Chapter 16: The New Discipline Commissioner

Chapter 16: New Discipline Commissioner

He kept watching, yet the winner showed no joy at all. Looking at the names on the notebook, her unease was plain to see.

After much hesitation, she finally handed the discipline notebook to the office. When she came back, she walked nervously over to the two of them and whispered, "I'm sorry."

After getting two dirty looks, she finally went back to her seat, satisfied.

Cheng Miao, who had been keeping a close eye on Lin Jinrui, was gritting his teeth in frustration. How had he never noticed someone this talented before? He leaned toward Lu Yu again and said through clenched teeth, "She's such a pushover!"

Lu Yu paused for a moment. "She's got some psychological issues."

Cheng Miao was taken aback. "Psychological? We're already talking about psychology?"

Lu Yu said, "People who are insecure, sensitive, and desperate for love may eventually go down one of two extremes. One is coldness—what you could call emotional shutdown from disappointment. The other is a people-pleasing personality—what you could call chronic approval-seeking behavior."

Cheng Miao nodded, deep in thought, then gave Lu Yu a meaningful look. "So you're the emotionally shut-down type?"

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow, a dangerous look in his eyes. "What do you think?"

Cheng Miao stared at his boyish face without a hint of fear and said slowly, "But you're so cold!"

"Oh, really? Whose arms were you crying in last night? And who hugged you the warmest in the middle of the night?" Lu Yu drawled.

Cheng Miao stared at him in disbelief. Did those words really just come out of Lu Yu's mouth?

He widened his eyes and said, "You've changed. You're not the same Lu Yu anymore."

A faint smile tugged at Lu Yu's lips.

It was only two classes in, not even ten o'clock yet, when Cheng Miao felt his stomach growling loudly. He pressed his stomach and sighed—kids these days can't handle being hungry. Just one missed meal and they're done for.

It was time for the morning recess. Cheng Miao turned to look at Lu Yu. "Are you hungry?"

Lu Yu said calmly, "I'm good."

His chubby seatmate immediately called him out on it. "Your stomach's been growling the whole class, and you're not hungry?"

Lu Yu looked embarrassed and turned away, ignoring him. Cheng Miao patted his pockets—he was flat broke.

He looked at Lu Yu, who shook his head. He was broke too, apparently.

The break was pretty long, and everyone was busy chatting, eating, and messing around.

Cheng Miao was thinking about who he was tight with and whether he could borrow some money to buy food, when he heard someone call his name in a snotty tone: "Cheng Miao, the homeroom teacher wants you. And Lu Yu too."

Cheng Miao was a bit puzzled. He looked up and saw it was the two girls who had been late that morning. From the look on their faces, he had a feeling this wasn't good.

He and Lu Yu exchanged a look, then got up and headed to the office.

Cheng Miao said, "Weird. We haven't done anything wrong, have we?"

Lu Yu said, "Let's go check it out. It might be about Lin Jinrui."

The moment Lin Jinrui was mentioned, Cheng Miao perked up. He quickened his pace to the office door, then suddenly stopped, pressing his face to the window to peek inside. Sure enough, Lin Jinrui was standing beside the homeroom teacher, Teacher Li, explaining something frantically.

He leaned toward Lu Yu. "How'd you know?"

"Didn't Lin Jinrui write up those two girls this morning? They probably came to tattle," Lu Yu guessed.

"Then why are we being called in for?"

"We'll find out when we get in there." Lu Yu nudged Cheng Miao, and they walked in.

"Teacher, what did you call us in for?" Cheng Miao stepped forward and asked obediently.

Teacher Li shot him an annoyed look. "Were you two late this morning or not?"

"No, we weren't. The bell was just ringing when Lu Yu and I walked into the classroom." Cheng Miao shook his head firmly.

Teacher Li said, "An Kexin and Liu Hui said you two were also late, but Lin Jinrui didn't write down your names."

"Teacher, Cheng Miao and the others really weren't late. They came into the classroom before the bell had even finished ringing. I'm not covering for the boys, and I'm not favoring boys over girls either." Lin Jinrui explained in a hurt voice from the side.

Cheng Miao felt a stir in his heart. His chance to be the hero saving the damsel in distress had arrived. "Teacher, we really weren't late. Classmate Lin Jinrui recorded everything truthfully. Those two girls were late, and they didn't even respect Lin Jinrui..." He rattled off a whole speech, then added at the end, "Teacher, this is slander."

Teacher Li found it somewhat amusing. She'd never noticed before how talkative Cheng Miao could be. She lightly poked his forehead. "At your age, do you even know what slander means?"

"Teacher, this is exactly that." Cheng Miao said decisively.

"Alright, you can all head back now. Class is about to start." She picked up her book, ready to head to the classroom together.

Lin Jinrui hesitated. She wrestled with herself for a moment, then finally mustered the courage to say, "Teacher, I... I don't want to record late arrivals anymore. Everyone... everyone doesn't like me."

Teacher Li was taken aback for a moment. She really liked Lin Jinrui—the girl studied hard and was very well-behaved. Her parents favored boys over girls, and she wasn't valued at home.

So she'd always tried to give her some responsibility in class affairs, but she'd overlooked her personality. Looking at it now, it really wasn't suitable.

She gently patted Lin Jinrui's head and said warmly, "Have you thought it through?"

Lin Jinrui nodded. "Mm. Teacher, I... I'll study hard. I'll get first place again next time."

Cheng Miao stood nearby and, seeing Lin Jinrui quitting the job, quickly spoke up: "Teacher, I'll do it. I'll help you record."

Teacher Li looked at him. "Oh, now you're learning to volunteer yourself." She gave him an appraising look up and down, figured he could probably handle it, and nodded. "Alright, you can do it then."

"Then, Teacher, you need to announce it to the class. I'm the Discipline Commissioner now." Cheng Miao made his request.

Teacher Li nodded. "Let's go. The bell's already finished ringing."

Teacher Li walked ahead, and Cheng Miao was following behind, about to whisper something to Lu Yu, when he saw Lin Jinrui walk over.

"Thank you for speaking up for me," she said in a quiet voice.

"No problem. Don't mention it." The moment Cheng Miao finished speaking, his stomach growled twice. He clicked his tongue and sighed. "So hungry!"

"I... I have some bread. I'll bring it to you after class." Lin Jinrui said hurriedly.

Before Cheng Miao could even refuse, she had already rushed back to the classroom.

The noisy classroom fell silent the instant the homeroom teacher walked in. Teacher Li slammed her book on the desk. "The bell's already rung, and you're still making noise?"

Everyone instinctively lowered their heads and sat up straight and obedient.

"Starting today, Cheng Miao is our class's Discipline Commissioner. From now on, arriving late to school, talking during class—all discipline issues will be handled by him."

After the announcement, she was about to start the lesson when she turned and saw that Cheng Miao hadn't returned to his seat but was standing right beside her. She found it a bit strange.