Has the Study God lost his mind?
He probably has.
The entire class thought this in unison, though no one dared to say it out loud.
"Tang Zihe, I asked you to recite," Teacher Jiang said, walking toward the back of the classroom with a stern expression. "What do you mean by staying silent?"
Under the crushing weight of the teacher’s aura and the complex gazes of his classmates, Tang Zihe finally looked up and moved.
He opened his mouth, but still, no sound came out.
Teacher Jiang likely realized that something was amiss. On the surface, Tang Zihe was a model student who would never pointlessly disrespect a teacher during class.
Driven by confusion, Teacher Jiang walked right up to him. Only then was she close enough to barely read his lips.
Under the scrutiny of countless eyes, Tang Zihe finally "opened his golden mouth" with an expression of utter reluctance, letting out four slow, breathy syllables.
[*My voice is gone.*]
As he spoke, he tilted his head slightly, happening to catch Jiang Wei’s gaze. Jiang Wei looked back with a complicated expression.
Jiang Wei froze for a few seconds, blinked rapidly, and bit his lip hard to suppress the laughter that was threatening to burst out.
Tang Zihe felt even more depressed.
"Your voice is gone?" Teacher Jiang repeated loudly, as if afraid the students in the front wouldn't hear. Her tone was full of disbelief. "How did you manage to make yourself sick just by taking an exam? If it’s this serious, do you need to take a couple of days off to rest?"
A few heartless classmates couldn't help but let out low snickers.
Tang Zihe held up his notebook. On it were a few large, slightly messy characters:
[*No need. Thank you, Teacher.*]
Jiang Wei felt that if he kept holding back his laughter, he was going to bite a chunk out of his own cheek.
With this interruption, Teacher Jiang gave up on the spot-check for recitations. She clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention back to the lesson.
"That being said, emotionally, I shouldn't make a sick student stand at the back of the room. But logically, you shouldn't be doing chemistry problems during my class either, right, Tang Zihe?" Teacher Jiang pointed at the notebook in his hand.
It turned out that in his momentary lapse of judgment, the "whiteboard" Tang Zihe had grabbed was actually his chemistry workbook.
"So, I’ll have to ask you to stay back here and keep Shen Yannan company for a while."
This arrangement actually suited Tang Zihe perfectly. Even though Shen Yannan was shamelessly laughing at him from a foot away, it was still better than going back to his seat and facing Jiang Wei.
After all, the boast he had made on the street last night was still fresh in his mind.
Jiang Wei wasn't exactly a model student himself. He spent the rest of the period with his head down, fiddling with something in his desk. Every minute or two, he would peek up to see where Teacher Jiang was, looking terrified of being caught.
Unfortunately, some things happen regardless of human will—like the bell signaling the end of class, and...
"Is this the physical fitness of an Alpha who works out year-round?" Jiang Wei teased, perfectly mimicking Tang Zihe’s usual mocking tone.
Tang Zihe shot him a look but didn't speak.
"Oh, don't be so cold," Jiang Wei chirped, leaning in close. "It’s no big deal if you can't talk. You can choose to communicate with me through sign language. I won't judge."
Tang Zihe thought for a moment, then slowly raised his middle finger.
Jiang Wei doubled over, laughing even harder.
Tang Zihe felt he couldn't stay near this heartless person a second longer, but he had nowhere to go, so he slumped dejectedly onto his desk.
Fortunately, Jiang Wei was afraid of actually pushing him too far, so he stopped teasing. Instead, he swiped Tang Zihe’s water bottle and went out to fill it with hot water.
"Here, drink more hot water. It’ll help you get better faster." Jiang Wei unscrewed the cap and handed it over.
Steam rose from the mouth of the bottle.
Tang Zihe showed his appreciation by taking a sip. The temperature was perfectly warm.
"I know you must be deeply moved right now, finally realizing how good of a friend I am," Jiang Wei sighed, sounding quite sentimental. "I have received your silent 'thank you.'"
Tang Zihe: ? ...
While he wasn't *that* moved, he supposed there was nothing technically wrong with that statement.
The second period was Chemistry. It seemed the teachers' "gossip network" was just as fast as the students', because the moment Xiao Yang-jie stepped into the classroom, Tang Zihe felt a wave of pity directed his way.
Having likely never experienced such an embarrassing and suffocating situation in his life, Tang Zihe lowered his head, doing his best to avoid eye contact.
Xiao Yang-jie seemed to be in a great mood. As soon as she entered, she praised the class for their excellent chemistry scores, noting that most students had improved. This allowed the tense students to relax a little.
Of course, there were pessimistic outliers like Xia Shan, who let out a mournful groan. "It’s over. Everyone’s grades got better. The fact that I’m a total loser is finally going to be impossible to hide."
Even someone like Shen Yannan, who viewed grades as worldly trifles, couldn't help but offer a few words of comfort.
"The specific rankings and scores are with your Boss Shi. He’ll probably announce them this afternoon. But if you want to know early, you can go ask him after class," Xiao Yang-jie said. When other teachers weren't around, she liked to call Teacher Shi "Boss Shi" just like the students did.
Yang Xiangtong looked at Gu Renwen, who seemed eager to go, and whispered, "Is anyone actually brave enough to go look at the rankings?"
Tang Wanbai nudged Yang Xiangtong with her elbow, telling her to be quiet.
Hearing this, Jiang Wei looked at Tang Zihe with a serious expression. "Do you think I should go check my grades early?"
Tang Zihe shook his head slightly and shifted his gaze to the phone in his desk.
A few seconds later, Jiang Wei’s phone vibrated.
[Childish Ghost: The grades will be announced during the first period this afternoon. There’s no point in going early just to get scolded.]
Jiang Wei went quiet and typed back: [Scolded?]
[Childish Ghost: The physics exam was unusually difficult. It covered a lot of obscure points Boss Shi told us to watch out for. Most people’s scores probably dropped.]
[Childish Ghost: Unless you’re sure you got all those points right or have a very high score, I suggest you don't go to the office and become Boss Shi’s punching bag.]
[Jiang Wei: Oh.]
No wonder Yang Xiangtong had made that comment; these people had the teachers' temperaments figured out completely.
However... Jiang Wei thought to himself, Tang Zihe’s typing tone was actually a bit gentler than usual. It was probably thanks to that bottle of hot water.
But thinking about the exam still made him feel a bit discouraged.
As he was dazing off, his phone vibrated again.
Jiang Wei glanced sideways in confusion. His seatmate was currently putting a workbook away and taking out a new one, looking nothing like someone who had just sent a message.
Then who was it?
He quietly unlocked his phone and suddenly remembered—he had ordered delivery earlier.
He hadn't expected the delivery text to arrive so quickly.
Jiang Wei cautiously glanced at Xiao Yang-jie, then thought about his order. He had to get it now, but class was still in session. He couldn't exactly raise his hand and tell her, could he? Even with Xiao Yang-jie’s gentle personality, a second self-reflection essay would be guaranteed.
After a few seconds of internal struggle, he nudged Tang Zihe with his elbow and signaled him to check his phone.
[Jiang Wei: Help me out.]
[Childish Ghost: ?]
Jiang Wei didn't explain, only sending a cryptic instruction: [In ten minutes, open the back door for me.]
Their seats were right next to the back door; they could reach the handle just by stretching out an arm. Usually, they took turns opening and closing it—or more accurately, Jiang Wei did it voluntarily.
Before Tang Zihe could even send a question mark, Jiang Wei suddenly raised his hand.
"Teacher, my stomach doesn't feel good. I need to go to the restroom." Jiang Wei clutched his stomach with his other hand. His acting was so convincing that even Tang Zihe was stunned for a split second—wondering how someone who was just chatting a second ago could suddenly have a stomach ache.
Xiao Yang-jie nodded, and Jiang Wei successfully slipped out of the classroom.
The delivery driver had been waiting at the school’s back gate for two minutes. Jiang Wei sent a message saying he was almost there and sprinted toward the gate.
The moment he took the package, heat radiated into his hands; it was still slightly hot. Jiang Wei said a quick thank you, but the driver was in such a rush that he sped off on his motorcycle before Jiang Wei could tell if he’d heard.
He tucked the small jar, plastic bag and all, inside his jacket to keep the wind from cooling it down during the walk back.
By the time he hurried back to the teaching building and crouched by the back door, exactly nine minutes had passed.
The back door creaked open a tiny crack.
Jiang Wei, who had expected to wait outside for at least a few more seconds, looked through the gap at Tang Zihe in surprise.
Tang Zihe took one look at him and knew exactly what he was thinking. He pointed to his ear, then crooked his finger urgently, signaling him to get inside.
Jiang Wei pushed the door just wide enough to slip through, darted into the classroom, placed the delivery from his jacket against the wall, and shut the door behind him.
It was a seamless execution.
But before Jiang Wei could congratulate himself on his smooth moves, he heard Xiao Yang-jie’s confused voice from not far away. "Student Jiang Wei, the front door is wide open. Why did you crouch and sneak in through the back door? Isn't that exhausting?"
Tang Zihe had already assumed the posture of a diligent student, clearly intending to distance himself and leave Jiang Wei to his fate.
Jiang Wei summoned every available brain cell and replied calmly, "I was worried that coming through the front door would distract my classmates and disrupt your teaching flow, Teacher. So I thought I’d sneak in through the back to avoid bothering everyone who is listening so intently."
He didn't know if Xiao Yang-jie believed him, but judging by the shaking shoulders of Xia Shan and Shen Yannan in the front, they certainly didn't.
Fortunately, Xiao Yang-jie gave her students the benefit of the doubt. Hearing his explanation, she simply smiled and told him to return to his seat.
Once she had moved further away to explain a problem, Jiang Wei let out a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair, huffily pulling out his phone.
[Jiang Wei: You left me to die again!]
The Childish Ghost didn't address that, asking instead: [What did you just go do?]
Jiang Wei glanced at the clock on the wall. There was still some time before the end of class. He silently tucked the jar from the wall back into his jacket.
[Not telling you.]
"That’s all for today’s lesson. Use the remaining few minutes to work on your assignment." Xiao Yang-jie wrote the homework on the corner of the blackboard, then decisively ended class early and left the room.
"Where did you go during class?" Shen Yannan turned around, grinning. "Don't lie; I don't believe that excuse you gave for a second."
"If Xiao Yang-jie hadn't happened to see him, I wouldn't even have known when Brother Jiang crawled back in," Xia Shan added, joining the fun.
Jiang Wei blinked and said ambiguously, "I went to do something... that violates school rules."
Their curiosity was instantly piqued, but no matter what they asked, Jiang Wei covered it up with vague answers.
As soon as class ended, Tang Zihe went out to get more hot water. When he returned, he saw Jiang Wei waving at him urgently from the back.
*What now?*
Jiang Wei looked truly anxious, so Tang Zihe quickened his pace.
The moment he sat down, he saw his seatmate sneakily pull out a small jar like it was a precious treasure, making a "shh" gesture.
"Just got it." Jiang Wei didn't say much else, pressing the warm jar into Tang Zihe’s hands before fishing a matching disposable spoon out of his pocket.
Tang Zihe turned the jar around in confusion. There was a label on it that clearly read: *Lily, Rock Sugar, and Chuanbei Roasted Pear—For cough relief, throat soothing, and clearing the pharynx.*
It turned out that the "urgent matter" his seatmate couldn't wait a second for during class was picking up this delivery for him.
And the thing Jiang Wei had been fiddling with in his desk while Tang Zihe was being punished earlier must have been this.
The weather outside wasn't freezing, but if this little jar hadn't been kept insulated, it would definitely be cold by now.
Yet, the one in his hand was still warm.
Tang Zihe’s expression shifted through several emotions before he finally licked his lips and let out a silent laugh.
The feeling surging in his chest was something even more complex than simple gratitude.
"Hurry up and eat it. It’ll get cold if you leave it out," Jiang Wei urged, not noticing Tang Zihe’s current expression.
Tang Zihe raised an eyebrow playfully, opened the lid, and took a small spoonful.
Jiang Wei blinked, asking curiously, "How does it taste?"
*How else would it taste? They’re all about the same.*
Tang Zihe thought his seatmate might have actually had his brains scrambled by the wind while getting the delivery, so he kindly offered the spoon, signaling for Jiang Wei to try it himself.
Jiang Wei hesitated but shook his head. "Forget it. I’m not going to steal food from a sick person."
Tang Zihe naturally had no objection to that. He happily held the little jar, not even intending to hide it when Teacher Liu walked in to start the next class.
"News travels fast among you students. I only just found out your voice was gone, and someone’s already sent you rock sugar pear?" Teacher Liu remarked as she passed Tang Zihe’s desk near the end of the period, sounding quite gossipy. "Which class is the little girl from?"
The students, unaware of the truth, began to hoot and cheer.
Tang Zihe looked at Teacher Liu innocently. Then, amidst the teasing of the entire class, he bit down on the spoon and raised his right hand.
Everyone’s gaze followed where Tang Zihe was pointing, and the cheering gradually died down.
Jiang "Little Girl" Wei slowly looked up under the collective gaze of the room. "..."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
姜总 | Teacher Jiang / Boss Jiang | "Zong" (General/Boss) is a common nickname for respected or strict teachers.
小杨姐 | Xiao Yang-jie / Sister Yang | A friendly way to refer to a younger female teacher.
施总 | Boss Shi | The students' nickname for Teacher Shi.
学神 | Study God | A term for a top-tier student, even above a "Study Tyrant" (Xue Ba).
冰糖雪梨 | Rock Sugar Snow Pear | A traditional Chinese remedy for sore throats and coughs.
川贝 | Chuanbei | Fritillaria bulb, a common herb used in TCM for lung health.
刘姐 | Teacher Liu / Sister Liu | Another friendly teacher nickname.
金口 | Golden mouth | A phrase used when someone who rarely speaks finally says something.
Enjoying the story? Rate this novel:
Take a Whiff: The Alpha's Hidden Scent | Chapter 18 | Sweet Relief | Novela.app | Novela.app
