Inside the cla.s.sroom.Two students were conversing with one another. Their topics revolved around anime, manga, etc. In other words, they were otakus.
"What do you mean you don"t like Erika"s voice, huh?"
"I"m not saying that I don"t like it, I"m saying that it"s too high pitched for me to listen to it attentively..." Saying this, the student took out his phone and played an audio track. He then got a pair of headphones from his pocket and plugged them into his phone. "Here, listen."
The other student took one of the earphone plugs and put it in his ear. Just then, he heard an obnoxious voice coming from it.
"S-stupid!" The obnoxious voice sounded out from the small speaker plugged inside his ear. It almost made his ear bleed when he heard that.
"Ah, I guess you"re right." The student admitted defeat, pulling the earphone out of his ear like his life depended on it.
Knock, knock, knock. From the door came three consecutive knocks. Only the two otakus could hear them since everyone else was preoccupied with their own thing.
"Hey. Open it. Someone"s knocking..." One of the students spoke as he nudged the other"s arm with his elbow.
"Mhmm, you"re closer. You open it instead." The other then retaliated and nudged back, only this time to the other student"s head instead of his arm.
"Ugh, stop! Okay, okay, I"ll open it..." The student gave in as he was getting annoyed by the other party"s elbow poking his face.
He stood up and walked straight to the door. Without hesitation, he opened it.
Creak... The sound of the door opening reverberated throughout the entire cla.s.sroom. Everyone instinctively shut up and adjusted to their respective proper seating positions.
"h.e.l.lo?" The otaku looked outside but there was no one. He then looked down. There he saw the pet.i.te figure of a girl dressed in a suit, with black gla.s.ses as an accessory.
Upon sight of this female, the first thoughts of the student went towards the direction of CEOs and managers. Without a doubt, this girl was one of those big shots!
Plus, her face was so stunning! Even if she faced off against the beauty of the school, Ma Xiaoli, that girl wouldn"t even have the capability to compete with her! That"s just how beautiful this girl was!
"Teach- oh. Is, umm, your teacher here?" With an interrogating tone, the female CEO"s voice reached the student"s ears.
"No, she"s not... What do you need her for?" The student was quivering with nervousness after hearing the CEO"s cold voice. However, after several scoldings from both his teachers and his parents, he managed to steel himself enough to get through it.
"Umm, when she returns, please give this back to her..." Zhou Zhenya replied in a concise manner, at least in the perspective of the student. In truth, she did not reply concisely at all, but rather, she replied in a nervous and shaky manner.
The student froze for a second before seeing the CEO"s hands" sudden movements, with the items in her hands now in front of his face. He wrapped his hands around all of the items as the little CEO let go of them. She then turned around and walked away in strides.
The student snapped back to reality and blushed for a second.
He walked towards the teacher"s table and dumped everything he had in his hands there, an action which gave him relief.
Only then did he realize what was given to him.
"Hmm? Makeup? Not to mention...?!" The student was shocked by his sudden revelation that it rendered him unable to speak for a few seconds.
This... this was the makeup which their teacher liked to show off! Always saying that this was the most expensive makeup... Remembering it now, it made the student want to sneer.
Oh! So that"s why she carried it outside earlier! The student made a conclusion on his own.
Ruan Juan, his homeroom teacher... was actually a relative of a conglomerate executive! Which would mean... that she was actually incredibly rich!
And there"s a possibility that the fact that these two were relatives just happened as well. That was why his teacher was so eager to flex on her students...
It"s no wonder she wanted to flaunt her fortune. If he himself suddenly acquired a huge amount of wealth, he would brag about it... No, wait. Actually, he won"t, since all of the money is going to be spent manga, anime, and merchandise...
.....
Wen Hui made her way towards her section"s cla.s.sroom with confidence. She was sure to stun those students of hers with ease, now that that genius little girl gave her a makeover.
She stood behind the door, then twisted the k.n.o.b.
The students inside were surprised. They all cleaned up the mess that was prevalent in the room and got back to their desks as quickly as they could.
Of course, Wen Hui heard the ruckus and stopped just before walking in. She wanted to let her students clean the room first.
When the noise subsided, Wen Hui continued on entering the room.
The students were all quiet, not daring to make the slightest sound. Even though their homeroom teacher was kind and didn"t get angry often, sometimes, they would feel a slight discomfort from her usually amiable looking gaze right after they did something they knew they shouldn"t have done.
However, when Wen Hui entered everyone"s eyesight, they were all dumbfounded.
What?
Who was this G.o.ddess?
Who was she, that blessed them with her presence?
Who was she, that graced them with her beauty?
Who was she, that gifted them with her earlobes?
Wait, let"s not talk about that last one...
.....
Zhou Zhenya started walking away from the room she was just in. Too embarra.s.sed to look back, her pace quickened as she tried to hurry up and s.n.a.t.c.h her tools back so that she could work on the c.r.a.ppy wall in their house. "After all, that ghost should have already made it to my brother"s cla.s.sroom. If not, then she"s as slow as a snail..."
Right before she was about to take the first step up the stairs, Ruan Juan appeared, carrying a laptop with her. As she was in a hurry, her face was full of sweat, and the makeup she painstakingly put on herself was getting washed off because of it.
Without the makeup, she still looked pretty, but not to the level of if she had them. Seeing this sight, Zhou Zhenya couldn"t help but cringe. "W... what makeup is this?"
She never knew the cause, but ever since she pa.s.sed out in her brother"s bedroom, she always had the impulse to modify and better things she found inferior to her standards. Whatever it was, though, it was starting to annoy her. "First, the floors, then the walls, and now makeup?"
However, as much as she was irritated doing this, she couldn"t resist the voice in her head. Because of this, as soon as she caught sight of this teacher whose makeup was messed up, she instinctively called out to her. "Miss teacher!"
Almost reaching her destination, she took one last step up the stairs before she made it up the 3rd floor. Her face looked disheveled. Even though one could barely see traces of makeup on her face before, with all of her sweat messing it up, it looked more obvious than ever.
Hearing a child"s voice, she found it familiar. She turned her head to look at the child calling out to her. "Oh! It turns out... that it"s you!"
Zhou Zhenya had no time to engage in simple conversation with this woman in front of her. She suddenly grabbed the teacher"s hand and walked back towards the room she was previously in, bringing along the teacher in the process.
The sudden grabbing of her arm startled Ruan Juan, making her other arm loosen up and the laptop slip down.
"Oh- oh! Do be careful..." The teacher gave a reminder to the child who was dragging her to her room as she caught the gadget that almost fell.
Not before long, the door was already in front of Zhou Zhenya, whose hand was still latched onto Ruan Juan"s arm. Her other hand knocked on the door in a rapid succession.
"..." Ruan Juan was still too dazed to understand much about the situation she was in right now.
Meanwhile, Zhou Zhenya was getting more and more impatient. She had to finish this matter as fast as possible to make it in time to her brother"s cla.s.sroom. She didn"t notice that her face had scrunched up already.
The door opened, and the same student who attended to her earlier appeared.
"Oh! It"s the beautiful CEO! ...and Miss Ruan." The student squinted his eyes as he looked at his homeroom teacher. Him spotting the two together confirmed his suspicions.
Despite her terrible appearance, Ruan Juan was still recognized by her student. That was because this was a regular occurrence when it was her cla.s.s. She would forget something then run off to fetch it, only to come back with a messy face.
Meanwhile, Zhou Zhenya"s tense face gradually calmed down. She spoke with a low volume. "Please hand me the makeup I entrusted to you earlier."
The student heard her voice and pointed behind him. "Those?"
Zhou Zhenya looked at where the student was pointing and nodded her head. "Yes, those."
Ruan Juan was curious as to what these two could be talking about. She also looked towards where her student was pointing at. "Oh, it"s my makeup. She"s going to return it then..."
Upon seeing the CEO nod her head, the student grabbed the makeup again and handed it to her. With an enthusiastic voice, he spoke. "Here!"
Zhou Zhenya received the makeup and nodded her head again. She walked away, signaling the student to close the door himself.
Ruan Juan was blank about the whole situation. "Just what is happening?" Her mind wandered off far away...
When she came to, she found herself in the restroom, facing the mirror, seated on a chair that wasn"t there before.
"Huh?" A sudden hand appeared in front of her face, dabbing here and there.
.....
Meanwhile, Wen Hui was basking in the praise of her students.
"Ma"am, you"re so beautiful today!"
"Where did you get your makeup done?"
"Ma"am, give me some advice!"
"Miss Wen!" "Miss Wen!" "Miss Wen!"
They all cheered her name in synchronization.
Wen Hui was touched. Not expecting this, her face turned red. "Thank you, my students!" A tear started to flow down her cheeks. Many more tears soon followed. She covered her mouth with her two hands.
The school prince, Zhou Lei, stood up with a wide smile on his face. Both of his hands were behind his back as if he was hiding something.
Wen Hui stared in curiosity. What is it that this student of mine is hiding?
Zhou Lei suddenly knelt in front of her, bringing out the object that he was hiding. It was a bouquet of roses.
With wide eyes, Wen Hui thanked Zhou Lei. "Thank you..."
"Miss Wen, happy birthday!" A student uttered from behind the crowd.
"Thank you!" Wen Hui nodded.
The students carried her up on their hands and brought her outside the room while shouting her name every now and then...
At least, that"s what happened in Wen Hui"s imagination.
.....
Ruan Juan did not know what was currently happening. There were two little hands in front of her face, constantly tapping and applying something on her.
"Um..." She uttered a single sound of confusion as the small hands continued to dab something on her face.
"...and done!" Zhou Zhenya finished putting the makeup on the horrendous looking teacher. Now, she was, at least, on par to the ghost earlier.
"Huh?" Hearing that familiar voice, Ruan Juan looked around and saw a child with a satisfied look on her face. This was the same child that asked to borrow her makeup...
As she recovered from her daze, she slowly discovered what had been done to her. The mirror displayed a beautiful sight, one that even she couldn"t recognize.
However, she knew that this was a mirror, and of course, that the beauty she was seeing was her herself.
"This... is me?" Ruan Juan, having just recovered from her previous daze, was falling into one again.
"Okay, that"s done..." Zhou Zhenya"s hands moved fast, giving the makeup back to the unresponding teacher before her. She sneaked out of the restroom, her speed increasing as she proceeded. Eventually, she made it out of the room and dashed towards her brother"s cla.s.sroom.
"...wait..." Ruan Juan witnessed Zhou Zhenya"s exit, but all her energy was being expended on trying to comprehend what just happened, and so she did nothing but utter a quiet sound.
.....
Zhou Zhenya made it outside of the room. The door was slightly open, but she could not hear a single sound coming from the room.
"Good thing there is some gla.s.s on the door...", Zhou Zhenya thought as she peeked through the see-through material.
Her little head became visible from inside the room.
However, everyone"s attention was all directed towards the teacher in front of them, making them unable to even notice her.
In front, Wen Hui was daydreaming. She even shed a single tear as she thanked the students repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lei"s head was still burrowed between his two arms.
"Err, what is happening?" Zhou Lei"s curiosity almost reached its peak. His cla.s.smates had been strangely silent for over a minute now, so he didn"t dare to raise his head in this inopportune time.
He kept wondering about what happened that rendered all of his cla.s.smates, well-known for being noisy, unable to utter even a single sound.
He had several theories in mind. One is that the princ.i.p.al just walked in and caught his cla.s.smates, well, "grooming" him. Second is that the scariest teacher, Chen Chen arrived, and he was in a bad mood. The third is that there was an earthquake happening and he was left in the cla.s.sroom while all of his cla.s.smates had already evacuated...
"No, no, no! All of these aren"t feasible...", Zhou Lei thought.
Therefore, he just stayed silent as he waited for some sound.
"..."
"..."
Creak... Zhou Lei heard something coming from the door...
"..."
"..."
"Ah, I can"t take it anymore!" Zhou Lei raised his head as slow as he could. To his surprise, he saw his little sister digging through his bag.
"Hmm?" He didn"t believe the sight before him. At this time of the day, his sister would still be asleep, not to mention that she had no reason to follow him into his school.
Zhou Zhenya shivered as she felt that she had been caught.
Her head slowly turned to look at her brother.
"Voila, my brother was looking at me with wide eyes. Oh look, he"s even rubbing his eyes to confirm that he"s not just imagining seeing me!"
.....
Ruan Juan stood up and pinched the skin on her arm, just to confirm that she was not imagining the sight before her.
"This... is really me? Aha!" Ruan Juan"s mood rose up drastically. She was now feeling elated and excited, feeling the urge to show her current look to her students.
Looking at the makeup on her arms, Ruan Juan walked towards her cla.s.sroom.
"Hehehe..."
Inside the room, everyone was still waiting for their teacher.
"Why is she taking so long? She just fetched her laptop, right?" This was the general consensus of all of the students inside the room.
Even the otaku, whose mind was filled with thoughts of the "CEO", was getting impatient. "However, as she was dragged away by the "CEO", it must be something important!"
Suddenly, the door opened, with a familiar figure walking in. There was some makeup on her right arm and a laptop on her left. Her hair was covering her face slightly. As such, not one of the numerous students noticed her new look.
Ruan Juan walked in strides. With the desk in front of her, she stopped, her back facing the students. She shoved the makeup inside of her bag and put the laptop down carefully.
As she walked towards the opposite side of the desk, her face was still facing towards the whiteboard, which was full of gibberish.
"Someone erase this." Ruan Juan ordered her students.
The students in her cla.s.s still acted like everything was normal. This teacher of theirs always looked at the other side whenever her face was riddled with messy makeup.
One of them stood up, as it was his turn to clean the board. He walked towards the board, bringing his phone with him.
This was the tradition of the cla.s.s. Every time their teacher faced the other way, someone would take a picture of her face and share it with their group chat.
The student made sure that his phone was undetectable, while also making sure that the camera was set on silent.
He grabbed the eraser on the desk, nonchalantly cleaning the board of the gibberish there. His free finger pressed the "capture" b.u.t.ton, while his head turned the other way as he tried to hide his chuckle.
Ruan Juan naturally did not notice her student take a picture of her face, but even if she did, there was no need to care. On the contrary, she would even thank this student of his!
The student finished erasing the writings off of the board, without seeing even a single glimpse of his teacher"s face.