Chapter 20 Sitting with Lu Siyuan

The first class was Chinese, taught by a woman in her forties named Li Qiumei, who wore a pair of glasses and exuded an aura akin to that of a stern abbess.

As she entered the classroom with the chalk box in hand, she caught sight of Shen Mianmian standing in front of the podium. She was taken aback, "Shen Mianmian? What are you doing standing there?"

She had already discussed expelling Shen Mianmian with the principal, yet here was this girl again, wrapped in a military coat. The classroom was chilling to the bone, and wearing that was like sitting beside a furnace—Li Qiumei felt envious just looking at her.

"My seat has been taken by someone else. I have nowhere to sit."

Shen Mianmian pursed her lips; she was not a good student, and Li Qiumei had always seen her as a thorn in her side.

Only then did Li Qiumei remember that, having heard Shen Mianmian was dropping out, she had moved Chen Juan to the front and Zhao Lanlan to Chen Juan's spot from the fourth row.

Those two had already switched places; asking them to move back was certainly not what they would want.

"You can take the seat Zhao Lanlan used to occupy!"

"Teacher, I don't want to sit with Shen Mianmian. She's a poor student, dumb-headed. I'm afraid dumbness is contagious."

Zhao Lanlan's deskmate, a chubby boy, stood up with his hand raised. As soon as the words left his mouth, the whole class burst into roaring laughter.

Zhou Siyu was perhaps the most smug of all. To compete with her—this was the price.

"Quiet," snarled Li Qiumei, giving Shen Mianmian a fierce look. To end up in this state and still have the nerve to attend school; Li Qiumei felt embarrassed just on behalf of Shen Mianmian.

Scanning the room, only the seat next to Lu Siyuan remained empty. "You sit next to Lu Siyuan."

For Shen Mianmian, where she sat really didn't matter. Without any hesitation, she grabbed her schoolbag and took the seat beside Lu Siyuan, her actions so swift that Lu Siyuan didn't even have time to object.

"Teacher..."

"It's almost the end of the term; if anyone has any objections, hold on to them," Li Qiumei said, not giving Lu Siyuan any chance to refuse.

Since the person had come, she had to arrange a seat for her, right? Li Qiumei had already given up on Shen Mianmian, so she couldn't be bothered to waste her breath scolding her for missing two days of school.

As for Lu Siyuan?

Just yesterday, a female student had come to her in tears with a complaint; let it serve as his punishment.

Lu Siyuan swallowed his words, giving Shen Mianmian a glare, but she was already taking out her Chinese book and staring straight at the podium.

She was there to learn. Who sat next to her and their opinions of her really didn't matter that much.

The curriculum for the term had already been completed, and class was now focused solely on reviewing previously studied material. After explaining for a while, Li Qiumei randomly posed a question on the blackboard.

"Who will answer this question?"

Four or five students raised their hands at once. Those who didn't know the answer buried their heads low, dreading being called upon to speak. Li Qiumei scanned the class and finally set her gaze on Zhou Siyu.

"Zhou Siyu, you answer it."

Zhou Siyu stood up and confidently delivered the answer. Li Qiumei nodded her approval. Truly one of her favored students, "You may sit down."

After praising Zhou Siyu, she threw a meaningful glance at Shen Mianmian, "Everyone should learn from Zhou Siyu. Be smart and think. Don't be like certain classmates who only know how to skip class..."

It was clear whom she was referring to without saying it outright.

Zhou Siyu turned around with a look of triumph to glance at Shen Mianmian. See that? To compete in studies with her, the teacher was never going to side with anyone else.

She was the one who excelled at studying; she was meant to be a student. As for Shen Mianmian, of course, she was destined for farming.

...