The Gaze of the Radio Girl (GL) - Chapter 4

For the Deep Space Witch, Wu Lele was full of anticipation and curiosity.

It had nothing to do with romance; she simply wanted to know what kind of voice and presence the person who found her had.

This was the first time she felt interested in someone.

But after asking the question, Wu Lele felt she had been too forward.

Was it wrong to ask? If the other person didn’t want to speak, there must be a reason. Was she being too much?

She didn’t know how to gauge boundaries. If she hurt the other person, she would feel guilty.

Maybe… she should just let it go…

As long as the other person was willing to show up, that was enough.

She should be content.

—Beep—beep—beep—beep—beep beep—

Wu Lele, who was about to back off, froze instantly.

…OK?

She said OK?

Wu Lele couldn’t suppress her joy: “Then I’ll wait for you! It’s a deal!”

The other side was silent for a moment: “OK.”

Wu Lele felt she must have met a good person, so happy she rolled around on her bed.

She forced herself not to shout out loud, lest she wake Wu Zesun in the next room.

Blocking out the air conditioner’s cold air, she curled up under the blanket, clutching the draft paper filled with Morse code, and fell into a deep, sweaty sleep.

The next morning, Wu Zesun’s room was silent.

Wu Lele peeked out, stealing a glance, not daring to get closer.

On the dining table, an ashtray with a chipped edge pinned down three hundred-yuan bills.

Wu Lele picked them up, counted them, and tucked them into the innermost pocket of her backpack.

This was the living allowance Wu Zesun left her, thirty yuan a day. It seemed Wu Zesun’s business trip would last ten days.

This meant, for those ten days, Wu Lele could stay home without worrying about sudden storms.

She was very happy.

This was unusual, Wu Lele thought.

So many happy things happening at once gave her an unreal feeling.

She dug out the last pack of instant noodles from the cupboard, boiled water, cooked it, and wolfed it down.

At school, on a whim, Wu Lele spread out her remaining two test papers on the desk, doodling on them while imagining the Deep Space Witch’s voice.

Treating this punishment as a rare date, she was unprecedentedly focused, so much so that she didn’t notice the class monitor’s return.

Suddenly, a pair of beautiful hands appeared in Wu Lele’s field of vision.

In that moment, she understood why ancients compared fingers to white scallions.

The other person pressed down firmly on her answers, letting out a long sigh: “Reading comprehension has a method; don’t just guess.”

Wu Lele glanced at her answer: Su Dongpo couldn’t sleep and decided to take revenge on society.

“Hm…” She mused for a moment. “No problem there. Why else would he go find Zhang Huaimin?”

“…Didn’t the teacher explain this in class? Forget it… what about this one?” The class monitor moved her slender fingers to another spot. “You think this is reasonable?”

Wu Lele looked again.

Question: What was the purpose of Su Dongpo writing this letter?

Answer: Su Dongpo ate too many oysters, got indigestion, and wrote to ask for medicine.

“Hm… no problem there either.” Wu Lele blinked. “Eating too many oysters really isn’t good.”

“…”

At that moment, the class monitor fell completely silent.

This was the first time Wu Lele observed the class monitor’s expression.

Her brows were slightly furrowed, teeth clenched, as if suffering from severe constipation.

“Forget it,” the class monitor seemed to give up on something, saying, “Reading comprehension is too hard for you right now. Let’s start with basic vocabulary and sentences.”

The class monitor opened her own book, starting from the first lesson of Sophomore Year.

Wu Lele blinked, staring at the class monitor’s profile, not hearing a single word she said.

She kept thinking: Was the class monitor tutoring her? Why? She didn’t seem to do this for others.

She inexplicably thought of Wu Zesun, as always unable to read the other person’s intentions.

“Are you listening?” The class monitor suddenly turned, looking at Wu Lele, her already cold demeanor growing frostier.

Wu Lele instinctively shrank back: “W-why are you teaching me?”

The class monitor stared at her, stunned, as if recalling something, but Wu Lele couldn’t decipher what she was thinking or why her expression changed.

She lowered her head to the test paper, the Deep Space Witch in her mind fading, her enthusiasm and joy instantly diluted.

She didn’t want to study anymore.

She grabbed her shoulder-length hair in frustration, avoiding the class monitor’s gaze, and said: “I don’t understand. I’ll just do it myself.”

The moment she said it, Wu Lele regretted it.

She always seemed to regret things, yet didn’t know what she was regretting.

She glanced at the class monitor, feeling she was even angrier.

But she didn’t know what to do, so she hurriedly added: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to reject your kindness, just… sorry.”

The class monitor gritted her teeth.

Thankfully, the class monitor was refined and didn’t lash out on the spot. She just kept a cold face, shoved her Sophomore Year textbook at her, and said: “Take it and read.”

“Huh? Oh…”

Wu Lele truly didn’t know where her Sophomore and Junior Year textbooks were.

“And…” the class monitor said slowly, “don’t keep saying ‘sorry.’”

As expected, Wu Lele finished the multiple-choice questions by rolling her dice, and for reading comprehension and fill-in-the-blanks, she scribbled based on her “understanding.”

The Chinese teacher, looking at the chaotic answers, had a face as twisted as the responses.

“Wu Lele…”

“Hm?”

“You!”

“Me?”

“Come with me!”

She led Wu Lele out of the office, through the hallway, to Tao Tao, slamming the collected papers on her desk, saying: “Su Dongpo wants to take revenge on society? Now I want to take revenge on society!”

Tao Tao looked at the sea of red marks, unable to reach the other shore no matter how hard she tried—she didn’t even know which wrong answer to start with.

Tao Tao: “Teacher Yao, calm down, calm down. Lele is a bit naughty, but she’s smart. Look, she gets perfect scores on math and science tests that others fail. With a bit more effort, her Chinese will catch up. Teach without prejudice, teach without prejudice…”

“You teach physics, so of course you defend your star student. If you and the other three jerks hadn’t pulled strings, could this kid have gotten into No. 1 High School?”

“Shh, how can you say that in front of the kid? Watch your influence, watch your influence…”

Tao Tao waved at Wu Lele, pulling Teacher Yao outside.

Wu Lele watched Tao Tao’s waving hands, unsure whether to stand or sit, until the biology teacher, preparing lessons, reminded her: “Lele, sit. Don’t take it to heart. Teacher Yao’s just menopausal, it’s not your fault.”

“Oh…” Wu Lele obediently sat in Tao Tao’s spot, staring at her test papers in a daze.

She was frustrated too.

Teacher Yao’s attitude felt like a declaration that her efforts were wasted.

But she still couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Was her understanding really incorrect?

Wu Lele rested her chin on the papers, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh: “Sigh…”

“Ranran, you’re here!” The biology teacher spoke to someone. “Just put the homework here. Thanks for taking the time to come by.”

“No problem. Where’s Teacher Tao?”

Wu Lele’s ears perked up—she recognized the class monitor’s voice.

“Oh, she just stepped out. Didn’t you see her?”

“I think… no. I’ll wait here then.”

“Alright, there’s a chair nearby, make yourself at home.”

“Okay.”

Wu Lele was glancing at the ceiling when the class monitor walked over with a chair and sat beside her.

The class monitor, as if clairvoyant, spoke coldly: “Got scolded, huh?”

“Hm…” Wu Lele lowered her eyes again.

“No rush, take it step by step. Scoot over a bit.”

Wu Lele was taken aback, lifting her chin from the papers.

“Hurry up,” the class monitor urged.

Wu Lele lifted her butt, obediently sliding her chair further into the cubicle, and the class monitor quickly sat down.

She casually picked up a blue pen from Tao Tao’s desk and started explaining from the first question.

Wu Lele wasn’t listening to the explanation, staring at her again.

This time, the class monitor didn’t get mad. She stopped her pen and asked: “Why do you keep looking at me?”

“Nothing… Actually, you teaching me won’t help. I don’t understand…”

“You don’t need to understand right away,” the class monitor looked at her. “Think of words as elements and symbols, sentences as formulas. Memorize them first, and over time, you’ll start to understand.”

It sounded reasonable, but Wu Lele didn’t even understand that sentence.

Yet she noticed that, despite the class monitor’s cold face, her tone was gradually softening, unusually patient.

She tried to listen slowly, to memorize slowly, and it seemed to actually help a bit.

When Wu Lele came to, it was pitch black outside. Glancing at the clock above, it was already 8:30 p.m.

Oh no! She had a date with the Deep Space Witch!

Wu Lele shot up, gathered her papers, and wanted to leave.

Tao Tao, who had returned at some point, was grading homework at the biology teacher’s desk. Hearing Wu Lele’s movement, she looked up: “Finished?”

Wu Lele’s confidence shrank: “N-not yet…”

“Then don’t do it now. I’m treating you both to ramen. Grab your bags, let’s go.”

“No, I have to go back…” Wu Lele’s heart raced, trying to squeeze past the class monitor’s chair.

The class monitor clearly saw her haste but, instead of moving, leaned her chair back against the low partition, trapping Wu Lele in the cubicle.

The class monitor asked: “What’s the rush to get back for?”

“I made a date with someone…”

“Who?” The class monitor and Tao Tao asked in unison.

“A friend.”

The class monitor: “…”

Tao Tao: “Boy or girl?”

“Probably…” Wu Lele thought seriously, “a girl…”

The class monitor: “…”

Tao Tao: “What do you mean ‘probably’? You haven’t met? An online friend?”

Wu Lele was confused: “Probably… not an online friend…”

Tao Tao responsibly lectured her about how “online friends aren’t reliable.”

But Wu Lele’s mind was full of the Deep Space Witch, not hearing a single word.

As she anxiously spun in place, the class monitor grabbed her sleeve, looking up from the chair.

She said softly: “A real friend won’t mind. You’re working for your future, she’ll understand.”

Wu Lele: “But…”

“No ‘buts.’”

“You’re not her, how do you know?”

“…”

The class monitor fell silent for a long moment, her cold tone carrying certainty: “I just know.”