Ye Xingmian returned after class had already officially started.
She knocked on the door in a daze, and almost immediately, everyone in the Classroom turned their gaze toward her.
The subject teacher frowned and glared at her.
“Come in!”
Only then did she quietly walk back to her seat.
Faint whispers drifted into her ears.
“How odd, didn’t he get a beating this time?”
“Who knows, maybe the teacher saw how thickly he’s dressed and didn’t bother.”
“Pfft!”
The girl’s body suddenly tensed.
No one could see that beneath the Hat hiding her face, her cherry-pink eyes were brimming with crystal tears. She closed her eyes gently, and as the tears slid down her cheeks, she wiped them away with her sleeve. She made no move, only returning silently to her seat.
The brief commotion caused by her return quickly faded, like a ripple across a still pond after a breeze. The subject teacher continued writing on the blackboard. She looked at the half-finished Homework on her desk, but not a single word registered in her ears.
What should she do?
The girl felt more lost than ever before.
It was only the first day, and her secret—becoming a girl—had already been discovered, and by none other than Qin Haiyue. She couldn’t even imagine how she would make it through the days ahead.
Could she really keep her secret and live in peace?
……
She spent the entire period lost in thought.
After thinking for a long time, the only thing she could come up with was to barely maintain the current situation—a solution that was really no solution at all. As soon as the bell rang for break, she wanted to go to the restroom.
She couldn’t hold it all morning, but she absolutely couldn’t use the girls’ restroom—her identity was still that of a boy; she’d die of embarrassment!
So, the only way was to slip out while Qin Haiyue wasn’t paying attention.
She couldn’t possibly stand guard at the restroom door all day, could she?
Once she’d made up her mind, she tried to stand and leave the Classroom.
“Ye Xingmian!”
A gentle voice suddenly called out from behind her.
Uh…that voice was…
The Class Monitor?
She wanted to turn around to check, but then remembered her current predicament. She could only lower her head like an ostrich, avoiding the other’s gaze.
“Class Monitor…what is it…?”
Her voice was so soft, it could barely be heard without close attention, as if she were deliberately hiding it.
This made Liu Yinuo, the Class Monitor, feel a little suspicious.
“Where’s your Homework? Even though you were on leave last night, Ziyan should have told you about it, right?”
“Ah…”
Although she couldn’t see the expression on the person in front of her, Liu Yinuo could guess by watching Ye Xingmian’s body tremble suddenly.
“What, you didn’t do it again?”
Ye Xingmian frantically searched her desk.
“I…I did it…”
She turned around, head still lowered, and carefully handed over the Homework she’d hastily filled in half of that morning.
Don’t look at it…
She silently prayed in her heart.
Checking Homework wasn’t really the Class Monitor’s job; she only needed to bring everyone’s Homework to the Homeroom Teacher’s Office. But seeing the girl like this, maybe to confirm her own suspicion, she casually flipped open the Exercise Book.
“Didn’t finish?”
Her tone suddenly turned cold as she closed the Exercise Book and questioned her.
“Mm…”
Ye Xingmian’s head lowered even more. She still kept the posture from just now, radiating an air of timidity.
“Tch, come to the Office with me. You’re the only one who hasn’t handed it in.”
The girl didn’t move.
“Cla…Class Monitor…can I not go for now?”
She pleaded, unconsciously raising her head to look carefully at Liu Yinuo’s back.
“No, the Homeroom Teacher personally—”
Liu Yinuo started to say her prepared line as she turned around, but froze when she saw Ye Xingmian’s face.
—It was a face with not a trace of masculinity, soft and pitiful like a little animal, as if she could cry at any moment.
Her cherry-pink eyes, like broken crystal flowers tinged with color, were veiled in a thin mist, making her look incredibly pitiable.
That’s strange…
Liu Yinuo muttered inwardly. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she’d just felt a hint of sympathy—maybe even pity—for this troublesome student?
No, actually it was heart-throbbing.
A strange, unnatural feeling secretly sprouted in her heart.
She wasn’t even aware of it herself.
After spacing out for a moment, she continued, “Ahem, she said it herself. You have to go to the Office after the first period.”
Suppressing the awkwardness on her face, she turned expressionless again and spoke coldly.
“Okay…”
Ye Xingmian sounded a little disappointed.
She was never good at refusing people, let alone a request from the Homeroom Teacher. She could only obediently stand up and follow Liu Yinuo to the Office.
Winter was truly cold. The Corridor outside was nothing but bleak scenery. Like a condemned prisoner, she kept her head down, following behind the girl.
Before long, they reached the Office.
Liu Yinuo opened the door, and warm air from the heater greeted them inside the Office.
“Yinuo? What is it?”
Their Homeroom Teacher was a young woman who looked to be about twenty-five, wearing square-framed glasses. She had a gentle smile on her face—Ye Xingmian had never seen her smile like that.
Sure enough, the moment the teacher saw her come in, the smile vanished.
Ye Xingmian stood awkwardly at the door.
“Close the door!” the Homeroom Teacher commanded.
Ye Xingmian silently shut the door.
“Teacher, here’s his Homework.”
“Mm, all right, you may go.”
After Liu Yinuo left, the Homeroom Teacher’s gaze shifted to Ye Xingmian.
She casually flipped through the Homework, tossed it aside, and said, “Why didn’t you do your Homework?”
“I…I did…”
For some reason, Ye Xingmian suddenly felt wronged, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Not finishing is still not doing it!”
Her body trembled, unable to utter a word.
“Look at you. Already in senior year, and you don’t even do your Homework. What are you thinking? Didn’t Lin Ziyan tell you last night?”
“No…” She was telling the truth, but the teacher obviously didn’t believe her.
“If she didn’t tell you, how would you know which part to do today?”
“……”
“Even if, say, she really didn’t tell you, couldn’t you finish it this morning? Don’t tell me you didn’t even have that much time!”
“I…I…”
“What about you?”
“……”
Hugging her arms to herself, she looked as if she lacked any sense of security. She bit her lip hard, her eyes hidden under her Hat.
“Take your Hat off! Aren’t you hot?”
Maybe annoyed at her, the Homeroom Teacher casually made what was for her a rather harsh demand.
“No…I…I’m cold…”
“Cold?” The Homeroom Teacher sneered, suddenly picking up her Exercise Book and smashing it toward Ye Xingmian with the hard spine.
“Bang—”
The fluttering pages scattered like blossoming white waves. Ye Xingmian swayed unsteadily; she hadn’t finished breakfast, and staying up late last night was catching up to her. She felt a little dizzy.
“I’ll make sure you remember this!”
She spoke coldly, pointing to the door.
“Get out!”
“Mm…”
Wobbling, Ye Xingmian bent to pick up her Exercise Book. Turning around in a sorry state, she was about to go out—
“Stand at the door!” the Homeroom Teacher added.
Ye Xingmian froze.
“Yes…”
So, she opened the door, went out, and closed it. Holding her Exercise Book in both hands, she lowered her head and stood at the Office entrance as people passed by.
Soon, the bell rang for class, and the Homeroom Teacher came out, carrying teaching materials.
“You’re to stand here all morning. Don’t you dare go anywhere! Make up for the lessons you miss on your own, understand?”