Chapter 976: Chapter 450: Xue Jian Is Not a Squishy Toy, He’s a Rose with Thorns
"Ring——"
The bell for the end of the first evening self-study session rang.
Class 4, Grade 1.
Xue Jian, who was on duty, adjusted his sitting posture slightly after hearing the bell. He rubbed his right shoulder with his left hand, relaxing a bit more instinctively, but his eyes were still on the paper in his hand.
He didn’t get up to go to the office for a break or light a mosquito coil, since Ding Sihan next to him was still asking him questions, and he had to provide an answer first.
"This question——"
"Eh? Lin Li? Why did you come back now?"
In the corridor, Bai Bufan’s clear and surprised questioning voice echoed.
Xue Jian, who hadn’t answered yet because he was considering the question, was just about to explain his thoughts. Upon hearing the voices in the corridor, he closed his mouth again and frowned slightly, listening attentively.
Who says you can’t tell a good horror story with just one sentence?
Didn’t Bai Bufan pull it off effortlessly?
"I came back to eat an apple."
Lin Li’s voice unexpectedly appeared right after, making Xue Jian’s hand holding the paper tremble.
Alert, alert, high alert.
This kid actually came back from the multimedia room.
However, despite the clear voices, neither Bai Bufan nor Lin Li appeared outside the door, not even visible through several open windows.
"Apple? What apple." Bai Bufan’s voice continued.
"Haha, I just heard during tutoring that the class teacher of Class 6 gave each of their students an apple. Since their teacher did that, how could our dear Teacher Xue not give us one?
I don’t even need to think about it. I’m sure there’s an apple on my desk right now, right?
Tsk tsk, Bufan, were you trying to surprise me by hiding it?"
Xue Jian: "..."
Upon hearing "dear Teacher Xue" instead of "Old Jian," Xue Jian’s mouth began to twitch.
If these two outside weren’t doing this on purpose, he, Xue Jian, would change his surname to Lin in the future.
The conversation continued——
"This, this is it, haha, right." Bai Bufan’s voice was a bit awkward.
"I knew it! Long live Teacher Xue! I love our teacher the most! Let me go in first to get my apple." Lin Li’s voice was very excited.
"Wait, wait a second!" Bai Bufan stopped him urgently, sounding flustered.
"What’s up?"
"Ze Yu, aren’t you hungry? You and Lin Li should go grab something to eat first. Lin Li, accompany Ze Yu."
"Huh? Why? I want to eat my apple first."
"Oh, Lin Li, this apple is given by Teacher Xue, so of course, you have to treat it with the best attitude!
Fruit after meals, you know, you have to eat fruit after meals to get the most out of it. Eating it directly is disrespecting the apple, and disrespecting Teacher Xue!!"
"Oh oh——got it, got it! My bad, Bufan, you’re right. Ze Yu, let’s go and grab a snack first!"
The conversation in the corridor paused a bit, a brief silence.
But it was just a moment.
Shortly afterward, as Xue Jian thought these two would quiet down, Wang Ze’s voice came, lower than Lin Bai’s, now with a probing tone:
"Bufan...why did you say that...the teacher didn’t give us any apples, right?"
"Wang Ze, didn’t you see the look of respect and admiration Lin Li had for the teacher just now?
He believed so much in the teacher, firmly thought our class teacher would give him an apple today. Did you notice, when I affirmed his thoughts, Lin Li... he was as happy as a child——
Faced with someone like that, how could I bear to tell him the truth, to see the moment of his disappointment? Hmm?"
Bai Bufan spoke with a tone similar to poetry recitation.
"I-I guess you’re right..."
"Wang Ze, let’s go too." Bai Bufan’s tone became urgent.
"Go? Go where?"
"To the convenience store, let’s buy some apples."
"Why buy apples?"
"Buy forty, put them on each classmate’s desk, and say they’re from Teacher Xue, that he asked us to place them for everyone."
"Why do that?"
"You fool! Do you think Lin Li is the only one who respects and believes in Teacher Xue? Lin Li is just a microcosm of Class 4, Grade 1, haven’t you heard the saying, when you find one Lin Li in a class, there’s actually a bunch of them!
Now, besides Lin Li, there must be many classmates with similar thoughts, just not as directly expressed as Lin Li.
But Old Jian, ahem, Teacher Xue didn’t bring apples today, is it because he didn’t want to, is it because he wanted to let us down? Absolutely not! It’s just because he’s busy and forgot!
But being busy is not the teacher’s fault, I believe if the teacher remembers this after today, he will feel very guilty, offer us a remedy, but a broken heart always has cracks even after repairing. That’s not what I want to see.
So for the teacher’s reputation, and Lin Li’s expectations, we need to create a well-meaning fabrication, and anyway, it’s not really a lie, it’s just doing something Teacher Xue forgot to do."
"I...understand now," hearing this ear-splitting awakening, Wang Ze was enlightened and immediately complied: "Then after we buy them, should we get reimbursed by the class monitor with class funds?"
"Reimburse what? Reimbursement would totally expose it, I’ll pay for it myself, haha, today, I offer my blood for recommendation! Xuan! Yuan!"
"I’m fired up!" Wang Ze’s blood boiled, "Bufan, I understand your intention, I’ll chip in half!"
