20: The Beauty of a First Encounter (12)

Feng Jinyan was scanning the problems written on the blackboard. For a brief moment, his thin eyelids lifted slightly, his gaze sweeping over with a subtle flick of his lashes, appearing as nothing more than a casual glance.

Outside the window, thick clouds hung low, casting a somber depth into his ink-colored eyes.

In a state of distraction, a sudden flash of lightning erupted outside, tearing a jagged opening through the layered clouds before the sky returned to an eerie stillness.

Feng Jinyan paused, then raised his eyes to examine the long string of problems before him. After a moment, he cleared his throat amidst the low, rolling thunder, and only after another brief silence did he write down the first calculation on the board.

Both of them possessed sharp, quick minds; as they wrote and calculated, they mapped out more than half of the process.

Halfway through, Ye Wanwan paused her chalk and looked quietly at Feng Jinyan. "What's wrong?"

Feng Jinyan pressed his thin lips together. "Nothing."

Ye Wanwan nodded, then suddenly asked, "I want the result of the first question."

"...Mm."

Feng Jinyan answered, continuing to write. After a few seconds, he glanced back at what he had just finished. "I've finished the first question; it's right here."

Ye Wanwan followed his fingertip, pursed her lips, and said nothing. She turned back to record the result in her equation, then used the space beside the blackboard as a scratchpad.

For some reason, students of this age share a common habit when at the blackboard: instead of using an eraser, they wipe away mistakes with their hands. Some leave long streaks of chalk dust, while others leave a thick, white smudge across their palms.

By the time they finished and prepared to return to their seats for detention, Feng Jinyan had a smudge of chalk dust on the tip of his nose.

Ye Wanwan, walking ahead in the aisle, turned back and pointed at her own nose.

"Huh?"

Feng Jinyan, confused, leaned in to look.

Ye Wanwan pushed his shoulder to make him lean back, pulled a tissue from the box on her desk, and pressed it onto his face.

She glanced up at Da Lin, who was energetically analyzing their work at the front of the room, and murmured, "Chalk dust."

Feng Jinyan pulled the tissue away from his face. Once he realized what had happened, he gave an indifferent "mm" and returned to his seat. Just as he was about to sit down, Da Lin, who was lecturing, pointed at him: "Feng Jinyan, stay standing. Ye Wanwan, you did very well; your punishment is waived."

"..."

Feng Jinyan gave Ye Wanwan, who was now exempt from standing, a disgruntled look, then leaned indolently against the wall.

However, after two consecutive periods, he clearly grew tired. The young master shifted his posture frequently: first, he knelt one leg on the chair, then the other. Perhaps finding that uncomfortable after a while, he stepped down and leaned his weight on the desk, letting his feet hover off the floor.

Da Lin, likely finding him too distracting, glared at him sharply during the lecture, but didn't tell him to sit down. After all, his seat in the last row by the window didn't block any other students.

Feng Jinyan quieted down for a moment under the teacher's stare, but soon became restless again, shifting his weight back and forth as if trying to alternate his standing legs.

Suddenly, the desk beside him was pushed outward slightly. Feng Jinyan looked up in surprise and saw Ye Wanwan place the tissue box from the edge of her desk onto the windowsill. Her gaze swept over him, and her index finger tapped the empty space on the desk.

Feng Jinyan looked at his chair that had been nudged aside, then at the desk that had also been shifted, and finally at Ye Wanwan, whose eyes had already returned to her workbook.

On the podium, Da Lin began the first round of class interaction. As time ticked by, half the class found themselves standing as "pillars" in the room.

A trace of a smile spilled into Feng Jinyan's eyes, and he secretly took a seat in the corner on the desk space Ye Wanwan had cleared for him.

When class finally ended, the rain outside had stopped, and a clear, translucent rainbow hung in the sky. A crowd had gathered by the windowsill, peering out; the boys were mostly clustered toward the front, where they were closer to the rainbow, while the girls were chattering excitedly by the window in the back rows. It was hard to tell why the sight of a rainbow made their little faces turn so flushed.

Jiang Huan walked into the classroom just as the commotion reached its peak. She stood on the podium and scanned the room; the huddled groups instantly scattered like birds and beasts, each one rushing back to their seats with impressive speed.

"We are going to hold a class meeting today, but the moderators won't be me. I have temporarily selected the class monitor and the study representative. This meeting is meant to be a stepping stone for everyone to become a true collective over the next three years. Come, let's welcome the two class representatives to organize the meeting."

The entire class looked at each other in confusion, but the scattered applause became enthusiastic the moment they saw the two at the back stand up. There was even table-thumping and whistling.

Feng Jinyan walked onto the podium with his usual spirited air, while Ye Wanwan stood beside him, looking down at the class without a word.

Feng Jinyan slanted a glance at her and had to start first: "First of all, thank you all for the applause. Although my appointment as temporary class monitor came as a surprise, even if it’s just for one day, I must fulfill all my responsibilities and obligations.

At the strong request of our study representative, Ye Wanwan, the theme and main content of this meeting will be explained by her. She might be a bit shy, so please give her a round of applause to show your support."

Ye Wanwan: "..."

Amidst the applause, Ye Wanwan looked at the classmates whose names she couldn't call, whose faces were barely familiar, and let out a deep sigh.

"???" The whole class stared.

Feng Jinyan smiled apologetically at everyone, his face filled with contrition: "Sorry, this child isn't very bright in the head, I haven't managed her well. Please forgive us for the embarrassment."

Then, he lifted his foot and pressed it precisely onto Ye Wanwan's clean shoe.

Ye Wanwan turned her face toward him and said sharply, "Take your foot off."

Feng Jinyan whispered, "It's my foot."

"..."

As the applause died down, Ye Wanwan looked down at the foot that remained unmoved on her shoe. She pursed her lips and finally spoke: "...Every day from now on, I will select a few problems that I find meaningful, write out the processes, and post them to the group."

The classroom fell into a dead silence.

"She's finished," Feng Jinyan explained to everyone.

In reality, there is a common misconception that children from wealthy families are inherently dissolute and unmotivated. In fact, the opposite is often true; they receive the best education and resources, and they are all proud and unwilling to lose. This approach of providing substantive help was exactly what they craved.

"Then, Study Rep, can we ask you if we have any problems we don't understand?"

A boy with a cheerful personality called out from the crowd, his ears turning red as he lowered his head.

"Oooooh—"

The whole class began to hoot and thump their tables, as if they had long forgotten about the "Demoness" Jiang sitting in Ye Wanwan's seat.

"Ye Wanwan, answer him," Feng Jinyan nudged her with his elbow, as she had been unable to squeeze out a word for a long time.