Chapter 47: Your Dream Is Gone p1
Yun Lan came in and immediately went to pull Yun Jingya, touching her face and looking at her from side to side. After seeing that she was fine, she let out a sigh of relief and pulled her into a tight hug. “You scared Mom to death. I thought something had happened to you.”
Zhou Zhiru went up to talk to the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei. “Hello, teacher. I’m Yun Jingya and Zhou Wanfeng’s father.”
The homeroom teacher was taken aback. He subconsciously turned to look at Zhou Wanfeng, but Zhou Wanfeng had turned her face away with a cold expression. He turned back and extended his hand, a beat late. “Hello, hello. I’m Xu Lei, the homeroom teacher of First Year, Class Three,” he said. Although he was very surprised, his expression had already returned to normal. Looking at the face before him, the homeroom teacher could see the resemblance to Zhou Wanfeng.
He just hadn’t expected Zhou Wanfeng and Yun Jingya to have such a relationship. He hadn’t seen it at all when he had looked at the student records.
The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, and Zhou Zhiru went to the side to talk.
Yun Jingya and Yun Lan were having a mother-daughter moment, hugging and kissing.
Zhou Wanfeng lowered her eyes, pushed the door open with a blank expression, and left.
Yang Yijun paused, then followed her out. She walked quickly, a step behind, looking at Zhou Wanfeng’s straight back. She hesitated for a moment, then said dryly, “That…”
Zhou Wanfeng stopped and turned around, her eyes filled with coldness. “It has nothing to do with the Yun family, and it has nothing to do with you. I did this because Yun Jingya is worth it, and only because of her.”
With that, she turned and went back to the classroom.
After walking for more than ten meters, Zhou Wanfeng suddenly sneered, a mixture of sarcasm and coldness. As for the rest, she wasn’t quite sure herself. She took a deep breath, and a smile appeared on her lips as she laughed out loud.
In the three years of junior high, Sun Mulan had made so many phone calls. In the end, her eyes were even filled with pity when she looked at her. So much so that when something happened again, and a parent had to be present, Sun Mulan didn’t even call. At the parent-teacher conference in the third year, she had secretly told her, “It’s fine. It’s fine if your parents don’t come.”
When the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, turned to look at her, he was probably also confused. The calls to her home were probably all for Yun Jingya. The moment he said her name, the other end would probably hang up before he could even finish.
They had come so quickly, and so completely. Apart from Yun Haisheng, Yun Jingya’s parents were all here.
Zhou Wanfeng pursed her lips, her expression calm. Just as she had said to Yang Yijun, she had helped Yun Jingya because she was a good person, a happy girl. If possible, she really hoped that she could stay that way.
She always felt that her pain, her sadness, her tears were because of her.
She could ignore everyone else, but not Yun Jingya. Even if she pushed her away and distanced herself from her, she would still come up to her, not asking why, both kind and cheerful, and also tolerant and positive.
She had helped her a lot with her studies in junior high.
Zhou Wanfeng returned to the classroom. The moment she pushed the door open, the whole class burst into a warm round of applause. Jiang Chen took the lead in clapping the loudest. “Good job, Zhou Wanfeng!”
“The guardian angel of First Year, Class Three!”
“The coolest person in First Year, Class Three!”
“Zhou Wanfeng, you’re my idol!”
The slogans were a mess. Even the blackboard in the classroom was written with the three big characters, “Good job!”
Zhou Wanfeng walked to the podium and slowly erased the words with a blackboard eraser. She said coldly, “Quiet down. Study.”
“Damn, as expected of Zhou Wanfeng.”
“You’ve really got it.”
Wu Junfeng gave Zhou Wanfeng a thumbs-up as she returned to her seat. He then pulled his own notebook in front of Zhou Wanfeng and raised his chin. “I’ve solved that problem. Here’s the solution process. Take a look.”
The next second, Jiang Chen arrived with a stool and shouted, “Let me see how you solved it. How could you be so fast?”
“I had some ideas on the way to the cafeteria. I tried them when I got back, and it felt right. What do you think, Jiang Chen? Are you convinced?” Wu Junfeng said with a proud look on his face.
Jiang Chen looked at it and didn’t forget to find an excuse for himself. “What do you mean, convinced? I was busy just now. I didn’t have time to think about the solution. You’re taking advantage of my situation. And you’re still so proud of it.”
Zhou Wanfeng pushed the notebook back. “It’s wrong. You can tell it’s wrong just by looking at it.”
“Impossible! I’ve verified it,” Wu Junfeng said, rushing over. The three of them started to discuss the notebook.
After a few pointers, Jiang Chen directly sided with Zhou Wanfeng. “Class president, don’t be stubborn. You’re really wrong.”
Wu Junfeng pulled the notebook back and continued to study it. Zhou Wanfeng continued to do her problems.
Some people in the class closed their eyes for a short rest, otherwise they would have no energy for the afternoon class.
Some people didn’t have the habit of taking a nap. They would use this time to do something unrelated to their homework, such as reading a world classic to increase their reading volume, or reading a collection of award-winning essays by high school students, taking notes as they read.
As for the situation at the teaching and guidance office, Zhou Wanfeng was not worried at all. The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, had told her not to worry, and that he would negotiate with the homeroom teacher of Class Six to handle it.
Xu Lei knew about Liu Jinchen’s problem. He often came to the Class Three classroom. Yun Jingya had also reported this problem to him several times, saying that he was causing her trouble and pressure.
Xu Lei had talked to the homeroom teacher of Class Six about this, and the homeroom teacher of Class Six had also said that he had warned and scolded the students in his class. But the teacher couldn’t restrict the students’ freedom. Now that this matter had blown up, and with Yun Jingya’s previous feedback, Liu Jinchen and two other classmates sneaking out of campus after evening self-study was already a violation of school rules and regulations, and there was also the suspicion of stalking at night, plus the rumors, slander, and provocation in the cafeteria at noon. All of this added up, and the school would definitely punish them.
As for the hitting, he would probably just be criticized and have to write a self-criticism.
This was what the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, had secretly told Zhou Wanfeng, basically telling her not to worry.
At the teaching and guidance office, after Yang Yijun had found out that there was also the matter of stalking at night, her brow furrowed. “Jingya, you should still live at home. Have someone from home pick you up after evening self-study. It’s really not safe like this.”
Yun Jingya waved her hand and shook her head. She didn’t want to live at home. It was fine now. “Grandma, it’s fine. Wanfeng is here. She’ll protect me.”
If it had been before, Yang Yijun would have sneered. But now, she was silent. She looked at Zhou Zhiru, who was handling the matter with the teacher, and pulled Yun Jingya to her side. “Jingya, do you think Zhou Wanfeng is trustworthy?”
Yun Jingya looked at Yang Yijun with a pair of bright eyes and nodded heavily. She then said, “Grandma, Wanfeng doesn’t deliberately get close to me. At school and in the class, people don’t even know our relationship. If I don’t get close to her, she will always keep her distance from me, far away from me, and she doesn’t care much about my affairs. Sometimes, I also think she’s very ruthless and cold. But I think you can’t just look at the surface. You have to look with your heart. Like the match with the instructor during the military training. Grandma, you think she’s just being tough and showing off. But in the eyes of our classmates, it’s not like that. We had all run two laps and were all exhausted and lying on the ground. Wanfeng does her morning workout every day. It would be a piece of cake for her to run ten laps. When my legs were trembling and I was about to fall, she grabbed me. I said I really couldn’t run anymore, and my classmates couldn’t either. She was pushed out by the class to compete with the instructor.”
Yun Jingya winked at Yang Yijun and smiled faintly. “Actually, I feel that Wanfeng only went because I said I was tired and couldn’t run.”
With that, her nose tingled. “And before, I couldn’t say those harsh and offensive words, but Wanfeng would say them for me. When that boy was cursing and insulting me and my family in the cafeteria, I probably could have just walked away and it would have quickly subsided, but the rumors would have spread for some time. But I was so angry at that time, and my mind was in a mess. Wanfeng was originally in line to get her food, but she didn’t even get her food and just rushed over. She’s strong. She could have just dragged him out of the cafeteria and not let them curse. But Wanfeng chose another, faster way to help me clarify the rumors on the spot. She hit him for me. She had been in class all morning and hadn’t had a single bite of lunch. She must be studying with an empty stomach now.”
Yun Jingya lowered her head and clutched Yang Yijun’s fingers. “She does what she says she will. She’s serious and hardworking. She’s good at martial arts and she protects people. If Wanfeng were a boy, I would definitely be willing to be friends with her.”
“Grandma, I don’t want to live at home. After this, the whole school knows how tough Wanfeng is. Only a blind person would mess with us,” Yun Jingya said, getting up to go back to the classroom. She hugged Yang Yijun, pulled on Yun Lan’s hand, waved, and went up to Zhou Zhiru to say something, then ran back to the classroom.
In the classroom of First Year, Class Six, there was a constant soft noise. Some people were lying down, sleeping, and some were doing their homework.
In the last row, Jiang Yi was doing his math competition practice problems. The Yunhai City math competition teacher had signed him up. He said it was just for practice, and he didn’t expect him to win an award, since there were second and third-year students participating.
Jiang Yi really didn’t like to hear the competition teacher say that. Since he was participating, if he didn’t do well, he would be scolded. If he did poorly on the usual test papers, he would be hit on the head with a workbook and called a pig brain. In Zhou Wanfeng’s words, it was corporal punishment plus personal insult, and he could go to the Education Bureau to complain.
Jiang Yi was buried in his problems. His deskmate, Lu Qing, was now stretching his arms and resting his head on them, his big eyes wide open. He would squint in confusion for a moment, then his eyes would widen in panic. Anyway, he was very energetic and not at all sleepy.
Then he sat up and propped his chin on his hand. “I’m hungry. That damn Liu Jinchen made me not eat enough.”
Jiang Yi looked at his dejected state. He seemed to be really hungry. He suddenly remembered, “You at least had a few bites. Jiang Chen and Zhou Wanfeng didn’t even get their food. They didn’t have a single bite.”
Lu Qing suddenly sat up straight, his brow furrowed. “That seems to be right.”
The moment he mentioned Zhou Wanfeng’s name, he felt that something was strange again. It was as if someone he had always known had suddenly washed their face, and he could see them more clearly.
Lu Qing didn’t think too much about it. Zhou Wanfeng was still the same Zhou Wanfeng. She had had that same blank expression in junior high, and it was still the same after three years. There was nothing to care about.
With that, he stood up, not caring if anyone in the class was sleeping. “Does anyone have any food? Give me a bite. I’m starving.”
He went to the female students in the first and second rows and asked them one by one. The only one in the whole class who could do this was Lu Qing. When he was thick-skinned, he was impenetrable.
Speaking of Lu Qing, although he was sometimes annoying, this annoyance would usually disappear overnight. It would go away quickly. You could talk about Lu Qing’s shortcomings for half an hour, but you could also talk about his strengths for a dozen or so.
Lu Qing asked for food, saying he would buy it back for them later. Most boys would just say it, but not Lu Qing. He would really buy a bag and distribute it back, and the rest of the boys in the class who were on good terms with him could also get a little.
Being a good person was one of them.
“Li Xiuxiu, the wafer biscuits you were eating this morning were not bad. I saw them from the back. I had something to do today, so I didn’t get to eat,” he said. Everyone knew what had happened in the third cafeteria. Speaking of which, Lu Qing was definitely a point of ignition.
Liu Jinchen was able to do this today because of his relationship with Lu Qing in the class.
Lu Qing didn’t like Liu Jinchen at all. Of course, there were other boys in the class who didn’t like him either, but they didn’t show it. Lu Qing, on the other hand, wanted to show it all over his body, and even wanted to go up to Liu Jinchen and show it. I just don’t like you. You’re annoying.
What was Lu Qing’s family background? Was he self-employed or did he own a company? No one knew. But the clothes and shoes he wore were all branded. Even on the first day of military training, he had been wearing a watch. The instructor had thought it was in the way and had told him to put it aside. The homeroom teacher had seen it and had directly put it in his pocket, saying he would put it in his office drawer, and had even said, “Such an expensive watch. I can’t afford to compensate you if it’s lost.”
Although there was a joking element to it, everyone knew that this watch was definitely not cheap.
And Lu Qing was very generous with his money. He had treated half the class to soda during the military training. Because they had had his soda, many of them were indebted to him and were particularly tolerant of his temper.
But Lu Qing just didn’t like Liu Jinchen, and would take every opportunity to provoke him in class.
The whole of First Year, Class Six knew that Liu Jinchen liked Yun Jingya from First Year, Class Three. The homeroom teacher had even directly told him not to wander around the entrance of other classes. It was very annoying.
Liu Jinchen didn’t listen. Lu Qing was also Yun Jingya’s junior high school classmate, and he was often seen eating with the people from First Year, Class Three, chatting happily.
He must have said something bad about him.
And he had been reported by Yun Jingya, scolded by the teacher, and had his parents called. He had lost all his face. And he had to listen to Lu Qing in the classroom, imitating the croaking of a frog and the honking of a goose.
Wasn’t he just trying to say that he was a toad trying to eat a swan’s meat?
When the cold-faced, short-haired girl had questioned his excellence, his self-esteem had been hurt. His family was just self-employed. His parents owned a tobacco and wine shop. They were not some big shots. His grades were in the lower-middle range, and he was far from the top ten in the class.
To be disliked by the person you like, to be looked down upon. Anyone who had been in that situation would understand that feeling.
And then, in the cafeteria, he had seen that bastard Lu Qing sitting with Yun Jingya from Class Three again. The two of them were talking very closely. His reason had just snapped.
There was a blind old woman where he lived who would curse her daughter-in-law like that all day. The daughter-in-law couldn’t take it and had run away. And she would curse her three times a day, day and night. Liu Jinchen had remembered it all and had just repeated it in front of everyone in the cafeteria.
But in reality, the cafeteria was too noisy. Lu Qing was asking Yun Jingya where Jiang Chen and Zhou Wanfeng were, and why they were not together.
Li Xiuxiu in the second row took out a newly opened pack of wafer biscuits. She had just wanted to share a few pieces. Lu Qing directly took the whole pack. “I’ll get you some biscuits you’ve never had before later.”
“Wang Jingying, I saw you eating snacks during morning self-study. Share a few with me,” Lu Qing said, going around and asking one by one.
“Lu Qing, are you monitoring the whole class during morning self-study? You’re even watching me eat.”
“Who wants to watch you eat with your mouth wide open? I’m in the back. My line of sight is so wide. It’s hard not to see,” Lu Qing said, his pockets stuffed full. He went back and saw a bottle of unopened water on his buddy’s desk and just took it.
“What are you doing, Lu Qing? I just bought that at noon.”
“Requisitioned.”