Chapter 7: Ultimately, Ruan Xi Lives in Her Own World
“Xi Xi, here you go.” At 1:00 AM, He Xueyu from the upper bunk handed the phone down to the lower bunk. “Eh, you’re not asleep yet?”
Calling me Xi Xi already?
Ruan Xi quietly took the phone without explaining.
“You’re not watching anymore?”
“Mm.” He Xueyu complained, “Your phone is a bit laggy. Is it time for a new one?”
Ruan Xi was silent for a while. “We’ll see.”
She couldn’t sleep.
She had stood on the balcony for so long because of a coincidence.
Opposite the girls’ dormitory… was the faculty dormitory.
Through a lit window, she saw Teacher Tong.
That person was leaning against the window, seemingly holding a cup and sipping gently.
But Teacher Tong didn’t see her.
Even so, she was as happy as a child who had discovered treasure. She didn’t know what kind of feeling this was—admiration, affection? Seeing Teacher Tong, she felt very small, humbled into the dust, but her heart was joyful, blooming flowers from that dust.
She turned on her phone. In this dorm room, she could still connect to the WiFi from the opposite building. She tried connecting to the many TP-Link networks available, but WiFi Master Key couldn’t crack a single one.
However, the name TP-Link was quite interesting; perhaps the person who named it was a lesbian. (T/N: “TP” can be slang for Tomboy/Princess, roles in a lesbian relationship in Chinese slang, or just TP-Link the brand. The character is overthinking/making a pun).
Thinking this, Ruan Xi’s face couldn’t help but turn red.
“Xi Xi, who do you think is the most handsome guy in our class?”
The voice from the upper bunk pulled Ruan Xi back to reality.
“…I think they’re all about the same,” she answered perfunctorily.
“No, you have to choose.” He Xueyu started counting on her fingers seriously. “Ji Chen, Xu Hao, Xie Yiran, Jiang Yiming, and you. If only the five of you were left in the world, and for the sake of humanity, you had to have a child with one of them, who would you choose?”
“…I choose suicide.”
Apart from that jerk Jiang Yiming, she wasn’t close to any of them. They might as well go be gay together.
If I really have to choose someone…
Does it have to be a boy…
“Suicide?” He Xueyu laughed. “Have you heard the joke about a group of men and one woman on a deserted island?”
“…Stop.” Ruan Xi felt a chill. “I’ve actually heard it.”
The air was quiet for a while.
“Do you think Ji Chen likes Teacher Tong?” He Xueyu asked suddenly.
Ruan Xi was startled. “No way, right? I think he has some self-awareness… Teacher Tong definitely wouldn’t be interested in him.”
“Mm,” He Xueyu pondered. “True. But the geography teacher for the liberal arts classes, Mr. Ding, is quite handsome. I heard someone saw Teacher Ding go looking for Teacher Tong on Friday.”
“Teacher Tong has it tough…”
Anyone she meets gets gossiped about by you guys.
Ruan Xi lifted her head from the pillow. This is probably the trouble with being outstanding. No, perhaps it couldn’t even be called trouble. These were just idle chats among students; Teacher Tong herself probably didn’t care at all.
“Going to sleep,” she said.
“Mm, goodnight.” He Xueyu rolled over.
“Goodnight.”
**
**
Tong Yao found that her students were diligent and eager to ask questions.
Especially eager to ask questions.
Being willing to ask was a good thing. She had plenty of time. Thanks to the school, she didn’t have to worry about housing, and in this life… she probably didn’t plan to marry, so she might as well dedicate her time to these children.
She planned to start a tutoring class.
A very small one. She would buy a few long tables and a small blackboard for her apartment, specifically for extension exercises and assigning some extra homework. Teaching about ten students would be enough.
She wondered if anyone would be willing to sign up.
Before class ended on Monday, she mentioned this to the class.
“Students who want to come, please sign up with Yin Jiali. Hand the list to me this afternoon.”
A boy asked with a grin, “Teacher, how much is the tutoring?”
“I’m not charging money.” She rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. “But I hope students who sign up can stick with it.”
Hearing it was free, a large group of people started to get restless. No one didn’t want their grades to improve. Moreover, if others participated and they didn’t, it would make them feel uneasy and anxious. But thinking about the extra tasks every week, they gradually retreated.
“Think it over carefully. The questions I’ll cover in tutoring will be relatively difficult. Do what you can; not participating won’t be considered a loss,” Tong Yao smiled. “Alright, class dismissed.”
The bell rang right on time.
Yin Jiali took out a piece of paper and wrote her name first.
As the math representative, she had to participate both out of duty and reason; she couldn’t let Teacher Tong down.
“Jiali, count me in,” Ji Chen turned around in his seat and shouted, thinking he looked cool.
After that, Yin Jiali sat in her seat, but no one else came to her.
Afternoon.
“Anyone else?” Yin Jiali tapped the desk. “If no one else, I’m handing in the list.”
“How many people signed up?” Someone tried to fish for information, thinking if there were many people, they might reconsider.
“What’s the use of knowing if you’re not signing up?” Yin Jiali hid the list in a fit of pique, not letting anyone see.
Only Ji Chen and herself. Two people.
It was very realistic. Everyone in the parallel class was very self-aware—perhaps too self-aware—unwilling to even try.
Checking the time, class was about to start. Yin Jiali stood up, went out the front door, and walked straight to the office.
Two people is just two people.
I wonder if Teacher Tong will be disappointed.
“Yin Jiali! Wait!”
Halfway there, a voice from behind stopped her. It was a girl. Yin Jiali looked back in surprise and saw a breathless Ruan Xi.
“Um…” Ruan Xi’s face was flushed, her voice getting smaller and smaller. “I… I want to sign up too…”
Yin Jiali looked surprised. “You want to sign up? Uh, Teacher Tong suggested that students in the top two hundred of the grade sign up, otherwise they might not keep up… I mean, building a foundation might be more important…”
Ruan Xi lowered her head, her expression hidden, but anyone could feel her disappointment.
“Oh, alright, I’ll sign you up,” Yin Jiali scratched her hair, sighed, leaned the sign-up sheet against the wall, and looked for a pen in her pocket. “Anyway, the teacher didn’t say students below the top two hundred couldn’t sign up…”
“…Thank you,” Ruan Xi said softly. Seeing Yin Jiali couldn’t find a pen, she quickly handed one over.
“I’m telling you in advance,” Yin Jiali said while writing, “wanting to learn is good, but don’t quit after just two classes. If that happens, it’s better not to come at all, so you don’t hurt Teacher Tong’s feelings.”
“Mm, I know.” Ruan Xi nodded.
“Done, I’m going to hand in the form.” Yin Jiali returned the pen, walked a few steps, then looked back. “Why are you still following me?”
“I want to go see too…” Ruan Xi said embarrassedly.
“Fine.”
Yin Jiali entered the office, intending to call Ruan Xi to follow, only to realize Ruan Xi hadn’t come in. She was hiding outside the door as if eavesdropping.
…What’s wrong with her?
She looked at Teacher Tong. Someone had beaten her to it—Xu Yin, the monitor of Class 4, holding a sign-up sheet as well.
“Sister Yao Yao,” Xu Yin’s voice was soft, “how many people do you plan to accept?”
“Ten, I suppose.” Tong Yao had gotten used to Xu Yin calling her Yao Yao or Sister Yao Yao. She was willing to indulge these cute kids with good grades. She took the sign-up sheet, her teacup touching her red lips. “Any more and I won’t have enough desks.”
However, looking at Class 4’s sign-up sheet from top to bottom…
“Uh, twenty-one people signed up from your class?” Tong Yao almost spat out her water.
Xu Yin stuck out her tongue. “Everyone really wants to learn, and everyone likes Sister Yao Yao. There are too many people, do we need to filter them further?”
“Mm… not for now.”
There was a sudden noise outside. Tong Yao looked instinctively but saw nothing.
On the other side, outside the door—
What kind of address is “Sister Yao Yao”?! Filtering? Then wouldn’t she definitely be eliminated…
Outside the door, Ruan Xi clenched her fists tightly.
“Jiali, you’re here?” Tong Yao saw the class representative behind Xu Yin and asked with a smile, “How many from Class 7?”
Yin Jiali froze in place. She… how could she be embarrassed to say it.
Only three…
So the gap between the parallel class and the experimental class is this big.
“Teacher Tong… here is the list.” She handed it to Tong Yao with a dejected face. Tong Yao looked at it and read aloud:
“Mm… You, Ji Chen, and… Ruan Xi? She signed up too?”
“I reminded her it would be a bit difficult, but…” Yin Jiali also subconsciously looked back outside, “She insisted on signing up.”
“Alright,” Tong Yao thought for a moment, looking troubled. “Twenty-four people…”
**
**
When Yin Jiali returned to the classroom, she saw Ruan Xi lying on her desk, face buried in her arms, looking utterly listless and dispirited.
“I didn’t see you when I came out,” Yin Jiali asked, puzzled. “When did you leave?”
Ruan Xi didn’t answer. Instead, she turned her face sideways and looked at Yin Jiali cautiously:
“What did Teacher Tong decide in the end?”
Yin Jiali looked troubled. Finally, she said:
“You were cut.”
She saw the light instantly vanish from the girl’s eyes in front of her.
“I’m joking!” Yin Jiali hurriedly explained. “Why would Teacher Tong cut people? The tutoring is split into two groups. One group on Saturday night, one on Sunday afternoon. Which one do you want?”
The roller coaster of emotions made Ruan Xi glare fiercely at the class representative.
“I’ll sign up for… the evening,” she pondered for a moment and asked, “Where is the tutoring?”
“Didn’t Teacher Tong say? Her dormitory, the faculty building, Unit 2, Room 402.”
Going to… Teacher Tong’s dormitory?
Ruan Xi’s heart pounded.
Why does my heart… itch so much?
Waiting and hoping, Saturday arrived, and the time for tutoring drew near.
Although No. 1 High School had classes on Saturday, it was a day when students didn’t have to wear uniforms. Ruan Xi didn’t have many nice clothes in her wardrobe; she basically had no new clothes, just ones brought from her first year of high school and middle school. Her family always bought clothes a few sizes too big so she could wear them for a few years. She thought for a long time before putting together an outfit she considered nice.
“Yo, not wearing a uniform today?” Her desk mate Jiang Yiming naturally noticed first. “So you do have other clothes.”
Ruan Xi ignored him, glancing at the clock in the middle of the classroom from time to time, looking forward to the after-school tutoring.
Ruan Xi was very pretty; this was something all the boys in the class knew.
But Ruan Xi was not outstanding; this was also widely known.
Some people were willing to use their own scolding by teachers to entertain everyone, or had special talents, becoming the core of the class and integrating into everyone’s circle even with bad grades. But Ruan Xi couldn’t do it. She lacked confidence and rejected communication from the bottom of her heart. The lack of material possessions was one of the straws that crushed her self-esteem.
She would rather play the pathetic and lonely protagonist in a one-person show than be a dispensable supporting character in a crowd.
The bell rang for the end of class.
She packed her bag impatiently, but Ji Chen beat her to it, calling out to Yin Jiali and including her in the shout.
“Jiali, Ruan Xi, let’s go, to Teacher Tong’s place together,” Ji Chen said carelessly.
Ruan Xi gripped her bag tightly. She didn’t want to walk with others, but there was no helping it; everyone was leaving school at the same time, so they would definitely end up together.
On the way, a few people from Class 4 asked if they were going to see Teacher Tong.
The students from the experimental class seemed to have a special confidence in front of them. Yeah, nothing strange about that. If I were in the experimental class, I’d be confident too.
Unit 2, Room 402.
Ji Chen walked at the front and knocked first.
The dark iron door opened.
A man.
This opening shock left all the students frozen in place.
“Hey, your students are here.” The man was handsome, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, wearing house slippers. Even someone as outstanding as Ji Chen seemed too immature in front of him. His identity seemed ready to be revealed.
Ruan Xi stood dazed at the door.
Who… is this man?
Even though it was a scorching summer day, she felt as if she had fallen into ice. Her heart full of anticipation froze into a block, fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces.
**
