At the classroom door, Zheng Shanshan took three deep breaths in a row, adjusted her emotions, and stepped in gracefully.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm your new English teacher. My surname is Zheng, full name Zheng Shanshan. You may call me Teacher Zheng."
As soon as she spoke, a wave of excitement rippled through the classroom.
A breathtaking beauty had just walked in!
She wasn't just pretty—she was stunning.
"If our previous English teacher looked like this, would my English be this bad?" a boy whispered, practically drooling.
Another chimed in, "With her around, I'm passing every test, I swear!"
In seconds, the classroom turned into a raucous mess of catcalls and cheers.
At the back of the room, Jiang Chen, who had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed, was finally disturbed by the noise.
He frowned, slapped the desk with a loud bang, and barked, "Can't you all shut up for one second?"
The room fell into instant silence.
Not even a breath could be heard.
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward him—along with one very stunned Zheng Shanshan.
She stared at him, eyes wide, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.
"You?!" she blurted.
Jiang Chen opened his eyes and stared back. "Wait… you're the teacher?!"
Zheng Shanshan's heart skipped a beat. "You're… in Class 7?"
Jiang Chen gave her a look. "Teacher, if I'm not in this class, would I be sitting here reading—ahem, I mean napping?"
The whole room went quiet again, watching the two closely. Realizing all eyes were on her, Zheng Shanshan's face flushed pink. She quickly returned to the podium, pretending to calm down.
Lin Yuechan turned to Jiang Chen and whispered suspiciously, "The new teacher's wearing Chanel No. 5. Same scent that was on you yesterday. Want to explain?"
Jiang Chen sniffed dramatically. "Odd. I smell Xishan aged vinegar. So sour."
Lin Yuechan rolled her eyes. "Tch. As if I'd be jealous."
Jiang Chen casually twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, smirking. "If you're not jealous, why so defensive?"
"Jiang Chen! Don't touch my hair!" She huffed and turned away with a pout. "I'm ignoring you!"
Zheng Shanshan noticed the two whispering and couldn't help the flash of jealousy that passed through her.
She tapped the podium with her knuckle. "Jiang Chen, stand up and answer this question!"
Jiang Chen stood lazily and said, "B."
"This is a fill-in-the-blank, not multiple choice! What B?!"
Jiang Chen blinked, "Ah, then I'll go with D?"
Laughter erupted across the room.
Zheng Shanshan's eye twitched. She picked up the grade sheet from last month and flipped to the bottom.
Sure enough—there he was.
Jiang Chen.
Chinese: 12
Math: 10
English: 8
Science: 20
Total: 50 points.
Dead last in the class. Second-last in the entire grade.
(The last student had missed the exam.)
"Student Jiang Chen," she said carefully, "there's less than a year until the college entrance exams. Don't you think these scores are a little… too low?"
Jiang Chen shrugged. "They're low because I didn't want to try. If I went all out, I'd probably make the top student cry."
The class howled with laughter again.
Lin Yuechan was dumbfounded.
Top student? Wasn't that me? she thought, clenching her fist.
Is this guy serious? Make me cry?
Zheng Shanshan forced a polite smile. "It's good to have ambition… but let's keep our feet on the ground, alright?"
Jiang Chen stomped the floor with a loud thud, startling Lin Yuechan.
She turned to glare at him. "What are you doing? Want to die?"
Jiang Chen looked up, completely serious. "Teacher, I am grounded. See? Both feet."
Zheng Shanshan sighed, wiping imaginary sweat off her brow.
"Student Jiang Chen, come to the office with me. Now."
In the teachers' office…
Zheng Shanshan folded her arms, staring at Jiang Chen like he was some exotic creature.
"How… how are you a student?"
Jiang Chen blinked innocently. "I've always been one."
Zheng Shanshan nearly spat blood.
This guy—how can someone be this annoying?!
Just then, another teacher, Chen Weiwei, passed by and peeked in.
"Teacher Zheng, is everything alright?"