After class, Qin Zhongyue tried to talk to Xie Zhongxing again, “Um…..”
Xie Zhongxing glanced at him, “What do you want to say?”Qin Zhongyue spoke up hesitantly, “I’m straight.”Xie Zhongxing, “?”He was confused but he responded out of politeness, “Oh.”Qin Zhongyue looked at him and was too cowardly to say anything else.He knew very well how good he was, it was only natural for Xie Zhongxing to fall for him. Their communion last time however only gave him another mother so he could only reject Xie Zhongxing’s feelings.Qin Zhongyue thought bitterly inside: Being friends is more suitable for them!In English class, Duo Mingmei for some reason called out Qin Zhongyue’s name and asked him to read out a short English passage.Qin Zhongyue at this moment was still lost in his thoughts and didn’t react when his name was called. Xie Zhongxing nudged him with his elbow, and he then heard a soft voice sound next to his ear, “The teacher is calling for you.”It scared Qin Zhongyue into shooting up from his seat.Duo Mingmei said mildly, “This classmate, please read the passage on page thirty-eight.”Qin Zhongyue quickly turned to that page as the rest of the class looked at Duo Mingmei with some surprise.She had never called Qin Zhongyue out to read out a passage or answer questions before.Qin Zhongyue reached that page and asked Duo Mingmei, “Do I start reading from here?”Duo Mingmei’s tone was still very gentle, “Yes, from here.”Qin Zhongyue cleared his throat and began to read.Unexpectedly, his spoken English was very good. It was very fluent and his pronunciation even carried a light British accent. With his voice also clear and pleasant to listen to, it sounded like he was reading out a poetry.Once done, the entire class loudly applauded. The gazes directed at Qin Zhongyue now carried more admiration.Duo Mingmei was also surprised. Her eyes brightened for a moment and she said. “……Very good. Sit down please.” (KKnotes: The ‘Sit down please’ was said in English.)With the attention of everyone in the class on him, Qin Zhongyue humbly sat back down.
He had studied in England for many years so speaking English was nothing.Furthermore, he had also received international education from a young age.Xie Zhongxing was also very surprised. The eyes he used to look at Qin Zhongyue seemed to contain a little more brilliance.Qin Zhongyue who was acting humble just now immediately noticed this change in Xie Zhongxing’s eyes and proceeded to puff out his chest. Crossing his fingers, he maintained a nonchalant expression and asked, “How was I?”Xie Zhongxing answered honestly, “Very good.”Qin Zhongyue said, “If you’re not good at English, I can teach you.”Xie Zhongxing wavered. His speaking abilities were indeed quite poor. If he could, buying a tape recorder to practice his listening abilities everyday would be good but the recorder and the tapes would cost at least several hundred yuan. He had always been reluctant to buy it because of this.At this moment, Duo Mingmei suddenly called Xie Zhongxing out. Her expression was unpleasant, “Xie Zhongxing, don’t chit-chat in class!”Xie Zhongxing: “……..”He immediately sat up straight and looked back at his textbook.Qin Zhongyue who didn’t manage to get an answer from Xie Zhongxing was a little upset.He was already twenty-seven years old before he was reborn. As an adult who didn’t have much patience in him, asking him to sit in class everyday was torturous. If it wasn’t because he had the eighteen-year-old Xie Zhongxing to look at, he really wouldn’t have been able to endure through these lessons.It could be said that his greatest joy at this moment was to have secret talk with Xie Zhongxing in class!The English teacher however just had to deprive him of this joy. The rest of the time in class felt like it went on for years.After English, school was over. As she sorted out the teaching materials, Duo Mingmei called out to Qin Zhongyue and said with a gentle expression, “Qin Zhongyue, come with this teacher to the office. I have something to say to you.”Qin Zhongyue looked at Xie Zhongxing. He had planned to go to the school cafeteria with Xie Zhongxing to eat.Xie Zhongxing nodded at him and said, “You go on. We’ll wait for you.”Qin Zhongyue who heard this immediately glared at Zhong Yiming who continued to hang around Xie Zhongxing like a ghost before following Duo Mingmei out.Deng Qi, the male classmate who sat behind Xie Zhongxing and also the student who took the lead in calling Qin Zhongyue ‘big brother’, snickered, “Duo Mingmei probably wants to hook up with Qin Zhongyue’s dad.”Zhong Yiming looked back at him, “What nonsense are you talking about?”Deng Qi said, “What do you mean nonsense? This is well-founded speculation. Xie Zhongxing’s English grades aren’t bad, but she would always pick on his mistakes, but for people like Fu Donglin, she treated them well.”After pausing for a moment, he added, “She also treats you well, but don’t you only have your mum? She has no one to target.”
Deng Qi and Zhong Yiming were junior high school classmates so he was well aware of his family circumstances.Zhong Yiming’s expression was stern, “Don’t talk nonsense.”Deng Qi didn’t stop, “My family is just average. She doesn’t care for it.”Zhong Yiming no longer paid him any attention. Deng Qi however didn’t leave. He waited for Qin Zhongyue, wanting to know what Duo Mingmei wanted.After they waited in the classroom for a while, Qin Zhongyue finally returned.When Deng Qi saw him, his first question was, “Brother, what did Teacher Duo call you for?”Qin Zhongyue said, “Oh, it’s nothing much. She just asked if I wanted to change seats and said that she was worried about Xie Zhongxing disrupting me. I told her that it wasn’t necessary because I like sitting there. She then said that I speak English very well and wants me to participate in some sort of competition and asked for my dad’s contact details.”Deng Qi: “….And you gave it?”Qin Zhongyue: “His contact details? I gave it.”Deng Qi tried to hint at something, “Your mum won’t be angry?”Qin Zhongyue, “Why would my mum be angry? If a teacher praised me in front of her, she would probably immediately send me money as a reward.”Deng Qi: “…….”Qin Zhongyue then said to Xie Zhongxing, “Let’s go and eat. I charged some money into my meal card so I’ll eat with you this semester.”Deng Qi asked curiously, “Brother, you said you charged some money but how much exactly did you put in? Tell this little brother of yours so that he can gain some insight?”Qin Zhongyue replied casually, “Only a hundred thousand.” (KKnotes: Approx. 1,500 USD)“One hundred thousand?!” Deng Qi immediately shed tears of envy. Was this the world of the rich?Xie Zhongxing frowned. He looked towards Qin Zhongyue, “It’s too much. The money won’t be refunded at the end of the semester.”Qin Zhongyue at this moment wasn’t with his friends so he basically had nowhere else to spend his money. He dismissed it nonchalantly, “It’s fine, that’s not a problem. It can just be considered as a small donation to the school.”Xie Zhongxing couldn’t say anything in response to that.When they arrived at the cafeteria, Qin Zhongyue who saw the crowd of people began to feel a little uneasy, “Why are there so many people?”
Deng Qi explained, “The school’s cafeteria is pretty good so many students would stay at school for lunch.”Qin Zhongyue followed them and lined up. He found this experience a little novel. He had never eaten such a thing like school cafeteria food.After he got his food, he stood blankly in place. In the end, Xie Zhongxing had to drag him over to sit down at a seat near the door.Qin Zhongyue sat down and poked at the braised fish on his plate with his chopsticks. He suddenly felt a little doubtful, “Is this fish fresh?”Deng Qi said, “Don’t worry, brother, our school is still pretty good in this area. The kitchen is a place us students can also have access to so we can confirm that the ingredients are all fresh.”Qin Zhongyue took a bite and frowned, “So spicy.”Deng Qi asked, “You can’t eat spicy food?”Qin Zhongyue shook his head. He suddenly remembered that Xie Zhongxing liked spicy food very much and was the type who basically had to have chillies in everything he ate. Every time the aunty had to prepare food for them, she had to prepare two kinds of dishes so that they can each eat their own.Qin Zhongyue removed himself from his thoughts and turned towards Xie Zhongxing but saw that the food he was eating were quite plain and lightly seasoned.Qin Zhongyue asked Xie Zhongxing, “Do you want it?”Xie Zhongxing looked back at him, “What?”Qin Zhongyue, “Don’t you like spicy food? It just happens that I don’t like spicy food so I’ll give it to you.”Zhong Yiming looked over at Qin Zhongyue with surprise, “How did you know he likes spicy food?”Even he didn’t know about this.Qin Zhongyue was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Xie Zhongxing and scratched his chin, “You don’t like spicy food?”The gaze Xie Zhongxing used to look at him carried a hint of assessment, “I do.”But his stomach wasn’t good. Even if he liked it, he couldn’t eat too much of it.Qin Zhongyue smiled brightly, “Thought so.”After saying that, he tried to pass them to Xie Zhongxing but was blocked by Xie Zhongxing’s chopsticks, “No need, I can’t eat spicy food.”Qin Zhongyue who was stopped by him felt a little disappointed, “Alright. I’ll bring my own lunch tomorrow I guess.”
Leaving behind the plate filled with food, he went back to buy food that were lighter in flavour.Deng Qi didn’t act polite, “Since you haven’t touched it, I’ll eat it.”Qin Zhongyue agreed indifferently.After lunch, Qin Zhongyue and Deng Qi went to play basketball.Xie Zhongxing had nothing else to do so he watched Qin Zhongyue run across the basketball court while dribbling the ball.His handsome face, tall figure as well as his excellent skills attracted the attention of many girls. There was even one who was bold enough to buy a bottle of water and shyly pass it to Qin Zhongyue when he came off the court.However what Qin Zhongyue did in response was to take out a hundred yuan note from his pocket and give it to the girl to buy the bottle of water. He even said with a bright expression, “Thank you for the hard work. Don’t worry about the change.”Xie Zhongxing: “……..”That night, Qin Xiangqian received a friend request from an unfamiliar account. Amidst his busy schedule, he took out some time to check it. The message said that they’re Qin Zhongyue’s English teacher?He thought for a moment and felt that he should have already added his English teacher as a friend. Where did this new English teacher come from?Oh right, it’s the English teacher from his new school.Qin Xiangqian accepted the friend request from the other party.As soon as it was accepted, the other party sent a message, “Hello Mr Qin, I am your son’s English teacher. My name is Duo Mingmei but you can just call me Mingmei.” There was also a blushing emoji at the end.Qin Xiangqian glanced at Duo Mingmei’s profile picture. Someone who dares to use her own picture as their profile picture? He tapped on the icon to check. Sure enough, it was a good-looking woman.Qin Xiangqian thought for a moment and replied, “Hello Teacher Duo, do you need something from me?”Duo Mingmei replied in seconds, “It’s like this. Your son performed very well in class today. I would like to ask about how you usually teach your son?”Qin Xiangqian thought about it and replied, “Nothing much. He just has my superior genes.”Duo Mingmei: “…….”The author has something to say:Baby Yue is the type who would think that the girl is sick and would take them to the hospital when they try to throw themself into his arms.Baby Yue in his previous life who returned home after taking someone who had thrown themselves at him to the hospital: Wifey, I did another good deed today and helped take a girl who suddenly fell sick to the hospital.Xing Xing: …………