Chapter 18: A newcomer on the Red Chart

The first afternoon period was Language by Old Zhou. With Language lessons rarely being held in the afternoons, also just being right after lunch, many students would usually use it to catch up on their sleep. Being 'good to bully', Old Zhou would also not hold it against them. However, with it being so close to graduation, everyone began thinking back on Old Zhou's good points, not really being able to bear having to part with him.

With such a mindset, everyone was naturally the epitome of earnestness within his lessons. Even before the bell had rung, everyone would generally already be seated within the classroom in an orderly fashion.

Old Zhou walked into the classroom, putting down his lesson materials, but did not begin the lesson…he came before Xu Tingsheng's table, taking his cup before turning and leaving.

A few minutes later, Old Zhou carefully carried a cup of tea in, placing it on Xu Tingsheng's table. Hot steam rose from within it, the pleasant aroma overflowing as it suffused the air.

"This is a fine tea of my collection. I'd always been reluctant to drink it," Old Zhou blinked as he smiled.

"Thank you, Mr Zhou," Xu Tingsheng smiled knowingly.

"You're not surprised?" Old Zhou asked.

"Very surprised," Xu Tingsheng smiled.

"I'm unable to tell." Old Zhou smiled.

The entire room of students was perplexed by the mysterious conversation between the two, "What flow is this? Care and comfort stemming from Old Zhou's love? From the looks of it, Xu Tingsheng's mental state is still pretty good."

However, Old Zhou just didn't say anything, not offering any explanation as he went to the podium at the front after having brewed the tea, calmly going into their revision of two Classical Chinese paragraphs.

The bell rung for the end of the lesson.

Old Zhou kept his lesson materials, walking towards the door whereupon he turned back to look at them, one hand against the doorframe for support as he said in an apparently casual manner that actually had some thinly-veiled pride visible within, "Chairperson, come to my office later to collect the overall results slip. Also, the Red Chart has already been pasted downstairs, you may want to go and take a look at it… hah."

Everyone registered the hidden meaning in his words. Something was up, and it was a good thing. The last time Old Zhou had taken the initiative to mention the Red Chart, three students from the class had entered it.

After Old Zhou had left, some people raced downstairs, while others stared at the class chairperson. Of course, there were some who did not want to know their results, instead having their head buried within their desks as they pretended that they were isolated from the entire world.

Huang Yaming, Fu Cheng and Yao Jing included, some classmates gazed worriedly at Xu Tingsheng. He had already flunked one subject-Old Zhou must have been comforting him earlier? Or expressing support?

There were also some who attempted to think positively, that Xu Tingsheng had perhaps truly pulled off a splendid reversal. However, his Mathematics results of 62 marks heartlessly shattered such thoughts of theirs.

With it already being like this for Mathematics, if he flunked the next few subjects as well, they were afraid that he would not be able to bear it. After all, everyone had clearly seen his great diligence in recent days.

Perhaps Old Zhou shared the same worry. Everyone understood the boundlessness of his heart.

…

Libei Senior High's had a tradition of pasting two ranking charts for the Science and Humanities streams after each of the monthly examinations for the students of the twelfth grade.

One chart would show the top 50 for the examinations, being dubbed the Red Chart.

The other chart would show the 30 students with the highest improvements, being dubbed the Little Red Chart.

Once in a while, someone from Class 10 would enter the Little Red Chart. As for the Red Chart itself, only three Class 10 students had ever been on it. The placings of these three students basically hovered around the top three positions within the class.

The best occasion to date had been when the three of them had entered the chart together, the highest being ranked in 32th place.

"Let's go, to the charts," Xu Tingsheng said to Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng.

Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng were taken aback for a moment. In the past, they had never cared about those Red Charts or whatnot before.

"Come on, I wasn't the only one who said big words," Xu Tingsheng smiled, egging them on.

"Perhaps we'll get on the Little Red Chart," Huang Yaming said to Fu Cheng.

The three descended the staircase. The area before the two ranking charts had long since been occupied by a bustling crowd. The three could only wait quietly by the side.

"Dang, this is too crazy."

"His mother, how many marks must he have scored for his other subjects?"

"It's crazy with Class 10 this time. It's a whole six!"

"There are five newbies on the Red Chart, and three of them are from Class 10."

"The Little Red Chart is even more interesting. Look at the top three; it's all them."

"…"

Amidst their lively discussions, the voices of the people crowded before the charts rose and fell, fluctuating greatly.

Finally, someone noticed the main characters for this, Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng, standing outside the crowd. The noisy crowds all looked back, suddenly falling silent.

This silent atmosphere persisted for a while.

Someone shouted, "Dang it, the three of you quickly get over here."

The crowd unconsciously made way a little. The trio thanked them, and maneuvered their way in.

…

Of the 50 students on the Red Chart, six of them hailed from Class 10. The original three who had entered the charts before had all made it in again this time.

The other three were all new faces:

A Tan Qinglin, ranked 49th.

A Huang Yaming, ranked 48th.

A very lovable-looking pair of rankings.

And also a… Xu Tingsheng, ranked 11th. Having scored 62 marks for Mathematics, Xu Tingsheng was ranked 11th in the entire year.

Like someone had shouted just now, how many marks must he have scored for his other subjects?

Looking at Xu Tingsheng, Huang Yaming and Fu Cheng both felt as though a great weight had been lifted off their shoulders, their previous guilt and worry from his Mathematics score of 62 marks finally disappearing completely.

What followed was shock.

This was like if you were watching the news and saw someone walking across a tightrope wire a few hundred metres up in the air. You would say: How awesome. And that would be that. But if walking on the road one day, you happened to look up and suddenly discovered one of your closest, most ordinary friends currently walking on a tightrope wire a few hundred metres up in the air, you would find yourself in a state of disbelief.

Having calmed down somewhat, Fu Cheng muttered, "The two of you are really not people."

Xu Tingsheng and Huang Yaming had both entered the top 50. From this angle, only Fu Cheng had been unable to act on the 'big words' he had spoken previously. However, the truth was that he had not lost any face, because…

On the Little Red Chart, the top three were: Xu Tingsheng, Fu Cheng, Huang Yaming.

The trio had dominated the chart.

While Fu Cheng had not entered the top 50, his degree of improvement had been even greater than Huang Yaming's. Although his original results had indeed been comparatively worse, his actual ranking would probably not be low.

No one would feel that they had the qualifications to mock Fu Cheng.

The two ranking charts had always been a focal point of the students. However, it had never been as popular as it was today. Even many people of the lower grades rushed over for confirmation upon hearing the news.

…

This matter which everyone considered to be inconceivable had not been any surprising to Xu Tingsheng at all. Himself aside, he had known of Huang Yaming's and Fu Cheng's potential, which could be seen just from their Mathematics results.

More potential for improvement existed within Humanities than with science, because more content had to be memorised, and when those with good memorising power worked hard in it, they would be able to improve immensely overall within a short period of time, as long as they were not terrible in both Mathematics and English. Fu Cheng and Huang Yaming were rather proficient in Mathematics.

The reason for their earlier poor results had been Combined Humanities and English. As careless, leisurely people, it was unlikely for them to have studied diligently.

"Your progress is great, but you just happen to be stomped beneath my feet."

These words were said to Xu Tingsheng, but seemed more like it was directed towards the onlooking students here.

Xu Tingsheng looked at the speaker, Song Ni's scumbag ex-boyfriend. He had still been hiding sneakily around during lunch, but was currently suddenly full of spirit, even releasing provocative remarks on his own accord.

Perhaps it was Xu Tingsheng's weak performance during lunch that had given him courage. Perhaps his ranking on the Red Chart had caused him to get carried away, even though he had just taken a beating a few days ago.

But he was currently ranked first in the entire year.

This was also the first time he had ranked first.

Because of the earlier incident, he had already been bearing deep hatred and resentment towards the trio. Now, his limelight from having scored first in the entire year had been forcibly suppressed by them, with few even having noticed this matter.

How could he take this lying down?

Unable to stand it, regardless of the consequence, he felt that he had to remind Xu Tingsheng, remind everyone here that who they were discussing about and admiring over was but ranked in 11th place, while he was was ranked 1st.

With 10 names in each row of the Red Chart, with Xu Tingsheng ranked 11th, the one ranked 1st just happened to precisely be stomping him underfoot.

Xu Tingsheng raised his head to look at the chart, noting his name: Chen Yulun.

"What, want to go to the roof again?" Huang Yaming tilted his head, asking in a low tone.

Chen Yulun seemed to have suddenly discovered that being top in the entire year did not make him immune to being beaten up as he retreated a little, saying defensively, "It's not like I said anything wrong; he is right below me."

Xu Tingsheng smiled, "Chrysanthemum burst! Be a bit more careful."

The phrase 'chrysanthemum burst' had still not yet appeared, and many people did not understand what Xu Tingsheng meant. Still, from his scoundrelly, wretched grin, it was obviously not a good thing.

…

As the bell for class sounded, the trio returned to the classroom. Currently, Class 10 had long since gone into pandemonium, the class chairman who was holding the overall results slip surrounded by a huge bunch of students.

The mystery behind Old Zhou's cup of tea was finally unravelled.

The miraculous advancement of twelfth grade's Class 10, the miraculous trio, the miraculous Xu Tingsheng.

"The three of you…"

Someone had just wanted to use some foul language to express their disbelief when their history teacher, Fang Yunsheng, wearing a long black skirt, appeared at the door, knocking it.

Ms Fang looked like a female celebrity called Xu Qing, but she was slightly taller than her, her demeanour elegant, her smile quiet and beautiful, appearing mesmerising even when she was angry and her brows were knit together slightly.

Ms Fang had always been one of Class 10's most popular teachers. Upon her appearance, the students crowded around the chairman hurried back to their seats, the ones who had wanted to use foul language forcibly stopping in their tracks. The guys had always been very mindful of their image before Ms Fang.

Ms Fang had brought along the exam scripts for Combined Humanities, getting the class representative to help to distribute them.

However, Xu Tingsheng did not get back his exam scripts.

His exam scripts were in Ms Fang's hands.

Rustling the papers in her hands, Ms Fang smiled, "There are many students that I have to commend, but first, as entrusted by the Politics and Geography teachers, I have to commend this person on behalf of the three faculties."

Ms Fang was all smiles as she looked at Xu Tingsheng, "Xu Tingsheng, for Combined Humanities, full marks for multiple choice questions, total score 268, ranked…first in class, first in school, first in…the city."

"Wa," Shocked exclamations resounded with every segment of Ms Fang's words.

Combined Humanities was such a subject. It was right to say that it was simple, but it was actually also not wrong to say that it was very difficult. With so many major questions, however one answered, it also seemed like some marks would be deducted from each question. Even if it were a teacher answering the questions, it would also be impossible for them to touch on each required point precisely and perfectly. Therefore, while getting full marks for the multiple choice questions was very significant, a total score of 268 was even more insane.

First in the entire city for Combined Humanities it was.

"Other than that, I heard that Xu Tingsheng also ranked 11th overall in the entire year having only scored 62 marks for Mathematics…Congratulations, you have fulfilled your promise."

As Ms Fang smiled happily, 'all lifeforms' toppled before her.

Chapter 19: Fu Cheng's Secret

Ms Fang continued to praise a few other students, one of whom was Fu Cheng, whose history grades had improved tremendously.

"Fu Cheng's overall grades improved greatly too! Keep up the good work!" Looking at Fu Cheng, Ms Fang smiled and pumped her small fist.

Fu Cheng grinned back, nodding enthusiastically.

On the surface, Fu Cheng's response was not any different from the other students who had been praised as well, with a smile suppressed to give a calm, joyous air whilst trying hard to appear composed. Only Xu Tingsheng knew how much this praise meant to him, how blissful it was.

At this moment, Fu Cheng's heart had probably soared beyond the distant heavens.

“Maybe… he instantly had a 'reaction', “Xu Tingsheng had a lewd thought.

The person Fu Cheng fancied was Ms Fang, Fang Yunyao.

In fact, many boys would have had crushes on their female teachers during their school years. For instance, in this very class, the number of boys who liked Ms Fang was no less than 12.

The total number of boys in Class 10 was 12.

This went to say that even Xu Tingsheng liked Ms Fang to some extent. His subsequent choice in his previous life to become a history teacher, rather than one of any other subject, had in fact been influenced greatly by this.

Fang Yunyao possessed an appeal that the young senior high girls lacked.

The flood of the adolescent hormones of puberty left the boys utterly unable to resist such a woman. She was beautiful and elegant, gentle and warm, but more importantly, while she was youthful, she was at the same time also more mature than these younger girls around them. This kind of maturity was like that cherry atop a cake, dark red and full, sparkling and translucent, bright and crystal clear, causing people to stare, to thirst for it, greedy, insatiable.

This kind of more crush which was more illusory than real featured even more frequently in the 'fantasies' and 'dreams' of the boys.

Fang Yunyao would, on occasion, act more like an adolescent girl than a teacher. For instance, she would sometimes tell the students about her grievances, throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child.

Each time such a scene played out, all the boys would collectively appear bewitched, the entire dormitory tossing and turning in their sleep.

Yet, Fu Cheng's feelings were distinct from that of all the others, for it had been concealed for a long time, had persisted for longer, and was much more genuine.

Even when Huang Yaming and Xu Tingsheng had already begun going into relationships, Fu Cheng appeared completely unlike an adolescent boy. Although he was on decent terms with quite a few girls, never once did he ever entertain that kind of notion. No matter how pretty and elegant or sexy the girl, never once did he express any interest in them.

In his previous life, Huang Yaming and Xu Tingsheng once advised him to go for a health checkup, to see if his body was developing normally. It was only a long time later that they found out that this fella's hidden desires actually ran so deep, his appetite furthermore being so huge.

If Xu Tingsheng did not expose this, following the developments of his previous life, the both of them would only find out about Fu Cheng's secret two years after their graduation from senior high.

On the day Ms Fang had gotten married, Fu Cheng, Huang Yaming and Xu Tingsheng had gathered together for some drinks at a city far away from Libei County. At first, he had still seemed fine, his behaviour perfectly normal other than appearing rather more frank and straightforward from having drunk some liquor.

After getting drunk, Fu Cheng had begun to cry before he had finally uttered those heaven-shocking, earth-overturning words, "Today, the most beloved woman of all my life got married."

One must know that in senior high, he was the only boy in Class 10 who had never spoken of having a crush on Ms Fang. In fact, not even once had he even joined in with the other boys in discussing her.

It was only then that Huang Yaming and Xu Tingsheng had found out that Fu Cheng had actually liked Ms Fang all along, that deepest kind of affection that harboured even dreams.

Many boys might have liked their female teachers, driven by adulation or the fantasies of their puberty. Yet, this secret love would not hinder them from pursuing and dating the girls by their side. Fu Cheng, however, was an exception in this regard. What he had always thought was that if Ms Fang had not gotten hitched by the time he graduated from university, he would go forth to confess to her.

He never got to see that day. Ms Fang had gotten married when she was 28 years old. Twenty-eight…actually, wasn't that already pretty late? This became yet another 'why were you born then, for then I was not' story.

"Why have you been hiding it from us all this time? Like no one hadn't liked Ms Fang back then," Huang Yaming had asked him at the time.

"It was different; mine was different from yours. For me, I liked her to the point that even saying it out would feel like a kind of sacrilege," Fu Cheng had replied.

"You guys fancied Ms Fang, but which of you ever thought about it seriously, actually truly considered marrying her one day? … No one, right?… I contemplated it, kept on contemplating it, mulled over it every single day. But there was nothing I could do…" Fu Cheng had gotten very drunk at the stage, slumping over the table as he slurred on his words.

In Xu Tingsheng's previous life, this tale had actually not ended here, because Ms Fang's marriage had not been the end of things.

4 years into her marriage, unable to bear the domestic violence that beset her, Ms Fang got a divorce, taking her two-year-old daughter off to distant lands. His hopes reignited, Fu Cheng resigned from his job without hesitation, heading for the city she was in. There, he had pretended to cross paths with her in a coincidental reunion, after which he had silently cared for and protected her.

However, his confession had ultimately still been rejected. Ms Fang had said that she would never be able to accept Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng had shamelessly hung around at Ms Fang's place just like that, brazenly helping her to do everything he could, and Ms Fang had also never remarried. During that period, Fu Cheng's parents had gone over a few times, making a racket, saying that Ms Fang had no sense of shame in having seduced their son. In this way, Fu Cheng's relationship with his family had become fraught, and Ms Fang had been alienated from him further.

In Xu Tingsheng's previous life, this issue had persisted even up to the time of his accident, whereupon it had been still hanging and yet to be settled.

"What if I pushed Fu Cheng into making the confession earlier?"

Xu Tingsheng pondered on this, but it was clear that at this point in time, it was not actually a viable option, being completely meaningless.

"Is there a way to stop Ms Fang from marrying that violent maniac, that man who looked intellectual and cultured on the surface but was really a dark and scary person?"

This was another issue that Xu Tingsheng felt extremely helpless about.

…

126 marks for Language, 138 marks for English, attaining first in class yet twice more, also amongst the top three in the entire year.

The students of Class 10 were already all but numb to his achievements.

When inconceivable things keep on happening one after another, it would be like you meeting your 100th alien on the street one fine day, upon which you would think to yourself 'Ah, there goes another alien' and then just walk past it.

Of course, it was also thought by some that Xu Tingsheng might have cheated.

Everything else aside, Xu Tingsheng's English grades were already completely illogical, defying all one knew of the world. One must know that in the previous monthly tests, he had scored but 57 points for English.

Those who harboured such suspicions, ranging from students to teachers, were evidently not just a few. Quite a few people felt that this possibility might really be true, just that till now, no one had yet said it out loud.

……

During the time allocated for extracurricular activities, the sole activity for the twelfth graders was basically self study. Xu Tingsheng was no exception. He was still somewhat behind in his intonations as well as comprehension ability for English. Also, the vocabulary part of Language could not be tackled solely through the accumulation of intense reading as he had originally thought.

Xu Tingsheng borrowed a classmate's notebook of frequently mistaken words and phrases. Page by page, he thumbed through the book. Whenever some appeared for which he habitually got the pronunciation or meaning wrong, he would jot them down in his own notebook to aid his future revisions.

The teachers also stayed close by, ever ready to clarify the doubts of and guide these students who were about to take their university entrance examinations.

In the staffroom for twelfth grade Combined Humanities, Old Zhou sat at his place by the window, the warm rays of the sun streaming through it, gently showering his face. His eyes narrowed slightly, Old Zhou drank a mouthful of tea, then began softly crooning some Beijing opera:

"I stand atop the city's ramparts gazing upon the mountains, listening to the incessant upheaval outside. Tall banners stream high amidst the wind, yet are actually troops sent by Sima…"

"Mr Zhou seems to be in high spirits," said Mr Zhang, a vice chairman of the student affairs office who also taught twelfth grade himself.

Old Zhou raised his eyelids, chuckling, "Is something up, Vice Chairman?"

Vice Chairman Zhang found a stool for himself and sat down, "Nothing, nothing…Class 10 performed very well this time, especially those students who were originally rather undelectable…"

Old Zhou did not respond.

Vice Chairman Zhang could only continue, "Speaking of our understanding on these students, as their form teacher, Mr Zhou, you should know them the best. I wonder what you think of their grades this time round?"

Old Zhou remained like a monk in deep seated meditation, not responding, for he had long since guessed the purpose of Vice Chairman Zhang's visit.

Vice Chairman Zhang paused for a moment, then unhappily continued, "You see, I also teach history myself. I've taken a look at the history answer scripts of that Xu Tingsheng from your class. All the multiple choice questions having been answered correctly aside, the essay questions were tackled to point so thoroughly and precisely it was shocking. I am not sure that even I myself might be able to achieve such a level on the paper, so…"

Old Zhou exhaled, "What is it that you are trying to imply, Vice Chairman?"

"Does Mr Zhou think that there is any possibility that Xu Tingsheng could have cheated?"

"Oh? Who could he have copied?"

Old Zhou's returning shot had immense killing power; it was virtually able to utterly annihilate all those doubtful voices. Xu Tingsheng had been number one in the entire Jiannan City for Combined Humanities, and even the second placed student in Libei Senior High had scored close to 30 marks lower than him. Vice Chairman Zhang, you yourself just said that even you might be unable to do the paper to such a standard. In that case, who could he have copied?

An inner struggle played out on Vice Chairman Zhang's face before he hesitantly ventured, "I'm thinking that these three students could possibly have stolen… gained access to the papers beforehand?"

Old Zhou stood up, "If Vice Chairman wishes it, I can get Xu Tingsheng and the others to come over, and you can directly interrogate them yourself… However, I hope that Vice Chairman had best be able to come up with the corresponding evidence. Otherwise, this would be attacking the proactivity of the students in working diligently to improve. What with the university entrance examinations right around the corner, I think that that would not be a very wise move to make."

"Old Zhou, that's why I'm asking you first…"

Vice Chairman Zhang was trying to explain himself, when Old Zhou, Zhou Xueyin, had already walked out of the staffroom in a huff. Ever since the overall results had been released, this sort of discussion and doubts had not ever ceased. Usually having a good temper, Old Zhou was now finally beginning to fume a little.

Yet, there was something else which would make him simmer even more.

Class 10 was located right beside the staffroom. As Old Zhou left the staffroom, he was just about to enter the classroom when he noticed that there was already a person standing at the front.

Class 7's form teacher Zhang Xiuyun was in fact not a teacher of any subject for Class 10. Yet, at this moment, she had suddenly materialised in Class 10, facing the entire room of Class 10 students.

And here she asked, "Students of Class 10, does copying feel swell?"