“All right, everyone, please tidy up your revision materials. The math exam is about to begin!”
Xiaohua Teacher stood straight on the podium of Class 3, Grade 11, holding a stack of crisp, white exam papers in her arms. She raised her voice and addressed the students kindly.
Li.
Hearing the students respond one after another, Xiaohua Teacher nodded in satisfaction, glancing at her watch while keeping an eye on the individual movements of students below the podium.
“Liu Dengke, please put away your textbook. It’s enough if you’ve memorized the formulas—don’t be too nervous, just relax a bit.”
“Du Weixin, that mysterious-looking device on your desk should be put away too. We have twenty multiple-choice questions in this math test; I doubt you’ll be able to divine the answers. Our school does not encourage this sort of superstitious behavior.”
“Zhang Shiji, stop sleeping, and wipe your drool. Don’t soak the exam paper again—last time your name was smudged by it. If you do that again, I might just throw your paper aside.”
As she spoke, her gaze swept past the upright Meng Huange, settling on Su Wanli’s seat.
Though she deliberately raised her voice, for some reason, Su Wanli remained hiding behind her notebook, blocking her cheeks as if sheltering herself from something or someone.
Seeing this, Xiaohua Teacher cleared her throat, making her tone as gentle and non-confrontational as possible.
“Um, well, Su Wanli, could you please put your notebook away for now? We’ll hand out scratch paper with the exam in just a moment…”
Su Wanli silently lifted the scrap of paper from her notebook and met Xiaohua Teacher’s eyes with a pair of cold, clear irises filled with a hint of annoyance.
“Chen.”
Xiaohua Teacher instinctively took two steps back, pressing herself against the wooden blackboard behind her, then lifted the exam papers to create a barrier between herself and Su Wanli.
“No, it’s fine, Miss Su. Of course you can bring your own scratch paper. The ones we provide tend to run out quickly anyway, ahem, well then…”
The storm she’d imagined did not arrive. Xiaohua Teacher maintained her stance for nearly three or four seconds, but nothing happened.
Su Wanli simply put her notebook away into her desk and sighed, turning her head to gaze out the window at the scenery.
Ah… That scared me to death. This is really the first time I’ve seen Miss Su look at someone with that kind of expression.
Xiaohua Teacher let out a deep breath, patted her chest, distributed the exam papers row by row, and then returned to the podium, beaming at the students below.
“Alright, alright, everyone, the exam has begun. Stop looking at me and start answering the questions.”
Calm down, relax, little friends, exhale…
Relax, relax. Su Wanli, nothing happened. That was just a very ordinary greeting, like the kind you see in foreign movies all the time, when everyone greets each other with ‘Dear balabla.’
Yes, there was nothing special about those words just now. Meng Huange still wore her usual faint smile as she emotionlessly said that sentence to me.
“So, I wonder, how are you feeling now? Any better, my dear Miss Su?”
…Wuwuwu, ahhhh, ahhhh, ah, so embarrassing!!
Without her notebook to hide behind, Su Wanli could only grit her teeth and bury her head in her arms, emitting silent, miserable howls.
How could Meng Huange say something like that so easily!? Just because she’s the protagonist? Just because she’s the heroine, does that mean she can freely call anyone ‘dear’ in public, with that warm and sunny smile? Is this really still in China??
[What’s wrong, Host? Your current heart rate is abnormally fast. If this continues, it may affect your future lifespan.]
How dare you ask! Isn’t it all because of your Dog Mission that I’m like this!?
Su Wanli took a deep breath, silently raised her head, then slammed it down onto her desk, trying to drive that voice out of her mind.
It’s because I really didn’t have any ideas for this Intelligent Task, so I tried asking Meng Huange for a bit of help. Who knew she’d help me all the way to the end… and even at the last moment, throw a stone at the teachers’ office, then ask if I was satisfied, and even called me… dear.
She, she, she, calling me ‘my dear’—do you know what that means!? There’s both ‘dear’ and ‘love’ in it, and it’s even a personal pronoun!
Thinking about it, “dear” is basically the warmest word in the world! I say it should be forbidden for people to say this sort of thing in public, otherwise it’s just too scandalous.
The System ran quietly for a moment, then replied with a helpless electronic tone.
[Host, you must have realized it by now—perhaps our heroine simply thought that this moment, in this setting, was perfect for saying a western-style line like that. There’s no need to take that form of address too seriously.]
The System’s indifferent electronic voice was like a bucket of cold water, instantly quelling Su Wanli’s surging emotions.
Right, that’s true. I really am too much—getting so flustered over a form of address. How can I play the villain like this?
Su Wanli accepted the System’s advice, lifted her head, and silently glanced at Meng Huange sitting nearby.
Meng Huange was quietly sitting, her posture relaxed, her eyes openly fixed on Su Wanli’s profile, still with that same gentle, faint smile as before.
But—
At the moment their eyes met, Su Wanli instinctively lowered her head again, immediately burying her face in her arms once more.
It’s over! The villainess image is completely ruined! It’s all over now!
My plan has completely failed!
[…Host? What are you talking about?]
You’re still asking!? Didn’t you hear just now? Meng Huange already called me ‘dear’! She absolutely doesn’t see me as a bad person! She even thinks I’m… that…
Lovable, worthy of respect, honest, a good kid…
Just thinking about those words made Su Wanli feel dizzy, like her brain was spinning.
[Oh, you mean that.]
The System recalled for a moment, then in Su Wanli’s consciousness, it raised an illusory finger and gave her a mocking shake.
[…She’s just pretending, don’t believe it.]