I was carrying the trash basket and walking towards the classroom. From the corridor, I looked at the sky in the east, which was still gloomy. I was walking and staring, and I was caught off guard when I heard the chattering of several girls.
"It doesn't matter if it's not the total score. Just being first in a single subject will put a dent in her prestige!" The voice is from Tian Tian. "I've long been fed up with her overbearing attitude, as if being first in the grade is something great."
It turned out that they were talking about me. I was holding the trash basket, hesitating whether to go in, and another voice appeared: "In fact, you only scored two points higher than Zhang Yuanyuan, just luck. Maybe Teacher Liu made a mistake in reading the score?"
"Wrong? What's wrong? How could it be wrong? It's written in such big letters: Deng Yi, English, 114."
English? English! What's going on? How could it be English? My mind raced, but I believed it in my heart. English 114? Two points higher than mine, how could it be? How could it be!
I rushed in in disbelief, dropped the trash basket, and tried to grab Deng Yi's test paper: "Deng Yi, Deng Yi, can you lend me your test paper?"
"What are you doing?"
Tian Tian was furious.
"Oh, oh, okay, you take it..."
Before Deng Yi finished speaking, I eagerly flipped through the paper and saw that it was 114, really 114. I rushed to my seat with the paper and compared it question by question.
"First in the grade, what are you doing? You can't be so unwilling to lose, right?" Tian Tian said sarcastically behind me, "This is Deng Yi's own score, you can't be..."
"Say less."
"Stop talking. You've become like this after being pushed out of first place. Is it that serious? You've read too much. Your brain must be damaged, right?"
I carefully compared the scores of each question. I had no idea what I was checking. All that echoed in my mind were what Teacher Hu said: "It would be great if you could participate in this competition next year. The final of this national English competition will be held in Shanghai next year! You can visit the school when you go to Shanghai, and I can also take you to my home to play."
"Although this year's competition was held in our city, you won first prize, which is not bad! You will take the graduation exam next year."
"You said you wanted to go to Shanghai? Why do you want to go to Shanghai so much? You've already won the first prize!"
"Then you give me a pledge. If you can get first place in English in both the first and second mock tests, I will talk to the school and ask them to give you a place!"
The paper made a clattering sound as I flipped through it, but the more I flipped through it, the clearer it became to me that this was an ironclad fact.
"If you can get first place in English in both the first and second mock tests, I will talk to the school and ask them to give me a place!"
This time I am not first. Being first is not important, but I can’t go to Shanghai.
I slumped in my chair. Tian Tian was still chattering and mocking me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. My world seemed to be distorted. I stared at the paper in front of me, and the dense English letters gathered and scattered.
I can't go to Shanghai.
These are the only words in my mind.
The wind was howling outside the window, and dark clouds were piling up at a speed visible to the naked eye, filling the entire sky. It was still morning, but the sky was as dark as night. Screams broke out in the teaching building. Perhaps a class turned off the lights to scare the timid girls.
I listened to these vivid voices, but felt completely hopeless.
A blackboard brush drew a parabola, rubbed the edge of the podium, and landed on my desk. I heard someone apologize to me, but all my attention was focused on the place where the blackboard brush was pressed.
The answer is the same, but the way of expression is different, but I got a cross and Deng Yi got a check mark? Did the teacher make a mistake?
Heat continued to rise to my face and head. I felt like a dead tree reviving, moving my stiff body bit by bit, and my fingers tremblingly touched the spot on the test paper. It was real!
I suppressed my excitement and carefully looked through the score for this question. Three points, I knew it was three points, but it was like holding a colorful bubble that would burst if I wasn't careful. I couldn't stand any more twists and turns, so I turned over the previous page bit by bit and found the result of three points for each question. Ha!
I'm going to ask the teacher to change my grades. As long as I can keep the first place in this subject, I can go to Shanghai, Shanghai!
"I've been watching for so long and still I'm two points short!" Tian Tian said to the air.
I turned around and stared at her: "No, the teacher read one question wrong. I scored one point higher than Deng Yi."
Tian Tian's face turned blue. After holding it in for a long time, she cursed, "Psycho!"
I ignored her and planned to go to the office to ask the teacher to change my grade.
When I knocked on the door and entered the office, Teacher Liu was sitting with her legs crossed facing the electric oven. The leg she was sitting on was barefoot and she was warming herself in front of the oven. She and another political teacher were the only ones in the office.
"Teacher Liu, there is a question..."
She grabbed her socks, then looked back at me standing behind her and said lazily, "What question? You got all the answers right. Do you still need me to tell you how to do it?"
I tried to argue, but Teacher Liu didn't give me the chance. She glanced at me and said, "Let me see it - ah -"
I thought she was reaching out to take my paper, so I hurried over to her. But Teacher Liu stretched her arms in a circle and stretched lazily. I held up the paper, which was neither too high nor too low.
"Which question?"
Probably because she had enough of playing around, she sat up straight, put her feet down, and reached out to take my paper.
"Question 63." I quickly handed the test paper to her.
When she heard this, she stretched out her hand and pushed the paper away: "We haven't talked about that yet, why are you asking now? Go back."
"It is not……"
"What's not? Are you the only one who wants special treatment? These will be taught in class. What's the point of asking now? If you don't listen to the class when you ask, I won't bother to enforce discipline!"
Teacher Liu looked nonchalant, as if I had made an unreasonable request. She raised her feet again, grabbing a handful of melon seeds from the table: "Teacher Zhang, would you like some melon seeds?"
The two of them started eating melon seeds. When I saw Teacher Liu like this, I got angry and said, "You got question 63 wrong!"
Teacher Liu said without thinking: "That's impossible! This is your second mock exam, how can it be so easy to make mistakes?"
"Deng Yi and I just expressed this question differently. You give her a check mark and I give you a cross! Teacher Liu, I want to change my score!"
"Is it so easy to change the scores? They are all in the electronic file. Can you change them just like that?" Teacher Liu glared at me, sneered, and turned his head to talk to Teacher Zhang: "Kids nowadays are interesting. They don't work hard in the exam, but when the results come out, they don't look for their own responsibilities first, but say that the teacher misread the paper, and they keep asking for the scores to be changed."
Teacher Zhang laughed and said, "That's a lot of tricks!"
I grabbed the test paper and ignored their words: "Teacher Liu, please take a look at the test paper first. The answers here are really exactly the same, but one is wrong."
"That's enough." Teacher Liu said in a calm voice, "Even if it's one-to-one mistakes, it's possible that both are wrong. Deng Yi should be deducted points, not you!"
"Is adding or subtracting points so important? You only complete one paper in the exam, but the teacher has to read dozens of them. Even if there are one or two mistakes made in a hurry, do we have to hold you accountable for those one or two points?" Teacher Liu held his ground, his voice echoing in the empty office.
"That's right. It's not like you can pass the exam by adding one or two points. This kind of thing is the most annoying. After the test, they would complain about wrong marks here and there. They can't focus on the right thing." Teacher Zhang had a face full of anger, as if he had suffered a lot from this.
I was still standing there stupidly, trying to hand over the paper. With these three points, I was the first in the subject.
"Zhang Yuanyuan, you are at least the top student in the grade. Sometimes you don't need to be so serious about one or two points. Listen to the teacher's advice, go back and review well, and take the test next time."
Teacher Liu persuaded me kindly, but there was an indescribable dissonance between her voice and expression. It looked so fake, so fake that I felt the smile lines at the corners of her mouth were about to fall off.
Only if you get first place in a single subject can you go to Shanghai.
"Teacher Liu, I am right, or Deng Yi is wrong. Could you please take a look at the paper first? These one or two points are very important to me." I was a little aggressive.
I think I must be very annoying at the moment. These three points can't make me pass, but they can change my ranking and allow me to go to Shanghai. What's not important? What's not important!
"What's so good about this?" Teacher Liu was really angry this time, and his frizzy hair began to tremble. "If you must make a right or wrong answer, go call Deng Yi and tell her that I misread her question. I'll also deduct her three points. Is that okay? Are you satisfied?"
"Teacher Liu, don't be angry. Don't be angry. Students..."
"How can I not be angry? These students are so selfish, thinking about themselves all day long, relying on their good grades to boss the teacher around!"
"Not all students are like this... But Zhang Yuanyuan is indeed a bit arrogant. Sigh, these students..."
With Teacher Zhang's agreement, Teacher Liu spoke even more excitedly: "Being a top student makes you so arrogant. I really don't know how your parents taught you... Alas, I am the same. I encountered such a class. The noise in the classroom made my head explode. After class, they would come to my office to make trouble for me..."
The two women shared the same hatred for the enemy and treated me as the target of class struggle. They discussed the despicableness of students like me and the hardships of teachers as if they were giving a speech.
My ears were like a bell, the sound echoing in the bell wall. I thought maybe I caught a cold, otherwise why would I be shivering with cold? I stepped out of the office step by step, and just as I walked out of the office door, I felt a gaze locking onto me. It was Gu Yue.
Gu Yue and a row of boys stood in front of the wall diagonally opposite the office. They must have done something wrong and were caught by the teacher.
The rain was already falling, and occasionally a light flashed in the sky. In Gu Yue's eyes, this light looked like jumping anger. But what did I do to offend him? Did he hear the accusation of Teacher Liu in the office and think that I had done something unforgivable? Was he trying to meddle in other people's business again?
I didn't have time to pay attention to them. These thoughts only flashed through my mind, and soon my mind was filled with those three points.
I don't know how I got to the toilet. I locked myself in the innermost cubicle. Squatting in the open space, I pulled the silk thread around my neck and pulled out a jade pendant. I touched the warm jade pendant and the tears that I had held back for so long suddenly fell.
"Mom." My fingers brushed across the hollowed-out pattern. "Mom, I can't go to Shanghai for the competition. I can't go to Shanghai to see you." The bitterness in my heart rushed up and almost choked my nose. The frustration and helplessness seemed to hollow out my chest. I had never felt so frustrated before.
When I was in primary school, I had a fight with someone. The girl’s mother kissed and comforted me. When I left, she scolded me in front of everyone, saying that I was born by my mother but not taught by her. I didn’t cry. In junior high school, I understood the importance of grades. I spent so much effort to keep the first place, but I was excluded by the whole class and ridiculed. I didn’t care. I knew from a very young age that my mother was in Shanghai and I wanted to go to Shanghai.
"I hate this teacher." Talking to Yu Pei was like talking to my mother. I could say to Yu Pei without any pressure what I couldn't say to my classmates and my father. "She, what right does she have to say that to me!"
I finished sobbing, feeling aggrieved like a river bursting its banks. What right did she have to say that to me? I did my exams until 2am every day, and got up at 6am to study English and memorize words. I didn't do well in the exams because of her, a teacher who only knew how to read out standard answers, and my grades didn't come from the wind. What right did she have to tell me what to do...
I was about to say something to the jade pendant when the door of the toilet creaked open. Two girls came in from outside and I was so scared that I quickly covered my mouth.
"I heard that he used to study in the junior high school of our school and he always talked back to the teacher!"
"No way, Gu Yue is so fierce!"
Gu Yue? I was still covering my mouth and holding the jade pendant, listening to every word of the conversation between the two girls.
"It's nothing! His father has taken care of it. I heard his father is super rich!"
"It seems so. The cell phones he holds are..."
I wanted to add the wrong score, but the teacher mocked me and made indirect accusations. Gu Yue always contradicted the teacher, but he escaped unscathed. How ironic!
The two girls didn't leave, and I didn't want to stay in the toilet any longer. I left the toilet and headed for the classroom. The break time was almost over. I walked toward the front door, but was suddenly dragged toward the corridor by the two boys guarding the front door.
"What are you doing?"
"Student master, student master, don't be anxious, we just want to talk to you for a few words."
I looked up and saw that it was Gu Yue's followers Yue Hui and Gao Yuelin. They had just been standing outside the office, standing with Gu Yue as punishment.
"Goddess, oh, no, academic master." Gao Yuelin was a little incoherent, "We just want to tell you something."
I was dragged to the end of the corridor by two people. When they saw that I didn't run away, they let go of me and asked, "What did you say?"
"We were all just outside the office."
Then what?
Gao Yuelin seemed a little embarrassed: "Gu Yue was there too. He heard you and Teacher Liu in the office... and Teacher Liu's complaints."
"So what?" I was puzzled.
"What's wrong?" Yue Hui snorted, "Gu Yue thought you went to the office to cause trouble for Teacher Liu, and he will probably come to cause trouble for you later!"
"Looking for trouble with me? Why are you looking for trouble with me?" Let's not talk about the fact that I didn't go to the office to cause trouble for Teacher Liu. Even if I did, why would Gu Yue teach me a lesson for this?
Gao Yuelin seemed very anxious, with worry written all over his face: "If he comes looking for you later, just give in and don't argue with him. He will do anything for his mother!"
As soon as Gao Yuelin finished speaking, Yue Hui kicked him aside: "Are you stupid? Gu Yue doesn't want people to know that Teacher Liu is his mother! Is your mouth a colander? Everything leaks out!"
If I didn't hear it clearly just now, I completely understand it now. Teacher Liu is Gu Yue's mother. No wonder Gu Yue helped Teacher Liu to maintain classroom discipline several times. It turns out that Teacher Liu is his mother!
"Teacher Liu is Gu Yue's mother." I said this with certainty. It turned out that it was not because the class was too noisy and disturbed his sleep, but because Teacher Liu was his mother.
Gao Yuelin was anxious: "It's fine if you know it, but don't tell anyone! Gu Yue doesn't want anyone to know! Ah!"
Gao Yuelin was kicked again.
Yue Hui was almost vomiting: "You have a pig brain, you said everything you should and shouldn't say!"
Yue Hui suddenly looked at me and said, "You know it once you know it, but you also know that Gu Yue has a bad temper. If you tell anyone, don't blame Gu Yue for doing it!"
After saying that, Yue Hui walked towards the classroom.
Gao Yuelin ran after him, and only heard a faint voice: "How do you talk to my goddess? You are too..."
Why should I be afraid of others talking about what I have done? I felt a burning fire in my chest.
I returned to my seat angrily, put on my earmuffs and wanted to lie down and sleep.
"Zhang Yuanyuan."
Through the earmuffs, I vaguely heard someone calling my name, but I was in a state of half dream and half sleep, so I thought I just heard it wrong.
"Zhang Yuanyuan!"
Suddenly a force pulled my earmuffs back.
I was startled by this sudden action and jumped up. Standing in front of me was Gu Yue, staring at me angrily. I remembered what Gu Yue's two followers said to me before I entered the classroom. It turned out that they really came to cause trouble for me.
"I remember I warned you." Gu Yue's eyes were like the eyes of a wolf flashing green in the dark night, "I want you not to make trouble in English class."
I was frightened by his stern look and straightened my neck: "I didn't make trouble in English class!"
"So what are you doing in the office?"
When I looked at the man in front of me, I could think of the humiliation his mother had brought upon me. I remembered that it was because of his mother that I could not go to Shanghai, and my anger rose rapidly: "I am a student, can't I go to the teacher's office to ask questions? You are meddling too much!"
"She got so angry just for asking a question?" Gu Yue's rationality was about to be burned by anger.
She was angry? Who was angry with whom? Did I deserve to be humiliated by those two teachers? Was it my biggest mistake to refute them? If a teacher made a mistake, would it be trouble for the teacher if the student went to the teacher to correct it, or was it to deliberately anger the teacher? I could no longer understand Gu Yue. I doubted whether he still had the judgment of a primate.
"She?" I stared at Gu Yue fiercely, exhaling from my nose, "Which she, Teacher Liu? What's her relationship with you? Why are you standing up for her?"
Gu Yue's pupils suddenly shrank, probably because he didn't expect me to bring this up: "What does it have to do with you! If you don't behave yourself, I have plenty of ways to prevent you from being the top student in the grade!"
Be content? How else can I be content? My brain seemed to be on fire, with a high fever lingering in my mind. Without thinking, I said to Gu Yue, "Even if Teacher Liu teaches a class of wolves, so what? Don't we still have a filial and obedient student like you? Gu Yue, why don't you explain to your classmates who Teacher Liu is to you! Maybe everyone will cooperate with Teacher Liu in class because we are classmates..."
Gu Yue had a dark face, and his 1.80-meter-tall figure loomed over my head like a dark cloud. He clenched his fists and said, "I'm warning you, be careful with your words, and use your brain, the top student in your grade, and don't talk nonsense!"
I noticed this action, but Gu Yue's contemptuous tone showed me the same contempt as his mother. I no longer wanted to seek benefits and avoid harm. I seemed to be dismissive of his threat of force. I glanced at Gu Yue and said, "Why, you want to hit me? Humph, even if you hit me, Teacher Liu can't handle it. Think about it carefully!"
Gu Yue raised his hand suddenly, but before he could swing it down, Gao Yuelin hugged him: "Yue Hui, what are you still watching? Come and stop him!"
Gao Yuelin locked Gu Yue tightly with his arms, preventing him from hitting anyone: "Gu Yue, Gu Yue, forget it, don't bother with a woman!"
Gu Yue didn't care. He struggled and roared: "What did you say? Say it again if you dare..."
"I said!" The high fever occupied my brain. Even in the future, I felt that I was not the one who should say such things, but at this moment I could not care about anything else. "I said that Liu Sulan is not capable of teaching senior high school students, and can't teach her own son well! Gu Yue is Liu Sulan's son!"
When I said this, the students around us made surprised noises. Gu Yue, who was sitting opposite me, looked as if he had been slapped hard by me. His face turned to the other side, as if someone had shaved off a piece of his skin. He stopped attacking me, as if a low pressure gathered around him. His two followers were still holding him. This scene was inexplicably funny.
A few of us were still standing in the focus of everyone's attention, but I had already heard the discussions that were more violent than the wind, and saw the surprise and sarcasm on every classmate's face. Rumors would spread at a speed no less than a typhoon.
After learning to like and dislike, every class will have a student who is used as a target. In elementary school, when my classmates knew that my family lived in the vegetable market, I became that kind of person. Just saying "Zhang Yuanyuan likes you" can make the other party angry and embarrassed. No one wants to be my deskmate, and some people even use my desk as a trash can. In junior high school, I avoided such things with my grades. In high school, Liu Sulan, who was vulgar, spoke with an accent whether speaking English or Mandarin, and always wore tacky clothes, became the most disgusting person to everyone.
What Liu Sulan's child should look like? It should be a vulgar little Liu Sulan, but no one expected that Gu Yue would be Liu Sulan's son.
It's like a joke.
The classroom was relatively quiet, and the students looked at Gu Yue with teasing and sarcastic eyes. Gu Yue was hugged tightly by Yue Hui and Gao Yuelin, and dragged to the back of the classroom. The crowd was still around, but I knew the show was over.
"What's going on?" The dean suddenly appeared at the back door of the classroom. "What are you doing?"
"It's okay, it's okay." The fat man's voice broke the deadlock, and the others dispersed. "It's time for class, it's time for class!"
"Did you have a fight?" Although no one paid any attention to him, the dean was still talking excitedly, "I'm telling you! This is the last semester, and the school's style and discipline are strictly enforced. If I find out... you will..."
Gu Yue was still staring at me viciously.
I glared back at him without any hesitation and asked, "Who told you you are Liu Sulan's son!"