it, I’m hungry. Brother Li, did you bring anything to eat?”
As Chen Xunliang spoke, he was already reaching into the schoolbag. Soon, two palm-sized boxes of biscuits were pulled out. “Damn, where did these biscuits come from? Let me try some.”
Jiang Xuli’s eyelid twitched. He reacted quickly and snatched them back. “I didn’t bring any food.”
Chen Xunliang: “?” What? He’d clearly seen them.
But Jiang Xuli refused to give them to him. In the end, he simply took out his phone and transferred fifty yuan to Chen Xunliang. “Get lost. Go buy your own at the supermarket.”
“Fine,” Chen Xunliang replied.
It’s just biscuits, and he doesn’t even like them.
Chen Xunliang took the money and left happily.
…
Jin Ran only had one class in the morning. She spent the rest of her time in the office working on practice problems.
At noon, a colleague who had just finished class asked if she wanted to order takeout together. Jin Ran declined because she wanted to check out the cafeteria.
The last time she ate at the cafeteria was, well, the last time. She had almost forgotten what it felt like, only remembering that the student cafeteria offered affordable and tasty meals that were also healthier than takeout.
Upon hearing her plan, Xu Zhen, whose office was on the third floor, came running over excitedly and said, “I’ve been wanting to go to the cafeteria for a while too! My cousin told me the Northeastern rice wraps at Window 3 are especially delicious. Ranran, do you think someone as young as us might get asked for our contact info at the cafeteria?” Xu Zhen, despite being a teacher now, still had a youthful heart.
Jin Ran’s mouth twitched. “Do you really think any high school student would wear makeup and have permed hair?”
“Good point,” Xu Zhen nodded. But after glancing at Jin Ran, she chuckled again. “I might not, but you definitely could. Look at that face—tsk, tsk—smoother than a peeled egg. I wonder which lucky guy will get to be with you in the future.”
Jin Ran thought to herself, probably no one—she was married in this life.
But considering she’d likely get divorced later on, maybe it wasn’t so certain after all.
Suddenly, her cheek was gently pinched. It was Xu Zhen, driven by envy, insisting on getting a feel before any man could. Jin Ran was exasperated and quickly dodged the mischievous hand.
Amidst their playful bickering, they made their way to the cafeteria and happened to run into Xu Zhen’s cousin, who was also there for lunch.
“Ms. Jin, Xiaozhen, you’re eating at the cafeteria too?” Wang Chen greeted them with a smile.
He was a teacher for the sophomore year and had been the one to recommend Jin Ran and Xu Zhen for their teaching positions at the school.
Jin Ran and Xu Zhen walked over. “Mr. Wang, thanks to your referral, I never got the chance to properly thank you.”
Wang Chen joked, “Exactly! Last time you said you’d treat me to a meal, and I haven’t forgotten!”
Hearing this, Jin Ran’s cheeks flushed. She had been so busy with practice problems lately that she’d completely forgotten about treating him. She quickly replied, “If it’s convenient, how about this afternoon?”
“Why wait until the afternoon? I think now is perfect. The food at our school cafeteria is quite good, and today I can take advantage of your treat to eat a little more!”
Xu Zhen rolled her eyes.
Her brother’s peacocking was truly hard to watch.
But Jin Ran knew Wang Chen was just trying to save her money. Touched by his thoughtfulness, she said decisively, “Then today’s meal is on me! Let’s all eat whatever we want!”
Even so, she still planned to treat him to another meal when she had the time.
…
Jiang Xuli and Chen Xunliang hardly ever ate at the cafeteria.
But today, after wandering around outside and finding nothing they wanted to eat—either because it required long queues or simply wasn’t appealing—they decided to return to school.
The cafeteria was packed. With no idea what was good, they randomly picked a few meat dishes and then had to carry their trays around, searching for an empty seat.
Suddenly, Jiang Xuli spotted Jin Ran.
She sat among the students, wearing a simple white knitted sweater. Her dark hair was bathed in a soft golden glow from the sunlight, making her skin look even fairer.
All around, people’s eyes occasionally drifted toward her, but she seemed completely unaware, focused only on the person sitting across from her.
Jiang Xuli then shifted his gaze to the other person.
A man—one who looked particularly young.
The two chatted as they ate. Whatever the man said made Jin Ran cover her mouth and laugh.