Chapter 150: Stealing Fragrance (5)
The students in the classroom looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.
And that boy, seeing that no one spoke, had just sat down when another small stone hit him in exactly the same spot, without a hair’s breadth of difference.
[Was it him who led it?]
After throwing the stone, Xiao Ji remembered to confirm the culprit with 037.
037 was munching on melon seeds, enjoying the show: [Mm-hmm, he’s the one who led it, he’s the one who started the commotion, he’s the one who planned it and incited the classmates. It’s him, his name is Huang Ye.]
[Their previous Chinese teacher was a traditional beauty from a famous scholarly family in Huating who was very against studying abroad. He knows you returned from overseas and doesn’t like the look of you.]
In this era, people’s thoughts were shackled. They had their own ideas, but not many, and were easily influenced by others.
Having been hit twice, Huang Ye stopped looking at his book and began to carefully observe who was playing the prank.
Consequently, after he was hit by a small stone for the third time, he finally discovered that the stones were being thrown in from outside the door.
Huang Ye stood up and walked to a position about one meter from the classroom door, looking out.
But he saw nothing.
According to his guess, this kind of childish prank must have been done by some bored student from another class.
So, he leaned closer to the door.
He knew very well what he had done himself and would definitely not touch that door easily.
Xiao Ji stood by the wall, playing with a small stone between his fingers. Judging that Huang Ye had approached, he casually flicked the stone out.
The sharp “short power” knocked over the enamel basin that was precariously balanced over the doorframe.
The cold water mixed with ink, along with that enamel basin, poured right over Huang Ye’s head, soaking him from head to toe.
Everyone gasped. Huang Ye hadn’t even reacted yet. He lifted the basin off his head and met Xiao Ji’s eyes.
Xiao Ji looked at him, his expression indifferent.
“Is the faucet at your house broken? Why did you come to the classroom to take a bath?”
With gray liquid still hanging from his face, Huang Ye opened his mouth and wiped his face, unable to speak for a long while.
Xiao Ji walked onto the podium, placed the textbook on the lecture desk, lowered his eyes, and said expressionlessly to Huang Ye:
“Please sit down, student who has just finished bathing.”
After that, he faced the students in the classroom, who had varying expressions:
“Our first meeting. Let’s relax and tell some stories. For example, ‘lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot,’ or ‘stealing a chicken only to lose the rice.'”
In the silence, he ignored Huang Ye’s presence and calmly finished telling two stories. Then, he wrote a string of idioms on the blackboard:
[Reaping what one sows. Spinning a cocoon around oneself. Eating the bitter fruit of one’s own actions. Bringing trouble upon oneself. Bringing about one’s own destruction.]
The large, flowing characters were sharp and incredibly beautiful.
Each idiom carried a story.
After finishing each story, Xiao Ji would add a sentence:
“For example, that basin.”
He spoke of a basin, but everyone present knew exactly what he was referring to.
This undisguised “pointing at the mulberry to revile the locust tree” and his unshakable attitude made the perpetrators and participants feel like they were being roasted over a fire.
During this time, someone was secretly whispering below.
Without even looking up, Xiao Ji threw a small piece of chalk, hitting that person right in the center of the forehead.
After class, Xiao Ji turned and left without a word.
The classroom immediately erupted.
As for what was said, Xiao Ji didn’t care in the slightest.
That night, when Pei Yinnian returned to the Pei Residence and entered the door, he heard Pei Xinyun saying to Mother Pei: “That accuracy! My brother’s shooting might not even be that accurate!”
Pei Yinnian casually took off his jacket and handed it to the nanny, Auntie Liu. He sat down grandly in front of the mother and daughter:
“What are you talking about? What thing is even more accurate than my marksmanship?”
Pei Xinyun leaned back on the sofa:
“Brother, this new teacher at National First Middle School is really something.”
She had only just transferred there and wasn’t familiar with anyone in the class. From early that morning when she went to National First Middle School, she had sat in the corner without speaking.
However, she had coolly observed how Huang Ye had come up with the idea to do bad things.
They were both newcomers. Pei Xinyun had originally held a bit of pity for that upcoming Chinese teacher. As it turned out, her mind was now filled with the idioms the new teacher had written on the blackboard during the day.
Pei Xinyun recounted the beginning and end of the matter to Pei Yinnian again, then said:
“It’s the first time I’ve been so deeply impressed by the content of a teacher’s lecture.”
Pei Yinnian looked at her. “Isn’t using that phrase a bit of an overkill?”
Pei Xinyun was about to say that it was just an exaggeration.
Before the words could leave her mouth, she heard Pei Yinnian suddenly say:
“Your Chinese is too poor. This new teacher surnamed Xiao sounds like a reliable one. Invite him to our home to give you some tutoring.”
No student is willing to have tutoring.
And Pei Xinyun’s Chinese wasn’t actually poor.
Pei Xinyun was stunned. “Brother!”
Pei Yinnian didn’t give her a chance to speak at all, immediately slamming the table and saying:
“It’s decided. Tomorrow I’ll find someone to talk to him. This is all for your own good.”
Mother Pei, who hadn’t spoken, also felt that Pei Yinnian seemed a bit strange today:
“Is the sun rising from the west today? Since when did you care so much about your sister’s studies?”
Pei Yinnian was very good at finding excuses:
“I know this Teacher Xiao. He returned from studying abroad. I imagine his foreign languages are also outstanding. Huating hasn’t been stable these past two years. Giving Xinyun a good foundation will make it easier to send her abroad to avoid the trouble when the time comes.”
“It’ll save her from going out and being completely lost, not understanding a word of those foreigners’ bird talk.”
Hearing this, Mother Pei felt worried.
Only others weren’t clear; in her heart, it was as clear as a mirror—Commander Pei’s death from illness was simply a planned part of Pei Yinnian’s path to seizing power.
She was just a woman with a narrow vision; after living half her life, she only understood the affairs of the inner residence.
Her own son being so ruthless and ambitious always made her unsure if it was a good or bad thing.
She gave Pei Yinnian a glare. “I wonder who it is that’s making Huating unstable.”
Pei Yinnian didn’t think it was his own fault, only saying:
“It’s just the situation. Being able to let you live a good life is your blessing and my ability. As for other things, there’s no need for you to worry so much.”
No one knows a son better than his mother. Mother Pei didn’t dare to get involved in matters outside the house in front of Pei Yinnian.
But for matters inside the house, she still couldn’t help but intervene:
“By the way, the wife of Bureau Chief Wang from the Bureau of Public Works called this afternoon, saying she wants to come over tomorrow afternoon to play tiles. If you’re free tomorrow night, come back early.”
Pei Yinnian arched an eyebrow. “Madam Wang invited you to play tiles; why should I come back early? To cook for you?”
Mother Pei gave a “hei”: “The young lady of the Wang Residence has also returned. I was thinking of letting the two of you meet. You’re not young anymore…”
“Spare me.”
Pei Yinnian interrupted Mother Pei, saying impatiently:
“I’m very busy and don’t have that idle mind. Don’t go trying to act as a matchmaker when you have nothing to do; it’s a waste of your tile-playing time.”
Translator’s Note: Welcome to the Republic Era (Minguo)! This arc is set in old Shanghai (Huating), a time of “Ten-Mile Foreign Quarters,” warlords, and scholars. Idioms used in the chapters:
- “Lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot” (搬起石頭砸自己的腳): hurting oneself with one’s own actions.
- “Stealing a chicken only to lose the rice” (偷雞不成蝕把米): trying to gain an advantage but ending up with a loss.
- “Pointing at the mulberry to revile the locust tree” (指桑罵槐): pointing at one person to scold another indirectly.
- “Bird talk” (鳥話): a derogatory way to refer to foreign languages. Pei Yinnian is truly a “local emperor” (土皇帝), isn’t he? And Xiao Ji is such a cool, calculated teacher. Can’t wait to see their interactions during the “tutoring”!
Stay tuned for more chapters!
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