The lingering chill of early spring slipped through the gap in the back door of the classroom, carrying with it the faint scent of flowers from who knows where.
I was just tucking a strand of black hair behind my ear again as it fell in front of my eyes.
The morning light of February 2nd streamed through the glass at an angle, landing across the podium, making the tips of Li Nianke’s fingers, clutching her speech script looks almost translucent.
The girl with her head slightly bowed kept scratching the edge of the printed page with her nails.
A strip of reddened wrist peeked out from her uniform sleeve, she looked extremely nervous.
“G-good morning, parents. I’m the class monitor of Class 7, my name is Li Nianke.”
When she suddenly raised her head, the stray hairs at the nape of her neck fluttered up like a startled rabbit.
“T-the slip of paper just handed out contains each subject’s mock exam scores and the student’s overall ranking. Next, please welcome our homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, who will report on everyone’s recent academic performance and future outlook.”
Oh, so that girl named Li Nianke is the class monitor.
No wonder she’s here at the parent-teacher meeting today.
“Good morning, everyone. I’m the homeroom teacher, just call me Mr. Wang. Education has always been my calling…”
As the teacher began analyzing the college entrance trends, my thumb was already flying across my phone’s notepad.
The meeting minutes had to record each subject teacher’s comments precisely, ideally with timestamps at the end of each section, it would make things easier when Uncle Yan reviewed them.
But because I was typing non-stop, the lace bra strap under my blouse kept rubbing against my collarbone, and that unfamiliar constriction kept reminding me of the absurd scene from yesterday morning.
I casually brushed away another strand of hair that had fallen in front of my face, but the other hand didn’t pause at all as it moved across the phone screen.
The content from the homeroom and subject teachers was more or less predictable, mostly routine.
Still, since Uncle Yan had specifically asked me to attend, I had to take it seriously.
“Which one of you is Yan Dong’s parent?”
“I am.”
I raised my hand slightly.
When the homeroom teacher saw that the one responding was a young girl, his expression froze for a second before motioning for me to step outside the classroom with him.
“Uh, miss…? Sorry, how should I address you?”
“Mr. Wang, just call me Xiaxia. I’m Yan Dong’s distant aunt. Uncle Yan couldn’t make it today, so he asked me to come. He specifically told me to report back every detail about Yan Dong’s situation.”
These lines were all prepared in advance, but the teacher’s pupils still contracted slightly behind his glasses.
After all, standing in front of him was a girl not even 165 cm tall, dressed in a business suit, and clearly the same age as Yan Dong, hard to believe she was anyone’s “aunt.”
“All right, Xiaxia, let’s talk more about Yan Dong in my office.”
Mr. Wang’s office was at the far east end of the row of classrooms.
Calling it his “office” was a stretch, he barely had a desk to himself in there.
Once we sat down, he pulled a few of Yan Dong’s exam papers from a stack of books.
After looking them over carefully for a while, he finally raised his head and gave me a slightly helpless smile.
“Yan Dong’s performance is very strong. His scores are balanced across subjects, no obvious weaknesses. If he applied himself, he could even hit the admission line for Tsinghua or Peking University.”
If… applied himself…
It was painfully obvious that, with his current slacker attitude, that was never going to happen.
“You know this already, Xiaxia, Yan Dong’s been on leave, only showing up for exams. With his grades and family background, we can’t force him, of course.”
“But staying shut in at home can’t compare to real learning with peers. We teachers still hope he can attend classes. If there’s anything he doesn’t understand, we can help. Also…”
He let out a sigh, and behind his glasses, there was a clear trace of regret in his expression.
“Students at this age generally lack self-discipline. Without proper guidance, it’s easy for them to go astray. I really hope you can talk seriously with Chairman Yan about this…”
I stared at the wild scrawls on the test paper, almost picturing that arrogant Young Master lounging in his gaming chair, spinning a pen between his fingers.
While the homeroom teacher went on about attendance rates and the importance of a positive learning environment, my eyes were fixed on the white hairs at his temples.
This old teacher, who constantly preached about “educating minds and hearts,” would probably never guess that the student he called a “shut-in” was currently parked in front of his favorite computer, shamelessly playing Cyberpunk 2077.
“Mhm, I understand, Mr. Wang. As Yan Dong’s guardian, I’ll make sure to take full responsibility for his behavior. No matter how unpleasant the truth might be, I hope you’ll speak candidly with me, for his sake.”
I have to admit, working under Yan Dong had its perks, especially the satisfying challenge of delivering that last sentence with a perfectly straight face.
It was honestly hard not to laugh.
“Alright.”
Seeing that I remained serious throughout, he sighed again, his face gradually taking on a heavier look.
“The college entrance exam really is a crucial turning point in life. I don’t understand why Yan Dong failed last year, but as his teacher, I truly hope he won’t let regret define his future.”
“Mhm. Thank you for your dedication, Mr. Wang. That’s exactly how Uncle Yan feels too.”
“And one more thing, he’s fully capable of ranking in the province’s top ten in this mock exam. But he left several questions blank on purpose, especially…”
The teacher suddenly turned the math test paper toward me.
Beneath the character for “Solution,” a red pen had circled a twisted skull doodle.
“This is his math paper from the exam…”
The flickering ceiling lights buzzed overhead, casting a pale light across the test sheet.
When that skull drawing leapt into view, I had to bite my lower lip to keep myself from laughing.
Sure enough, that idiot Yan Dong couldn’t even take a test without turning it into a performance art piece.
“We’re genuinely concerned he might have some self-harming tendencies,” the teacher said, the silver streaks in his hair gleaming under the light.
“After all, he skipped an entire subject in last year’s college exam.”
The moment he said “self-harming tendencies,” I nearly burst out laughing.
But for the sake of professionalism, I forced it down and tried to look appropriately concerned.
“You don’t need to worry, Mr. Wang. Uncle Yan has already hired three private tutors to rotate supervision, and I’ll be managing him full-time too.”
A sudden gust of cold wind blew through the window at the end of the office.
While the teacher went to shut it, I used the chance to adjust my expression several times using the phone’s front camera.
The most frustrating thing about this body is how hard it is to control facial expressions.
When I heard “self-harming tendencies” and saw that doodle, the twitch at the corner of my mouth nearly blew my whole act in front of the teacher.
After chatting a bit longer with his homeroom teacher, I didn’t stay much longer since I had to rush back to university for class.
Of course, I still had to finish the job.
Besides compiling the teachers’ classroom speeches and sending them to Uncle Yan, I separately recorded and sent the homeroom teacher’s remarks to both Uncle Yan and Yan Dong.
“What the hell did you just send me?”
I got Yan Dong’s reaction less than a minute later, exactly as expected.
“Your homeroom teacher’s recording.”
“Why the hell would you send that to me?”
“It was meant for Uncle Yan. Sent it to you by mistake.”
“You really have nothing better to do.”
I didn’t bother replying. In a surprisingly good mood, I turned off the screen, slipped the phone back into my pocket, and quickly left the school.
It wasn’t until I got on the subway that I pulled my phone out again.
As expected, there was a barrage of messages from Yan Dong waiting for me.
“Lin, when the fuck did you become my aunt?”
“60″
“60”
“53″”
Looking coldly at the three voice messages that were practically dripping with mom-level fury, I couldn’t help the faint smile that tugged at my lips.
I casually tapped the latest one, and Yan Dong’s furious roar, intermixed with the sound of guns cocking in the background of his game, blasted through the speaker.
“Lin, you motherfucker”