Chapter 21: The Weasel
“What is Senior Sheng doing in our class? Looks like he’s checking out our class beauty! He’s got good taste, that’s for sure!”
…
Sheng Chao swept his gaze around the classroom, bypassing the class beauty seated in the center, and instead raised his hand toward the very back, where Shi Qingqing sat.
“Qingqing, want to have lunch together?” he asked.
Under the intense stares of her classmates, Shi Qingqing felt awkward and replied, “No, thank you, Senior Sheng.”
“Why so distant with me? I’ll come find you at lunch.” Sheng Chao arched an eyebrow, giving her a knowing smile.
He turned away, strolling off lazily from the door of Class Seventeen with a few other boys in tow.
Although he had left, Shi Qingqing found herself the focus of countless glances—admiring, envious, disdainful, suspicious, and strange—all converging on her from every direction.
Even Zhang Xiaotu winked at her exaggeratedly. “Hey, Qingqing, what’s going on with Senior Sheng suddenly inviting you to lunch? Is he chasing after you?”
Shi Qingqing jumped in alarm. “Nonsense! Didn’t I already explain? A few months ago, I just found his wallet and returned it to him, so he’s grateful, that’s all.”
She spoke loudly enough not just for Zhang Xiaotu, but for the prying ears all around.
Sure enough, as soon as she said this, the girls craning their necks in the front rows all wore looks of sudden realization, followed by sneering smiles.
“She’s not even that pretty—at best, just passably decent. Even if Senior Sheng had bad taste, he wouldn’t go for her; he must have just come over to see the commotion in the next class.”
“Exactly, and she’s a scholarship case for underprivileged students—how dare she embarrass us at Qingming?”
…
Shi Qingqing pretended not to hear any of it.
She remained as calm as always.
Zhang Xiaotu was indignant. “Qingqing, how can they say that? Just because someone looks ordinary or doesn’t have money, does that make them less than others?”
Shi Qingqing gave her a soothing look.
“But, still,” Zhang Xiaotu continued, “Senior Sheng invited you to lunch and you turned him down! Why?”
Shi Qingqing didn’t even lift her eyelids. “Even if the nation’s campus heartthrob, Young Master Zhan, invites me to lunch, I’d only accept if I felt like it—let alone Senior Sheng.”
Zhang Xiaotu burst out laughing. “Oh, come on! Shi Qingqing, your bragging is really getting out of hand!”
Just then, the Chinese teacher entered the classroom, and everyone fell silent.
Aside from the excitement of a red packet giveaway, nothing could shake Shi Qingqing’s composure—not the invitations from the illustrious young masters, nor the jealous glances of the class beauty, nor the tangled love and hate between the national campus idol and the genius girl from next door. All of it was nothing but fleeting clouds.
The first class was Chinese literature, analyzing ancient poetry.
The teacher was a middle-aged man in a trench coat, gold-rimmed glasses, and somewhat trendy clothes. His voice was magnetic, and he made sure to take full advantage of that, reciting poetry with a dreamy, swaying air, utterly absorbed in his own performance.
His surname was Huang, but everyone in class called him “Weasel Huang”—sly and cunning. He was especially partial to students with influential backgrounds, while treating the ordinary ones with marked arrogance.
Shi Qingqing had entered Qingming High through a side door, not by academic merit.
Because her family was struggling, she took on odd jobs after class, unlike other students who had everything done for them—food, laundry, private tutors, and all the rest—leaving them free to focus solely on their studies. She couldn’t afford any of that.
On top of it all, her mother had once been gravely ill, and with no one else to care for her, Shi Qingqing had taken a month off from school to look after her full time. As a result, her grades were only middling to poor in class.