Chapter 31: 029 slapped the face of the entire Elite Class

Editor: Henyee Translations

“…”

A sentence had silenced the classroom once again.

The students couldn’t help but glance over at the corner, and with that look, all thoughts of rebuttal were swallowed back down.

The girl sat there quietly, the sunlight tinting her brows and eyes a pale gold.

Without any deliberate embellishment, she was breathtakingly beautiful in an effortless way.

Could such beauty really belong to a human being?

To call it divine would be an understatement.

Ying Feifei was furious, “Do you dare to say that in front of Xiao Xuan?”

Classmates exchanged looks but stopped talking and began their morning reading.

There was only a five-minute break between the morning reading and the first class. Some students went to get water, others to the restroom.

Ying Zijin, leaning on her elbow, watched distractedly at her English Elective 8 textbook, her thoughts drifting to the time she spent in Country Y.

Back then, people spoke Middle English. Modern English had become quite simplified and was rather quick to learn.

As the five minutes elapsed, the bell for class rang; the first lesson was English.

The English teacher was a woman in her early forties, surnamed Deng.

She walked in on time with the bell, holding a stack of papers, “You all know your final exam scores by now, right? I’m going to distribute the papers.”

“The questions were difficult this time, but everyone did fairly well.”

The students all heaved a sigh of relief.

After all, the exams for Verdant Talented Class were so challenging that people across the net mourned for them.

English exams sometimes were even harder than the IELTS.

“Zhong Zhiwan, 123 points, first in the class,” Teacher Deng called out while distributing the papers, “…Lu Fang, 94 points, Ying Feifei…”

When she was left with the last paper in hand, she didn’t announce the score.

Teacher Deng pushed her glasses up, her voice kind, “Ying Zijin, come and get your paper.”

Ying Zijin nodded and stepped forward.

Lu Fang felt discontent, “Teacher Deng, our scores were all read out. Why not hers?”

He didn’t know that with Ying Zijin’s level of English, scoring thirty points was already her performing exceptionally well.

Teacher Deng smiled good-naturedly, “If Classmate Ying agrees, I can read it out.”

Instantly, Lu Fang looked at the girl arrogantly, “Ying Zijin, you wouldn’t mind letting everyone know your score, would you?”

Ying Zijin received her paper from Teacher Deng’s hand and walked back to her seat.

She completely ignored Lu Fang, not even sparing him a glance.

Lu Fang was fuming with rage.

Ying Feifei reveled in the misfortune, “Zhiwan, I saw it. She only got 25 points. It’s so embarrassing; no wonder she doesn’t want it known.”

Zhong Zhiwan didn’t respond, lost in thought, wondering about something.

“Alright, let’s start reviewing,” Teacher Deng picked up the chalk, “I will be calling on students to answer questions at any time. If you can’t answer…”

The classroom erupted in groans.

Even Zhong Zhiwan had scored only 123 points, indicating just how difficult the exam had been.

Ying Zijin glanced at her paper, pensive.

Hmm, it seemed that she indeed had been quite the poor student before she became fully awake.

Teacher Deng’s pace in class wasn’t fast, and she was considerate of students weak in English, but she wouldn’t tolerate anyone daydreaming during her lesson.

A piece of chalk flew across the room, “Lu Fang, explain question 64 from the reading comprehension section.”

Lu Fang glanced at the question and realized he had gotten it wrong.

And he couldn’t understand a single word of the options, feeling somewhat dumbfounded and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Seeing this, Ying Feifei spoke up loudly, “Teacher Deng, even Zhiwan didn’t get this question right. It must be hard, but I just saw Ying Zijin got it correct. She should be the one to explain.”

Zhong Zhiwan also raised his hand, smiling, “Teacher Deng, I, too, am curious about how Classmate Ying solved it. Could we ask Ying Zijin to explain?”

Once Zhong Zhiwan spoke, many in the class agreed.

“Yes, Teacher Deng.”

“We’re all very curious.”

That question was exceptionally difficult, and no one in the class knew the answer.

Teacher Deng frowned, just about to say something, when the girl in the corner slowly stood up.

She held the paper in one hand, glanced over it, and nonchalantly began to speak.

Lu Fang and Ying Feifei, who were ready to spout taunts, heard a stream of pure, fluent British accent: “…”

Zhong Zhiwan whirled her head around sharply.

Ying Zijin finished explaining the problem in thirty seconds: “To sum up, question 64 should be ‘D’.”

Teacher Deng was pleasantly surprised, “Good answer, that’s right. Please take a seat.”

Ying Zijin sat down, twirling her pen in her fingers.

She exuded an aura that screamed “a bunch of trash”.

The whole class: “…”

Ying Feifei couldn’t believe it: “Zhiwan, can she actually understand it?”

Was she not just guessing?

The smile on Zhong Zhiwan’s lips paused for a moment: “Who knows?”

Just then, Teacher Deng asked her again, “Zhong Zhiwan, did you understand?”

Zhong Zhiwan’s face flushed with heat, she looked down: “Understood.”

“Sigh, you all really disappoint me,” sighed Teacher Deng. “Having learned with me for so long, and yet not as good as Classmate Ying Zijin who joined halfway. After you go back, you all need to study hard.”

The whole class stayed silent, no one daring to speak anymore.

The class ended quickly, and after it, Teacher Deng called Ying Zijin over.

“Did you practice speaking during the winter vacation?”

Ying Zijin raised an eyebrow: “Hmm.”

“Not bad, it’s a good start. You have a weak foundation, and can’t handle the more difficult questions,” said Teacher Deng. “I will give you some basic problem sets, can you come pick them up at my office during lunchtime?”

Ying Zijin didn’t refuse this kindness, even though she didn’t need it: “I have the time.”

“Work hard,” Teacher Deng patted her on the shoulder before leaving, “don’t take others’ words to heart.”

**

At noon, everyone in the classroom went out for lunch.

Ying Zijin bit into a tomato and looked down at her WeChat messages.

Her WeChat contacts were pitifully few, the only people who messaged her were Fu Yunshen and Wen Tinglan.

And the former, had been treating her like a child lately, like the message from today.

[Yaoyao, did you eat properly at noon?]

[No, I ate a tomato.]

She was quite picky.

Ten seconds later, Fu Yunshen sent a voice message.

His voice was always pleasant to hear, deep and mellow, as if dancing on one’s heartstrings.

[Little friend, we’ve only been apart for so long and you’re already not listening. You must eat properly.]

[Oh.]

[Alright, it seems I will have to keep an eye on you. See you tonight to check if our Yaoyao has lost any weight.]

Ying Zijin stared at the message, rubbed her head, and put her phone back in her pocket.

After finishing the last bite of the tomato, she stood up and went to the English department office.

She knocked on the door and entered.

Besides Teacher Deng, there was only a young man in the office.

After the door was closed, Teacher Deng turned to him and said, “Teacher He, this child truly gave me a big surprise today. Her spoken English is just too good.”

It wasn’t just a common British accent; it was the Queen’s English—pure royal British accent.

Simply unbelievable.

Upon hearing this, He Xun asked indifferently, “What’s the use?”

He had substituted a few classes for the Elite Class and naturally knew what kind of student Ying Zijin was.

Unmotivated, not hardworking.

These kinds of students, he liked the least.