A Young Woman's Heart

Moreover, her name is quite interesting; it contains the character for snow, just like hers.

This aroused Mo Xueyao's curiosity about him.

"Yeah, I'm not playing," the boy replied with a smile, but his gaze didn't leave the extracurricular book in front of him.

The book he was reading was a novel with an entirely English cover, and judging from the title, it seemed to be a science fiction novel about time paradoxes.

"Reading this kind of book again? It's all in English. Doesn't it get tiring to read?"

"Fortunately."

"Tsk tsk, looks like our Xiaoxue is going to be a scientist in the future," someone said with a hint of sourness.

The boy called Xiaoxue just smiled, clearly not angry, and took everyone's words as a joke.

Or perhaps he already knows these boys very well.

But after all, it's only been a month since school started, so everyone probably isn't that familiar with each other yet, right?

Someone like Mo Xueyao, if she doesn't deliberately try to remember other people's names, might still have classmates whose names she can't recall even after three months of school.

As the school bell rang again, the students returned to their seats in twos and threes.

Wang Jiale rushed back like a gust of wind.

Behind her followed the Chinese language teacher, who was wearing a gray midi skirt and a long-sleeved shirt, as she gracefully entered the classroom.

……

Chapter Ten: The Gentle Chinese Language Teacher

"My Chinese teacher's surname is Ye, and her name is Ye Wen. She's a very gentle teacher. If I were a boy, I would definitely fall in love with her!" Wang Jiale, sitting next to Mo Xueyao, said nonsensical things, exaggeratedly cupping her cheeks, looking like a lovesick girl.

Mo Xueyao didn't think there was anything wrong with it. A girl like Wang Jiale was lively and cute, and she was not annoying at all.

Having a deskmate like this would make everyday life anything but boring.

"Oh, right, we also have a physics teacher whose surname is Ye, named Ye Yu." Wang Jiale then veered off-topic again, "Our PE teacher is named Ye Ran, also surnamed Ye! There are so many teachers with the surname Ye at our school!"

"Perhaps we were all from the same family," Mo Xueyao replied somewhat perfunctorily, her attention entirely focused on the blackboard, as the Chinese class had already begun.

"Everyone, open your books. Today we're going to have Lesson 5—Jing Ke's Assassination Attempt on the King of Qin," Ye Wen said with a gentle smile. The atmosphere in the classroom became much more relaxed, a stark contrast to the math class just now.

"During the National Day holiday, I asked everyone to preview this text. So, please raise your hand if you really previewed it. It has to be 'really, really' previewed!" Ye Wen winked and said playfully, "No lying allowed."

The students looked at each other, and in the end only six or seven people raised their hands.

Unless there are strict rules or requirements, most people wouldn't do pre-reading assignments...

At most, they just pretend to number the paragraphs in the text.

Mo Xueyao was the only one who raised her hand.

However, she didn't raise her hand very high, mainly because she wasn't someone who liked to show off.

But Ms. Ye Wen noticed her immediately.

"Oh? It seems that Mo Xueyao, who hasn't been to class for a month, has been doing her homework. So, Mo Xueyao, please answer a question?" Ye Wen asked with a smile, without putting any pressure on her.

“Okay…” Mo Xueyao quickly stood up. Although Ye Wen seemed very gentle, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

After all, this was the first time she had stood up to answer a question since entering high school.

"How did Jing Ke get close to the King of Qin?"

“It’s a map of the Yan Kingdom.” Mo Xueyao, who was particularly interested in literature, especially history, answered confidently, even having the leisure to add a supplement to her answer, “To be precise, it should be a map of the Dukang area of ​​the Yan Kingdom.”

"Hmm, very good. It seems you've read it thoroughly! Did you translate the entire text yourself according to the annotations, or did you consult supplementary teaching materials?"

"Myself..." Mo Xueyao felt a little embarrassed when she saw the admiring looks on many people's faces.

Perhaps this is her talent. She can easily understand the meaning of classical Chinese, which is a headache and difficult for many people to comprehend. This may be related to her love of reading all kinds of novels.

Especially in some old martial arts and fantasy novels, there are often sentences in classical Chinese style. Over time, you will naturally get used to it.

"Now, let me test you again: how did the King of Qin escape Jing Ke's assassination attempt?"

"Walk around the pillar." Mo Xueyao couldn't help but chuckle as she said this.

After all, the image of the King of Qin has always been very dignified.

Suddenly imagining him running awkwardly around the pillar, shouting for others to protect him, is really quite amusing.

The other students chuckled quietly.

"Very good, very good. One last question: why did Jing Ke fail?"

"Well... because his assistant was really useless, and also, Jing Ke wanted to capture the King of Qin alive, although I don't know if that counts as being stubborn."

"Very good, very good." Ye Wen was very satisfied with her and waved for her to sit down. "When you preview the material in the future, you should learn from Mo Xueyao. Although I won't check whether you've previewed the material, you should know that you're learning for yourself, not for the teacher. A class is only forty minutes long. If you're not focused, you probably won't be able to remember all the knowledge points the teacher is going to teach. Previewing is to let you grasp some simple knowledge points in advance, so that it will be easier during class."

Unlike math teachers who only focus on lecturing, Ye Wen, a Chinese language teacher and homeroom teacher, loves interacting with her students the most.

She would always call on people to answer questions, and she would never get angry, no matter if the answer was right or wrong, or even ridiculous.

Even though both Gao Yuan and Jing Die were asleep, their treatment of each other was completely different.

"Gao Yuan, wake up, wake up."

"Ah...uh...uh..." Gao Yuan, who had drooled all over the table, seemed to be fast asleep and did not respond no matter how much she was called.

Ye Wen winked at the other classmates and then whispered, "Shall we all clap together?"

"Okay—" the students answered in unison.

So everyone started clapping enthusiastically.

The entire classroom erupted in loud applause.

Gao Yuan was finally awakened. He opened his eyes groggily, and without bothering to wipe the drool off his arm, he started clapping along.

However, the expressions on the faces of others were quite subtle.

After one student finally couldn't help but laugh, the others also started to laugh.

Wang Jiale, standing next to Mo Xueyao, was laughing so hard he was doubled over, as if he was about to burst out laughing.

Her personality really does match her name quite well.

"Do you know why everyone is clapping?" Ye Wen pinched Gao Yuan's chubby cheeks and asked with a smile.

"Eh...?"

"Clap your hands in celebration! You slept through most of the class again!" Ye Wen said humorously. "Alright, pay attention in class from now on and don't sleep anymore."

"Uh... okay..." Gao Yuan said, but then slumped onto the table again.

"If you keep doing this, I'll have Li Wanyan keep a close eye on you. If you sleep or talk in class, I'll have her report it to me. If it happens too many times, I'll call your parents."

"No!" Gao Yuan immediately became anxious, perked up, and sat upright on the table. "Teacher Ye Wen! I was paying attention in class!"

"Well, if we maintain this attitude, it's barely acceptable."

Ye Wen nodded and continued the lesson.

"Who in our class knows anything about the history of the Warring States period?" Ye Wen asked, standing on the podium again.

Several boys in the audience proudly raised their hands.

The refined-looking boy, whom the other boys called "Xiaoxue," was the one who raised his hand the calmest.

There was no sense of pride in it.

"Let our Mr. Xue (Note ①) answer this."

"Mr. Xue?" Mo Xueyao lowered her voice and muttered to herself, as if she felt very strange.

Hearing Mo Xueyao's mutterings, Wang Jiale enthusiastically explained, "That boy's name is very unique! It's quite famous throughout our entire grade."

"Uh?"

"Because his name is Mr. Xue."

"No way..." Mo Xueyao's face fell. "Is it really that outrageous? Does that mean everyone else has to call him 'sir'?"

"So everyone in our class calls him Xiaoxue, otherwise it would sound like he's a generation older than us."

Mr. Xue.

Mo Xueyao murmured the name to herself.

If it weren't for his remarkably youthful appearance, his refined and scholarly demeanor would indeed have made him worthy of the title 'sir'.

His surname is Xue, and his given name is Mr. Xue.

I don't know what his parents were thinking when they gave him this name.

If we call him by his full name, wouldn't that be giving him the advantage of seniority?

However, Ye Wen seemed to quite like calling him that.

“Okay, please sit down, sir. Next time you answer a question, you don’t need to stand up. That way, it will show us that we respect you enough,” Ye Wen said jokingly, making Mr. Xue, who was originally very calm, a little embarrassed. He smiled awkwardly and lowered his head to continue looking at the textbook in front of him.

It was completely different from the long math class.

The time in Chinese class passed quickly. When the bell rang, Mo Xueyao even wished that the class could last longer.

This feeling of wanting more is just wonderful.

If every teacher in a school were this good, the students would probably enjoy attending classes more.

But which teaching method is more efficient and makes it easier for students to learn something... that's hard to say.

This is why there can be many different teaching methods coexisting in one school.

The second class ended with a long break between classes.

Mo Xueyao walked towards the restroom alone, but was caught up by Wang Jiale from behind halfway there.

"Xiaoyao! Why didn't you call me when you went to the bathroom!"

"..." Mo Xueyao was speechless.