Extra Chapter 10: Home Visit
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“Self-Reflection Letter: Dear Class Teacher and fellow classmates, I, Chen Yao, led Lin Nan astray yesterday afternoon, convincing her to skip class and go online…”
On a Friday afternoon during class meeting, Chen Yao lethargically read his self-reflection letter at the podium. Although most of the six hundred words were copied from the internet, his annoyance grew as he watched Lin Nan, lounging in a rather fake slumber, almost snoring.
Why did Lin Nan always get to dodge the consequences?
Why was it that whenever the class teacher caught them online, the first thing he said was to distance Lin Nan from him?
Just because she’s cute, she gets to do whatever she wants?!
These days Lin Nan had sprouted a few teenage zits, losing a bit of her middle school charm, but those minor imperfections didn’t erase the inner “good girl” vibe she radiated.
Plus, she paid attention in class and took notes. Although she was a bit introverted, the class teacher had a solid impression of her.
Even though Lin Nan submitted a self-reflection letter, she wasn’t required to stand on stage and humiliate herself in front of the class. Maybe the class teacher deemed her shy nature too fragile for public shaming.
But Chen Yao? Not having it.
So, while reading his letter, he drenched it with irritation, sneering at the class teacher every now and then.
Finally, he finished reading. He glanced at the class teacher, who nodded approvingly, signaling him to step down, before approaching the podium. As he passed by Lin Nan, he whispered, “Don’t hang out with Chen Yao anymore. You’ll be corrupted.”
“Got it, I won’t do it again next time.” Lin Nan sat straight, hands neatly folded, as she sweetly promised.
Only then did the class teacher relax.
It had only been a month since the beginning of their first year in high school, and he was only just scraping the surface of his students’ personalities and appearances. He had noticed the more active students and was now ready to set up class committee positions.
“Lin Nan, you will be the Mathematics Class Representative.” He wrote her name on the board and added, “It’s a dictatorship.”
“Alright, the rest of the class committee positions are open for election. Who wants to be class monitor?”
Lin Nan’s expression morphed into a series of question marks.
The class teacher had his reasons for this. Assigning Lin Nan a position suited her timid and accommodating personality, allowing her to better integrate into the class and tackle her shy flaws.
In just one class period, he had assigned jobs to a quarter of the students.
A group of ten had two leaders; he also appointed two students to manage the class bulletin board… The more positions they filled, the more engaged the students became in class building!
In high school, weekends weren’t meant for extra classes.
With no night study on Friday evenings, Lin Nan and Chen Yao dashed off to the internet café as soon as class was out.
However, just as they left the classroom, the class teacher suddenly called out to Lin Nan.
“Lin Nan, I’m coming over to your house tonight for a home visit.”
“Uh?” Lin Nan turned, utterly bewildered.
She had only ever heard of home visits and never imagined she’d actually be subjected to one.
But then again, most students fear home visits because it means their parents might hear bad news, but Lin Nan had no worries. Her parents were conveniently out of town.
“What’s that? Family situation?”
Lin Nan shook her head vigorously, “No problem, you’re welcome!”
If the teacher was coming for a home visit, then she wouldn’t be making it to the internet café tonight.
With a face full of resignation, she shot Chen Yao a glance, “You go to the internet café without me. I’ll head home to prepare.”
Chen Yao noticed a strange pattern—every Friday recently had been riddled with trouble.
Whether it was his parents dragging him to help at their shop or visiting grandpa in the countryside, he had only managed to hit the internet café once since the school year started.
And that was while cutting class, leading to him getting caught.
“Then I’ll tag along to your house, since I have nothing to do at home anyway.”
Lin Nan nodded in agreement.
Having known each other since middle school, Chen Yao had taken refuge at Lin Nan’s house countless times whenever he faced trouble, so he was practically a regular there.
But after all this time, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lin Nan’s home was a bit too modest.
It was just a rental, but did it really need to be devoid of any personal furniture?
Upon returning to the apartment, Lin Nan immediately began tidying up, hoping to impress the teacher with a clean environment.
Thinking quickly, she instructed Chen Yao, “Run downstairs and grab some dumplings or fish balls or something. We need to impress the teacher when she arrives.”
“Why are you being so considerate? You never treat me this nicely!” Chen Yao grumbled, “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be up there reading a self-reflection letter.”
His opinion of the class teacher was very poor, and every time he looked at the bald, rotund figure, he cringed. He felt like her judgment of him was entirely based on appearances, which irked him even more.
Even though he had a history of skipping classes and brawling, he considered himself a good student.
“Who told you to get too familiar with me?”
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Lin Nan practically bounced to open the door. Peeking outside, she saw it was indeed the class teacher.
Impressive! The teacher actually managed to find her place amid the maze of urban villages.
Lin Nan remembered getting lost here several times when she first moved in.
“Is it just you at home?” The teacher cheerfully entered empty-handed.
“Yep, my parents are working outside and come home every couple of weeks.”
The teacher stepped further in and immediately spotted the one student he didn’t like much.
He glanced around the sparse furnishings, took another look at Chen Yao, and turned back to Lin Nan, asking with his eyes:
Didn’t I say to not hang out with Chen Yao?
Lin Nan pretended she didn’t see him, cheerfully grabbing a pair of slippers from the shoe rack and placing them at her teacher’s feet. Then, she dashed to the kitchen, pulling out a box of frozen rice balls.
Not sure if they were expired, but since Chen Yao couldn’t make it to the store, might as well let the teacher help clear out the freezer.
“Teacher, want some rice balls?”
“No thanks.” The teacher waved his hand, confidently walking to the living room and catching sight of Chen Yao lounging on the couch, glued to his phone.
Curiously, he asked in a hushed voice, “Are you and Lin Nan cousins?”
“Nope.”
Then, why on earth would Lin Nan cling so desperately to this little scoundrel?
He did have high hopes for Lin Nan. While the month’s test hadn’t taken place yet, an inspection of her homework revealed her neat handwriting with few errors. She was attentive in class, taking solid notes—a good seedling.
Plus, she had that cute, good-girl look that made her instantly likeable.
What if this little rascal, Chen Yao, led her astray? That would be a grave sin for him as a class teacher.
Lin Nan emerged from the kitchen and returned to the living room; the teacher quickly turned to her and asked, “Want to show me around your home?”
“Not much to see…”
Since her parents were often away, the place still looked like it did when they first rented it, except for a simple wardrobe in Lin Nan’s room and a washing machine on the balcony. Even the TV was one of those old boxy types.
Lin Nan wanted to get more furniture, but she didn’t have the funds.
Ever since she started going online with Chen Yao, her monthly allowance barely covered her needs. Occasionally she could save a few bucks, but expenses for exercise books would quickly empty her savings.
After a brief tour of the two-bedroom apartment, the teacher finally sank into the sofa and softly inquired about Lin Nan’s family situation.
Originally, the teacher had hoped to advise her parents to limit her interactions with Chen Yao and discern their educational philosophies…
But it turned out that Lin Nan was practically home alone.
After learning more about her parents from Lin Nan, a look of concern crossed the teacher’s face.
No matter how you looked at it, her parents seemed a bit unreliable.
“Old class, you must be bored. Instead of home visits, you could be grading homework!” Chen Yao chimed in from the sidelines, baffled by the teacher’s choice to ask a barrage of questions.
The teacher shot him a glare.
Lin Nan, experiencing her first home visit, sat stiffly, hands on her lap, head down. Anyone could mistake this for Chen Yao’s house.
“Well, let’s wrap this up for today.” The teacher stood up, looking at the pair sprawled on the couch.
For some strange reason, there was a bizarre chemistry in the air.
