Capítulo 2: Chapter 2 I want to apply for day school
The walk from the teaching building to the administrative building required crossing half the sports field, under a scorching sun. Her skin, burned by the sun, reddened, with faint droplets on her forehead and nose.
Yet, such heat was far less oppressive than the gaze of the person before her, which caused her to feel restless.
"Shang... Teacher Shang."
After seeing that face on the sports field, Shen Chaoxi's mind went blank, having completely forgotten the identity of the person in front of her at the moment.
Shang Jianghan's lips quirked slightly, that rogueish charm returning to his face.
"My surname is Shang. Call me Teacher Shang, not Shang Shang Teacher!"
Shen Chaoxi: ...
"What's the matter?"
Coming out of her brief daze, Shen Chaoxi stepped forward and laid the application form in front of Shang Jianghan.
"I need to apply for day release."
It was "need," not "want."
Accommodation and closed management are enforced for all senior three students at the school, unless there are special circumstances that require them to stay.
Shang Jianghan's dark eyes narrowed, fixing on the unretracted delicate, fair right hand, where he caught a glimpse of a faint red scar beside her index finger.
His gaze returned to the paper, plain black on white, the handwriting clear and forceful.
Shang Jianghan only glanced at it once before he started scrutinizing the girl in front of him.
In such close scrutiny, sunlight streamed in from the glass windows on her side, casting a silvery glow on her pale, small face.
Her palm-sized face, with its large, clear, and bright eyes, enchanting upward tilt at the corners, a delicate and petite nose, a distinct and shallow groove above her soft and plump lips, and a slightly pointed chin connected to a set of round, adorable earlobes.
Shang Jianghan's Adam's apple moved slightly as he spoke, "The reason?"
The reason for the day release was already written in black and white on the paper, yet Shen Chaoxi had to repeat it.
"There's an elderly family member sick and hospitalized, who needs care."
"Isn't there anyone else at home?" Shang Jianghan asked in an official tone.
"There is, but they also have to work, and the timing doesn't really work out." Shen Chaoxi, fearing that he might misunderstand, added, "I will only occasionally keep them company overnight, it won't impact my studies, and I can provide proof of my family member's hospitalization."
The other party remained silent as she finished speaking.
Shang Jianghan's long and knobby index finger tapped on the piece of paper rhythmically.
While waiting, Shen Chaoxi brainstormed various ways to respond should her request be refused.
Eventually, the tapping of fingers on the desk ceased.
"There must be other reasons, right?"
It was worded as a question, yet it contained certainty.
Upon hearing this, her gaze abruptly rose, Shen Chaoxi looking straight at the man before her.
His handsome features, sharp angularity, brows and eyes deep as distant mountains seemed roguish yet carried an air of decisiveness that allowed no refusal.
"Last time was a substitute shift; I don't work there."
What "there" referred to was unclear to a third person, but both of them knew full well.
After a standoff, Shang Jianghan picked up a black pen and signed his name on the application form, and whether intentional or not, his signature ended up right next to the words "Shen Chaoxi."
Shen Chaoxi left the administrative building, clenching her back teeth.
The application was approved, but only for a week.
She remembered the reason Shang Jianghan gave: "If you're hospitalized, you're supposed to get out, who would stay in a hospital for a lifetime? Take a week off at a time, and when your family elder is discharged, the application is void! You're in your senior year, the most critical year. If you study hard, you'll have a far better future waiting for you. Don't do something you'll regret for the rest of your life!"
If such words came from any other teacher, she wouldn't have found them surprising.
But coming from Shang Jianghan, it always felt slightly dissonant.
**
On the first day of registration, they received their books, and, since there were no specific classes scheduled for the afternoon, every class was busy cleaning.
After sorting out her assigned cleaning area, Shen Chaoxi started to preview her lessons.
There weren't many people in the classroom that afternoon, as all the boys had gone to the basketball court, leaving behind a few girls huddled in small groups, whispering among themselves.
Seated at the back of the classroom, Shen Chaoxi was in a corner bathed in the glow of the setting sun, her silhouette appearing increasingly solitary.
A few girls glanced back at her and felt that she didn't quite fit in with the class, but since they weren't familiar with her, they didn't discuss it further.
The conversation among the girls turned to the new PE teacher.
"Such a handsome guy!"
"More than just a handsome guy, did you recognize the clothes he was wearing, and the steel watch on his left wrist? B-family custom from Switzerland, right down to his outfit, one sports car!"
"Really?"
"My brother knows him, one of the three young masters from the Shang family! An aristocrat of the Beijing Circle!"
"Yuan, is he even more impressive than your family?"
"Pssh! What are you talking about? The Fang Family's scale is something you can mention in your circles, but compared to Shang family, we're not even worthy to carry their shoes!
You know Lianzhong International, right? The Shang family has total control!"
The girls gasped.
"Oh my goodness! My dad told me to spend a year at Number One High School and then go abroad to gild the lily for a few years, and then see if there's a chance to get into Lianzhong!
And here I am, right in front of the Crown Prince himself!"
"MY GOD! Why am I even bothering? If I could catch up with the Crown Prince, even if I couldn't be the main wife, to be a concubine or the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth, it'd still be better than struggling through studying!"
...
These discussions spread from Class Nine to Class One throughout the afternoon and returned in several altered versions.
In any case, Shang Jianghan remained a hot topic of conversation among the students of Number One High School.
The person in question was completely unaware of this, and frankly, he couldn't care less.
**
As the neon lights began to glow, up in the sixth-floor private room of Baiye Club.
Shang Jianghan had arrived in the afternoon, slouching boredly on the single-seater sofa, dark eyes lowered, his left fingertip holding a cigarette, a length of ash on it ready to fall but not yet dropped, and his right hand casually flipping through files on his phone.
"Rare for you to take the initiative to ask us out! Is it for good news or bad news?"
Song Yang and Zhong Shuoxi arrived together, each a young master from wealthy circles, all with handsome features and an undeniable sense of authority.
"I've come to settle accounts! Tonight's expenses are on you!" Shang Jianghan's deep black eyes slightly lifted as he spoke with the cigarette clinging to the corner of his mouth.
With the cigarette glow brightening and dimming, a haze of gray-white smoke billowed out.
The sharp contours of his handsome face were shrouded in it, adding a layer of mystery.
The waitress serving drinks was momentarily stunned, causing her tray to tilt and several bottles of pricey red wine to clatter to the ground.
Two bottles of red wine shattered, and the dark, glossy liquid flowed across the floor, following the lines of the glass surface.
The waitress went pale.
"I... I'm so sorry! It wasn't on purpose!"
The combined cost of the two bottles was in the five digits; she couldn't afford to pay for it!
"Get your boss over here, what's going on!? Hiring greenhorns like yourself! Spilled wine is a small matter, but you've ruined the mood for us. Who's going to take responsibility?"
The waitress looked even paler, apologizing profusely, nearly ready to kneel.
Soon after, the manager of Baiye came in, and upon seeing the mess, he was nearly scared to death. If it had been any other room, he might have handled it, but not this room, as none of the few sitters were to be taken lightly!
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