JFWCM Chapter 37

Chasing Dreams

Chasing Dreams

After the parent-teacher conference, the teacher rearranged the seating to promote communication and progress among the students. Yi Shang was placed in the corner of the classroom by the window, while Jiang Wan’yuan was moved to the middle of the classroom, becoming Zhang Yao’s deskmate.

Jiang Wan’yuan looked at her seat, which was far away from Yi Shang’s, with a face full of reluctance. Her mouth was so pouted that you could hang an oil bottle on it: “Why did the teacher do this? Separating Yi Shang and me so far apart, how are we supposed to communicate and study together?”

Zhang Yao patted Jiang Wan’yuan’s shoulder with a smile: “Okay, it’s not like changing seats means you can’t hang out together anymore. You still have breaks between classes and lunch breaks, so you can still get together.”

Although Yi Shang still looked calm on the surface, she felt a little lost inside. She had gotten used to Jiang Wan’yuan chirping beside her, and suddenly being so far apart made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Yi Shang’s new deskmate was named Sun Yu, a particularly energetic boy who couldn’t control himself in class. He would chat with the students around him, or fiddle with all sorts of strange little gadgets, making noises that seriously disrupted the classroom order.

At first, Yi Shang chose to ignore him. She focused all her attention on the quantum spacetime theory the teacher was explaining, trying to block out the surrounding distractions. But Sun Yu’s voice grew louder and louder, and the attention of the surrounding students began to be drawn to him, interrupting Yi Shang’s train of thought again and again.

Finally, after Sun Yu laughed loudly again, Yi Shang couldn’t bear it any longer. She raised her hand and said in a clear, cold voice: “Teacher, Sun Yu has been making noise in class, affecting everyone’s studies.”

The teacher stopped lecturing and looked at Sun Yu, with a reproachful look in her eyes: “Sun Yu, you must obey the rules in class and not disturb other students.” Sun Yu shrugged indifferently, muttering: “Okay, teacher.” But after a few minutes, he started fidgeting again.

After class, Sun Yu approached Yi Shang and said with a playful smile: “Yi Shang, you’re too unkind. You reported such a small matter to the teacher.”

Yi Shang glanced at him coldly: “The classroom needs a quiet environment. You are not only affecting me, but also other students who want to study.” After speaking, she ignored Sun Yu and began to organize the materials for the next class.

After Jiang Wan’yuan learned about this, she ran over angrily: “Yi Shang, Sun Yu is going too far! If he does it again, I’ll teach him a lesson.”

Yi Shang smiled slightly and shook her head: “No need, the teacher will handle it. Don’t be impulsive, don’t let him affect your mood.”

However, Sun Yu did not restrain himself because of the teacher’s warning, but instead intensified his behavior. He seemed to find Yi Shang’s indifference and Jiang Wan’yuan’s anger amusing, and deliberately created more noise in the classroom. He even secretly took away her experiment notes when Yi Shang wasn’t paying attention.

After Yi Shang discovered that the notes were missing, the anger in her heart could no longer be suppressed. She reported the situation to the teacher again. This time, the teacher seriously criticized Sun Yu and contacted his parents.

After Sun Yu’s parents came to the school, they gave him a severe scolding. Only then did Sun Yu realize his mistake. His face flushed, and he lowered his head and walked to Yi Shang to apologize: “Yi Shang, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have caused so much trouble, and I shouldn’t have taken your notes. I will definitely correct myself in the future.”

Yi Shang looked at his sincere appearance, and her expression softened a little: “I hope you can do what you say. We come to school to learn knowledge, not to cause trouble.”

After this incident, Sun Yu really changed a lot. He no longer made noise in class and often asked Yi Shang for help with questions. Yi Shang would patiently answer him, and the two gradually became friends.

Jiang Wan’yuan watched the change in the relationship between Yi Shang and Sun Yu, and said to Yi Shang with a smile: “Yi Shang, I didn’t expect you to be so capable, you even subdued a troublemaker like Sun Yu.”

Yi Shang smiled lightly: “Actually, everyone is a classmate. As long as they can recognize their mistakes and understand each other, they can still get along well.”

Since Sun Yu corrected his behavior, the classroom returned to its former peace, and Yi Shang was able to immerse herself more intently in the ocean of knowledge. And on Jiang Wan’yuan and Zhang Yao’s side, there were classroom stories that belonged to them.

During the interstellar history class that day, the teacher was explaining the rise and fall of ancient galactic civilizations. At first, Jiang Wan’yuan listened with great interest, but before long, her attention was drawn to a colorful mechanical bird outside the window. The mechanical bird flew nimbly through the air, its wings shimmering with a metallic luster, as if performing a wonderful dance.

Jiang Wan’yuan nudged Zhang Yao, her eyes still fixed on the window, and whispered: “Zhang Yao, look at that mechanical bird, it’s so beautiful, I wonder which classmate invented it.”

Zhang Yao frowned slightly, shifted her gaze from the textbook for a moment, glanced at the window, and quickly refocused her attention, responding in a low voice: “Don’t be distracted, the teacher is talking about important points, this part may be on the exam.”

Jiang Wan’yuan reluctantly turned her gaze back, but her mind couldn’t help but drift to the mechanical bird. While pretending to listen to the teacher’s lecture, she secretly drew a sketch of the mechanical bird in her notebook, thinking about how to make a similar one herself after class.

The teacher seemed to notice Jiang Wan’yuan’s absent-mindedness and suddenly asked: “Jiang Wan’yuan, can you tell us what the main reason for the decline of ancient galactic civilizations was?”

Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly came back to her senses, stood up in a panic, her mind blank. Zhang Yao anxiously tapped the corresponding knowledge points on the textbook under the table to prompt her. Only then did Jiang Wan’yuan come back to her senses and stammered: “It’s…it’s because of excessive exploitation of resources, leading to ecological collapse, and…and the impact of interstellar wars.”

The teacher nodded slightly: “The answer is fairly accurate. You must listen carefully next time and don’t be distracted.” Jiang Wan’yuan sat down with a red face, secretly determined to concentrate on listening to the lecture.

However, after a while, Lin Jichuan, who was sitting in front of Jiang Wan’yuan, suddenly quietly handed over a note. Jiang Wan’yuan opened it curiously, and it read: “Go to the lab after class, I’ve discovered a new quantum experimental idea, let’s study it together?”

Jiang Wan’yuan’s eyes lit up. Just as she was about to write a reply, she saw the teacher’s gaze, quickly hid the note, and pretended to be reading the book carefully. After finally making it to the end of class, Jiang Wan’yuan couldn’t wait to drag Zhang Yao to find Lin Jichuan.

“Lin Jichuan, quickly tell us about your new idea,” Jiang Wan’yuan said eagerly.

Lin Jichuan smiled and took out a small notebook from his bag, which was covered with various experimental sketches and calculation formulas: “Look, I think we can use the properties of quantum entanglement to achieve lossless transmission of information over long distances, and I already have a preliminary experimental plan.”

Zhang Yao pushed her glasses and carefully looked at the sketch: “This idea is very novel, but in actual operation, the stability of the quantum state may be a big problem.”

Zhang Yao gently said: Let’s go together next time.

Jiang Wan’yuan went towards Yi Shang’s seat.

Jiang Wan’yuan, like a frisky fawn, ran to Yi Shang’s seat as quickly as possible, leaned on the desk and shared interesting stories about her new seat: “Yi Shang, you don’t even know, the boy next to me was secretly playing with Interstellar Pokémon toys in his desk during class, and the teacher found out, which caused a big joke.”

The corners of Yi Shang’s mouth turned up slightly, and the feeling of loss in her heart gradually dissipated as she listened to Jiang Wan’yuan’s animated description.

However, as time went on, problems gradually emerged. Because the distance became longer, the time for Jiang Wan’yuan and Yi Shang to communicate between classes became limited, and there were fewer opportunities for the two to discuss learning and research projects together. When Yi Shang encountered some difficult physics problems, she subconsciously turned her head, but found that Jiang Wan’yuan was not by her side, and she couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.

Jiang Wan’yuan also felt empty inside. Once, she had a whim in quantum experiment class and came up with a new idea. She wanted to share it with Yi Shang immediately, but when she looked at her seat, she had no choice but to wait until after class.

At the same time, Lin Jichuan, who was sitting in front of Jiang Wan’yuan, noticed the subtle changes between her and Yi Shang due to the change in seating. He decided to find an opportunity to help them.

During class that day, Lin Jichuan turned to Jiang Wan’yuan and said: “Wan’yuan, I think we can form a study group, and bring you, Yi Shang, me, and Zhang Yao together. This way, everyone can discuss learning together and get together as often as before.”

Jiang Wan’yuan’s eyes lit up and she said excitedly: “This idea is great! How come I didn’t think of it?”

So, at Lin Jichuan’s suggestion, the study group was established. They used lunch breaks and after-school time to meet in the school library or laboratory to overcome learning problems and exchange ideas on research projects.

Yi Shang and Jiang Wan’yuan regained their previous tacit understanding. The two worked together to study new quantum technology applications. Jiang Wan’yuan was responsible for proposing various novel ideas, Yi Shang analyzed the feasibility from a theoretical level, and Lin Jichuan and Zhang Yao helped find relevant information and data support.

In a campus science exhibition, the “Miniature Interstellar Energy Harvester” developed by their group shined brightly, attracting the attention of teachers and students from the entire school. Looking at everyone’s appreciation for their work, Yi Shang and Jiang Wan’yuan looked at each other, their eyes full of smiles.