The physics teacher was a bald man in his forties, his personality as rigid and meticulous as the subject he taught.
He liked to pace the aisles while lecturing, book in hand. As he ambled along, he noticed that He Yao's desk in the last row was bare.
The teacher paused mid-sentence, and everyone turned to look at him.
He was looking at He Yao.
"Student, why aren't you bringing your textbook to class? What are you doing?"
He Yao didn't stand up. She sat there, her expressionless gaze fixed somewhere in the air.
"I just transferred, and I haven't been issued a textbook."
"Is that so? Well, without a textbook, you can't follow the lesson. Move your desk over here and squeeze in with this student. You two can share a book for now. Have your parents buy you one tomorrow."
The classroom erupted in laughter.
He Yao had just finished a fight with the girlfriend of the boy she was now supposed to share a desk with, and now the teacher was calling her out.
He Yao remained seated. "It's fine, I can manage like this."
The physics teacher, not understanding, insisted, standing beside her.
"Manage? Without a textbook, how can you possibly follow which page or problem I'm on? Or are you so confident that you know all the problems and don't need a textbook?"
He Yao was determined not to move. No matter what, she wouldn't go over there, adopting an air of wanting nothing to do with him.
The teacher stared at her for a few seconds. Seeing her complete lack of movement, even a hint of arrogance, successfully annoyed him.
"Are you not hearing me when I'm talking to you? Stand up!"
He Yao slowly stood up.
"I see you're a student with a lot of opinions. This is how you speak to the teacher! Since you're so opinionated, fine, I'll ask you a question."
He stated a physics concept from the textbook, and obviously, He Yao couldn't answer.
This was because she hadn't attended classes for over a month, and moreover, she had never been a particularly good student.
The teacher stared at He Yao, and He Yao stared at the back of the student in front of her. The entire class held their breath, anticipating the storm that was about to break.
Just then, a male student in front couldn't stand it anymore. He subtly held up his textbook, intending to show He Yao the answer.
Could the teacher miss such an obvious gesture? He immediately made him stand up as well.
Then, he said sarcastically:
"Some female students, don't think that just because you're a bit good-looking, or have some advantage with the boys, you can do whatever you want. Let me tell you, the connections you have with these few people you know won't help you in your future life at all."
"On the contrary, they will only become blemishes on your life's path."
"At this crucial time for further education, everyone is busy striving for their future. Is your attitude fair to anyone? Fair to the teachers' earnest expectations? Fair to your parents' earnest teachings?"
He Yao could no longer stand listening. She thumped her chair with her foot and turned her head to look at the teacher.
"Please explain clearly, who is doing whatever they want with their looks and their advantage with boys? Are you talking about me?"
This direct confrontation was a first in the physics teacher's career.
His face instantly turned red with anger.
"You... Am I not speaking the truth?"
"I'm trying to save you face, which is why I'm not saying it directly. Don't force me to say something nastier! Who do you think I'm doing this for? Huh?"
"Who knows who you're doing it for, but it's certainly not for me."
He Yao interrupted him.
"As a teacher, you need to behave like a teacher. I haven't been paying attention in class, and I'm not a good student, but if I haven't done something, I haven't done it. You can't just spread rumors, can you?"
"You!"
"If you dislike me, you can kick me out, or make me stand outside for punishment, you can do anything, but please, don't talk nonsense."
With that, she didn't wait for him to expel her. He Yao walked out of the classroom herself and stood outside the classroom wall.
A murmur went through the class, everyone impressed by her actions.
Some female students smugly said to those around them.
"See? I told you she was like that."
Zhan Jingrui, sitting by the window in the fourth row against the wall, could see He Yao standing outside with a slight turn of his gaze.
It was an overcast day. She lowered her head, and the autumn wind blew, lifting her long hair.
Like that day in the hospital, he again saw her small nose and red lips.
His deskmate secretly sighed.
"He Yao looks so gentle and demure, I didn't expect her to have such a fiery temper. Honestly, I quite like it. Contrast creates anticipation. I really want to see how she performs in the next class."
"Boring."
Zhan Jingrui averted his gaze and started doing his problems.
Can't these noisy people just shut up?
After standing for the entire physics class, during the break, the class monitor voluntarily brought her textbook to He Yao, so she wouldn't be seen by the teacher again in the next class and any further embarrassing situations could be avoided.
He Yao thanked her. The class monitor told her:
"The Xinhua Bookstore on Guangwu West Road should have textbooks. Even if you can't buy a new one, you can buy a second-hand one. You should go check it out after school. If you don't know where it is, I can write down the address for you."
He Yao said it wasn't necessary, she knew where it was.
After school, He Yao didn't want to go home early. She dawdled until most of the students had left the classroom before slowly heading out.
She rarely went to the Guangwu Road area and, to be honest, wasn't quite sure of the way.
She held her phone, with navigation on, and looked at the directions as she walked.
When she was still two blocks away from Guangwu Road, someone suddenly called out to her. It was He Yao's cousin, He Chuan.
He was the same age as He Yao and studied at a vocational school near Guanglu Road. They happened to run into each other after school.
He Yao's mother had gotten pregnant before marriage and had never met her father.
In the past, her mother worked out of town and left her to be raised by her maternal uncle and aunt, giving them living expenses monthly. It wasn't until she caused trouble recently and was expelled from school that she was brought to her mother's place.
In fact, she had grown up with her cousin.
It had been a month since they last saw each other, so a bit of closeness was normal. But when He Yao heard his voice, she pedaled her bicycle even faster.
She pedaled fast, and her cousin chased her even faster.
"Slow down, you heartless thing! You haven't seen me in so long, why are you running away? Stop, I have something important to tell you!"
Seeing that He Yao still didn't listen, he pedaled harder a few times, his bike getting ahead.
Then, with a sudden brake, he parked his bicycle in front of He Yao's.
He Yao couldn't brake in time and couldn't crash into him. Her bike tilted to one side, falling to the ground with a heavy thud.
As fate would have it, Zhan Jingrui was returning from the opposite direction after buying a science extracurricular book. Someone falling caught his peripheral vision, making it impossible to ignore.
He Yao fell onto the cement ground, a large patch of skin scraped off her wrist, making her lips twitch in pain.
Instead of helping her, He Chuan took the opportunity to snatch her phone and then sped away on his bicycle.
"Lend me some money, I'm almost starving lately. I'll return your phone tomorrow!"