Chapter 1: Tong Yao
It was the start of the new semester for the second-year high school students.
The melody of summer was wrapped in a dry, warm breeze. The classroom, where no one could bear to turn on the air conditioning, was as stifling as a clay pot, and the students chattered away incessantly like ants.
The class bell had just rung; there were likely only a few dozen seconds left before the teacher arrived on the battlefield.
This period was mathematics. What would the first class of the new semester be about? Going over summer homework? Or jumping straight into the new curriculum?
Thinking of that balding old man and his tireless, droning posture while explaining problems, Ruan Qian sighed deeply.
She hated math class the most.
Physics was a close second.
She lay on her desk for a while. Suddenly, the noisy classroom fell silent; she didn’t need to think to know the teacher had arrived. She lifted her head from her feigned sleep—she didn’t want to get called on the first day of the new term. With that thought in mind, she reluctantly propped herself up and looked toward the door. She expected to see Old Man Chen, the familiar math teacher, but the sight that greeted her made the whole world go quiet—
It was the start of the new semester for the second-year high school students.
The cheerful melody of summer brought with it a misty and refreshing aura. A face so beautiful it was soul-stirring turned everyone into clumsy mutes. A new math teacher, like an angel, had descended upon them.
“Teacher Chen has been transferred to No. 2 High School to serve as Vice Principal. From now on, I will be responsible for teaching you mathematics.
“My name is Tong Yao. Tong as in ‘fairy tale’ (tonghua), and Yao as in ‘ballad’ (geyao).”
**
**
Two hours ago.
Tong Yao stared at herself in the mirror, covering her mouth as she yawned.
She hadn’t slept well last night and was currently bored to death. To make matters worse, she had the first period in the morning.
She was wearing a modest white shirt and a beige midi skirt. Her long black hair was simply braided, and her expressionless face radiated a serious and solemn beauty from the inside out. However, her features were too young; she looked more like a student going for an interview. She gave herself a final inspection before preparing to head out. It was her first day of work, and she didn’t want to be late.
Just as she stepped out of the apartment building, a car pulled up at the entrance. The window rolled down, revealing Tong Hua’s grinning face.
“Get in, I’ll drive you.”
Tong Hua. The older brother of this body in this world. He was six years her senior, a normie whom she would have considered an eyesore in her previous life.
She walked straight past him. “No.”
“Why? I came specifically to drive you.”
“If people see us, the students will mistake you for my boyfriend.”
This was true. Students these days were bigger gossips than the last, and their imaginations were wild.
“…It’s not that exaggerated.”
“No need.”
Hearing this, Tong Hua put on a very hurt expression.
Speaking to her own brother like that seemed a bit harsh. Tong Yao stopped walking, her expression softening slightly. “I know you mean well.”
Tong Hua’s face lit up with joy, but then he heard his sister add:
“But sis-cons in real life are truly disgusting.”
After saying that, without looking at Tong Hua, Tong Yao waved her hand and hailed the ride-share she had ordered. In the rearview mirror, her brother’s dejected figure was faintly visible.
In the car, she checked her watch. She had plenty of time; she wouldn’t be late.
Very good. She had never been late growing up, and she wouldn’t start today.
Like all schools, the entrance of No. 1 High School was lined with small stalls. These mobile breakfast stands were technically prohibited, but the city management didn’t check every day, and no one could really control them. No matter how much the school preached about the unhygienic nature of outside food, they couldn’t stop the students’ hearts from yearning for freedom.
Tong Yao got out of the car. As she passed a breakfast stall, a girl’s actions caught her attention.
The girl was very pretty—that was one of the reasons she noticed her at a glance—but her hand was reaching out from the vendor’s change box, holding a crumpled five-yuan bill. When the vendor looked up, she placed the money back in right in front of him and ordered a steamer of shaomai.
The people in line seemed to have seen it, but no one said anything.
Was she stealing?
Tong Yao pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure, and she didn’t plan to intervene.
If it was a misunderstanding, she would just make a fool of herself.
If it wasn’t, then it was simply a pity. A fair maiden, yet a thief.
She maintained her stoic expression and continued walking, hoping to highlight her difference as an adult amidst the coming and going students. However, she was stopped right at the school gate—
“Student, why aren’t you wearing a uniform? Which class are you in?”
A boy wearing a Student Council armband blocked her path, clutching a duty roster to his chest, his face slightly flushed.
In an instant, everyone near the school gate looked over.
Tong Yao: “…”
She cursed softly under her breath and started rummaging through her bag for her teacher’s ID.
The boy watched her, seemingly wondering what this girl was going to pull out.
Tong Yao dug around for a long time, buying precious time for several students without uniforms to sneak past. Finally, her hand froze. She suddenly remembered that her mother had taken her teacher’s ID to admire and pose with for photos, and apparently hadn’t returned it.
“…” She remained calm on the surface. “I am a teacher. I teach second-year math.”
The boy’s face turned even redder. “Student, don’t joke around.”
“There’s a teacher roster at the guard post. You can check. My name is Tong Yao.” She stood up straight and said calmly, “I’m in a hurry.”
However—
Inside, this woman was actually dying of embarrassment.
But her righteous and confident demeanor clearly intimidated the young man before her. He sized up the young lady again, thought it over, and didn’t dare to gamble. Or perhaps, being deceived by such a beautiful girl wasn’t such a big deal. He scratched his head.
“Ah, s-sorry, Teacher.”
Tong Yao nodded and walked inside.
Although it wasn’t a major incident, it… really messed with her mindset. To leave such a deep impression right at the start made her expression rather unpleasant. After climbing the stairs, the sweltering weather made her even more irritable. Fortunately, the air conditioning was on in the office. Her desk was near the window, and the school had even provided a computer.
Not bad.
Her mood instantly improved. Computers were one of the technologies in modern life that best elevated one’s quality of living.
“Yo, Teacher Tong is here?”
A chubby middle-aged man sitting near the door greeted her. Tong Yao responded, saying:
“Good morning, Teacher Li.”
“Eh, so you’re Tong Yao,” another voice chimed in.
“Yes, and you are… Teacher Xiang, right? Hello.” Thank goodness there are nameplates on the desks, otherwise I wouldn’t know anyone.
“I heard you’re a top graduate from A University? You graduated so young?”
“You flatter me.”
There weren’t many teachers in the office in the morning; those without early classes were probably still leisurely eating breakfast or taking a walk. After dealing with the seniors in the office, Tong Yao put down her bag and picked up the class roster on her desk, which listed the names of the students in Class 7 and Class 4, the ones she was responsible for.
Great, there are no characters I don’t recognize. Though there are a few polyphonic characters I need to distinguish. I’ll just ask during class for the specifics.
Tong Yao thought as she flipped through her lesson plans, letting out a long breath.
Nervous?
A little.
The students weren’t that much younger than her. Being stared at by them in this situation felt embarrassing no matter how she looked at it.
But she had survived the interview and had interned behind a senior teacher for two months, so this was within an acceptable range. Moreover, she had taught a few open classes during the summer, and the teachers had given her near-perfect scores. She wouldn’t belittle herself.
The class bell rang.
The noisy corridor was filled with the sound of footsteps as students ran back to their classrooms, water droplets occasionally splashing from loosely capped bottles in their hands.
Tong Yao tucked her hair behind her ear, smiled and nodded at the teacher from the adjacent class walking toward her, and then stepped into the classroom of Class 7.
**
**
“Holy shit, she’s so beautiful.”
Jiang Yiming whispered in amazement to his desk mate, Ruan Qian.
“…Making a fuss over nothing.” Ruan Qian said the words, but her eyes were fixed on the teacher on the podium, reluctant to even blink.
This Teacher Tong… how is she so foully attractive?
That long, straight black hair really hits my strike zone too!!
“How old do you think she is?” Jiang Yiming continued whispering.
Ruan Qian wasn’t sure. “She looks seventeen or eighteen, but since she’s a teacher, she has to be… at least twenty-something, right?”
There were quite a few people whispering below the podium. Tong Yao didn’t get angry; she had long since adapted to being discussed. When arriving at a class, the first thing to observe was the class’s spirit and morale. She watched for a long time and came to a conclusion: although there were mischievous kids, the class atmosphere was generally upright, and the class officers had authority when whispering to maintain discipline.
Fortunately, it wasn’t one of those difficult classes.
“For this lesson, let’s first go over the difficult problems from the summer homework.”
She smiled unconsciously, leaving the students dumbfounded by the sight. But as her gaze swept across the corner of the classroom, Tong Yao suddenly froze—
The girl in the back corner, whispering to her desk mate, seemed to be the same one who bought shaomai at the school gate.
She looked down at the seating chart and called out softly:
“Ruan Qian (qiàn)? Or is it Ruan Xi (xī)? Could you share the problems you encountered while doing your summer homework?”
Ruan Qian, who was still talking, was startled. She stood up instinctively and quickly, even knocking over her chair in the process.
“Uh… Teacher, my name is Ruan Xi.”
Tong Yao nodded and said seriously, “Alright, Student Ruan Xi.”
She tilted her head, signaling the girl to continue, while also noticing the expressions of the other students. They looked like they were waiting for a joke.
It seems this student’s grades aren’t very good.
Ruan Qian was sweating profusely. What could a slacker like her share? Why was she so unlucky to be called on in the very first class! She had wanted to leave a good impression on the new teacher…
“I… I didn’t bring my summer homework…”
She stammered.
She could almost imagine Teacher Tong’s next sentence being “Not bringing it means you didn’t do it”—even though she really hadn’t done it.
Tong Yao blinked. She didn’t criticize her, but instead gestured for her to sit down first.
“Then remember to bring it to me next week.”
Ruan Qian was stunned, then nodded frantically.
Saved.
On the surface, Tong Yao was gentle, but inwardly, she felt a slight ripple of concern.
She took back her previous thought.
This class didn’t seem very easy to handle after all.
Especially this child named Ruan Xi.
**
T/N: 茜 has two reading
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Qiàn: This is the most common pronunciation for names. (e.g., Qian Qian).
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Xī: This is a less common pronunciation, often used in transliterations (like the name “Sissi”, used in this chapter – Ruan Xi).
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