Chapter Forty-Three: Li Bufan's Sly Grin

Zhang Liying walked over and saw that it was the students in the class who usually had the worst grades and loved stirring up trouble the most, all gathered to watch and mock Wei Xiaofan.

These troublemakers were the same ones who, during the incident when Li Bufan tried to frame Wei Xiaofan and Wei Xiaoping with that so-called “dirty book,” had volunteered to check their desks.

Zhang Liying looked at Li Bufan and saw that he was sitting on his desk, legs swinging, gloating as he watched Wei Xiaofan being ridiculed.

The more embarrassed Wei Xiaofan looked, the happier Li Bufan seemed.

Just as Li Bufan was laughing contentedly, he noticed Zhang Liying approaching and looking his way. He immediately jumped down from his desk and turned his face toward the window.

Ever since he ran into Zhang Liying with Li Chaoqian at the restaurant a few days ago, and learned from Li Chaoqian that Zhang Liying’s father held a much higher official position than Li Chaoqian’s father, Li Bufan had treated Zhang Liying with greater respect and no longer dared to talk back to her.

“Huang Yongliang, Huang Yongsheng, Zhang Shichang, why is it you lot again? Last time, because of a so-called ‘dirty book,’ you volunteered to check Wei Xiaofan’s desk, nearly causing him to be misunderstood by the whole class. Have you learned nothing from that? And now, what reason do you have to come here and make snide remarks at Wei Xiaofan again? Can’t you behave yourselves for once?” Zhang Liying scolded.

“Heh heh, we just saw Wei Xiaofan get a good grade, so we came to joke around and celebrate, that’s all! Hee hee!” Huang Yongliang said, grinning cheekily.

“That’s right! And to check if his grades are really genuine, you know? Ha ha! Wei Xiaofan, keep it up!” Zhang Shichang added with a sly smile, glancing at Li Bufan as he spoke.

“Exactly, hee hee! You can’t have a celebration without a little joking! It’s only a real celebration if everyone gets lively! Hee hee!” Huang Yongsheng chimed in, laughing as well.

“Is that your idea of a celebration? What you’re doing is pure mockery! Go back to your seats, now!” Zhang Liying said sternly.

“Oh—all right, class is about to start!” Huang Yongliang called out, then turned and went back to his seat.

Huang Yongsheng and Zhang Shichang laughed and followed him back.

Just then, several beepers went off at once.

Zhang Liying thought it was hers, so she reached into her pocket, took her beeper out for a look, saw it wasn’t lit up, and put it away, glancing around.

She noticed the other students looking at Li Bufan, so she turned her gaze to him too.

She realized then that Li Bufan was staring at his own beeper with a mischievous grin on his face. Seeing his expression, Zhang Liying knew his beeper was also set to Chinese, and that he must have received some amusing news.

She turned her attention to Wei Xiaofan, smiled sincerely, and said, “Wei Xiaofan, congratulations on your excellent article! You’ve really lived up to the expectations of our class!”

She spoke with the tone of a leader offering congratulations to a subordinate.

Wei Xiaofan had been buried in his book, but when he heard Zhang Liying’s melodious voice congratulating him, he looked up.

“Thank you, class monitor!” he replied.

“Keep working hard! With grades like this, you must do everything you can to finish school,” Zhang Liying encouraged.

“I’ll see how things go, but I’ll do my best,” Wei Xiaofan replied hesitantly.

“We’re all classmates and friends. If you ever face difficulties, talk things over with Wei Xiaoping, or with all of us,” Zhang Liying continued, her gaze warm and encouraging.

“It’s not just ‘do your best’—you have to finish school, no matter what! Make up your mind!” Wei Xiaoping said, giving Wei Xiaofan a supportive hug with her left arm.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaoyan came over as well. “Wei Xiaoping and the class monitor are right. We’re all friends now. If you run into trouble, tell us! Maybe no one person can help with everything, but if we each do our part, together we can do a lot.”

As he saw Wei Xiaoping, Zhang Liying, and Zhang Xiaoyan showing their concern, Wei Xiaofan couldn’t help thinking back to the mockery from Li Bufan’s so-called friends just now.

He thought, at least there are classmates here who care and comfort me; otherwise, I’d really feel there was no point in being here.

But then, realizing his own thoughts were a bit negative, he shook his head and said to Wei Xiaoping, “Don’t worry, Wei Xiaoping, class monitor, Zhang Xiaoyan—I’ll be just like you. No matter how tough things get, I’ll stick it out and finish school!”

“That’s more like it! Remember what we said at the restaurant—keep your spirits up, and no matter how hard things get, find a way to overcome them!” Zhang Xiaoyan said.

“Oh, by the way, there’s a physics problem I’ve been puzzling over for a while with no solution. Let’s all look at it together during lunch later, shall we?” Zhang Liying said.

“What kind of problem is it?” asked Wei Xiaoping.

“Class monitor, why don’t you bring it over for us to see? I love challenging questions!” Wei Xiaofan said.

“How about this—class is about to start. I’ll copy it out for you all, and give each of you a slip of paper. Think it over when you have a moment,” Zhang Liying said, heading to her desk.

Soon, she returned with four slips of paper.

Wei Xiaofan, Wei Xiaoping, and Zhang Xiaoyan each took one and read what Zhang Liying had written in her neat handwriting. It was a physics multiple-choice question:

“In two identical transparent glass containers, each holding a live bee of equal weight, both containers are placed on a balance scale. When the bees are both crawling on the sides of their respective containers, the scale beam remains level. If the bee in the right container takes flight and hovers in the air, while the bee in the left container continues to crawl, which of the following correctly describes the state of the balance?

A. The scale beam remains level.
B. The scale tilts to the left.
C. The scale tilts to the right.

Choose the correct answer and explain your reasoning.”

Wei Xiaoping, Wei Xiaofan, and Zhang Xiaoyan thought for a moment, eager to share their answers.

But Zhang Liying quickly interjected, “All right, since class is about to begin, why don’t we each write down our answers during the lesson, and after class, we can gather together and discuss them?”

Seeing that it was nearly time for the second period, everyone agreed to her suggestion and returned to their seats, waiting for the teacher and the start of the lesson.