Chapter 514 - 175: 80s Drama Queen Forced to Become a Top Student (10)
Chapter 514: Chapter 175: 80s Drama Queen Forced to Become a Top Student (10)
"You said you’d never recited it and didn’t know what the *Three Character Classic* was, so I was just answering your question," Sheng Leyun said, unhurried and with a light laugh. "Considering how sincere I am about helping my classmates, may I sit down now?"
Her smile was incredibly infectious, in a way that had nothing to do with conventional beauty.
It could make one feel the brilliance of the sun and the loveliness of all creation. When she chose to unleash it, how could a group of little kids possibly resist a charm that had been cultivated over thousands of years?
The little boy’s mind went blank. He was utterly speechless. By the time he pulled himself out of his daze, she had already taken her seat in a perfectly orderly manner and spread her school supplies across half the desk.
It felt rather awkward for him to say anything now.
The little boy’s eyes were wide, his small chest puffing up and down. It was an amusing sight.
Sheng Leyun tilted her head and offered a harmless smile. "What’s your name?"
The little boy continued to glare at her. "You’re here to study, not to make friends. Class has started. Aren’t you going to pay attention?"
"Oh? So you *do* know we’re in class? Then why were you sleeping and having the Sleep God give you private lessons?" Sheng Leyun asked curiously.
"Gong Xiaofei," the boy mumbled, exasperated. "Just stop talking to me!"
"Sheng Leyun. It’s a pleasure to meet you," she said with a smile, nodding along. Then, true to her word, she faced forward and paid attention to the lecture without saying another word.
The first-grade curriculum was simple and extremely basic. But for that very reason, it was all Greek to Sheng Leyun!
’She rested her chin in her hand and lasted all of five minutes before realizing that without learning systematically from the very beginning, the concepts didn’t connect into a coherent network. Even with her excellent memory, she had no desire to resort to rote learning and squander her natural gifts.’
’In that case, I’ll have to get myself a little tutor.’
She glanced around the classroom. ’Is it really okay for these kids to be slacking off so much at this age? Every single one of them is a potential asset for the future.’
’Should I start cultivating them now and build up my own little talent pool?’
The teacher continued the lesson. The moment he turned to write on the blackboard, the kids in the back started acting up. They crumpled paper into balls to throw at each other, or someone would run up from the back, smack another student, and then dash back to their seat.
’How infuriating!’
The teacher finished the lesson with remarkable composure, then gathered his books and left, ruler in hand.
The students immediately started running all over the room. A few kids in trendy clothes surrounded her. "Hey, newbie! You’ve got some serious nerve, sitting next to our Brother Gong!"
Sheng Leyun raised an eyebrow. Resting her chin in her hand, she turned to Gong Xiaofei. "What’s Gong Zicheng to you?"
Gong Xiaofei eyed her warily. "He’s my older cousin, from my uncle’s side. Why? You know him?"
Sheng Leyun nodded and smiled. "That’s right. I don’t just know Brother Cheng, I know Grandma Gong, too. We were on the same train to the capital just the day before yesterday."
"Your grandma gave me her contact information, but I haven’t gotten settled in yet, so I haven’t dropped by to see her."
"I never thought I’d end up in the same class as Xiao Fei, let alone become his desk-mate."
"So, Xiao Fei, I’ll be in your care from now on!"
Gong Xiaofei stared at her in disbelief.
"You’re lying, aren’t you? There’s no way my grandma and my cousin know a country bumpkin like you!"
"You must have found out who I am and are making it all up to trick me!"
Sheng Leyun scoffed.
"Why would I lie to you? It’s not like I need you to give me special treatment in class."
"Do you really think a smart and pretty girl like me needs to rely on a lie that can be exposed so easily?"
"Also," she said, sweeping her gaze coolly over the surrounding kids, "I really don’t like being called a ’country bumpkin.’ The words themselves are neutral, so why do you insist on using them as an insult just to show off your own poor taste?"
"Oh, but my words are probably too profound for you. First-graders who still haven’t mastered pinyin or learned to read properly wouldn’t be able to understand, after all!"
Being scorned by a "country bumpkin" who had just joined their class—forget Gong Xiaofei, even the little brats standing around him were indignant.
"I heard you’re nine and only just starting first grade. Tsk, tsk. The schools in the countryside must be pretty bad, huh? You say we don’t know all our pinyin, but I bet you can’t even recognize all the new characters in our textbooks."
The kids remembered being startled by her recitation of the *Three Character Classic*. But setting that aside, based on the highly reliable gossip they’d heard, Sheng Leyun was only starting school at nine years old. She couldn’t be that much better than them.
One after another, they chimed in:
"This is hilarious. You think just because you can recite the *Three Character Classic* you’re some kind of genius who can just lord it over me?"