Chapter 18: The Unflappable Monitor and the Peculiar Teacher

Once her words faded, an unusual silence descended upon the classroom during the break, akin to a self-study session. One could have heard a pin drop.

Lin QingYu, however, remained utterly unfazed by her classmates’ thoughts.

There was, nevertheless, one particular situation she absolutely could not tolerate.

It was the sight of others cornering Bai YuYang, interrogating him, and forcing him to answer questions that held no basis in reality.

‘My Bai YuYang? Who are you to gossip and criticize him?’

Fuming, she settled back into her seat, not bothering to turn around. Yet, another sentence escaped her lips.

These words were clearly directed at Zhou Fan and her companions.

“I know you mean well, but the truth is out now, isn’t it? So, I still suggest you apologize to YuYang. After all, he’s the class monitor, and misunderstanding him like this reflects poorly on the class.

Cough… this is just a suggestion, though! Whether you apologize or not has nothing to do with me!”

In truth, what the ‘Loli Lin’ really thought was: ‘If you don’t apologize to YuYang, I’ll fight you all!’

The girls accompanying Zhou Fan were not entirely unreasonable.

Even if they couldn’t always distinguish right from wrong, they could clearly see that Lin QingYu was genuinely angry now. What she had stated must undoubtedly be the truth.

Since they were in the wrong, what recourse did they have other than to apologize?

Zhou Fan turned back awkwardly, unable to meet Bai YuYang’s gaze, and slowly lowered her head.

“We’re, we’re sorry, Class Monitor. We were too presumptuous. If something like this happens again, we’ll definitely ask for clarification first…”

The other girls had initially come to watch the drama unfold. Now, this unexpected outcome made it difficult for them to simply retreat.

It seemed that while gossiping was fine, getting involved carried risks!

“Sorry, Class Monitor…”

“We’re truly sorry!”

As they apologized one after another, before Bai YuYang could even respond, the “emotionally intelligent” Luo Hao was already grinning from ear to ear.

“Hahahaha! Look at you girls today! Doesn’t it feel terrible, terrible to have misunderstood Brother Yang?”

‘Haozi…’

‘Do you know why you don’t have a girlfriend?’

It was evident that not only these few girls, but even some of the other classmates who hadn’t participated, cast glances of disdain toward Luo Hao.

‘Huh, it seems I’ve become the ‘public enemy of all girls’ in this wave?’

‘Brother Yang, save me!’

Bai YuYang simply shook his head, signaling that it was a lost cause.

Luo Hao, who had been so smug just moments before, humbly lowered his head.

‘I should just focus on copying my math homework… Why did I have to say so much for nothing?’

When everyone’s attention returned to Bai YuYang, they saw him offering a wry smile and waving his hand.

“It’s fine. We’re all classmates; it’s good that the misunderstanding has been cleared,” Bai YuYang said, appearing completely unfazed.

“And I know you were all looking out for Lin QingYu, right? So, I won’t blame any of you. Besides, our relationship is actually quite good. What you’re worried about—me bullying her—won’t happen.”

Upon hearing the words “relationship is good,” no one noticed the slight tremor in Lin QingYu’s pink hair in the front row, as if her ears had perked up, listening intently to Bai YuYang’s words.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, let’s leave it at that for now. The next class is with our homeroom teacher, so everyone please return to your seats.”

The girls exchanged glances, understanding that the Class Monitor had likely forgiven them. They quickly dispersed to their respective spots.

“Thank you, Class Monitor!”

“Ugh… Next time, we absolutely can’t do such a foolish thing.”

“Exactly…”

Mo Sishi, who had descended like a goddess but ultimately played no role, pushed her non-prescription black-rimmed glasses up her nose, blending into the background like a tiny, transparent figure. She quietly turned back and buried herself in her book amidst the commotion.

Bai YuYang surely didn’t realize that, after this incident, his prestige in the class had once again risen.

He remained neither arrogant nor impatient, displaying magnanimity. He hadn’t panicked from beginning to end, nor had he erupted in anger despite being wrongly accused.

Just as several girls were now blushing and whispering to each other.

“Wow… did you see him? Up close, the Class Monitor is really handsome!”

“And his personality is so good… Sigh, if only I could be his girlfriend, I’d surely be so happy.”

“Haha, stop dreaming. You definitely have no chance.”

“Neither do you!”

Bai YuYang certainly didn’t hear these comments. His current concern lay with a different matter.

Lin QingYu was very conscious of her image; this was no secret.

In her previous life, she had once bumped her head on the doorframe while leaving the classroom.

At the time, simply because a few classmates had quietly chuckled, she had been dejected for several days, constantly complaining to Bai YuYang that it was an absolute black mark on her history.

Yet, just now, to prevent him from taking the blame for her, she had unreservedly revealed the incident of her tripping and falling.

Wasn’t this an even greater ‘black mark’ than bumping her head on a doorframe?

Therefore, Bai YuYang was now very mindful of Lin QingYu’s mood and how everyone viewed the situation.

Unable to put his mind at ease, Bai YuYang used the opportunity of collecting the enrollment attendance sheets to circle the entire classroom.

And then… he overheard quite a few opinions regarding the recent incident.

“Shouldn’t we say, as expected of our Class 4’s mascot… she certainly has character!”

“She’s truly adorable! I always thought Lin QingYu was tiny, but I never expected her to actually trip on flat ground?! Isn’t this the pinnacle of a clumsy yet cute loli?”

“Keep it down, keep it down… If she hears you, she might hit you with a book. But honestly, she really is cute.”

‘Alright.’

For some unknown reason, Bai YuYang suddenly felt relieved.

‘You all understand perfectly!’

Indeed, sometimes Lin QingYu overthought things. Everyone was quite tolerant of her as a loli. When a loli made a mistake, was it really a mistake? No, it was ‘cute’!

But in Bai YuYang’s eyes, it was ‘clumsy’!

When he reached Lin QingYu’s desk, he chuckled softly. “It’s fine, don’t panic. I just scouted for you. You won’t suffer ‘social death’; everyone thinks it’s nothing.”

Lin QingYu blinked her cherry-blossom pink eyes, first glancing at Bai YuYang, then turning her head away in the opposite direction.

Her response was swift and decisive.

“Hmph!”

‘So, are you relieved or angry?’

Sometimes, even Bai YuYang, who understood her quite well, couldn’t fathom what this little one was thinking.

Bai YuYang finished collecting the attendance sheets, compiled them, and then placed the thick stack of documents on the teacher’s desk.

The class bell had already rung a few minutes ago, but the teacher had not yet arrived.

For Qin Yan, the homeroom teacher of Class 4, this was utterly commonplace. The students had long grown accustomed to it, automatically quieting down. Those who had self-study began studying, and those who needed to copy homework did so.

Another five minutes passed before Qin Yan, the homeroom teacher, finally arrived, still looking somewhat listless. She slowly walked to the podium, placed her lesson plan down, and surveyed the classroom, asking unhurriedly.

“I just heard from teachers in other classes that our classroom was quite lively last break? Class Monitor, what was the problem just now?”

Bai YuYang stood up to answer, “There was a situation, but it’s already resolved. Specifically…”

“Alright, if it’s resolved, you don’t need to tell me. Sit down. Take out your physics textbooks and prepare for class.”

“……”

‘You should at least ask!’ ‘Is this how you’re supposed to be a homeroom teacher?’

Alas… there was nothing to be done. Qin Yan was always swamped with her own affairs. As long as class matters were resolved, she didn’t need to inquire further.

Thanks to having an excellent class monitor, even without her, the students were all diligent in their studies.

However, one point remained: Qin Yan’s teaching ability was beyond doubt. In physics, the subject she taught, Class 4 ranked first in the grade.

“Oh, right.”

Qin Yan looked up and said,

“In our class, most of the students who started in sophomore year were promoted from the old Class 4, but there are also a few students who transferred from other classes, right? So, let me briefly introduce myself.”

“My name is Qin Yan. I’m your future homeroom teacher, and I teach physics. I’m under forty this year, remember! Under forty! A few years ago, I taught Chinese, and even earlier than that, I was a veterinarian. That’s all.”

“……”

‘Your teaching span is really wide, huh!’

‘It even crossed professions directly?!’

‘A physics teacher who doesn’t want to be a veterinarian isn’t a good Chinese teacher?’

Bai YuYang could hear the sound of pens dropping onto desks from several corners of the classroom, likely from the new students who had just transferred, due to their astonishment.

The other older classmates, however, were accustomed to it all; they continued reading their books as usual.

Qin Yan smiled.

‘Heh, my professional experience has long been passed down among the old students as a ‘black mark’ on my history.’

‘Perhaps it wasn’t exactly a black mark… but bringing it up still made Qin Yan herself feel it was absurd.’

‘But before you little brats could tell these new students about this black mark, me saying it myself seems to have won me a point?’

Hm… She didn’t realize that, in reality, no students had intended to bring up the matter just now, or rather, everyone had largely forgotten about it.

Yet, her words were destined to make everyone recall that interesting school anecdote from last year once again.

It would likely be common knowledge among the freshmen by the afternoon.

This move, ah, this was called self-detonation!