"The Mortal Chapter Of Qing Zhuan" - Chapter 23

A Love Unrequited, A Love Undeniable

When we arrived at the vice principal’s office, sure enough, Gao and the others were already there. We saw the vice principal sitting leisurely, drinking tea. He would blow on it, take a sip, and then spit out the tea leaves into the wastebasket. Then he looked at the four of us with a slight smile. “Do you four want to know your scores?”

We all nodded. The vice principal looked at us and said, “Well, I know you probably didn’t do your best, and the results weren’t ideal, so I won’t announce the scores!

I’ll just announce the rankings! Xiao Yu, you are in fourth place. Keep up the good work and don’t get discouraged!

Da Yuan’er, your math has improved a lot this time, which is commendable. You’re in third place! As for the remaining two, who do you think is in first place?”

We shook our heads. The vice principal grinned. “Okay, let me tell you. Second place goes to Hao Sheng. Give him a round of applause.”

We all clapped for him. Hao Sheng grinned, stood up, and said, “Thank you, thank you all. I love you!” He made us all laugh.

Then the vice principal said in a serious tone, “Congratulations to Jichang, first place. Very good. Keep up the good work.” Gao chuckled, grinning.

“I have high hopes for you guys. You must work even harder to get into Yuetan High School—understand?” We all nodded and looked at the vice principal.

He looked at Director Li with satisfaction and motioned for her to hand out the prizes. “Director Li, please give the prizes to the kids. Then you guys go back to your classes quietly so you don’t disturb the other students.” We took the thick notebooks that Director Li gave us and left for our respective classrooms.

Hao Sheng complained with a look of disgust. “Just a notebook? I thought we’d get some money or something. What a waste of our feelings.”

I looked at the notebook and replied, “This notebook is pretty thick. It’ll probably last until we graduate. It’s not bad. It saves us money, right?”

Hao Sheng looked at the big, thick notebook in his hand and said to me, “Da Yuan’er, look at it. Doesn’t it look like a Xinhua Dictionary? Hahaha…”

After hearing that, I laughed and looked down closely. It really did look a bit like one, with its big red cover.

When I got back to the classroom, it was recess. Since I didn’t sleep well last night, I planned to lie on my desk for a while.

But then I heard a sharp骂声 coming from the hallway:

“I’ll f*cking kill you, you shameless wretch! Stealing someone’s boyfriend, you’re so shameless, you miserable…”

My head was buzzing.

At that moment, I saw many students in my class go out to break up the fight. Hao Sheng kept pulling on me. “Come on, Da Yuan’er, let’s go watch the show. Come on, get up.”

I was reluctantly dragged to the door to watch the commotion. It turned out that a girl in my class liked a boy in class four. I heard that they were dating, but the boy in class four seemed to like another girl in his class. When the girl in my class found out, they started fighting.

I looked at the melodramatic scene in front of me without any emotion, and I even felt like laughing.

At that moment, Weng Yuan was also leaning over behind me, watching the show. I didn’t notice him behind me; I just wanted to go back to my seat.

I took a step back, tripped over his shoe, and fell backward. He immediately reached out and pulled me into his arms. We were so close that I could hear his heartbeat against my chest!

I was so startled that I immediately pushed him away and ran back to my seat. Who knew that half of the students in our class saw what just happened, and they started to cheer and push Weng Yuan towards me. Then, rumors started to spread that “Weng Yuan and I were dating.”

Hao Sheng gossiped, “Da Yuanzi, not bad. You didn’t neglect your studies, and you’re dating too. Your life is quite colorful.”

I just sulked and didn’t say anything.

Weng Yuan, behind me, said happily, “What’s the matter, Hao Sheng? Bullying my apprentice? You’re looking for a fight, aren’t you? Taste my棒子, where do you think you’re going, monster?”

This was the first time I had seen Weng Yuan so happy and joking with people since he came back.

I thought to myself, “Forget it. It’s too much trouble to explain! It’s not true anyway. Just bear with it, and it’ll be better once we get to high school.”

Lin Tao saw that I didn’t refute him and asked, “Are you two really dating? Is it true? Weng Yuan must be so happy! This old kid is so lucky!” I didn’t pay attention to him either and just looked at my book without saying a word.

Because of my silence, everyone took it as a tacit confirmation that Weng Yuan and I were dating.

Even Liu Lili asked me, “Da Yuan’er, what’s wrong with your taste? Why are you dating him?”

“Yeah, look at him. He’s so dark, like a monkey, and his personality isn’t good. His grades aren’t as good as Da Yuan’er’s either…” Feng Xuan also chimed in.

Even though I didn’t like Weng Yuan, his character was fine. Looking at their disgusted faces and listening to their harsh insults, I was disgusted by their character.

“Whether I date Weng Yuan or not is none of your business! Mind your own business. If you dare to spread rumors again, I’ll go directly to the Dean of Students and tell him about you guys bringing your phones to school.”

When they heard this, they didn’t say anything else. They just left with a disgusted look on their faces, muttering as they walked away, “She doesn’t know what’s good for her!” The other two chimed in, “Exactly.”

Although I was annoyed, what they said was truly hurtful! What did Weng Yuan do wrong? In terms of character, Weng Yuan was so much better than them!

His only mistake was that he was so stubborn and had to mess with me! I couldn’t understand why people would attack someone like this and what good it would do them.

I didn’t expect that he heard this conversation. When I turned around, I saw that his face was grim. I called out to him, but he didn’t respond.

Looking at his back, I still thought to myself, “I really hope he didn’t hear those hurtful words! And I hope he can focus on his studies instead of fantasizing every day!”

During lunch break, Weng Yuan brought a can of iced Lulube and placed it on my desk. “Good apprentice, have some. It’ll refresh you. The weather is starting to get hot now.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Are you finally willing to talk to me now?”

He said shyly, “What kind of man gets mad at his own wife?”

I frowned and quickly asked, “What did you just say? I didn’t hear you! Say it again…”

I saw him sprint away. I yelled, “Hey, don’t run! Hey, Weng Yuan, come back!”

He had already disappeared. I picked up the Lulube, looked at it, and thought, “Some things are really impossible to avoid, no matter how hard you try, sigh…”

Soon, the bell for class rang again. The Chinese teacher walked in with a book, fanning herself, and said to us, “It’s so hot today. It feels like everyone has no energy. How about this, we’ll change the way we have class. We’ll play a game today, okay?” When everyone heard that we were playing a game, they were all very happy and nodded repeatedly.

“Okay, the game we’re playing today is—I ask, you answer.

We’ll be divided into four groups. Every two vertical rows will be a group, making four groups in total. We’ll start with Da Yuan’er and Hao Sheng’s group, which will be group one, followed by group two, three, and four.

Okay, now, each group needs to choose a leader.

In this game, the two group leaders will play rock-paper-scissors. The winning group will ask a question, and the other group will answer.

After the first round is over, we’ll switch. The person asking the question will stand up in order from front to back. The person answering the question will also stand up in order from front to back.

One point is added for a correct answer, and one point is deducted for a wrong answer. The group leader has one chance to save a group member who answered incorrectly. In the end, we’ll see which group has the most points deducted and decide the winner.

The last two groups will have to send representatives to perform a show~ These are the rules of today’s game, do you understand, students?”

Everyone listened to the teacher explain the rules and nodded excitedly, all eager to give it a try.

Then we chose group leaders. Our group leader was Hao Sheng, the second group’s was Guo, the third’s was Meng Yan, and the fourth’s was Chen Fang. After the leaders were chosen, we moved on to the Q&A session.

It was Hao Sheng first, then me. The person asking the question happened to be Sui Yulin, my childhood friend from the same village. She knew a lot about me and Wenwen and was the one who was most optimistic about our relationship back then. In modern terms, she was the biggest “Wenyuan” fan.

So she asked a question: “In Yuan Zhen’s ‘Five Poems of Separation, No. 4’, which line describes the feeling that once you have experienced something beautiful or met a wonderful person, no one else can compare, Da Yuan’er?” After saying that, she gave me a wink.

I was stunned at first, and when I heard them cheering, my face turned red all the way to my neck.

The Chinese teacher also seemed to have caught some gossip and asked, “Oh my, Da Yuan’er, what’s going on? Is there a legendary story we don’t know about?”

Sui Yulin immediately interrupted. “Teacher, how could you not know? It’s that person, remember the one who came to our school to give a speech…”

I immediately interrupted her. “Stop! Stop! What are you talking about! I know the line, it’s, that, it’s that line.”

The Chinese teacher smiled at me. “Take your time, Da Yuan’er. Speak slowly, don’t get excited.”

The whole class burst into laughter, and I also chuckled. Hao Sheng kept looking at Weng Yuan’s expression, eager for gossip.

I took a deep breath and said, “Once you’ve been to the great sea, no river is as deep. Once you’ve seen the mountains of Wu, no other mountain is a cloud.”

At this moment, the whole class cheered again. I looked at this group of gossip enthusiasts and found it ridiculous that they were so obsessed with something that wasn’t even true.

When I inadvertently looked at Weng Yuan, I saw that his expression seemed a little sad. I didn’t think much of it and sat down.

Soon, the question was for Weng Yuan. The person asking the question was none other than Cai Jingwen, who had confessed her feelings for him before. She stood up and said, “Weng Yuan, I have a question for you.”

The students in the class started cheering again. She said, “In the poem ‘A Sprig of Plum Blossom,’ which line expresses the deep longing of a lovesick woman for her beloved?”

Weng Yuan sneered after hearing that. “What? What kind of question is that? I’ve never even heard of it.”

Cai Jingwen was a little embarrassed and said to him, “Then I’ll recite the poem for you, and you can guess which line it is, okay?”

Weng Yuan’s face turned red. “No need. It’s too much trouble and a waste of time. I can’t guess it anyway. Let’s move on to the next one.” He then sat down.

The Chinese teacher covered her mouth in disbelief, her eyes wide open, like a raccoon in a melon field, eating up a lot of gossip. She then looked at him and asked, “Since he forfeited, you can announce the answer.”

Cai Jingwen nodded and said, “Okay, the line is ‘I watch the sky at dawn and the clouds at dusk, I miss you when I walk, and I miss you when I sit.'”

Then she lowered her head shyly and sat down, her eyes occasionally glancing at Weng Yuan.

At this moment, the whole class was cheering. I was also immersed in the gossipy atmosphere, but I didn’t expect the fire to turn on me in the end.

Because Weng Yuan refused to answer Cai Jingwen’s question, our group’s final score was the lowest. Therefore, we were required to send a representative to perform a show.

At this moment, Lin Tao cheered, “Da Yuan’er and Weng Yuan should sing a love duet, hahaha…”

Hao Sheng also chimed in, “Sing ‘Intimate Lover.'”

Just then, Weng Yuan grinned and stood up. I was stunned. I looked at him and saw that he didn’t even hesitate. I quickly motioned for him to sit down, but he walked over and reached out his hand to me. Hao Sheng also cooperated with Weng Yuan and immediately made a space for him.

Then I saw Weng Yuan standing next to me, his outstretched hand still suspended in mid-air. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to disappear into the ground.

Finally, I had to give the Chinese teacher a pleading look. The Chinese teacher seemed to understand what I meant and said to Weng Yuan, “Reciting a poem is also an option. You don’t have to sing. Da Yuan’er doesn’t know how to sing this song, so let’s not.”

After hearing this, I quickly nodded. I said to Weng Yuan, “I’ll go recite a poem.”

Who would have thought that Weng Yuan would walk straight to the podium, stand in the middle, and begin to recite: “I’m going to dedicate this poem to my apprentice. Thank you. ‘Once you’ve been to the great sea, no river is as deep. Once you’ve seen the mountains of Wu, no other mountain is a cloud. I turn away from the flower bushes with a lazy glance, half because of my cultivation, half because of you.'”