Wan Xiutong’s eyes sparkled. “I’m cheering for my deskmate!”
“Deskmate?” Another deskmate…
“Yep.”
“Ahem!” Wan’s father cleared his throat. “Then who is Sister Yue?”
“My deskmate.”
“Jiang Jiang?”
Wan Xiutong: “Also my deskmate.”
“Goddess?”
“Also my deskmate.”
Wan’s father was confused. “How many deskmates do you have?”
Wan Xiutong: “Just one!”
“?” Forget it, I didn’t ask.
“Dad, don’t leave. Watch this video with me! It’s super exciting and explosive!” Wan Xiutong opened the door wider, inviting him in with a beaming smile.
Wan’s father was skeptical. “Is it more exciting than fighting the Japanese? More explosive than Li Yunlong’s Italian cannon?”
“That’s a dramatized version, artistically processed. What I’m showing you actually happened, pure and unexaggerated.”
“Really? Let me see…”
Two minutes later—
“Well said!” Wan’s father punched his own thigh. “That’s how you should deal with those little punks!”
“Hehe, that’s my deskmate~” Wan Xiutong’s chin lifted slightly, almost wagging an imaginary tail in pride.
Wan’s father sighed, “Daughter, you’re something!”
“Then, if I cheer for the goddess later… will it disturb your TV watching?”
“Absolutely not! Cheer away! It’s a patriotic act!”
Wan Xiutong: yes!
…
Liu Bowen had just returned from playing basketball when he heard his phone, left at home, incessantly pinging with WeChat messages.
The notifications were endless.
He thought something urgent had happened and quickly checked.
It was all about Jiang Fuyue?
From relatives to his parents’ colleagues, long-lost elementary school classmates, and even neighbors who moved away ages ago, everyone was asking about Jiang Fuyue.
They all followed a similar pattern—
First, they sent a video, a photo, or a GIF, then asked: Is this someone from Linan No.1 High School? Do you know her? She’s so awesome!
Liu Bowen was dumbfounded. “What’s going on?”
After reading the avalanche of messages in his class group and watching the video that almost crashed his phone, he finally understood what had happened.
Before he could recover from the shock and admiration, the door opened.
“Mom? Why are you home at this hour? Aren’t you at work?”
“Sigh, I called you but you didn’t answer, and you didn’t reply to my messages either, so I had to come home,” Liu’s mother said, fanning herself while quickly changing shoes.
“You called me?” Liu Bowen scratched his head. “I didn’t notice. Too many messages. What’s so urgent?”
“It’s very urgent!” Liu’s mother grabbed her son’s hand, her urgency palpable. “Tell me, what’s the name of the girl in your class who always beats you to first place? Is it Jiang Fuyue?”
Liu Bowen: “?”
“I remember her name. Right? She’s in your class, and you sit near each other. But Aunt Zhang doesn’t believe me!”
“So, you came all the way home for this?”
“I had to confirm it! This afternoon, I need to tell Aunt Zhang and see her reaction!”
Liu Bowen’s eye twitched. Middle-aged women are truly bored.
“Son, let me tell you, that classmate of yours is amazing! She’s really making our country proud. Those R country people were totally put in their place by her.”
Liu Bowen: “…Oh.”
“Why aren’t you more excited?”
“I’m used to it.”
“Huh?”
“She’s always this awesome at school too.” Your precious son has been disciplined by her a lot.
[Living with a Smile].JPG
Liu’s mother: “This girl has quite the personality. I like her! By the way, how’s your relationship with her?”
“Okay, I guess.” Not very confidently.
Liu’s mother’s eyes lit up. “Do you have a photo together?”
Liu Bowen: “What?”
“Send it to me! I need to show it at work. If they know that Jiang Fuyue’s front desk neighbor is my son, that’ll be such an honor!”
“?!” Your son being first in class, winning competitions isn’t an honor; being Jiang Fuyue’s front desk neighbor is?
D*mn it!
So frustrating!
…
“Enough already… I said I’m busy, stop calling!” This was Xu Jing’s umpteenth time rejecting interview requests.
Just because—he is Jiang Fuyue’s homeroom teacher.
Xu Jing glanced at the TV showing the midday news, where the screen just switched from a live broadcast to the video on YouTube, followed by the host’s impassioned narration—
“The International Physics Olympiad is in full swing, and our country has sent five outstanding students to compete. However, on the third day of the competition, something interesting happened…”
Then it showed Jiang Fuyue’s actions and the words she said in the video.
The host: “As Jiang said, ‘A grand nation of etiquette and manners, why stoop to argue with petty people?'”
Xu Jing sighed, picked up the remote, and quietly turned up the volume.
Just then, Mrs. Xu walked by the living room, wearing an apron.
“Hey,” he called out to his wife, “look, that’s my student.”
Despite his calm demeanor, he couldn’t hide the pride in his eyes.
Mrs. Xu rolled her eyes. “Is there anyone in this building who doesn’t know Jiang Fuyue is your student? You’ve repeated it over eighty times since this morning. Give it a rest. My ears are growing calluses.”
Xu Jing chuckled, justified, “She is my student! It’s not a lie…”
“Was that another call for an interview?”
“Yeah, some small media outlets. The school has already agreed to an exclusive interview with the local TV station, but they keep pestering me. Ahem! As Jiang Fuyue’s homeroom teacher, am I so easily accessible? Hmph!”
“Tsk, Old Xu, you’re getting arrogant.”
“Oh, that’s because of Jiang Fuyue.”
“…”
Suddenly, the phone rang again.
Xu Jing was about to hang up, but then he saw it was Meng Zhijian calling.
“Hello—”
“Old Xu, what the heck happened? I went fishing in the mountains with some friends, my phone died, and I just got home to find hundreds of messages and missed calls. Scared me to death. It’s like I was cut off from society for a day!”
“Ahem!” Xu Jing cleared his throat. “Let me explain it slowly, it’s like this…”
Five minutes later, Meng Zhijian: “She really said that?”
“Yeah! Full of vigor and clear voice!”
“No wonder she always dared to talk back to us. Turns out she’s this gutsy! Unbelievable!” Despite his words, pride and admiration were evident.
Xu Jing sighed, “Truly my student!”
“Hey, she’s also mine, don’t just claim her for yourself.”
“Bull— You teach Senior Two Class 7. Don’t try to claim credit. I’m Jiang Fuyue’s official homeroom teacher, stay out of it.”
“Hehe…” Meng Zhijian was unhurried, “I’m her physics competition class teacher, that counts too.”
Xu Jing: “No, it doesn’t!”
Meng Zhijian: “It does!”
“Does not!”
…
The two middle-aged men argued childishly, competing for credit.
Mrs. Xu’s mouth twitched. Forget it, can’t control them.
If she had such an outstanding student, she would also want to tell the world!
Meanwhile, Yu Wenzhou, who hadn’t answered his phone, was busy. Four phones were in front of him, surfing the internet simultaneously.
Two were for debating and arguing with negative comments about Jiang Fuyue, and the other two were for spamming 666 and singing praises.
Indeed, he was just an ordinary surfing talent, a big-time supporter.
Yeah!
…
Jiang’s Pancake Shop.
Jiang Da and Han Yunru were sweating profusely. They had been working continuously for four hours, yet the queue of customers didn’t decrease; it kept growing.
Most customers, after getting their pancakes, would say kindly: “You two are working hard!”
Or say: “You two are truly great.”
Jiang Da was puzzled, and Han Yunru was equally confused.
Finally, the liquor store owner took out his phone and showed them the video. “Brother Jiang, your daughter is amazing!”
Jiang Da smiled foolishly, filled with pride.
…
In the capital, at the Xie family’s old house.
Zhong Ziang, with a head of messy hair, rushed downstairs with his phone, barely washed.
“Hahaha! My girlfriend—my girlfriend—is trending!”
The old lady immediately sat up, full of energy. “Let me see!”
Just as Xie Dingyuan was about to leave, he suddenly paused, silently turning back…
