Chapter 4

After Hou Mo was shut down, his friends were the first to lose their tempers. One of them flared up instantly: “We’re giving you face and you don’t want it, is that it?”

Since there was a high concentration of sports students in this class, they felt strength in numbers. They had plenty of confidence and stood up as if ready to start a brawl right then and there.

Ran Shu, never one to back down, retorted defiantly: “W-w-what are you gonna do about it?”

He was equally arrogant; when it came to things like this, Ran Shu had never known fear.

The homeroom teacher tapped his hand on the desk. His voice remained eerily calm—he had clearly seen scenes like this many times before. “You all think I’m dead, don’t you?”

The group of sports students were clearly wary of this teacher. They all obediently sat back down. After all, he had been their homeroom teacher before the merger.

Ran Shu let out a cold sneer. He secretly flipped the bird to the guy who had been shouting and stuck out his tongue in provocation.

His Brother Yu might not be able to fight a hundred men at once, but taking on ten was no problem. Why should he be afraid of you?

Sui Houyu was long used to Ran Shu’s behavior and didn’t stop him. To outsiders, it looked like Sui Houyu was actually spoiling Ran Shu.

A few sports students in the front rows turned around significantly to look at Sui Houyu. One muttered, “So he’s that Sui Houyu? I thought people said he was ugly. Why does he look… like a little milk bean?”

Another sports student added his assessment: “Yeah, he’s got the kind of face that makes it hard to stay mad at him.”

Hou Mo still wore his beaming smile. After sitting down, he said in an exaggeratedly casual tone, “Teacher, I’m actually very well-behaved, but this classmate really does have a bad temper. I feel so hurt, ying ying (whimper).”

The teacher, a total “straight man,” couldn’t stand this giant “whining monster.” He said coldly, “Stop being so sarcastic.”

Hou Mo sighed. “Don’t worry, I won’t start anything.”

He was giving the teacher face. It also made Sui Houyu look quite petty by comparison.

The teacher was familiar with Hou Mo, so he remarked, “With your grades, you’d be a top student in Class 10. There’s no need for you to be in Class 17.”

With one sentence, the fact that Hou Mo was an academic “god” was revealed. Class 10 was the highest-performing science class.

Hou Mo replied in that same listless, low voice—it had a slightly gravelly texture that made one’s ears tingle. “It’s nothing like that. There was no scholarship for doing well on this entrance exam, and I didn’t want to waste my ink.”

Hou Mo’s friends couldn’t watch any longer. “Big Brother, you’ve reached a new level of stinginess.”

Hou Mo just chuckled and didn’t reply.

The self-introductions continued until they hit a snag with one person. The boy sitting next to Sang Xian said, “Teacher, Sang Xian fell asleep.”

The teacher didn’t even bother waking him up. “Next person, continue.”

After everyone finished their introductions, the teacher wrote his name on the blackboard: Ouyang Ge.

A compound surname. It sounded quite “martial arts” and cool. However, being called “Gege” (Princess/Your Highness) added a hilarious touch.

Just as Ouyang Ge was about to speak, a large group of people arrived at the door. Leading them was a female teacher accompanied by two directors from the original Fenghua school. She looked into the room and pointed at Sui Houyu. “Director, that student was in my class before. I can testify that his hair is naturally curly.”

This was Teacher Li, a major beauty—a classic “cool older sister” type and Sui Houyu’s former homeroom teacher at Qingyu High.

One of the directors pushed up his glasses and looked at Sui Houyu. “Can we have him cut it shorter?”

Teacher Li sighed. “Better not. He tried short hair once; it was truly hideous. It looked like his head was covered in crawling earthworms.”

Sui Houyu coughed in shock at the description, suddenly feeling like his soul was leaving his body.

Ran Shu was losing it. “Sister Ling! C-c-could you please stop with the weird descriptions?!”

After spotting Ran Shu, Teacher Li said to Ouyang Ge, “You should put a separate desk right next to your podium and put Ran Shu there. Otherwise, he’ll ruin the whole class.”

Ran Shu protested loudly, but after a single look from Teacher Li, he immediately made a “heart” shape with his arms over his head.

Hou Mo heard his friends whispering: “That natural curl is insane. I thought it was a perm. Getting naturally curly ‘bracket bangs’ is legendary.”

“Is it hair wax?”

“Can’t you see his hair is all light and fluffy? No wax. It’s just natural.”

“Damn… when someone is good-looking, even their natural curls look good…”

Hou Mo was amused by the chatter.

Ouyang Ge watched Teacher Li leave. He opened his notebook, ready to announce details about the merger. Halfway through, Teacher Li returned—this time with the Principal. She once again solemnly introduced Sui Houyu’s hair as naturally curly to the Principal.

Sui Houyu’s expression went numb. He felt like he was a monkey being put on display.

While the introduction was happening, a student from Class 10 ran over and said to Teacher Li, “Teacher! You turned on our class’s speakers! We heard everything you said!”

“Oh, oh! I’m going back right now.” Teacher Li quickly muted her mic.

Ouyang Ge sighed and looked at his notebook to find his place. At the same time, he said casually, “That little ‘yellow-haired’ kid in the back of the room has naturally yellow hair.”

Hou Mo emphasized, “Teacher, my hair is flaxen.”

“Is there a difference?”

Hou Mo’s friend chimed in: “Don’t make things hard for Gege. Gege doesn’t have a girlfriend. How can a man who can’t distinguish lipstick shades tell the difference between hair colors?”

Ouyang Ge made a “tsk” sound and looked at Sui Houyu. After locking eyes with him, he continued, “Sui Houyu, right?”

He had Sui Houyu’s file in front of him and was scanning it quickly. After Teacher Li found out Sui Houyu was in his class, she had cornered Ouyang Ge. He had spent ten minutes being forcefully educated on Sui Houyu’s “uniqueness.”

Sui Houyu gave an “mhm.”

Ouyang Ge told him, “You’ll be the Class Monitor.”

“I refuse.” Sui Houyu turned it down without a second thought. He hated trouble more than anything and had never been a class officer in his life.

“You don’t have to do much, just watch the discipline. If you sleep during class, the whole class can sleep with you. If you don’t sleep, no one else is allowed to sleep either.”

Ouyang Ge then pointed at Ran Shu. “Ran Shu, right?”

Ran Shu answered quickly, “Yes.”

Ouyang Ge continued, “You’ll be the Vice Monitor. Help Sui Houyu out. If anyone in class doesn’t behave, you’ll be the one to scold them.”

Ran Shu was stunned, then nodded, looking quite happy.

This homeroom teacher was a bit wicked.

Sui Houyu had mania; he was full of energy, slept no more than five hours a day, and never napped during the day. By linking the class’s sleep to Sui Houyu, and then letting a stutterer like Ran Shu be the one to scold people—that would truly drive whoever was being scolded to death with impatience.

Ouyang Ge continued, “Hou Mo, you’ll be the Study Representative.”

Hou Mo found this a bit much. “Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”

Ouyang Ge replied, “You’re responsible for collecting the sports students’ homework. If anyone doesn’t turn it in, I’m holding you accountable.”

The sports students immediately broke out in groans. They began to realize that Ouyang Ge’s arrangements weren’t as simple as they seemed, though they couldn’t pinpoint the trick yet. They all turned to Sui Houyu and Ran Shu, searching for an answer.

After finishing the other assignments, Ouyang Ge said, “In a bit, the Monitor come up and take the class roster. Record everyone’s clothing sizes, and in the last column, write down their original school.”

After the merger, the school was making new uniforms. The Qingyu students would get the Fenghua-style tracksuits, and the Fenghua students would get the Qingyu-style western-style uniforms.

Sui Houyu didn’t want to do it, but Ran Shu had already trotted up to grab the form. He loved being an “official” more than anything. Sui Houyu simply left the task to him. He’d have to find a chance to talk to the teacher and resign from being Monitor.

Just then, a massive wailing sound erupted from the neighboring classroom. It was so loud people were actually screaming.

Ouyang Ge listened for a moment, then said, “Looks like the class next door got the news.”

Ran Shu was curious. “W-w-what news?”

Ouyang Ge took a moment to issue a warning: “No causing trouble.”

Hou Mo locked eyes with Ouyang Ge and understood what was coming. After a moment of surprise, he cleared his throat and said, “No causing trouble.” This was directed at the sports students he knew—a double layer of stabilization.

The atmosphere in the room grew tense.

“The school has arranged for you to participate in five days of military training alongside the incoming freshmen,” Ouyang Ge finally revealed.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the class erupted, even those who were somewhat prepared. “What the hell?!”

“We just did military training in freshman year! We have to do it again in sophomore year?”

Ouyang Ge finally got them to quiet down. He continued, “The freshmen train for half a month; you only train for five days. Consider it a chance to get familiar with your new classmates and build team spirit. Your freshman training wasn’t with these current classmates anyway.”

Ran Shu was so anxious he spoke fluently: “Teacher, it doesn’t matter if we train with them or not. I don’t want ‘team spirit’ with them. This training is irrational!”

Hou Mo was on the same side. “It’s unnecessary and a total waste of time.”

Ouyang Ge ignored their protests and spoke directly to Sui Houyu: “Sui Houyu, collect the sizes. The school is also issuing camouflage short-sleeved shirts.”

Sui Houyu reached out, took the form, and ripped it apart. He tossed the pieces into the air. The fragments drifted down slowly—a leisurely sight that clashed violently with the tense atmosphere.

The sports students who had been at odds with Sui Houyu actually started whistling in approval.

Ouyang Ge looked at the group of students and suddenly smiled. When he smiled, the sports students all went silent.

Ouyang Ge said abruptly, “I forgot to introduce myself properly. I am a P.E. teacher, and I’m in charge of the school’s specialty classes. My main specialty is Sanda (Chinese kickboxing). If you have any objections, I’ll see you at the Sanda hall.”

A sports student whispered to Sui Houyu: “Brother, the P.E. teachers at our school are all award-winning athletes. He’s not bluffing.”

Sui Houyu ignored him.

Hou Mo suddenly spoke up, addressing Sui Houyu privately: “Gege is also our school’s Director of Moral Education. When he doesn’t have classes, he likes to sit in the very back row of the classroom all day. There’s a high chance he’ll be your future desk-mate.”

Ran Shu, who thought he had claimed a “golden” spot, gasped and stared at Hou Mo with wide eyes. Even Sui Houyu was stunned for a second, looking at Hou Mo in disbelief. Looking back at Ouyang Ge, it didn’t seem like they were joking.

This teacher seemed very difficult to deal with.

The teacher raised his hand and offered a second form. Ran Shu looked back at Sui Houyu, then stood up to take the form, walking back with a sigh—a sign of total surrender.