Chapter 13: The Worst Class in History
The day before school started, Zhou Wanfeng and Yun Jingya went shopping.
They didn’t ride their bikes, mainly because Zhou Wanfeng didn’t know the way very well, and it was quite a distance from South Lake Mansion to the bustling city center. They told Yang Yijun they were going to buy some school supplies and planned to take the bus.
Yun Lan usually slept until past ten in the morning and rarely ate breakfast.
The little fatty, Yun Chengbin, looked like he wanted to go with them but was left at home. Yang Yijun even stuffed some money into Zhou Wanfeng’s hand. “Buy whatever you like. Consider it your pocket money.”
Yun Jingya happily exclaimed, “Thank you, Grandma.”
Zhou Wanfeng looked down at the brand new banknotes in her hand and stuffed them into her pocket. “Thank you.”
Yang Yijun smiled and nodded.
Their eyes met, and they understood each other.
Zhou Wanfeng smiled. She would probably have a period of peace.
Only the No. 57 bus went directly from South Lake Mansion to the city center. The two of them sat in the back of the bus by the window. Yun Jingya was carrying a cute backpack, and after getting on the bus, she took out a notebook.
Zhou Wanfeng tilted her head to look.
It listed the things she wanted to buy today: a backpack charm, a pencil case, notebooks, book covers, and stickers. Below that, she had written down the things she wanted to eat and the places she wanted to go… an entire page, written in neat and standard handwriting.
Yun Jingya hastily closed it. “I was just making a simple list. As for lunch, let’s go to Grandpa’s restaurant.” She blinked a couple of times and leaned closer to Zhou Wanfeng’s ear. “We can save the money for ourselves.”
“Grandpa’s restaurant?” Zhou Wanfeng was surprised. In all the time she had been here, no one seemed to have mentioned it.
Yun Jingya nodded and asked with a smile, “Do you know of Yuxiang Pavilion?”
Zhou Wanfeng shook her head.
“Grandpa and Second Grandpa said that in the Qing Dynasty, our ancestors cooked a meal for the emperor who was on an incognito tour of the south. They said that before the emperor left, he had someone send over a piece of calligraphy. From then on, the restaurant was renamed Yuxiang Pavilion. In the past, you had to make a reservation in advance to eat there, and sometimes you had to wait for three months. Grandpa and Second Grandpa opened a branch, and the business was very good. Later, they opened many more branches. I’m not sure how many there are in total,” Yun Jingya said quietly. “They say the family has an ancestral cookbook that is passed down to the sons, not the daughters. Because my mom is a girl, my eldest cousin from Second Grandpa’s family was trained as the heir.”
Zhou Wanfeng thought for a moment and asked, “Isn’t the little fatty’s surname Yun?”
“My brother is too young. And even though Grandpa and Second Grandpa don’t have to cook themselves anymore, the heir still has to learn how to cook. My eldest cousin has been learning for many years, and Grandpa’s evaluation is just ‘okay’.”
“What does your grandmother’s family do?” Zhou Wanfeng had met Yang Yijun’s relatives. They were a bunch of foul-mouthed people who, apart from their high-fashion clothes, were all like street thugs.
“They play Go. Grandma’s great-grandfather was a very famous Go master. During a special period, he defeated more than a dozen Japanese masters in a row. The scholars and artists of that time wrote many poems in praise of him. But now, apart from Grandma, no one in the family is proficient in Go. In Grandma’s words, they don’t have the ‘wisdom root’.” Yun Jingya thought for a moment and added, “Grandma is very good. Professional Go players often come to our house to see her. Grandma is also a technical consultant for the Yunhai City Go Institute and the director of the technical committee of the Go Association.”
Zhou Wanfeng leaned back and snorted. She finally understood why these people valued their reputation so much.
“Ah, Wanfeng, look at the poster outside. It’s for the refrigerator produced by Dad’s company,” Yun Jingya said, pulling Zhou Wanfeng to look out the window.
The poster at the bus stop was very eye-catching. It was advertising a special discount for the National Day in October.
Zhou Wanfeng fell into deep thought. This family really had a lot of problems.
Yang Yijun must be an extremely protective person. She must have been very unhappy that the Yun family’s Yuxiang Pavilion was passed down to her brother-in-law’s family. She couldn’t do anything about it in the past, but now the little fatty’s surname was Yun.
There was just one thing she didn’t understand. If Zhou Zhiru wanted to have it both ways, hadn’t he already tipped his hand?
They got off the bus. The pedestrian street was lined with all sorts of shops. The boutique Yun Jingya had mentioned was mostly filled with elementary and middle school students, especially in the stationery section. There were two whole shelves of ballpoint pens alone, and the various cute erasers were an eye-opener for Zhou Wanfeng.
Zhou Wanfeng stood in front of the fountain pen shelf and casually picked one up. The nib was long, thin, and sharp. She pressed it lightly against her finger, and it immediately drew blood.
The two of them stayed in the boutique for a long time. Yun Jingya bought a lot of things. They then walked to the food street, where the tempting smells of various snacks wafted through the air.
They had originally planned to get a free meal at the restaurant, but they ended up buying a little from this stall and a little from that one, and before they knew it, their stomachs were full.
In the end, the two of them took the bus back home.
On the first day of September, Zhou Wanfeng woke up at six. She wore a black tracksuit and ran for more than half an hour. She came back, stretched, and practiced a set of boxing in the backyard. She then went upstairs to shower and change. Twenty minutes later, she came downstairs with her backpack.
Zhou Zhiru, in suit pants and a light blue shirt, was sitting on the first-floor sofa, reading the newspaper. Yun Jingya was helping Yun Chengbin check the things in his backpack. When she saw Wanfeng come down, she smiled and waved.
Seeing this, the little fatty, Yun Chengbin, also waved.
When everyone was there, Yang Yijun came out of her bedroom.
It was rare to see so many people at the breakfast table.
“A new semester, a new beginning. You can’t be lazy. You must all do your best to study hard. Jingya and Wanfeng, junior high is very important. If you want to get into a good high school, you have to work hard now. The ladder of life mostly starts from here. Those with good grades go to key high schools. Those with poor grades can only go to vocational schools or technical schools. I hope both of you can be admitted to a good key high school,” Zhou Zhiru said to the two girls, then looked at Yun Chengbin. “Chengbin, you too. Good study habits should be cultivated from a young age.”
Yang Yijun nodded. “Your father is right. No matter what, studying is the most important thing.”
Yun Jingya and Yun Chengbin very seriously stated that they would study hard and not be lazy.
Zhou Wanfeng ate with her head down.
Zhou Zhiru glanced at her and suddenly asked, “Wanfeng, I’ll drive you to school later. Jingya and Chengbin’s schools are in the same direction. A driver will take them later.”
“I don’t need a ride. I went there a couple of days ago and I remember the way. It’s very close, I can ride my bike,” Zhou Wanfeng refused without even looking up.
Yang Yijun slowly stirred her congee, her gaze casually sweeping over Zhou Wanfeng and Zhou Zhiru. After a few seconds, she chuckled. “Wanfeng, your cousin Jiawen is in charge of administrative affairs at the school. She’s very familiar with the teachers and the leadership. If you need anything, you can go to her. We’re all family, you don’t have to feel like you’re troubling her.”
Zhou Wanfeng quickly finished her congee and stood up from her seat. “You all take your time. I’m going to go to school early to register.” With that, she picked up her backpack from the back of her chair, slung it over her shoulder, and hurried to the backyard.
Old Dong had already wiped her bike clean early in the morning, checked the front and back tires, the basket, and even put a leather cover on the seat.
Zhou Wanfeng squatted down and retied her shoelaces. Her backpack contained the new stationery and notebooks she had bought yesterday. The shoes and socks she was wearing were also new.
The thing she had been looking forward to the most since coming here was to reshape her student life. If there was one thing she regretted most in her past life, it was that she had never studied properly.
During her short time as a student, she had been plagued by too many distracting and disturbing matters. It was only after she had completely lost it that she felt such regret.
She stepped on the pedals, and it was as if the wind was pushing her from behind. As she left the courtyard gate, all the schemes and calculations were left behind. Yang Yijun, Zhou Zhiru—none of them mattered at this moment.
Shuangshu Model Middle School was about a twenty-five-minute bike ride away. The school environment was excellent, with lush greenery. A straight avenue led from the entrance, lined with tall plane trees that formed a canopy. To the right was a small playground and a podium. To the left was a garden-style garden with a cobblestone path, an octagonal pavilion, and a covered corridor for resting.
There were two four-story administrative office buildings, one on the left and one on the right.
Behind them were the teaching buildings, the laboratory building, the library, the multi-functional classrooms, and the indoor training rooms. Zhou Wanfeng had roughly toured the school two days ago.
The school was not large, but its teaching equipment and campus environment were first-class.
Zhou Wanfeng locked her bike in the shed against the wall. The plane tree avenue was full of students. Some parents had also come to drop off their children. They were stopped by the guards at the gate but were unwilling to leave, stubbornly standing there and watching their children go in.
The entire first grade was in the last teaching building. In front of it were the second and third-grade teaching buildings. At this moment, the older students were all standing at the classroom doors, looking at the new students on the road.
First Grade, Class Nine, Zhou Wanfeng’s class, was in the classroom on the far left of the first floor. The advantage was that there was a large open space in front of the door, with several flowerbeds. Second, the large playground was to the left, and it was close to the restrooms.
Zhou Wanfeng thought she had arrived early, but when she entered, there were already more than a dozen students in the classroom. At a glance, there were more boys than girls. The temporary seats they had chosen were all in the middle and back rows.
Especially the four in the back row. They weren’t sitting on their chairs, but on their desks. Their feet were also restless, propped up on their chairs. They were talking loudly. When someone came in, they would turn to look, and then continue chatting.
The double seats on both sides of the wall were basically all taken. The first three rows in the middle, near the podium, were empty.
Zhou Wanfeng walked straight to the second row, sat down properly, and took out her notebook and stationery. She could hear bits and pieces of the conversations around her.
The person on the left was asking their deskmate which elementary school they had gone to.
Three or five people on the right were discussing the plot of a TV series they had watched during the summer vacation.
The few in the back row seemed to be showing off, bragging about their great achievements in elementary school.
“Me? I beat up our Chinese teacher in class because I couldn’t recite the text. I cursed her mother right then and there. Damn it, what does it have to do with you if I can’t recite it? She got angry and wanted to call my parents, so I knocked her down with one punch. After paying some money, she basically left me alone and was much more obedient.” The boy who was speaking had a rough, somewhat hoarse voice. He was not ashamed at all of hitting his teacher.