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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Forty-Nine: A Different Kind of Warmth
“Zhang Qiu!”
Zhang Qiu, who was secretly talking with Wang Zhengxiang, jolted and stood up from his seat.
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly turned cold. Wherever the math teacher's gaze fell, the students felt anxious, silently praying not to be called upon.
“Jiang Xue, Wang Zhengxiang, Li Fan.” After calling a few more names, the math teacher pointed to several problems already written on the blackboard and said, “You three come up and solve these problems. The rest of you, work on them in your notebooks. You have five minutes. Start.”
Zhang Qiu frowned when he saw the problem assigned to him; he had no idea how to approach it. He glanced at his deskmate Wang Zhengxiang, who also looked troubled and was moving slowly. It was only a few steps from their seats to the podium, yet it took him nearly half a minute to get there.
Zhang Qiu stood at the far right of the blackboard, with Jiang Xue, Wang Zhengxiang, and Li Fan to his left in that order. When he turned his head to the left, he saw Jiang Xue smiling sweetly at him. Zhang Qiu smiled back in response. The math teacher interjected, “Focus on your problems; don’t look around. Your questions are different; what’s the use of looking at others’?”
Zhang Qiu stared intently at the problem in front of him, furrowing his brow in confusion. He sneaked a glance at the math teacher, who was walking around the classroom observing how students were tackling their problems. Just as Zhang Qiu was feeling awkward, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he wrote a big ‘Solution’ on the blackboard.
After finishing that, Zhang Qiu fell into deep thought again. He looked over at Jiang Xue; she was sometimes deep in thought and sometimes relaxed, lightly tapping her chalk against the blackboard as neatly arranged lines of calculations appeared. Zhang Qiu then glanced at Wang Zhengxiang; their eyes met for a moment, and Wang Zhengxiang also looked perplexed, making faces at Zhang Qiu.
Zhang Qiu shook his head helplessly; he could already envision what would happen next. After completing his rounds, the math teacher returned and saw that Zhang Qiu hadn’t written anything down. He scolded him harshly for that and for speaking during class. Just when Zhang Qiu was feeling anxious about everything, a clear voice rang out beside him: “Substitute the line a - y = 0 into the equation of the circle.”
Zhang Qiu was taken aback and looked over at Jiang Xue. She smiled gently at him and said, “Don’t look at me; if Teacher finds out, hurry up and write it down.”
Zhang Qiu felt a different kind of warmth in his heart as he hurriedly wrote down Jiang Xue’s words on the blackboard. Wang Zhengxiang, standing to Jiang Xue’s left, also noticed her voice and quietly asked her about his problem: “This doesn’t match either.”
“Mine is Zhang Qiu’s problem.” After finishing that sentence, Jiang Xue continued to guide Zhang Qiu: “Eliminate y and rearrange it to get (a + 1) - 6a + 4 = 0.”
“Since the line… a - y = 0 intersects the circle at points a and b…”
Zhang Qiu focused entirely on Jiang Xue’s words; as long as she spoke one sentence, he quickly wrote it down on the blackboard.
Wang Zhengxiang was anxiously watching from the side and raised his voice, "Jiang Xue, how do I solve this problem?"
Before Jiang Xue could respond, he was tapped on the head. Turning around, he saw the math teacher standing behind him with a serious expression after finishing his rounds. Wang Zhengxiang thought to himself that he was in trouble now.
"Everyone go back. If you haven't solved it, just go back. Staring at it won't help. If you don't study hard usually, now you know how embarrassing it is."
Zhang Qiu winked at Jiang Xue, who smiled sweetly in response. Wang Zhengxiang followed behind Zhang Qiu, keeping his head down and silent; the teacher's words were too harsh.
After Zhang Qiu returned to her seat, she looked at the problems on the blackboard. There were four questions, and only Wang Zhengxiang hadn't solved any of them. The math teacher stood at the podium and pointed at the blackboard behind him, saying, "Let's take a look at these four problems and check the answers."
"Li Fan got this one right, but there's an even simpler method. I'll explain it shortly." After saying this, the teacher's expression changed as he forcefully knocked on the blackboard. "Wang Zhengxiang, look at you! You can't even write a single word. Why don't you write down your solution? You're already struggling with your studies, and yet you're chatting with your deskmate during class. Why must you talk during lessons?"
"And you, Zhang Qiu! Don't laugh. Just because you solved it doesn't mean you're off the hook. I still need to criticize you. If you don't pay attention in class and keep chatting, you'll end up holding Wang Zhengxiang back. He'll hate you for it in the future."
Zhang Qiu felt ashamed under the teacher's gaze and lowered her head.
"Everyone focus on this problem; there’s actually a simpler method..." The math teacher continued explaining, and Zhang Qiu lifted her head again to listen attentively. This time she was just lucky that Jiang Xue helped her; she knew that good luck wouldn't always be there—she had to work hard herself.
When a person becomes focused on something, they tend to lose track of time. Before long, the bell rang for class to end.
After class, Zhang Qiu shyly scratched her head and said to Wang Zhengxiang, "I'm sorry for dragging you down."
Wang Zhengxiang smiled gently, "It's okay; it's not a big deal."
"I'm leaving now, deskmate. Remember to help me ask for leave," Zhang Qiu reminded her deskmate before leaving.
Zhang Qiu ran all the way to the gatekeeper's office. The Gatekeeper Uncle looked at her leave request and pointed at the homeroom teacher's signature line, asking, "Why hasn't the homeroom teacher signed?"
"The homeroom teacher is not here, so the director just signed it." Zhang Qiu casually told a lie.
The Gatekeeper Uncle did not ask further and nodded. He picked up the remote control and pressed a button, causing the electric gate to slowly open, leaving a one-meter-wide passage. Zhang Qiu quickly signed his name in the registration book and walked out briskly.
The road was empty at this time; in half an hour, people would start getting off work, and this road would be crowded.
Zhang Qiu stood by the roadside for a while before he managed to hail a taxi. Once inside, he said, "Beilan Grand Hotel." Zhang Qiu's electric vehicle was parked across from the school, but he did not plan to ride it. In case something happened, the electric vehicle would become a burden. So, taking a taxi was more convenient.
"Alright." The taxi driver skillfully pressed the meter, shifted gears, and with a press of the accelerator, the taxi sped away. In the taxi business, the saying "time is money" is particularly evident.
Once the car started moving, the driver opened up a conversation and asked Zhang Qiu, "You're still a student, right? Taking leave to go to a hotel? Is there a celebration at home?"
"No, I'm going to pick up a friend," Zhang Qiu replied.
"I thought you were going out to eat. My son asked me for money last month because his classmate was having a birthday party at Beilan Grand Hotel. I heard that a plate of cucumber salad there costs dozens of yuan. Tsk tsk tsk, you young people really don't take your parents' money seriously... Oh, I didn't mean you," the driver realized his slip of tongue and hurriedly explained.
"It's fine." Zhang Qiu smiled; he actually enjoyed listening to the taxi driver's chatter. Often, these drivers have access to basic information, and if you ask them about something, there's an eighty percent chance you'll get results.
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