He pulled out a few pieces of cotton and felt them with his hands. There was no softness between his fingers, the cotton lacked elasticity, and it felt quite rough. When he forcefully tore it, the cotton split like a piece of paper, breaking instantly.
"Teacher, come closer and smell it, there’s an odd odor. It’s quite uncomfortable to the nose," Xiao Xian’s words made Wang Haiping involuntarily take a few more glances at her. Xiao Xian? It must be Zhu Xiaoxian, the student from his class. His class has always been one of the school’s top classes, and this year, the school authorities informed him that two students with special athletic skills were arranged to join their class. They were said to be specially recruited for basketball, but looking at her, she seemed like "black heart cotton," not much to see.
This child seemed quite clever and had a lot of courage. To be honest, Wang Haiping, like most teachers, wasn’t particularly fond of students specially admitted for sports since, as class teachers, what they cared about most was the students’ grades and the overall class’s college admission rate. Athletically talented students generally had quite poor academic performance.
"You’re called Zhu Xiaoxian, right? I will handle this matter. Our class hasn’t got a sports commissioner yet, so you will take on the role," he said. It really wasn’t easy to pick out a sports commissioner from a class of bookish nerds.
Xiao Xian returned to her seat, and Wang Haiping took the torn cotton aside before starting the class meeting.
During the brief forty-five-minute class meeting, Xiao Xian and the other three from the dormitory developed a rather good impression of Wang Haiping. First, he was quite good-looking, with a clear face free of pimples and a cleanly-shaven beard. Next, he had a pleasant voice. They heard that Wang Haiping had graduated from Beijing Broadcast College, but they didn’t know why he became an English teacher at Sacred Heart Middle School. Lastly, of course, it was because he spoke with a smile throughout the meeting, creating a good feeling just by looking at him.
"Middle school is very different from elementary school; the curriculum will be much more extensive. In the first year of middle school, it mainly includes Chinese, mathematics, English, politics, geography, history, physical education, art, and music, as well as natural sciences. Many of you are top students from elementary school, but if you don’t work hard, you’ll fall behind because everyone who can sit in the classrooms of Sacred Heart Middle School is among the top students nationwide," said Wang Haiping, after which Xiao Xian heard the sound of rows of desks moving behind her—that was the battle of the top students.
"In addition to the regular classes, there are special regulations for students who were specially recruited for sports at the school. Every day from 4:30 to 5:30 PM, you will have comprehensive training in the gymnasium, and every Saturday morning you will participate in special training. Compared to other students, you will have more time and pressure," Wang Haiping said, deliberately giving several extra looks to Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi.
At the beginning of the class meeting, Wang Haiping called each student by their name and asked them to give a simple self-introduction, through which he learned about each person’s personality from their shy or bold introductions.
"Dreadful, that means weekends are ruined too," Zhang Yiyi cried out. Sacred Heart was a full-time boarding school, and the allowed time for students to leave campus was on weekends. Her home was in Tianjin, and back then, there were no high-speed trains or express trains in the country. Just with a weekend, most of the time would be spent on the road. There weren’t many students from outside the city in the class, so people like Zhang Yiyi could only go home during holidays.
"No worries, I’ll invite you to my aunt’s place to play, we can share a bed," Xiao Xian whispered.
In the second half of the class meeting, it was time to distribute books. When Xiao Xian arrived, she was dragging a bag of "black heart cotton," but when she left, her hands weren’t empty either, carrying a total of eleven books, not including various workbooks and synchronized study materials.
"No wonder my aunt bought such a big backpack for me," Xiao Xian’s whole arm was stretched out to carry that big bundle of books. City folks sure don’t have it easy.
Competing with others for food and needing a big backpack for books, life in Ge Village seemed to be much more comfortable. Xiao Xian thought very spinelessly.
"What’s this fuss about? You haven’t seen the high school section. I have a cousin studying in the high school section of Sacred Heart Middle School. He said that in their class, teachers can’t see the students’ faces during the lesson because they are all blocked by textbooks and workbooks laid out in front of them," Lin Xiang was never one to be quiet anywhere, but this time she seemed to take on a bit of a sisterly role by carrying a few extra books.
"Sigh, now that you mention it, I don’t even want to study in high school. I heard high schools abroad are so much fun," Zhang Yiyi stuck her tongue out. On the campus, there were plenty of people, just like them, holding textbooks.