Physics class.
“Next, I’ll invite two lucky students to come up to the blackboard and complete this problem.”
The physics teacher of Class One, Old Zhang, pushed up his presbyopic glasses that were about to slide down and spoke with a genial smile.
His gaze swept over the students. “Let’s see which two students are going to be so lucky.”
Some people hunched their shoulders like quails and buried their heads. Some remained calm, faces blank. Others seized every second, racing against time to study the problem. Luoluo belonged to the last group.
She had seen a similar type of question last night. There was a slight difference between the two.
There was a small trap here. If she was not mistaken…
Old Zhang was not the type who liked to make things difficult for students, nor did he like to make things difficult for himself. When it came to students who clearly did not want to go up to the front, or who were obviously spacing out, he generally would not call on them.
This female student’s learning state over the past few days seemed pretty good. Perhaps she should be given a bit of encouragement.
“Student Luoluo.” Old Zhang called Luoluo’s name, then his gaze naturally shifted behind her. He gave a small, surprised sound in his heart. “And this new student here, Lu Ran, right?”
The matter of two new students joining Class One had once sparked a brief discussion in the teachers’ office. Aside from their familial ties to two girls in the class, the academic situation of the two newcomers was also mentioned in passing.
It was said that the one surnamed Ming had always had excellent grades, with records from other schools. As for the one surnamed Lu, there were no academic records. It was said that he had previously been… self-taught, with a rather weak foundation.
At this moment, this student who was rumored to have a weak foundation was looking at the problem with eyes that were calm, composed, and unruffled.
Old Zhang had seen that kind of look many times on Lu Qingjia, the class genius. Each time, the other party would glance at the problem once, then after a few seconds lower his head and go back to doing his own thing, extremely distinctive in style.
So Old Zhang did not hesitate at all and immediately picked Lu Ran.
He was very curious about this student’s true level. Could he be another Lu Qingjia?
Luoluo, who had been called on, had just stood up when she heard Old Zhang call Lu Ran’s name: …
Hadn’t Old Zhang always never picked her before? What if she got it wrong? Would her son see through the true nature of her being an underachiever? And Lu Ran had been picked too. Would he be able to answer?
The collisions of thoughts in her heart were tense and fierce, yet they did not prevent Luoluo from walking toward the podium with a blank expression under everyone’s gaze.
Her presence had to be strong, Luoluo told herself. She recalled how the academic genius Lu Qingjia usually acted in situations like this and decided to cosplay his reaction when faced with this kind of being called up to write on the board.
Luoluo picked up the chalk with a blank expression, looked at the problem with a blank expression, and solved it with a blank expression.
A trace of confusion arose in Old Zhang’s heart. Why did Student Luoluo’s performance look more and more familiar the longer he watched?
At the same time, on the other side of the blackboard, Lu Ran neatly and properly wrote a single word: “Solution.”
Old Zhang nodded inwardly. The handwriting was good. Writing “Solution” first when facing a problem was a basic sign of proper problem-solving habits.
Hm? Why wasn’t he writing anymore?
As if a pause button had been pressed, Lu Ran stared at the problem, chalk pinched between his fingers, with no movement at all.
The problem was not difficult. It just took a slight detour, and the basic theorems involved were all ones Lu Ran understood. He knew how to write the solution.
It was just that… he had told his family that he needed to start relearning from the first year of high school. If he could write it out this quickly, would he give himself away and get packed off straight to the final year?
“Can’t do it?” Thinking that the new student’s calm composure had all been a facade, Old Zhang walked over to Lu Ran and quietly gave him some pointers. “Here, you use…”
The hint was far too obvious, almost directly spelling out the solution process. Lu Ran could only say, “Thank you, teacher.”
So he steeled himself and began to write.
After he had just written part of it, Old Zhang continued prompting, “Here, you should do it like this…”
Lu Ran thanked him again and kept writing.
Beside him, Luoluo pricked up her ears and listened to Old Zhang’s on-the-spot instruction with a blank expression. That’s right, that’s exactly how she did it. It seemed there was no problem.
She put down the chalk and walked back to her seat with a blank expression.
Seeing Lu Qingjia at the desk behind her give a small nod in her direction, Luoluo knew she had gotten it right.
Luoluo let out a sigh of relief in her heart and sat down with a blank expression.
“Are you okay?” Ming Nan turned her face slightly, observing her friend’s expression. After a moment, she asked cautiously.
Luoluo was still under the lingering effects of cosplaying the academic genius. Hearing this, she forced the corners of her lips up and showed a faint smile. “I’m fine.”
Ming Nan was thoroughly on edge.
When Lu Ran also finished writing the problem and returned to his seat, Old Zhang spoke with a genial smile to wrap things up. “Let’s take a look at the two students’ answers. That’s right, the answers are the same. The solution processes are also very standard. This part here is the key point. The new student’s handwriting is very nice. In the future, the class bulletin board can ask him to do the writing. Hm? Why are there two cats by the window? Never mind that, let’s continue the lesson.”
Old Zhang’s words had no effect. During class time, a cat, a dog, a bird, a dragonfly, or a bee could all quickly draw the students’ attention. In unison, everyone turned their heads and looked out the window.
On the windowsill squatted two orange cats, one big and one small.
Lu Ran’s gaze fixed on the larger one, a hint of joy rising in his heart.
Could it be Da Ju?
Had Da Ju come to find him?
Luoluo’s gaze, however, fell on the smaller cat.
It seemed to be the one she had seen last time when she was talking with Ming Nan on the rooftop, she thought. Such a tiny little thing, and quite good-looking too.
“Look at the problem, look at the problem.” Seeing that most people were only paying attention to the cats, Old Zhang joked, “Those two cats are listening more seriously than you are.”
Hearing this, the small orange cat flicked its tail and lightly left the windowsill of Class One.
The bigger one let out a confused meow and quickly followed after it.
Everyone’s attention soon returned to the lesson.
Luoluo had solved the problem very neatly, which was somewhat unexpected.
As for Lu Ran, Old Zhang’s prompts had been given quietly, but everyone had actually heard them.
That evening, at the Lu residence.
“So our family is going to raise a cat from now on?” Madam Lu Mingzhu looked confused.
“A Chinese domestic cat.” Lu Ran nodded seriously. “Orange-colored.”
“Very fat?” Madam Lu Mingzhu had heard the internet catchphrase “one orange cat can crush a kang.”
“Not fat, I think. It’s just very fluffy and really big.” Lu Ran said. “The cat’s name is Da Ju.”
“Da Ju?” Madam Lu Mingzhu blinked. “So you skipped class and went to the rooftop because of it?”
“Skipped class? Rooftop?” Luoluo looked puzzled.
“It was the dictation class in the morning. I couldn’t do it, so I went out to use the restroom.” Lu Ran explained to Luoluo. “On the way, I ran into a cat that seemed to be Da Ju. It ran off later, but it came looking again during class. Mom, you saw it too, right?”
Luoluo: “…I did.”
“…,” Madam Lu Mingzhu did not know what to say and could only respond, “Alright then. From now on, whenever I see an orange cat, I’ll pay attention. Have you finished writing your self-criticism?”
Luoluo: “…Self-criticism?”
“The self-criticism has already been handed to the director.” Lu Ran turned to explain to Luoluo again. “I ran into the grade director on the rooftop.”
“So that’s what happened.” Luoluo quickly understood what was going on. “That place is best avoided.”
Madam Lu Mingzhu and Lu Ran showed expressions of keen interest at the same time.
Luoluo had no choice but to tell the two of them the legend she had heard from Lu Qingjia about the grade director and the rooftop.
Madam Lu Mingzhu narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about this?” Could it be puppy love?
Even with such a grown grandson right in front of her… puppy love still had to be opposed.
At an angle where Lu Ran could not see, Luoluo bared her teeth at Madam Lu Mingzhu.
Madam Lu Mingzhu looked disgruntled and shut her mouth.
*
The Ming residence.
“Divorce? Sure.” The woman’s hair was disheveled as she let out a cold laugh. “Ming Nan and Ming Bei stay with me. You leave with nothing, and I’ll divorce you.”
The man on the sofa frowned. “You’re crazy!”
“I’ve been crazy for a long time!” The woman picked up a crystal glass and smashed it onto the floor. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know!”
“Keep your voice down. Our son and daughter are sleeping!” the man shouted.
“You’re the one being loud, Ming Dong. Don’t you know it yourself? Who are you pretending to be a good father for? If you hadn’t cheated back then and kept a mistress, my son wouldn’t have…”
“You still have the nerve to mention our son?”
“Why wouldn’t I have the nerve! Did I do something wrong! Mistresses one, two, three, if my son stays in the Ming family, he’ll be harmed sooner or later!”
“Yes, I cheated, my fault! And what kind of family did you find for my son? Have you cared about him even a little all these years? If you had, Ming Bei wouldn’t have suffered like this! You say my son will be harmed if he stays in the Ming family. Then why didn’t you send our daughter away too?”
The crash of porcelain hitting the floor and shattering alternated with fierce, ear-piercing shouting and curses.
Occasionally there would be a brief pause of one or two minutes, and then it would quickly resume.
Woken from her sleep by the noise, Ming Nan helplessly climbed out of bed, scratched her hair, and put in two earplugs.
She thought to herself that this was really unbelievable. Life was impossible like this. Who knew whether the divorce would even happen. Even if it did, it would probably take half a year of turmoil. Before that, she, a beautiful young girl, would be the first to develop nervous exhaustion, age before her time, decline… decline…
She grabbed her phone and sent a message to her twin brother Ming Bei. 【Brother, how about we go live somewhere else…】
The other side showed “typing.” Ming Nan’s fingers paused.
【I checked. The dormitory conditions at No. 1 High are pretty good. You get your own bedroom, but it’s a shared suite, so you need to share the living room and the showers.】
【The soundproofing at home isn’t very good. Want to consider boarding at school?】
Ming Nan deleted the words she had typed and replied happily, 【Okay!】
Living elsewhere would most likely be rejected. Boarding at school had a much higher chance of success. Her brother had thought it through very carefully.
*
The Shen residence.
“Your mom went to the school today?” The man in a suit loosened his tie and said impatiently. “What have you been doing these past two months? Not attending classes?”
“She flew all the way back from overseas and immediately got scolded by your homeroom teacher, then had to apologize on your behalf. Are you satisfied now?”
“These past two months, your teachers kept calling me again and again, telling me to go over. I don’t have the face for that, nor the time.”
“Your hair is dyed all kinds of a mess, like a hooligan. If your grandparents see it, they’ll have someone drag you off to get it shaved.”
“I still have a meeting. I’m leaving.”
Before he left, he added, “Your mom arranged boarding school for you. Go to school yourself. Don’t hang around outside all day, it’s low-class.”
Half of Shen Rong’s face was sunk in shadow, his brows and eyes cold. From beginning to end, he did not say a word.
Five minutes after the man left, Shen Rong brushed aside the hair covering his ear.
He took off his headphones, turned off the rock music that had been cranked to the maximum volume, put on his jacket, grabbed his wallet, and walked out of the room with a yawn.
What color should he dye it?
Or maybe he should just buy hair dye and design it himself?
He had heard those younger guys say that was how they all did it.