And yet.

Once September was over, campus life officially began—for both the students and the teachers. Ling Ling officially became Teacher Ling Ling, too.

Ling Ling kept in mind what Xiao Yi had told her a few days earlier and stayed on guard around Lin Zishen, the problem student. That said, she only crossed paths with him once a week, during music class.

After all, the science and humanities tracks only had one music class a week.

As September wore on, two or three weeks passed and autumn crept in. Ling Ling had taught Class 3 of Grade 11 several music lessons by then, and she’d started to doubt Xiao Yi’s original assessment of Lin Zishen.

Whenever Class 3 of Grade 11 had music class...

In the music room in the arts building, Lin Zishen always sat in the farthest corner. Some of his classmates kept their distance, while others were quite close to him—like Gu Yuan, a shy girl, and Qiao Wei, a gentle boy.

Lin Zishen was always smiling around the people close to him. He was mostly calm with people he didn’t know well, or even those who disliked him. He never caused trouble in music class, and could even seem a little cold, often staring out the window in a daze.

Besides, Ling Ling had already become something of a celebrity at Senior High School. Her striking looks and talent had captured the hearts of countless boys, and earned her the affection of countless girls.

Everyone called her “the woman who changed how students in both the science and humanities tracks felt about music class—all on her own.”

In class, she always got along with the students like one of their own. Some bold boys even asked her outright if she had a boyfriend.

But...

Lin Zishen seemed like he’d never once looked her in the eye. Was she really not good enough for him!?

And the thing that bothered Ling Ling most of all was that he was tone-deaf—hopelessly, naturally tone-deaf!!!

Teacher Ling Ling couldn’t help but care!

Before she knew it, Ling Ling had gotten used to the slow pace of life in this southern city. She’d been born and raised in a big city, a pampered young lady at heart. It wasn’t that she liked it here; she’d simply gotten used to it.

At the same time...

She’d also found her footing at Senior High School. The male teachers took extra good care of her; the female teachers, though... Ling Ling couldn’t quite find the right words. They were probably jealous.

And to fill her spare time, Ling Ling found herself two jobs: instructor for the Street Dance Club and duty teacher at the school infirmary.

She’d become the Street Dance Club instructor mostly because a music-class girl named Ai Guo had asked her to. Ling Ling was happy to do it, too. At least she’d have a group of bright, youthful girls to keep her company after class.

She’d taken the infirmary duty job mostly for the money. Each day on duty earned her an extra thirty yuan. Ling Ling might not look it, but she was really a fourth-year student doing an internship. She only made two thousand yuan a month and was pretty broke.

……

Mid-September.

One afternoon, at five o’clock, after school.

Ling Ling had no classes that afternoon, so she’d been on duty in the infirmary since three thirty. Her shift lasted three hours, ending at six thirty, and hardly any students had come by.

With nothing to do, she played on her phone for a while. The air-conditioned room felt so nice in September that she started getting sleepy. In the end, she couldn’t resist and fell asleep with her head on the desk.

Halfway through her nap, she vaguely heard some noises nearby. They tugged her out of her dreams. Still resting her head on the desk with her face turned to one side, she quietly opened her eyes.

And saw Lin Zishen.

Ling Ling was instantly horrified. What was he going to do to her? Had he finally given in to his ** and reached his wicked hands toward her—the girl everyone adored, the one cars would give a ride to and flowers would bloom for!?

But, to her surprise...

Lin Zishen didn’t do anything. First, he turned up the air conditioner. Then he tiptoed over to the emergency medical cabinet, careful not to wake her, and quietly rummaged through it for a while before taking out disinfectant and medical cotton swabs.

Just then...

Ling Ling kept pretending to sleep with her head on the desk. She lowered her gaze and saw that the boy’s arm was still bleeding. He’d probably hurt it by accident during PE.

Oh.

So he hadn’t come over to take advantage of her.

For some reason, she felt a little disappointed.

A little while later, Ling Ling pretended to wake up groggily. She didn’t say anything, just stared blankly at the tall boy a few steps away. He was around five foot ten or eleven—not exceptionally tall, but really well-built. In that black T-shirt, he looked like he was about to stretch the thing right off his body.

Lin Zishen noticed the bold stare from behind him. A little surprised and a little apologetic, he said, “Sorry, Teacher Ling Ling. I didn’t mean to wake you. I knocked just now, but you didn’t answer after a whole minute, so I let myself in.”

Ling Ling kept staring at the boy’s nearly perfect physique for another ten seconds or so before coming back to herself and murmuring, “Oh...”

But then...

The boy’s next words left her feeling awkward. He pointed at the corner of her mouth and said with a faint smile, “Teacher, you’re drooling...”

Ling Ling’s face immediately flushed. She waved her hands and said, “I wasn’t drooling because I was looking at you! I was drooling because I’d just fallen asleep with my face on the desk. That’s a perfectly normal bodily reaction, got it!?”

Right.

She was a twenty-one-year-old woman, after all. How could she possibly drool over the body of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old high school student!?

That would be so wrong.

Ling Ling’s flustered, frantic reaction made Lin Zishen laugh. He usually seemed so rough around the edges, but when he smiled, he was unexpectedly radiant.

After a brief moment of awkwardness...

Ling Ling finally collected herself. She straightened up in her chair and beckoned Lin Zishen over like a playful little lucky cat.

Lin Zishen walked over.

She told him to sit down, and he did.

By then, Ling Ling had calmed down. She took the disinfectant and cotton swabs from Lin Zishen as naturally as could be, checked his wound, and asked, “Did you have PE just now?”

Lin Zishen nodded. “Yeah. I was playing basketball with some of my classmates.”

As Ling Ling treated Lin Zishen’s wound, she stole glances at the delinquent-looking boy in front of her. He was still wearing a black T-shirt, DIY uniform shorts, and sneakers. He was covered in stinky sweat, and though his skin was pretty nice, he wasn’t pale at all.

Sure enough, she still liked neat, clean boys. She didn’t like scruffy ones like him.

But this boy really wasn’t as awful as everyone said. If anything, he was kind of sweet.

Just as Ling Ling started to drift off again, Lin Zishen hurriedly said, “Teacher Ling Ling, you don’t need to keep putting on disinfectant. It’s only a small scrape. You don’t have to cover my whole arm.”

Ling Ling felt awkward. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

Lin Zishen laughed out loud.

Ling Ling stared at the bright smile on the boy’s face and drifted off again for a moment. Then she quickly snapped out of it, put on a stern face, and pretended to be displeased. “Lin Zishen, no laughing!”

“Huh... You know who I am?”

Ling Ling blinked, her bright eyes shifting away. “Of course I know. Out of all the students in both tracks in Grade 11, you’re the worst singer! And you’re always spacing out in my class! You’ve been on your teacher’s blacklist for ages!”

In fact...

Ling Ling had known about Lin Zishen for ages. Most of what she’d heard about him was bad.

Lin Zishen didn’t seem suspicious at all. He was still smiling as he said, “What can I do? I was born with this voice...”

“I don’t care. Starting today, I’m going to try to fix your pronunciation. Enough of that—let’s start with do, re, mi, fa, so...”