Love Me in Another Universe

Chapter 52. Guilt of Puppy Love (Part 3)

December 25, 1996, Wednesday. The first class was English. But Guan Xuchen's mind was elsewhere. He stared at the kraft paper box in the drawer, troubled about how to return it to Cai Yunfei. On top of that, he was even more worried that he might have been too harsh on Gao Xinglang earlier and whether Gao was mad at him now.

"Guan Xuchen, Guan Xuchen." The voice of Mr. Dong, the English teacher, snapped Guan Xuchen back to the class. Guan Xuchen scrambled to his feet.

"Answer the question, please." Seeing the absent-minded look of his subject representative, Mr. Dong shook his head and asked Guan Xuchen in English again to answer the question.

However, Guan Xuchen had no clue what the teacher was talking about or what the question was. He fumbled through his English textbook, and accidentally knocked his cup onto the floor. Thankfully the cup was empty, sparing him further embarrassment.

Many of the classmates burst into laughter, while Mr. Dong frowned.

"Here, here," Wu Zixing, his deskmate, kindly pointed at the question in the textbook and whispered a reminder.

"Oh, okay." Guan Xuchen picked up the cup and quickly glanced at the question. But his mind was still a blank, and he didn't know how to answer it.

"Okay, sit down，please." Mr. Dong motioned for Guan Xuchen to sit down and then asked Wu Zixing to stand up and answer the question.

Wu Zixing answered the question fluently. Mr. Dong nodded in approval and said, "Good." He looked at Guan Xuchen again and said with a smile, "Today we've learned an idiom, 'rains cats and dogs', which means it's raining heavily. Actually, there are quite a few idioms and expressions related to 'cats' in English. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, there's a line, 'I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream', which means 'I'm very alert, just like a cat trying to steal cream'..."

As he spoke, he turned around and wrote that idiom on the blackboard. Then he continued, "Stealing is definitely wrong, but I hope you can be as alert and focused as cats during class. Otherwise, when I ask a question and you don't know how to answer, you'll be all flustered, 'like a cat on a hot tin roof', which is similar to the Chinese expression 'like ants on a hot pan'."

Then, he wrote the second idiom on the blackboard. The whole class burst into laughter at this moment. Guan Xuchen blushed deeply, feeling extremely embarrassed.

After the first class ended, Guan Xuchen felt thirsty, so he picked up his cup and headed to get some water. He had intended to ask Gao Xinglang to go with him, but he was worried that Gao was still angry with him. He turned around and saw Gao chatting and laughing with Shen Yitian. He also remembered that Gao had already fetched water after the first class. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cai Yunfei, who was sitting in the first row just three columns away from him. Just then, Cai looked up, and their eyes met. Both of them felt rather awkward. Cai Yunfei quickly averted her gaze, and Guan Xuchen picked up his cup and walked alone towards the public water dispenser.

The second class was maths. Lu Xiaofeng stood at the podium, explaining some problems. Guan Xuchen didn't dare to be distracted anymore and tried his best to focus. However, whenever he met Lu Xiaofeng's sharp gaze, he couldn't help feeling a bit scared for some reason. He quickly lowered his head and shifted his eyes back to the textbook. Five minutes before the class ended, Lu Xiaofeng tossed the chalk back into the chalk box, dusted the powder off his hands, and then said to the whole class, "That's all for the lesson today. Before dismissal, an announcement. For tomorrow's self-study session, we'll have a class meeting. The theme is "Avoid Puppy Love and Cherish Youth". I'll ask some students to come up and share their thoughts. Any volunteers?