Chen Jinghua and Ye Minjia both exclaimed in surprise.
Chen Jinghua immediately denied it to the biology teacher: “Bo Jiangxin can’t be in a relationship.”
The biology teacher smiled: “Why not? Kids nowadays are very secretive about dating. They’re afraid of parents checking QQ and WeChat, so they chat in games all day, some even use food delivery apps. You just haven’t caught them.”
Chen Jinghua suddenly felt that he was indeed getting old: “That’s possible?”
The biology teacher hummed and gave an example: “Just like that liberal arts class next door, they caught a couple dating not long ago. Every day, in that game, they’d top up money to send skins, and call each other ‘husband’ and ‘wife.’ The content of their chats would make even adults blush. Their homeroom teacher, Teacher Liu, called both sets of parents to school to talk, trying to persuade them to break up. They refused stubbornly. Later, the girl’s father said he’d disown her if they didn’t break up, and only then did they separate.”
There was gossip like this? It has to be said that the gossip in the teachers’ office was the most explosive.
Ye Minjia immediately became interested and pressed: “What happened after that, teacher?”
“After that, the girl lost interest in studying. Now she doesn’t want to attend classes, and she doesn’t want to take the college entrance exam. Her mother took her to see a psychologist. In this state, she’s likely going to repeat a year.”
At this point, the biology teacher sighed: “That’s why I say, you students, don’t date when you’re young. You’re so young, what do you understand about love? A breakup makes you want to die and not take the college entrance exam. They don’t even know which is more important, dating or the college entrance exam. Her parents are frantic now, saying they wish they hadn’t persuaded them to break up if they had known this would happen.”
Chen Jinghua’s mouth twitched.
Thankfully, there were no students with such “love-brain” in his class currently, otherwise he would die of a headache.
But he still didn’t believe Bo Jiangxin would be dating.
The biology teacher continued to analyze: “What kind of earth-shattering problems could kids this age have that would make them not want to go to school? Either there’s been a change in their family, like parents divorcing or going bankrupt, or a relative passing away, or they’ve had conflicts with classmates, been bullied, or they didn’t do well on an exam and feel like the sky is falling because they won’t get into university, and finally, isn’t it just a breakup?”
Although Bo Jiangxin came from a single-parent family, his parents divorced many years ago.
His father came to a parent-teacher conference in his first year of high school.
Chen Jinghua had seen him—a handsome, stable middle-aged man. Just by looking at his father’s attire, one could tell that Bo Jiangxin’s family background was definitely not bad.
Moreover, there had been no news recently of any relatives in Bo Jiangxin’s family passing away.
Excluding various factors, the only reasonable reason left was a breakup.
The more the biology teacher spoke, the more sense he made, and Chen Jinghua also began to waver.
“Teacher Chen, in any case, you must pay more attention to Bo Jiangxin and guide him. When educating him, be sure to pay attention to your methods,” the biology teacher reminded, “It’s not long until the college entrance exam now.”
“Okay, thank you, Teacher Shan.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll go back to grading papers now.”
As soon as the biology teacher left, the teacher and student fell silent again.
Chen Jinghua thought, if it was really as the biology teacher said, he definitely couldn’t emulate Teacher Liu from the neighboring class and directly inform the parents to break up the “mandarin ducks.”
If he ruined the top scorer prospect for this year’s college entrance exam, wouldn’t he be scolded to death by the principal?
He still had to manage the situation, but how to manage it, and what methods to use, indeed required careful consideration.
In any case, he first needed to find the culprit who was dating Bo Jiangxin, caused him to break up, and thus led to his extreme aversion to studying.
After listening to the biology teacher’s analysis, Ye Minjia still didn’t quite believe that Bo Jiangxin was dating.
Except for going to the bathroom, Bo Jiangxin was almost always with him.
That person barely spoke to the girls in the class, so who could he be dating?
Ye Minjia was still deep in thought when he saw their homeroom teacher looking at him with a strange expression.
Ye Minjia was so scared that he immediately raised three fingers and swore: “Teacher, I swear it’s not me. I don’t have any improper thoughts about Bo Jiangxin.”
His thoughts exposed, Chen Jinghua lightly coughed, withdrew his gaze, and mumbled: “Then who else could it be?”
Ye Minjia felt conflicted.
He was speechless.
Even if Bo Jiangxin avoided women, there was no need to suspect him, right?
If the homeroom teacher really misunderstood and called his parents, his parents would probably kick him out of the house.
“Teacher, why don’t you leave this matter to me?” To clear his name, Ye Minjia volunteered, “After all, you can’t sit in the classroom 24 hours a day staring at Bo Jiangxin, can you?”
Chen Jinghua had to manage a whole class of students, so it was impossible for him to constantly monitor Bo Jiangxin.
Thus, Ye Minjia, the class monitor, became his best informant.
Ye Minjia returned to the classroom thoughtfully.
It wasn’t until the end of evening self-study, when students in the class were successively packing their things, that Ye Minjia also planned to leave.
…
Absentmindedly, a soft voice called him back to reality.
It was Xiang Di.
It was really strange; she usually didn’t say more than a few words in a semester, but today she had sought him out twice.
Ye Minjia: “What’s wrong?”
“…I just wanted to ask, um, is Bo Jiangxin’s flu still not better?”
Xiang Di hesitated greatly, her hands clutched into fists hidden in her school uniform sleeves.
This was the first time she had so obviously asked someone about Bo Jiangxin’s condition.
She was very afraid that the class monitor would notice her feelings for Bo Jiangxin.
However, the uncontrollable worry inside forced her to ask. If she asked Qianqian for help, Qianqian would definitely ask her why she was suddenly concerned about Bo Jiangxin.
She could only steel herself and ask him directly.
At least the class monitor wasn’t familiar with her, so he shouldn’t be curious.
But things didn’t go as she wished.
Ye Minjia didn’t answer her quickly.
Instead, he looked at her for a while before asking: “Why are you suddenly concerned about Bo Jiangxin? I usually don’t see any interaction between you two.”
Oh no, she was going to be found out.
A hint of panic quickly flashed in Xiang Di’s eyes.
Telling herself to calm down, she feigned composure and said: “Because, wasn’t it said that he got the flu? If it’s a viral flu, then I should also be careful, otherwise if I get infected, it will delay my classes.”
Ye Minjia said: “It’s not that serious, it’s probably just a mild flu.”
Xiang Di then quietly asked: “Will he come to class these next few days?”
Ye Minjia said uncertainly: “I guess he probably won’t.”
Xiang Di lowered her head and softly hummed.
Bo Jiangxin had taken leave again, most likely because he got the flu from her.
But she wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t cure illnesses, so she could only silently pray in her heart that he would get better quickly.
Not seeing him at school these past few days, she wasn’t happy either, and her motivation to study had significantly decreased.
They say a person’s eyes are the windows to their soul, but windows also vary in size.
Xiang Di’s eyes were round and beautiful, her eyelashes like two black feather curtains. When half-lowered, one could still see the light within them suddenly extinguish.
Preoccupied with her sadness, she naturally didn’t notice that Ye Minjia’s gaze on her was becoming increasingly suspicious.
Xiang Di left feeling dejected, her petite figure even her back reflecting her solitude.
“Xiang Di, wait a moment.” Ye Minjia called out to her.
He hadn’t even asked, when Xiang Di suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something.
She turned around and said, “Class monitor, did you buy the medicine I recommended to you? If not, I have that medicine at home; I can bring it tomorrow anyway.”
“Ah?” Ye Minjia nodded.
He hadn’t bought it because something came up at noon.
“Alright, bring it to me tomorrow, I’ll pay you with the class fund.”
Xiang Di quickly waved her hands: “No, no need, it’s not much money. Um, that medicine is quite effective. If Bo Jiangxin doesn’t get better… he can take it so he doesn’t infect others in the class.”
She kept emphasizing that it was just a coincidence, that she wasn’t particularly concerned about anyone, just afraid of catching the flu herself.
She continuously used these seemingly casual words to cover up her true feelings.
Normally, these words might not reveal any flaws, but to Ye Minjia at this moment, her words seemed quite transparent.
However, upon closer thought, there was indeed no interaction between Xiang Di and Bo Jiangxin, at least within his sight.
In fact, Bo Jiangxin only learned Xiang Di’s name a few days ago.
Or was he actually putting on an act?
Ye Minjia had initially thought Bo Jiangxin definitely wouldn’t come to school the next day, but to his surprise, he arrived just as the bell for morning self-study rang.
He still had that same cold, aloof demeanor, his gaze distant and devoid of warmth.
Everyone in the class was looking at him, but he ignored them, walking directly to his seat and sitting down, his expression as calm as a frozen lake.
No one dared to ask him why he had been taking so many days off.
Only Ye Minjia asked him with a slight smirk: “Didn’t you say you were taking a long leave?”
Bo Jiangxin frowned slightly: “How did you know I was taking a long leave?”
He almost let it slip! Ye Minjia quickly covered it up: “The homeroom teacher told me.”
“Then didn’t he tell you that he didn’t agree?”
“You can’t blame the homeroom teacher for disagreeing. If you take such a long leave, no one would be at ease.” Ye Minjia probed, “By the way, what exactly happened to you?”
Bo Jiangxin: “Nothing.”
Ye Minjia: “Nothing, yet you’re taking such a long leave.”
“It’s all about reviewing anyway; it’s the same for me no matter where I am.”
“Then why can’t you stay at school?”
Bo Jiangxin suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at him, and asked indifferently: “Are you trying to trick me into talking?”
“Why would I try to trick you? It’s not like we’re in Infernal Affairs.” Ye Minjia abruptly changed the subject, “By the way, the weather has indeed been strange lately. You can experience spring, summer, autumn, and winter in one day, making it easy to catch a cold, huh?”
Bo Jiangxin lowered his head to his book and gave a perfunctory “Mhm.”
Seeing that Bo Jiangxin was ignoring him, Ye Minjia looked at another person’s seat.
Strange, it had been several minutes since the bell rang, and Xiang Di, who was never late, was late today.
Speak of the devil, a figure arrived at the classroom door, panting.
“Xiang Di, you’re late.”
Today’s duty student happened to be Liang Qianqian, who deliberately called out to the late Xiang Di.
This caught the attention of many people in the class.
Xiang Di’s face flushed with embarrassment, her face, already red from sprinting, turned even redder.
Knowing that Liang Qianqian definitely wouldn’t record her name, she playfully glared at her and quickly trotted into the classroom.
Then, unexpectedly, she saw Bo Jiangxin, her eyes instantly wide, her little heart almost stopping.
[Ah! Husband!]
Bo Jiangxin’s brow twitched; he pretended not to hear.
Xiang Di also quickly averted her gaze, her bold strides turning into an affected lady-like walk, cautiously approaching her seat.
[Why is Husband at school today?]
[If I had known he was coming today, I would’ve worn that strawberry-flavored lip balm.]
Bo Jiangxin was expressionless.
Even if she wore durian-flavored lip balm, it had nothing to do with him; he couldn’t smell it at all.
After her initial questions, Xiang Di suddenly realized something else.
[Ahhh, I woke up late today, and my hair is a mess like a bird’s nest!]
Quickly covering her frizzy bangs, Xiang Di started rummaging through her desk.
[Huh, where’s my comb? So annoying, I can never find it when I need it.]
[Forget it, I’ll just use my hands. Mirror, mirror, where’s my little mirror? Ah, here it is.]
[Oh no, I didn’t wash my face properly today, I still have eye boogers!]
[It’s over, my image is completely ruined. He’ll definitely think I’m a slob.]
Bo Jiangxin frowned.
So noisy.
And if she hadn’t been muttering, he wouldn’t have even noticed that her hair wasn’t combed today, or that her face wasn’t completely clean.
She was just creating problems for herself.
But that’s how it is when you like someone; you’re especially concerned about your image in their eyes, fearing even the slightest thing that might make them dislike you.
Xiang Di flopped onto her desk.
Just when Bo Jiangxin thought she had finally quieted down, she inexplicably started singing.
[Little slob, truly, truly a slob, the slob queen is she, no one likes her, sigh.]
Then came another whimpering sound like a abandoned small animal, pitifully, as if the sky was about to collapse.
[I’m so unkempt, what should I do? Now he’ll like me even less.]
Bo Jiangxin pursed his lips, looking down, and silently added a sentence in his heart: If only you would be quiet.