NH chapter 006

Chapter 06 New Classmate

“Hey, by the way, why hasn’t Zhao Yue come out?”

Bai Feiyu regained his composure and looked around: “We’ve been here for quite a while, and that Tyrannosaurus hasn’t even let out a peep?”

As soon as this was said, everyone felt something was off because it was indeed too unusual. After all, Zhao Yue was the type who, even if you ran to the bathroom to hide because of diarrhea, would cheekily come over and ask if you were trying to sneak a snack behind his back.

Huo Ye suddenly straightened up, his expression normal, and said, “Isn’t he helping you move your textbooks? It’s getting late; let’s head back to our class.” He paused, then borrowed someone else’s words and said sternly, “It’s not good to be late on the first day of school.”

Bai Feiyu scoffed at such “serious talk,” but he didn’t push the issue further. Only Wen Shiyi, who was usually taciturn but perceptive, frowned slightly and looked at Huo Ye with more scrutiny.

After chatting for a little while longer, the once-crowded school gate was nearly empty, with only a few students scrambling to avoid being late, trying to dodge the leisurely “plague gods” of Class 18.

Among them, a girl with a round face nearly collided with Huo Ye as she rushed by. Huo Ye instinctively raised his hand to steady her arm, fearing she might fall onto the concrete and hurt herself. However, the girl noticed and seemed to think that being touched by him would be worse than getting hurt. After stumbling a couple of steps, she dramatically dodged him, her face carrying a look of fright.

—This reflexive action might seem excessive or even hurtful to others, but Huo Ye’s first reaction was simply one of… confusion and helplessness.

With his sharp eyebrows lowered, he pressed his eyes down. He already had a somewhat fierce look to him; now, with his eyebrows furrowed, he indeed looked even more intimidating, resembling the legendary “bully” of Class 18.

Although scaring her wasn’t Huo Ye’s intention, the color drained from the girl’s lips in an instant.

Huo Ye sometimes forgot that he had a face that tended to “dominate others,” so when he looked at others, he often exuded a sense of pressure without realizing it. Under his seemingly condescending gaze, the girl suddenly trembled and reached out to hold her tousled bangs as if that would preserve her remaining dignity.

Just one glance.

Only one glance.

Seemingly afraid of attracting trouble, the girl peeked at him while covering her bangs, then twisting her body like the weasel that stole the melon in Lu Xun’s “Old Home,” she disappeared in an instant.

“Wow.”

Xia Zhiyao was dumbfounded for a moment and exclaimed, “Little Flying Hero!”

Huo Ye: “……”

“Ahem, well, don’t be upset, Boss,” Bai Feiyu, who was only a bit over 170 cm tall, struggled to drape his arm over Huo Ye’s shoulders with a serious expression. “She is definitely not afraid of you; it’s just because you’re too handsome. She can’t bear to look at you straight on.”

Huo Ye slowly turned his head, his gaze indifferent, as if he had no desires like a monk, and softly said, “So, it’s my problem?”

Bai Feiyu: “……”

After bidding farewell to his former classmates and friends, Huo Ye found himself alone in the once lively teaching building.

When Huo Ye was by himself, he actually didn’t like to smile. He was accustomed to approaching others with slightly curved eyebrows, trying to soften his tone, hoping that people wouldn’t judge him too harshly by appearances; he actually thought he was quite nice.

But the round-faced girl he encountered today, though she didn’t leave him feeling dejected, still invoked a sighing sentiment of confusion.

With these mixed and unsatisfactory feelings, Huo Ye walked against the sunlight toward Class A of the second year.

By this time, the top class in the west district had basically gathered, and he could catch a glimpse of some teachers from other classes standing at the podium, adjusting their waist mic while buzzing about something.

To walk from the left side of the teaching building to Class A of the second year, he had to pass through Class D, Class C, and Class B. Someone like Huo Ye, known for his notorious reputation, appearing in the realm of the top class was practically unheard of. Therefore, as he walked toward Class A, he was undoubtedly the center of attention.

The teacher of Class D was speaking so passionately that he was hoarse by the time he turned around, realizing that very few students were actually paying attention to him. Their eyes, like magnets, were glued to the window, and as they walked to Class B, they were stretching their necks eagerly to look outside.

The teacher was so furious that he slammed the podium with a loud bang, startling the students in the front row, who almost jumped out of their seats, thinking it was like the heavens opening up.

“Look, look, look, what’s so interesting outside? You all get used to slacking off and not studying, and now you can only look outside while we the students of Class 18 have scored higher than you. Are you not ashamed?” the teacher scolded, thumping on the podium with frustration.

Someone in the audience was unconvinced and muttered, “Did he score that with real skills? It would be lucky if he wrote half of those answers himself. Doesn’t the school manage anything at all…”

“Exactly,” others chimed in, seemingly convinced that he must have connections to get away with it.

The teacher’s eyelid twitched; he fell silent for a second, and when the most intense wave of gossip died down, he barked, “Alright, quiet down!”

The waves of sound continued for a while, finally reluctantly quieting down, but the undercurrents of murmurs never ceased.

“……”

Taking a deep breath, the teacher leaned against the podium, his gaze sharp and calm behind his glasses, articulating clearly: “Who can confirm that he cheated or plagiarized? If he cheated, what method did he use? Plagiarism, whose work did he copy?”

They looked at each other, no one able to speak up.

The teacher glanced around and continued: “Who was in the exam room with him, the most likely and valuable individuals? I believe you’ve already figured that out, right? Any results?”

No one confessed.

“Students, everything requires evidence. You can’t just open your mouth and expect to convict anyone in this world. The surveillance footage proves he didn’t cheat, the invigilating teacher and classmates affirm he didn’t cheat, so he simply didn’t cheat.”

The teacher stated, “The reason you’re so indignant is merely that you feel your status is being challenged, and the challenger happens to be someone you previously looked down upon, a gap so huge that you can’t accept it, and that’s all.”

“——I am very disappointed in you. This is not the kind of mental quality a top class student should have. What you’ve displayed today is narrow-mindedness, shortsightedness, and a pig-headed mentality.”

At this point, the entire room fell silent, until the teacher calmly dropped the final statement: “Remember.”

“The fairness you seek, others are entitled to as well.”

“……” In the corner of Class D, the round-faced girl hesitated and looked out the window, not coming back to her senses for a long time.

Meanwhile, Huo Ye, who had been standing at the center of attention and in the eye of the storm for years, seemingly heard nothing at all, confidently walked through the main entrance into the completely unfamiliar classroom of Class A.

For some reason, the homeroom teacher of Class A had yet to arrive. Only the students of Class A waited eagerly for their “new classmate.”

This semester, four or five students from parallel classes entered Class A, and there was even a transfer student, which meant that the original seating plan was disrupted, requiring everyone to find their names on the smart board.

Huo Ye ignored the subtle gazes and took a seat in one of the few remaining empty spots at the back.

As soon as he sat down, the boy in front shifted his desk two steps forward. His movement wasn’t large, but the sound of the metal desk leg scraping against the floor was sharp and grating, embarrassing both of them and filling the air with awkwardness.

In response, Huo Ye couldn’t even be bothered to look at him.

He thought to himself that today’s kids were really adept at playing it cool.

Even though Huo Ye himself was not that old, only two years shy of them, he felt that the two years between seventeen and nineteen were unlike any two years in other stages of life; one was an adult, while the other was a minor—the difference is tremendous.

Now an adult, Huo Ye naturally wouldn’t quibble with a bunch of kids still limited by health guidelines for gaming, so he actually had a really good temper at school.

Before long, the tardy new homeroom teacher finally appeared, and from a distance, Huo Ye’s first impression was of a shiny round head glaring brightly under the sun, looking like a big light bulb.

The middle-aged male teacher, around fifty years old, was the head of the Physics group for the second-year students, named Zhang Zhiming, nicknamed “Bald Zhang.”

A saying circulates in the community: “Where there is no Bald Qiang in the wild, there’s Bald Zhang in Lanjing High.” He was a native Northeastern man from Heilongjiang, where his family had been lumberjacks for generations before they migrated to Guangdong.

Bald Zhang used to teach in Guangzhou; back when Mandarin wasn’t unified in rural areas, teachers had to use local dialects to ensure students understood. As a result, he spoke with a heavy Northeastern accent for decades, and even now, he still couldn’t speak it perfectly.

Occasionally, in class, Bald Zhang would suddenly become flustered and let out a few non-standard Cantonese phrases while speaking Mandarin, making everyone burst into laughter with his thick accent.

He didn’t get angry but scratched his shiny round head with a smile, waiting until everyone finished laughing before continuing.

Bald Zhang had a rustic charm and showed a touch of humor appealing to young people, making him particularly popular among students. Over time, “Bald Zhang” evolved into the more affectionate “Guangguang.”

Of course, for Huo Ye, that was a matter for later.

At this moment, Bald Zhang strode into the classroom with tremendous energy, leading in the transfer student who had obviously delayed their arrival all morning to handle transfer paperwork.

“Come on, Xiao Shen, you’re taller, so sit in the back for now.”

Bald Zhang pointed in Huo Ye’s direction, causing the transfer student with a cold, stiff expression to turn, and their eyes collided mid-air, instantly igniting sparks.

In unison, they exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

——“What are you doing here again?”