Volume 1 / Chapter 12: The Expressionless Psychology Teacher

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six—"

During the last few seconds of the class, the male students sitting in the back rows, already absent- minded, began counting down in unison.

Their countdown, however, was far from synchronized; clearly, most of them couldn't afford watches calibrated to the second

Their voices grew louder and louder, until someone cried out "One!"-a shout that at last caught the attention of the teacher at the podium

It was English class. Thankfully, the teacher was a young, easygoing woman who didn't scold them. A stricter, middle-aged instructor might have held the whole class hostage.

"ONE!" Zhōu Yǒng bellowed. His watch seemed perfectly synced with the school clock, down to the second.

The moment he shouted, the dismissal bell rang.

Thanks to Yǔkōng High's new rule prohibiting teachers from extending class time beyond the bell, the young English teacher simply said, "Alright, clas—"

Before she could finish "class," a boy with tanned skin and handsome features near the door flung it open and shot into the hallway. His movements were fluid, smoother than writing with a pen.

Mò Xuěyáo stared, dumbfounded. In middle school, no one dared dash out before the teacher declared the end of class; most mornings, teachers there consistently ran overtime, and were notoriously strict. Dashing out without permission was practically a death wish.

Then again, in middle school, lunch was delivered to classrooms-here in high school, everyone had to hustle to the cafeteria to grab food, or risk finding nothing left on the trays.

Realizing this, Mò Xuěyáo scrambled to her feet, only to find the back rows already empty. The boys had sprinted out with Olympic speed.

The corridor echoed with a thunderous rumble of footsteps, like a panicked evacuation from a fire drill. In reality, it was just the lunchtime rush.

"Come on, Mo Xueyao! Let's go to the cafeteria!" Wáng Jiālè stretched in a lazy yawn, snapping her textbook shut and standing.

Despite her fluid movements, her figure remained decidedly boyish, her chest as flat as a board.

"Okay." Mò Xuěyáo pulled a small box from her backpack containing a pair of wooden chopsticks and a spoon, worn small from years of use since elementary school. Still functional, so she saw no need to replace them.

"Wait, do you have your meal coupons?" Wáng Jiālè turned back just as they were about to leave.

"Meal coupons...?" Mò Xuěyáo was bewildered. She assumed you could just show up at the cafeteria. Why coupons?

"Yep! At the end of each month, they give you a big sheet of paper coupons for the next month," Wáng Jiālè explained, gesturing. "You cut them out and keep them. Use one coupon per meal."

"...I don't have any." Mò Xuěyáo shook her head.

"Then we need to find the homeroom teacher. She probably forgot to give you yours."

"Um... why don't you go ahead? Or get in line? Otherwise, there might be nothing left." Mò Xuěyáo felt a pang of anxiety.

"No worries, no worries! They usually add more dishes later. As long as we're not too late." Wáng Jiālè slung an arm around Mò Xuěyáo's shoulders. "Let's go! I'll go with you~"

Mò Xuěyáo felt profoundly grateful for her lively, helpful deskmate. They’d only met that morning, yet Wáng Jiālè seemed endlessly energetic and eager for any new task.

With Wang Jiale leading, they quickly found the homeroom teacher's office on the same floor.

Pushing open the slightly ajar door, they found it empty. Not just their teacher, but everyone else was gone.

"Huh—no one here." Wáng Jiālè pouted. "Hmm... maybe we should just go to the shop and get instant noodles?"

Mò Xuěyáo hesitated. She didn't want to break her emergency twenty yuan on instant noodles...

But what was the alternative? Go hungry?

Friday afternoons ended early; she could tough it out until she got home. But... no one would be home to cook, and there probably wasn't much food anyway.

"Alright, instant noodles it is," she finally decided, mainly worried that an empty stomach would make her drowsy in afternoon classes, causing her to fall behind. In reality, Friday afternoons had no core subjects – she just hadn't memorized the schedule yet.

Only about three minutes after the bell, the corridor was already thinning out. Those still walking leisurely were mostly girls. Any remaining boys were hurrying towards the cafeteria.

Suddenly, Mò Xuěyáo felt a light, cool tap on her back.

"Wáng Jiālè, did you poke me?" Mò Xuěyáo turned, puzzled.

"Nope." Wáng Jiālè looked innocent.

They both turned around.

Standing behind them was a girl who looked barely 1.45 meters tall. Her face was childlike, utterly unlike a high school student. She wasn't wearing the school uniform, but a plain black dress that reached her knees. Small black sandals revealed delicate toes.

"Are you...?" Mò Xuěyáo stared down at the girl, who was a full head shorter.

"A teacher."

"A teacher?!" Mò Xuěyáo and Wáng Jiālè exclaimed simultaneously, exchanging stunned looks.

Mò Xuěyáo was 1.58m, Wáng Jiālè 1.50m – both considered short. But this girl was shorter than both, and her entire build and face screamed 'elementary school'.

"Mhm." The girl nodded expressionlessly. She pulled a stack of neatly cut meal coupons from her pocket and handed them to Mò Xuěyáo.

"Huh? You brought these... for me? Did our homeroom teacher ask you to?" Despite the girl claiming to be staff, Mò Xuěyáo couldn't help but use the tone reserved for addressing a child.

The girl nodded expressionlessly again, then turned and walked away without another word. She seemed averse to conversation.

"Was that... a teacher?" Mò Xuěyáo watched her disappear around the corner, then looked at Wáng Jiālè.

"Probably...?" Wang Jiale sounded unsure, then her eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh! Right! She must be that teacher!"

"Who?"

"The one everyone talks about! The teacher who looks like a first-year middle schooler!"

"What does she teach?" Mò Xuěyáo couldn't picture it. How could someone barely taller than the podium command authority?

"Not a subject teacher. She's the only staff at the psychology counseling office the school just set up this year."

"Psychology?" Mò Xuěyáo was even more shocked.

The girl seemed the least likely person to offer psychological counseling. Barely speaking, how could she counsel anyone? And her diminutive size hardly inspired confidence or reassurance.

"Yǔkōng High... is really weird..." Mò Xuěyáo muttered, pursing her lips.

"Blame the new principal! He brought in all sorts of new stuff this year!" Wáng Jiālè pointed down the corridor, then threw her other hand up dramatically. "Alrighty! Onward~! To the cafeteria!"

The cafeteria was now packed.

Seven serving windows stretched long lines; only the snack window using coupons was relatively short. The others were mobbed, the food completely obscured.

The girls decided to scout the front of each line before committing.

They settled on Window 6. Not because the food was the absolute best, but because it was decent and the line was slightly shorter. It served Yangzhou fried rice – the kind with green peas and corn kernels – plus a pan-fried chicken cutlet and a small handful of cherry tomatoes.

The meal looked fresh and not too greasy. They joined the line.

Five or six minutes later, they got their food.

A new challenge arose: finding seats.

They circled the crowded dining hall. The only familiar faces were a group of their male classmates clustered around a long table with benches, easily seating ten or more. With some squeezing, there might be room for two petite girls.

"Hmm, maybe we wait for them to finish..." Wáng Jiālè whispered. She was outgoing with girls but seemed shy around boys.

"It's fine. I think we can squeeze in." Mò Xuěyáo replied confidently and walked towards the table.

A pretty new girl approaching naturally drew the boys' attention.

"Look, look, the class beauty is here," one boy whispered to his friend with a grin.

"Class beauty already? After half a day?"

"Well, she outshines everyone else!"

"I think she's okay... you guys are exaggerating..."

Mo Xueyao pretended not to hear the whispers. She reached the table and offered a polite smile. "Excuse me, could two more people squeeze in here? Wáng Jiālè and I can't find seats."

"Sure, sure!"

"Absolutely!"

"No problem at all!"

The boys responded enthusiastically, shuffling their trays and plates to make space.