Waiting for the Wind to Come | Chapter 3 | The New Class Representative | Novela.app

Lin Jiang caught a cold the moment she returned home that day. As Xu Mingjuan rummaged through a drawer for medicine, she couldn't stop nagging. "I swear, your teachers are something else. You're already in your senior year; why are they still making you run the 800-meter?" "Tell me about it," Lin Jiang replied instantly. "But then again, this just goes to show how poor your physical condition is." "You know how I am—I take after you. I don't like moving around. Since I was little, if a boy hit me and didn't run, I’d hit him back. But if he ran, I’d rather just take the loss than chase him..." Lin Jiang’s nose was stuffed, making her voice sound thick and nasal. "That’s just you being silly." Xu Mingjuan tossed a blister pack of pills to her. "Three times a day, two pills at a time." The conversation ended there. The next day, Lin Jiang still felt miserable and was constantly fighting off drowsiness. Unfortunately, her first period was English. The English teacher was a single woman in her thirties. She dressed plainly, rarely smiled, and had one particular habit: she loved cold-calling students. Consequently, the atmosphere in her class was always tense; no one dared to breathe too loudly. During this lesson, the teacher was going over a test paper. By the third time Lin Jiang’s name was called, her classmates were casting looks of pity her way. The only silver lining was that she happened to know the answer to this specific question—the fixed phrase "apply to sb. for sth." Mercifully, she escaped unscathed. Time always seemed to crawl during English class. While the teacher was writing on the blackboard, Lin Jiang turned her head to check the clock on the back wall—less than five minutes until the bell. She relaxed immediately, her posture losing its rigid uprightness. She hunched her shoulders, hiding behind a stack of books to slack off and try to soothe the side effects of her cold medicine. She hadn't even enjoyed ten seconds of peace when a piece of chalk slammed hard onto her test paper. Startled, Lin Jiang snapped her head up. The English teacher was standing there, arms crossed, watching her with practiced patience. Lin Jiang froze. A trip to the office was now inevitable. As soon as the morning exercises ended, Lin Jiang walked toward the office door with the heavy heart of a martyr, followed by the sympathetic gazes of her peers. She gritted her teeth and pushed the door open. "Hello, Teacher." "You're here." The English teacher was wearing glasses and writing something. She stopped when she saw Lin Jiang. "Do you know why I asked for you?" "I shouldn't have spaced out in class," Lin Jiang said, tugging at the hem of her school uniform. "No." "Did I do poorly on my English exam?" The teacher clicked her ballpoint pen idly and shook her head. "Then please just tell me. If I've done something wrong, I'll work hard to fix it." Lin Jiang decided to stop guessing. If she was going to be executed, she wanted it over with. "I want you to be the English Class Representative." "Huh?" When He Lai heard the news, she let out a cry of shock. Two or three seconds later, she was clutching her stomach and laughing. "Your English is your weakest subject. Is the teacher trying to mess with you on purpose, Lin Jiang?" "Congratulations, you guessed right," Li Na chimed in, also laughing. Lin Jiang’s face darkened. "Wait, that’s not right!" He Lai suddenly sat bolt upright, her laughter subsiding. "Who’s the English rep for our parallel class?" Lin Jiang asked, "Who?" "Didn't they just change it to Jiang Weifeng?" He Lai’s eyes widened. "No way! Really?" Li Na stood up too. "I walked home with their class Academic Monitor yesterday. The news is absolutely certain." "Damn! Not bad, Lin Jiang. A blessing in disguise!" Li Na was genuinely excited. *Please!!!* A string of exclamation marks flashed through Lin Jiang’s mind. She had to take two exams just to match his score on one. Wasn't this just asking to be humiliated? A strange sensation stirred in Lin Jiang’s heart. She didn't know how to feel about it. She spent the rest of the day in a daze, nearly mixing up the lines of her script during her afternoon shift at the broadcasting station. Perhaps she was too out of it, because even her partner, Cheng Yunchuan—who rarely spoke to her—couldn't help but ask a few questions while the music was playing. Before leaving, he reminded her to take her medicine. Lin Jiang thanked him with a smile and headed back upstairs. After a few steps, she saw two girls walking downstairs side-by-side. Lin Jiang slowed her pace and overheard a short-haired girl ask, "What did Jiang Weifeng buy for you?" "Here." The long-haired girl raised her arm. Her sleeve slid down, revealing a fair wrist adorned with a star-shaped bracelet that caught the light. The short-haired girl looked on with envy. "It's so pretty!" "So, what did Lan Jingyu buy for you?" "I don't know. I threw it away," the girl replied matter-of-factly. "Haha, true. He can't compare to Jiang Weifeng..." Their voices faded away. Lin Jiang shook her head and hurried back to the classroom. Once back, Lin Jiang ate the egg-filled pancake Li Na had brought her while packing her bag according to the homework assigned. She had to go to her broadcasting class during evening self-study tonight. The training center Lin Jiang attended was on the east side of the school, seven bus stops away. When she had signed up during the summer after ninth grade, it was purely because she felt she had an accent and wanted to practice her speech. Later, when she interviewed for the school’s publicity department in her freshman year, the broadcasting teacher happened to praise her voice, so she joined the station. Two or three years had passed in a flash, and Lin Jiang had slowly developed the idea of taking the Art Exams for this. Besides her own interest, the more important reason was that her English and Comprehensive Science scores weren't great, making it difficult to get into her preferred university. Her parents were open-minded and didn't oppose her choice. Only Xu Mingjuan would occasionally complain that the current center was a bit far and wanted her to transfer to one closer to school. However, Lin Jiang loved the name of the place—Starry Lamp. She had been drawn to it by the name when she first signed up and hadn't looked elsewhere since. Class started at 6:30 PM. Lin Jiang arrived almost exactly on time. She was in a small class of two. When she entered, the other student was already doing mouth exercises. Throughout the evening, Lin Jiang wasn't quite herself because of the cold. As she walked downstairs with Ms. Cheng after class, she was stopped. "Why are you back to your old habit? You're constricting your throat, and your voice isn't coming out." Lin Jiang blushed. "It... might be because of the cold." Ms. Cheng shook her head. "Your breathing is incorrect. You need to pay more attention to the essentials of combined thoracic-abdominal breathing." Lin Jiang nodded. "Okay, I'll practice more when I get back." "I couldn't say much when you dropped the intensive training at the start of the term, but the path of art isn't that easy these days. Many of my former students have gone to Beijing for intensive training. So, I plan to adjust your schedule. You'll have full-day classes on Saturdays, and from now on, Sunday mornings as well." Ms. Cheng looked at her, waiting for a reaction. Lin Jiang paused. "I have no objection. I'll just tell my parents when I get home." She had chosen this path herself; she had long since made peace with the hard work it required. Ms. Cheng smiled. "Good. The schedule is tight, but it's only right to put in more effort at this stage." They reached the entrance. Ms. Cheng asked, "Are your parents picking you up today? Do you want me to give you a ride?" Lin Jiang looked toward her two o'clock position. Her family car was parked in its usual spot. "No need, Ms. Cheng. My mom is already here." Ms. Cheng checked her watch. "Alright. Don't forget to take your medicine tonight, and go to bed early." Lin Jiang agreed, then turned back to wave as she ran toward the car. "Goodbye, Teacher!" Inside the car, Xu Mingjuan was getting a bit impatient. "What were you chatting about with your teacher?" Lin Jiang explained the added classes. Xu Mingjuan didn't mind, though she worried about Lin Jiang’s health and nagged her to exercise more. Lin Jiang managed to soothe her with some affectionate coaxing. Back at the entrance, Ms. Cheng was still standing there when someone suddenly tapped her left shoulder. She turned, only for the person to pop up on her right. "Who was that?" The boy tilted his chin toward the girl’s slender retreating figure. "Who else could it be? My student." Ms. Cheng adjusted her bag and walked toward her parking spot. "I know that! I mean, what's her name?" Ms. Cheng opened her car door but didn't get in. She looked at the person in front of her. "Cheng Minghao, what kind of crooked ideas are you cooking up now?" Cheng Minghao ran a hand through his permed auburn hair, his eyes crinkling into a smile. "Am I that kind of person?" "You are," Ms. Cheng replied emotionlessly as she ducked into the car. "I changed a long time ago!" The boy blinked, then immediately protested. At that moment, the neon lights flickered like stars, and the autumn air was enchanting. With the schedule change, Lin Jiang’s weekend felt like a battle. On Sunday afternoon, she finally found a moment of leisure and met Wang Jiaqian for milk tea. The two girls had built their friendship in middle school and both got into No. 3 High. However, Wang Jiaqian went to the East Campus, which had more liberal arts classes, while Lin Jiang went to the West Campus, which leaned toward the sciences. They hadn't seen each other since starting their senior year, so they were incredibly affectionate upon meeting, whispering secrets for ages. "Let me ask you, who is number one in your heart?" Wang Jiaqian held Lin Jiang’s face and asked. "Are you crazy? This again?" Lin Jiang rolled her eyes. "Hmm? Tell me. Me, Shen Yan, or He Lai—who’s first?" "You, you, you." Lin Jiang knew she had no other choice, or the girl would pester her for hours. "Hmph, I better be first, you hear me?" Only then did Wang Jiaqian let her go. Lin Jiang gave a sly smile. "Then who’s first in your heart—me or Gu Xiang?" Wang Jiaqian’s hand, which was reaching for the fruit platter, paused. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, then pulled out her phone to check it. She nudged Lin Jiang with her elbow. "See that? That pig hasn't sent me a single message today." "What happened between you two?" They were just flaunting their relationship on their social feeds every day a few days ago. Wang Jiaqian sighed softly. "A-Jiang." She lowered her voice with an air of mystery. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you today." "Hmm?" "Did a guy named Jiang Weifeng transfer to your school?" Lin Jiang was taken aback. Wang Jiaqian continued, "Gu Xiang has run over to the West Campus twice this week. When I ask what he's doing, he just says he's looking for Jiang Weifeng. When I ask what it's about, he won't say. I suspect he's either lying to me or they're planning something bad together." *Jiang Weifeng actually transferred from the East Campus?* Lin Jiang’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly processed Wang Jiaqian’s words and asked, "Something bad? Why do you think that?" "You don't know? Jiang Weifeng was quite famous in our Foundation Division. He's handsome and extremely headstrong." Lin Jiang bit her straw. "He does look pretty arrogant." But not in a way that was annoying. "You've seen him?" "He's in the class next to mine." Now it was Wang Jiaqian’s turn to be stunned. She was speechless for a long time before suddenly giving Lin Jiang a massive bear hug, laughing and stomping her feet. "This is literally a gift from heaven! You have to help me find out what they're up to, A-Jiang—" Wang Jiaqian was the cute type and an expert at acting spoiled. She gave Lin Jiang goosebumps, and since everyone in the shop was staring at them, Lin Jiang finally agreed just to make her stop. That afternoon, the two girls held hands and chatted about all sorts of things. When they stepped out, it was around four o'clock, and the sunlight was just right. *** Glossary Table: