My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The midterm exams had just ended thus the mood of the third year students varied. Some were exuberant while some were depressed. Still, they didn't have time to digest it as a new wave of tryouts was coming soon. The school was rowdy except for the third year block. It was tranquil, serene yet slightly gloomy. Only the sound of papers being flipped and hushed discussion could be heard.

Yao Xiurong's heels echoed throughout the hallway in a steady and calm manner. She pushed open the door and greeted. "Good morning, students."

The class monitor stood up and shouted. "Greeting to Teacher Yao."

The rest of the students followed. "Good morning, Teacher!"

Yao Xiurong nodded and stepped onto the podium. "Today, we will have a new classmate." Without waiting for the students in the class to react, she beckoned for Shi Nian to come over. "Come in."

Shi Nian stepped forward gingerly and took in the entire class' surroundings. There were around thirty students in the class, all of those eyes staring straight at her. Shi Nian gulped nervously and stood beside Yao Xiurong.

She whispered. "Can you introduce yourself?"

Shi Nian took a deep breath and nodded. She accepted the chalk from Teacher Yao and wrote her name on the blackboard. Below it, she added [Please take care of me.] After that, she turned around and bowed deeply, her lips lifted into a bright smile.

The students were dazed and in the next second, the silence exploded into an uproar.

The gossiped transfer student went into their class!

Yao Xiurong tapped on the podium. "Alright, is there something you want to ask?"

"Me, me!"

"Shi Nian, is it? Why did you suddenly transfer schools?"

"Which school did you come from?"

"Who is the man that came with you this morning?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

The last question was received with multiple boos, followed by giggles and unrestrained laughter. The heavy atmosphere dissipated slightly and Shi Nian was relieved to see such a welcoming atmosphere.

Yao Xiurong's face darkened and she massaged her brows. "I didn't see you so energetic when you did practice papers. Shall I add five more?"

"No, no Teacher. Please don't! We have had enough!" The whole class was wailing out loud.

"Silence." She commanded coldly and continued. "Take care of your classmate well, got it? Shi Nian has some special circumstances so her study might be lagging quite behind. I hope that the class will unite and help her as much as possible."

Everyone: "Yes, Teacher! Don't worry!"

The class monitor, a girl with thick glasses, raised her hand.

"Yes, Chen Jiawei?" It was obvious that Yao Xiurong liked this student judging from her patient tone.

"Shi Nian," Chen Jiawei asked. "Do you have practice papers ready? How far along are you?"

Shi Nian scratched her nose and wrote. [I don't have any…but I do study regularly, now I am not very far from the current curriculum.]

The whole class saw Shi Nian busily writing and the atmosphere shifted for a moment.

Yao Xiurong spoke out. "As you can see, classmate Shi Nian has some special circumstances so get along with her, okay?."

Chen Jiawei and everyone else was similarly stunned.

Shi Nian had already known that she would be the center of attention when she carried a board everywhere. Still, the stares and gazes were so sticky that she became quite nervous. 

[Yes, I am unable to talk. Please take care of me, everyone.]

***

By lunch break, the whole school had already known that the new transfer student was placed in Class 1, Year 3 and moreover, she was a little mute.

The school bell rang and everyone in Class 1 collectively sighed in relief. Yao Xiurong closed the notebook and nodded. "Then, we will stop here. Don't forget to do the practice papers for tomorrow. If you have time, memorize more vocabulary."

Shi Nian almost collapsed onto the table, her head buzzing in pain. She had spent these past few months so leisurely that she had forgotten this Spartan-like study. No, this was worse than that because they were already in their third year. Time was tight and everyone wished that there would be 52 hours a day. Shi Nian didn't even have any chance to get to know her classmates because the lesson had started in a rush.

She laid like a salted fish until a chuckle was heard above her head.

It was Chen Jiawei. "Shi Nian, are you hungry? Let's go to the cafeteria together, shall we?" Shi Nian belatedly discovered that under her thick glasses, Chen Jiawei had very beautiful apricot eyes which color was similar to a glass bead.

She was caring, passionate, mature and calm. It's no wonder that she was the class monitor.

Shi Nian nodded and then two more people came to gather around her. The slightly chubby girl with dimples on her cheek was Li Qing and the twintails girl with a bright smile was Mo Ling. They were Chen Jiawei's close friends. Now that Shi Nian joined them, the two girls automatically came to introduce themselves.

"It's really rare for a transfer student to come after midterm." Mo Ling laughed cheerfully. "Do you know how much of an uproar you have caused in the school forum? It's fortunate that my uncle upholds tight rules and maintains regular checks, if not maybe the school forum would have exploded and crashed!"

Shi Nian tilted her head. [Your uncle?]

"You don't know?" Mo Ling's eyes turned eager. "Of course, it's the national treasure, our one and only Principal Mo! He's my blood related uncle, my father's younger brother."

"Oh come on." Chen Jiawei rolled her eyes and said to Shi Nian. "Don't bother with her. She has been telling everyone that Principal Mo is his uncle until the whole school has gotten bored of it."

Mo Ling: "Hey! You're jealous, aren't you?!"

Who didn't want to have such a cool, handsome and charismatic relative like Mo Qingshan? Of course, Mo Ling had to boast about it, it's best if the whole world knew!

Li Qing laughed lightly, as if she had seen a common reoccurrence. "Come on, or else we will not be getting any food."

Shi Nian looked at the three girls' dynamics with interest. They joked and teased each other, but in the end, their relationship was really good. In her previous school, Shi Nian was so occupied with part time jobs that even if her classmates wanted to get close to her, they would gradually drift away because she always rejected their invitation.

She trailed behind them with a smile, her steps were light and airy.. The rows of maple trees in the school courtyard painted a magnificent scenery, each leaf was like a small petal of flame floating around.