The Lighter and Princess Gown

OVERGROWN GRASSLAND

3

Fang Shumiao grabbed the class roster and headed to the front of the room to take attendance.

Unsurprisingly, the handful of “troublesome” students, Ren Di included, had skipped out on the morning study hall.

By the time Fang Shumiao got to the end of the roster, her eyes were already tearing.

The attendance rates for the morning and evening study hall directly correlated with the class’ academic performance. And for Fang Shumiao, who was gunning for a spot on the student union, this was very important.

But the class was full of too many strange kids. Fang Shumiao had only been in office for three days, but her face was already breaking out from the stress.

Aside from Zhu Yun, none of the other students paid attention to the class president. Instead, they buried their heads in their books, especially Wu Mengxing, whose face was glued to her advanced mathematics textbook.

Zhu Yun found it quite peculiar. The advanced math class had only met once so far, and the three main things Teacher Zhang imparted were: What is advanced mathematics? What were the requirements of the advanced mathematics course? How would someone learn advanced mathematics well?

However, there were definitely some students who had higher demands for themselves. Previewing the material was understandable enough. So, Zhu Yun corrected her mentality and flipped open her textbook.

That lunch, Fang Shumiao had to attend a meeting, and Ren Di had gone missing to who knew where, leaving Zhu Yun alone in the dorm room. It was too quiet. Coupled with the sun shining through the windows at her, she dozed off. When she finally opened her eyes, she realized that she was going to be late.

To the advisor’s advanced mathematics class.

She ran straight to class, a bird’s nest of hair on her head, praying that they hadn’t taken attendance that day.

In the classroom, Teacher Zhang was introducing calculus.

Like a thief, Zhu Yun bent over to hide. While the teacher was facing the blackboard, she carefully snuck in through the back door of the classroom, and then she slid into the corner of the back row.

As she tried to catch her breath, she asked the student beside her, “D-did—”

“No.”

…This voice. Zhu Yun pushed aside her bedhead. Li Xun.

Since she’d entered the classroom with her head down, she hadn’t seen him. “Thanks,” she replied quietly, but Li Xun didn’t say anything else.

For the new students, who’d already suffered through all sorts of crazy practice exams in their senior year of high school, this advanced math course was very easy, to the extent of feeling like common knowledge.

Because the course was so easy, Zhu Yun had more time to let her mind wander. For example, she noticed that the person beside her was very focused, though his focus wasn’t on Teacher Zhang at the front of the room. Actually, even when Zhu Yun had asked her question, Li Xun hadn’t really looked at her. All of his attention was focused on his legs.

There was a small 11-12 inch laptop on his lap. Zhu Yun couldn’t look over at what he was doing so blatantly, so she could only wonder what he was up to. She could hear an unending clattering of keys being pressed, very quickly too.

Maybe he ought to consider getting a keyboard cover… If you type as if no one is around, you’ll be found out very easily.

At the front of the room, Teacher Zhang called on the class representative to answer a question.
Maybe Wu Mengxing had studied too much in the morning, which led to her difficulties in the afternoon. After her name was called, she was too nervous to even finish her sentence.

“That… It’s-it’s…” Her face turned red as she stared at her book, not daring to raise her head.

In those seconds of silence, the rhythmic typing sound from the back of the room became more evident. When the entire class turned back to look, Zhu Yun coughed. No use. First Place Li had obviously already slipped into his own world.

Likely having run into some problem, Li Xun furrowed his brows and started mashing keys even more furiously.

At the front, Wu Mengxing was still standing stiffly, so Teacher Zhang said, “Don’t be nervous. I called you to stand up to wake up a bit. I mean that for everyone. It’s easy to doze off in the first class of the afternoon, but persevere a little.” He paused and then looked toward the back. “Hm… Li Xun, why don’t you answer the question.”

When he didn’t respond, Zhu Yun hesitated on whether or not she should let him know, but the student on the other side of him spoke up first, “Hey, he’s calling on you.” He kicked Li Xun’s leg and Li Xun finally raised his head.

The student quickly whispered in a quiet voice, such that only those in the last row could hear. “Practice question 6, decompose the compound function.” The book was open to the page and Li Xun glanced at it.

The student continued, “Start from the outside—”

Li Xun placed his laptop on the floor and stood up.

As he stood up, a scent floated through the air… Zhu Yun took a gentle sniff. Shower gel? As Li Xun answered the question, Zhu Yun was thinking about how the scent smelled of mint.

“Correct. Have a seat,” a satisfied Teacher Zhang replied. The class rep’s neck was as red as Mala spicy sauce. (t/n: Mala sauce on Wikipedia)

Li Xun took his seat and the classmate beside him exclaimed excitedly, “That was so fast!”

Gao Jianhong.

Zhu Yun’s impression of him formed during military training. At the time, Fang Shumiao had been bombarded with all sorts of chores. When she was looking for another student to help with the errands, Gao Jianhong offered to help many times. He was a bright and kind boy who was well liked in their class.

After Li Xun’s train of thought was interrupted by Teacher Zhang, it seemed he didn’t have the heart to continue his project. He closed his laptop and started chatting with Gao Jianhong.

The bell rang. Zhu Yun grabbed her books and stood up at the same time as Li Xun beside her. She unconsciously paused… You first.

She exited the classroom behind Li Xun and Gao Jianhong. The halls were filled with students leaving their classes. She raised her head. Li Xun’s tall and golden head was very prominent amidst the crowd. He carried his books and laptop in one arm and his other hand was hidden away inside his pants pocket.

When Fang Shumiao returned to their dorm room to see only Zhu Yun, her face fell. “What do I do.” Fang Shumiao pulled a chair over and sat down by Zhu Yun. “This stress is going to kill me.” Fang Zhumiao hugged and tugged on Zhu Yun’s arm. “How much do they hate studying? Why did they get into this school then?”

“Stay calm for now.”

“How can I stay calm? Look at the class’ attendance record. I’m so done for.”

“….”

Fang Shumiao’s voice was hoarse from being so angry. Zhu Yun suggested, “Why don’t you discuss it with Teacher Zhang?”

“Will that help?”

“Let him talk with them. He’s a teacher after all, so maybe he can intimidate them a bit.”

“You’re onto something.” Fang Shumiao suddenly grew eager as she moved her chair back.

Zhu Yun’s phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen and saw that her mother was calling. She grabbed her phone and left the room, walking all the way to the balcony at the end of the corridor to answer it.

Her mother gave the usual greeting. “Are your classes a lot of work?”

“No, school just started.”

“How are your teachers?”

“They’re good.”

“Make sure to listen to your teachers. Don’t let me worry.”

“How old am I? Don’t you know whether or not I’m obedient by now?”

Her mother laughed tenderly. “I know, I know. I’ve always been very proud of you. By the way, how are your classmates?”

Uh… Zhu Yun thought of Cake Girl and Blond Weirdo.

“They have pretty strong personalities.”

“Strong personalities?”

Rather than getting into a long discussion about it with her mother, Zhu Yun changed the topic. “Ah! Our class president is one of my roommates. She’s a really good student.”

Sure enough, her mother’s attention was diverted. “Make sure to become friends with her.”

Zhu Yun spoke to her mom about Fang Shumiao’s worries of joining the student union, but of course, she skipped over the particulars of the troublesome students.

“You should help her out,” her mother said. “She’s a good kid, so you should help her as much as you can. What kind of students skip class from the very first day? That’s just too outrageous.”

“Mmh.”

Her mother became serious as she said, “A lot of students treat the college entrance exam like the finish line, but that’s the wrong way to look at things. College is when you really start learning. It’s not the end, and it’s not a reststop. You mustn’t treat it lightly.”

“Mmh.” Since it seemed like she was in for another lengthy lecture, Zhu Yun adjusted her phone.

Her mother spoke very clearly for twenty minutes or so, before concluding, “…Alright then. Studying is very important, but make sure you get adequate rest as well. And go out sometimes. Don’t just stay holed up in your room all the time.”

“Mmh.”

As Zhu Yun was about to hang up, her mother added, “And don’t forget that you’re still young. You haven’t interacted with society yet and you’re still immature. Make sure you don’t take pleasure in ignorance and don’t turn rudeness into your disposition. Understand?”

“….” To think she actually tried to change the topic. Ah, she was really too naive.

When her call ended, Zhu Yun ran into Fang Zhumiao, who was returning from outside.

Fang Shumiao was covered in sweat as she explained the results of her discussion with Teacher Zhang. “Basically, Teacher Zhang said that I should let things play out on their own a bit first. If things don’t change, then he’ll say something. He said that since school just started, it would be too formal for him to step in and speak with the students right away.”

Zhu Yun nodded. Then she saw Fang Shumiao’s expectant expression.

“….”

Fang Shumiao grabbed Zhu Yun’s arm. “Save me.”

“……..”

Zhu Yun thought over the words that her mother had just told her. Then she said, “Okay. Who should I go talk to?”

Fang Shumiao, “Those two are the tough ones.”

“You want me to talk to them both?” Zhu Yun started sweating.

Fang Shumiao, “Then, you pick one.”

“Ren Di.”

Fang Shumiao sighed. “Okay. Then I’ll go find Li Xun.” She lowered her voice and added, “I just saw Ren Di. She’s on the sports field.”

Zhu Yun looked out from the balcony. It was getting dark, and above the field in the distance, the sky looked like a beast that would swallow all those who went near. “I’ll go take a look.”

Zhu Yun bought two cups of milk tea downstairs and then prepared herself for a heart to heart talk.

After a day of classes, most students were walking back to their dorms, but Zhu Yin walked along the gray cement sidewalks in the opposite direction.

The sports field was enclosed by a wire fence. Zhu Yun walked to the gate and then saw two figures. It stands to reason that with the sky so dark, one wouldn’t be able to see very clearly.
However, it wasn’t often that someone carried around their laptop like that.

There were some people spread about, exercising. In the center, there was a soccer field, but it wasn’t of great quality. The grass wasn’t new, but rather looked wild, like uncultivated land. A lot of people who liked playing soccer had complained about it.

But Zhu Yun felt that this place wasn’t too bad. She imagined a pair of lovers sitting on the overgrown grass, staring up at the starless sky together… This kind of old-fashioned and everlasting beauty was very enchanting.

And then Zhu Yun came back to her senses. The two targets were ahead.

Advance, or don’t advance. That was the question.