Chapter 7

"Hey! You! You! And you guys! All of you, come to my office!"

Right after the English class ended, the beautiful and cold teacher Cheng had just left the classroom. The homeroom teacher, Tang Feng, walked into the classroom with a stern face, and the students, who had just relaxed, all sensed something was wrong. They quickly put away their smiles and focused their gazes on Tang Feng.

Tang Feng, with a stern face, pointed to seven or eight boys at the back of the classroom and ordered them to go to his office.

Among those pointed out were Fan Long, Ji Yichun, Lou Wenhao, and Zhao Yan.

Tang Feng turned and left, and the seven or eight boys, none of whom dared to disobey, got up with grim faces.

"Damn! We're in trouble!"

"It's all because of Long! The oranges were bought by Long!"

"What to fear? In two months, we'll graduate! Anyway, we won't pass the college entrance exam, so we just need to get through these two months! Why should we be afraid of the homeroom teacher?"

...

The few boys who were called out slowly got up and left, muttering to themselves. Some were intimidated by the homeroom teacher Tang Feng's accumulated authority over the past three years, while others were completely unconcerned.

The college entrance exam was in early June, and it was already early April. With graduation just around the corner, these boys had little hope of passing the exam and thus no longer feared Tang Feng.

These were the so-called "old hands"!

In every graduating class of every school, there were always a few "old hands" among the students with poor grades, such as fifth graders in elementary school, third graders in junior high, third graders in high school, and seniors in college.

Because they were about to graduate and escape the control of their teachers, some students who were not good at studying became reckless and fearless.

For example, Zhao Yan and his friends eating oranges during the English class was a typical "old hand" behavior.

Although the college entrance exam in Da Ming required students to take only one or two subjects, or at most three or four, everyone could focus their energy on one or two or three or four subjects. In theory, everyone could excel in those few subjects and pass the exam.

But that was not the case.

When all the students' energy was concentrated on just three or four, or even one or two subjects, the difficulty of each subject increased exponentially, and the depth of each subject far exceeded that of the courses in another timeline, the Republic.

For example, the only main subject in the Da Ming college entrance exam—National Studies—had a total score of 300 points, and the test questions were far beyond the imagination of most people.

A 300-point test was enough to create a significant gap between most students.

Top students could easily score 100 or 200 points more than average students.

...

"Yan! It's all your fault! You said you wanted to eat oranges! Now look what you've done! So many people are in trouble because of you!"

Fan Long looked very depressed.

"I don't know how the homeroom teacher will punish us..."

Lou Wenhao was a bit anxious.

"What to fear? In two months, we'll graduate. If the homeroom teacher goes too far, I'll go to the junior high school and beat his son after I graduate!"

This was said by the unruly Ji Yichun.

Among the four brothers, Ji Yichun was the most unruly. Given his character, it was quite possible that he would actually go to the junior high school and beat the homeroom teacher's son after graduation.

Huo Qinqin turned around and worriedly said to Zhao Yan, "Zhao Yan! Be honest! Don't talk back to Mr. Tang!"

Zhao Yan shrugged, a carefree smile on his face, and walked out of his seat, swaggering out of the classroom with a defiant attitude.

The other students in the class looked at him with various expressions.

Very few were worried about him; most looked at him with ridicule, cold eyes, or even amusement.

Zhao Yan was a typical underachiever in the class, lazy in his studies and impolite in his behavior. If someone boasted or showed off in front of him, he would often tear them down on the spot, exposing their secrets.

With such a personality, how could he have good relationships?

Moreover, Zhao Yan had a very rebellious attitude.

He didn't care about any of the class leaders, and even the teachers, except for the homeroom teacher Tang Feng, couldn't control him.

Over the three years, the students often heard about him and Fan Long getting into fights with others.

Although Zhao Yan and Fan Long never bullied their classmates, they were still not popular with most of the class.

Tang Feng's office was to the left of the staircase. Zhao Yan and the others quickly entered the office.

Tang Feng was already sitting behind his desk with a stern face. There were four or five other teachers in the office. When they saw Zhao Yan and the others enter, the teachers who were talking and joking stopped and cast strange glances at the seven or eight unfortunate students.

Zhao Yan's English teacher, Ms. Cheng, was also in the office. When she saw them enter, she didn't show any reaction, just frowned and glanced at Zhao Yan and the others before tidying up her desk and leaving.

"Who bought the oranges?"

Tang Feng stared coldly at Zhao Yan and the others for a while before suddenly speaking, his voice icy.

Zhao Yan and Ji Yichun didn't move, but Lou Wenhao and the others all looked at Fan Long, who was standing next to Zhao Yan. Fan Long looked around at the gazes focused on him, cursed inwardly, and reluctantly raised his hand.

"Smack!"

The short-tempered Tang Feng grabbed a textbook and threw it at Fan Long's face, causing his nose to bleed and his neatly parted hair to become a ridiculous mess, with a strand of hair hanging down in an imperfect fringe.

He didn't dare to move, neither to fix his hair nor to wipe the blood from his nose.

This was the main reason why everyone feared the homeroom teacher Tang Feng—when he got angry, he would hit people.

"Do the oranges taste good?"

Tang Feng's cold gaze moved from Fan Long's face to the faces of the other unfortunate students.

Zhao Yan: "..."

Fan Long: "..."

Ji Yichun: "..."

Lou Wenhao: "..."

None of the seven or eight unfortunate students dared to speak.

The other teachers in the office were drawn to the scene. Some laughed and shook their heads, some remained expressionless, and others watched with interest.

"What? Are you all mute?"

Tang Feng's gaze fell on Lou Wenhao's face. "Lou Wenhao! Answer me! Do the oranges taste good?"

Lou Wenhao: "No, not good!"

"Smack!"

A book hit Lou Wenhao's face, tilting his glasses on his nose.

"If they don't taste good, why did you eat them in class?"

Tang Feng's reasoning made Lou Wenhao lower his head, behaving like a well-behaved elementary school student.

"Ji Yichun! Do the oranges taste good?"

Tang Feng continued.

Ji Yichun: "Good!"

With the example of Lou Wenhao before him, Ji Yichun answered quickly, showing a defiant attitude.

"Smack!"

Another book hit Ji Yichun's face.

"Good? If they taste good, why didn't you eat them after class?"

Tang Feng still had a reason to hit him.

Ji Yichun's forehead turned red from the book.

Tang Feng's cold gaze shifted to Zhao Yan's face.

"Zhao Yan! Do the oranges taste good?"

Zhao Yan: "..."

With the examples of Lou Wenhao and Ji Yichun before him, saying they didn't taste good would result in a beating, and saying they did taste good would also result in a beating. So, Zhao Yan was speechless.

The other unfortunate students and all the teachers in the office were watching Zhao Yan, waiting to see how he would answer.

At that moment, a beautiful figure entered the office, holding a stack of homework books. Everyone, including Zhao Yan, noticed her.

This girl was hard to describe!

The first impression was beauty! The second impression was still beauty! The third impression, again, was beauty!

It seemed that besides the word "beautiful," there was no other appropriate word to describe her.

Her skin was as smooth as snow, her figure as delicate as a willow branch swaying in the breeze, her features perfectly drawn, and her eyes clear yet full of affection.

She was Xiao Mengyue from Class 1, the school's beauty queen.

She was the girl Zhao Yan had secretly loved for three years.

Xiao Mengyue was the study committee member and English class representative of Class 1, and she had come to deliver the homework books.

Zhao Yan saw her, and she saw him.

If it were any other time, Zhao Yan would have been happy, but at this moment, he felt very uncomfortable.

Just then, the homeroom teacher Tang Feng's voice rang out again, "Zhao Yan! Do the oranges taste good? Answer me!"